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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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FOUNDED  1836
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UNIVERSITY
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       HISTORICAL SKETCH





                OF THE





ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE





                 09





           THE COLLEGE





                 OB





  PHYSICIANS  AND SURGEONS,





                OF THE





              UNIVERSITY





                  OF





       THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.
      NEW YORK:



PRINTED BY C. S. VAN WINKXES



    No. 122 Water-street




        1813. 
'J7IV1°\ 
HISTORICAL  SKETCH
                             OF THE

COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS,

                           NEW-YORK

                    (With a View of the College.)

   The first  attempt towards  the formation of  a medical
school in  the state of New-York was made in the year 1767,
during the  administration  of His  Excellency  Sir Henr*
Moore and  Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden.*1
Previous to  this  period,  however,  instruction had been af-
forded to the youth engaged in the study of medicine in New^
York, and the firstf essay in the United States, for the pur-
pose   of  imparting  anatomical  knowledge, was   made by
Doctors John Bard}, and  Peter Middleton,§ two of the
  * The name of Cadwallader Colden is memorable in the provincial annals ol
this country; and, not the least so, from the many charters  of incorporation
granted during his time for the establishment of literary and benevolent institu-
tions.  Himself an ardent and successful cultivator of science,  he seems to have
lost no opportunity for promoting its interests in the colonies.  See Life of Colden j
in American Medical and Philosophical Register, vol. i. p. 297—306.
  t  Hosack's Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Medical  Schools of New-
York and Philadelphia, in Amer. Med. and Phil. Reg. vol. ii. p.  228.
  \  Dr. John Bard was born in Burlington, in New-Jersey, February,  1716,  and
died at his residence, Hyde Park, near Poughkeepsle, in  1799.  He practised his
profession in the city of New-York with great honour, and the most distinguished
success, for more than fifty years, and was the author of an interesting account of
the malignant pleurisy, which prevailed at Huntington, Long-Island, in the year
1749, besides some other papets.   For further particulars, see a Sketch of his Life
and Character, in the Amer. Med. and Phil. Reg. vol. i. p. 61—67.
  § Dr. Middleton was one of the very few medical men of this  country, who, at
that early day, wer« distinguished equally for various and profound learning, and
                               A 
                             ((i)
most distinguished practitioners of this city.   In the follow-
year, 1768, the Medical School  was organized, under the di-
rection and government of the College of the province, then
called  King's College, and a body of professors appointed  to
teach the several branches of medical  science.
   The learning and abilities united in  the Medical School  of
that day, were, in the highest degree,  honourable to the  in-
stitution with which  they were  connected.   Dr. Samuel
Clossit* was chosen  the  Professor of  Anatomy;  Dr.  John
Jones,| Professor of Surgery ;  Dr.  Peter Middleton,
Professor of Physiology  and  Patliology;  Dr.   Jamei
Smith,;}; Professor of Chemistry  and Materia Midica ; Dr.
John V. B. Tennent, Professor of  Midwifery; and Dr.
 great professional talents.  His Medical Discourse, or Historical Inquiry into the
 ancient and present state of Medicine, the substance of which was delivered at
 opening the Medical School of New-York, published in 1769, is an honourable spe-
 cimen of his talents and attainments.  He also wrote a letter on the Croup, ad-
 dressed to Dr. Richard Bayley, a copy of which may be seen in the Medical Re-
 pository, vol. xiv.
  * Dr. Samuel Clossyhad, previous to his arrival in America, from Ireland, where
 he was born, attained a high degree of eminence in the medical profession, both as
 a practitioner, and as the author of an interesting volume on Morbid Anatomy, en-
 titled, " Observations on some of the Diseases of the Human Body ; chiefly taken
 from the Dissections of Morbid Bodies," published in London. 8vo, 1763. He was
 also a short time before chosen to the  anatomical chair, the professor of natural
 philosophy in King's College.  See the Life of Rev. Dr. Cooper, second President
 of King's College, in the Amer. Med. and Phil. Reg. vol. iii. p. 298—301.
  t Dr. Jones was a native of the state of New-York, and born at Jamaica, Long.
 Island, in 1729.  He commenced the study of medicine in Philadelphia, and  com-
 pleted his education in Europe, where he attended the lectures of Hunter, M'Ken-
 aie, and Pott, of London, and M. Petit and M. Le Dran, of Paris.  He was de-
 servedly considered an able teacher, and extended his reputation by the publication
 of a volume, entitled, " Plain Remarks on Wounds and Fractures," which appear-
 ed in 1775.  He died in April, 1790, after a most useful and honourable life devoted
to the advancement of his profession.  See an Account of the Life of John Jones,
 M. D. in the Amer. Med. and Phil. Reg. vol. iii. p. 325—339.
  t The brother of William Smith, Esq. the historian of New-York   He died is
 the city of New-York, in 1812. 
(?)
Samuel Bard,* Professor of the  Theory and Practice of
Physic.   Lectures on  these several  branches of medicine
were regularly delivered by the above-mentioned gentlemen,
and  the Degree  of  Doctor  of Medicine  conferred  by  the
College.f
   About the same time, in consequence of a public  address
delivered by Dr.  Samuel Bard, at the medical graduation,
in 1769, a very important addition was made to the means of
medical education then  afforded by the establishment of the
New-York Hospital.   The necessity and usefulness of a pub-
lic infirmary,  to use  the language  of Dr.  Middleton,!;
" were so warmly and pathetically set forth in that memora-
ble discourse," that, upon the same day on which it was de-
livered,  a subscription was commenced  by His Excellency
Sir Henry Moore, and the sum of  eight hundred pounds
sterling collected for that establishment.   The corporation
of the city, animated by the same public spirit and active
benevolence, in a short time added three thousand pounds
sterling to the first subscription, when the united amount was
employed in laying the foundation of that valuable institution,
now the pride  of our city, and alike devoted to the purposes
of humanity and the  promotion of medical  science.§
   The  Medical School of New-York, thus  provided  with
learned and able professors, promised to be productive of the
greatest advantages; but  the revolutionary war occasioned
a suspension of their labours ; the professors and students
  * The present President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New-York.
  t In his valuable Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century, Dr. Miller asserts, that
no medical degrees had been conferred by the College previous to the revolutionary
war.  Notwithstanding the general accuracy of Dr. Miller, iie, in this instance,
is mistaken.  A copy of an Inaugural Dissertation on the anthelmintic quality ol
the Pkastolw Zuratensis Sillqua hirsuta, or Cow-Itch, for the Medical Doctoral
in King's College, by Samuel Kissani, M. B. and published in May, 1771, mar 1>< •
seen in the library of the New-York Historical Society.
  i Medical Discourse-, p. 60.            \ Hosnrk's STickli. 
(8)
were scattered,  the college converted by the enemy  into a
military hospital, and the immediate design of the whole es-
tablishment frustrated.
   After  the peace of 1783, the former medical-professors
being separated by accident or death,  never as a body were
reinstated in their former situation  in the College.   In the
following year, exertions were  made  for tho revival of the
Medical School of this  city, and professorships  created for
that purpose.  The individuals, however, who were appoint-
ed, either declined giving instruction altogether, or gave but
imperfect courses, and  the  establishment consequently fell
to the ground.
   King's College at  the close of the war  underwent con-
siderable alterations in its  government, and received  the
name of Columbia College.   William  Samuel Johnson,
Esq. L L. D. son of the first president,  and a gentleman in
every respect qualified to the station,  was called to  preside
over it.   The reputation of  the College, as a school of arts,
soon became deservedly great,  and the  Board of Trustees,
under whose more immediate care it  was placed, laudably
attempted, in the year 1792, again to connect a  medical es-
tablishment  with it; thus forming two  faculties,  a faculty of
arts and another  of physic.   At the Jiead of the latter pre-
sided, for some   time,  Samuel Bard, M. D. as  Dean.
Among the professors  who were appointed to deliver lectures
on the  different  branches of medicine were several gentle-
men of acknowledged  talents and professional merit,  and it
was ardently hoped that the interests of science in general
would be greatly promoted by their labours, and the  medi-
cal character of  the state soon acquire a high and extensive
reputation.
   The exertions of the Trustees  of Columbia  College in
thus annexing a Medical School to that institution, were  cer-
tainly in the highest degree  deserving commendation ;  and 
though the beneficial effects resulting from them have been
but small and limited, and fallen far short of what was at first
anticipated,  yet it would be wanting in liberality  to deny,
that some service had been rendered the profession of me-
dicine by its establishment.  It appears from the records of
Columbia College, that since 1792, the  time when the medi-
cal faculty of that school was  organized, to the year 1811,
thirty-four students  have completed their courses of study,
and received the medical honours of that institution.
   For  reasons too obvious to need mention in this place, the
Honourable  the Regents of the University  of New-York,
in whom resides the exclusive power of instituting  semina-
ries of  learning, and of superintending  the  interests of lite-
rature and science throughout the state, determined  in 1807
upon  the establishment of a College of  Physicians  and
Surgeons.  The power to exercise this authority had been
vested in them as  early as 1791,  by an act  passed for  that
special  purpose.*   That so many years elapsed before that
venerable body thought fit to form arr institution to be exclu-
sively devoted to the cultivation of medical science, appears
to have risen from  the existence of the Medical School at-
tached to Columbia College, which it was hoped would have
superseded the necessity of another medical establishment s
Accordingly a charter'for the purpose of establishing a Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons in  the city of New-York
was granted, bearing date the 12th of March, 1807.
   The  establishment of the College of  Physicians and Sur-
geons upon a broad  foundation,  under the patronage of the
Regents of the University, and its sanction by the legisla-
ture, were circumstances viewed with the  greatest satisfac-
  * The title of the act is as follows: "An  Act to enable the Regents of the
University to establish a College of Physicians and Surgeons within this stale,0
passed the 24th March, 1791. 
                      (10)

tion, and afforded just cause of congratulation to the friends
of science  throughout the  state.  That the  high expecta-
tions which were entertained of the benefits that would flow
to the community from its  establishment were well founded,
the  history of the College during the few years it has been in
operation presents the most conclusive evidence.
  Agreeably  to the provision made  by the Charter, the
College  was  organized on the  first Tuesday, the 5th, of
May, 1807 ; when the following officers were elected :

    Nicholas Romayne, M. D. President.
    Samuel L. Mitchill, M. D. Vice President.
    Archibald Bruce, M. D.  Registrar.
    Abraham Brower, Physician, Treasurer.
                      CENSORS.
  Edward Miller, M. D. David Hosack, M.  D. Alex-
 ander Sheldon, William Livingston, William James
 M'Neven, M. D. Henry Van Solingen,M. D.  William
 Wheeler, J. D. Gillespie, J. E. R. Birch,  James G.
 Graham, Benjamin De  Witt, M. D. Felix  Pascalis,
 and Alexander Hosack, M. D.                      * .

