THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES so V AN ACCOUNT liNSTITUTION AND PROGRESS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA DURING A HUNDRED YEARS, FKOM JANUARY, 1787. BY W. S. ^y. RUSCHENBERGER, M.D. PHILADELPHIA: WM. J. DORNAN, PRINTER, 1887. Siomedical Library I PREFACE. Desire to know the origin as well as the conduct of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia during its existence, and also some- thing of its fellows from first to last, prompted this enterprise. Except the minutes of proceedings at the meetings, the reports, papers, etc., pertinent to a history of the college, have not been kept together and conveniently arranged for ready reference as they might have been, had an archivist been charged with the care of them. Data from many sources had to be collected, verified, and compiled. Assuming that others may be interested in the subject, the result has been printed. It is conjectured that the work, like a register of marriages, births, and deaths, may be convenient for occasional refer- ence by some of the present fellows, as well as by some of those who may hereafter join this somewhat numerous fraternity of physicians — should it hold together and thrive, through all time, as now hoped. This is the only reason offered for spending considerable time and labor, which might have been applied more profitably otherwise than in producing Avhat has little intrinsic value, and is likely to interest few. A part only — the first forty-eight pages — was read at a stated meeting of the college, October 6, 1886, probably near the centen- nial anniversary of the conception of the society : the rest has been since added. The Roll of the College, prepared in compliance with a suggestion of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, has been placed in an appendix, following lists of the officers, etc. It is defective in many places. In some instances satisfactory records of deceased fellows have not been found ; and some living fellows did not reply to an application to them for desired information. The Roll, which has upon it the names of all who have been elected members of the society during the century ending in January, 1887, shows that the fellows generally, past and present, have been 820966 iv PREFACE. and are active in professional work ; sincerely desirous to promote the acquisition and diffusion of medical knowledge ; charitable, in rendering gratuitous service to hospitals and asylums, and benevo- lent in seconding, from time to time, efforts to improve the hygienic conditions of the community, and to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases ; and also, by pointing out the injurious conse- quences arising from the use of adulterated foods and drinks, and whatever is prejudicial to health and life; and in war times a fair proportion always cheerfully served in the army or navy. As the purpose of a society is generally expressed in its title, the names of associations joined to that of each fellow on the roll, like catch words, give a clew to the nature of his scientific inclinations, and tell the branch of the profession which he prefers. Collegiate decrees, titles of offices held, names of societies in which enrolled, imply the nature of his education and public occupations. But altoo-ether they do not constitute a standard for the measurement of either his intellectual force or the extent of his acquirements, notwith- standing a popular notion to the contrary. Membership of societies established in his place of residence, signifies that his standing is good among those upon whom election depends, but not necessarily that he has high attainments, for the reason that qualifications are not scanned alike, in all societiess everywhere, before admission of the candidate to pay entrance and annual fees. But enrollment on the lists of first-class medical or scientific associations of distant places, which involve no annual payment, may be accepted in evidence of merit, especially if the number of their members be restricted in any sense. For example, the Royal Academy of Berlin limits its foreign associates to sixteen ; the Royal Society of London to fifty ; the Academy of Paris to eight ; the Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres to eight ; and the Royal Sardinian Academy to six. Persons to fill vacancies on those lists are selected without their knowledge by a council or competent committee, after an impartial scrutiny of their writings and public character, and the names of the proposed candi- dates are then submitted to a vote of the society.^ The electors are * Histoire des Sciences et des Savants, depuis deux Siecles. Par Alphonse de CandoUe. Deuxieme edition considerablement augmentee. H. Georg., Geneve- Bale, 1885. PREFACE. V experts in science and, therefore, supposed to know who are qualified to be their peers. None unworthy is likely to pass such an ordeal, but some worthy men are, no doubt, rejected. The honor of an election of the kind is obviously great. The science of medicine has not now a representative among their foreign associates. The names of physicians and surgeons are, however, on their lists of resi- dent or native members. It is notable in this connection that only three native American practitioners of medicine have ever been elected fellows of the Royal Society of London ; and other Americans so distinguished have been comparatively few. Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, of Boston, Mass., Avho was the first in America to inoculate for smallpox, 1721, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, July 7, 1726 ; Benjamin Franklin, April 29, 1756: John Morgan, M.D., March 7, 1765, and David Hosack, M.D., of New York, in 1816. Since then no American practitioner has been made a fellow. Americans, besides those just named, who have been so honored, ai*e: Benjamin Thomp- son (Count Rumford), of Woburn, ^lass., elected April 27, 1779 ; James Bowdoin, of Boston, April 3, 1788 ; David Rittenhouse, of Philadelphia, April 16, 1794 ;^ Benjamin Pierce, of Cambridge, Mass., 1852; Henry Darwin Rogers, M.D., of Philadelphia, 1858 [he was credited to Scotland, being Professor of Natural History in the University of Glasgow at the time of his election] ; Alexander Dallas Bache, of Philadelphia, 1860; Asa Cray, M.D., of Cam- bridge, Mass., 1873 ; Simon Newcomb, of Washington, D. C, 1877, and James D wight Dana, of New Haven, Conn., 1884. Only thirteen natives of America have been elected within the past one hundred and sixty years. Of these one was born in Nova Scotia, three in New York, four in Philadelphia, and five in Massachusetts. The dignity of a physician cannot be justly estimated by member- ship in this or that society, in spite of the adage that "a man i& known by the company he keeps." Since "specialties" — with a society for the cultivation of each of them — have come into fashion, many general practitioners join several such associations, not for the ^ History of the Royal Society from its institution to the end of the eighteenth century. By Thomas Thompson, M.D., F.R.S.L. and E. Quarto. London, 1812. vi PREFACE. sake of renown, but as a pleasant way of keeping pace with progress in branches in which they are interested. Hence it is, perhaps, that many of these societies, holding meetings at different times, are largely composed of the same persons, who meet in different depart- ments of the same workshop. Some physicians are conspicuous among their neighbors in the county in which they reside. Some are more or less known through- out the State. The names of a few become generally familiar to all their countrymen. A comparatively small number obtain a world- wide renown, for the reason that professional ministrations, which are serious, private, sometimes confidential in their nature, consist almost exclusively in direct personal services. Such services are not usually witnessed by many spectators. They need to be successfully rendered to very many individuals to establish even a local reputation. jNIedi- cine honestly practised does not afford the materials, the opportunities which lead men to fame. Physicians do become famous, but not by their practice alone. An important discovery, a marked aptitude in teaching or in writing, or eminent success in some collateral science, or in something outside of the profession, lays the foundation of the doctor's fame. For illustration : Edward Jenner is famous because he discovered vaccination; Asa Gray, because he is an eminent botanist; Joseph Leidy, because he is a distinguished naturalist; Oliver Wendell Holmes, because his prose and poetry ever and anon twinkle with genial humor; and Richard J. Gatling, of North Carolina, because he invented a gun which is known by his name. Looking through Routledge's Dictionary of Contempoi'aries, 12th edition, January', 1887, Ave find the names of 2060 persons, of both sexes, and many nations. Of the whole number, including Ameri- can cx-presidents, the president and members of his cabinet, 163 (0.7815 per cent.) were born in the United States. Ten of them are natives of Philadelphia. All