i&gicBwi&iBa
BII.IVXBED AT THE
OPENING OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
   IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA;








       March  30,  1825.







               BY








    THOMAS SEWALL, M. D.   ?; .





PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY  AND PHYSIOLOGY.   •"'- *




        ■








        SECOND EDITION.
     WASHINGTON CITT:



FAINTED AT THE COLUMBIAN OFFICE.
J826. 
,^>>V* ,Y. *,.  \>
 
LECTURE, $c.
Gentlemen :
  The occasion which has called us together, is one of high inter-
est.  The establishment of a Medical School, whether we consider
it as connected with the progress of medical science in times past,
or associated with its future advancement, is an event which we can-
not 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 pro-
gress in succeeding ages; mark the different revolutions it has un-
dergone ; and, particularly, to notice those institutions, individuals,
and events, by which it has been brought to its present 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 history of our own
country;  and,  particularly,  of those institutions, and of those cir-
cumstances,  from which it has derived its principal character.
   On looking back upon the early  history of our country, our atten-
tion is arrested by the extraordinary fact, that more than a century
and a half elapsed after its first settlement, before a single institution
existed, either for the education of physicians,  or  the regulation of
the practice  of medicine.
   Early and  ample provision was made  for the  purposes of general
education.   Schools and Colleges were established ; many able poli-
ticians, accomplished civilians, and learned divines, were produced;
while  scarcely a  scientific physician  was to be found, except such
as  had sought an education in the schools of Europe, or had emi-
grated to this country from abroad.
   This fact is the more remarkable, since our ancestors  must, from
repeated  ravages  of fatal diseases among them, have  learned  the
importance  of education,  in directing  a profession so  intimately
connected with the preservation of human life.*  Yet, when wc con-
                           * See Note A. 
1
sider the objects for which they emigrated,  and the  extraordinary
circumstances  that attended them, we shall find a satisfactory ex-
planation,  If not a full apology, for their  disregard  of  medical
science.
  No other colony was ever planted in a foreign country, composed
of individuals of the same character, actuated by the same motives,
and governed by the same policy, as that which first settled America.
Our ancestors did not come hither for the purposes of monied specu-
lation, 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 civil-
ized society, to encounter the perils, the labours, and privations, that
awaited them on the hostile shores of a savage wilderness.   A zeal
more pure, and a spirit more elevated, inspired and sustained them.
It was the great master principle of religious liberty  and religious
reformation, that enkindled the zeal of our  fathers,  directed their
course, and bore them on  to  this western world,—a principle, 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 cha-
racter to all their institutions; while  medicine and other branches
of science  were regarded  as subordinate objects, and left to be de-
veloped by the  future  necessities and resources of the country.
  Other causes, no doubt, had an influence in  retarding the progress
of medical science, during the early  part of our history.   A new
country is  not  favourable to the  improvement of science, and par-
ticularly  to a science  which more than  any other is founded on ob-
servation  and experience.  The general health  that prevails,  the
scattered state of population, and above all, the  poverty which ren-
ders it necessary for every one to provide for his wants with his own
hands, while they damp the ardour of inquiry, preclude the possi-
bility  of accurate and extensive observation.  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 imbibe something
of the genius  of their native country, and  the  spirit  of the  age.
That was  then a country whose medicine  had scarcely emerged
from empiricism, 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 devotion to its interest, which had  been
feut little cultivatedj and which at that period was extremely limited 
5
*nd hypothetical.  The discovery of the circulation of the blood by-
Harvey, and the course of the  chyle by Aselius and Pequet,  had
been scarcely promulgated, when our ancestors embarked for Ameri-
ca ; and the labours of  the Monros and the Hunters, as well as the
improvements  of the anatomists,  physiologists,  and surgeons 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 extensively experienced through the
world during the last century.
   When we consider, then, the objects for which our ancestors emi-
 grated  to America; the difficulties  they had  to  encounter; the
 state of the country to which they came; and, above all, the depress-
 ed state of medical science throughout Europe at the time, it is easy
 to explain their disregard of medical education, and its slow pro-
 gress 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  in-
 formed by the few scattered fragments of history which are left  us,
 as well as by tradition, that our early divines, in imitation of the
 ancient priests of Egypt, of Greece,  and  Rome, united with  their
 clerical profession the practice of  medicine.   A venerable and dis-
 tinguished 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 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 brethren ;  and though they were not
 endowed  with high  attainments in medical science, they were, ne-
 vertheless, qualified for great usefulness in their respective stations.
 Altogether unlike the ignorant empirics  of later times,  they were
 actuated  by the purest motives, and the  highest considerations of
 benevolence.   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 medicine united, that
  the clergy not only prescribed  for the sick, but entered into medical
 controversies, and  wrote  practical works on the  diseases of the
                         * Dr. James Thacher. 
6
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  another 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 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 fcr 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 profession, and who could have pos-
sessed but a very  imperfect knowledge of the structure  and laws of
the animal economy, and of the nature of disease.  But, even in
the earliest  period  of our country, the clergy were not.the only
persons to whom the practice of medicine was confided.  On the first
settlement of America,  a few physicians came over with the colo-
nists, planted themselves in the country, and  as far as circumstances
permitted, or occasion required, devoted themselves to the duties of
their profession.!   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 the 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.
  This state  of things, however, did not continue  for a long time.
As early as 1638, Harvard College was 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 graduates began to  turn their atten-
tion to the profession of medicine.   Several  young men of  this de-
scription, after studying a suitable time with the most eminent phy-
sicians of America, repaired to Europe to  enjoy the benefit of  lec-
tures, 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 Connecticut:  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-
          *  See Note B.                      f See Note C. 
i
Jersey, founded in 1746, and the College of Philadelphia, founded
in 1754, pursued the same course.
  Thus were introduced  into America, a number  of well educated
physicians, who were natives of the country, besides several distin-
guished European physicians, who in the mean time had emigrated
with the early settlers.*   Yet the number was so small,  and the in-
crease so  inconsiderable, when compared with the rapid progress
of the population, that the  demand for medical practitioners could
not be supplied.
  In those days it was not uncommon for a skilful surgeon to ride
one and even two hundred miles, to amputate a limb, or reduce  a
dislocated shoulder, while patients, for more difficult op?rations,were
compelled to cross  the  Atlantic; and at this period females  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-
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 intercourse 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.  In 1719,  the foundation of the  great
medical school of Edinburgh was laid by the elder Monro ; medical
instruction in London 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 Boerhaave ;  and the medical
schools of  France began to assume a new character.  The spirit  of
improvement 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 over-
spread the country.  But they saw that nothing could be done with-
out instituting measures for the medical  education of a greater
number of our young  men, than enjoyed the means, or possessed
the inclination, to resort to Europe.  The establishment of medical