   The following Professorships and Professors were consti-
 tuted and appointed by the Regents of the University:
     Practice of Physic, Edward Miller, M. D.
     Chemistry, Samuel L.  Mitchill, M. D.
     Botany and Materia Medica, David Hosack,  M. D.
     Institutes of Medicine, Benjamin De Witt, M. D.

    For the purpose of forming a complete system of instruc-
 tion in the several branches of Medicine, the College deem-
 ed it necessary to exercise the power, delegated  to them by
 charter,  of  appointing lecturers on those departments  of
 science which  were unprovided with professors.   They ac-
 tordingly appointed Dr. Nicholas Romayne- and Dr. .Ton* 
('1)
Augustine Smith, Lecturers on Anatomy, Dr. Benjamin
De Witt, Lecturer  on Chemistry,*  Dr. David Hosack,
Lecturer  on Surgery and  Midwifery, and  Dr.  Edwarb
Miller, Lecturer on Clinical Medicine.
   In order to conduct with greater facility the various mi-
nute details of business in the College, a Senatus Academi-
cas was organized, consisting of  the  President, Vice Presi-
dent, Professors, Lecturers, Registrar,  and Treasurer.
   The College, thus provided with Professors and Lecturers
on all the branches of medical science, procured a commo-
dious building situated in Robinson-street,  a central part of
the city, where apartments were fitted  up for the accommo-
dation both of the teachers and students.  Some progress
was made in the formation of an  Anatomical Museum, a Che-
mical Laboratory, and a Cabinet of Minerals.  The Botanic
Garden founded by Dr. Hosack, the Professor of Botany
and Materia Medica,  was also eminently  calculated for the
purpose of instruction in those departments of knowledge
   On the 7th of November following, the business of the
College commenced, and full and satisfactory  courses of in-
struction were delivered on all the branches of medicine, by
the united labours of the professors appointed by the  Re-^
gents of the University, and the  Lecturers chosen by the
College.   In addition  to this, it is proper to mention, that the
Governors of the  New-York Hospital  made  such arrange-
ments with the Professor of the Practice of Physic as en=
abled him to deliver  a  course of Clinical  Lectures in  that
extensive  charity ; and that Dr.  M'Neven, a member of the
College,  and then one of the Physicians of the New-York
Alms House, gave  to the students of medicine a  course of
 * In the absence of Dr. Mitchill, the professor of this branch, who had to attend
during that sessioa at the general government a? Senator of the United States, - 
( «2)
 UMnical Instruction on the cases that occurred in that inati
 tution.  The  industry with which the  teachers of the New*
 School devoted themselves to their respective collegiate duj
 ties was unremitted; and the ability and success with which
 they fulfilled the important stations assigned them was such,
 that the legislature, at their next session, in November 1808,
 made  the liberal appropriation of twenty thousand dollars for
 the benefit of  the College.  The whole number of students
 who resorted  to the  institution the first year was fifty-
 three.
   The College being instituted on an extensive plan, and un-
 der the immediate superintendance of the Regents of the
 University and the patronage of  the state,  the liberal grant
 of the legislature enabled them to purchase a building,  situ-
 ated in Pearl-street, better accommodated for their purpose,
 and to make such  additions to the  institution as might in-
 crease the advantages of instruction in  the various branches
of Medical Science.  During the recess of  the College, Dr.
 Smith, formerly Lecturer, was approinted Professor of Ana-
tomy  and  Surgery, Dr. Mitchill, Professor of Natural
 History, Dr. De Witt, Professor of Chemistry,  Dr. M'Ne-
ven, Professor of Obsletricks and  the Diseases of Women and
 Cliildren,  and  the  President, Professor of  the Institutes of
 Medicine.
   The second session of the College commenced in Novem-
ber, 1808, and continued four months.  The Lectures were
attended by seventy-two students, a greater number than had
ever before resorted to a  similar institution for  medical in-
 struction in this city.
   The principal improvements made in the College the en-
suing  year, related to the departments of Anatomy and Na-
 tural History.  The Anatomical Museunrwas considerably en-
larged by many valuable preparations, and the Cabinet of Na-
 tural History and Mineralogy received  many additions illus^- 
( 13 )
 trative of the geological constitution and mineralogical re
 sources of the United States.  Dr. A. Bruce  was elected
 the Professor of Materia  Medica and Mineralogy.  Lec-
 tures were given on aHe branches of medical science  by
 the several professors, and clinical practice at the  Hospital
 by Dr. Miller.   The  third session of the  College was at-
 tended by  seventy-three  students from  different  parts  of
 New-York, and from other states in the union.
   The success of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
 during the first three years of their establishment, exceeded
 the most  sanguine expectations, and gave the fullest evidence
 of the  numerous  advantages  which the  city of New-York
 possesses for a great medical school.  Certain misunderstand-
 ings, however, having taken place between the president and
 the professors, the rapid progress of the  College in its im-
 portance and usefulness received a temporary check, and its
 brilliant prospects were for a season overcast.  From a want
 of unanimity among the  professors, lectures on only some of
 the branches of medicine were delivered,  and the pupils con-
 sequently were reduced  to about one  third the former num-
 ber.
   The  Regents of the University, upon  receiving  informa-
 tion of  the dissensions which had arisen in the College, and
 which  it was feared would materially retard the advancement
 of the institution, with the  same laudable zeal for the promo-
 tion of medical science  with  which they had originally or-
ganized the establishment, immediately adopted measures for
 ascertaining the cause of the mischief, and for the removal
 of every impediment to  its prosperity.  A committee, con-
 sisting of the honourable  Chief Justice Kent, Judge Spen-
 cer, and Judge Smith, was  appointed  to inquire into fhe
 nature of the misunderstanding, and to report upon the same.
The report  was as follows :
                           B 
(It)
At a meeting  of the Regents  of the  University, held  pursuant
   to adjournment, in the Senate Chamber, on the first  of April,
   1811 :
   The committee to whom was referrq|lfteveral papers relative to
the state of the College of Physicians and Surgeons  iu the city of
New-York, report, that unfortunate misunderstandings have taken
place between several professors of that institution, which have al-
ready materially impeded its operations,  and unless  something ef-
fectual be done by the regents, it will become degraded iu  the es-
timation of the public,  and its  usefulness will be  inevitably de-
stroyed.
   The committee have forborne to trace and bring to  light the con-
duct of individuals, because in their opinion it would be  both use-
less and invidious.
   Propositions have been made to  the committee to re-model the
institution, with a view of rendering its operation  more simple,
and of introducing into it several of the Professors of the Medical
School in  Columbia College,  and other eminent and  distinguished
individuals: this proposition has been viewed by the committee in
the most favourable light, as it may extinguish the feuds existing
among the present Professors of the  College  of Physicians  and
Surgeons,  aud as it will, in all probability, be the means of uniting
the two schools.
   The latter appears an object of the first importance, in as much
as it will assemble, in one institution,  a splendid collection of me,
dical and surgical talents, and as it cannot fail to merit and re-
ceive the patronage and encouragement of the legislature.
   It is unnecessary for the committee to attempt to display the im-
portant  advantages to the state which a well organized Medical
School in the city of New-York must afford; its hospital, and the
subjects furnished by the state prison, without the violation of
law, present a field for the  acquisition of medical  and surgical
knowledge unrivalled in the United States, and it is only requisite
to establish au institution, under the fostering care of the  legisla-
ture, in which shall be united the best talents, and to secure these
advantages to the state. 
(15)
  Under these impressions, the committee beg leave to report an
alteration of the charter of the  College of Physicians and 3ur
geons,  and to propose a new list of officers aud professors,  which
alteration is as follows, to wit:
     By the Regents  of tlie University of the State of
                         New-York.
  Whereas Ave have reserved to ourselves the right to alter and
modify our ordinances for establishing a College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New-York; therefore,
  Beit ordained, That all the  corporate rights, privileges, powers,
and  immunities granted by us to  the  said College of  Physicians
and  Surgeons, to the Trustees or Members thereof, and to the Sena-
tus Academicus  and Censors thereof, shall hereafter be exclusively
vested in,  and  exercised  by  the Trustees of the said  College of
Physicians and Surgeons, to be appointed from time to time by us
or our successors.   And the said Trustees shall do and perform all
matters and things which the said College of  Physicians and  Sur-
geons, the Trustees or Members thereof, and the Senatus Academi-
cus  and Censors thereof, are  authorized and required  to  do and
perform.
  Andbe it further ordained,  That the President,  Vice President,
Professors, and Treasurer of the said College, for the time being,
aud  such other persons as we,  or our successors, may hereafter ap-
point,  shall be  the Trustees of the said College, provided the
whole number of the said trustees shall not,  at any time, be more
than twenty-five.
   And he  it further ordained, That the President or Vice Presi-
dent ,or any three of the Trustees, shall have power, at any time,
to call a meeting of the said  Trustees, by giving at  least three
days previous uotice of the time and place of holding said meet-
ing.   And five of the said Trustees (of which the  President, or in
his absence, the  Vice President, shall be one)  shall be a quorum for
the  transaction of  business.
  And he itfurther ordained,  That the Trustees and Members of
the said College, who are not  constituted Trustees by this supple-
mentary charter, shall be hereafter fellows or  members thereof  and 
                         (  16" 7
flat the Trustees shall have  power to elect fellows or members of
the said college, who shall at all times have the privilege of at-
tending all the public lectures and other courses of instruction, de-
livered by the Professors in  the said College; and wlio shall also
have the privilege of visiting and inspecting the Anatomical Mu-
seum, the Botanic Garden, the Cabinets of Mineralogy and Na-
tural History, and the Library of the said College, under such re-
gulations as the Trustees shall prescribe for that purpose.
  And be it further ordained, That reserving to ourselves and  our
successors, liegents of the University, the power of making such
other grants or ordinances as may be necessary  or useful for  the
said College, we finally order, that this ordinance  shall form part of
the charter of the said College of Physicians and Surgeons in the
tity of New-York.  And we  do hereby revoke and annul such
parts of our previous grants  and ordinances as are contrary to, or
inconsistent with, the present ordinance."