these names belong to the clerical, literary, military, musical, naval, political, scientific, theatrical classes. Among them are 15 surgeons, and 77 holding the degree of M.D., of whom nine are Americans. Two are fellows of this college. According to a necrology appended to the work, 2129 notable per- sons, who were the celebrities of previous editions, died in the course of thirty years, from 1856 to 1886. Fifty-three of these, 2.48 per PREFACE. Vll cent, of the whole number, had obtained the degree of M.D., and also that kind of renown which, in the opinion of the editor, made them eligible to a place among those about whom the public is curious, and, therefore, likely to enhance the commercial value of the book, which is always an object. But the notices are too brief and general for just appraisement of their subjects. The information of the editor enables him to name only about two thousand persons in the Christian world who are conspicuous on account of merit of some kind. About three per cent, of them belong to the medical profes- sion. Of more than fifty millions of citizens of the United States, he knew of only 163 natives suitably qualified to be enrolled among those selected by him to gratify the curiosity of English readers. If his capability to judge be acknowledged, the intellectuality of a com- paratively small number is above the average of Americans ; yet, they have achieved more to promote the common welfare of man than any other people. These citations recall a conjecture, long ago uttered by a French naturalist, that the development of all native animals, including man and his intellectual force, is continuously retarded — implying that they are all under such climatic and other influences and conditions in America, that the total extinction of the aboriginal races must follow, sooner or later. Immigrants and their progeny are, of course, under the same natural influences. Therefore, they also must gradually become degraded, and finally extinct in the course of an indefinitely long period. The natives of all localities on the inhabited earth not being alike, equal in their physical and mental endowments, an im- plication from the Frenchman's conjecture is that the native mind here will never grow enough to be properly arranged in the highest class — that its palpable manifestations in any sense, are not likely to rival fairly or excel those of mind grown in Europe — chiefly in Ger- many and Great Britain — which is ours ancestorily, and assumed to be the preeminent mind of the world. The quality of work of all kinds, philosophical, literary, mechanical, executed in past or present times, may be adduced as evidence of the superior intellectual char- acter of those people. If facts sustain this notion, it may be well to learn what they are; for truth — often the sole reward of that love of truth which prompts quest of truth for the truth's sake — should Vlll PREFACE, always be sought. Whatever it may be, ignorance or knowledge of it cannot alter any relative condition. Proper scrutiny is likely to prove the conjecture wholly untenable. In that event the time will come when native Americans will paint original pictures, make statues, write and enact original dramas and operas, cast chiming church bells, and do whatever need or taste may suggest, as perfectly as any other people ; and then the names of eminent native Ameri- cans may be often found on the lists of foreign members of learned societies of the first class in Europe. The roll shows that of the 496 fellows elected, 29 have resigned, 24 have forfeited fellowship by neglecting to pay in due time their annual contributions under the law, and 208 have died fellows of the college, leaving 235 living, of whom 29 are non-resident, and, therefore, exempt from contributions. Of the 64 American associate fellows elected, 84 have died ; and of the 30 foreign associate felloAvs elected, 15 are dead. There are five corresponding members. In his quest for information on many points the compiler has been helped in his work. He takes pleasure in acknowledging himself indebted to the Rev. Jesse Y. Burke, Secretary of the University of Pennsylvania ; to the late Lloyd P. Smith, Librarian of the Phila- delphia Library Company, and Mr. Kumford Samuels, Assistant Librarian in the Ridgway Branch ; to Mr. Frederick D. Stone, Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; to ^Ir. John Edmands, Librarian of the Mercantile Librar^^; to Dr. Joseph M. I Toner, of Washington, D, C. ; to Mr. Thompson Westcott, of Phila- ^ I delphia; to Mr. Charles J. Fisher, Assistant Librarian, and Miss ' Emily Thomas, his aid, of the College of Physicians, as well as to many fellows of the college. 1932 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Xov. 1887. AN ACCOUNT INSTITUTION OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. By W. S. W. RUSCHENBERGER, M.D. [Read October 6, 1886.] The formation of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has not been traced to any one member of the profession. Its genesis began before the middle and during the closing half of the eighteenth century, and within the first decade of our national life. Under the provincial government, society in Philadelphia was essentially as refined and cultivated as it is in the present day. Then as now, men of high order of intellect, character, and education were among its citizens. They influenced others to join in enterprises to provide for the public wants of the young and growing community, as rapidly as means permitted. Societies were formed for charitable and other uses. The Philadelphia Library Company (1731); the American Philosophical Society (1743); the Pennsylvania Hospital (1752); the College of Philadeli^hia (1755); the Medical School (1765) ; the American Medical Society (1773) ; an Abolition Society, 1774 (which increased its membership and enlarged its purposes in 1787); the Humane Society, for resuscitation of drowned persons (1780);^ a Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785); the Philadel- ^ The phj^sicians of the Humane Society, August, 1787, were John Jones, President; Benjamin Rush, Benjamin DufBeld, Caspar Wistar, Samuel P. Griffitts, J. R. B. Rodgers. — American Museum, 1787. 1 2 RUSCHENBERGER, phia Dispensary (1786) ; and the United Company for Promoting Manufactures, before which Robert Stretel Jones, Esq., delivered an oration, March, 1777 ; ' are indicative of the active public spirit of the period. Institutions for the common welfare, though designed for the attain- ment of different objects, are in some sense akin. The establishment of one leads to the setting up of another. The experience of one lends help to another, in the way of example ; possibly observation and comparison of methods of conduct in the older organizations may teach the juniors the wisdom of administration. In such aspect, corporate bodies seem to have a pedigree, direct and collateral, like men. We are told, for example, that in his boyhood Benjamin Franklin had probably been present with his father at meetings of some of the Boston Benefit Societies, devised by Cotton Mather,^ and that, at Philadelphia in the autumn of 1727, imitating their plan he formed most of his ingenious acquaintances (mostly journeyman mechanics like himself at that time) into the famous club called the Junto, the declared purpose of which was the improvement of its members and their fellow-citizens in virtue and practical wisdom. The Junto Avas restricted to twelve members, and their proceedings were designed to be kept secret. But attractive whisperings about them got out, and " caused frequent applications for admission to the charmed circle of the leather-aproned philosophers. The founder of the club at length proposed that each member of the Junto should form a subordinate club (another idea from Cotton ^Mather), Avhich should report its pro- ceedings to the parent society, and thus extend the area of its in- fluence. Five or six of these subordinate clubs were formed, which were called by such names as the Vine, the Union, and the Hand."' The Junto met every Friday evening at tavern, or ale-house, during the first three years of the club's existence, but afterward "in a little room of Mr. Grace's set apart for that purpose." Sometimes the grave proceedings were enlivened with wine and songs, some of ' Columbian Magazine, vol. 5, p. 175. * Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, by James Parton. London, New York, and Philadelphia, 18G4. Vol. i. p. 154. * Parton's Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 3 which were written and sung by Franklin himself. After the club was established in the house of Mr. Robert Grace, who was one of the members, Franklin suggested, in 1730, that as their books were often referred to in their discussions, it would be well for the sake of con- venience to keep all their books where they met, and in this way give each the advantage of using the books of all the other members.