                          * See Note D. 
8
schools presented the only rational prospect of accomplishing so
desirable an object.
  Among the various means which have been adopted for the edu-
cation 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 institutions
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  principal
cities of Spam, in Italy, in France, Germany and Holland ; and, in
the last century, in the larger cities of Great Britain ; and wherever
they,have been established and have flourished, medical science has
been elevated, quackery has vanished, and regular  physicians have
commanded consideration and respect.  These facts our physicians
had learned and appreciated ; and a few of them,  who had visited the
celebrated schools of Europe, and whose  spirits had been fired by
the examjple 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, un-
til 1765.
  Previous to this period, and as early as 1750, the  body of Herma-
nus Carroll, a criminal who had been executed for murder, was dis-
sected in the city  of New-York, by Dr. John  Bard  and  Dr. Peter
Middleton, two of the most eminent physicians of that day, and the
blood vessels  injected, for the instruction 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 knowledge, by the dis-
section of the human body, of which we have any record.
  Six years after this, viz. in  1756, a course of lectures on Anatomy
and Surgery, accompanied by dissections of the human body, was
delivered at Newport, in the State of  Rhode Island, by  a Doctor
William Hunter,  a distinguished Scotch physician, who  had been
educated at the University of Edinburgh.   To  these lectures not
only the medical students and physicians, but all the literary gen-
tlemen 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 enterprise and zeal
of Drs.  Shippen and  Morgan.  These gentlemen were both natives
of Philadelphia, and of about  the same  age.   Having  completed 
9
their preparatory education, and graduated,  Dr. Morgan at the col-
lege of Philadelphia, and Dr. Shippen 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 Europe
to complete their medical studies in the  public schools.  Shippen
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.
Fothergill;  the latter of  whom took a deep interest in the improve-
ment of medical science in  America, and presented, through Ship-
pen, a valuable set of anatomical drawings to the Pennsylvania Hos-
pital, and particularly  with  a view to  the founding of a  medical
school in connexion with this institution.
   Shippen, after finishing his studies in London,  repaired to Edin-
burgh, 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  1760,  and after attending  the
lectures of  William Hunter and others,  in London, he spent two
years in Edinburgh, and graduated at that University.   From Edin-
burgh he went to Paris, and  passed a winter in attending the medi-
cal 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 Society.   It  was while Shippen and Morgan were in Europe
that they concerted the plan  of establishing a medical school in
their native city.   Accordingly, Dr. Shippen, on his return to Ame-
rica, in 1762, commenced a  course of lectures on  anatomy and mid-
wifery, accompanied by dissections, to a class of ten students.
   The private lectures of Dr. Shippen were continued annually, un-
til 1765, at which time Dr. Morgan returned,  united in the  enter-
prise, and laid before the Trustees of the  College of Philadelphia a
plan  for establishing a medical school under their auspices.  The
plan was adopted ;  and Drs. Morgan and Shippen were soon after
appointed professors of the  school.  And thus was laid the founda-
tion of the medical  school of Philadelphia.  As the school  increas-
ed in the number  of its pupils, additional professorships were crea-
ted, and different  gentlemen  appointed  to fill the chairs.   But the
school had not been long in successful operation, when a rival insti-
tution  was established, and connected with the University.
                               B 
10
   This division of interest, at a time when the field was scarce?/
 large enough for the support of a  single school, produced conten-
 tion 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 establishment.  Since
 this period the  school has been increasing in the number of its stu-
 dents, till it has arisen from ten,  which composed the first class of
 Dr. Shippen, to nearly five hundred.  From  the most accurate cal-
 culation 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 physi-
 cians who have attended  its lectures.  The  Pennsylvania  Hospital,
 and  Philadelphia 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  institution which  has  proved an honour
 and a blessing to the country, and a rival of  the best schools in Eu-
 rope.
  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
 following year the school was opened for medical instruction, with
 six professorships, and united  the talents and learning of Drs. Clos-
 sey, 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, excited to the lauda-
 ble enterprise, by the important example 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 desire to enlarge
 the sphere of instruction, and extend the benefits of medical educa-
 tion through the country.  But their  prospects were soon destroy-
 ded.  The medical school of New-York, thus organized, and provi-
ded with six eminent professors, was in operation but a few years,
 before its labours, in common with those of most  other literary and
 scientific institutions of our country, were interrupted by the Revo-
 lutionary war;  and it was not till the year 1792, that they  were re-
 commenced.  At this time the school was reorganized by the Trus-
 tees of Columbia College, which had been  known by the style of
 King's College,  before the Revolution, and a faculty consisting of
 six professors appointed  to fill the different chairs.
  After the renovation of the school, it continued to rise in its char-
 acter, and increase in the  number of its students, till the year  1806, 
11
At which time the Legislature of the State was  prevailed upon to
grant a charter to a new College of Physicians.  As soon  a*  ;he
new College was established, and  its  professors appointed, there
commenced a spirit of rivalry and  competition between the  two
schools, which led to the most disastrous and unhappy consequen-
ces.  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 nearlv proved fatal to both institutions.
At length the Regents of the University, under the  authority of the
Legislature, abolished  the new  school  which had been created, and
established the old school upon  its  present 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  competition, it must, from the
peculiar advantages of its location, as well as from the distinguish-
ed 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 arc
 filled.  The  medical students who attended the last course  of lec-
tures, amounted to one hundred and ninety-six.   The school has con-
 nected 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 al-
 ready 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 medical investigation.  Military hospitals  were  es-
 tablished  for the reception of the sick and wounded  ; new forms of
 disease were developed ; many  important operations in  surgery
 were performed ; and frequent opportunities presented for the culti-
 vation of practical anatomy, to those who had never before witness-
 ed 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  ex-
 perience ; and thus was disseminated through the country, a fund 
12
of practical knowledge, and a taste for medical inquiry, which was
nerer before known, and which no other circumstances could have
produced.
  It was soon after  the army had encamped at Cambridge,  and a
military hospital opened in that  town, that  the  medical school of
Harvard was first organized, and  the plan laid for a course of public
lectures.   This event seems also  to have been hastened by the ana-
tomical lectures of Dr.  Warren,  which had been  delivered  in Bos-
ton the two preceding years, and  which the students of the Univer-
sity 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 organization a course of lectures  of about six weeks' continu-
ance was given, annually, for twenty-eight years.
  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 1810.   Since that, period it has been  rapidly
improving,  and at  this time is  one of the most flourishing insti-
tutions of  the country.  Its professors have been increased to five;
and in 1824, it  had one hundred and  thirty students.   The Massa-
chusetts General Hospital, an extensive  and  well  arranged  estab-
lishment, 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 returned from  the University of Edin-
burgh, 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,
except two courses, in which he  was assisted  in  the department  of
chemistry.
  The school has at this time three professorships ; and in 1824, the
medical class amounted to eighty.  An  infirmary has recently been
established  in connexion 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 beenemi-
                          * See  Note E. 
13
nently useful in disseminating medical science in a portion of coun-
try where but few advantages  had previously been enjoyed, and has
sent abroad many valuable physicians and surgeons, and several who
have done distinguished honour to the profession.
  The College  of  Medicine of Maryland, established at Baltimore,
is the fifth medical school constituted in the country, and was regu-
larly organized by an act of  the Legislature of that Slate, in I807.
  This  school owes its origin to Dr. John B. Davidge, who, in 1804,
commenced a course of  lectures in  Baltimore,  on midwifery,  to a
class  of six students.  The  year following he lectured also on anat-
omy and surgery to  a class of seven students; 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  peti-
tioned  the Legislature of Maryland for a charter.  A charter was
granted, and the school became regularly organized, by the style, of
the College of Medicine of Maryland.  In 1810, the Legislature en-
larged the College to a University, and gave power to annex three
other Colleges or Faculties to that of Medicine, viz. a Faculty of Di-
vinity, a Faculty of Law, and a Faculty of Arts and Sciences;  and
ordered that the four Colleges, or Faculties, be styled the Universi-
ty 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 respect-
able institutions in the country.  An infirmary has recently  been
erected, in connexion with the school, for the purpose of  clinical in-
struction.   There are seven  professorships;  and in  1824—5, the
class  was composed  of two  hundred  and fifteen regular pupils.
  Beside 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 indi-
vidual  history.  A notice of the period at which they were respec-
tively established, with the  location  of each, and a brief  account of
their  present  condition, will  sufficiently show  the rapid progress
which medical science and education are making in our country.
  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 of  a  Board of Trustees.  The  year following, the school was
organized  by  the Trustees, and brought into operation with  five 
14
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 institu-
ted under the charter of that seminary, and established at New Ha-
ven, Connecticut.  This school has five professorships.  The num-
ber of medical students who attended the last course of  lectures,
was eighty-two.
  In 1818, the Medical College of Ohio was established at Cincin-
nati, in that  State, but has  since undergone considerable  changes,
and for a time the lectures were suspended;  but its  labours have
recommenced under a new charter of the Legislature, and the first
course of lectures delivered after its reorganization, in  1824—5, was
attended by twenty-two students.  The present number of professor-
ships is four.   It has a 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 five professorships.  The medical students attend-
ing the last course of lectures, were  one hundred and twenty-four.
  In 1818, the Medical School of Transylvania University was in-
stituted at Lexington,  Kentucky,  At the time  of the first organi-
zation  of the institution five professorships were established, all of
which have been filled.  This  school has experienced the  most ra-
pid 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 oppor-
tunity for clinical instruction to the class.
  In 1820, the Medical School  of Maine was established at  Bruns-.
wick, 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 University,  at Provi-
dence, 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 professorships instituted.  The
medical class, in 1824, was composed of forty-two students.
  In 1822, the Berkshire  Medical School was established at Pitts-
field, Massachusetts, under the charter 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 
15
medical  students attended the first course of lectures delivered in
1824—5.  The students have the privilege of attending the practice
of the Marine Hospital.
  In 1824, the Medical School  of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania,
Was established, and located at  Philadelphia.   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 the
United States, besides the one recently established in this City, and
which we are about to commehce.
  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  the excellence of their organization, or the
ability with which they are conducted, by similar establishments in
any part of the world.
   In all our  schools the principal branches of medical science are
separated, and confined to distinct 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  Physi-
ology—Surgery—^the  Theory and  Practice  of  Physic—'Materia
Medica—Chemistry—and Obstetrics.
  In some of the schools, a professorship of  Medical Jurisprudence
is added; but, generally, this branch is embraced in the  Professor-
ships of Materia  Medica, Chemistry, and Obstetrics.   A course of
lectures is given annually, on each branch, continuing from three to
five months.
   The course on Anatomy is illustrated by  demonstrations 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 accompanied by opera-
tions on the dead body; while Chemistry  is illustrated in  every
step by experiments before the class.  Private dissecting classes are
established, which give the student an opportunity for a more minute
examination of the parts displayed in the lecture room, and familiar-
ize him with surgical operations by the habitual use of his own
knife.
* See Note F 
16
s
   Most of our schools have connected with them hospitals and i
 firmaries, which afford the professor an opportunity of enforcing hi
 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 bene-
 fit of the students; societies are formed for reading dissertations,
 and discussing medical subjects; and, in some of our schools, pro-
 vision is made for awarding premiums for such essays as are found
 to possess superior merit.*  All our schools have the power to con-
 fer medical degrees;  but these  honours are awarded to such stu-
 dents only as  have made suitable proficiency in the science, and who,
 on strict  examination, are found qualified to practise, and entitled
 to public confidence.!
   Although medical education in the United States has been steadi-
 ly improving during the last half century,—at no period of our his-
 tory 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 coun-
 try, or the condition of our medical institutions been so flourishing,
 as at the present time.   At the last session of our schools, and  that
 which has but just closed, nearly two thousand young men, from the
 different parts of the United States, have attended medical lectures,
 and  enjoyed all  the advantages of a course  of public instruction,
 which combines the talents and learning of more than eighty of the
 most eminent  physicians and Surgeons of the country.}
   In looking back  on  the history of our schools, while we mark,
 with high satisfaction, the accelerated progress of medical educa-
 tion  in the present day, we cannot but notice, with  peculiar inter-
 est, the fact, that notwithstanding new schools have been springing
 up in rapid succession, in different parts of the country, and draw-
 ing pupils around them, the older schools have been more  flourish-
 ing 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 enjov-
ed the benefit of medical lectures.  Twelve years afterwards, when
only five schools were established, not more  than five hundred  stu-
dents attended lectures  ; while the sixteen medical schools now ex-
isting, impart instruction to nearly two  thousand pupils.  A strik-
       * See Note G.        | See Note H.        ± See Note I. 
17
vhg illustration oT the increasing resources  of  our country,  and of
the growing taste for medical science.
  Although our medical schools constitute the principal means by
which the science  has been  extended through  the  country,  and
brought to it's 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 regulation of the practice
of physic, and the suppression of quackery.
  As early as the year 1781, an institution of this kind was incor-
porated by the Legislature of Massachusetts, by the name of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, constituting thirty-one of the  most
eminent physicians of that Commonwealth, named in the charter,
a body politic, with power to frame a code of  by-laws, and regulate
the  practice of physic in  the State :—also, to elect, from  time to
time, such physicians 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 medical education, and to examine and
license such candidates as should be found  qualified to practise. Al-
so, to establish subordinate societies in the different districts of the
State.  This society, originally composed of thirty-one  members,
now embraces more than  two hundred physicians;  and  there is
scarcely 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-Hampsliire,  Vermont,  Rhode Island, Connecticut,
New-York, New-Jersey,t  Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Ca-
rolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio,  Indiana,
 and Illinois, besides one in the District of Columbia, constituted by
an act of Congress.  We have, therefore, at this time, twenty State
 Medical Societies, most of which have subordinate 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 legislative  authori-
 ty, 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  established,  have
 promoted a spirit  of harmony among the members of the profes-
 sion, and at the same time excited a degree of emulation, and a spi-
 rit of medical inquiry, which  have  been highly beneficial; and,
while they have given character and respectability to the practice of
medicine, they  have been signally useful in protecting the  commu-
nity against the impositions of quackery.}
         * See Note K.        f See Note T •        * See ■Note M
                              C 
                              18