   The  above extracts from the proceeding  of the Regents
of the  University, supersede the necessity  of any remarks
on the subject to which they relate.   The changes proposed'
to be made both in the officers and in the government of the
College, were  such as manifested  equally a regard to  the
rights of other  establishments,  and  the solicitude  of  the
Regents for the welfare of that which tliey had founded  and
cherished.
   Though their laudable  designs were for a while, in a par-
tial  degree,  protracted, on account of the conduct of some
gentlemen, in relation to the professorships with which they
were  honoured, yet such  arrangements  Were adopted by
the  Board  of  Trustees, now created according to the new
Charter, that the various  courses of instruction delivered by
the  professors formed  a complete system  of medical educa-
tion.
   Upon the reorganization  of the College, the following gen
 tlemen accepted the stations to which they were elected on 
C 17 )
the  1st of April, 1811, by the unanimous  resolve of the
Honourable the Regents of the University:
     Samuel Bard, M. D. President.
     Benjamin De  Witt, M. D. Vice President.
     John Augustine Smith, Professor of Anatomy, Sur-
       gery, and Physiology.
     David Hosack, M. D. Professor of the Theory and
       Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine.
     William James M'Neve.v, M. D. Professor  of Che-
       mistry.
     Samuel L. Mitchell, M. D.  Professor of Natural
       History.
     John D. Jaques, Treasurer.
     John W. Francis, Registrar.
   During the same session, other measures particularly cal-
culated to advance the interests of the New School of Me-
dicine were adopted.  The Elgin  Botanic Garden, founded
by Dr. Hosack, in  the vicinity of this city^and which had
been purchased by  the legislature for the purpose  of pro-
moting medical science, was placed by them  at the disposal
of the Regents.   That honourable board committed to the
Trustees  of the  College  of Physicians  and Surgeons, the
care of that extensive Botanical establishment, to be devoted
to the use of  the College,  for the laudable purpose contem-
plated by the legislature.   By this arrangement, the Bolania
Garden  became an  important  addition to the State Medi-
cal School, and affords more ample means of  instruction in a
highly interesting branch  of education, than are  enjoyed in
any other Medical Seminary in the United States.*   The le-
  * The Elgin Botanic Garden is situated about three miles from the city, on.
the middle road between  Bloomingdale and Kingsbridge.  The ground, consist-
ing of twenty acres,  was purchased from the corporation of New-York, in
1801, by Dr. David Hosack, the founder of the establishment. The view, from
the most elevated part, is variegated and extensive, and the soil itself of that di- 
(  18)
«-islature also,  during this  session, made  a further grant of
five hundred dollars per annum for the benefit of the College.
   The College  having thus undergone such material altera-
tions, and received  such  liberal  aid  from  its  founders  and
patrons, a new list  of officers being chosen, and its internal
government, formerly placed with the Censors and Senatus
Academicus, being now  vested in a board of Trustees com-
posed of the President, Vice President, Professors, Treasurer,
and other  members  of  tie medical  profession,  elected  to
the  station, directed its attention with increased  zeal to the
immediate object of  its establishment.
versified nature, as to be particularly adapted to the cultivation of a great variety
of vegetable productions.  Immediately after the purchase, the proprietor had
the grounds cleared and arranged in a manner the best adapted to the different
kinds of vegetable, and planted agreeably to the most approved stile of ornamen-
tal gardening.  A conservatory for the more hardy green-house plants was also
built.   As a primary object in this establishment was to collect and cultivate the
native  plants of  this country, especially  such as  possess medicinal  properties
there were in cultivation at the commencement of 1805, near fifteen hundred species
of American plants, beside a considerable number of rare  and valuable exotics.
In 1806, important additions were made to the collection of plants from various
parts of Europe, and from the East and West Indies.  A second building for their
preservation was erected, and the foundation for a third laid, which was completed
in the following year.  In the autumn of 180G a Catalogue of the plants which had
been collected, and which amounted to nearly two thousand, was piAlished. Since
that time, the Botanic Garden has been greatly improved.   The buildings, w hich
are erected on the most recent plan adopted in institutions of this kind, consist of *
three large  and well constructed houses,  exhibiting a front of one hundred and
eighty feet.  The greater part of the ground is brought in a state of high cultiva-
tion, and divided into various compartments, calculated for the instruction of the
student of Botany and Medicine.  The establishment is surrounded by a belt of
forest trees and shrubs, and these again are enclosed by a stone wall  two and a
half feet in thickness, and seven feet in height.  Upon the puich :se of the estab-
lishment by the legislature, in 1810, the founder of the garden published a second
edition, greatly enlaged, of the Catalogue of Plants cultivated there, arranged in
alphabetical order, and embracing the generic and specific names of Linnaeus, the
synonyms of various authors, the popular appellations by which they are known,
&c. For a more  minute account, see a " Statement of Facts relative to the estab-
lishment and progress of the Elgin Botanic  Garden:'  Hortus Elginensis, or a Ca-
talogue of the Plunts, &c. second edition, published in 1811. 
(  19)
  The services rendered the College, by the late measures
adopted by the Regents and Legislature, soon became appa-
rent.   On the 15th of May, 1811, the  first Medical  Com-
mencement  in  the  institution was held, and the degree of
Doctor in  Medicine  granted to eight  gentlemen,  who had
previously undergone the necessary examinations prescribed
by  its laws,  and publicly defended their respective inaugu-
ral  dissertations.  This was a greater number of degrees in
medicine than  was  ever before granted at one time in this
city, since the  establishment of a  Medical  School in New-
York.  The honours of the College were publicly conferred
by the President, Dr. Samuel Bard, in the presence of the
Chanceller and Regents of the University, the Trustees and
other officers of  the institution.
   Important additions were made  this year to the  Chemical
department of the College, the laboratory was rebuilt, and
the chemical lecture-room materially  improved.   The fifth
session of the College commenced on the first Monday of
November, 1811.  The business of the College was opened
by an elegant  and  appropriate address  from the president,*
 and the several professors entered with  becoming spirit upon
 the duties belonging to their respective departments.  The
 course oPAnatomy, Surgery, and Physiology was delivered
 by Professor John Augustine Smith ; Chemistry, both in
 its relation to  medicine and the arts, was taught by Profes-
 ser M'Neven ;  and the course of instruction on the Theory
 and Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine, and on Mid-
 wifery and the Diseases of Women and Children, by Profes-
 sor  Hosack.    To this  last  mentioned branch, Professor
 Hosack had, a short time  previous, been appointed Lecturer
 by the Board of Trustees.  The several branches of Natu-
 * A copy df this excellent production, delivered by Dr. Bard, may be seen in
the Amer. Med. and Phil. Re-, vol. ii. p. 369—38!>. 
(  20  )
nil History were taught by Professor Mitchill : the  gco
logical and mineralogical parts of the course were illustrated
by the  rich cabinet of fossils attached to the College,  and
the illustrations in Botany given at the State Botanic Garden.
Lectures on  the 3Iateria  Medica  were delivered by  the
Vice President, Dr. De Witt.   The exertions of the Pro
fessors  in their several branches  of instruction were unre-
mitted, and deserving the highest commendation : the result
of their labours was highly advantageous and satisfactory to
their pupils.  On the practice of physic alone, upwards of
one hundred lectures  were given during the session  by the
professor of that branch.
   At the commencement held on the first Tuesday in May
following, the time appointed,  twenty  gentlemen received
from  the hands of the president the degree  of Doctor in
Medicine, eleven of whom had been regular students of the
institution.
   It is highly  gratifying to observe the language in which the
Regents of the University expressed themselves, when speak-
ing of the condition of the College at this time:

  rt They view (says the committee to  whom was referred the bu-
siness of the College) with satisfaction the advancement of the Col-
lege to a greater degree of prosperity than it has at any time here-
tofore enjoyed.   The names of the students reported, as attending
the several classes, are eighty-four in number, which  is a flattering
indication of the continued progress of this Medical School.   The
President and Professors appear to have made great exertions to
promote its welfare and permanent success;  and their zeal for the
cultivation of medical science  merits the  approbation of the Re-
gents.
  " The chemical and anatomical  professorships, as tliey are at-
tended with  much expense to  the  incumbents, deserve,  in the
opinion of your committee, some aid and support from the Regents;
s*vl it is proposed that the annuity of five hundred dollars, lately 
(21 )
granted by the legislature for the use of the college, should be ap-
propriated for this necessary and important object."

  In their annual report to the legislature, dated on the 27th
of May,  1812, they also observe:

  " The  organization of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
has been  improved, and it now presents a fair prospect of speedily
rising to  a state of usefulness and celebrity, such as may be justly
expected from the importance of the community in which it is situa-
ted, and the government under whose auspices it has been erected.
  " A  gentleman universally acknowledged among the first in the
medical  profession in America, has consented to be placed at the
head of it, and professors of the best talents have been procured to
deliver instruction in it."

   The board of trustees of the College could not forbear to
tender to their professional brethren  their congratulations
upon the successful establishment of the institution, aud the
salutary effects which resulted from its re-organization. This
they did in  their circular address of September, 1812, in
which they briefly stated the flourishing condition of the Col-
lege, and, at the same time, announced the several courses of
Lectures intended to be delivered during the ensuing session.
   The sixth session of the College commenced at the usual
time, in  November, 1812, and complete courses of Lectures
on Anatomy, Surgery, and Physiology;  on the  Theory and
Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine; on   Obstetrics,
and the  Diseases of Women and  Children; and on  Chemistry,
were delivered by the respective professors of these branches.
 Arrangements  having been  made by the  Professor of Natu-
ral History for delivering instruction to his  class at a differ-
ent season,  the Lectures on Geology, Mineralogy, Botany,
and Zoology, were given by Professor Mitchill in the en-
                             c 
                         (22)

