DELIYEBES AT THE







OPENING OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT








                   OF THE


















         IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA;








             March  80, 1825.








                     MX







          THOMAS SEWALL, M. D.





       PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
     WASHINGTON CITY.





PRINTED AT THK COLUMBIAN OFFICE,






           1825. 
 
LECTURE, C5C.
Gentlemen :
  The occasion which has called us together, is oue
of high  interest.  The  establishment of a Medical
School,  whether we  consider it as  connected with
the  progress of medical science in times past, or as-
sociated  with  its future advancement,  is  an event
which we cannot regard with feelings of indifference.
  On such an occasion it would seem to be peculiarly
appropriate to direct our attention to the origin of the
science ; to  trace its  progress in  succeeding ages ;
mark the different revolutions it has undergone: and,
particularly, to notice those institutions, individuals,
and events,  by which it has been brought to its pre-
sent state.
  But the subject is too extensive to be embraced
in a single lecture.  I shall therefore  not detain you
with  an account of  the Medical Schools,  or the
great men of  antiquity,  but call your attention, for
a few moments, to a brief sketch  of the  medical 
                        4
history of our own country ; and particularly of those f
institutions, and of those circumstances,  from which
it has derived its principal character.
  On looking  back  upon  the  early history  of our
country, our attention is arrested by  the extraordina-
ry fact, that more than a century and a half elapsed
after its first settlement, before a single institution ex-
isted, either for the  education  of physicians, or the
regulation of the practice of medicine.
  Early  and ample provision was made for the pur-
poses of  general education.  Schools  and Colleges
were  established ;  many  able  politicians,   accom-
plished   civilians,  and  learned divines,  were  pro-
duced ; while scarcely a scientific physician was to be
found, excepting such as had sought an education in
the schools of Europe,  or had emigrated  to this
country from abroad.
  This fact is the  more remarkable, since our ances
tors  must, from repeated  ravages of fatal disease?
among them, have learned the  importance of  educa-
tion, in directing a profession so intimately connect-
ed  with the preservation  of   human life*  Yet.
when we consider the objects for which they  emi-
grated, and the extraordinary  circumstances that  at-
tended them, we shall find a satisfactory explanation,
if not a full apology, for their disregard of medical
science.
                   * See Note A-, 
                          5
   No other colony was  ever planted in a foreign
 country, composed  of individuals of the same cha-
 racter, actuated  by the same motives,  and governed
 by the same policy, as that which first settled Ameri^
 ca.   Our ancestors did not come hither for the  pur-
 poses of monied speculation, or scientific research.
 Neither the love of money, nor the  acquisition  of
 knowledge, could have induced them to separate from
 relatives and friends,   the comforts  of domestic life,
 and civilized society, to encounter the  perils, the la-
 bours, and privations, that awaited them on the hos-
 tile  shores  of a  savage wilderness.   A  zeal more
 pure, and a spirit more elevated, inspired and sus-
 tained them.  It was  the  great master principle of
 religious  liberty  and  religious reformation, that en-
 kindled the  zeal of our  fathers, directed their course,
 and bore them on to this western world.  A  princi-
 ple, the effects of which have descended to  us,  and
 are still visible in every part of our country.
  It is not strange that,  under such circumstances, the
interest of the church should have predominated,  and
have given a  leading  character  to  all their institu-
tions ; while medicine and other branches  of science
were regarded as subordinate objects, and left to be
developed by the future necessities and resources of
the country.
  Other  causes, no doubt,  had an influence in retard-
ing the progress  of medical science,  during the early 
part of our history.  A new country is not favour-
able to the improvement of science, and particularly
to a science which more than any other is founded on
observation and experience.  The general  health
that prevails, the scattered state  of population, and
above all, the poverty which renders it  necessary for
every one to  provide for  his wants  with his  own
hands, while they damp the ardour of  inquiry,  pre-
clude the possibility of accurate and extensive obser-
vation. The depressed state of medical science which
marked the period of the emigration, may be regarded
as another cause that retarded its progress for many
years in this country.
  Our ancestors lived long enough in Europe to im-
bibe something of the genius of their native country,
and the spirit of the age.  This was then a country
whose medicine had scarcely emerged from empiri-
cism, and an age still abounding in superstition.  It
was not to be expected that they should bring  with
them a high respect for a science, or an ardent devo-
tion to its interest, which had been but little cultivated,
and which at that period was extremely limited and
hypothetical. The discovery of  the circulation of the
blood by Harvey, and the course  of the chyle by Ase-
lius and Pequet, had been scarcely promulgated, when
our ancestors embarked for America; and the labours
of the Monros and the Hunters, as well as the improve-
ments of the anatomists, physiologists,  and surgeons 
                        7
of France, which have reflected so much light upon
the  science, were effected  long  after this period.
Nor was it till since our ancestors left Europe, that
the great medical schools of Edinburgh,  London,
and  Paris, acquired that celebrity, and exerted that
influence on the science, which  has been so exten-
sively experienced through the world during the last
century.
  When we consider, then, the object  for which our
ancestors emigrated to America; the difficulties they
had to encounter; the state  of the country to which
they came ;  and,  above all, the depressed state of
medical science  throughout Europe at  the time, it is
easy to explain their disregard of medical education,
and its slow  progress for many years that followed.
  From the scanty records which contain the medical
history of America, we are left in doubt with respect
to the exact state of  the science,  for a  considerable
time after its  settlement. We are informed by the fewr
scattered fragments of history which are  left us, as
well as by tradition, that our early divines, in imita-
tion of the ancient priests of Egypt, of Greece, and
Rome, united with their clerical profession the prac-
tice of medicine.  A  venerable   and  distinguished
physician* of New-England, now living on the spot
where the pilgrims of Plymouth first landed, says, in
a letter received on  this subject,  " That for  many
                 * Dr. James Thacher. 
                        8
years after the first settlement of the country, it was
deemed indispensable  for  clergymen  to  acquire  a
knowledge of practical medicine, to discharge the
duties of piety  and humanity to their suffering bre-
thren ;  and  though they  were not endowed  with
high attainments in medical science, they were, never-
theless, qualified for great usefulness in their respec-
tive  stations.   Altogether unlike the  ignorant em-
pirics of later times, they were actuated by the purest
motives, and  the highest  considerations  of benevo-
lence.   By their amiable manners, zealous attention,
and  pious converse,  they endeared themselves  to
their people,  mutual attachments were formed, and
the fullest confidence reposed in their skill."
   So far were the professions of divinity and medi-
cine  united,  that  the clergy  not  only  prescribed
|br the  sick,  but entered into medical  controver-
sies, and  wrote practical  works on the  diseases of
the country.  The  first medical work published in
America,  was  written by a learned  clergyman of
Boston, and entitled  " A Brief Guide in the Small
Pox  and Measles."  It  was printed in the year
1677*   This was soon followed by the work of an-
other clergyman, which bore the title of  " A Good
Management under the Distemper of the Measles."
   However  proper and  necessary it might  have
been, in the then existing state of the  country, and
under  the peculiar circumstances of the  times, to 
                        9
mingle the two professions; and  although we  must
ever entertain a grateful recollection of these pious
clergymen, for their benevolent offices to the  sick,
as well as for their efforts for the promotion of the
science while in the hands of others ;* it is obvious
that medicine could have been but little advanced by
the desultory and distracted labours of a class of men
occupied with the arduous duties of another  profes-
sion,  and who could have possessed but a very im-
perfect knowledge of the structure and laws of the
animal economy, and of the  nature of disease.  But
the clergy were not the only persons  to whom wag
confided the practice of medicine, even in the earli-
est period of our country.  On the first settlement of
America, a few physicians   came  over with  the
colonists, planted  themselves in the country, and as
far as circumstances admitted, or  occasion required^
devoted themselves  to the  duties  of  their profes-
sion.! But they settled in the principal towns and vil-
lages, extending their labours only in  extreme cases
to the remote parts of the colonies, and among thft
Indian tribes of the country  ;  while, in all ordinary
cases, the great mass of the  community were either
dependent  on the clergy, or compelled to employ
those who were  much less  qualified  to administer
medical aid.
* See Note B.                t s«e Note G- 
                       10
  This state of things, however, did not continue tot
a long time.   As early  as 1638,  Harvard College
tvas founded at Cambridge, in New-England ;  and,
though originally designed to form  young men for
the ministry, and to educate the native Indians of
the country, it was not long before some of its gradu-
ates began to turn their attention to the profession of
medicine.  Several young men of this description,
after studying a suitable time with the most eminent
physicians of  America, repaired to Europe to enjoy
the benefit of  lectures, and finish their education in
the public schools.   The number  was augmented
by the graduates  who came out from William and
Mary College of Virginia, and Yale College in Con-
necticut :  the  former  of  which  was founded in
1691,  and the latter in  1700.  At a later period,
several of the graduates of Princeton College, New-
Jersey, founded in 1746, pursued the same course.
   Thus  were introduced  into America, a number of
well educated physicians,  who were natives of the
country,  besides  several distinguished  European
physicians, who in the mean time had emigrated with
the early settlers.*  Yet the number was so small,
and  the increase so inconsiderable, when compared
with the  rapid progress of the population, that the de-
mand for medical practitioners could not be supplied.
                    * See Note D. 
                        11
   in those days it was  not uncommon for  a skilfu
 surgeon to ride one  and even two hundred miles, to
 amputate  a limb,  or reduce  a dislocated shoulder,
 while patients for more difficult operations were com-
 pelled to cross the Atlantic; and at this period fe-
 males were the only accoucheurs of the country. No
 medical schools for the education of physicians had
 been established; and such a thing  as  a respectable
 medical library did not exist.  The works of Syden-r
 ham,  Boerhaave,  Van  Swieten,  Mead,  Brooks,
 Huxham, Cowper, Keill, Douglass, Heister, Ledran,
 and Lewis, were almost  the only authors that were
 known or studied in America; and these were seldom
 found in the same collection.
  Such was the general state of medical science in
 America, for more than a century and a half  after its
 first settlement; and if any exceptions  to it existed,
 they were only to  be met with in the  larger towns
 and cities, where, from the density of the population,
 and  the  greater number  of physicians,  a spirit of
 emulation was excited, occasions of professional inter-
 course increased, and more extensive  opportunities
 enjoyed for reading and observation,
  But  a new  era was about to  commence.   The
 science had already begun to revive in Europe, and
 to present a new aspect.  In 1719 the foundation of
the great medical  school  of Edinburgh was  laid by
 the  elder Monro; medical instruction  in  London 
                       l'Z
was elevated by the genius and industry of William
and John  Hunter;  the University of Leyden was
brought into high repute  by the labours of Boer-
haave ; and the medical schools of France began to
assume a new  character.   The spirit of improve-
ment reached America ; and  our physicians, while
they felt  its influence, perceived  the necessity  of
adopting measures to check the progress of quackery
and empiricism, which threatened to overspread the
country.   But they  saw that nothing could be done
without instituting measures  for the  medical educa-
tion of a greater number  of  our young  men,  than
enjoyed the means, or possessed the inclination,  to
resort to Europe.  The  establishment of  medical
schools presented the only rational prospect of ac-
complishing so  desirable an object.
  Among the various means which have been adopt-
ed for  the education of young men to the practice of
physic, medical schools  and  public  lectures  have
ever been regarded  as the most important, and  their
utility has been  sanctioned by every age. These insti-
tutions are almost coeval with  the first dawning of
medical science ; and have been established in almost
every  populous city  in  the  civilized world.    In
Egypt,  in ancient Greece  and Rome, in  the princi-
pal cities of Spain, in Italy, in France, Germany, and
Holland ; and,  in the last century, in  the larger cities
of Great Britain ; and wherever they  have  been 
                       13
established and flourished, medical science has been
elevated, quackery has vanished, and regular physi-
cians have commanded consideration and respect.
These facts our physicians had learned  and appre-
ciated ; and a few of them, who had visited the cele-
brated schools of Europe, and whose spirits had been
fired by the example of the great masters  of that day,
were anxious that something should be done in their
native country.   No attempt, however, was made to
establish a medical school  in America, until 1765.
  Previous to this period,  and  as early as  17^0, the
body of Hermanus Carroll, a criminal who had been
executed  for murder,  was dissected  in  the city of
New-York, by Dr. John Bard and Dr. Peter Mid-
dleton, two of the most eminent physicians of that
day, and  the blood vessels injected, for  the instruc-
tion of the young men then engaged in the  study of
medicine; and this, says our celebrated countryman,
Dr. Hosack, was the first essay made  in the United
States  for the purpose of  imparting medical know-
ledge, by the dissection of the human body, of which
we have any record.
  Six years after this,  viz. in 17^6, a course of lec-
tures on Anatomy and  Surgery, accompanied by dis-
sections of the human body,  was delivered  at New-
port, in the State of  Rhode Island,  by  a Doctor
William  Hunter, a distinguished Scotch physician,
who had been educated at the University of  Edin- 
                        M
 burgh.  To these lectures not only the medical stu-
 dents and physicians, but all the literary gentlemen
 of the town, were invited.
   But these efforts to give instruction by dissections
 and lectures were only temporary, and  no plan was
 matured and carried into operation, for instituting a
 regularly organized medical  school, till the one of
 Philadelphia, in 1765.
   The foundation of this school was laid by  the en^
 terprise  and zeal of Drs. Sbippin  and  Morgan.
 These gentlemen were both natives of Philadelphia,
 and of  about  the  same age.  Having completed
 their preparatory education,  and  graduated, Dr.
 Morgan  at  the college  of Philadelphia,  and Dr.
 Shippin  at the college  of New-Jersey,  they both
 commenced the study of medicine in their native city;
 the former  with the  justly celebrated Dr. Redman,
 and the latter with his  father,  then a respectable
 physician of Philadelphia.  After the usual course
 with their private instructers,  they repaired  to Eu-
 rope to complete  their medical studies in the public
 schools.  Shippin first visited London, and  spent a
 considerable time in  the family of John  Hunter ;
 and  it was while enjoying the  instructions  of this
 eminent  teacher,  that he imbibed his  fondness for
 anatomy, and first conceived the  idea of teaching the
 science in America.   He also enjoyed the friendship
of Mr. Hewson, Sir John Pringle, and Dr. Fother- 
15
gill:  the latter of whom took  a deep interest in thtf
improvement of medical  science in  America,  and
presented, through Shippin, a valuable set of  ana-
tomical drawings to the Pennsylvania Hospital, and
particularly  with a view to the founding of a medical
school in connexion with this institution.
  Shippin, after finishing his studies in London, re-
paired to Edinburgh,  where he studied some time
and graduated.   He afterwards  visited France, and
returned to his native country in 1762, with the full
determination of opening a school of anatomy.
  Morgan first visited Europe  in 176O, and after
attending the lectures of William Hunter and others,
in London, he spent two years  in  Edinburgh, and
graduated at that University.   From  Edinburgh he
went to Paris, and passed a whiter in attending the
medical lectures of that city.  He afterwards made;
the tour of Holland and Italy.   On  his return  to
London he was elected  a Fellow of the Royal So-
ciety.   It was while Shippin and Morgan  were  in
Europe that  they concerted the plan  of establishing a
medical school in their native city. Accordingly, Dr.
Shippin, on  his return to America, in 1762, com-
menced a course of lectures on anatomy and midwifery,
accompanied by dissections, to a class of ten students.
  The private lectures of Dr. Shippin were continu-
ed annually, until 1765, at which time Dr. Morgan
returned, united in the enterprise, and laid before the 
                       16
Trustees of the College of Philadelphia a plan for
establishing a  medical school under their auspices.
The plan was adopted ; and Drs. Morgan and Ship-
pin were   soon after  appointed  professors  of the
school.  And thus  was laid the foundation of the
medical school of Philadelphia.   As the school in-
creased in the number of  its pupils, additional pro-
fessorships were created, and different gentlemen ap-»
pointed to fill the chairs. But the school had not been
long in successful operation, when a rival institution
was established, and connected with the University.
   This division of interest, at a time when the field
was scarcely large enough for the support of a single
school, produced  contention  among the  physicians,
and resulted in the mutual injury  of both institutions.
At length, in 1791, the two schools were united, by
combining the talents of both in  the present estab-
lishment.   Since this period the school has been in-
creasing  in the number of its students,  till it has
arisen from ten,  which composed the first class of
Dr. Shippin, to nearly five hundred.  From the most
accurate calculation that can be made, it is computed
that not less than seven thousand young men  have
received instruction within the walls of this school;
and at this time there is scarcely a State, a Territory,
or a District, in the Union, in which there is not one
or more physicians who have attended its lectures.
The  Pennsylvania   Hospital,   and  Philadelphia 
                       47
Almshouse, are connected with the school, to which