  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 helpless and suffering- part of the  community,
they furnish ample opportunities to the medical studeirt  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, on anatomy, surgery, the theory and practice of
physic, materia medica, pharmacy, chemistry, obstetrics,  and  medij
cal jurisprudence; works  which have not only  been adopted as the
text books of our own schools,  but have been republished  abroad,
and received the highest  commendation  of  European professors.
Our periodical journals,* of which we have no less than twelve pub-
lished quarterly,  or at shorter  intervals, besides hospital  reports,
and the transactions of medical societies, abound with original pa-
pers, and many  of them of  great value.
  It must be  gratifying to  every American to know,, that  the  medi-
cal 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  lan-
guages,  and  republished  in the  journals of  those countries: the
highest compliment that could be paid to the genius and industry
of our  physicians-.
  Such  has been the progress, gentlemen, of medical science  in the
United States.  If its advancement in the early periods of our coun-
try, was  slow and obscure, its  improvement in later limes 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  country  ?  At what period, or in what nation, can seventeen
medical  schools, twenty medical  societies,- more  than two hundred
hospitals, and other infirmaries for the sick, twelve periodical jour-
nals,—to say nothing of other works on the various branches  of me-
dicine,—be found, the product of sixty years?  Or, where shall we
find ihe salutary effects of  medical education so extensively diffused,
or so strikingly illustrated, as in the  United States I
* See Note N. 
ii)
  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 con-
dition, constitute the predominant features of our country, and en-
ter into the genius of all our institutions.  If we have  produced no
fortunate genius, whose discoveries 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 century, it will be found,
it is believed, that we are not behind other nations, in those great
improvements  in the practice of medicine and surgery, which so
peculiarly characterize this  period.
   It  is  not to medicine,  exclusively, that our physicians  have
confined their labours;  nor  is it  in  this profession  alone, that
they  have  acquired  reputation.   They  have cultivated,  with
^reat 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, leading 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 exulta-
tion; 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 wri-
ter, we have more  than fifteen thousand  practitioners  of  medicine,
many of whom have never heard a public lecture, or seen a demon-
stration in anatomy.   And, until medical schools  are  more exten-
sively established through the country,  many who  enter the profes-
sion must necessarily be deprived of the privileges of a regular edu-
cation.
   While such motives as these call on us  for renewed and vigorous
exertions, an animating prospect presents itself to our view.  Medi-
cal science in the United States is already  beginning to  assume a na-
tional character.   The uniformity of our medical  schools ; the co^ 
20
 operation of our medical societies; our text books, adopted as the.
 standards of education in all our institutions;  our periodical  jour-
 nals, which convey the same intelligence throughout the country;
 as well as the genius and constitution of our government, are all  tend-
 ing to such a result.*  We have before us a country unexplored, al-
 most boundless in extent, and inexhaustible in its resources ;—a coun-
 try possessing every variety of climate, and consequently calculated
 to develope every form of disease;—a soil abounding in medicinal
 plants and  minerals, which chemistry has not yet analyzed,  and but
 few of which have  been applied 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 I
  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 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  I not, with
 propriety, to use the language of a distinguished scholar of our coun-
 try, say on this, as he has done  upon another  occasion—"  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 medical 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 lan-
 guage, than any in which we can depict the poverty of the science in
the clays 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 ihe  prospects  of  the  Institution
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 importance of education, and particularly
with the benefits that would  result  to the community from a  Univer-
sity located at the seat of the national government, projected  the plan
of establishing a College in 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.
                           * See Note O. 
21
f hey brought around them a few individuals,  who manifested an in-
terest 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 system of classical education, but embrace  distinct
departments for Medicine, Divinity, and Law.  Soon after the char-
ter was procured, the classical  department 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 hrto operation, as  early as circumstan-
ces should permit.   Soon after,  they appointed two professors fo the
medical department, and in  the  September of 1824, two others.  In
October following,  the organization  of the medical department was
completed, and arrangements made for a course  of lectures on the
various branches of medicine.
   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 particularly that they might enjoy the advantages of clini-
cal practice, the Trustees directed that the lectures should be deliver-
 ed 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  com-
 mence a course of  public lectures.  Whether it be  with a fair  pros-
 pect of usefulness and success,  and under  circumstances which justi-
 fy 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 la-
 bour of years,  in those schools  that have gone before us.  If success
 await the enterprise, sure wc are that it is only through a series  of
 persevering efforts, and self-denying labour,  that  we  shall  reap its
 fruits, or receive its rewards.
    The history of the commencement and early  progress of all  other
 schools, informs us that we have much labour  to endure, and  many
 opposing obstacles to  overcome ;  and, resting as we do,  on our own
 resources, unaided by the rich endowments that other institutions have
 received,  and  unprotected, except by  the guardian care  of  a Board 
<i> •>
 of Trustees, and the friendly countenance of an enlightened commu-
 nity, 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 ac-
 tive and vigorous exertion.
   If, on the one hand,  these difficulties present themselves ; 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 sci-
 ence 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 fa-
 vour, and sustained by  a liberality of feeling known to no other age.
 A period when the utility of medical science  is universally admitted,
 and the importance of medical education 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 profession;
 nor is there any  one who  calls  in  question the  benefits  they confer
 npon 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  com-
 mence.  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,  particularly,
 which is occupied by this City, is increasing in wealth and in business,
 as well as in  population, with a rapidity scarcely kne-.vn  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, inter-
 rupted only  by  a few tobacco fields, here and there a decaying man-
 sion, and a dozen miserable huts  for the  protection of the planters'
 slaves; and the winding trail of the deer, and the footpath of the sav-
 age, were still  visible.   That forest and those  tobacco  fields now
 contain a population of  fifteen thousand  souls, and we daily see enter-
 prising and intelligent individuals collecting here, from the different
 parts of the United States, and adopting  it as the place of their future
residence. 
u
   If such has been the rapid improvement of this City, in the quarter
of a century that is past, what may w7e 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 commerce 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, af-
fording 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, Repre-
sentatives, 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 repub-
lics, kingdoms, and empires of the world, that there  will result a libe-
rality 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 divest-
ed of sectional prejudices  and interests, 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 attachments.  It is here that a free commu-
nication is  opened, through  our  senators aad representatives,  with
every part of our country. Through these channels,  facilities are
presented to us for acquiring  a  knowledge of the epidemic and en-
demic diseases of the country ;  the medical topography of its differ-
ent parts ;  the character of its physicians ; the condition of its differ-
ent 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.
  These considerations,  gentlemen, have  encouraged  us to com-
mence the  present undertaking, and give  us  a confident  expecta-
tion of its ultimate success.   It is not a  spirit of rivalry, or compe-
tition, that  has brought this institution  before  the public.  We oc-
cupy a field till now unappropriated,  and which has  hitherto been re- 