 suing  spring.  Sixty-one Lectures were delivered by the
 Professor of Natural History on these branches of education*
   On the first Tuesday in May, 1813, the degree of Doctor
 in Medicine was conferred on five candidates, who had com-
 pleted their education in the College,  and to whom the Re-
 gents of the University had granted that honour.
   The preceding sketch contains a concise and faithful rela'
 tion of the principal circumstances  connected with the origin
 and progress of the College of Physicians and  Surgeons of
 New-York.  It was considered unnecessary to offer a more
 minute detail, as the public at large would feel little interest
 in dwelling upon  particulars of this  kind ; and it was deemed
 inexpedient to bring to light  the  transactions of individuals,
 who, instigated by disappointed ambition, or envious of the con-
 dition  of the College, were not wanting in devising means to
 destroy its prospects, or to add to the many difficulties una-
 voidably connected with the organization of an institution of
 this nature.  It has always been observed, that establishments
 for the promotion of science, like  other associated bodies,
 have their intervals of languor as well as their periods of vi-
 gour and activity-
   The College, having successfully encountered the evils
 which  it  had  originally to  contend with,  it is believed,
 now stands  on a foundation too firm  to  be  shaken.  Its
 re-organization in the year  1811, by the  honourable  the
 Regents of the University, has proved as salutary  in  its ef-
 fects as the most sanguine could have  promised.  Though
 three years  have not elapsed since  that  event, yet, so suc-
 cessfully have the labours of the College been directed, that
 those who have completed their education under its care, and
 have received its medical degrees, nearly equal, in point of
 number,  all who before  that  time  had  received  the  same
honour in this state.  The Inaugural Dissertations published
by the graduates of  the  University are  also, for the  most 
(23)
part,  highly honourable to the talents and acquirements ol
their respective authors, and reflect credit on the institution
whence they received their education.
  The present flourishing condition  of  the  state  Medical
School cannot but be  viewed with  peculiar satisfaction by
every friend of science and  humanity; and  the Board of
Trustees, moreover, deeming  themselves fully warranted on
account of the munificent patronage  of the legislature,  and
the laudable zeal of the Regents of the University, to aug-
ment  the means of medical  education  afforded by  the Col-
lege, have recently adopted measures for  that purpose.   In
pursuance of this object, they have appropriated a considerable
part of their funds to the purchase of ground as a permanent
situation for the College,  and are engaged in completing an
elegant and commodious edifice, in all respects commensurate
with the increasing character and importance  of the institu-
tion.  The Board of Trustees have made such arrangements
as will secure  the completion  of the  work in  due season, in
order that the several professors may enter upon  their re-
spective duties at the usual time, the first Monday in Novem-
ber.  Additional provision has lately been made to the anato-
mical and chemical departments  of the College.  It may also
be proper here to state, that,  at the  close of the last session
of the College, the Trustees  appointed John W. Francis,
M. D. Lecturer on the  Institutes of Medicine and the Mate-
ria Medica.
   When  the  advantages which New-York possesses for  a
great medical establishment  are  considered;  advantages,
arising from its natural situation; its extensive  population,
now nearly equal to most of the capitals of Europe; its large
and well endowed hospital and other public charities ; its
botanic garden;  its  well organized Medical  College, and
the extensive system of education which it embraces; and
when it is further considered, that these advantages are H 
(24  )
 creased by the munificent patronage of the state, it is not too
 much to say, that, in the means of instruction, the College of
 Physicians and Surgeons is second to no similar institution in
 the United States.

 Officers, Sec. of the College of Physicians and  Sur-
  geons of the  University of the State of New-York, 1813.

 Samuel Bard, M. D. President.
 Benjamin De  Witt, M- D. Vice President.
 John Augustine Smith, M. D.  Professor  of Anatomy,
     Surgery, and Physiology.
 David Hosack, M. D. Professor of the Theory and Prac-
     tice of Physic and Clinical Medicine, and Lecturer on
     Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children.
 William James M'Neven, M. D. Professor  of Chemistry.
 Samuel L. Mitchill, M. D. Professor of Natural History.
 John W. Francis, M.D. Lecturer on the Institutes of Me-
     dicine and the Materia Medica.

                     trustees.
Samuel Bard,              John D. Jaques,
Benjamin De Witt,        Thomas Addis Emmet,
John Augustine Smith,     Joseph Bloodgood,
David Hosack,             Andrew Hunt,
William James M'Neven,   Andrew Morton,
Samuel L. Mitchill,        Lyman Spalding,
                Hugh Williamson.

      John D. Jaques, Treasurer.
      John W. Francis, Registrar. 
( 25)
 Syllabus of the Several Courses of Lectures delivered
   in the  College of Physicians and Surgeons, New-
   York.

          anatomy, surgery, and physiology.

   The Lectures on Anatomy, Surgery, and Physiology, are
 embraced  in  one course, and are delivered by Professor
 John Augustine  Smith,  M.  D.  The objects  of  Dr.
 Smith's  labours are, consequently, threefold ; to illustrate
 the  anatomy of the human body, to present such physiolo-
 gical views of each part as necessarily arise  from consider-
 ing its peculiar nature and functions, and thence to make a
 pointed application  of this  knowledge to the important du-
 ties of the surgeon.  This latter object is always regarded by
 the professor as one  of primary consideration, and he, there-
 fore, enters upon the duties belonging to  his department, by
 pointing out the value and necessity of a thorough knowledge
 of  the principles of  surgery, the  means by which that
 science is to be acquired,  and the mode in which it is to be
 practised, both as it regards the surgeon himself, his fellow
 practitioners, and the community at large.   The professor
 next takes up  the  consideration  of life, its  essential prin-
 ciple, as it has been called, and the phenomena by which it is
 characterized, particularly in the different classes of animals
 and vegetables.  The laws which govern animate matter, and
 the various opinions which have been entertained relative to
 it, are stated and examined.   Upon this subject, every argu-
 ment is produced which tends to prove  the  existence of a
 distinct vital principle.  To this naturally succeeds obser-
vations upon death, an examination into the character of
inorganic matter, or matter deprived of animation, the vari- 
                         (26)

 mus causes by which death is produced, and  the  effects re-.
 suiting therefrom.
   As the continuance of existence appears to depend more
 immediately upon  the  circulation  of the  blood, than upon
 any other process of the animal economy, Professor Smith
 next enters  upon  a  consideration  of the manner in which
 this fluid is  formed.   He states the several opinions which
 have been maintained concerning it, and details its sensible
 and chemical qualities as afforded by the latest experiments.
 The importance of this fluid is still further  evinced, when
 the  professor points out  its relation to secretion, and ex-
 amines the various substances formed from it.
   Doctor Smith next enters upon the consideration of bones
 as one of the substances produced from the blood : its for-
 mation and growth, its structure and peculiar character, are
 related:  the individual bones are  then described, with their
 connections aud  particular uses.   After  the  bones,   the
 muscles are next demonstrated :  their peculiar organization
 is unfolded,  and the nature of muscular motion explained
 from the phenomena  which it exhibits.   What is  usually
 denominated  the vascular system,  is then treated of:  the
 great importance of  a  thorough knowledge  of the arte-
 ries  being universally admitted,  the  professor minutely il-
 lustrates the structure and course of the blood vessels.  The
process of digestion and  assimilation (including the anato-
 my of the chylopoietic and other viscera)  is  next taken up,
and  this part of anatomical instruction  concluded  with a
view of the lymphatic and absorbent systems.
  Professor Smith next commences with a view of the or-
gans of sense; having  demonstrated the structure of the
brain according to the manner adopted by  the English, he
proceeds to illustrate the anatomy of this organ agreeably
to the improved method  of the French.   In his examination
of the nervous system, Doctor Smith endeavours, as far as 
( S7 )
time will permit, to make his hearers acquainted with the
most important facts which have been brought to light from
the researches of philosophers on this subject.
  In explaining the structure  and functions of every part of
the body, to the advantages afforded by oral instruction are
added those which may be derived from a large collection of
anatomical preparations and from dissections.  The profes-
sor also frequently avails himself of the aid afforded by com-
parative anatomy, in order to illustrate  particular subjects,
and occasionally has  recourse  to  preserved  specimens  of
diseased parts for the purpose of more accurately unfolding
the changes effected  by morbid action.
   From what has been already said, it will be understood that
anatomy and physiology are  intimately blended;  the latter
being deduced  from the former.   In like manner, the profes-
sor, while demonstrating the  structure of a part, keeps con-
stantly in view its functions, the diseases to which it is liable,
and the operations and remedies they may require.
   Correct anatomical knowledge being the basis of surgery,
the professor dwells with  minuteness upon those parts espe*
cially in which the skill of the  surgeon is most required:
Thus the anatomy and  structure of the part is first particu-
larly unfolded ; the nature and seat of the diseases to which
it is exposed  explained; ample directions  given for  the
manner of conducting the operation required; and the prm^
ciples of surgery still further   exemplified" by  performing
the operation in the  presence  of the class upon the dead
body.   The  professor  treats at length all  those subjects
which claim the attention of the naval and military surgeon.
   This course  of Lectures commences on the first Monday
of November, and continues daily for four months.
mm-- - 
(28)
 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PHYSIC AND CLINICAL MEDICINE*

   The Theory and Practice of Physic and  Clinical  Medi-
 cine, are delivered in the same course of Lectures, by Da-
 vid Hosack, M. D. the Professor of those branches.
   Introductory to the practical subjects which this course
 embraces,  and for the benefit of those pupils who may be
 commencing, or may have recently entered upon  the  study
 of medicine,  Dr.  Hosack  commences by exhibiting a com-
 pendious view of the structure of the human  body ;  more
 especially directing the attention of his pupils to the various
 functions it performs in a state of health, including those ap-
 pertaining to the mind as well as the body.
   In this view, particular attention  is given to those  func-
 tions which physiologists have denominated the natural  func-
 tions of the system.   Under this head, the various excre-
 tions, both as regards their influence in health, as well as the
 changes  they undergo  by  disease, receive that  attention
 which their  importance demands.
   The causes of disease,  whether inherent in the system* or
 produced by the operation of external agents, are next enu-
 merated.
   The influence of climate, soil, food, sleep, cloathing, ex-
 ercise, both mental and bodily, the  passions of the  mind,
 the  functions  peculiar to the  different  sexes,  the various
 trades and occupations of life,  in as far as they are either di-
 rectly or indirectly the sources of disease, are severally no-
 ticed in this part of the course : as  the subject of climate
 embraces circumstances equally interesting to  the philoso-
pher and physician, particular attention is given to the in-
fluence which it exerts upon  the  bodily and intellectual
powers of man.  In connection with this discussion, due re-
gard is also paid to  the sensible and adventitious qualities of 
(29)
 the  atmosphere, and their agency in the production of en=
 demic and epidemic disorders.   Dr. Hosack next inquires
 how far the functions of the constitution possess in them-
 selves the power of removing diseases, as ascribed to them
 by most of the ancient and by some modern physicians ; and
 concludes the preliminary part of the course with an outline
 of that preparatory knowledge which it is necessary for the
 physician to possess when he  approaches the bedside of the
 sick.
   He  next proceeds to a description of the various diseases
 to which the human frame is exposed, arranging the whole in
 such manner as he conceives best calculated to assist the
 student in acquiring a knowledge of the characters of eachj
 the causes which produce them, and the means to be employ-
 ed for their prevention and cure.   With this view, Dr.  Ho-
 sack distributes diseases into  the eight following classes :
   1. Febres,  (Fevers) embracing the various forms of
       Intermitting,
       Remitting, and
       Continued Fevers.
  2. Phlegmasia,  (Inflammations) containing all diseases of
an inflammatory nature.
  3. Cutanei, (diseases of the skin) in which all the cutane-
ous diseases are  arranged agreeably to the orders adopted by
 Dr. Willan.'
  4. Prqfluvia, (discharges) including all hemorrhages, as
well as the morbid discharges*which take place from  the ex-
 cretory organs of the system.
  5. Suppressiones, (suppressions) or those diseases which
 consist in a suppression or diminution of the natural evacua-
 tions.
  6. Neuroses,  (nervous diseases) embracing all those which
more especially  reside in the  nervous system, including the
various diseases of  the mind as well as those of the body.
  vol. iv.                 d 
                         (30)

  7  Cachexia, (vitiations) the diseases more peculiarly ari-
sing  from a morbid condition  of the fluids of the system;
including those which arise from their redundance either
general or partial, as the various forms of dropsy,  and those
disorders which proceed from a vitiated state of  the circu-
lating mass.
  8. Locales,  (local diseases)  containing tumours, disloca-
tions, wounds, ulcers, and other diseases usually denominated
local.*
  Having pointed out the objects and advantages of this no-
lological arrangement,  the  professor proceeds to  delineate!
the various diseases which it comprehends.
  The subject of fevers, which fall under the daily observa-
tion  of every practitioner, and  which  derives peculiar im-
portance from the epidemics with  which the United States
have been visited since the year 1791,  receives especial no^
tice  in this course.
  When describing the treatment of diseases, Dr. Hosack
not  only minutely details  the remedies to be prescribed^,
their mode of operation, and the  different  stages  in  which
they are severally indicated, but the diet and regimen of the
aick, including all those circumstances which have an influ-
ence upon the character of diseases and which it is equally
the duty of  the physician to direct, are also embraced  is
this  course of Lectures.