^ The plan of the Philadelphia Library Company, which he pub- lished early in 1731, was an outcome of this idea. The Junto, long known in Philadelphia as the leathern apron club, continued during many years. When the activity of its members abated or ceased, it seems that the name was assumed by others, and a new Junto was formed probably in February, 1750, which revised its rules and changed, its title, December, 1766, to " The American Society for Promoting and Propagating Useful Knowledge, held at Philadelphia," and enlarged its roll of members. May 25, 1743, Benjamin Franklin issued a circular, entitled "A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Planta- tions in America," in which he recommended "that one society be formed of virtuosi, or ingenious men, residing in the several colonies, to be called The American Philosophical Society." It is supposed that the proposition had been discussed in the original Junto. The Society was formed in accordance with the plan submitted, but after some years became inactive. About the year 1767 it was revived and carried on with much spirit. It was proposed in 1768 to unite The American Society and The American Philosophical Society, under the name of The American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge. The terms of union were agreed upon. The spirit of the ancient Junto transmigrated from the dead corporations into the new organization, and, as if in commemoration of its ancestry, its stated meetings have been held ever since on Friday, as were those of the first Junto as well as of all its offspring. The purpose of this organization was very broad — to foster the ' Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, edited from his manuscript, with notes and an introduction by John Bigelow. J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadel- phia, 18G8. 4 RUSCHENBERGER, cultivation of all useful knowledge. The Tranmctioyis show that attention was given to questions in physics, natural history, medicine, until institutions for each special subject gradually narroAved the field. This sort of segregation continues in every grand department of science, very considerably abating the activity of those societies which were established to encourage the pursuit of one great subject in all its branches. The special seems to be everywhere superseding general science. On Friday, January 2, 1769, the new society held its first meet- ing,^ at which Dr. Franklin was elected President, and Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, Dr. Thomas Bond, and Joseph Galloway, Esq., Vice- Presidents. The total number of members then was 251, of whom 124 resided in the city and county. Seventeen of them were among the founders of the College of Physicians. At that time the American Philosophical Society had no perma- nent abode. Its meetings were held sometimes in the State House, sometimes at the house of a member, but more frequently in the building known at different times as the Academy, the College of Philadelphia, the University ; the apartment in which the Society usually met was commonly called Philosophical Hall. The building which it now occupies (lO-l South Fifth Street) was so far advanced in construction that the Society met in it for the first time Nov. 21, 1789.- Another example of institutional heredity may be cited, which has connection with the College of Physicians. We are told that, perceiving the lack of provision for a complete education, as neither college nor high school existed in the Province, Benjamin Franklin, in 1743, devised a plan for an academy and confided its realization to the Rev. Richard Peters. He did not attempt to execute the project. In 1749, Franklin recurred to it ' Discourse of Dr. Robert M. Patterson, at the Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary, May 25, 1843, in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge, vol. iii. No. 27, May 25-30, 1843. * Commemoration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the American Philosophical Society. Address of the President, Frederick Fralev, LL.D. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OP PHILADELPHIA. 5 and secured the cooperation of friends. Twenty-four gentlemen associated together as a Board of Trustees, formed rules for the con- duct of the proposed institution, and signed them Nov. 13, 1749. The next day they subscribed money liberally among themselves to carry on the work. In December, 1749, they procured a lot and a large church build- ing, covering an area of 70 by 120 feet, which had been constructed thereon for the use of the Rev. George Whitfield, a celebrated " New- light" Presbyterian preacher, near the southwest corner of Fourth and Arch Streets. Alterations were made in the edifice to adapt it properly to its new purposes, and, in 1751, the pupils, who from 1750 had been taught in private houses, were introduced into the building, known from that time as "The Academy." Here they were taught by three masters aided by ushers, Latin, English, and mathematics. They numbered "little short of 300," April 5, 1752 ;^ and Richard Peters wrote to a friend, 1753, that the Academy was in great repute, and had 165 boys from neighboring colonies.^ "■ The Trustees of the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania, " were incorporated July 13, 1753. The Proprietors granted an additional charter INIay 14, 1755, in which the style of the board was changed to " The Trustees of the College, Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia," reciting and confirming all the franchises and powers of the first, with the further power of conferring degrees.^ At the first Commencement of the College of Philadelphia, May 17, 1757, there were seven graduates, one of whom Avas John Mor- gan. In 1762, an additional building was erected on the lot, designed in part as a residence of pupils whose homes were not in the city. ^ Pennsylvania Letters, Portfolio, January, 1813. 2 John F. Watson, MS. Annals of Philadelphia, p. 76. Collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. ' For a description and an account of the Academy and College of Philadel- phia in detail, see The American Magazine and Monthly Chronicle of the British Colonies, vol. i., from October, 1757, to October, 1758. By a Society of Gentlemen. Printed and sold by Thomas Bradford, at the corner house at Front and Market Streets. Pp. 630-641. 6 RUSCHENBERGER, Upon the plant rooted in these premises was grafted the first medical school in the country which, in time, grew to be the most fruitful and renowned of its branches. Immediately after his return from Europe, Dr. John ^Morgan sub- mitted to the Board of Trustees of the College of Philadelphia, a scheme of medical professorships, to be added to the College. His communication was accompanied by letters from the Hon. Thomas Penn and others in England, recommending the Doctor and his plan. At the time, Thomas Bond, Phineas Bond, Thomas Cad- walader, William Shippen, Sr., and John Redman — five prominent physicians — were of the Board. The Trustees adopted the proposed plan May 3, 1765, and appointed Dr. Morgan professor of the theory and practice of medicine. At the Annual Commencement of the College of Philadelphia, held May 30 and 31, 1765, Dr. Morgan delivered an appropriate "Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America." Dr. William Shippen, Jr., who had given three successive courses of lectures on anatomy, the first beginning November 26, 1762, was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, September 17, 1765. The Provost of the College, the five physicians of the Board of Trustees, and the two professors united and formed a code of rules for the new establishment.^ The two professors delivered their introductory lectures Novem- ber 18, 1765. In addition to the practice of medicine. Dr. Morgan taught materia medica and read lectures on chemistry for three years, and Dr. Shippen, besides anatomy and surgery, taught midwifery. In 1768, Dr. Adam Kuhn was elected professor of materia medica and botany; and Dr. Thomas Bond^ (who was one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which was started in a rented house ' Eulogiura on Doctor William Shippen, delivered before the College of Phy- sicians of Philadelphia, March, 1809. By Doctor Caspar Wistar, one of the Censors. Published May, 1818, after Dr. Wistar's death. Vol. 8, Pamphlets, Libr. Coll. of Phys. Phila. Both Drs. Morgan and Shippen seem to have used the word "school " as a synonyme of the word profes.=orship. * History of the Pennsylvania Hospital. By George B. Wood, M.D. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 7 on the south side of Market Street west of Fifth, in February, 1752) professor of clinical medicine. The next year, 1769, Dr. Benjamin Rush, on his return from Europe, Avas appointed professor of chemistry, chiefly on the recom- mendation of Dr. William Cullen, of the University of Edinburgh, conveyed in a letter to Dr. John Morgan.^ At the first medical commencement held in America, the degree of Bachelor of Medicine was conferred by the College of Philadel- phia on ten of its students, June 21, 1768.* This notable ceremony took place in the building of the College on Fourth south of Arch Street.