garded as too limited to justify such an attempt. It is an humble hope of
contributing something to the advancement of medical science gener-
ally, as well as of elevating its character in this  District, that has
called us to the enterprise.  And, if it should be our  fortune to lay
the foundation, only, of a medical school which  shall hereafter be-
come commensurate with the progress and the demands of this rising
Metropolis, and  the improvement of the science through  the couni
try, we shall feel that we have done an  honour  to  the  undertaking,
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 dis-
ease, 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,1
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 hydrophobia, 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 bo-
dy ? Who knows but  this school may befdestined to produce a  Syd-
enham, a Harvey,  a Hunter, or  a Bichat ? or to give to the world a
Bard, a Rush, a Warren, a Barton, or a Wistar ? 
KOTES.
                             Note A.—Page 3.

   We learn from the history of the first settlement, both of Virginia and of Ply-
 mouth, that our ancestors,  after landing on the shores of America, were repeat-
 edly 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 dis-
 eases of which they suffered, but have reason to believe that they were such as
 are consequent to exposure, hardship, and famine.—Stith's History of Virginia;
 .Marshall's life of Washington ;  Hutchinson s History of Massachusetts.


                             Note B.—Page 6.

   The clergy of our country, of all religious denomination', have ever been the
 uniform and constant supporters of medical education, and of  a system of well
 regulated practice   They have as uniformly been the opposers of quackery and
 empiricism ; and, when we consider the extensive influence 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 mounte-
 banks, 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 me-
 dical science, is still recollected by our older physicians, connected with the in-
 troduction of the inoculated small-pox as a substitute for the disease communi-
 cated the natural way.   This innovation in practice, though one of the most im-
 portant that has occurred in our medical history, was attended with circumstan-
 ces of peculiar opposition and excitement, among nearly all classes.  Its advo-
 cates were proscribed as " guilty of impiety, and of spreading abroad arrows and
 death."   It was contended fiat, " as the srnall-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  encroachment on  the
 prerogatives of the Deity."
   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 assault-
 ed'by the mob  at nig^it.  At this critical momett,  the  clergy stepped forward,
 exhorted the people, preached and published sermons in favour of iuoculation,
 and thus exerted their whole influence in establishing a practice w ich has prov-
 ed one of the greatest blessings to the country  and to the world  Their  influ-
 ence, though  less needed, was  not less exerted in favour of vaccination, when
 first introduced among us.
   Although, in the earlv periods of our country, many of the clergy were call-
 ed 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 educa-
tion 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
 sime  individual.

                            Note C—Page 6.

   As early as 1608, being the year after the planting of the colony of Virginia, at
 James Town, the arrival of Walter Kcssel, 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 Chesapeake, and up the Fo- 
2tf
 tomac 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 accompa-
 nying him on a similar voyage, made the same year, from James Town to Nansa-
 niond ; the place where Norfolk is now situated.
   Doctors Russel and Bagnall, therefore, were probably the first physicians who
 rame over to the colony of Virginia /but whether they remained in the coun-
 try, 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 chirurgery at the fort; and he was compelled to  return
 to Europe, for the recovery of his health.
  In 1611, Doctor Boau> is mentioned, being about to leave the  colony of Vir-
 ginia, and to take ship with lord Delaware for the West Indies.  But no particu-
 lar account is given of either of these physicians.— Stith's Hist.  Va. 62. 74. 121.
   Doctor Samiel 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 eminently useful as a surgeon and physician:
 extending his  benevolent  labours, not only to the  sick among  his immediate
 friends at Plymouth, and the aborigines in the vicinity, but, by the desire of Go-
 vernor Kndicot, twice visited the new settlement at Salem, Where he manifested
 his skill and success 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 Cuaiiles Chauscet a distinguished scholar, a  respectable physician,
 and eminent divine, came from England to America in the year 1638, and resid-
 ed 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 1654, and held  the office till his  death in 1672.  He had six
 sons, all of whom were eminent physicians and divine9.—Ibid.
  Doctor John Fish, was educated at Cambridge  University, England.  Having
 studied the medical profession, after a suitable examination he obtained a license
 for public practice, and came to New-England in 1637.   He resided successively
 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 education in this country, and resided first at Wey-
 mouth, and afterwards at Boston, where he  died in 1678.  He  was  considered
 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  published a pamphlet, entitled " A Brief Guide in the  Small-pox and Mea-
 sles."— Magnalia, hi. 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 country  at that period admitted, it is evident that they emigra-
 ted for other purposes than those  of the practice of medicine, or the improve-
 ment of the science j and therefore form a distinct class  from those regular and
 well educated physicians who commenced practice at a later period, and whose
 objects were exclusively professional.


                            Note D.—Page 7.