MIDWIFERY  AND THE DISEASES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
   This course, as taught in the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, not only embraces the delivery of women in child-
bed, but comprehends the  diseases peculiar  to pregnancy,
 * For a view of the details of Dr. HoBack's classification, see the Amer. Med.
and Phil. Reg. vol. ii. p. 270. Its advantages will, on a future occasion, be pointed
*rttby the author in a more, extensive work on this subject. 
(31 )
 uhose attendant upon parturition, those which succeed to de
 livery connected withthe puerperal state, and the diseases of
 early infancy, especially those which occur during the month.
 The lectures on this important branch of medical education,
 are also delivered (at a separate hour) by the Professor of the
 Theory and Practice of Physic.
   Dr. Hosack commences this course  with a description of
 the bones  of the pelvis, noticing their form, situation,  di-
 mensions, connexions with  each other,  and  the  other parts
 of the body, including  a  comparative  view of the dimen-
 sions  and structure of the  head  of the foetus ;  at the same
 time  illustrating, by an extensive collection of preparations,
 the various deformities of the pelvis, and their effects upon
 labour.  He next proceeds to a description of the soft parts
 connected  with  the  pelvis, pointing out their structure, re-
 lative  situation, connexion, the changes which take place in
 consequence of pregnancy, the vessels which supply them
 and the nerves  which are  distributed upon them, necessary
 to be known to the accoucheur.
   Having described the anatomical structure both of the ex-
 ternal  and  internal organs of generation, he notices their va-
 rious  functions,  the diseases to which  they are liable, and
 the treatment they  severally demand.   The numerous dis-
 eases connected with menstruation, are particularly treated
 of in this part of the course.
   The gravid uterus, embracing a view of the changes indu-
 ced by impregnation ; the signs of conception ; the structure
 and growth of the  ovum ;  the circulation of the foetus, and
 that which takes place between the mother and child, comes
 next under consideration.   The changes produced  in the
 system by pregnancy, the diseases attendant upon it, and
 their mode of treatment, including the  premature expulsion
 of the foetus, and the treatment of those accidents which are
frequently attendant upon abortion, are then fully detailed 
(32)
   In the second part of the course, the premonitory signs*
 of labour,  the chauges which  take place during the process!
 of parturition, and the diseases it occasionally produces, are
 next enumerated.
   The several stages and progress of a natural labour ;  the
 different  classes of labours,  the characteristic symptoms
 of each,  and their peculiar treatment, are then minutely de-
 scribed and illustrated upon the machine.
   The regimen,  or management of women  in child-bed,  the
 diseases which are frequently attendant upon,  or succeed to
 parturition, and  the diseases of the new-born infant, consti-
 tute the third part of the course,
   The pupils  are then referred to the New-York Lying-In
 Hospital, and the Lying-in Ward of the Aims-House, where
they enjoy abundant  opportunities of exemplifying, at  the
bed-side,  the principles they may have acquired.
   The Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic  are
delivered daily throughout the session,  and those on Mid-
wifery, at a separate hour, three times a week.
CHEMISTRV.
   The  Course of Lectures  on Chemistry  is delivered by
Professor William James M'Neven, M. D.
   Chemistry may be taught either  by proceeding from the
consideration of simple bodies to that of the combinations
which they form, or else by deducing analytically, from the
compound body, the more simple elements of which it con-
sists.  The former of those methods has been generally pre-
ferred from  the time  that so many simple substances were
developed by means of the  modern improvements  in this
science   It is also the method followed by the professor of
\his college. 
(S3)
  If compound bodies be first presented to the examination
of ti.e learner, his progress is continually interrupted by hi*
ignorance of all their constituent principles, on which,  how-
ever, their mutual action and phenomena depend.   But such
of them  as have  not been decomposed are, according to the
just logic of chemistry,  to be deemed elementary for the pre-
sent ;  and, in the stage  to which it is now advanced,  a  clear
and accurate  demonstration of their properties necessarily
forms the basis of the science.  By considering these pro-
perties, first separately, and next in combination, a know-
ledge is  acquired of the most  complicated phenomena, not
only with most facility and precision, but also  with  the ad-
vantage of having constantly in our view  the effects  of pro-
portion and temperature, those predominating agents of all
chemical changes.
   Influenced, doubtless, by such considerations, the  profes-
sor of chemistry first deems it  proper  to point out  the ac-
tive powers impressed generally upon matter,  and then dis-
criminates and  exemplifies the nature  of chemical  action.
The laws of affinity are followed by those of repulsion, and
the forms of  this power in electricity, galvanism,  caloric,
light, receive all  the consideration necessary for demonstrat-
ing its most important  phenomena during the production  of
chemical combinations.
   The most simple  confineable  substance, and at the  same
time  the most powerful chemical agent, comes next under
examination, and the student is made  acquainted with oxygen.
Conformably to the mode adopted  in this course, are first
shown the combinations of  oxygen with simple inflammable
substances, the newly-discovered metals being selected for
the first example.  The metals have a  primary interest for
the persons who chiefly frequent those lectures, and at the
same time this subject  connects the  finest discoveries of the
moderns with the most improved part of ancient chemistry. 
(34)
 But a principal motive with the professor for the early intro-
 duction of this part of the matter of his  lectures, and the
 adoption of this arrangement, arises from its reserving a great
 portion of the interest of pneumatic experiments to be dif-
 fused over the remoter  parts of his  course, when, perhaps
 the application of his auditors  begins to slacken,  and  they
 have most need of being amused while they are instructed.
   The consideration of the newly-discovered  metals neces-
 sarily brings on that of the alkalis and earths,  but  though  it
 is shown that these are metallic oxydes, yet since they  have
 strong peculiarities,  and are extremely active in their chemi-
 cal agencies, it is thought advisable to preserve in some  mea-
 sure the ancient distinction, and consider them as a separate
 order in their povrer of neutralizing acids, and forming saline
 compounds.
   Ammonia  is connected with the metallic oxydes by com
 taining oxygen, and is strictly connected with the alkalis by
 its properties ; at the same  time that, from  the nature  of
 its compound base,  it introduces the  consideration  of other
 simple substances.   These are nitrogen and hydrogen, of
 which the examination naturally succeeds.
   The union of oxygen with nitrogen forms atmospheric air,
 of which the  chemical and physical properties are now inves-
 tigated.  A  varied  proportion of the same elements  pro-
 duces other important combinations, such as the nitrous ox-
yde and the nitric acid, &c.  The constituent principles of
 the metallic, alkaline, and  earthy nitrates having been hi-
therto examined, the combinations themselves are at this pe-
 riod easily understood.
   The union of oxygen with hydrogen forms water, and wa-
ter is again resolved  into its elements by various processes
of nature  and  art.    These important phenomena are de-
tailed ; the nature of congelation, fluidity, vaporization,  and
latent heat is then fully developed. 
(35)
  The  union  of  oxygen  with carbone,  sulphur,  phospho
rus, &c  is productive of an highly important class of acids,
and these enter into an equally important order of combina-
tions.  They  now find their place in a connected series.
  After those acids of well known composition are placed
the muriatic, the  fluoric, and boracic acids,  on  the constitu-
tion of which there hang as yet some doubts and uncertainty.
But in all cases their combination with the substances alrea-
dy known is exhibited to the  student.
  The chemical physiology of vegetables opens a different,
a new, and a very interesting  field, as well to the philosophi-
cal chemist as to the student of medicine.   In this, which
may be called the second part of the course, their proximate
principles and combinations are duly considered.
   The  examination of animal substances is reserved to  the
latter part of these lectures.  It takes up the varieties of
animal matter, their chemical properties  and combinations:
It treats of those animal functions which may be illustrated
by chemistry, and it concludes with the spontaneous change*
which animal bodies undergo.

      OF THE GENERAL AGENTS OF CHEMICAL  ACTION.