the  students are  admitted for clinical instruction.
Such has  been the commencement and progress of
the first medical school founded in America; an insti-
tution which has proved an honour and a blessing to
the country, and a rival of the best schools in Europe.
  The second medical school instituted in America,
is  that of the City of  New-York,  first established
under the charter of King's College,  in 1767> three
years only after that of Philadelphia.  The follow-
ing year the school was opened for medical instruc-
tion, with six professorships, and united the talents
and  learning of  Drs. Clossey,  Jones, Middleton,
Smith, Tennent, and the late  Dr. Samuel Bard, who
were appointed  to fill the chairs.
  The founders of this school were,  no doubt,  ex-
cited to the laudable enterprise, by the important ex-
ample  which had been set them  in  Philadelphia,
and  the  success which had attended the  establish-
ment of a school in that city ;  as well as from a de-
sire to enlarge the sphere of instruction, and extend
the benefits of medical education through the coun-
try.   But their prospects were soon destroyed. The
medical school  of  New-York, thus organized,  and
provided with six eminent professors, was in opera-
tion but a  few  years, before its labours, in common
with those of most other literary  and scientific insti-
tutions of our country, were interrupted by the Revo*
                        C 
                       18
lutionary war ; and it was not till the year 1792 that
they were recommenced.  At  this time  the  school
was reorganized by the Trustees of Columbia  Col-
lege, which bad been known by the style of King e
College, before the Revolution, and a faculty consist-
ing of six professors  appointed to fill the different
chairs.
   After the renovation of the school, it continued to
rise in its character, and increase in the number of
its students, till the year  1806,  at  which time the
Legislature of the State was prevailed upon to grant a
charter to a new College of Physicians. As soon as the
new College was established, and its  professors ap-
pointed, there commenced a spirit of rivalry and com-
petition between the  two schools, which led  to the
most disastrous and unhappy consequences. After a
long and bitter contest between the different parties,
the friends of medical science interfered, and arrested
the progress of the  difficulties  which  had nearly
proved fatal to both institutions.  At length the Re-
gents of the  University,  under the authority of the
Legislature, abolished  the new school which had been
created, and  established the old school upon its pre-
sent foundation,  with  the  style of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons.
   Had the wisdom of the Legislature protected the
medical school first instituted, from the effects of com-
petition, it must, from the peculiar advantages of its 
                        19
 location, as well as from the distinguished talents of
 its professors,  have arrived much earlier to the ele-
 vated rank it at present sustains, if not have proved
 a powerful rival of the school at Philadelphia.
    The school of New-York has six professorships,
 all of which are filled.   The medical  students who
 attended the last  course  of  lectures,  amounted to
 one hundred and ninety.  The school has connected
 with it an  extensive and well arranged Hospital,
 which is opened for the benefit of the students.
    The  medical school  of Harvard College is the
 next in succession, and was established at Cambridge,
 Massachusetts, in  1782; nearly a century and a half
* after the classical  department of the institution had
 been in successful operation.   This school probably
 owes its origin, in some degree,  to the Revolutionary
 war; an event which, though it suspended for a time
 the progress of the two  schools  already  existing,
 seems to have  contributed more to the advancement
 of medical science,  and its general diffusion through
 the country, than almost any other that has occurred
 in our history.
   The formation of an army collected together the
 physicians from every part of the country, promoted
 social intercourse, and opened a new field for medi-
 cal investigation.   Military hospitals were establish-
 ed for the reception of  the sick and  wounded ; new
 forms of disease  were developed ; many important 
                       20
operations in surgery were performed ;  and frequent
opportunities presented for the cultivation of practical
anatomy, to those who had never before witnessed a
dissection.  At the close of the war the physicians and
surgeons returned home, carrying with them the spirit
they had imbibed for medical investigation, together
with the results of  an extensive  experience : and
thus was disseminated through the country, a fund of
practical knowledge, and a taste for medical inquiry,
which was never before known, and  which no other
circumstances could have produced.
  It was soon after the army was encamped at Cam-
bridge, and a military hospital opened  in that town,
that the medical  school of Harvard was first  organ-
ized,  and the  plan laid  for a course of public lec-
tures.  This event seems also to have been hastened
by  the  anatomical  lectures of Dr.  Warren, which
had been  delivered in  Boston the two  preceding
years, and which the students of the University had
liberty  to  attend.   In  the  commencement of this
(school three professorships  were established, and
the late Dr.  Warren,  Dr.   Waterhouse, and Dr.
Dexter, appointed to fill the chairs.  Under this or-
ganization  a course of lectures of about six  weeks'
continuance was given,  annually, for  twenty-eight
years. 
                       21
  Although the school was liberally endowed.* and
possessed some  of the first medical  talents in  the
country,  its success  was extremely limited, and its
influence confined to a narrow sphere, until it was
removed  to  Boston,  in 18IO.  Since  that period it
has been rapidly imorovii g, and at this time is one
of the  most flourishing institutions of the country.
Its professors have been increased to five; and in 1SS4
it had one hundred and thirty students.  The Massa-
chusetts  General Hospital, an  extensive  and well
arranged establishment, has been recently erected, is
opened to the students of the school, and is one of the
best  clinical institutions in the United  States.
  The fourth medical school instituted  in the United
States, is that of Dartmouth College,  at  Hanover,
New-Hampshire ;  established in 1797«
  This  school was  founded by the enterprise  of
Dr. Nathan Smith,  who  at that time had just re-
turned from the University of Edinburgh, where  he
had spent some  time for the completion of his stu-
dies.  In 1798 he was  appointed  sole professor of
the school, and for twelve years gave lectures on the
different branches of medicine, excepting two courses,
in which he was assisted in the department  of  che-
mistry.
  The school  has at this time three professorships ;
and in 1824  the medical  class  amounted  to eighty.
                    * See Note E. 
                       22
An infirmary has  recently been established in con.
nexion with the school, designed particularly for the
instruction of the students.
  This institution, although it was commenced and
continued for a considerable time by the labours of a
single  professor, has  been eminently  useful in dis-
seminating medical science  in a portion  of country
where  but few advantages had previously been en-
joyed,  and has  sent abroad many  valuable physi-
cians and surgeons, and several who have done dis-
tinguished honour to the profession.
  The College  of Medicine  of Maryland,  estab-
lished  at Baltimore, is the fifth medical school  con-
stituted in the country, and was regularly  organized
by an act of the Legislature of that State, in 1807.
  This  school  owes its  origin  to  Dr.  John  B.
Davidge, who, in  1804, commenced a course of lee-
tures in  Baltimore, on midwifery,  to a class of six
students.  The  year following he lectured also on
anatomy and surgery to a class of seven  students 3
and in 1806 to a class of nine  students.
  In 1807  two  eminent  physicians,  Dr. Cocke of
Virginia, and Dr. Shaw of  Maryland, united in the
school,  and .lectures were given  on the different
branches of medicine. The  same year they petition-
ed  the Legislature of Maryland for  a charter.  A
charter was granted, and  the school became regular-
ly organized,  by the style of the College  of Medi- 
                        23
cine of Maryland. In 1810 the Legislature enlarged
the College to a University, and gave power to an-
nex three other Colleges or Faculties to that of Medi-
cine, viz. a Faculty of Divinity, a Faculty of Law,
and a  Faculty of  Arts and Sciences ; and  ordered
that the  four Colleges, or Faculties,  be styled the
University  of Maryland.
  Since  the last act of the Legislature, the medical
department of the  University, by the influence and
zeal of its  distinguished founder, and the labours of
other eminent teachers, has been rapidly rising into
importance, and at the present  time is one of the
most respectable  institutions in  the  country.   An
infirmary has  been recently erected, in connexion
with the school, for the purpose of clinical instruc-
tion. There are seven professorships;  and in 1824-5
the class was composed of two  hundred and fifteen
regular pupils.
  Besides the five  medical schools embraced in the
preceding account, a number, of more recent date,
have been instituted in different parts of the  United
States; but time will  not allow a detail of their in-
dividual history.   A  notice of the period at which
they were respectively established,  with a brief ac-
count of the present condition of each, will sufficient-
ly show the rapid progress medical science and edu-
cation are making  in our country. 
                       24
  In the year 1812, the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of the  Western  District of the  State  of
New-York,  was instituted  by the  Regents of the
University of the State, and placed under the direc-
tion ofa Board of Trustees.  The year following, the
school was organized by the Trustees, and brought
into  operation witii  five professorships.  In 1824-5,
the medical class was composed of  one hundred and
twenty students.
  In the year 1813, the Medical School of Yale
College was instituted under the charter of that semi-
nary, and established at New Haven, Connecticut
This school has five professorships.  The number of
medical students who attended the  last course of lec-
tures, was eighty-two.
   In 1818, the Medical College of Ohio was estab-
lished at Cincinnati, in that state,  but has since un-
dergone considerable changes, and  for a time the lec-
tures were suspended ;  but its labours have recom-
menced under a new charter of the Legislature, and
the  first course of lectures delivered after its  re-
organization, in 1824-5, was attended by twenty-two
students.  The present number of professorships is
four.  It has an hospital, to which the students are
admitted for clinical instruction.
   In 1818 the  Vermont Academy of Medicine was
established  at Castleton,  in  that State, under the
charter of Middlebury College.   This  school has 
                        25
five professorships.  The medical students attending
the last course of lectures, were one hundred and
twenty-four.
   In  1818, the Medical School of Transylvania Uni-
versity was instituted at Lexington, Kentucky.  At
the time of the first organization of the institution
five  professorships were  established, all of which
have  been filled.   This school has experienced the
most  rapid growth of any in the United States.  The
first course of lectures were delivered in  1819, to a
class  of twenty-six students.   The medical class, in
1824-5, amounted to two hundred and thirty-five. An
infirmary is connected with the school, which affords
an opportunity for clinical instruction  to the class.
  In  1820, the Medical School of Maine was estab-
lished at Brunswick, under  the charter of Bowdoin
College. This school has three professorships. Sixty
students attended  the last course  of lectures.
  In  1821, the  Medical Department of Brown  Uni-
versity, at Providence, Rhode Island,  was organized
with four professorships.  Forty students attended
the last course of lectures.
  In 1822,  the  Medical School of the University of
Vermont was organized at Burlington, and four pro-
fessorships  instituted.  The  medical  class in  1824
was composed of forty-two students.
  In 1822,  the Berkshire Medical School was estab-
lished at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, under the charter 
                       26
of  Williams  College, of that State.   This school
has six professorships.  In 1824 there were ninety-
four students.
  In 1824, the Medical College of South Carolina
was established at Charleston.  In this school there
are  seven professorships.  Fifty  medical  students
attended the  first course of  lectures delivered in
1824-5.   The students have the privilege of attend-
ing the practice of the Marine Hospital.
  In 1824, the Medical School of Jefferson College,
Pennsylvania, was established, and located at Phila-
delphia.   This school has six professorships ; and,
though fully  organized,  has  not  yet been brought
into operation.  An infirmary  is connected with the
school, to which  the  students will be admitted for
clinical instruction.*
   We have, therefore, at this time, sixteen Medical
Schools in theUnited States, besides the one recently
established  in this City, and which we are about t%
commence.
   These  institutions' are all organized on the same
general  plan,  and  have  for  their  great object
the advancement of  medical education.  And,  if
we can confide in the  statements we have received
from Europe, or in the observations made by persons
who have visited the schools of both countries, those
 of the United States are not  surpassed,  either for
                    * See Note F. 
                         27
 the excellence  of their organization,  or the ability
 with which they are conducted, by similar establish*
 ments  in any part of the world.
   In   all  our  schools the  principal  branches  of
 medical science are separated, and confined to dis-
 tinct professorships, and a professor is appointed to
 give lectures on each.   That division  of the science
 which  has obtained in  most of the schools, and which
 seems  the  best calculated to  facilitate instruction,
 is into Anatomy and  Physiology7---Surgery---the
 Theory and Practice of  Physic—Materia Medica—
 Chemistry—and Obstetrics.
  In some of the schools, a professorship of  Medi-
cal Jurisprudence  is added ;  but,  generally,  this
 branch is embraced in the Professorships of Materia
 Medica,  Chemistry, and  Obstetrics.   A  course of
lectures is given annually, on each branch, continu-
ing from three to five months.
  The course  on Anatomy is illustrated by demon-
 strations on the recent subject,  by the  exhibition of
 models and drawings  of the different parts of the
body,   by   dried  preparations, and  specimens  of
 morbid structure.  The course on Surgery is accom-
 panied by  operations on the dead body; while Che*
mistry  is illustrated in  every step by experiments be-
fore the class.   Private dissecting classes are estab-
lished, which give  the student an opportunity for a
more  minute examination of the parts displayed in 
2»
the lecture room, and familiarize hiin with  surgical
operations by the habitual use of his own knife.
  Most  of our  schools have connected with them
hospitals and infirmaries, which afford  the professor
an opportunity of euforcing his principles at the  bed
side,  and  open  to  the student  ample  means to
become acquainted with practical medicine.  Medical
libraries,  anatomical  and  mineralogical cabinets^
are established  for the benefit  of  the students;
societies   are   formed  for  reading  dissertations,
and  discussing   medical  subjects; and,  in  some
of  our schools, provision  is made for awarding
premiums for such essays as are  found  to possess
superior   merit.*  All our schools have the power
to confer medical degrees ; but these  honours  are
awarded to such students only as have made suitable
proficiency in the science, and who,  on strict exami-
nation, are found qualified to practise,  and  entitled
to public confidence.!
   Although medical education in  the United States
has been steadily improving during the last  half cen-
tury,—at no period of  our history has  its  progress
been  so rapid as  for a few  years past ;  and at no
period have its benefits  been so extensively  felt
through the country, or the condition of our  medical
institutions been so flourishing, as at the present time.
 At the last session of our schopls, and that which has
       * See Note 6.                 J See Note H. 
                       29
but just closed, nearly two thousand young men,
from the different parts of the United States, have,
attended medical lectures, and enjoyed all  the  ad-
vantages of a  course  of  public  instruction, which
combines  the  talents  and learning of  more than
eighty of the most eminent physicians and surgeons
ef the country.*
  In  looking  back on the  history of our schools,
while we  mark, with  high satisfaction,  the accele-
rated progress of  medical  education in  the pre-
gent day, we cannot but notice, with peculiar interest,
the fact, that notwithstanding new schools have been
springing up in rapid succession, in different parts of
the country, and drawing pupils around them,  the
older schools have been more flourishing than at any
former period.   One hundred and fifty-eight years of
our history elapsed,  after  the  first settlement of
America, before a single medical school existed in the
country.  In the forty-seven years that followed,  five
medical schools were  founded, and in  the twelve
succeeding years,  which  period  completes  our
history, no less  than  twelve have been added to
the number.    Sixty  years  ago,  when   but  one
school existed  in  the country, only ten students  en-
joyed the benefit of medical lectures.  Twelve years
afterwards, when only  five schools were established,
not more than five hundred students attended lee-
                    *  See Note L 
                       30
tar * ; while the sixteen medical schools now exist-
ing, impart instruction to nearly two thousand pupils.
A striking illustration of the increasing resources of
our country, and of the growing  taste for medical
science.
  Although our medical schools constitute the prin-
cipal means by which the  science has been extended
through the country, and brought to its present state,
there  is  another  class  of institutions  which have
contributed  essentially  to its  progress.   I  refer to
those societies which have been  formed for the regu-
lation of the practice of physic, and the suppression
of quackery.
  As early as the year 1781,  an institution  of this
kind was incorporated by  the Legislature of  M assa-
chusetts, by the name of the Massachusetts Medical
Society,  constituting thirty-one of the most  eminent
physicians of that Commonwealth, named in the char-
ter, a body politic, with  power  to frame a code of
by-laws, and regulate the practice of physic in the
Stole. Also, to elect, from time to time, such physi-
cians  as  should be deemed  worthy  of membership,
and to expel such members as were found unworthy';
to point out a course of study requisite for  a medi-
cal  education, and to examine and license such can-
didates as  should be  found  qualified to  practise.
                         •
Also, to establish subordinate societies in the different
districts  of the State.  This society, originally com- 
                        31
posed of  thirty-one members,  now embraces more
than  two hundred  physicians ;  and there is scarce-
ly a  practitioner of the State,  who  has not  been
received into it, either by election or examination.*
  Similar societies have since been incorporated  by
the Legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-
Jersey,!  Delaware,  Maryland, Virginia, South
Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana,