  It is to be regretted that  the historical records of  our country  contain so few
 notices of our early physicians  and  especially that so little authentic informa
tion has been preserved of the diseases which prevailed during the early settle-
mentof the  country, the subsequent  changes they underwent,  and the mode
 ol practice adopted, with its particular results.  Yet, when we consider that the 
27
want of medical libraries, connected with the  arduous duties of an extensive
practice, in a new country and among a scattered population, 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 commencement of
the present century, through which our  physicians  could communicate  the  re-
sults 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 prac-
titioners has come down to us.
   It appears that nearly all the most eminent physicians who commenced prac-
tice 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 connex-
ion of the two countries was broken off. that an  opinion generally prevailed, that
medicine could be taught in America  Since that period, the number of our phy-
sicians 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 direc-
tion to the practice of medicine, or contributed to the  advancement of the sci-
 ence
   Those who have held professorships in our schools, or have been otherwise
 engaged in teaching medicine,  are generally known, and the influence of their
 labours is duly appreciated.  They are not, therefore,  included in the present
 sketch.
   Leon Ann Hoar, M D. a distinguished scholar and physician, of Massachusetts,
 was  graduated at Harvard College,  in 1650.   He soon after went to England.
 and having completed his course of medica! studies,  received the degree of Doc-
 tor of Medicine, at the University of Cambridge, in  1653.   He was probably the
 first native American who graduated in Medicine.   How far he entered into the
 active duties of the profession, on his return to  America, is not known ;  but pro-
 bably 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.—Magnalia, iv. 129.
    Dr. Thomas Wynne, an eminent Welsh physician, who practised medicine se-
 veral years, with high reputation, in London.  He and his brother, who was also
 a nhvsician, came to this  country in 1682, with  the original settlers of Pennsylva-
 nia. ' 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. Edwarh Jones. Dr. Owen, Dr. Kearslt, Dr.
 Grt.me, Dr. Zachary, Dr. Shippen. Senior, and Dr  Evans.
    These were all eminent practitioners,  and did much, even at the early period
 in which they lived, to give that respectability to the profession, for which  Phi-
 ladelphia has been so long and so pre-eminently distinguished.— Wistar's Eulogy
 on Shippen.
    Nathaniel Williams,  an eminent physician of Massachusetts, was educated at
 Harvard College, where he graduated, in 1693.   After studying medicine, he en-
 tered into business, and for many years enjoyed a very extensive practiee.  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 physician and botanist, came
 from England to this country, in about 1700, and settled in Virginia, at the  small
 town of Urbanna, situated on the Rappahannock.   While he was occupied 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 descrip-
 tions of several new genera of plants, published in 1769.  In l74o. he wrote an
 interesting and original essay on the causes of the  different colours of people ot
 different climates, which was published  in the Philosophy Transactions.
    He attributes the difference of complexion in the human species to the  influ-
 ence of climate, and the  modes of life ;  and thinks that the whites have degene- 
£8
  rated more from the original complexion of Noah and his turnily,  than the In-
  dians, or even Negroes.  The colo ir of the descendants of Ham, he considers a
  blessing rather than a curse,  as without it they could  not well  inhabit Africa.
  His principles were afterwards adopted by President Smith, of Princeton Col-
  lege, New-Jersey, who wrote a more  extended essay on the subject.
    lie wrote various other essays, which did him great  credit  as a man of genius
  and observation ; hut his most valuable 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 inter-
  est, but acknowledges that he derived from it hints which assisted him in detect-
  ing the true nature and method of treating  the yellow fever, as it  appeared in
  Phi;adelphia in 1793.  B it 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 Vir-
  ginia.—Rush's Enquir.c;:, iii.: Miller a Retrospect,\. 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 }-ear 1700.   He  was distinguished as a successful  practi-
 tioner, and beloved for his private  virtues.  After having spent a life devoted to
 the works of benevolence and  piety,  i.e died in  1743, aged  63 years.—Smith's
 Ntnv-York, 191.
   Zaddie .  Botlstov, F. R. S. was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1680.
 After a good private  education,  he studied 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. wid ever be remembered with gratitude by his countrymen, as the first
 physic an of America who introduced the practice of inoculating in Small-pox.
 His first experiment was made in June, 1721   Previous to this time, the Small-
 pox had spread through the colonies  at  different  periods,  and  particularly  in
 1678,  1692, and 17(/J, and had  made dreadful ravages wherever it extended.
 The idea of inoculation  was first suggested by the Rev. Cotton Mather, who had
 read in the Philosophical Transactions two communications 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 ad-
 dressed a letter to the physicians of the town, presenting them with an  account
 of the two papers from the Kast, requesting them to take the  subject into  con-
 sideration ; but they treated the request with  neglect.  Dr. Boylston, who was
 distinguished for his boldness and decision, as well as humanitv, took up the sub-
 ject of inoculation on his own responsibility, and commenced the experiment by
 inoculating three of his own family ; an  on y son a d 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 indignation of an effended 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 purpo-e : 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  umber  only six died:  while, of five thousand
 seven hundred and fifty-nine,  who  in the same period took the disease the na-
 tural 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  England, and those chiefly con-
 victs   But from the success which attended the practice in  America, the physi-
 cians of that country were encouraged to its more general introduction.  Dr B
 visited fcngland1 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 respected and beloved.  He 
29
published an historical account of the inoculated Small-pox in New-England, be-
side several papers in the Philosophical Transactions.—-Holmes' Annals, ii.  103;
Hutchinson, ii 273, 276.
   Cad wallah er Coldex, 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 17 ;8;  and, after  having practised  physic in Philadelphia for
several years, with great success, he returned to his native country.  While in
England, a paper  of his, read before the Royal Society, " On the Anim.d Secre-
tions," 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 nev er lost his love for scien-
 tific pursuits.   He continued an extensive correspondence with  the most scien-
 tific men of Europe ; and was, through life, one of the mo4 active individuals in
 America, in promoting the interest of all literary and sciciv.ific institutions   He
 was the first, says Dr. Franklin, who suggested the idea of esvablis  ing the Ame-
 rican Philosophical Society.   He is said to have been one  of the ear.iest advo-
 cates in this country, for the cooling pi n 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 ex-
 tensively in his day through North America.  Also, an inquiry into the operation
 of the intellect of animals. His latest production was an introduction to the study
 of physic, addressed to  his grandson, written when he was 81 years of age.  He
 published several other papers of great merit —Rees' Cyclupzaiu, American edi.
 Hon i The American Medical and Philosophical Register, i. 297.
    Mark Cateshy, 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 numer-
 ous plates.—Rees' Cyclopedia, 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.  Boyl-
 eton introduced the practice of inoculation in  smallpox, Douglass inveighed v;o.
 Icntly against him and wrote several sarcastic papers on the subject.   He  pub-
 lished, besides, a history  of  the inoculated small-pox, a practical history of a
 new eruptive miliary fever, with an angina ulcusculosa, which prevailed in Bos-
 ton 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, n. 80.;
  Holmes' Annals, ii. 192.                                 .            .
    Doctor John Clayton, an  eminent botanist and  physician, was born in Eng-
 land, 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
 corresponded with many of the most  learned naturalists  of that period.   As a
 practical botanist he was probably not inferior to any one of the age.   He is the
 author of Flora Virginica, a work published by Gronovius, at  Leyden,  8vo. in
  1739,  17*3, and 1762.  He published in the  Philosophical Transactions, several
 communications  treating of the culture of the different species of tobacco, and
 an ample account of  the  medicinal plants which he  had discovered in Virginia,
 He also left behind him two  volumes of manuscripts, neatly prepared for the
 press  and a hortus siccus, with marginal  notes and references, for the  engraver,
 in preparing 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. Jef-
 ferson says Dr.  Clayton was a native of Virginia;  see his *\otes on fa. p. 54;
 Barton's  Med  a7id I'hys.  Journal, ii. 139 ; Rees' C'jdopxdia, American edition.
    John Lining, M. D. a distinguished physician and philosopher, of Charleston*
 South Carolina, was a native  of Scotland, and came to this c -untry in 1725. He
 published a series of statistical experiments whicii he made through the whole
 of the year 1740.  In 175J, he published «• a HMory of  the.  American Yellow
 Fever."— Ramsafe Revieio of Medicine, 42. 
30
    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 vegetables, collected in his excursions from Cana-
  da 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 appointed American botanist to his Britannic Majesty, George III,
  which appointment he held until his death in 1777.   He published in the  Philo-
  sophical Transactions, several communications on zoology.   He published obser-
  vations on the inhabitants, climate, soil, &c. made in his travels from Pennsylva-
  nia to Onondaga, 1751.  A description of East Florida, 1774.—Rees'  Cyclopaedia,
  American edition ; Barton's Med  and Rhys. Journal.
   Doctor Ezekiel HKRSKY.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 Ahnkk Herski-, an eminent physician of Barnstable, Massachusetts, was
 brother to the preceding, and died not many years after him.  At the  time of
 his decease he bequeathed 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 Moultrik,  a distinguished physician of Charleston, South  Caro-
 lina, 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 ladies of Charleston went into mourning on his account.   The year following
 his death, an  unusual number of females perished in childbed,  and apparently
 from  despondency.
   Dr.  M. had  a son who graduated at Edinburgh, in 1749, and was a distinguish-
 ed scholar and an eminent practitioner of medicine in Charleston   At his gradu-
 ation 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 attainments, 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 defend-
 ed a thesis on  " Cohca Pictonum."  He is quoted by Van Swieten as his fellow.
 Bt,Uu?I,,t-Vw.Ith  thL',tltle (>f the Earned Dr. Bull.  He spent a few of the last years
 ffMed 42"1         and d'ed ^ L°ndon in 1791' aSed *&.—Ramsay's Reviexv

   Doctor John Tennant, a respectable physician  of Port Royal,  Virginia, who
 first brought into view the virtues of the Seneca snake-root.  In  1736, he pub-
 li.-heu, at VV ill.amsburg, 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 produced into the Materia Medica, and extensively employed  in the
 treatmentof that and other diseases.  Dr. Tennant, it is believed, was a family
 connexion of the  late celebrated Dr. Richard Mead, of London.  He held a me-
 d.cal correspondence with Dr Mead for many years, and  it  was to him that he
 1/lil^rTZ ,C14t;dhls,acco«"tof theSeneca.-*«™aiA Review  of Med. 36;
 Miller, i. 318 ; Letter from Dr. Spence,  18^5