   Of Chemical Attraction,  and the Laws of Chemical
                         Changes.
   Of Repulsion.—Electrical repulsion and attraction,  and
their relation  to chemical changes ; galvanic  repulsion  and
attraction, and their relation to chemical  changes ;  calorific
 repulsion ;  temperature and  the instruments for  measuring
it; expansion by caloric; specific caloric of bodies;  quan-
 tity of caloric evolved by combustion ; the motion and com-
munication of caloric;  the temperature of the atmosphere.
   Of Light,  and  its  operation iu  producing  chemical
changes. 
( 36)
   Of Oxygen, and its combination with simple  inflamma-
 ble bodies.—1st. With the metals that produce alkalis.
   With Potassium.—Methods of obtaining potassium ; pro-
 perties of potassium;  hydrat of potassa; subcarbonate ofpo-
 tassa; methods of obtaining the hydrat and subcarbonate; ex-
 perimental proofs of the properties of potassium and potasia.
   With Sodium.—Methods of obtaining sodium ;  properties
 of sodium; pure  soda;  hydrat of soda;  oxyde of sodium;
 subcarbonate of  soda and their properties.
   2d. The combination of oxygen  with the metals that pro-
 duce aIkaliiie earths.
   With  Barium.—Methods of obtaining barium ; baryta and
 hydrat of baryta;  methods of obtaining  hydrat of baryta;
salts of baryta; barytic mixtures.
   With Calcium.—Methods of obtaining calcium ; proper-
 ties of calcia and hydrat of calcia;  causticity ;  preparation
 of mortar and cements;  calcareous mixtures.
   With Magnesium.—Method of obtaining magnesia ; pro-
 perties of magnesia: salts of magnesia ; magnesian mixtures.
   With  Aluminum.—Method of obtaining alumina; proper-
 ties of alumina;  gems, pottery, porcelain,  chinaware; alu-
 minous mixtures.
   With  Silicum.—Method of obtaining silica ; properties of
 silica ; glass ; silicious mixtures.
   With  Strontium.
   With  Zircanium.
   With  Itlrium.
   With  Glucinum.
   3d. Of the  combination of oxygen  with the metals that
produce oxydes.
   Oxyde of Manganese, gray, black—Mineralogical history
of manganese ; analysis of the ores  of  manganese;  proper-
 ties and  uses  of the oxyde  of manganese;  method of ob-
 taining manganese. 
(37)
   Oxyde of Zinc, calamine.—Mineralogical history of zinc $
analysis of ores of zinc ; methods of obtaining zinc; proper-
ties and economic uses of zinc;  medicinal uses of the oxyde
and salts of zinc.
   Oxyde of Tin, tin stone, wood-tin ore.'—Mineralogical his-
tory of  tin;  analysis of ores of tin; method of  obtaining
tin;  properties and economic uses of tin; medicinal dseB of
tin.
   Oxyde of Iron ; magnetic iron stone, magnetical pyrites,
loadstone, specular iron ore, hematites.—Mineralogical histo-
ry of iron; sulphurets of  iron ; carburets  of iron ; argilla-
ceous iron  ores ;  analysis of ores of iron ; properties of iron;
properties of steel;  method of  converting  iron into steel;
economic uses of iron and steel; medicinal uses and prepara-
tions of iron.
   Oxyde of Copper, mountain blue.—Mineralogical history
of copper ; analysis of ores of  copper; properties of  cop-
per ; economic uses  of copper;  medicinal preparations and
salts of copper.
   Oxyde of  Lead, red-lead ore.—Mineralogical history of
lead; analysis of ores of lead ; method  of obtaining lead;
properties of lead; medicinal preparations of lead.
   Oxyde of Antimony, the gray ore.—Mineralogical history
•f antimony;  analysis of  ores  of antimony; properties  of
antimony;  medicinal preparations of antimony.
   Oxyde of Bismuth, bismuth ocftre.—Mineralogical history
of bismuth; analysis of ores of bismuth; properties of bis-
muth ; medicinal preparations of bismuth.
   Oxyde of Cobalt, black cobalt ore.—Mineralogical histo-
ry of cobalt; analysis of ores of cobalt; properties of cobalt;
economic uses of cobalt.
   Oxyde of Mercury, native.—*Mineralogical history of mer-
cury ;  analysis of ores of mercury; properties of mercury ;
                            E 
                         (38)

 medicinal preparations of mercury; method of detecting
 mercurial poisons ; economic uses of mercury.
   Oxyde of Silver, calciform silver ore.—Mineralogical his-
 tory' of silver; extraction of silver ; analysis of ores of sil-
 ver ; properties of silver; silvering; plating ; method of se-
 parating silver from copper; medicinal preparations of sil-
 ver.
   Gold—Mineralogical history of gold; analysis of ores of
 gold ;  properties of gold ;  gilding ;  plating;  cupellation;
 medicinal preparations of gold.
   Platina.—Mineralogical history of platina; properties
 and uses of platina; method of obtaining pure platina.
   Tellurium.—Mineralogical history of, &c.  The same of
 Nickel; Uranium; Osmium; Tungsten; Titanium;  Co-
 lumbium; Cerium; Palladium;«Jmdwm; Rhodium.
   4th. Of the combination of oxygen with the metals that
 produce acids.
   Oxyde  of Arsenic, native.—Mineralogical history of ar-
 senic ; analysis of ores of  arsenic ; properties  of arsenic;
 method of detecting arsenical poison; medicinal preparations
 of arsenic.
   Oxyde  of Chrome.—Mineralogical history of chrome J
 analysis of ores  of chrome; properties of chrome; chrc-
 mates.
  Molybdena, &c.
  Of Oxygen in combination with hydrogen  and nitro-
gen.
  Ammonia.—Methods of obtaining ammonia; properties
of ammonia.
  Of Oxygen in combination with  nitrogen o»%.~Atmos-
pbericair; analysis of; its chemical and physical properties J
nitrous gas;  nitrons oxyde; nitric acid;  eudiometry;  ni-
trates. 
(39)
  Of Oxygen with hydrogen only.—Water,  in the state of
ice ; in the fluid state ; in the state of gas.
  Of Oxygen  in  combination with carbon.—Carbonic ox-
yde : carbonic acid ; carbonates.
  Of Oxygen in combination with sulphur.—Sulphurous ox-
yde ; sulphurous acid; sulphuric acid;  sulphates; sulphites;
sulphurets ; sulphuric aether.
  Of Oxygen in  combination with  phosphorus.—Phospho-
rus acid;  phosphoric  acid ; phosphates;  phosphites; phos-
phurets.
  Of Hydrogen, and its  combination with simple inflam-
mables.
  Of Hydrogen in combination with carbon.—Olefiant gas;
carburated hydrogen.
   Of Hydrogen in dfilflfeination with sulphur.—Sulphurated
hydrogen;  hydrosulphurets; ..supersulphurated  hydrogen,
and its compounds.
   Of  Hydrogen in  combination with phosjfhorus.—Phos^
phorated  hydrogen gas.
   Of Muriatic Acid.—Muriates ; metallic, alkaline, earthy.
   Of Chlorine.—Hyperoxy muriates; alkaline, ear thy pleach-
ing.
   Of Fluoric Acid.—Fluates ;  metallic, akahne,  earthy.
   Of Boracic Acid.—Borates;  metallic, alkaline, earthy.
        Of the Chemical Physiology of Vegetables.
  ■ Of Vegetation.—Germination;  the food of plants;  mo-
tion of the sap; functions of the leaves.
   Of the proximate principles of Vegetables.—Of gum;  of
fecula; sugar; honey; gluten;  gelatine; caoutchouc;  bird-
 lime; wax;  fixed oil; volatile oil;  camphor;  resin;  gum-
 resin; balsam; extract.
   Of Tannin.—- Preparation of tannin; combination of tannin
 with  gelatin;—tanning;—with alkalis;  with  earths;  with
 exydes;  with acids; species of tannin. 
                         (40)

   Of Gallic Acid___Preparation of gallic acid; propertiet
of gallic acid; gallates.
   Of Prussic Acid.—Preparation of prussic acid; proper-
ties of prussic acid; prussiates.
   Of Citric Acid.—Preparation of citric acid ; properties
of citrid acid; citrates.
   Of Malic Acid.—Preparation of malic acid; properties
of malic acid; malates.
   Of Oxalic Acid.—Preparation of oxalic acid; properties
of oxalic acid; oxalates.
   Of Tartaric Acid.—Preparation of tartaric acid ; proper-
ties of tartaric acid; tartrites.
   Of Acetic A cid.—-Preparation of acetic acid; properties
of acetic acid; medicated vinegars; acetites; acetic aether.
   Of the formation of Animal Substances, and of Animal
Products.—Of the blood; of the chyle ; of the lymph, sa-
liva,  pancreatic and gastric fluids; of the bile and biliary
calculi; of urine,  urea, and urinary calculi;  of  fibrin; of
akin,  celular fibre, membrane, tendon, ligament,  cartilage,
bone, and shell.                             ,
   Of the Functions of Animals.—Of digestion; of respira-
tion ; of assimilation; of the decomposition of animal bodies.
   The Lectures on  Chemistry are delivered four times a
week throughout the session.

                   NATURAL  HISTORY.

   The  subjects  of this extensive course are divided by
Professor Mitchill into distinct heads, after the following
arrangement: He begins with the history of the earth, as a
planet or integrant portion of the universe.   I. It is divided
into four parts :  I. Cosmogony, embracing the doctrines re-
lative to the origin of the world.  2. Geognosy, or the ac-
count of the changes it Jias undergone in the chaotic states 
t  41  )
during the deluge, and since that event.  Its  constituent
parts viewed under five divisions ; (a) Primaval, or such as
were formed at the creation, or deposited from chaos imme-
diately after, such as syenite, topaz-rock, quartz-rock, primi-
tive flint, slate granite, gneiss, micaceous slate,  argillaceous
slate, serpentine,  with primitive lime-stone, gypsum, and
trapp.  (o) Transition, or such as were formed when a fur-
ther subsidence from the  original medley of things took
place, of which, transitionrlime-stone and trapp, gray wacke,
flinty slate, and transition  gypsum, are examples :  (c) Flat
or  secondary,  to  wit, sand stone, low stratified  lime-stone,
gypsum and trapp, rock-salt, chalk, and  coal : (d) Alluvial,
formed more recently still by settlement from water, consti-
tuting the bottoms of valleys and level spaces between moun-
tains, as well as the chief constituents  of widely extended
plains, (e) Volcanic, or the products of subterraneous fire,
comprehending lava, slag,  ashes, scoriae, #c.  In  this ar-
rangement, he  follows the system of the distinguished Ger-
man, Professor Werner.   He is a firm Neptunian, and ex-
amines at great length, the operation of water in giving con-
figuration of the gjlbbe.  3.  Mineralogical Chemistry, or an
explanation o^ the properties of matter,  attractive and re-
pulsive,  by ifhrch its different forms and modifications are
effected.   4* Physical Geography, or an account of the ac-
tual condition of the globe, as to land and water, mountain
and valley, continent and island, mine and surface.  This
section of the  course is denominated Geology.
  II. The history of  light, as the most copious of created
existences, and occupying the widest space in the universe.
It is considered as a body rendered fluid by means of beat or
caloric, like other bodies, and like them, giving out  its heat
on its decomposition.  A review  is given of the modern dis-
coveries by  Bancroft, Herschell, Hitter, and  Wollaston,
rendering it necessary to enlarge  and reform  the doctrines 
(42 j
 uf Newton, and inclining him  to  the  belief,  that  the  sun-
 beam  consists  of  two  ingredients,  colour  and  caloric.
 Hence is  deduced a theory of colour and heat as evolved
 from light by its decomposition, and imparting to every thing
 its proper hue and temperature.   White is  considered a
 chemical, and black a mechanical assemblage of all colours ;
 and  Rumford's considerations on the black clothing, furs and
 skins of animals, and on the black coating of other bodies in
 relation to heat, are exhibited to strengthen this argument.
 The analogy between light aud sound is traced,  to show the
 doctrine embraced by some,  that impulse or vibration may
 be of great efficacy in bringing about  the phenomena  of
 light.  This part of the course is termed Photology.
   HI.  Heat is next considered, and its natural history at-
 tempted.   A great source of it  is the sun-beam, or chemical
 compound  of  colour and light.  Another copious source of
 it  is  the oxygenous fluid of the atmosphere, or phos-oxyge-
 hous gas as it ought to be called.   If the sun-beam becomes
 associated  with oxygen, it forms the compound, erroneously
 called  oxygenous air.   It is  really a solution  of oxygen in
 fluid light, and on the  resolution of this compound into its,
 constituent parts, heat, light, oxygen and colour  come forth.
 After considering  the  mechanicaMfend chemical theories of
fire, a preference is given to Pictet's arrangement of the facts
under four  heads, to wit, the free, latent, specific, and fixed
 forms of heat.   Its effects are considered as producing con-
traction, expansion, liquidity, fluidity,  fusion,  and  as  the
great stimulus to vegetable and animal life.   The plutonic
hypothesis  is examined  and rejected.  This branch of the
course  is called Pyrology.
   IV.  The history  of water is the next subject of Profes*
sor Mitchill'8 discussion.  It is the great agent in effecting
the changes the earth has undergone.   The proofs  are sta-
 ted of its having covered the mountains, and of its separation 
                        (43)