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, besides one in  the Dis-
trict of Columbia,  constituted by  an act  of Con-
gress.   We have,  therefore, at this  time, twenty
State Medical Societies, most of which have subor-
dinate branches in the different districts or counties;
besides  numerous  other associations,  instituted for
similar purposes,  in our  principal towns and cities.
These societies, formed  as they  have been by legis-
lative authority,  and having at all times received
the  countenance and  support of men of education
and influence, though in  some  respects they  are
differently constituted, wherever they have  been es-
tablished,   have  promoted a   spirit' of harmony
among the  members  of the profession, and at the
same time excited a degree of emulation, and a spirit
of medical inquiry, which have been highly.benefi-
cial ; and, while they have given character  and re-
spectability  to the practice  of medicine, they  have
      * See Note K-                 t See Note Ll 
                        32
 been signally useful in protecting  the  community
 against the impositions of quackery*
   Besides our medical schools and medical societies,
 —dispensaries, hospitals, infirmaries, and asylums for
 the reception of the poor, the sick, and insane,  have
 been established in almost every part of the country«
 Several hundreds  of these institutions, supported by
 public endowments, or private charity, are found in
 the United States ; and, while  they  afford means of
 protection and relief to  a large portion of the help-
 less and suffering part of the community, they furnish
 ample opportunities to the medical student to investi-
 gate the causes and nature of diseases,  and become
 acquainted  with  the operation of remedies;  thus
 uniting the objects of humanity and the advancement
 of medical science.
   This is not all that has been done in America for
 the interest of medicine.  We have already produced
 some of the best works of the present day, onanatomy^
 surgery,  the theory and practice of physic, materia
 medica, pharmacy, chemistry, obstetrics, and medical
jurisprudence'; works which have not only been adopt-
 ed as the text books of our own schools, but have been
 republished abroad, and received the highest com-
 mendation of  European  professors.   Our periodical
journals,! of which we have no less than twelve pub-
 lished quarterly, or at shorter intervals, besides hos-
      * See Note M.                 f See Note N. 
                        33
pital reports, and the transactions of medical socie-
ties, abound  with original papers, and many of them
of great value.
   It must be gratifying to every American to know,
that the medical  literature of the United  States is,
at this  time, sought for and read with  avidity, in
every part of the civilized world ; while much of it
is translated into  the  French,  the  German, and
Italian languages, and republished in the journals
of those countries  :  the highest compliment that
could be paid to the genius and industry of our phy-
sicians.
  Such has been the progress, gentlemen, of medical
•cience in the United States.   If its advancement in
the early periods of our country, was slow and ob-
scure, its improvement in  later times has been rapid,
beyond a parallel in the history of the world.  What
age, or nation, has  produced, in a little  more  than
half a century, a system of medical education, and of
medical  police, to be compared to those of our coun-
try?   At what period, or in what nation, can seven-
teen medical schools, twenty  medical societies,  more
than  two hundred hospitals, and other infirmaries  for
the sick, twelve periodical journals,—to say nothing
of other works* on the various branches of medicine,
—be found, the product of sixty years ?   Or where
shall we find the salutary effects  of  medical educa-
                         E 
                       34
tion so extensively diffused,  or so strikingly illus-
trated, as in the United States ?
  If we  have produced no medical school which has
dictated  to  the world the doctrines  that should be
taught and believed; it is because freedom of inquiry,
independence of  thought, and equality of condition,
constitute the predominant features of our  country,
and enter into  the genius of  all our institutions.   If
we have produced no fortunate genius,  whose dis-
coveries  have at  once revolutionized the science, or
established a new era in medicine; we have produced
a host of able teachers,  successful practitioners, and
some of  the best writers of the age.
   And if we examine  the  records  which  contain
the history of the science, during the present  cen-
tury, it  will be  found,  it is believed, that we  are
not behind  other nations, in those great improve-
ments in the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,
which so  peculiarly  characterize this  period.   It
is not to  medicine, exclusively, that  our physi-
cians have  confined their labours ; nor is  it in this
profession alone, that they have acquired reputation.
They have cultivated, with great success, the kindred
sciences.  Some of  the most approved works of the
present day, on Mineralogy  and Geology, on Botany
and Ornithology, have  been written by  American
physicians.   In  all  our philosophical, literary, and
humane  institutions, they have taken an  active, lead 
                        35
Ing part;  and, if we examine the transactions of
those bodies, we shall find larger contributions from
physicians, than from any other class of our citizens.
   If, in examining the present condition of medical
science in the United States, and contrasting it with
what it has been in times past,  and  with what it now
is in other countries,  we have  cause for exultation ;
we have fresh motives presented to us for  increased
exertion.   If much has already been accomplished,
much  still remains to be  done.  Though  our large
towns and cities, and the more populous parts of our
country, are supplied with well educated physicians,
—a large  portion of our territory,  remote from  the
schools, is still  without those who have enjoyed the
benefits of public instruction.
  If we have ten thousand physicians, as computed
by a late writer, we have more  than fifteen thousand
practitioners of medicine, many  of whom have never
heard a public  lecture, or  seen a  demonstration in
anatomy.   And, until medical schools be more ex-
tensively established  through the country, many who
enter the profession must necessarily be deprived of
the privileges of a regular education.
  While such motives as these call on us for renewed
and vigorous  exertions,  an  animating prospect pre-
sents  itself to our view.   Medical science  in  the
United  States  is already beginning to  assume  a 
                       36
national character.  The uniformity of our medical
schools ; the co-operation of our medical societies ;
our text books, adopted  as the standards of edu-
cation in all our institutions; our periodical journals,
which convey the same intelligence throughout the
country; as  well as the genius and  constitution of
our government,  are all tending to such a result.*
We  have before  us  a country unexplored,  almost
boundless  in  extent, and  inexhaustible  in  its re-
sources.   A country possessing  every variety  of
climate,  and  consequently  calculated  to  develope
every form of disease.  A soil abounding in medi-
cinal plants and minerals,  which chemistry has not
yet analyzed,  and  but few  of which have been ap-
plied as medical remedies.  With such a field before
us, what claims have not humanity and science on
our best  exertions;  and with well directed efforts,
aided by the light  that now beams  upon us, what
may we not hope to accomplish !
   If, in sixty years, with the limited means we have
possessed,  and with all the difficulties we have had
to encounter, we have produced the best system of
medical education, the most perfect code of medical
police, that has been exhibited to the world ;  if we
have  produced  some of   the  best  practical and
elementary  books,  and some of the most eminent
                   * See Note O. 
                        37
 physicians and surgeons of any age or country ; if
 we have done this, in the short period of sixty years
 that are passed, what will be our advance  in sixty
 years to come ? May 1 not, with propriety, to use
 the language of a distinguished scholar of our country,
 say on this,  as he has done upon another occasion—
 u He  who shall stand where  I stand, sixty  years
 hence, and  look back on  the present  condition of
 medical science, from a distance equal to that from
 which we contemplate the founding of the first medi-
 cal school in America, will sketch a contrast far more
 astonishing,  and will speak of our times as the day
 of small things, in stronger and juster language, than
 any in which we can depict the poverty of the science
 in the days of our fathers."
  Although  I  may  have  detained  you. too  long
 already, gentlemen, it  would  not  be proper to let
 the present occasion pass, without some  notice of the
 origin, the design, and the  prospects  of the Institu-
 tion which we now  bring before the public.   Allow
 me, then, to ask your attention, for  a few moments,
 to a sketch of its history.
  In the year  1819, the Rev.  Obadiah B.  Brown,
 and the Rev. Luther Rice, impressed  with the im-
portance of  education,  and particularly  with the
benefits that would  result to the community from  a
University located at the seat of the national govern- 
                       38
 nient, projected the plan of establishing a College iu
 this District, and  fixed on College Hill for its site.
 After maturing the plan, they proceeded to purchase
 the ground, and commenced the erection of the present
 College edifice.  They brought around them a  few
 individuals, who manifested an interest in the object,
 and applied to Congress for a charter.  In the winter
 of  1821 a charter  was granted,  constituting thirteen
 individuals a Board of Trustees, with full power to
 appoint a faculty, provide means of instruction, and
 to confer degrees in the liberal arts and sciences.
  From the commencement of  the undertaking,  the
 founders of the College contemplated a University; an
 institution which should not only provide for a sys-
 tem of classical education, but embrace  distinct  de-
 partments-for  Medicine, Divinity, and  Law.  Soon
 after the charter was  procured, the classical depart-
 ment was organized, a faculty appointed, and a course
 of instruction  commenced.
  The Trustees, in their first circular, announced their
 intention to bring the medical department into opera-
 tion, as early as circumstances should admit.  Soon
 after, they appointed  two  professors to  the medical
department,  and  in the September of  1824,  two
others.  In  October following,  the organization 6f
the  medical department was completed, and arrange-
ments made for a course of lectures on  the various
branches of medicine. 
                       39
   With a view to the accommodation of the medical
 students of this District, as well as those who should
resort  hither for education from abroad, and particu-
larly that they might enjoy the advantages of clinical
practice,  the Trustees directed that the  lectures
should be delivered in a central part  of the City of
Washington.  Agreeably to this arrangement, the
building  which we now occupy has been procured,
and fitted up for the accommodation of the school.
   As early as November last,  the medical faculty
announced to the public, that  their  first course of
lectures on the different branches of medicine would
commence  on the last  Wednesday  in March.  In
conformity  with  that notice we this  day open  the
school, and commence a course of  public  lectures^
Whether it be with a fair prospect of  usefulness and
success, and  under  circumstances which justify the
undertaking,  we leave for future events to unfold.
We do not  expect to accomplish, in  a day, what has
been found equal to the labour of years, in those
schools that have gone before  us.   If success await
the enterprise, sure we are that it is only through a
series of persevering efforts, and self-denying lahour,
that we shall reap its fruits, or receive its rewards.
   The history of the commencement  and early pro-
gress of  all other schools, informs us that we have
much labour to endure, and many opposing obstacles 
                       40
to overcome; and, resting as we do, on our own re-
sources, unaided by the rich endowments that other
institutions  have received, and  unprotected, except
by the guardian care of a Board of Trustees, and
the friendly countenance  of an enlightened com-
munity, we are deeply  sensible that  we have great
personal sacrifices  to make, and many difficulties to
encounter. Yet I trust that our object is too elevated,
and our purpose too fixed, to suffer such considera-
tions to have any other effect than that of stimulating
us to more active and vigorous exertion.
   If, on the one hand, these difficulties present them-
selves ; on the other, a more cheering prospect opens
to our view.  The period of the commencement of
the undertaking seems peculiarly favourable to its
success.   We have not  to encounter the  prejudices
of those days, when medicine  was considered of
doubtful utility, and the science degraded to the rank
of a trade.  This  is an era in the history of the
world,  when all  institutions for the promotion of
science, and the melioration of the condition of man,
are regarded with  public favour, and sustained by
a  liberality of feeling known to no other age.  A
period when the utility of medical science is univer-
sally admitted, and the importance of medical edu-
cation  is  duly appreciated.  At this day no  one
doubts the necessity of medical schools, and of pub-
lic lectures, to form young men for the practice of the 
                          41
 profession; nor is there any one who calls in  ques-
 tion the benefits they confer upon the community.
   The circumstances of the place, too, seem not less
 favourable to the success of the object, than that of
 the period at which we commence.   To say nothing
 of the country which immediately surrounds us,  we
 have, at the south and west, an  extensive territory,
 abounding with young  men of talents and enterprise,
 wholly destitute of the means of medical instruction.
 In this District alone,   we  number  a population of
 nearly forty thousand ;  and that part of it, particu-
 larly, which is  occupied by this City, is increasing
 in  wealth and in business, as well as in population,
 with a rapidity scarcely known to any other town or
 city of equal extent in  the United States.   A little
 more than a quarter of a  century ago, the  sites  of
 our magnificent Capitol, the  house of the President,
 and the stately blocks  of buildings  which line  our
 streets and avenues, were covered  by a  forest of
 oaks, interrupted only  by a few tobacco fields, here
 and there a decaying mansion, and a dozen miserable
 huts for  the protection of the planters' slaves : and
 the winding trail of the deer, and the footpath of the
 savage, were still visible. That forest and those tobac-
 co fields now contain a population of fifteen thousand
 gouls, and we daily see enterprising and intelligent
individuals  collecting here, from  the different parts
                        F 
                       42
of tne United States, and adopting it as the place of
their future residence.
  If such has been  the rapid improvement of this
City in the quarter  of a century that is past, what
may we expect  will be its progress in  the same
period to come ?  When we consider it as situated
at the head  of  the  navigable waters of one of the
finest rivers of the United States, opening a free com-
merce with the  Atlantic; surrounded by a  fertile
country; and soon,  no doubt, to be  connected,  by
canal, with the almost boundless extent of territory
beyond the Alleghany, affording an outlet  to the vast
productions of that  country ; and, above all, when
we consider it as the place which has been selected
by our country as the seat of its National Government;
the residence of the Chief Magistrate of the  Union;
the  Heads  of the  Departments ;  the  Ministers  of
foreign courts;—the  place where  our   Senators,
Representatives, and Supreme Judiciary, annually
assemble,  to transact the affairs of the nation; we
cannot doubt but it is destined, ere long,  to fulfil the
expectations  of its immortal founder, and become
worthy to be the Metropolis of this great Republic.
   It is  obvious, from  the  peculiar character of its
population, formed, as  it must be, by an  assemblage
 of enlightened men, collected from the different parts
 of the United States, and from the various republics
 kingdoms, and empires of the world, that there will 
                        43
result a liberality of feeling, and an elevation of
character,  highly favourable to the  cultivation  of
literature, science, and the arts.
   This is that place, which, above all others in our
country, is divested of sectional prejudices and in-
terests, deriving its prosperity alike from every part;
and which has nothing but the good of the whole to
desire.   That neutral ground, on which the young
men of Maine and of Georgia, of Pennsylvania and
Missouri, of Florida and Michigan, may meet, and
mingle  together ; read the same  books ; pursue the
same  studies ; hear  the same lectures ; imbibe  the
same  spirit; and form mutual and lasting attach-
ments. It is here that a free communication is opened,
through  our  senators  and  representatives,  with
every part of our country.  Through these channels
facilities are presented to us  for acquiring a know-
ledge  of the epidemic  and endemic diseases of the
country;  the medical topography of its  different
parts; the character of its physicians; the condition
of its different medical institutions; and the progress
the science is making : and, in turn,  of imparting
this intelligence to others.  Facilities which belong
to no other place.
  It is these considerations, gentlemen, that have
encouraged us to commence the present undertaking,
and that give us a confident expectation of its ulti-
mate success.   It is not a spirit of rivalry, or com- 
                       44
petition, that has brought this institution before the
public.   We occupy a field till now unappropriated,
and which has hitherto been  regarded as too limited
to justify such an attempt.   It is an humble hope of
contributing something to the advancement of medical
science  generally, as well as of elevating its charac-
ter in this District, that has called us to the enter-
prise.   And, if it should be our fortune  to lay the
foundation, only,  of a  medical  school  which shall
hereafter  become commensurate with the progress
and the demands of this rising Metropolis, and the
improvement of the science  through the country, we
shall feel that we have done an honour  to  the  un-
dertaking,  and  discharged a  duty that  we  owe
to our fellow  citizens, and to the profession.—And,
who knows but it  may be  reserved to this  school
to make some discovery in medicine, which shall
commence  a new era in the science, or  furnish the
world with a remedy for some fatal disease which now
eludes the powers of medicine ?   Who can say that
it is not reserved to some student of this institution,
to be the happy discoverer of a solvent for the stone}
a preventive of the gout, or a cure  for cancer? Who
knows but some bold and fortunate genius, who shall
have his zeal first enkindled in this  school, may be
destined, while climbing the Rocky Mountains, or
exploring the vale of the Mississippi, to discover a
plant or a mineral, which shall  prove a cure for hy- 
                      45
drophobia, or a remedy for consumption ?—-or find
out, on the  shaking prairie of Louisiana, or at the
mouth of the Mobile, the  true nature of miasmata,
and the mode of its operation on the human body?
Who knows but this school may be destined to pro-
duce a Sydenham, a Harvey, a Hunter, or a Bichat ?
or to give to the world a Bard, a Rush, a Warren.
a Barton, or a Wistar ? 
* 
NOTES,
                     Note A.—Page 4.