tled'^VNe™;k.P''-VS'Ci0n °f 'he Radcliff s<;,><,0,• ^"■npanicd them, and  set- 
31
  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 CAnwALUDEii, an eminent physician of Philadelphia, after ac-
quiring the rudiments of his profession in America, repaired to Europe, to com-
plete his education, and spent some time in London  and Paris.  In  the former
place he studied anatomy, under the celebrated Cheselden.  On  his return to
Philadelphia he made dissections and demonstrations of the human body, for his
pupil, the elder Shippen.  He published, about the year 1740, a treatise "On the
Iliac Passion " in which he explodes the practice which, till that time, was com-
mon in the country, of giving quicksilver and drastic purges   He recommends
in their place mild cathartics, and the use of opiates.—Ramsay's Review of Med.
36 ;  JVistar's Eulogy on Shippen.
  John Redman,  .VI. D. a distinguished physician of Philadelphia, was born in
that  city, in 1722.  After studying medicine with Dr. Kearsly, he settled in  Ber-
muda ; 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 ac-
quired an extensive practice, and rose to high distinction in his profession.   He
was  elected the first President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
  He was a strong advocate for a bold and decided practice, and considered a
more energetic pracdce 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 of  old age,
he considered moderate bleeding as the first of remedies.  He made free use of
mercury in all chronic diseases, and  introduced the use of the turpeth mineral, as
an emetic in  gangrenous sore-throat, in 1764.  No  physician, probably, of his
day, exerted a more extensive and controlling influence over the practice of me-
dicine in the country, than Dr.  Redman.  He published an inaugural dissertation
on " Abortion," in 1748, and a defence of inoculation in  small-pox, in 1759.—-
American Medical and Philosophical Register ;  PhiladelpMa Medical Museum, v.
49—56.
  Arthur Lee, M. D. was a native of Virginia, and brother to Richard Henry
Lee, the celebrated patriot of the revolution.   Doctor Lee received his classical
education at Edinburgh, and afterwards studied medicine in that University. As
soon as he graduated, he returned to his native State, and settled  at Williams-
burg, 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  poli-
tical character.  He died in Virginia, in 1792.—Allen's Biog, Dictionary.
  Lionel Chalmers, M. D. was a native of Great Britain, and came  to this coun-
try,  and settled in South Carolina.   He was an  eminent physician, and distin-
guished for his various and extensive attainments.  He  made and recorded ob-
servations on the  weather of South Carolina, for ten successive years, viz. from
1750 to 1760.   He communicated to the Medical  Society in London, a paper on
" Opisthotonos 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'^
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 lat-
ter in Prince George's county.   They were both men of great celebrity in  their
time.  Nearly cotemporary with these, were Doctors Sfhigq, Weisenthall, Poe,
Scott, Mcrrat, and Tootell;  and, at  a later period, Drs. Thomas, Warfield,
Stkwaut, and Gauth.  These gentlemen were educated in foreign schools, and
several of them were natives of Europe.  They were all  eminent practitioners, 
32
   ind did much in forming the medical character of Maryland, in the eighteenth
   century.—Letter from Dr. Charles Worthington, 1825.
    Thomas Bond, M. D. an eminent physician of Philadelphia, was a native of Ma-
   ryland,  and studied under the direction of Dr  Hamilton, of that State.  He af-
   terwards 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 Penn-
   sylvania 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. Lon-
  don "—Ramsay's Review of Med. 37 ;  Wistar's Eulogy on Shippen.
    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 considerable time  at the Medical Schools of Leyden,  Paris, Edin.
  burgh, and London.  On his return to America, he settled in Philadelphia, where
  he enjoyed a high reputation for many years, as  a successful practitioner of me-
  dicine.   He was one of the founders of the College, now the University of Penn-
  sylvania.— Wistar's Eulogy on Shippen.
    Dr. Benjamin Gale, a native of America, and a distinguished practitioner of
  medicine in Connecticut, published, in 1740, a paper  on the  inoculation of the
  small-pox, intended as a prize dissertation, in solution of the problem on this
  subject, which had been proposed by the  Academy of Bourdeaux.   It  was af-
  terwards 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 surgeon of Boston, died in
  1761, aged 86.   He was the preceptor of several of the early physicians of
  Massachusetts.—Allen's Biog. Dictionary
    Alexander Gabden, 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 description of the plant   He devoted much time to the study of natural
 history, and particularly to botany, and  made 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  beautiful flowering
 shrubs in the world.  He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Upsal
 —Ramsay's Review of Med. 42.
  # Doctor Jacob Ogden, of Long-Island, New-York, published in  1764, observa-
 tions 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  Warrkn, the distinguished revolutionary officer, who fell at
 Bunkers Hill, was educated at Harvard College, and graduated in  1759   He
 studied medicine, and settled iH Boston, where he soon raised himself to the head
 of his profession.   He practised medicine for several years, with  great reputa-
 tion ; 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 ca'-
 nr»tenrannnl an  h   " * ?* *" an ?ccomPH8l««l «*°1« *nd physician, an eloquent
 orator, and an able statesman and general.   He published some political papers
 which d.d him great credit.  At his death he was 35 years of ^.-Rush's En-
 logium .- Uurren's History of the War, i. 222, 223.
   Hugh Mercer M. D  a general in the revolutionary war, was a distinguished
 fc^  hke WaiTen, fel in the defence of the liberties of his cm trv
 He was a native of Scotland, and educated at Edinburgh   He early  emigrated
 to Virginia, and settled at Fredericksburg, where he practised medicine for se
 vera! years with great reputation   During the revolution, he zeTlously engaged
 pVnceo.^                                        *»  »  th? b.5frf
 1825     '" ^nnal3'u-372i  Letter from  Chief Justice Marshall,

   Doctor GHonr.E Gufham, a respectable physician of Virginia, who emigrated
 o this country in the early part of the last century  He waS a native of the  nort
of England, and w J educated atEdinburgh.  When he came to ih?S count "v he 
33
settled at Dumfries, in Virginia, where he enjoyed an extensive practice  for
many years, and sustained a high reputation.—Letter from Dr. Spence, 1825.
  James  M'Lerg, M. D. a distinguished physician of Virginia, was  a native of
Scotland, and was educated at Edinburgh.   He graduated  in  medicine about
1771, and defended an experimental thesis on the bile.   This paper was publish-
ed in London, in 1772, and is a work of great originality and 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, regard-
ing it as too drastic a purgative.—Letter from Chief Justice Marshal, 1825.
  James  Llotd, M. D an eminent physician of our country,  was for  nv,re than
half a century a medical practitioner in Boston, Massachusetts   He  received his
preparatory education  at a  private school, in Connecticut, and, at the age of
seventeen, commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Samuel Glark, 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 en-
joyed 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 physicians, as it is to Dr. William Shippen for effect-
ing the same change, though at a later period, in the middle States.   Previous to
his time, there were no systematic accoucheurs in the country, physicians being
called only in cases of great difficulty   The good effects  which have attended
this change, is 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.  Journat,
ii. 127.—Bartlett's Discourse, 13, 14
  Doctor Currie, an eminent physician of Richmond, Virginia, 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 re-
ceived his medical education at the University of Edinburgh.—Letter from Chief
Justice Marshall 1825.
  Doctor Siccart, 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 prescription 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 adjoining States, and is re-
garded a great luxury, and by some is considered a preservative against bilious
diseases.—Letter from J. Augustin Smith, Pres of William and Mary  CoVege, Va.

  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 com-
menced 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 advantages of the medical lectures and  hos-
pital'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 distinguished scientific 
34
  characters of England and France.  After enjoying a lucrative practice in  Loa-
  don for ten years, he was induced to return to his native city in America, in 1790,
  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 sur-
  geons 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 possessed an acute and dis-
  criminating judgment, which seldom permitted him to  be misled in the investi-
  gation of disease.  He possessed one of the best private libraries in the country,
  and was, through life, a most  indefatigable student.  Anatomy and physiology
  were  his favorite pursuits, and on these were established all his doctrines of pa-
  thology, and  application of remedies.  He was one of the earliest advocates of
  the antiphlogistic treatment of small pox and other  febrile diseases, and he con-
  tinued an ardent supporter of this practice through  the whole of his professional
  career.— New-Eng. Journal of Med. and Sur. ix. 63
    Hugh Williamson, M. D. a distinguished scholar, physician, and patriot, was
  born at West  Nottingham,  Pennsy 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 Edin-
  burgh.  After remaining a while in this University,  he spent some  time in Lon-
  don, and then proceeded 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 repu-
  tation 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 practice of  medicine in Nortb Carolina
  but after several years,  retired to New-York,  where he  died in 1819    He pub-
 lished, in 1770, in the Transactions of the American  Philosophical Society a pa-
 Pr j°£ tUe chan&e of climate 'n America.  In  1811, observations on the climate
 of  different parts of America, compared with the climate in corresponding parts
 of the other continent.  In 1812, a History of North Carolina, which contains
  ™ important papers  on  the fevers of that State, as  they had  prevailed in
 1792 on  the Roanoke, and in 1794 on the Neuse rivers;  also, a paper on the fas-
 cination  of serpents, in  the  Medical Repository, vol. x. p. 341.—Hosack's  Es
 nays, 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 of that State.  He wy 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  en'
 tirely original, and the result of experiment and observation.  He was a man of
 great eccentricity, but a bold and intelligent practitioner
 U^aTJ™ a  ^R°W v'  *?' *!•  a" eminent Phy^'cian of  Charles county, Mary-
 land, received  his medical education at Edinburgh, and graduated in  Medicine'
 atthat University, in 1768; at which time  he defended*a thesis 1 "Animal
 Heat."  On  his re urn 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 Uni
 versity at that period.  Dr. Brown was not  only  a well  read phys"cian  and  an
 able practitioner of medicine, but a good classical scholar, and fnd^ ged hi"uste
 for general reading during the whole course of  his laborious practice  It is sa d

 ^Z^*,£^&^and these of a most efficient cS:
  Doctors Gustavus Brown and  Wiluam Bhown.  were nenhew-* of tk* *„
 ceding, and educated at Edinburgh, at nearly the same period.P  /hey w    £5h
 eminent practitioners of medicine, the former of St. Mary's countv Maryland
 and the latter of Alexandria.  It is not known  that eithe/ofthesr^intfemen