from  the materials  with which  it was anciently  blended,
forming thereby the stratification illustrated under the head of
Geology.   Reasons for supposing the waters of  the globe to
have undergone a diminution ; 1. In the formation of crys-
talline bodies ; 2. In the constitution of the atmosphere ; 3.
In the formation of plants ;  and, 4.  In the organization of
animals.  By  these processes,  an immensity of the water
which existed at the flood is  converted into solid forms, and
a correspondent shrinking of the ocean has ensued.  In these
natural and easy ways, is the problem  solved, which the in-
genious Jamieson gives up in despair,  that is, what has be-
come  of the surplus water  that once  deludged the world ?
The primitive inundation having  thus subsided,  the question
is examined, whether the quantity of water is yet diminishing,
as some of the modern philosophers think ; considerations are
offered in favour of such a belief, in consequence whereof,
preparation is making for the final  consummation of terres-
trial affairs by  fire.   Waters apparently  rushed from  the
south, according to Kirwan's doctrine.  Questionable whe-
ther water  can be decomposed  as the fashionable chemists
think,  and whether it is not an element, as the ancients and
Priestley contended.  It is   divisible  into three historical
section.   1. Salt water, such as saline or briny fountains,
the ocean, the Mediterranean, Euxine, Caspian, and Judean
seas ; and the Nitrian and Mexican lakes.   2. Fresh water,
such  as  the fluid of rain,  dew,  snow,  and hail ;  spring or
fountain water;  river water, and  the liquid  of the great
American lakes, as well as of many more inland collections
of water.  3. Mineral water, such as  the acidulous springs
of Ballstown,  cnarged with carbonic  acid ; the sulphureous
springs of  Clifton, in Ontario county,  exhaling hepatic gas,
and deposing brimstone ; the thermous springs of Lebanon,
which  are of a temperature fitting them for an exquisite bath;
the chalybeate springs of many  places in ear granite conn- 
 try.   Tliese inquiries, with a multitude of explanations con-
 cerning tides, currents,  alluvions, and solutions, are distin-
 guished by the title of Hydrology.
   V.  The globe having  been thus viewed, as to its geologi-
 cal structure, the effects wrought upon it by light, heat, and
 colours, and lastly, in respect to the alterations it has sus-
 tained by means  of water, the next view taken of it  relates
 to its atmosphere.  The idea of Lavoisier is here adopted,
 that every thing which the  heat  of its surface can convert
 to air or gas,  ftpkes. a portion  of the sphere of vapours en-
 circling our planet.  The views of Professor Mitchill, re-
 lative to the  atmosphej% with a theory of the winds,  and an
 abundance of other particulars, are summed up under  the
 name of Aerology.
   VI. Mineralogy is the sixth division of the  subject, and
 eomprehends the classification and particular description of
 those substances that were mentioned in a general and com-
prehensive way, under the head of Geology.   On account of
the very  recent  discoveries,  which  have enriched and  en-
nobled science, Professor Mitchill has found himself obliged
to discard the quadruple  arrangement  of minerals, by Berg-
man, into earths, metals, salts, and inflammables.  Although
this  distribution had  received the respectable sanction of
Cronstedt, Magellan, Kirwan, and the  chief of the modern
worthies  who have cultivated an acquaintance with fossils,
yet  its incompatibility with the  present state of facts and
observations  render it absolutely  improper  to  adhere to it
any longer.   That fourfold classification, was the most scien-
 tific  and luminous that had  been  thought of, and was well
 worthy of the fond reception it met with.  But it is now
 time to change it for a better ; for one which is framed and
 erected on the actual relations of minerals, as now under-
 stood.  The  arrangement he  proposes is grounded on his
 own views of this  department of knowledge,  and on  the 
   ,                   ?   ( 45 )
  penetrating discoveries of Professor Davy.  The prominent
  features of these joint  and concurring testimonies are, the
  relations which mineral, and especjally metallic bodies, have
  to  Phlogiston, and  to Oxygen: to  which  may  be aaded,
  their relations to Sulphur, to each other, and to Acids.
    1. The first class comprehends minerals, as combined with
  phlogiston,  (or hydrogen.)  Among these are the metals in
  their reduced state, as it is termed; that is, the one in which
  they possess splendour, malleability, and ductility: sulphur,
  in its ordinary condition; coal, when |inoriing* flame as it
  consumes ; phosphorus, when burning with blaze :  among the
  metals, it is proper to observe, thai-potash, soda, ammoniac,
  lime, barytes, magnesia,  alumine, and silex, are reckoned, as
  well as the substances heretofore ranked as metals.
   2.  In  the second class are contained minerals, as combin-
  ed with oxygen.  All metallic oxyds and acids are compre-
  hended in this division ;  such as those of lead, iron, &c. as
  commonly received,   and  likewise, the alkaline  salts and
 earths, argillaceous and  siliceous earths, &c. in their states
 wherein they commonly exist, making the principal and solid
 materials of the globe.   Modern science  has demonstrated
 that these are chiefly  metallic oxyds.  The oxyds of car-
 bone come under this  head ; including all the modifications
 of incombustible coal.
   3. Minerals united  to sulphur, make the  third class; con-
 stituting  all manner of pyrital  combinations ;  all sulphurs
 and  sulphurets ; and in short, every  one  of the numerous
 combinations, denominated  Ores, by  intervention of brim-
 stone.
   4.  Amalgams and Alloys form the fourth class of mineral
 bodies.  They  comprehend all the mixtures of metallic sub-
 stances with each other.  Thus glass is an alloy of two me-
 tals,  potash and flint;  stone-ware an alloy of clay, flint, and
Tfon, under other modifications; and the like applies to bricks:
                            f 
                        (46)