  We  learn from the history of the first settlement, both of
Virginia and of Plymouth, that our ancestors, after landing
on the  shores of America, were repeatedly visited by severe
and fatal disease ;  insomuch that  the  colonies were several
times  nearly depopulated ; and, had it not been for the new
recruits sent over, must inevitably have become extinct. We
have no  particular account of  the diseases  of which  they
suffered, but have reason to believe that they were such as
are consequent to  exposure, hardship, and  famine.—Siith'a
History of Virginia ; Marshall's Life of Washington ; Hutch-
inson's  History of Massachusetts.

                     Note B.—Page 9.

  The  clergy of our country, of all religious denominations,
have ever  been the uniform  and constant  supporters  of
medical education, and of a system of well regulated prac-
tice. They have as uniformly been the opposers of quackery
and empiricism ; and, when we consider the  extensive in-
fluence they have exerted over all  classes of the community,
we cannot doubt but they have contributed,  essentially, to
that freedom our  country has enjoyed  from empirics  and
mountebanks, as well as to the present flourishing condition
of our  medical institutions.
  An instance of the intrepidity and zeal of the clergy, exerted
in favour of medical science, is still recollected by our older
physicians, connected with the introduction of the inoculated
small-pox as a substitute for the  disease communicated the
natural way.  This innovation in practice, though one of the
most important that has occurred  in our medical history, was
attended with  circumstances  of peculiar  opposition and
excitement, among nearly  all classes.  Its advocates  were
proscribed as " guilty of impiety, and of spreading abroad
arrows and death."  It  was contended that,  " as the small-
pox was a judgment from God  for the sins of the people, to
endeavour to avert the stroke  would but provoke him the
more," and that  inoculation was, therefore, " an encroach-
ment on the prerogatives of the Deity." 
48
   Such was the popular excitement at one period, that it
 was dangerous for those engaged  in  inoculating to  walk
 abroad by day, and their dwellings were assaulted by the mob
 at night.  At thi3  critical moment,  the clergy  stepped for-
 ward, exhorted the people, preached and published sermons
 in favour of  inoculation,  and thus  exerted their  whole in-
 fluence  in establishing a practice which has proved one of
 the greatest blessings to the country  and to the world. Their
 influence, though less needed, was not less exerted in favour
 of vaccination, when first introduced among us.  Although, in
 the early periods of our country, many of the clergy  were
 called on to render medical aid to the sick, and some of them
 entered extensively into the active duties of the profession ;
 as soon as physicians of regular education could be obtained
 they relinquished  the practice, and  at the present time but
 few cases exist, where  the duties of  the two professions  are
 united in the same individual.

                     Note C—Page'9.

  As early as 1608, being the year after the planting of the
 colony of Virginia at James Town, the arrival of Walter
 Russel, Doctor of Physic, is mentioned by the colonists; and
 he is afterwards spoken of as accompanying Captain Smith
 on a voyage of discovery, from James Town to the Chesa-
 peake,  and  up the  Potomac  to the Falls;  and also of
 having  rendered surgical  aid to Captain Smith, in the case
 of an accident which happened to him on this occasion.
  Some islands which we discovered  in the  Chesapeake,
 during the voyage, were called Russel's Islands, says Captain
 Smith, in honour of Dr. Russel.
  Anthony Bagnall, Surgeon, is also mentioned by Captain
 Smith, as accompanying him on a similar voyage, made the
 same year, from James Town  to Nansamond ;  the  place
 where Norfolk is now situated.
  Doctors Russel and Bagnall, therefore,  were  probably  the
first physicians who came over to the colony of Virginia; but
whether they remained in the country,  or soon  returned to
Europe, we have no account; but it is  probable that  their
residence  in America  was only temporary;  for, in  1609,
when Captain Smith was badly wounded by the explosion of
 gunpowder,  he says there  was neither  chirurgeon nor chi-
rurgery at the fort; and he was compelled to return to Europe,
for the recovery of his health.
  In 1611, Doctor Bohun is mentioned, being about to  leave
 the colony of Virginia, and to take ship with lord  Delaware 
49
 for the West Indies.   But no particular  account is given of
 either of these physicians.—Stith's Hist. Va. 62. 74.  121.
   Doctor  SaAukl  Fuller was  the first physician  who
 came to New-England.  He formed one of the company who
 landed at Plymouth, December 22, 1620, and was a deacon
 of the Rev. John Robinson's church. It is not certain that he
 had enjoyed  the benefits of a collegiate education; but he
 is said to have been well qualified in his profession, and emi-
 nently useful as a surgeon and physician : extending his be-
 nevolent labours, not only to the sick among his immediate
 friends at Plymouth, and the aborigines in the vicinity, but,
 by the desire of Governor Endicot, twice visited  the new
 settlement at .Salem, where he manifested his skill and suc-
 cess  in practice, among the numerous sufferers under the
 scurvy and other diseases.  His great success was attested
 by Governor Endicot, who spoke highly in his praise as an
 able physician.—Letter from Dr.. Thacher, 1825.
   Doctor Charles Chaunsey, a distinguished scholar, a re-
 spectable physician, and  eminent  divine, came from Eng-
 land to America in the year 1638, and resided some time at
 Plymouth and at Scituate ;  but how extensively he  entered
 into the practice of medicine, we are not informed.   He was
 chosen  president of Harvard College in i654, and held the
 office till his death in 1672.  He had six sons, all of whom
 were eminent physicians and divines.—Ibid.
  Doctor John Fish, was educated  at Cambridge Universi-
 ty, England.  Having studied the medical profession, after
 a suitable examination he obtained a license for public prac-
 tice, and came to New-England in 1637. He resided succes-
 sively at Salem, Wenham, and Chelmsford, where he  was
 distinguished, and greatly esteemed as  a skilful physician, a
 useful preacher, and a  teacher of  youth.   He died in 1676.
 —Ibid.
  Doctor Thomas Thacher was  a native of England, and
 came to America in the year 1635.  He. finished his educa-
 tion in this country, and resided  first at Weymouth, and
 afterwards at  Boston, where he died in 1678.   He was con-
 sidered the best Greek  and Arabic scholar of his time,  and
 was held in high estimation as a successful practitioner of
 medicine, as  well as a  popular preacher.  In  1677  he pub-
lished a  pamphlet, entitled  " A. Brief  Guide in the Small-
pox and Measles."—Magnolia, iii.  148—153.
  The preceding physicians came over  to America with the
early  colonists; and. although they devoted  themselves to
the duties of  the  profession, as far as  the condition of the.
'ountry at that period admitted, it is evident that they emi*
                           G 
50
gjrated for other purposes than those of the practice of medi-
cine, or the improvement of the science ; and therefore form
a distinct class from those regular and well educated physi-
cians who commenced practice at a later period, and whose
objects were exclusively professional.

                    Note D.—Page 10.