^ All the medical professors could not be accommodated in the col- lege buildings. Apartments suitable for teaching anatomy had been constructed by Dr. Shippen, 1762—63, for the use of his private classes, in the rear of his father's residence on Fourth Street north of Market. The entrance to them was by an alley- way from Market Street Avest of Fourth Street. After he was installed professor he taught the college classes in these rooms until Anatomical Hall was built. That building, a picture of which is among Bii'clis Views of Philadelphia, published in 1799, stood on Fifth Street, 112 feet north of Walnut Street. The Commonwealth conveyed the piece of land on which it stood to the University of the State of Pennsylvania, September 22, 1785. 1 In the Rush Manuscripts, Eidgeway Branch of the Philadelphia Library, vol. 24, p. 64, is a copy of the letter from Dr. William Cullen, Edinburgh, Sep- tember 18, 1768, to Dr. .John Morgan, recommending the appointment of Dr. Rush to the chair of chemistry. 2 History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. By Joseph Carson, M.D., Philadelphia, 1869. ^ On the site of the old building is a tall structure which, until very recently — 1886 — was occupied as a shoe factory. The building known as the Academy, as the College of Philadelphia, as the University of the State of Pennsylvania, and as the University of Pennsyl- vania, was erected in 1740, by those who seceded from the Presbyterian Church to follow " the new light " teaching of the Rev. George "Whitfield. The lot was 198 by 150 feet. The church edifice, which was 70 by 120 feet, stood 66 feet west of Fourth Street, between Market and Arch Streets. See A Picture of Philadelphia. By James Mease, M.D., Philadelphia, 1811. 8 RUSCHENBERGER, Anatomical Hall, sometimes called the Laboratory, was in use several years after the University, in 1802, took possession of the premises on Ninth Street north of Chestnut. About April, 1806, it was rented to the Board of Health, which occupied the first floor and sublet the second, April 1, 1807, for five years to Drs. Thomas C. James and Nathaniel Chapman. In 1840, the house No, 131 South Fifth Street, took its place. The Philadelphia Dispensary, instituted April 12, 1786, is some feet north of the site of Anatomical Hall. The attending physicians of the Dispensai'y, then first appointed, were Samuel P. Griffitts, John Morris, AVilliam Clarkson, John R. B. Rogers, Caspar Wistar, and Michael Leib ; and the consulting physicians and surgeons were John Jones, William Shippen, Jr., Adam Kuhn, and Benjamin Rush, all of them Fellows of the College of Physicians, in 1787. The Medical School of the College of Philadelphia begun in 1765, continued in operation till June 1, 1777, when all the departments of the College were closed' in consequence of the occupation of the city by the British army, and were not opened again till September 25, 1778 — sixteen months. November 27, 1779, the Legislature of Pennsylvania incorporated the University of the State of Pennsylvania, for which a Board of Trustees was appointed, abrogated the charter of the college, dis- missed its officers, confiscated all its possessions, and transferred them with other confiscated estates to the new institution. The reasons assigned for this radical measure were that the charter of the college required its trustees to take the oath of allegiance to the Sovereign of Great Britain, and that some of them had been and were actively hostile to the interests of America, giving aid and com- fort to the enemy. The trustees of the new university held their first meeting in De- cember, 1779, organized the board and filled several of the professor- ships. There was difficulty in establishing the medical department. Temporary arrangements were made which prevented its suspension. In the autumn of 1783, however, those who had been professors of the College of Philadelphia accepted appointments from the Univer- ^ Minutes of the Board of Trustees. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 9 sity of the State of Pennsylvania. The conduct and progress of the new institution were satisfactory ; but the trustees and friends of the extinct College of Philadelphia did not acquiesce and rest passively under the sequestration of their charter and property. At their instance, no doubt, the Legislature enacted a law, March 6, 1789, by a great majority^ Avhich reinstated the College of Phila- delphia, and restored to it all its estates, franchises, and privileges. The University of the State of Pennsylvania was ejected from the premises, but retained the other confiscated properties which had been given to it. Rooms in the new hall of the American Philo- sophical Society were leased in March, 1789, and the institution con- tinued in operation. Three days after this act of restoration^ fourteen of the twenty- four original Trustees of the College of Philadelphia met March 9, 1789, at the residence of Dr. Franklin, and filled the vacancies in the board caused by death or desertion during the revolution. In the course of a month or two the schools were again opened, and the college was again in full operation. It soon became apparent that the separate existence of the two in- stitutions was incompatible with the successful progress of either. For such reason they agreed to combine. An act was obtained from the Legislature, September 30, 1791, which united the two corpora- tions under the title of the University of Pennsylvania. This outline of the pedigree of the first medical school established in America may indicate the associations and site of its origin. The locality of an important event, such as a great battle, long retains a vague attractiveness. The birthplace of an illustrious man has an interest for those who appreciate his work which lasts for ages after his death. For such reason it may be pleasing to remember that within the walls of the old Academy, where the medical school was born, the College of Physicians was organized, and held its stated meetings during several years. 1 The act restoring its franchises, etc., to the College of Philadelphia, was passed March 4, 1789, by yeas 44, nays 18. See Pennsylvania Packet, March 7, 1798, Proceedings of the General Assembly. ^ Minutes of the Trustees of the University of the State of Pennsylvania. History of the University of Pennsylvania. By George B. Wood, M.D., etc. ? 10 RUSCUENBERGER, Besides its connection witli the institution first established in the Province of Pennsylvania, the College of Physicians is related — in a remote degree, however — to some of the earliest practitioners. The physicians who came to the Province of Pennsylvania with the first settlers in 1682, were Thomas AVynne and .(grriflfith Owen, both Welshmen. ♦ ; Dr. AVynne is said to have" practised in London with reputation, but he soon engaged in the political affairs of the colony, and died ten years after his arrival in Philadelphia. Edward Jones, of Merion, a pupil and son-in-law of Dr. \Yynne, educated his son, Evan, in medicine. Evan became the preceptor of Thomas Cadwalader, who in turn assisted in teaching John Jones, a son of Evan, who was the first Vice-President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Griffith Owen, who was highly respected for his talents, integrity, and spirit, seems to have been the leading practitioner in the city. He died in 1717, at the age of about seventy years. In this same year Dr. Graeme, a man of excellent education and agreeable manners, of about thirty years of age, came from Great Britain with the Gov- ernor, Sir William Keith. He obtained the confidence and respect of his fellow colonists, and consequently a good practice. He was preceded, however, during a considerable time by Dr. John Kearsley, who came in quest of professional business. Dr. Kearsley was for a long time a very industrious practitioner of medicine and surgery. The building of Christ Church is ascribed lai'gely to his personal attention and influence. He founded and en- dowed Christ Church Hospital for poor widows. He was the professional master of Dr. John Redman, the first President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, as well as of the worthy Dr. John Bard, of New York. At the time these gentlemen flourished, the number of residents in the city Avas not great. The population of Philadelphia, in July, 1750, was estimated at 16,000 ; according to the census made by Lord Cornwallis, in 1777, it was 23,784;' and in 1785 at about 25,000. The first census of the United States was taken in 1790, then the population of the County of Philadelphia was 54,391. ^ Pennsylvania Letters, Portfolio, vol. 1. Philadelphia, 1813. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 11 In the provincial times and long afterward, people generally asked the advice of a physician only after domestic remedies had foiled, or when surgical aid was needed, or in cases of difficult childbirth. Before the establishment of the medical department of the College of Philadelphia, the colonist who sought a medical career was bound apprentice to some well-known practitioner — the fame of the physi- cians of the city brought them many apprentices from distant points — and worked and studied under his directions six years, and then went to England or Scotland to complete his education. John Morgan and Benjamin Rush, for example, served an apprenticeship of six years with Dr. John Redman, and then went to Europe to finish their studies. Some from lack of means to follow this course at the end of their apprenticeship, without other qualifications than those derived from the instructions of the master, in compounding his prescriptions, and witnessing his treatment of cases, at once began to practise, the title of doctor coming to them directly from the people without diploma fee. They were successful and respected; some of them were dis- tinguished in the community. It is pleasant to cite two of them here. One of the apprentices of Dr. John Kearsley, Dr. Lloyd Zachary, who began to practise medicine between 1720 and 1730, died in the year 1756, having received all his education in this city. He was greatly and deservedly respected. He was among the founders of the Pennsylvania Hospital and of the College of Philadelphia, and a liberal contributor to both institutions. He and Drs. Thomas and Phineas Bond were the physicians first appointed to the hospital. Dr. William Shippen, the elder, who was born in Philadelphia, October 1, 1712, and died November 4, 1801, was one of the many apprentices of Dr. John Kearsley, represented to have been a very rigorous master. Though restricted to the educational resources of the city, Dr. Shippen held equal professional rank with his contem- poraries in public estimation, and actively participated Avith them in promoting the interests of public institutions.^ 1 In his Eulogium on Dr. William Shippen, Jr., Dr. Wistar s&ys, "Dr. Shippen, Senior, was educated wholly in Philadelphia Yet by the 12 RUSCHENBERGER, On his return from Europe Dr. Thomas Cadwalacler (a grandson of Edward Jones, of Morion), who had studied anatomy with Chesel- den, "made dissections and demonstrations, 1752, for the instruction of Dr. Shippen, the elder, and some others who had not been abroad." This was probably the first work of the kind ever done in Pennsylvania.^ Dr. William Shippen, the elder, it is stated, applied himself at an early age to the study of medicine, for " which he had a remarkable genius, possessing that kind of instinctive knowledge of diseases which cannot be acquired from books." Being congratulated upon the success of his practice, he replied, "My friend ! Nature does a great deal, and the grave covers up our mistakes." Animated by a patriotic desire to remedy the then lack of means for medical educa- tion in the colonies, he trained his son to the profession, sent him to Europe, and on his return, in 1762, encouraged him to deliver a series of lectures on anatomy. He thus prepared the way to the establishment of the first medical school in America. He was elected a member of the Continental Congress by the Assembly of Pennsylvania, November 20, 1778, and reelected No- vember 13, 1779. He devoted himself to the duties of his office, and won general approbation. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society from November, 1767 ; and a vice-president in 1779-80. He was one of the founders of the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member nearly sixty years. His mode of living was simple ; he had tasted neither wine nor spirits until his last illness. It was said force of his native genius, he rose to a very respectable rank among his col- leagues, who had the benefit of education in Europe on a liberal and extensive plan." See Pamphlets, vol. 8 ; Library of the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia. 1 The Eclectic Eepertory and Analytical Eeview, vol. viii. Philadelphia, 1818. It is stated in a note, p. 14, Biographia Americana, by a gentleman of Phila- delphia, published by D. Mallory, New York, 1825, that " in 1750 Dr. John Bard dissected the body of Hermanus Carroll, who had been executed for murder; and injected the bloodvessels for the use of his pupils." Dr. John Bard was the first to teach anatomy on this side of the Atlantic by demonstra- tion. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 13 that his temper was never ruffled, and that his benevolence was without stint. ^ In those times there were few apothecaries. Christopher Marshall, who was a retired druggist when the War of Independence began, was succeeded in the business in turn by several of his name — lineal descendants — all reputable men. Sharp and William Delaney were long established at the sign of the Fothergill Head, on the west side of Second Street between Chestnut and Market Streets, and sold drugs and medicines. Those were prominent names in the trade. The names of ten druggists are in the City Directory of 1785. Physicians, aided by their apprentices, dispensed whatever medi- cines they prescribed. Dr. Rush imported from London the drugs used in his own business. Other practitioners probably did the same. It js related that Dr. Rush, during the prevalence of yellow fever in 1793, kept three of his apprentices employed, night and day, in putting up powders of calomel and jalap — "ten and ten" — or calomel and rhubarb, which he gave to his fever patients. He asserted, substantially, that yellow fever with opportune and free venesection and the use of mercury — purging with calomel and jalap — was as much under control as intermittent ; that no case died after salivation was induced. Dr. Samuel P. Griffitts was bled by Dr. Rush seven times in five days,^ and survived the treatment very many years. Many of the inhabited streets of the small provincial city were unpaved. Their clayey soil softened on rainy days, adhered to the shoes of pedestrians and impeded their progress. Only the most prosperous physicians rode on horseback to visit their patients. The majority of practitioners had to go on foot in all kinds of weather, and at night light their way with a lantern in hand or borne by a servant in advance. All through this long period referred to there were nostrum mongers and charlatans as now. A Dr. Le Mayeur advertised * Thomas Balch, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Philadelphia, 1877. Vol. 1, p. 12. * Rush MS., vol. 36 ; Ridgeway Branch of the Philadelphia Library. 14 RUSCHENBERGER, (1784) that he transplanted teeth, and would give two guineas for each front tooth the owner would permit him to draw.^ Dr. Hugh Martin cured cancers Avith a purely vegetable powder, which nobody else knew how to make. In popular estimation it was efficacious. Under a belief that he had died without confiding the secret of its composition to any person, Dr. Rush procured from his executors a few ounces of the powder to use in a case, and endeavored to dis- cover it ; he examined the powder and reported to the American Philosophical Society that it contained arsenic. Dr. Martin had been one of Dr. Rush's apprentices, and was sur- geon of a Pennsylvania regiment at Fort Pitt. He died early in 1784. Dr. Rush says : "It gave me great pleasure to witness the efficacy of the doctor's applications. In several cancerous ulcers the cures were complete. Where the cancers were connected with the. lym- phatic system, or accompanied by a scrophulous habit of body, his medicine always failed, and in some instances did evident mischief."* There were few if any of those dazzling yet transient medical lights, so frequent now in great cities, who may be called charla- tanoids. As a rule, they are regularly trained, but not profoundly learned, charmingly urbane doctors who observe the law, but do not despise those indirect ways which are not absolutely in conflict with its letter. They are known by their showy equipages and liveries, as well as by an occasional scientific or literary essay, nicely and opportunely prepared to please the general readers of current maga- zines. The love of the charlatanoid for veracity is never so rigidly exclusive as to prevent him from flirting with fiction whenever a chance of substantial gain is discerned. But there was no want of self-respecting, scrupulously conscientious practitioners — some without diploma — who did all their work faith- fully, without ostentation. Specialists were not known. All were general practitioners, though some were noted for skill in particular ^ Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, vol. 1. * An Account of the late Dr. Hugh Martin's Cancer Powder, with Brief Ob- servations on Cancer. By Benjamin Bush, M.D., etc. Read February 3, 1786. — Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. 2, p. 212. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 15 lines of practice. They were honest, and willing to increase and diffuse medical knowledge. The Philadeljihia Medical Society, the first medical society estab- lished in the city, was begun, probably about 1766 or 1767, by Dr. John Morgan and others, including Drs. J. Kearsley, Jr., Gerardus Clarkson, James A. Bayard, Robert Harris, and George Glentworth. No record of its proceedings has been found. It did not survive the revolution.