tiles, and other mixtures, heretofore deemed earths, but now
shown to be metals.   All the alloys of the metals, as usually
understood, such  as  the mixtures of gold and silver, &c<
with  copper, mercury &c. come under this head, of course.
   5. Minerals, as  related to acids,  make a fifth class.  Of
these, the acetates of lead and copper, forming the saccha-
rum saturni, and  verdigris  of the shops, are examples;  as
are also the sulphates of iron, zinc, lime, barytes, soda, pot-
ash, and in short the  entire section of the salia acido-metal-
lica.
   VII.  Botany is the next division of this course.   It comr
prises all  the  vegetables which overspread the face of the
earth, under two great aspects.   1.  Their history as indivi-
duals of the animated creation, including their origin from
seeds and germs, through the whole of their increase to their
inflorescence and fructification, and the formation of seeds
and germs again.  This comprehends their anatomical, phy-
siological,  pathological, and economical character and uses.
2.  Their  Classification ; which being explained according to
the Sexual or Linnsean arrangement, is too well understood
to be here enlarged upon.  In his illustrations of this part of
the course, the professor avails himself of the advantages af-
forded by the State Botanic Garden.
   VIII. In his Zoology,  Professor Mitchill follows the
plan of Cuvier, as explained and detailed by Dumeril.  The
distribution of the animal race into the nine classes of Mam-
malia, birds,  reptiles, fishes, molluscas,  Crustacea, insects,
worms, and zoophytes,  seemed preferable to any other, be-
cause it embraces both their anatomical  structure and their
external characters.   For,  by thus seizing all the points of
resemblance which the outward form and inward organization
afford, animals of  similar natures may be grouped together ;
while by  noting  all  the circumstances of discrimination,
that  external and internal  marks present, the creatures of
dissimilar configuration and  appearance may be kept asunder. 
(47)
 In this copious and fertile field of discussion, the human race
 is  considered.   He  distributes  the single  species,  man, as
 descended from the first original pair, into six races:  1. The
 Caucasian or  European.   2.  Hyperborean or Laplander.
 3.  The Mongol or Tartar.   4. The American; that is, the
 South American.  5. The Malay or Philippine; and 6. The
 Ethiopian or Negro.   As to the Aborigines of North Ame-
 rica, he considers them as composed chiefly of two races ;
 the Hyperborean, No. 2. which came in by  the route of
 Greenland, and the arctic regions from the east:  and of the
 Tartar, No. 3. which entered  by the way  of  Alaska, from
 the west.   And he  supposes  that  the  genuine  American
 form and feature, are only to be found in the south.
   IX.  The  ninth and last division of this course, is termed
 Uranology.   As in the  former  sections, terrestrial objects
 are treated of at great length; so in this, it is intended to ex-
 hibit what is  known of the Heavens.  It is comprehended
 tinder three  heads, to wit: 1. The history of the Coperni-
 can system ; comprehending the sun, the planets, satellites,
 asteroids, and comets :  2.  An account of the sidereal sys-
 tem, or  of the fixed  stars which constitute  the celestial fir-
 mament, of  worlds innumerable,  distributed through immea*
 surable space,  according  to Herschell's researches :  and, 3.
 The way in  which stars were, among the  pastoral tribes of
 Asia, parcelled into constellations ; and particularly how, for
 the purpose  of tracing and describing in a clearer  manner
 the sun's course along the ecliptic, the zodiac was invented.
 Dr. Mitchill  concludes with the  history of the  twelve
 signs ; and professes  his endeavour to  infuse in his dis*
 courses,  as much as he possibly can,  of the spirit which ani-
mates  the writings of Ray, Derham, Smellie, Fontenelle,
Pluche, and Saint Pierre.
  The  Lectures on  Natural History, commence the be-
ginning  of May, and  are delivered  daily for nearly three
months. 
(48)
            CHARTER OF THE COLLEGE.
   Khsreas since the establishment of the College  of Physi-
 cians and Surgeons, of this state, by charter, dated  March the
 twelfth, one thousand eight hundred and seven, it has been found
 necessary at several times to alter and  amend the said charter;.
 And whereas it has now  become expedient for the better govern-
 ment of the said College to collect into one, the original and supple-
 mentary charters, and to amend the same so as to give greater sta-
 bility and  respectability to that institution; Therefore be it ordain-
 ed, by virtue of the act,  entitled, " An Act to enable the Regents
 of the University to establish  a College of Physicians an©
 Surgeons  within  this state," passed the 24th of March, 1791, and
 we do by these  presents ordain,  giant, and declare, That all such
 persons named  in the origiual charter, who  did, according to  aa
 ordinance passed by us the Regents of the University of the state
 of New-York on  the 3d day of March, 1808, declare in writing,.
 (on or before the first day of May, iu the year 1808,) their accept-
 ance of the appointment of member or trustee of the said College;
 and that they would each of them, to the best of their  abilities, en-
 deavour to promote the usefulness of the said College,  and faith-
 fully execute the duties required  of them respectively as members
 or trustees  of the said College, together with Samuel Bard, Ben-
jamin  De  Witt, John Augustine Smith, David Hosack,  William
 James M'Neven, Samuel  L.  Mitchell, John  D. Jaques,  Thomas
 Addis Emmet,  Jjyman  Spalding, Andrew Morton, Andrew Hunt,
 and Joseph Bloodgood, be, and hereby are constituted a body cor-
 porate and politic, iu fact and in  name, by the name of the " Col-
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons iu the city of New-York.v
 And that they and their successors shall have perpetual succession
 and  by  that name  shall be in law capable to sue and be sued, plead,
 and be  impleaded,  answer and be answered unto, defend and bft
 defended in all courts  and places, and in all matters and  causes
 whatsoever; aud  to purchase,  take,  hold, aud enjoy,  and have
 lands, tenements and hereditaments, and real  estate in  fee  simple,
 or for term of years, or lives, or any other manner whatsoever; and
 also  goods, chattels, books, money and all other tilings of what na- 
(49)
iure soever:  Provided always, that such estate, as well real as per-
sonal, which the said College is and hereby are authorized to hold,
shall not exceed the sum of one  hundred and fifty thousand dol-
lars, current money of this state;  and that the members or trustees
of the said College  shall have a common seal, and may  alter and
renew the same at  pleasure.   And be it further ordained, granted,
and declared, that  Samuel Bard,  Benjamin De Witt, John Augus-
tine  Smith,  David Hosatk, William James  M'Ncrcn, Samuel L.
Mitchill, JohnD. Jaques, Thomas Addis Emmet, Lyman Spalding,
Andrew Morton, Andrew Hunt, and  Joseph Bloodgood, and  such
other persons as we or our successors may hereafter appoint,  pro-
vided the whole number shall  not at any time exceed twenty-five,
shall be trustees  of the said  College of Physicians and  Sur-
geon-s, and that a majority of their whole number at any time re-
sident iu  the city of New-York, shall form a quorum for  the trans-
action of  business, and shall  aud  may meet together  on the first
Tuesday in May, and on the first Tuesdays in August, Novem-
ber  and February in every year,  and that on the days of these an-
niversary and quarterly meetings, but at no other time,  they,  the
said trustees, may enact such by-laws, rules and regulations relative
to the affairs and property  of the said College, and relative to the
duties of their president, vice-president, professors, treasurer,  re-
gistrar, aud  other members as they, or a majority of them so met at
such annual or quarterly meetings, may think fit and proper: Pro-
vided, that such by-laws, rules and regulations be not  contrary to,
or inconsistent with the constitution  and laws of this state  or  the
United States; and such  by-laws, rules, and regulations, having
first received our consent and approbation, and confirmation, shall
be and remain the  by-laws, rules, and regulations by which  the
said College shall be governed, and shall not be annulled, abro-
gated, or repealed but by and with the consent of  the majority of
the trustees of the said College, and by and with  the approbation
of us the said  Regents.  And  the Registrar of the said College
shall provide a book in which he shall make an  entry of all  the
resolutions and proceedings which may be had from time to time,
sad also the aaotial  reports  relative to the state of the treasury
37JJ7V 
                            (50)

 and all such other things as a majority of the trustees of the  Cok
 lege assembled, shall think proper;  to which any member of the
 College may at any time have recourse: and the same, together with
 all books, papers,  and records which may be in the hands of the
 registrar, and be the property of the College, shall be delivered  to
 his successor iu office.   And the treasurer of the said College shall
 receive and be accountable for all monies which shall come into his
 hands,  and shall pay the same in such-manner as may be directed
 by a majority of the board of trustees, convened at their anniver-
 sary or quarterly meetings, and by a warrant for that purpose sign-
 ed by the  president or vice-president.   And be it  hereby further
 ordained, granted, and declared by us, that the trustees of the said
 College shall, as far as  they are able at all times, provide suitable
 apartments or lecturing rooms for all  such professors as shall here-
 after be appointed by us in and for  the said College,  which  Pro-
 fessors shall have the stile and  title of Professors of the University
 of the state of New-York, for the College of  Physicians  and
 Surgeons :  and that all the members of the said College shall be
 privileged  at all times  to attend, inspect, and notice  all lectures
 or other modes of teaching by Professors  in the said College, ap-
 pointed by us ,* aud that in case of the death, or resignation of any
 professorship, or other vacancy in the said College, a majority  of
 the trustees, at  any of their meetings, may  appoint lecturers in any
 branch of medicine, or of the sciences couuected therewith, until
 such time as our pleasure be known respecting the same, or a pro-
 fessor be appointed by  us.   And be it hereby further ordained,
granted, aud  declared,  that the board of trustees  of the said Col-
 lege, as well as the subordinate board of President and Professors,
shall carry and put  into effect  all  our ordinances respecting the
said College, as well with respect to education as all other matters
 and things, and shall  pay due attention to establishing and  pre-
serving,  for the use of the said College,  an anatomical museum,
chemical apparatus, and  botanical garden, and shall make an an-
nual report to us in writing, or to the Chancellor of the  University,
in the month of January, in every year, respecting  the funds aud
property cf the said  College,  aud all  matters and  things relative 
(51)
to the said College and the Students aud Professors thereof.  And
be it further ordained, That the President or Vice-President, or in
the absence  of both, the senior Professors,  and any three of  the
trustees,  may at any time call a meeting of the trustees of the said
College  for the  transaction  of ordinary business, by giving in
writing, to each trustee, who shall be  in the city of New-York,
three days notice of the time  and place of holding the said  meet-
ing ; and that five of the said trustees so met, (of which the Presi-
dent, Vice-President, or senior Professor shall always be one,) shall
be a quorum. And be itfurther ordained, That Sa?nuel Bard, M. D.
shall be President  of the said College; and that Benjamin  De
Witt, M. D.  shall be Vice-President;  and  that  John Augustine
Smith, M. D. shall be Professor of Anatomy, Surgery, and Physi-
ology ;  and that  David Hosack, M. D.  shall be Professor of the
Theory  and Practice  of  Physic and  Clinical  Medicine;  and
that William Janus M'Nevcn, M. D. shall be Professor of Chemis-
try ; and that Samuel L. Mitchill, M. D. shall be  Professor of Na-
tural History;  and that JohnD. Jaques, shall be  Treasurer; and
that John W. Francis, M. D.  shall be Registrar of the said College,
and accordingly they are hereby respectively  appointed to  the
stations and offices as annexed to their uames.  And ?ve do further
ordain, give, and grant  to the said College, that we will constitute
aud appoint no new  Professorship in the said College, or abrogate
or annul any of the present Professorships, nor remove either of the
Professors of the said College now appointed or to be hereafter ap-
pointed, until  notice shall have been given to the board of trus-
tees of such intended new appointment, or abrogation, or to the per-
son intended to be removed, of such intended removal, at least  one
month before such intention  shall be carried into effect.   And be
it furtlicr ordained, That it shall be the duty of the President  and
Professors of the University  for  the  College of Physicians
and Surgeons,  at  any ordiuary meetings appointed for that ex-
press purpose, and of which  meeting the  trustees of the  said Col-
lege shall  have notice and may attend, to examine all candidates
for the degree  of Doctor of Medicine iu the said College, and to
recommend from time to time  such students as a  majority of  the
trustees present shall deem  qualified and worthy to receive  the 
                          (52)

degree of Doctor of Medicine.  And the Regents do hereby give
and grant to the said College,  that they will take iuto considera-
tion the propriety of granting diplomas, for conferring the degree
of Doctor of Medicine upon  such students as  shall be so recom-
mended,  and to none other of the students of the said College.
Finally,  We do ordain, grant, and declare, that-the said tustees,
fellows, and  members of the  College of Physicians and Sur-
geons in  the city of New*-York, and their successors forever, shall
enjoy all the corporate rights, privileges, and immunities which are
hereby granted: And that the by-laws, ordinances, and regulations
heretofore passed by us, aud ordained, and which not having been
repealed, and which are not repealed by this charter, but are now
in force, shall continue to be the by-laws, ordinances, and regula-
tions for the government of the said  College, uutil they  shall be
repealed, or new ones ordained, according to the  tenor and ordi-
nances of this charter; and all other laws, ordinances, and regula-
tions, and ail former charters or supplementary charters granted by
us to the  said College of Physicians and Surgeons are hereby
repealed.
   And be it further ordained, That the  members of the said Col-
lege, who are not by this charter constituted trustees, shall be Fel-
lows,  and that the trustees shall have power  to  elect fellows or
members  of the  said College, who shall at all times have the privi-
lege of attending all the public  lectures and other courses of  in-
struction  delivered by the Professors  in the said College, and who
shall also have the privilege of visiting and inspecting the anatomi-
cal museum, the botanic garden, the cabinets  of mineralogy  and
natural  history and the libra.y of the said College,  under such
regulations as the trustees shall prescribe for that purpose.
       In testimony whereof,  we have caused our common  seaV
            to be affixed to these presents,  the fourth day  of June,
            in the year of our Lord one thousaud eight hundred
            and twelve.
                  (Signed)      DANIEL D. TOMPKINS,
                                Chancellor of the University.
     !<u. BLOODf.ooD, Secretary. 
 
 
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