  It is  to be  regretted that the historical records of our
cpuntry contain so few notices  of our early physicians ; and
especially that  so  little authentic information has been pre-
served of the diseases which prevailed during the early set-
tlement of the country, the subsequent changes they under-
went, and the mode of practice adopted, with* its particular
results.  Yet, when  we consider that the want of medical
libraries, connected with the arduous duties of an extensive
practice, in a new country,  and among a scattered  popula-
tion, afforded but  little opportunity for reading, and much
less for writing on medical subjects, and that no medical
journal was published  in  America  until nearly the  com-
mencement of the present century, through which  our phy-
sicians could communicate the results of their experience,
or  make known  their  improvements and discoveries, we
 cannot be surprised  that no  more of the early history of
 medicine and its practitioners has come down to us.
   It appears that  nearly all  the most eminent physicians who
 commenced practice in the country before the Revolution,
 received their medical  education in foreign schools;  and a
 large proportion  of them, particularly those of the southern
 provinces,  emigrated from  Great-Britain : for, although the
 Medical School of Philadelphia was established as early as
  1765, it was not till the political connexion of the two coun-
 tries was broken  off, that an opinion generally prevailed that
 medicine could be taught  in America.  Since that period,
 the number of our physicians  has rapidly  increased, and
 most of them have been educated in our own schools.
    This note contains a brief account of a few of those who
  have given a direction  to the practice of medicine, or con-
  tributed to the advancement  of the science.
    Those who have held professorships  in  our schools, or
  have been otherwise engaged in teaching medicine, are  gen-
  erally known, and the influence of their  labours is duly ap-
  preciated.   They are not, therefore, included in the present
  sketch.
    Leonard Hoar, M. D. a distinguished scholar and  physi-
  cian, ©f Massachusetts, was graduated at Harvard College, 
01
in 1650.  He soon after went to England, and having com^
 pleted his course of medical studies, received the degree of
 Doctor of  Medicine at  the University of Cambridge, in
 1653.  He was probably the first native American who  gra-
 duated in Medicine.   How far he entered into the active du-
 ties of the profession on his return to America, is not known;
 but probably he never engaged extensively in practice,  as a
 considerable portion of his time was occupied with the duties
of the ministry, and scientific  pursuits.   In 1672, he  was
elected President of Harvard  College, which office he held
 till his death in 1675.—Magnolia, iv. 129.
  Dr. Thomas Wynne,  an eminent Welsh physician, who
practised medicine  several years,  with high reputation, in
London.  He and his brother,  who was. also a  physician,
came to  this country in  1682,  with the original settlers of
Pennsylvania.  They both settled in Philadelphia,  and were
the earliest physicians of that city.
  These gentlemen were followed by a succession  of regular
and well educated physicians,  among whom were Dr.  Ed-
ward Jones,  Dr.  Owen, Dr.  Kearsly, Dr. GRiEME,  Dr.
Zachary, Dr. Shippin, Senior, and Dr. Evans.
  These were all eminent practitioners, and did much, even at
the early period in which they lived, to give that respectabil-
ity to the profession, for  which  Philadelphia has been so
long and so pre-eminently  distinguished.— fVistar's Eulogy
tn Shippin.
  Nathaniel Williams,  an eminent  physician of Massa-
chusetts, was educated at Harvard College, where he gradu*
atedinl693.  After  studying medicine, he entered into bu-
siness,  and for many years  enjoyed a very extensive prac-
tice.   He was one  of the most popular  and   successful
practitioners of his time.  In 1721, he published a  pamphlet,
" On the Method of  Practice in the Small-pox."   He died
in 1739.—Letter from Dr.  Thacher,  1825.
  John Mitchell,  M.D. F. R.  S. a distinguished physi-
cian and  botanist, came from  England  to  this country in
about 1700, and settled in Virginia, at the small town of  Ur-
banna,  situated on the Rappahannock.   While he was occu-
pied in an extensive  practice, he spent considerable time in
the  cultivation of botany, and wrote a  useful work  on  the
general principles of the science, containing descriptions of
several new genera of plants, published in 1769.  In 1743, he
wrote an interesting and original essay on the causes of the
different  colours of people of different climates, which  was
published in the Philosophical Transactions.
  He attributes the  difference  of complexion in the human
species  to the influence of climate, and the modes of life ; 
r0%
and thinks that the whites have degenerated  more  from the
original  complexion of Noah  and  his family, than the In-
dians,  or even Negroes.   The  colour of the descendants of
Ham, he considers a blessing  rather than a curse, as with-
out it  they could  not well inhabit Africa.  His principles
were  afterwards adopted  by President Smith, of Princeton
College,  New-Jersey, who wrote a more extended essay  on
the subject.
  He wrote various other essays, which did him great cre-
dit as a man  of genius and observation ; but his most valu-
able production, perhaps, is a paper which he drew up  on
the Yellow Fever,  as it appeared in Virginia in 1737,  1741,
and 1742.  This paper, left by him in manuscript, fell into
the hands of Dr.  Franklin, who communicated  it to Dr.
Rush.   Dr. Rush not only read the essay with  interest, but
acknowledges that he derived from it hints which assisted
him in detecting the true nature  and method of treating the
yellow fever,   as it appeared in Philadelphia in 1793.  But
few physicians  who have lived in our country have  been
more justly celebrated for originality of genius and  accuracy
of observation,  than Dr. Mitchell.   He  lived to practise
his profession nearly fifty years in Virginia.—Rush's En-
quiries, iii.; Miller's Retrospect,  i. 318; ii. 367.
  John Nicoll, M.  D. a distinguished physician  of New-
York, was a native  of Scotland, graduated  in medicine at the
University of Edinburgh, and came to this country  about the
year 1700.  He was distinguished as a successful practitioner,
and beloved for his  private virtues.  After having spent a
life devoted to the  works of benevolence  and piety, he died
in 1743, aged 63 years.—Smith's  New-York, 191.
  Zabdiel Boylston, F.  R. S was born in Brookline,  Mas-
sachusetts, in 1680.  After a good private education he stu-
died medicine with Dr. Cutler, then an eminent physician of
Boston, and soon  after commenced the practice of his pro-
fession  in  that town.  By close application to study, and
great attention to his patients, he soon raised himself to the
head of his profession, and acquired a high reputation as a
successful practitioner.
  Dr.  B. will ever be remembered with gratitude  by  his
countrymen, as the  first  physician of America who  intro-
duced  the  practice of inoculating in small-pox.   His first
experiment was made in  June, 1781.   Previous to  this time
the small-pox had spread through the colonies at different
periods,  and  particularly in 1678, 1692, and 1702, and had
made dreadful ravages wherever it extended.   The idea of
inoculation was first suggested  by the Rev. Cotton Mather. 
53
who had read  in the Philosophical Transactions two com-
munications on the  subject, one from  Constantinople, and
another  from  Smyrna.   When the small-pox appeared in
Boston in 1721, carrying with it great mortality  and alarm,
Dr. Mather addressed a  letter to the physicians of the town,
presenting them with an account of the two papers from the
East, requesting them to take the subject into consideration ;
but they  treated the request with neglect. Dr. Boylston, who
was distinguished for his boldness and decision, as well as
humanity, took up the  subject of inoculation on  his own
responsibility, and commenced the experiment by  inoculat-
ing three of  his own family ; an only son and two  servants.
These cases  all terminated favourably, and established in his
own mind the preventive  power of inoculation.   For this
innovation in practice, Dr. B. drew down on himself the
opposition and resentment of his professional brethren, the
disapprobation of the selectmen of the town, and the indigna-
tion of an offended populace.  He had his windows broken
by the mob,  and was pelted  with  stones  as he walked the
streets.   But he could not be diverted from his purpose :
and by the aid of the clergy he carried the experiment fairly
through.   During  the years 1721  and 1722,  he  inoculated
two hundred and forty-seven persons, and thirty-nine were
inoculated by others.  Of this number only six died ; while,
of five thousand seven hundred and  fifty-nine who  in the
same period  took the disease the natural way, eight hundred
and forty-four died.   This experiment established the utility
of inoculation, and the practice became general in America.
Previous  to this period, but few had been  inoculated in Eng-
land, and those chiefly  convicts.   But  from the success
which attended the practice in America, the physicians of that
country were encouraged to its more general introduction.
Dr. B. visited  England in 1725, and had the pleasure to see
inoculation in general use, as the result of his own example.
He was, while upon this visit, treated with great kindness and
respect,  and elected a  Fellow  of the  Royal Society.  He
died at his native town in 1766, aged 86, universally respect-
ed  and beloved.   He  published  an  historical  account of
the inoculated small-pox in New England,  besides  several
papers in the  Philosophical Transactions.—Holmes' Annals,
ii. 103 ;  Hutchinson, ii.  273. 276.
  Cadwallader Colden, an eminent physician and botanist,
was a native of Scotland, and graduated at  Edinburgh, in
 1705.  He came to this country with William Penn, in 1708 ;
and, after having practised physic in  Philadelphia for seve-
ral years, with great success, he returned to his native coun-
try  While in England, a paper of his, read before the 
54
Royal Society, " On the Animal Secretions," received high
commendation  as a production  of great  originality  and
genius.
  He married in Scotland, and returned  to this country in
1718, and settled in  the city of New-York.  Although Dr.
Colden, soon after his return to America, entered extensively
into civil and political affairs, he never lost his love for sci-
entific pursuits.  He continued an extensive correspondence
with the most scientific men of Europe; and was through life
one of the most active individuals in America in  promoting
the interest of all literary and scientific institutions.  He
was the first, says Dr. Franklin, who suggested the idea of
establishing the American  Philosophical Society.   He  is
said to have been one of the earliest advocates in this coun-
try- for  the cooling  plan  of treatment in febrile diseases.
He published an able paper on the yellow fever, as it raged
in New-York  in  1743; a paper on cancer; and one  on  the
malignant sore-throat, which  prevailed extensively  in  his
day through North  America. Also,  an inquiry  into  the
operation of the intellect of animals.  His latest produc-
tion was  an introduction to the  study of physic,  address-
ed to his  grandson,  written when he was 81  years of age.
He published several other  papers of great  merit.—Rees'
Cyclopaedia, American edition : The American Medical and
Philosophical Register, i. 297.
  Mark Catesby, F. R S., an eminent naturalist, was born
in England, 1679.  He came to Virginia in 1712, and in 1722
removed to South Carolina.   He  spent nearly his whole life
in the cultivation of natural science. In 1748 he published a
natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands,
containing numerous plates.—Rees'  Cyclopaedia, American
edition ; Miller, ii. 365.
   William Douglass, M. D. an eminent Scotch physician,
who came to this country as early as 1715 or 20,  and  settled
in  Boston.  He was considered  a man of great  skill in his
profession ; but was extremely eccentric, rough  in his man-
ners, irritable in his temper, and possessed strong prejudices.
When Dr. Boylston  introduced the  practice of inoculation in
small-pox, Douglass inveighed violently against him,  and
wrote several sarcastic papers on the subject.  He published,
besides, a history of the inoculated small-pox,  a  practical
history of anew eruptive miliary fever,  with an angina ulcus-
culosa, which prevailed in Boston in 1735 and 1736. He is said,
also, to have made a very extensive collection of  indigenous
plants of this country.  He died in 1752__Hutchinson, ii. 80.;
Holmes' Annals, ii. 192'. 
55
   Doctor John Clayton, an eminent botanist and physician,
 was born in England, in 1685.  He came to Virginia in 1705,
 and resided near Williamsburg.  He was elected a member
 of several of the first literary societies of Europe, and cor-
 responded with many of the most learned naturalists of that
 period.  As a  practical  botanist he  was probably  not  in-
 ferior to any one of the age.  He is the author of Flora Vir-
 ginica, a work  published by Gronovius,  at Leyden,  8vo. in
 1739,  1743, and  1762.  He published in the Philosophical
 Transactions, several communications,  treating of the cul-
 ture of the  different species of tobacco, and an ample  ac-
 count of the medicinal plants  which  he had discovered in
 Virginia.  He  also left behind him two volumes of manu-
 scripts, neatly prepared for the  press, and a hortus siccus,
 with marginal notes and references, for the engraver, in pre-
 paring the  plates for  his proposed work.   It is greatly to
 be regretted that this work was destroyed by an  incendiary
 during the revolutionary war.  Mr. Jefferson says Dr. Clay-
 ton was a native of Virginia;  see his Notes on  Va. p.  54;
 Barton's  Med. and Phys.  Journal,  ii.  139; Rees' Cyclo-
paedia, American edition.
 .  John Lining, M. D. a distinguished physician and philo-
 sopher, of Charleston, South Carolina, was a native of Scot-
 land, and came to this  country in 1725.  He published a se-
 ries of statistical experiments  which he made through the
 whole of the year 1740.  In 1753 he published  "a History
 of the  American Yellow Fever."—Ramsay's Review of Me-
 dicine,  42.
   John Bartram, an eminent botanist of Pennsylvania, was
 born in  Chester county, in that  State, in 1701.  He is the
 first American  who conceived  the  plan of establishing a
 botanic garden.   He purchased a situation  on  the banks of
 the Schuylkill, five miles from Philadelphia, and enriched it
 with every variety of the most curious and beautiful vegeta-
 bles, collected in his excursions from Canada to Florida. He
 corresponded with many of the  most distinguished botanists
 of his  time, and was pronounced by Linnaeus to be " the.
 greatest  natural botanist in the world."  He was elected a
 member of several learned societies abroad, and  at length ap-
 pointed American botanist to his Britannic Majesty,  George
 III., which appointment he held until his death in 1777.  He
 published in the Philosophical Transactions  several commu-
 nications  on zoology.  He published observations on the in-
 habitants, climate, soil, &c. made in his travels  from Penn-
 sylvania to Onondaga, 1751. A description of East Flori-
 da, 1774.—Rees'  Cyclopaedia, American edition i Barton's
 Med. and Phys. Journal 
56
  Doctor Ezekiel Hersey, an eminent physician, graduated
at Harvard College in 1728, and practised physic  for many
years in Hingham,  Massachusetts.  At  his death, in  1770,
he  bequeathed to Harvard  College  one thousand  pounds
sterling, towards founding a  Professorship of Anatomy and
Surgery.  His widow also gave an equal  sum for  the  same
purpose.—Holmes' Annals, ii. 297.
  Doctor Abnfr Hersey, an eminent physician of Barnsta-
ble, Massachusetts, was brother to the preceding, and died
not many years after him.  At the time of his decease he be-
queathed to Harvard College, for the establishment of a Pro-
fessorship of the Theory and Practice of Physic, the sum of
five hundred pounds sterling.—Allen's Biog. Dictionary.
  Doctor John Moultrie,  a distinguished physician of
Charleston,  South Carolina, was  a native  of Europe, and
came to this country  in 1733.  For forty years he stood at
the head  of his  profession  in  Charleston.  He  possessed
great talents for observation, and was wonderfully successful
in finding out the hidden causes of disease.  He  was the idol
of his patients; and, at his'death, in 1773,  many  of the la-
dies of Charleston went into mourning on his account. The
year following his death an unusual number of females per-
ished in  childbed, and apparently from despondency.
  Dr. M. had a son who graduated  at Edinburgh in  1749,
and was a distinguished scholar and an eminent  practitioner
of medicine in Charleston.  At his graduation he defended a
thesis, " De Febre Flava."—.Ramsay's Review of Med. 41. 43.
  William  Bull, M. D.  a physician of South Carolina, and
a native  of the State,  distinguished for his literary attain-
ments, as well as for an extensive  knowledge of the science
of medicine.  He was the pupil of Boerhaave, and received
the degree of M. D. at the University of Leyden, in  1734, at
which time  he defended a thesis  on  " Colica Pictonum."
He is quoted by Van Swieten as his fellow-student, with  the
title of the learned Dr. Bull.  He spent a few of the last years
of his life in England, and died in  London in 1791, aged  82.
—Ramsay's Review of Med. 42.
  Dr. John Tennant, a respectable physician of Port Royal,
Virginia, who first brought into view the virtues of the Sen-
eca snake-root.  In 1736, he published, at Williamsburg,
an essay on pleurisy, in which he treats of the Seneca snake-
root  as  an efficient remedy  in the  cure of this disease.
This article has  since  been introduced into  the Materia
Medica, and extensively  employed in  the treatment of that
and other diseases.  Dr. Tennant, it is believed, was a family
connexion of the late celebrated Dr. Richard Mead, of Lon- 
57
  don.   He held a medical correspondence with Dr. Mead for
  many years, and it was to him that he first communicated his
  account  of the  Seneca.—Ramsay's  Review  of Med.  36 ;
  Miller, i. 31* ; Letter from Dr.  Sflence, 1825.
   John Brett, M. D. was a pupil of Boerhaave, and a grad-
  uate at the University of Leyden.  He emigrated to this coun-
  try, and settled at Newport, in the state of Rhode Island,
  about 1740. *He  acquired great reputation in consequence
  of the extended fame of his preceptor.
   Dr. Thomas Rodman, came over to America, and settled
  at Newport, Rhode Island, at the same time ;  and
   Dr. Magraw, a physician  of the Radcliff sehool, accom-
 panied them, and settled at New-York.
   Thomas  Moffat,  M.  D.  a  learned Scotch  physician,
 emigrated to this country, and  settled  in  Rhode  Island in
  1750.   He was often  consulted,  and appealed to in difficult
 cases ;  but was driven out of the country in  1772, on account
 of his political opinions.
   Doctor Thomas  Cadwallader, an  eminent  physician  of
 Philadelphia,  after acquiring  the rudiments of his profes-
 sion in America,  repaired to Europe to complete his edu-
 cation, and  spent some time in  London and Paris. In the
 former place he studied anatomy under the  celebrated Ches-
 elden.   On his return to Philadelphia he made dissections
 and demonstrations of the human body for his pupil, the
 elder Shippin.  He published, about the year 1740, a treatise
 " On the Iliac Passion," in which he  explodes the practice
 which till that time was common in the country,  of giving
 quicksilver and drastic purges.  He recommends in  their
 place mild cathartics, and the use of opiates.—Ramsay's Re-
 view of Med. 36 ;  Wistar's Eulogy on Shippin.
  John Redman, M. D.  a distinguished physician of Phila-
 delphia, was born in that city in  1722.  After  studying me-
 dicine with Dr. Kearsly, he settled in Bermuda;  but in  a
 few years visited the medical schools of Edinburgh, Paris,
 and Leyden, to complete his education, and  graduated at  the
 latter University in  1748.  He  returned to America, and
 settled in his native city, where he soon acquired an exten-
 sive practice, and  rose to high distinction in his profession.
 He was elected the first President of the College of Physi-
 cians of Philadelphia.
  He was a strong advocate for a bold and decided practice,
 and considered a  more energetic practice  necessary in  the
 cure of American diseases than  in  those  of  Europe.   He
 bled freely in the yellow fever of  1762,  and gave his whole
influence in support of the practice in 1793.   In the diseases
                         H 
58
of old age, he considered moderate bleedings as the first of
remedies.  He made free use of mercury in all  chronic dis-
eases, and introduced  the use of the  turpeth  mineral, as ah
emetic in gangrenous  sore:throat, in 1764.  No physician;
probably, of his day, exerted a more extensive and  control-
ling influence over  the practice of medicine in  the country,
than  Dr. Redman.   He  published  an inaugural  disserta-
tion on "Abortion,"  in  1748, and a defence of inoculation
in small-pox, in  1759.—American Medical and Philosophical
Register ; Philadelphia Medical Museum, v. 49—56.
  Arthur Lee, M. D. was a  native of Virginia,  and bro-
ther  to Richard Henry Lee, the  celebrated  patriot of the
revolution.  Doctor Lee received his classical education at
Edinburgh, and afterwards studied medicine in  that Univer-
sity.   As soon as he graduated  he returned to his native
state, and  settled at Williamsburg,  where he  practised
medicine for several  years ; but afterwards abandoned  the