 »2^£m!3£& TtTimb^rVrfdTra^ hwf th<
Mioner of medicine and surgery in huSSiate^S?/  dlSUn^'shcd PraCV 
35
  Doctor Jambs Craik, a respectable Scotch physician, was educated at the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh, and came over to this country with Braddock's army, which
landed at  Alexandria, in 1755.  Having served as military surgeon in Gen. Brad-
dock's campaign in America, he settled at Norfolk, Virginia, where he practised
some time with high reputation ;  but after a few years removed to Winchester,
Virginia, and subsequently to Charles county, Maryland.  At the commencement
of the revolution, he was appointed by the commander-in-chief to an important
trust in the medical staff of the army, and during the whole of  the war enjoyed
his personal friendship and confidence.   At the close of the revolution he set-
tled in Alexandria  He was the family physician at  Mount Vernon,  and attend-
ed Washington in his last illness.   He died at Alexandria in 1814, at the age of
84.—Letter from Dr. J B. Cutting, 1825.
  Doctor Andrew Robertson, was a native of Scotland, and received his medi-
cal education at the University of Edinburgh.  He first served  as a military sur-
geon in the British army, in Flanders, and came to America with Braddock's ar-
my in  1755.  He remained in the  country,  and settled in  Lancaster county, Vir-
ginia, where he acquired a high reputation, and for many  years enjoyed an ex-
tensive practice   He was particularly distinguished for his charity, and atten.
tion to the indigent sick.  He made several valuable medical  communications,
which were published in the " London Medical Inquiries and Observations."  He
died in 1795.
  Dr.  William Batnham, son of Dr. John Baynham, of Caroline county, Vir-
ginia,  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 stu-
dent at St. Thomas' Hospital.  As soon as he had completed his course, he be-
came a partner of Mr. Slater, an  eminent surgeon of Margate, and he was sub-
sequently invited by Mr. Else, to assist him in his demonstrations of Anatomy.
In 1781, he was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Lon-
don.  On his  return to his native country, he entered into an extensive practice
in Virginia, and was long considered as the most eminent surgeon of the Southern
States.  He was particularly  distinguished for his accurate knowledge of anato-
my.  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.—Philadel-
phia Journal of Med and Phys. Sciences, iv. 186.
   Walter Jones, M. D. one  of  the  most  eminent physicians 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 particular friendship and
esteem of Cullen, and the other professors of that time.   On his return to his
native country, he settled in Northumberland county, Virginia,  where he acquir-
ed 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 ac-
quaintance,  " for the variety  and extent of his  learning, the originality  and
strength of his mind, the sagacity of his observations, and the captivating pow-
ers 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  intuitively the faculty of discerning the hidden cause of disease, and of
applying, with a promptness and decision peculiar to himself, the appropriate re-
medies."  For  a few years he was returned a member of the  national Legisla-
ture ; but he spent the  most of his   life  in the  practice of that profession of
which he was so distinguished an  ornament.                            #  .
   David Ramsey, 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 graduated at Princeton College, New-Jersey, in 1765, being only six-
teen years of age.  He spent the two following yeats as  a private instructer in
a respectable family in  Maryland  ; but in 1767,  commenced the  study of medi-
cine with Dr. T  Bond, of Philadelphia, and attended the medical lectures of
the College.  In 1772, he graduated Bachelor of Medicine, with the highest ap-
probation of his teachers, by whom  he was considered as a young man of uncom-
mon talents and attainments.  He immediately commenced the  practice of his 
36
 profession in Maryland, but after one year removed to Charleston, South Caroli-
 na, 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 seige of Savannah.   In  1785, he was elected a member of Con-
 gress, and presided over that body for one year in place of John Hancock.  Al-
 though he entered deeply into the cause of American  liberty during the revolu-
 tion, the most of his life was  devoted to the practice of his profession, and to
 literary and scientific pursuit*.
   As a historical  writer.  Dr. R. has been pronounced by competent judges to
 have held the highest rank.  As a physician he was eminent, and ever command-
 ed 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 disseminated 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 Register for 1802 '" " A Dissertation
 on the Means of Preserving Health in Charleston ;" and "An Eulogium on Dr.
 Rush.—Smith's Continuation of Ramsay's History of the JJnitcd States.

                             Note E.—Page 12.

   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 Wiliiam Erving; all of which amounted to the sum of four thousand pounds
 sterling.  But the institution has since received still greater  aid from the munifi-
 cence of the distinguished philanthropist,  Ward Nicholas Boylston, Esq.  who,
 above any other individual of our country, has devoted his wealth and his  influ-
 ence to the promotion of medical science.  Soon after the founding of the school
 he presented to Harvard College an extensive medical library,  and made per-
 manent provision for its future enlargement.  This library contains  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 preparations, for-
 merly the property of the celebrated Dr. Nichols, of England, by  whose  hand
 most of them were prepared.  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 15.

                      Professors of the different Schools.

                MEDICAL SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA.

   Until the year 1768, Drs. Shippen  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 Professor of
 Botany and Materia Medica.
   In June of this year, the first commencement was held  for Bachelors of Me«
 dicine.
   In 1769, Dr. Rush, who had just returned from Europe,  was appointed Pro-
 fessor of Chemistry. At the commencement, 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 VJateria Medica and Pharmacy, Dr. Barton to the chair of Natural History and
 Botany, and Dr. Wistar to the chairs of Chemistry and the  Institutes of Medi-
 cine.  In 1791, the College and  University, which had before been two bodies
 corporate, were united, and formed one  school, under the  name  of the Univer-
 sity.  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 
37
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 institutes ; but in 1797, Dr. Kuhn resigned en-
tirely, and Dr. Rush was appointed to the chair of the practice, in 1805.  The
same year Dr. Physick was appointed to the new and separate cha.r of surgery.
In 1807, Dr. Dorsey was appointed adjunct professor of surgery.  In,18G°'  Dr.
Shippen died, and Dr Wistar was appointed professor of anatomy and midwite-
ry   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. Chapman 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, pro-
fessor  of anatomy, 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, H. 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.

   Wricht Post, M.D., Professor of Anatomy.                             .
   DavidI Hoaack, M. D., F. R. S., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic
       and Clinical Medicine.
   ■William T M'Nevin. M. D., Professor of Chemistry.                      .
   Samuel £ Mitchell. M. D., F. B. 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.
                         HARVARD COLLEGE.

   John C. Warren, M. D , Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.





                        DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

   «e,,hen D Mussev, M. D., Professor of Anatomy, Surgery, and Obstetrics.
   San^iVerrMD. Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, Physio-

   J. vlS.ZS^W*™ of Chemistry, Pharmacy, and Legal Medi-

        cine.
                     UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
     ,   x, ».  -j    vi n  Professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery.
   jKwSS £ S.: lltZ 3 L ■**£ »*?»«*. - «<*-•
   fflsha »e Butts, M. D., Professor of Chemistry and Mmeralogy. 
38
  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  DIS-
               TRICT 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 Materia 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.

                          YALE COLLEGE.
  -flEneas Monson, M. D., Professor of the Institutes of Medicine.
  Nathan Smith, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, Surge.
      ry, and Obstetrics.
  Benjamin Silliman, M. D., Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacy, 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 Physiology, 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 Pharmacy.
  John Moorhead, M. D , Professor of Materia Medica and Medical Obstetrics.
  Jesse Smith, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.

               VERMONT ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.
  William Tulley, M. D., Professor of the Theory  and  Practice of Physic and
      Medical Jurisprudence.
  Theodore Woodward, M. D„ Professor of the Principles and Practice of Sur-
      gery, Obstetrics, and the Diseases of Women and Children.
  William Anderson, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology.
  Amos Eaton, Esq. Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy,  and Lec-
      turer 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 Practice of Medidne
  Daniel Drake, M. p., Professor of Materia Medica and Medical Botany
  ^^aS^SSS^^  Professor of Obstetrics,  and the Dishes  of
  James Blythe, D. D., Professor of Chemistry.
  Robert Best, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry.

                        BROWN UNIVERSITY.

  LeViortSricns:MD-' Professor°f the Theory and Practice of Physic and

  John De Wolf, A. M., Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy 
39
                 MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAINE.

Parker Cleaveland, M. D., Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica.
Nathan Smith, M. D., Lecturer on the Theory and Practice of Physic and
    Surgery.
John D. Wells, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology.

                    UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT.

John Bell, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.
William Paddock, M. I)., 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 Practice 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 D.  Lamatter, M. D.,  Professor of Pharmacy, Materia Medica, and Ob-
     stc tries*
 Chester Dewey, A. M., Professor of Chemistry, Botany, Mineralogy, andNatu.
     ral Philosophy.                        .....
 Stephen W. Williams, M. D., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence.

            MEDICAL  COLLEGE OF SOUTH  CAROLINA.

 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, and the Diseases of Wo-
     men and Children.                        .
 Henry Rutledge Frost, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica.
 Edmund Ravenel, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
 Stephen Elliot, LL. «., Professor of Botany and Natural History.
                       JEFFERSON COLLEGE.

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

                    COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, D. C.

  Thomas Sewall,  M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology.

  «2»T &^.?«^ and Practice Me«„„
  N  W. Worthington, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica.
  Edward Cutbush, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
  Frederick May, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics.


                           Note G.—Page 16.