^ Students who came to Philadelphia from different parts of the country to attend medical lectures, founded in 1773 the American Medical Society. According to its published constitution, it was com- posed of senior and junior members. Stated meetings were held in the building of the college every Monday evening, from the first Monday in November until the second Monday in February. Some of the papers read before it were published; for example, "A Case of Scrophula. Read before the American Medical Society, January 7, 1785, by Samuel Knox, of York Co., Pa." '' " Two Cases of Hepa- titis. Read before the American Medical Society, January 27, 1787, by John Purnell, of Maryland."^ The officers of the Society, in 1790, were William Shippen, M.D., President; William B. Duffield, A.M., Vice-President; Henry Stuber, M.B., Treasurer and Perpetual Secretary; and John Baldwin, A.M., Annual Secretary.^ Dr. Henry Stuber died May, 1792, at the early age of twenty- four. He seems to have possessed more than average ability and unusual attainments. His merits are related in verse by John Swan- wick,^ a poet of that time. ^ A History of the ]Medieal Department of the University of Pennsylvania. By Joseph Carson, M.D., etc. The Philadelphia Medical Society, instituted in 1789, was first incorporated in 1792, and rechartered in 1827. ^ Columbian Magazine, for July, 1790. ' Columbian Magazine, for May, 1790. * Columbian Magazine, April, 1790, vol. 4, pp. 206-8. * Columbian Magazine, May, 1792. Poems on Several Occasions. By John .Swanwick, Esq., one of the Kepre- sentatives in the Congress of the United States from the State of Pennsylvania. 16mo., Philadelphia, 1797. Henry Stuber was, in 1781, a pupil in the German school. 16 RUSCHENBERGER, As long as the Province of Pennsylvania was under the flag of Great Britain, intercourse between the medical men of Philadelphia and those of England and Scotland was very kindly. Many of them had been students in the Edinburgh and London schools. The friendships which they had formed while abroad were maintained long after they returned home through frequent exchange of letters. The medical school of Edinburgh and its professors were highly esteemed here. Their theories were generally accepted, and their methods imitated. The War of Independence did not sunder the ties of professional brotherhood. The College of Physicians, to manifest its sympathy on the occasion, appointed, May 4, 1790, Dr. Rush to deliver an eulogium in honor of the late Dr. William Cullen, Professor of Physic in the University of Edinburgh.^ As soon as the "stars and stripes " were recognized by the govern- ment of Great Britain as a symbol of an independent nation, several medical men of Philadelphia visited the British schools. In the letters of some of them statements are made which are of sufficient interest to be repeated now. Dr. James Hall, by advice of Dr. Lettsom, had become a pupil, for anatomical instruction in London, of the celebrated surgeon ]\Ir. Cline. Dr. Hall wrote to Dr. Rush, October 18, 1 783 : " I was not a little surprised at the distinction they make here in the hospitals between a physician's and a surgeon's pupil. I expected Avhen I had paid my ^50, that I was entitled to every advantage the hospital afforded ; and when I first became a dresser I used to go through the ward every day with a physician in order to see him prescribe for his patients, but I was told at last that it was a privilege I Avas not entitled to ; that unless I paid a separate fee to a physician I could not be allowed 1 An Eulogium in honor of the late Dr. William Cullen, Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinburgh. Delivered before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, on the 9th of July, agreeably to their vote on the 4th of May, 1790. By Benjamin Rush, M.D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the College of Philadelphia. Published by order of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Printed by Thomas Dob- son, Philadelphia, 1790. Published also in the Columbian Magazine. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 17 that advantage. On the other hand, a physician's pupil has no right to attend any of the surgical operations in the hospital. The fee to a physician is twenty-two guineas. I was certain I could not afford it. Neither is it possible to do the duties of both without neglecting each of them. Dr. Crawford was last week elected physician to St. Thomas' Hospital — perhaps I may get some instruction from him." Again, March 4, 1784, he says he is attending the lectures of John Hunter, "more for the "name of the thing than anything else " (parenthetically it may be said that this is an unconscious expres- sion of homage, a tribute to the fame of John Hunter). "'Dr. Wistar lives in the same house with me ; we attend him together."^ Dr. James Lyons states, London, September 6, 1784, that he was much indebted to Mr. \Yistar's friendship for the loan of his notes, taken very fully from the lectures of John Hunter last winter.^ Dr. John Rodgers says, London, August 9, 1784, "but I am somewhat disappointed in my high-raised expectations of its medical perfections. I am persuaded that medicine is taught more scientifi- cally in Philadelphia than in London, and that our teachers are more attentive to the improvement of their pupils than they are here. The hospitals here afford great numbers of chirurgical cases, but yet the distinction between the physician's and surgeon's pupils prevents the students from seeing the prescriptions of the one and the chirurgical practice of the other, and the fees to accommodate this matter are monstrously enormous." Dr. John R. B. Rodgers wrote, London, July 7, 1784, Dr. Grif- fitts "returns to Philadelphia with a high idea of our University; he will be able to tell you, what he has often told me, that he has re- ceived more satisfaction and improvement from his medical masters in Philadelphia than anywhere else."^ The coming of the College of Physicians is foreshadowed in the following extracts : Dr. Francis Rigby Brodbelt, of Spanish Town, Jamaica, wrote June 25, 1783 : "I wish much to belong to your Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, and to be an honorary or ordinary fellow of your College of Physicians."* 1 Rush MS., vol. 7. " Rush MS., vol. 9. 3 Rush MS., vol. 7. * Rush MS., vol. 29. 18 RUSCHENBERGER, Dr. Samuel Powel Griffitts wrote, Loudon, August 10, 1783: "Your idea of an American college of physicians is what has several times occurred to me."^ Dr. John Coakley Lettsom says, London, September 8, 1783 : "I think were I in Philadelphia, I should not only have a Philo- sophical Society, like our Royal Society or the French Academic des Sciences, but likewise a medical college taking in likewise foreign members." Again, September 7, 1785 : " When that legion of Science, Dr. Franklin, arrives, which may Heaven permit, I hope he will spread an intellectual shock throughout your continent. The season of peace is the harvest of science. Set your men of science upon studying your own country, its native and improvable productions. Your re- sources would influence Europe. Your reflections would instruct her."* Dr. Rush, who was a free and fascinating talker, probably men- tioned these suggestions to his colleagues of the medical faculty of the University of the State. They knew, as well as Dr. Lettsom, that London had then a College of Physicians, and that in the popu- lation of the great city a sufficient number of suitably qualified men from which to fill and recruit its membership could always be found. They may have thought that what was easy to do in London might be very difficult, if not impossible, in this, then small community. Although Philadelphia had physicians who were peers of the fellows of any medical fraternity in the Avorld, they were not numerous enough to constitute an efficient and stable college. At any rate, no evidence appears that any one at that time proposed to form a society exclusively of physicians of established reputation. The City Directory — the first ever issued — which was published November, 1785, contains the names of forty-six practitioners of medicine and surgery and two dentists. But they were not all. Many, no doubt, resided beyond the city limits, in the rural districts, and were not included in this directory. The total number of persons engaged in the practice of medicine in the county was possibly not 1 Kush MS., vol. 21. 2 Rush MS., vol. 28. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 19 less than sixty. Some of them were at the time members of the American Medical Society. The idea of a College of Physicians seems to have been in shape of rumor for some time before an attempt to realize it was made. No record has been found which precisely fixes the day of its begin- ning. The archives of the College contain a copy of the first address of the first president, but the date of its delivery is not given ; a copy of the first constitution, also without date ; and a record of minutes of proceedings at the meetings, beginning January 2, 1787, and con- tinued ever since. The first Tuesday of every month was appointed for the stated meetings. At the meeting January 2, 1787, nine senior and four junior fellows were present. Drs. Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Duffield, and Samuel P. Griffitts were appointed a committee to prepare a form of diploma or certificate of membership, and a device of a seal for the College. The constitution, with an invitation to the friends of medical science for communications, was ordered to be published in the newspapers. A fair copy of the constitution was presented and signed by the members present. Drs. William Shippen, Adam Kuhn, and William W. Smith were appointed a committee to draft by-laws. Adjourned. The form of the constitution of the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia was published in The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Ad- vertiser, February 1, 1787, p. 2. (See Appendix.) The College was to consist of twelve senior fellows, who were tlie only fellows eligible to office, and an indefinite number of junior fellows. At the date of publication of the constitution the list of members was printed as follows : Senior Fellows. Junior Fellows. John Redman, Robert Harris, John Jones, Benjamin Duffield, William Shippen, Jr., John Foulke, Benjamin Rush, James Hall, V \ V^ CA V.Vj 20 RUSCHENBERGER, Q Senior Fellows. Samuel DuflBeld, James Hutchinson, Abraham Chovet, John Morgan, Adam Kuhn, Gerardus Clarkson, Thomas Parke, George Glentworth. Junior Fellows. Andrew Koss, William Currie, John Carson, William W. Smith, Samuel P. Griffitts, John Morris, William Clarkson, Benjamin Say, John Lynn.' > "All communications that are included in the objects of the Col- lege, specified in the preamble of the constitution, may be addressed to the Secretary (post-paid, when they are sent by that conveyance), or to any fellow of the College. "It is to be hoped the friends of medical science in every part of the United States will concur in promoting by useful communica- tions the important designs of this institution. "Published by order of the College, "James Hutchinson, " Secretary. " The present ofiicers of the college are : President. John Redman. Vice-President. John Jones. Censors. William ^hippen, Jr., Benjamin Rush, Treasurer. Gerardus Clarkson. Secretary. James Hutchinson. John Morgan, Adam Kuhn. 'The different printers in the United States are requested to publish this in their papers." ^ The name of John Lynn was dropped from the list of members, probably because he did not sign the constitution, nor pay entrance fee. He was present at only one meeting — October, 1787. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 21 It is self-evident that the College was organized and its officers elected prior to this proclamation of its existence. The minutes of the meeting of January 2, 1787, do not mention the matter, or refer to the address of the President. There is no doubt that the consti- tution was considered and adopted, and the officers were elected at meetings held previous to this date.^ The first address made to the College by the first president, Dr. John Redman, begins : "At our first meeting to form a society under the state and style of a College of Physicians, and to organize our- selves by choosing proper officers and members, so as to constitute a body, you were pleased to honor me with your suffrages and elect me your president. Upon that occasion I felt myself oppressed, and, for some reasons, undetermined whether I should continue in the office. I therefore signified my acceptance only by a tacit consent rather than otherwise. . . . Being unavoidably prevented, I had not the pleasure of attending your next meeting. But have now the peculiar happiness of seeing you convened in a body, and, I trust, united in those bonds which are the result of most benevolent prin- ciples." etc. This statement indicates that at least three meetings had been held prior to that of January 2d, and that the election of officers was held at the first of the three meetings. It seems not unreasonable to suppose that a meeting of the founders, possibly informal in char- acter, had preceded that at which the first election occurred. These data imply very distinctly that the institution of the College was begun in September, and that the first election was held in October, 1786. Nevertheless, the birthday of the College was January 2, 1787, the first Tuesday of the month. The purposes of the association and the title it should assume had already been agreed upon. On that day the founding was completed. ' Dr. Henry Bond, at the time Secretary of the College, in remarks prefatory to the Quarterly Summary of the Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, for November and December, 1841, and January, 1842, says : "The College of Phj'sicians of Philadelphia was instituted toward the close of the year 1786 ; the first meeting after its full organization was held on the 2d of January, 1787." 22 RUSCHENBERGER. The constitution had been prepared for signature ; and fellows signed it that day, and ordered that the institution of the new society should be proclaimed to the world, and that all who were friendly to the progress of medical science should be invited to join in its pro- motion. On that day also they ordered a certificate of membership, a suitable device for a seal of the College, and by-laws to guide its proceedings to be prepared. At the stated meeting February 6, 1787, seven senior and eight junior fellows were present. The Secretary reported that the constitution had been published. The device for a seal was submitted and after substituting the word " toti" for '■'aliis " in the motto, so as to read, non sibi sed toti, was adopted, ahd the seal ordered to be cut. Its legend is, " Sigillum Col- legii Medicorum Philadelphife. Institut. A.D. MDCCLXXXYII." Seal of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Instituted A.D. 1787. This legend has the authority of historical record, so far as it goes, and possibly suggests that the founders may have regarded the institution of the College as the work of the whole year. Never- theless, other testimony distinctly shows tliat the existence of the College properly dates from its first recorded action, the first Tuesday of January, as already stated ; unless it be assumed that the time between conception and incorporation was its period of gestation, and that its lawful existence did not begin till March 26, 1789, the date of its charter. A proposed form of diploma was laid on the table. Dr. Rush read a paper "On the Means of Promoting Medical Knowledjje." ^ The meetings of the College of Physicians were then held on the premises of the University of the State of Pennsylvania — i. e., in the old Academy, Fourth and Arch Streets — on the first Tuesday in each month, at four o'clock p.m. from October till March, and at five o'clock P.M. from April to September. The first standing committee, that on Meteorology and Epidemics, was appointed March 6, 1^87.^ It made reports every year from that date till November, 1882 — ninety-five years — when it was ^ Printed in the Transactions of the College, vol. 1, part 1, 1793. ^ Drs. Carson, Griffitts, Morris, Hall, and William Clarkson. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 23 abolished. The last annual report of this committee was read December 5, 1883, by Dr. Joseph G. Richardson.^ At the stated meeting, April 3d, the first election of fellows was held^ and committees were appointed to submit plans for establishing hot and cold baths and a botanic garden in the city. May 1, 1787, Dr. John Morgan moved that application be made to the legislature for a charter ; and July 3d, in conformity to the provisions of the constitution, all the officers of the Society were re-elected. This was the first election of officers recorded in the minutes. At the meeting held August 7th, " a member submitted a new form of constitution, which was made the order of business this day three months," which was considered and adopted November 6th. September 4, 1787, the College placed itself on record in favor of temperance. Drs. Jones, Rush, and Griffitts Avere appointed a committee to prepare a memorial to the legislature " setting forth the pernicious effiscts of spirituous liquors upon the human body, and praying that such a law may be passed as shall tend to diminish their consumption."^ The petition prepared by the committee was adopted by the College November 7th, and ordered to be duly sent to the legislature. This summary of the proceedings of the College during the first year of its existence is sufficient to indicate its general policy. One special and twelve stated meetings were held. There were twenty- nine fellows. The average attendance was 14.3 ; the highest num- ber present at a meeting was 19, and the lowest 10. The entrance fee was three pounds, Pennsylvania currency, equal to eight dollars, and the annual contribution fifteen shillings, or two dollars. Through failure to pay their fees two of the founders for- feited fellowship with the College. ' Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, third series, vol. 7, 1884, p. 41. ' Nathan Dorsey, John K. B. Rogers, Caspar Wistar, Jr., James Cunning- ham, and Charles Moore were elected junior fellows. ' See Appendix. 