profession, went to England, and commenced  the study of
the law in the Temple.  He soon entered  into political life,
and  rendered important services to his country during the
revolutionary war.  To the  abilities of the statesman he is
said to  have united the acquisitions  of  the scholar.  He
was a member of the American Philosophical  Society,  and
published several  papers, mostly of a political character.
He died in Virginia in 1792.---dllen's Biog. Dictionary.
  Lionel Chalmers, M. D. was a native of Great-Britain,
and  came to this country, and  settled in South  Carolina.
He was an eminent physician, and distinguished for his va-
rious and extensive  attainments.  He made and  recorded
observations on the weather of South Carolina, for ten suc-
cessive years, viz. from  1750 to 1760.  Re  communicated
to the Medical Society in London,  a paper on " Opistho-
tonos and Tetanus" in 1754, which was published in the first
volume of the Transactions of the Society.  He also wrote
"A treatise on the Weather and Diseases of South Carolina,"
which was  published in  London, in  1776, and " an Essay
on  Fevers,"  a  valuable work, published in  Charleston, in
1767.—Ramsay's Review  of Med. 42.
  Dr. Hamilton  and Dr. Thompson, two eminent Scotch
physicians,  emigrated to  this  country at an early period,
probably about  1700, and settled in  Maryland, where they
practised for many years; the former in Calvert county, and
the latter in Prince George's county.   They were  both meo
of great celebrity in their time.   Nearly  cotemporary with
these, were Doctors  Sprigg, Weisenthall,  Pue, Scott,
Murray, and Tootell ; and, at a later period, Drs. Thomas. 
59
Warfield, Stewart, and Gauth. These gentlemen  wetfe
educated in foreign schools, and several of them were natives
of Europe.  They were all eminent practitioners, and did
much in forming the  medical character of Maryland in the
eighteenth century.—Letter from Dr.  Charles  Worthington.
  Thomas Bond,  M. D. an eminent physician of Philadel-
phia, was a native of Maryland, and studied under the direc*
tion of Dr. Hamilton of that state.  He afterwards travelled
in Europe, and spent some time in Paris, and  attended the.
practice of the  Hotel Dieu.   He settled in Philadelphia in
1734, and was among the founders of the College, and one of
the most active managers of the Pennsylvania  Hospital, at
its commencement.  In 1764 he was selected to  give  clini-
cal lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital, in connexion with
the Medical School, then about to be established.   Dr. Bond
was at this time an old practitioner.  He drew up, about the
year  1750, some useful memoirs on medical subjects, which
were published in the " Medical Observations and Inquiries,
vol i.  and ii.  London."—Ramsay's Review of Med. 37;
Wistar's Eulogy on Shippin.
  Dr. Phinehas Bond,  a younger brother of the preceding,
and a  native of  the same state.  After studying  medicine
some time in Maryland, he visited Europe, and passed a con-
siderable time  at  the Medical  Schools  of Leyden, Paris,
Edinburgh, and London.  On  his return to America, he set-
tled in Philadelphia, where he enjoyed  a high reputation for
many  years, as a successful practitioner of medicine.  He
was one of the founders  of the College, now the University
of Pennsylvania.— Wistar's Eulogy on Shippin.
  Dr.  Benjamin Gale, a native of America, and a distin-
guished practitioner of medicine in Connecticut, published,
in 1740, a paper on the inoculation of the small-pox, intend-
ed as a prize dissertation, in solution of the problem on this
subject, which had been proposed by the Academy of Bour-
deaux.   It was afterwards published  in  the Philosophical
Transactions, and  did  him great credit, both in this country
and Europe.—Miller, i. 318.
  Dr.  John Cutler, long an eminent  physician and sur-
geon of Boston, died in 1761,  aged 86.   He was the precep-
tor of several of the  early physicians of Massachusetts.—
Allen's Biog. Die.
  Alexander Garden, M.   D. a scientific physician  of
South Carolina.  In  1764, he published an account of the
medicinal virtues  of the pinkroot, and gave a botanical  de-
scription of  the plant.   He devoted much time to the study
of natural history, and particularly  to  botany,  and made 
BO
various communications on these subjects to his friends in
Europe.   In  compliment to him the greatest botanist  of
the age gave the name of Gardenia to one of the most beau-
tiful flowering shrubs in the world.  He was elected a mem-
ber of the Royal Society of Upsal.—Ramsay's Review of
Med. 42.
  Doctor  Jacob Ogden, of Long-Island, New-York, pub-
lished in 1764, observations on  a species of sore-throat which
was  then  prevalent  and  mortal.  This  disease was known
among the common people by the name of the putrid  sore-
throat.—Ramsay's Review of Med. 36.
  Doctor Joseph Warren, the distinguished  revolutionary
officer who fell at Bunker's Hill, was  educated at Harvard
College, and graduated in 1759.  He studied medicine, and
settled in  Boston, where he soon raised  himself to the head
of his profession.  He practised  medicine for several years
with great reputation ; but  at the commencement  of the
revolutionary  struggle, other  objects claimed his  services,
and he left the duties  of his profession for those of the
cabinet  and  the field.  He  was  an accomplished scholar
and physician, an eloquent orator, and  an able statesman and
general.  He published some political papers which did him
great credit.   At his death he  was 35 years of age.—Rush's
Eulogium ;  Warren's History  of the War, i.  222, 223.
  Hugh Mercer, M.  D. a  general  in the  revolutionary
war, was a distinguished physician, who, like Warren, fell
in the  defence  of the liberties of his country.  He was  a
native  of Scotland, and  educated at Edinburgh.  He  early
emigrated to Virginia, and settled at Fredericksburg,  where
he practised medicine  for several years with  great reputa-
tion.  During the revolution   he zealously  engaged in the
support of the liberties of his  adopted  country, and  fell in
the battle of Princeton, 177'7.—Holmes' Annals, ii. 372; Let-
ter from Chief Justice Marshall, 1825.
  Doctor George Greham, a  respectable physician of Vir-
ginia,  who emigrated  to this  country in the  early part of
the last century.  He was a native of the north of England,
and was educated at Edinburgh.  When he came to this
country he settled at Dumfries in  Virginia, where  he en-
joyed an extensive practice for many years, and sustained  a
high reputation.— Letter from Dr. Spence, 1825
  James M'L, kg, M. D.  a distinguished physician of Vir-
ginia, was a native of Scotland,  and was educated at Edin-
burgh.  He graduated in medicine about 1771, and defended
an experimental thesis on the bile. This paper was published
m London m 1772, and is a work of great  original   and 
(51
 merit.  Soon after he graduated he emigrated to America,
 and settled at Williamsburg, Virginia, and was by common
 consent placed at the head of the profession.  He is said
 never  to  have used a grain of jalap in the whole course of
 his practice, regarding it as too drastic a purgative.—Letter
from Chief Justice Marshall,  1825.
   James Lloyd,  M. D. an eminent physician of our country,
 was for more than half  a century a medical practitioner in
 Boston, Massachusetts.  He received his preparatory educa-
 tion at a private school in Connecticut,  and, at the  age  of
 seventeen, commenced  the  study  of medicine under Dr.
 Samuel Clark, of Boston. At the age of twenty-two he visited
 Europe, and spent two years in London, during which time
 he saw the practice and  attended the instructions of Chesel-
 den, Sharp,  Warner,  William Hunter, and Smellie.   He
 returned to his native country in 1750,  and settled in Boston ;
 where, till the period of his death, he enjoyed an extensive
practice, and  sustained  a high reputation as a  practitioner
of medicine.   To Dr. Lloyd is due the credit of placing the
practice of midwifery in New-England, in the hands of phy-
sicians, as it is to Dr. William Shippin for effecting the same
change in  the  middle states, though at a later period.  Pre-
vious to his time there were no systematic accoucheurs in the
country, physicians  being called only in cases  of  great dif-
ficulty.  The  good effects which have attended  this change,
as exemplified in the small number of females who have died
in childbed since this  period, compared  with the numbers
that perished  while the  practice was confined to females,
shows  the  importance of excluding altogether those who
have not been regularly educated  to  medicine.—New-Eng.
Journal, ii. 127.—Bartlett's Discourse, 13, 14.
  Doctor Currie, an eminent physician of Richmond, Vir-
ginia, practised through his  life with great reputation.   He
seemed to  possess, intuitively, the faculty of distinguishing
the character of disease and of discovering the remedy.   He
received his medical  education at the  University of Edin-
burgh.—Letter from Chief Justice Marshall^ 1825.
  Doctor Siccary, a practitioner of medicine in Virginia,
was, it is believed, a Portuguese  Jew.  It is said by Mr.
Jefferson, that we are indebted to him for the introduction of
that admirable vegetable the tomato.   He  was of  opinion
that a person who should eat a sufficient abundance of these
apples  would never die.  Whether he followed his own pre-
scription is not known ; but he  certainly attained to a very
old age, and particularly for the climate in which he lived.
The tomato is raised in abundance in Virginia and  the ad- 
6a
joining states, and is regarded a great luxury,  and by some
js  considered a  preservative against  bilious diseases.—
Letter from J. Augustin Smith, Pres. of William and Mary
College, Va. 1825.
  John Jeffries, M.D. a distinguished physician of Boston,
was born in that town, in 1744, graduated at Harvard College
in 1763,  and immediately after  commenced  the  study of
medicine with Dr. Lloyd. In 1766 he commenced practice in
his native town.  He soon  after visited Europe, where he
became the pupil of Wm. Saunders, and enjoyed all the ad-
vantages of the  medical  lectures and  hospital practice of
London, and  in  1769 received  the  degree of Doctor of
Physic at Aberdeen.  He was soon after appointed a surgeon
in the British navy, and for  a considerable  time held the_
office  of surgeon-major of the British  forces in America.
In 1784 he resigned  his station in the public service, and
returned  to England, and commenced  the  practice of his
profession in London, under the most influential patronage.
In 1780 he made an aerial tour from London to Kent, and the
year following passed over in a balloon with M.  Blanchard
from England to France, which  was the first  aerial voyage
that had been performed across the British Channel. These
experiments were  performed for scientific  purposes, and
originated in an ardent desire to ascertain, experimentally,
the correctness of  certain preconceived  hypotheses relative
to atmospheric temperature, &c. These adventures,  while
they  excited  the admiration of the  public, secured to him
the consideration  and patronage of  many of the most dis-
tinguished  scientific  characters  of England  and France.
After enjoying a lucrative practice in London for ten  years,
he was induced to return to his native city in America,  in
 J 790, where he held  an extensive and elevated  practice to
the time of his decease in 1819.
   Dr. Jeffries was, unquestionably, one of the most eminent
physicians  and   surgeons  that our  country has produced.
He was endowed by  nature with a mind of a very superior
order, and peculiarly fitted  to  the  profession of medicine.
He. was a constant  and accurate observer of nature, and pos-
sessed an acute and discriminating judgment, which seldom
permitted him to be  misled  in the investigation of disease,
He possessed one of the best private libraries in the country,
and was, through life, a most indefatigable student.  Anato-
my and physiology were his favourite pursuits, and on these
were  established all  his doctrines of pathology, and  appli-
cation of remedies.   He was one of the earliest advocates of
the. antiphlogistic treatment  of small-pox and other febrile 
63
  diseases, and he continued an ardent  supporter of this prac-
  tice through the whole  of his  professional career.—NeW-
  Eng. Jour, of Med. and Sur. ix. 63.
   Hugh Williamson, M. D. a distinguished scholar, phy-
  sician, and patriot, was born at West Nottingham, Pennsyl-
  vania, in 1735.  He graduated at the College of Philadelphia,
 at the first commencement of that institution, in  1757.  In
  1763 he left America to prosecute the study of medicine at
 the  University  of Edinburgh.  After remaining a while in
 this University, he spent some time in London, and then pro-
 ceeded to Utrecht, in Holland, where he completed his educa-
 tion, and received the degree of M. D.  On his return to his
 native country he  settled in Philadelphia, and practised his
 profession for several years with reputation and success ; but,
 on account of ill health, was induced to relinquish the duties
 of the profession, and devote himself wholly to literary and
 philosophical pursuits.  He subsequently resumed the prac-
 tice of medicine in North  Carolina, but after several years
 retired to New-York, where he died in 1819.  He published,
 in 1770j  in the Transactions of the American Philosophical
 Society,  a paper on the change of climate in America.  In
 1811, observations on the climate of different parts of Ameri-
 ca, compared with the climate in corresponding parts of the
 other continent.  In  1812, a History of North Carolina,
 which contains two important papers on the fevers of North
 Carolina, as they had prevailed in  1792 on the Roanoke, and
 in 1794 on the Neuse rivers ; also, a paper on the  fascination
 of serpents, in the Medical  Repository, vol. x. p. 341.—
 Hosack's Essays, vol. i.
  Doctor Hall Jackson, an eminent physician and  surgeon
 of Portsmouth, New-Hampshire, who, about the middle  of
 the last century,  stood at the  head of the medical profession
 ef that State.  He was the first surgeon of this country, it is
 believed, who introduced the  method of  healing wounds by
 the first  intention; and if it  was not till the practice had
 been tried in Europe, with him it  was entirely original, and
 the result of experiment and observation.  He was a man of
 great eccentricity, but a bold and intelligent practitioner.
  Gustavus R.  Brown, M.  D.  an  eminent physician  of
 Charles county, Maryland, received his medical educational
 Edinburgh, and graduated in Medicine at that University in
 1768 ; at which time he defended  a thesis on " Animal
Heat."   On his  return he settled in  his native place, and
enjoyed through  life an extensive  practice.  Dr. Rush, who
was cotemporary with Dr. Brown at Edinburgh, used to say
of him that he  was not  second  to any student  of the Unf 
04
versity at that period.  Dr. Brown was not only a well read
physician, and an able practitioner of medicine, but a good
classical scholar,  and indulged his  taste for general reading
during the whole course  of his laborious practice.  It is
said that he used but few remedies in his practice, and these
of a most efficient character.—Letter from Dr. Cousin.
  Doctors Gustavus  Brown  and William Brown, were
nephews  of the  preceding,  and educated  at Edinburgh, at
nearly the same period.   They were both eminent practi-
tioners of medicine, the former of St. Mary's county, Mary-
land,  and the latter of Alexandria. It  is not known that
either of these gentlemen left any  medical writings behind
them,  except the inaugural theses which they defended at
the time  of their graduation.—Ibid.
  Doctor  Paunham, of Charles county, Maryland, was  co-
temporary with the Dis. Browns,and also educated at Edin-
burgh  He was a distinguished practitioner of medicine and
surgery in his native state.—Ibid.
  Doctor Jam s Craik, a respectable Scotch physician,  was
educated at the University of Edinburgh, and came over to
this country with Braddock's army, which landed at Alex-
andria, in 1755.   Having served as military surgeon in Gen.
Braddock's campaign  in  America,  he settled at Norfolk,
Virginia,  where he practised  some time with  high reputa-
tion; but after a few years removed to Winchester, Virginia,
and subsequently to Charles county, Maryland.  At the com-
mencement of the revolution he was appointed  by the com-
mander-in-chief to an important trust in the medical staff of
the army, and during the whole of  the  war enjoyed  his per-
sonal  friendship  and confidence.  At the close of the revolu-
tion he settled in Alexandria.  He was the family physician
at  Mount Vernon, and  attended  Washington in  his last
illness.  He died at Alexandria in 1814, at the age of 84.—
Letter from Dr. J. B. Cutting.
  Doctor Andrew Robkrtson,  was a native of Scotland,
and received his medical education  at the University of
Edinburgh.   He  first served as a military  surgeon in the
British army in Flanders,  and came to  America with Brad-
dock's army  in  1755.  He remained  in  the country, and
settled in Lancaster county, Virginia,  where he acquired  a
high reputation,  and for many years enjoyed an extensive
practice.  He was particularly distinguished for his charity,
and attention to the  indigent sick.  He made  several valu-
able medical communications, which were published in the
" London Medical  Inquiries and Observations."  He  died
in 1795. 
65
  Dr.  William Baynham, son of Dr. John Baynham, of
Caroline county, Virginia, was born in 1749.  He  studied
medicine with Dr. Walker, who at that time was considered
one of the most eminent physicians of the state.  After he
had finished his studies with Dr. W. he was sent to London,
and entered a student at St. Thomas' Hospital.   As soon as
he had completed  his course,  he  became a  partner of Mr.
Slater, an eminent surgeon of  Margate,  and he  was subse-
quently invited by  Mr. Else, to assist him in his demonstra-
tions of Anatomy.  In  1781,  he was  admitted a member
of the  Royal College of Surgeons in London.   On his re-
turn  to his native country, he entered into an extensive
practice in  Virginia,  and  was long considered the most
eminent surgeon of the Southern States.  He was particu-
larly distinguished for his accurate  knowledge  of anatomy.
In the  art of injecting, and making anatomical preparations,
he is said to have been superior to any anatomist of his time.
He died in 1814.—Philadelphia Journal of Med. and Phys.
Sciences,  iv. 186.
  Walter Jones,  M. D.  one of the most  eminent  physi-
cians of our country, was born in Virginia, and received his
medical education at the  University of Edinburgh, where
he graduated about the year 1770.   While at this institution
he became a favourite of the school, and enjoyed the parti-
cular friendship and esteem of  Cullen, and the other profes-
sors of that time.  On his return to his native  country, he
settled in Northumberland county, Virginia, where he ac-
quired  an extensive practice, and sustained  through life the
highest standing both as a scholar and physician.
  " He was," says a distinguished gentleman, who for some
time enjoyed  his acquaintance, " for the  variety and extent
of his learning, the originality and strength  of his mind, the
sagacity of his  observations, and the captivating powers of
his conversation, one of the most  extraordinary men I have
ever known.  He was an accurate observer of nature and of
human character, and seemed to possess the faculty of dis-
cerning the hidden cause of disease, and of applying, with
a promptness and  decision  peculiar to himself, the appro-
priate remedies."  For a few years he was returned a mem-
ber of the national legislature; but he spent the  most of his
life in the practice of that profession of which he was so
distinguished an ornament.
  David Ramsay,  M. D.  one  of the most  distinguished
scholars and physicians of whom our country can boast, was
born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1749.  He grad-
uated at Pvinceton  College, New-Jersey, i* 1765, being only 
66
sixteen years of age.  He spent the two following years a*
a private instructer in a respectable family in Maryland ; but
in 1767, commenced the study of medicine with  Dr. T.
Bond of Philadelphia, and attended the medical  lectures of
the College.   In 1772 he graduated Bachelor of Medicine,
with the highest approbation of his teachers, by whom he
was  considered  a young man of uncommon talents and at-
tainments.  He immediately commenced the practice of his
profession in  Maryland, -but after  one year  removed to
Charleston, South Carolina, where he lived till the time of
his death in 1815.
  Dr. R. was a short time surgeon in the revolutionary army,
and served in that capacity at the siege of Savannah.  In
1785, he was  elected a member of Congress, and presided
over that body for one year in place of John Hancock.   Al-
though he entered deeply into the cause of American liber-
ty during the revolution, the most of  his life was devoted to
the practice of his profession, and to  literary and scientific
pursuits.
  As an historical writer Dr. R. has been pronounced by com-
petent judges to have held the highest rank.  As a physi-
cian he was  eminent, and ever commanded the confidence of
his patients, and the admiration and esteem of his profes-
sional brethren. His medical writings, though not numerous,
have  reflected  honour upon his country, and have dissemi-
nated much valuable information.  They are, " an Account of
the Soil, Climate, Weather, and Diseases of South Carolina;"
" A  Review  of the  Improvements, Progress, and  State of
Medicine in the Eighteenth Century ;" "A Medical Regis-
ter for 1802 ;" " A Dissertation on the Means of Preserving
Health in Charleston ;" and  " A Eulogium on Dr. Rush."—
Smith's Continuation of Ramsay's History of the  U. States.