College, and bears rt*name ofthe   Boy!'»"/        „ema„ whose  name_ is 
40
   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,  in eliciting the talents  of medical  gentlemen in different
   parts of the United States, to the discussion of some of the most important sub-
   jects that have ever been placed before the profession.  Several of the prize es-
   says have been published, and have done honour to the medical  character of
   our  country.
     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.        u On Biliary Concretions."
     1808. Daniel Newcomb, M.  D.,  « On Cancer, ahd the Best Mode of Extir-
            pation."
    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 Treatment  of Injuries
           occasioned by Fire, and other Heated Substances."
    ■--- George Hayward,  M. D., " Oil 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 dis-
           continued."
    ---- 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 Urinarv
           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 ex-
           tent 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."
    1S19. Enoch Hale, jun. M. D.,   "Is there any Communication from the Sto-
           mach to the Bladder, more direct than that  through the Circulating
           System and the Kidneys ?"                                     *
   1820. John  Ware, M.  D., « On the Best Means of Promoting Suppuration."
   ■--- Wifliam Sweetser,  jun. M. D.,  "On the Diagnosis and Treatment  of
           Cynanche Trachealis, or Croup."
   1821. John C. Dalton,  M.  D., " On the Diseases of the Liver, both Functional
           and Organic."
   ----  Enoch Hale jun. M. D., «< On the Introduction of Medicinal  Substance*
           into tne Veins.
   1822. Abel L. Peirson, M. D., « On Pertussis, or Chin Coueh "
   1823. William Sweetser jun. M   D, "On the Functions  of the extreme Ca-
           pillary Vessels, in Health and in Disease."
   1824. Samuel Cartwright, M. D. " How long may the human body remain im-
           mersed in water  without extinction 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 omitted, as an official ac-
andl81°4       h* °^™* of candidates  who wfote  between the y°ml80o 
41
  Mr. Boylston has recently established another prize fund, in connexion with
the Boylston Medical Society,  particularly for the medical  class attending lec-
tures 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 16.

  In some of the earlier schools which were established in the country, the de-
gree of Bachelor of  Medicine was conferred  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 Medicine 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 ad-
mitted to an examination for a degree, he must have attained to the age of twen-
ty-one,  have studied three years with some  regular physician,  attended two
full courses of lectures on the different branches of medicine, and if he has not
enjoyed the  advantages of a collegiate education, he must furnish satisfactory
evidence of having made respectable classical attainments ;  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 differ-
ent branches of medicine, and write and defend a thesis on some medical sub-
ject.

                             Note I.—Page 16.

   Number of Medical  Students attending the last course of lectures at the dif-
ferent schools -.
     University of Pennsylvania,.......480
     College of Physicians and Surgeons of New-York,       -    -    - 196
     Harvard College,.........l3°
     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,........j*
     Vermont Academy of Medicine,......12*
     Transylvania University,........235
     Medical School of Maine,......."0
     Brown University,      .........J^
     University of Vermont,........**
     Berkshire Medical School,........»*
     Medical College of South Carolina,......5U

                                                  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 informa-
 tion here exhibited  has been derived from one or more of the professors of each
 school, or fronrfcrinted catalogues of the students.

                              Note K.—Page 17.

   It was the intention to have given the date of the establishment of the differ-
 ent Medical Societies in the United States, and the names of the principal offi-
                                   F 
42
 cers, with some account of the regulations of each; but, except in a few instan-
 ces, such information could not be obtained.
  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 other-
 wise have been withheld.
  The officers of the Society consist of a President, a Vice-President, a Corres-
 ponding and Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, a Librarian, a  Board of Coun-
 sellors, 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.  Holyoke, 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 r 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 Mercury," 1805.
  Joshua Fisher, M. D\ " On Narcotic Substances," 1806.
  Thomas Welsh, M. D., " On Heat and Cold as Agents on  the Human Body."
 1807.                                                                J
  John Brooks, M. D., " On Pulmonic Inflammation," 1808.
  Aaron Dexter, M. D ,«' On Diseases of the Joints," 1809.  «
  Josiah Bartlet, M. D., " On  the  Progress of Medical  Science in the  Common-
 wealth of Massachusetts," 1810.
  Oliver Fiske, M D., «« On Certain Epidemics in the Eastern part of this State,"
 1811.
  Abram Haskell, M. D , •« On Cynanche Trachealis," 1812.
  Oliver Prescott, M. D., " On  Secale Cornutum or Ergot,"  1813,
  Richard Huzeltine, M. D , " On Phlegmasia Dolens,"' 1816.
  Hector Orr, M. D. " On Animal and Vegetable Life," 1817,
  James Jackson, M. D. ''On Fever," 1818.
  John C. Warren M I)., " On a Comparative View of the Sensorial and Nervous
 Systems of Men  and Animals." 1820.
  Nathaniel Bradstreet, M. I)., "On the  Proximate Cause of Fever," 1821
 • J°»n,o<LCoffin' M- D ' "°n Medical  Education, and on  the Medical Profes-
 sion,  1822.
  Henry H. Childs, M. D., « On the Advancement of Medical Science,"  1823.
  Robert Thaxter, M. D , " On Delirium Tremens," 1824

 Solely!" 1825* "' U" "^ Eul°gy °"  H°"' J°hn Brooks' kte Presidentof the
 ^ Nearly all these discourses have been published in the Transactions of the So-


                           Note L.—Page 17.

 rtScdX?1 ^"^ °i theStat? °f New-Jersey, is  the second which was in-
 stituted in the country, the original act for establishing which has been oolitelv
 furnished by the Hon. L. Condict, of that State, and is here presented    ?     J
                                                                     I
 Jn Act to regulated Practice of Physic and Surgery, within the State of New-
                   Jersey.  Passed November 29, 1783.

  Pbeambik.— Whereas, many ignorant and unskilful persons do take unon them

5.T2 imisr„nrg:„dd s^tsf „• ir ~« 
43
State of New-Jersey, before he shall 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 satisfactory
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 practising without a 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 doc-
tor  who shall erect a stage for the sale of drugs, or medicine of any kind
   Section 4th, Enacts, that every physician shall deliver his bill in plain English
 words, or as nearly so as possible ; 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 re-
 quire it                                                                 ,.
   This act has since  been revised by the  Legislature of the State, and the Medi-
 cal Society of New-Jersey is now regulated by provisions  similar to those of the
 Society of Massachusetts.

                              Note M.—Page 17.

    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 permit-
 ted to practice, 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 ot
 the law ; and, in some of the States, a severe penalty is inflicted  for prescribing
 medicine without license.  The good effects qf the latter regulation are strik-
 ingly exemplified, in the exemption of  New Jersey,  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 18.

    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 journals  have been
  established, among which are  :
    The Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal,  commenced in   -    1804
   , Philadelphia Medical Museum, in.......J°"5
     Baltimore  Medical and Physical Recorder, in   -     -    -    -   -    *«"»
     New York Medical  and Philosophical Journal and Review, in    -     -  l8uy
     American Medical and Philosophical Register, (at New-York,) in   -    1810
     The American Mineralogical Journal, (at New-York,) in   -            l»j«J
     Eclectic Repertory, (at Philadelphia,) in     -     -    •              l»ji
     Baltimore  Medical and Philosophicall.yceum, in      -    -    -    -   joi*
     New-England Journal of Medicine and Surgery  (at Boston,) in    -    l»i£
     American  Medical  Recorder, (at Philadelphia,) in    -    -    -    -   leio
     Philadelphia Journal  of Medical and Physical Sciences, in   .-    -    1ȣJ
     American Journal of Science and Arts, (at New-Haven,) in      -     -   l&"
New-York Medical and Physical Journal, in
Western Medical Reporter, (at  incinnati, Ohio,) about    ....
Hartford Analectic Journal of Medicine and Surgery, in       -    -
1823
Boston Medical Intelligencer, in       -     ",.,".." * •  *           1904
Medical Review and Analectic Journal, (at Philadelphia,) in   -    -    ia~*
New-York Monthh  Chronicle of Medicine and Surgery, in      "    *  ™j*
Carolina Journal of Medicine, Science, and Agriculture, (at Charleston), in 1823 
  /                               44

   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 medical topography of the coun-
 try, investigating the causes of its epidemic and endemic diseases, examining its
 animal, vegetable,  and mineral productions ; and in  publishing the results of
 their observations and discoveries to the world.   They have thus been  among
 the most efficient means of advancing medical science, and elevating the charac-
 ter of the profession.  Several of the Journals which  have been established are
 discontinued, and others have assumed a different title.  Twelve only are pub-
 lished at the present time, though five more are soon to be added  to this num-
 ber.

                            Note O.—Page 20.

  Although medical science in the United States is beginning to assume a con-
 sistent 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 profes-
sion ;  yet it may not be unimportant to suggest, whether a closer and more ex-
tensive alliance among our institutions, and the more  scientific members of the
profession, may not be expedient, to ensure a full developement of such cheer-
ing indications.
  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 profession ; 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 profession 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.
•