                     Note E.—Page 21.

  The Medical Professorships  of Harvard College  were
originally founded on the bequests of Dr. E. Hersey, and his
widow ; Dr.  A. Hersey, John Cummings, and William Er-
ving ; all of which  amounted to the  sum of four thousand
pounds sterling.  But the institution has sinee received still
greater aid  from the munificence of the distinguished  phi-
lanthropist, Ward Nicholas Boylston, Esq.  who, above any
other individual of our country, has devoted his  wealth  and
his influence  to the promotion  of medical science.  Soon
after the founding of the school  he presented to Harvard
College an  extensive medical library, and made permanent
provision for its future enlargement.  This library contains 
°7
  many rare  and expensive books and plates, and is one of the
  most valuable collections of medical works in the  United
  States.  It is to the influence of Mr. Boylston, also, that the
  school is indebted for a  valuable cabinet of anatomical pre-
  parations, formerly the  property of the celebrated Dr. Ni-
  chols, of England, by whose hand most of them were pre-
  pared.   This cabinet has been  enlarged by the liberality of
  Mr. E. H. Derby, who some time since presented a collection
  of wax preparations.

                     Note F.—Page 26.

             Professors of the different Schools.
           MEDICAL SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA.
    Until the  year 1768, Drs. Shippin  and Morgan  were the
 only  professors in  the  school.   At this time Dr.  Adam
 Kuhn, who had recently returned from Europe, where he had
 enjoyed the instructions of Linnaeus,  was appointed Profes-
 sor of Botany and Materia Medica.
   In June of this year, the first commencement was held for
 Bachelors of Medicine.
   In 1769, Dr.  Rush, who had just returned  from Europe,
 was appointed Professor of Chemistry.  At  the commence-
 ment in June 1771, the degree of A. B. was conferred on seven,
 and the degree of M. D. on four students.  The latter were
 the first Doctors of Medicine formed in America.   In 1789,
 Dr. Morgan died, and Dr. Rush was elected professor of the
 Theory and Practice of Physic. Dr. Kuhn resigned  his chair
 soon after, and Dr. Griffiths was elected to the chair of Ma-
 teria Medica and Pharmacy, Dr. Barton to the chair of  natu-
 ral history and botany, and Dr. Wistar to  the chairs of che-
 mistry and the institutes of medicine.  In 1791,  the College
 and University, which had before been two bodies corporate,
 were united, and formed one  school, under the name of the
 University.  Dr. Hutchinson  was appointed to the chair of
 chemistry, and Dr.  Wistar   adjunct professor of anatomy.
 In 1793, Dr. Hutchinson died, and Dr. Carsin was appointed
 to his  place,  but died in a few weeks  after.  Dr. Priestly
 was  then  elected professor of chemistry, but declined.  In
 1795, Dr. Woodhouse was elected to the chair of chemistry.
 In 1796, Dr. Griffiths resigned the chair of materia medica,
 and Dr. Barton was appointed to fill the place.
  On the union of the two schools, Dr. Kuhn held the  chair
 of the practice, and Dr. Rush  that of the theory and insti-
 tutes;  but in 1797 Dr. Kuhn resigned entirely, and Dr. Rush
was appointed to the chair of the  practice, in 1805.  The 
68
same year Dr. Physick was appointed to the new and  sepa-
rate chair of surgery.  In 1807  Dr.  Dorsey was appointed
adjunct proftssor of surgery.  In 1808 Dr.  Shippin  died,
and Dr. Wistar was appointed  professor of anatomy and
inidwifery.  In 1809  Dr. Woodhouse  died, and Dr.  Coxe
was appointed to the chair of chemistry. In 1810 midwifery
was separated from the  anatomical chair, and Dr. James
was appointed  the  professor of midwifery.   In 1813 Dr.
Rush died, and Dr. Barton was appointed to the chair of the
institutes and practice of medicine,  and Dr.  Dorsey to the
chair of materia medica.  In 1815 Dr. Barton died, and Dr.
Dorsey was appointed to his chair, and Dr. Chapman to the
chair  of materia  medica.  In  1818 Dr. Wistar died, and
Dr. Dorsey was appointed professor of anatomy, Dr. Chap-
man  professor of the institutes and  practice of medicine,
Dr. Coxe to the chair  of materia medica, and Dr. Hare  to
the chair  of chemistry.  The same year Dr Dorsey died,
and Dr. Physick was appointed  in  1819 professor of anato-
my, and Dr.  Gibson professor of  surgery.  In 1820 Dr.
Horner was appointed adjunct professor of anatomy. ^Letter
from Professor J.  R. Coxe, 1825.

  The present faculty :
  Philip Sing Physick, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.
  John Redman Coxe,  M. D., Professor of Materia Medica
       and Pharmacy.
  Nathaniel Chapman, M. D., Professor of the Theory and
       Practice of  Medicine, and Clinical  Practice.
  Thomas C. James, M D., Professor of  Midwifery.
  Robert Hare, M. D.,  Professor of Chemistry.
  William Gibson, M.  D,, Professor of Surgery.
  William E. Horner, M. D., Adjunct Professor of Anatomy.

  COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF NEW-YORK.
  Wright Post, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.
  David Hosack, M. D., F. R. S.,  Professor of the Theory
       and Practice of  Physic, and Clinical Medicine.
  Wm. J. M'Nevin, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
  Samuel L.  Mitchell, M. D., F  R. S., Ed., Professor of
       Botany, and Materia Medica.
  Valentine Mott, M. D., Professor of Surgery.
  John W. Francis, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and the
       Diseases of Women and  Children.
  Frederick G. King, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy.
, David L. Rogers, M. D., Demonstrator of Surgery. 
6<J
                  HARVARD COLLEGE.

   John C Warren, M. D., Professor  of Anatomy  and
       Surgery.
   John Gorham, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
   Walter Channing, M. D., Professor  of Midwifery and
       Medical Jurisprudence.
   Jacob Bigelow, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica.
   James Jackson, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Prac-
       tice of Physic.

                DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

   Reuben D. Mussey, M. D., Professor of Anatomy, Surgery,
       and Obstetrics.
   Daniel Oliver, M. D., Professor of the  Theory and Prac-
       tice of Physic, Physiology, and Materia Medica.
   J. Freeman Dana, M.  D., Professor of Chemistry, Phar-
      macy, and Legal Medicine.

              UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.

  John V. Davidge, M. D., Professor of the Principles and
      Practice of Surgery.
  Nathaniel  Potter, M.  D., Professor of the  Theory and
      Practice of Medicine.
  Elisha  De  Butts, M.  D.,  Professor of  Chemistry and
      Mineralogy.
  Granville Sharp Pattison, Esq., Professor  of Anatomy.
  Samuel Baker, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica.
  Richard W. Hall, M. D., Professor of Midwifery and the
      Diseases of Women and  Children.
  Maxwell M'Dowell, M. D., Professor of the  Institutes of
      Medicine.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF THE WESTERN
         DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.

  Joseph White, M  D., President, and Professor of Surgery.
  Westel Willoughby, M. D., Vice President, and Professor
      of Obstetrics.
  James Hadley, M. D., Professor of Chemistry  and Mate-
      ria Medica.
  T. Romeyn Beck, M.  D., Professor of the  Theory and
      Practice of Physic, and Medical Jurisprudence.
  James M'Naughton, M.  D.,  Professor of Anatomy and
      Physiology. 
70
                 YALE COLLEGE.

jEneas  Monson, M. D., Professor of  the Institutes of
    Medicine.
Nathan Smith, M.  D.,  Professor  of the  Theory and
    Practice of Physic, Surgery, and Obstetrics.
Benjamin Silliman, M. D., Professor of Chemistry, Phar-
    macy, Mineralogy and Geology.
Eli Ives, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Botany,
    and Lecturer on the Diseases of Women and Children.
Jonathan Knight, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physi-
    ology, and Lecturer on Obstetrics.

           MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO.

Jedediah Cobb,  M.  D.,  Professor  of the Institutes and
    Practice of Medicine.
Elijah Slack,  A. M., Professor of  Chemistry and  Phar-
    macy.
John Moorhead, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and
    Medical Obstetrics.
Jesse Smith, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.

         VERMONT ACADEMY QF MEDICINE.

William Tully, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Prac-
    tice of Physic and Medical Jurisprudence.
Theodore Woodward, M. D., Professor of the Principles
    and Practice of Surgery, Obstetrics, and Diseases of
    Women and Children.
William Anderson, M. D.,  Professor of Anatomy and
    Physiology.
Amos Eaton, Esq. Professor of Chemistry and Natural Phi-
    losophy, and Lecturer on Natural History.
Jonathan A. Allen, M. D., Professor of  Materia Medica
    and Pharmacy.

            TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY.

Benjamin W. Dudley, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and
    Surgery.
Charles Caldwell, M. D., Professor of the  Institutes and
    Clinical Medicine.
Samuel Brown, M. D., Professor of the Theory and  Prac-
    tice of Medicine.
Daniel Drake, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and
    Medical Botany. 
n
  William H. Richardson, M.  D., Professor of Obstetrics
      and the Diseases of Women and Children.
  James Blythe, D. D., Professor of Chemistry.
  Robert Best, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry.

                 BROWN UNIVERSITY,

  Levi Wheaton,  M. D., Professor  of  the Theory and
     Practice of Physic and Obstetrics.
  John De Wolf, A.M., Professor of  Chemistry and  Phar-
     macy.
  Usher Parsons, M. D., Professor of Anatomy, Physiology,
     and Surgery.
  Solomon Drown, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and
     Botany.

             MEDICAL SCHOOL  OF MAINE.

 Parker Cleaveland, M.  D., Professor  of  Chemistry and
     Materia Medica.
 Nathan Smith, M. D., Lecturer on the Theory and Prac-
     tice of Physic and Surgery.
 John D. Wells, M.  D., Professor of  Anatomy and Physi-
     ology.

             UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT.

 John Bell, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.
 William Paddock,  M.  D., Professor  of  Botany  and
     Materia Medica.
 Arthur  L. Porter, M. D.,  Professor of Chemistry and
     Pharmacy.
 Nathan  Smith, M. D., Lecturer  on the Theory and Prac*
     tice of Physic and Surgery.

          BERKSHIRE MEDICAL SCHOOL.

John P.  Batchelder, M. D.,  Professor of Surgery and
     Physiology.
Jerome V. C.  Smith, M. D., Professor of General Anatomy
     and Physiology.
Henry H. Childs, M. D., Professor of the Theory and
    Practice of Physic.
John De Lamatter, M. D.,  Professor of Pharmacy, Ma-
    teria Medica, and Obstetrics.
Chester  Dewey, A.  M. Professor of  Chemistry,  Botany,
     Mineralogy, and Natural Philosophy.
Stephen W. Williams, M. D.,  Professor of Medical Juris-
    prudence. 
ys
        MEDICAL COLLEGE OF SOUTH CAROLLXA.

  John Edwards Holbrook, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.
  S. Henry Dickson, M. D., Professor of the Institutes and
      Practice of Physic.
  James Ramsay, M. D., Professor of Surgery.
  Thomas G. Prioleau, M. D.,  Professor of Obstetrics, ah<j
      the Diseases of Women and Children.
  Henry Rutledge  Frost,  M. D.,  Professor  of Materia
      Medica.
  Edmund  Ravenel, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
  Stephen Elliot, LL. D., Professor of Botany and Natural
      History.

                 JEFFERSON COLLEGE.

  John Eberle, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice,
      and Clinical Medicine.
  George M'Lellan,M. D., Professor of Surgery.
  Jacob Green, A. M , Professor of Chemistry.
  B. Rush Rhees, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica.
  F. S. Beattie, M. D.,  Professor of  the Institutes of Medi-
      cine and  Midwifery.
  Nathan R. Smith,  M. D.,  Professor of  Anatomy and
      Physiology.

                     Note G.—Page 28.

  A prize establishment exists in connexion with the Medi-
cal School  of Harvard College,  and  bears the name of the
" Boylston Prize Establishment," from having been founded
by W. N. Boylston, Esq. the same gentleman whose name is
introduced in a preceding note.  In  1803, Mr. Boylston esta-
blished a fund, the income of which,  amounting to one hun-
dred dollars annually, was originally  divided  into three, but
since into two  premiums, to be  awarded to the  writers of
the best dissertations on such medical subjects as should be
proposed.  The questions are proposed, and the premiums
awarded, by a committee appointed by the corporation of the
University.   Mr.  Boylston has lived to see the utility of this
establishment, eliciting the  talents of medical gentlemen in
different parts of the United States, to the discussion of some
of the most important subjects  that have ever been placed
before the public.  Several  of the prize essays  have  been
published, and have done honour to the medical character of
our country. 
73
  The following is*a list of the subjects of the dissertations
for which premiums .have been awarded, the names of their
respective authors, and the period when adjudged :
   1804. James Mann, M. D. " On Cholera Infantum."
   1806.    Do.       " On Dysentery."
  ----George C. Shattuck, M. D. " On Mortification."
   1807.  Do.      Do.          "On  the Structure and
          Physiology of the Skin."
  ----       Do.     Do.        "On Biliary Concre-
          tions."
  1808. Daniel Newcomb, M. D. " On Cancer, and the Best
          Mode of Extirpation "
   1809. Jacob Bigelow,  M. D. " On  Cynanche Maligna."
  ----       Do.        " On  Phthisis Pulmonalis"
  ----  Thomas  Sewall,  M D. "On Complaints in the
          Breasts of Nursing Women"
   1811. Jacob Bigelow,  M.  D.  "On the Best Mode of
          Treament of  Injuries  occasioned by Fire, and
          other Heated  Substances."
  —— George Hayward, M. D. " On Hydrocephalus."
  1814.  John  F. Waterhouse, M. D. " On the Medical Uses
         of  Carbonic Acid Gas."
  ----   Do.    Do.        " On the Criteria by  which
         to  determine when the Use of Mercurials in the
          Cure of Syphilis should be discontinued."
  ---- Enoch Hale,  jun.,  M.  D.   "On the Reciprocal
         Changes which  take place  in the Blood, and in
          the Air, in the process of Respiration."
  1815. John Ware, M D. "On the Structure and Functions
         of  the  Urinary Apparatus."
  ---- Abel L. Peirson, M. D " On Bloodletting."
  ---- J. Freeman Dana, M. D.  " On the Tests of Arsenic."
  1816. John  Ware, M. D. " On Sweating as a Remedy in
         Diseases.  How does it operate; in what cases
          should it be employed ; and, to what  extent or
         degree in each ; and  what are the best means of
         inducing  this evacuation  in the several cases in
         which it is adviseable ?"
  *-— J. Freeman Dana, M. D. " On  the Composition of
          the Oxymuriatic Gas."
  1818. John  Ware, M. D.  "On Haemoptysis."
  1849. Enoch Hale, jun. M. D.  " Is there any Communi-
         cation from tv e Stomach  to tie  Bladder, more
         direct than that through the Circulating System
         and the Kidneys V
                        K 
74
  1820. John Ware, M. D. " On the Best *Mcans- of Prom6t-»
          ing Suppuration."
  1820. William Sweetser, jun. M. D. " On the Diagnosis
         and Treatment of Cynanche Trachealis, or Croup."
  1821. JehnC. Dalton,M. D!"On the Diseases of the Liver,
          both Functional and Organic."
  ---- Enoch Hale, jun. M. D.  *» On the Introduction of
          Medicinal Substances into the Veins."
  1822. Abel L. Peirson, M.  D. "On  Pertussis, or Chin
          Cough."
  1823. William Sweetser, jun. M. D. on the Functions of the
          extreme Capillary Vessels, in Health and in  Dis-
          ease."
  1824. Samuel Cartwright,M. D." How long may the human
          body remain  immersed in water without extinc-
          tion of life ; and at what period after immersion
          will it be useless to employ restorative means ?"
  It is quite possible that some names may have  been omit-
ted, as an official account could not be obtained of candidates
who wrote between the years 1809 and 1814.
  Mr. Boylston has recently established another prize fund,
in connexion with the  Boylston Medical Society, particular-
ly for the medical class attending lectures  in the University;
and designed  especially  to improve young men in the  style
of writing on medical subjects.  This institution has already
produced very beneficial effects.

                    Note H.—Page 2&.

  In some of the earlier schools which were established  in
the country, the degree of Bachelor of Medicine was confer-
red on graduates, and that of Doctor was  granted only as an
honorary degree at a subsequent period.   This was the case
at Philadelphia, at Harvard, and at Dartmouth, and  perhaps
at some other schools.   But the degree of Doctor of Medi-
cine is the only one conferred in our schools at the present
time.
  Although there  is no uniform standard of attainments
established, in order to graduation, in most of our schools it
is required, that before a  student can be admitted to an ex-
amination for a degree,  he must have attained to the age of
twenty-one, have studied three years with some regular phy-
sician, attended two full courses of lectures on the different
branches of medicine,  and if he has not enjoyed  the advan-
tages of a collegiate education, he must furnish satisfactory
evidence of having made respectable classical attainments ; 
75
 and particularly that he has acquired a competent knowledge
 of the Latin and Greek languages, has studied mathematics,
 natural and experimental philosophy, geography, and belles
 lettres.   In several  of our schools it is required that he
 shall have attended the clinical practice of some infirmary
 for a specified term.  It is also required that  before he can
 receive his degree, he  must pass a close examination in the
 different branches of medicine, and write and defend a theses
 on some medical subject.

                     Note I.—Page 29.

   Number of Medical  Students attending the last course of
 lectures at the different schools :
   University of Pennsylvania,.....480
   College of Physicians and Surgeons of New-York,    196
   Harvard College,     ---__.     130
   Dartmouth College,     -    -    -         -    -   80
   University of Maryland,.....215
   College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western
       District of the State of New-York,     -    -   120
   Yale College,     ,----'-•-     82
   Medical College of Ohio,.....22
   Vermont Academy of Medicine,      * '   -    -     124
   Transylvania University,     -    -    -    -    -   235
   Medical School of Maine,                *          60
   Brown University,      -              -    -     -   40
   University of Vermont,    -                        42
   Berkshire Medical School,   -----   94
   Medical College of South Carolina,   -               50

                                      Total,        1970

   It will be seen that the preceding statement does not agree,
 in every instance, with those which  have been published in
 the public journals ; but the information here exhibited  has
 been derived from  one  or more of  the  professors of each
 school, or from printed  catalogues of the students.

                     Note K.-—Page 31.

  It was the intention to have given the date of the estab-
lishment of the  different Medical Societies in the United
States, and the names of  the  principal officers, with some
account of the regulations of each ; but, except in  a few in-
stances, such information could not be obtained. 
70
  The Massachusetts Medical Society, being  the first  that
was established in  the United States,  and the model from
which the societies  of most of the other States have been
formed, some details are given of this  institution,  which
would otherwise have been withheld.
  The officers of the Society consist of a President, a Vice-
President, a Corresponding and Recording  Secretary, a
Treasurer, a Librarian, a Board of  Counsellors, and a Board
of Censors or Examiners.  A meeting of the Society is held
annually, at  which its officers are elected, and a dissertation
delivered by one of  its fellows.

  The Presidents, from the period of its first organization:
  Edward A. Holvoke,  M. D., 1782; William Kneeland,
M.  D.,  1784;  Edward  A.  Holyoke, M. D., 1786; Cotton
Tufts, M. D., 1787 ; Samuel Danforth, M. D.,  1795 ;  Isaac
Rand, M. D., 1798; John  Warren, M. D., 1804; Joshua
Fisher,  M.  D.,  1815;  John Brooks, M. D., 1823; James
Jackson, M. D.,~1825.

  Those who have delivered the anniversary discourse :
  Isaac  Rand, M.  D.,  "On Phthisis  Pulmonalis and  the
Warm Bath," 1804.
  John Warren, M. D.,  "On the Use and Effects of Mer-
cury," 1805.
  Joshua Fisher, M. D., " On Narcotic Substances," 1806.
  Thomas Welsh, M. D., " On Heat and Cold as Agents on
the Human  Body," 1807.
  John Brooks, M. D.," On Pulmonic Inflammation," 1808.
  Aaron Dexter, M. D., " On Diseases of the Joints," 1809.
  Josiah Bartiet, M.  D., "On  the Progress of Medical
Science in the Commonwealth of :\  assacousetts," 1810.
  Oliver Fiske, M. D.,   " On Certain Epidemics in  the
Eastern pan of this State," 1811.
  Abram Haskell, M. D., " On Cynanche Trachealis," 1812.
  Richard Hazeltine, M.D., "On Phlegmasia Dolens," 1816.
  Hector Orr, M.  D.,  "On Animal and  Vegetable Life,"
1817.
  James Jackson, M. I)., " On Fever," 1818.
  John C. Warren,  M. !)., " On a Comparative View of the
Sensorial and Nervous Systems of Men and Animals," 1820.
  Nathaniel Bradstreet, M. 1)., " On the Proximate Cause
of Fever,"  1821.
  John G. Coffin, M. I), " On  Medical Education, and on
the Medical Profession," 1822. 
77
   Henry H. Childs, M. D., " On the Advancement of Medi-
 cal Science," 1823.
   Robert Thaxter, M. D.,  " On Delirium Tremens,"  1824.
   John Dixwell, M. D., " An Eulogy on Hon. John Brooks,
 late President of the Society," 1825.
   Nearly all these discourses have been published in the
 Transactions of the Society.

                     Note  L.—Page 31.

   The Medical Society of the State  of New-Jersey,  is the
 second  which was instituted in the country, the original act
 for establishing which  has been politely furnished by the
 Hon. L. Condit, of that State, and is here presented.

 An  Act to  regulate the Practice of Physic and Surgery^
   within the State of New Jersey.  Passed Nov. 29, 1783.
   Preamble.— Whereas, many ignorant and unskilful per-
 sons do take upon themselves to administer physic and sur-
 gery within this State, to the endangering of the  lives and
 limbs of the good subjects  of the same,  who have been per-
 suaded to become their patients :  for the prevention of such
 abuses in future—
   Section 1st,—Be it enacted, &c, That from  and after the
 publication of this act, no person whatsoever shall adminis-
 ter physic, or practise surgery,  in the State of New-Jersey,
 before he shajl have been first  examined, approved of, and
 admitted, by any two of the Justices of  the Supreme Court
 of this State, for the time being,  taking to their assistance,
 for such examination, two  able and skilful practitioners  in
 physic and surgery, Who, after due examination and satisfac-
 tory proofs being given of such candidate's learning and skill,
 in physic or surgery, shall certify, under their hands and
 seals, or at least under the  hands and seals of three of the
 said examiners, that the person  applying is approved of, and
 ought to be admitted to practise as a physician or surgeon,
 or both,  and shall give a testimonial of his examination and
 admission, in the form  following, viz:—[Here follows the
 form.]
  Section 2d,  Prescribes a penalty of five pounds for prac-
 tising without license.   Provided, that  this  penalty do  not
extend to any skilful physician or surgeon sent for from any
of the neighbouring States,  on any particular occasion.
  Section 3d,  Prescribes a penalty of twelve pounds on any
mountebank doctor,  who shall erect a stage for the sale of
drugs, or medicine of any kind. 
7*
   Section 4th,  Erfacts, that  every  physician shall  deliver
1iis bill in plain English words, or as nearly so as possiblej
and that each bill shall be taxed by any Judge of the Supreme
Court,  or of the Court  of Common Pleas, if the  patient
shall require it.
   This act has since  been revised by the  Legislature of the
State, and the Medical Society of New-Jersey is now regu-
lated by provisions similar  to those  of the Society of Massa-
chusetts.

                    Note M.—Page 32.

   Although the Medical Societies of the different States are
all instituted on the same general plan,  and for the same
objects, there is a variation in the  powers of their charters.
In some of the  States, persons who  are not licensed are perr
mitted to practise, and are  allowed the benefit of the law to
enforce the payment of their fees.  In  other States such
unqualified persons are denied the  benefit of the law; and,
in some of  the States, a severe  penalty  is inflicted for pre-
scribing medicine without a license.  The  good effects of
the latter regulation are strikingly exemplified, in the exemp-
tion of Maryland and the District  of Columbia, from those
quacks and  impostors which are still found  in some other
parts of our country.

                     Note N.—Page 32.

  The New York Medical  Repository was the first Medical
Journal published in the United States, and was commenced
in that city  in 1797, by the  joint labours  of  Doctors Samuel
L. Mitchell, Edward Miller, and Elihu H. Smith.  Since the
commencement of this work,  a succession of periodical jour-
nals have  been  established, among which are :
  The Philadelphia  Medical and Physical Journal,
      commenced in......1804
  Philadelphia Medical Museum, in      ...  ig05
  Baltimore Medical and Physical Recorder, in   -     1808
  New-York Medical and Philosophical Journal and
      Review, in    ------     -  1809
  American Medical and Philosophical Register,
      (at New-York,) in.....1810
  The American Mineralogical  Journal,  (at New-
      York,) in      -----'..  18io
  Eclectic Repertory, (at Philadelphia,) in  -   -     1811
  Baltimore Medical and  Philosophical Lyceum, in     1811
  New England Journal of  Medicine and Surgery,
      £at Boston,) in     ----..  ui2 
ya
  American Medical Recorder, (at Philadelphia,) in    1818
  Philadelphia Journal of Medical and Physical Sci-
      ences, in-------     1820
  American Journal of Science and  Arts, (New-
      Haven,) in   ......     -   1821
  New York Medical and Physical Journal, in   -     1832
  Western Medical Reporter, (at Cincinnati, Ohio,)
      about   -                   ....   1822
  Hartford Analectic Journal of Medicine and Sur-
      gery, in    -------     J823
  Boston Medical Intelligencer, in   -    -    -     -   1823
  Medical Review and Analectic  Journal, (at Phi-
      ladelphia,) in......1824
  New-York  Monthly  Chronicle of Medicine and
      Surgery, in.......1824
  Carolina Journal of Medicine, Science^ and
       Agriculture* (at Charleston,) in      -    -     1825
  These  publications have, in general, been well sustained,
and while they have been  useful in disseminating  medical
information, and in exciting a more general taste for reading
and inquiry,  they have called forth  the talents of  physicians
in every  part of the United States, in exploring  the medi-
cal  topography of the  country,  investigating the causes
ef its epidemic and endemic diseases, examining its  animal,
vegetable, and mineral  productions ; and in  publishing the
results of their observations  and discoveries to rhe world.
They  have  thus  been  among the  most  efficient  means
of advancing medical science, and elevating the character
of the profession.  Several of the Journals which have been
established are discontinued, and  others  have assumed a
different title.  Twelve  only are published at the  present
time, though five more are soon to be added to this number.

                    Note O.—Page 36.

  Although  medical science in the United States is be-
ginning to assume a consistent  and elevated character,  as
evinced by the extension of medical schools and societies
through the country, the character of our elementary works
and  periodical journals,  as   well  as  by  the spirit which
generally pervades the profession ; yet it may not be unim-
portant to suggest, whether a closer  and  more extensive
alliance among our institutions, and the more scientific mem-
bers of the profession, may not be expedient, to ensure a £»H
developement of such cheering indications. 
80
  Could not an association be instituted, which, while it
should impart stimulus to individual enterprise, might serve
as a grand repository of the science and literature of the pro-
fession ;  and impress on all our institutions, that uniformity
in their organization and management, which is necessary
to give a fixed and national character to the medical profes-
sion of our country ?
  A bare allusion is here made to this subject, not presuming
even to  sketch the outlines of  the plan, leaving that higher
office to an abler pen.
♦