24 RUSCHENBERGEE, PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE. During the year 1788, thirteen meetings were held. The average attendance was 12.2. The greatest number present at a meeting was 20, and the smallest 5. Two fellows were elected. April 1st, the constitution was amended so far as to make seven fellows a quorum for ordinary business, and eleven for elections and altering the by-laws. The by-laws, which had been under considera- tion at many meetings, were adopted. June 3d, a committee was appointed " to form a pharmacopoeia for the use of the College,"^ and another to prepare a plan for the forma- tion of a library.^ The fellow's were requested to contribute to it. Dr. John Morgan sent, Dec, 1788, a "donation of books to be added to the College library," consisting of twenty -four volumes ; and again, Jan. 6, 1789, some medical books. The plan for forming a library, submitted by the committee, July 1, 1788, was, substantially, that the secretary and censors should have charge of it, and that the College should annually appropriate, from the balance in the treasury at the end of each year, such sum for the purchase of books as might be expedient. The plan was approved March 3, 1789. The foundation of the library may be considered to have been laid on that day. Drs. Jones, Parke, and Wistar were appointed, July 7, 1789, to prepare a list of books to be purchased for the library, at a cost not exceeding £50 (^133.33). A petition, dated November 11, 1788, to bring in a bill to incor- porate the College was presented to the Legislature of the Common- wealth.^ At the annual election of 1788, the only change in the officiality * Drs. Redman, Jones, Kuhn, Shippen, Rush, Griffitts, Wistar, and Hutch- inson. * Drs. Jones, Wistar, and Griffitts. * Drs. Redman, Jones, Shippen, Hutchinson, and Morgan were appointed a committee to present the petition, and, if it were granted, to frame a bill for the incorporation of the College. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 25 of the College was that Dr. Samuel Powel Griflfitts was appointed Secretary in place of Dr. Hutchinson. A notable feature of the proceedings of the College in 1789 was an effort to induce suitably qualified persons throughout the country to cooperate in the formation of a Pharmacopoeia of the United States. To this end a circular letter was issued April 7th. The legislature having granted permission, a bill was prepared for the incorporation of the College and presented in February, 1789 ; and the president in behalf of the committee reported. May 5, 1789, that the bill had been enacted and that an authentic copy of the act had been procured. It is dated March 26, 1789. The president called a special meeting of the College, April 16, 1789,^ to consult the members on the propriety of representing to the authorities the disagreeable consequences which might ensue at this time from the general illumination, which was proposed on the arrival of the President of the United States, who would reach the city on the 20th, on his way from Mount Vernon to New York, to be there inaugurated on the 30th. Influenza was then epidemic. A committee was appointed" to wait upon the Supreme Executive Council the next morning, and " inform them that although the Col- lege of Physicians do sincerely join their fellow-citizens in their joy on the occasion, yet they cannot be so inattentive to the health of many under their care, as to decline informing the Council that a general illumination of the city might be productive of fatal consequences." There were military and civic demonstrations of cordial welcome to General Washington on his arrival at Gray's Ferry and in the city ; and there was " a handsome display of fireworks in the even- ing," but no general illumination^ is mentioned. Another event indicative of the standing which the society had already attained in the community is notable. In November, a com- mittee, appointed by the Legislature of the Commonwealth to draft a bill to amend the laws of the State for preventing the introduction of ' Drs. Eedman, Jones, Kuhn, Kush, Parke, Wistar, Leib, Gibbons, Griffitts, Cunningham were present at the meeting. * Drs. Redman, Jones, and Rush. ' For an account of Washington's entrance into the city, April 20, see The Columbian Magazine, April, 1789, vol. 5, p. 282. 26 RUSCHENBERGER, infectious diseases, applied to the College for information on the sub- ject. The application was referred to a committee to answer.* Twelve stated and three special meetings were held during the year. Tlie average attendance was 11.8, the lowest number present at a meeting was 6, and the highest 17. One was added to the roll of fellows, one founder [John Morris] forfeited his place upon it, and another was removed by death. Dr. John Morgan, one of the Censors, who was present at the meeting October 6, died on the loth. At a special meeting Novem- ber loth, Dr. Thomas Parke was duly elected a censor in his place. The minutes of proceedings contain no other notice of this emi- nent physician. As the character of its founders is interesting to the Fellows of the College, it seems proper to supplement the record, when necessary, with sketches of their lives. KOTICE OF DR. JOHN MORGAX. Dr. John Morgan contributed more than any individual to the foundation of systematic medical teaching and of medical progress in this city. He was the founder of the first medical school estab- lished under a charter on this continent; and the first medical pro- fessor elected by the College of Philadelphia ; one of the founders of the first Medical Society of Philadelphia ; one of the founders of the College of Physicians ; and among the first to give books to form its library. His education and training at home and abroad, added force to natural endowments of a high order, and eminently qualified him to win his way as a pioneer. Dr. Morgan, a son of Evan Morgan, a respectable Welsh gentleman who had been long settled in the province, was born in Philadelphia, A. D, 1735. Having taken the course of classical instruction at the Nottingham Academy, Chester Co., Pa., then in charge of the Rev. Samuel Finley, he was transferred to the College of Philadelphia, and, at the first commencement held by that institution, received the bachelor's degree May 17, 1757. He began the study of medicine about the time he entered college. In a preface to his Discourse upon the Institution of 3fedieal Schools ^ Drs. Kedman, Jones, Shippen, Kush, and Hutchinson. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 27 in America, lie says, speaking of his professional training, that he served an apprenticeship of six years with Dr. John Redman, and within that period had piit up the prescriptions of all the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital during more than a year. On the close of his apprenticeship he joined the provincial troops in the last war waged by Great Britain and her colonies against the French. He was in Forbes's expedition and held a lieutenant's commission, dated April 1, 1758, but acted chiefly as surgeon; and, according to Col. Burd's report to the Governor, " did his duty very well."^ At the end of the war he retired from the army. In 1760 he went to Europe, and attended the lectures and dissections of William and John Hunter in London, and then went to Edinburgh. Dr. Franklin, in a letter to Dr. William Cullen, dated London, Oct. 21, 1761, said "the bearer, Mr. Morgan, who proposes to reside some time in Edinburgh for the completion of his studies in Physic, is a young gentleman of Philadelphia, whom I have long known and greatly esteem ; and as I interest myself in what relates to him, I cannot but wish him the advantage of your conversation and instruc- tion." " Mr. Morgan, who is mentioned in the foregoing letter, appears to have fully realized the expectations of his friend Dr. Franklin. He distinguished himself while in Edinburgh by a diligent applica- tion to his studies : published, on receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine, an excellent inaugural dissertation on the subject of Sup- puration ;^ visited the principal hospitals of France and Italy before returning to his native country. After his return to America, he took ^ Letters and Papers relating chiefly to the Provincial History of Pennsyl- vania. By Thomas Balch, pp. Ixxiv. Privately printed. Philadelphia, 1855. 2 His thesis, a copy of which is in the University of Pennsylvania, is en- titled: IITOnOIESIS, Sive Tentamen Medicum de Puris Confectione ; Quam An- nuente sunamo numine, Ex auctoritate admodum Viri Gulielmi Kobertson S. S. T. P. Academiifi Edinburgenfe Prsefecti, nee non, Amplissimi Senatus Acade- micss consensu Et nobilisimcB, Facultatis medicss decreto ; Pro gradu Doetoratus, Summisque in medicina honoribus et Privilegiis Rite et legitime consequendis ; Eruditorum Exaraini subjijuit Johannes Morgan A.M. Pennsylvaniensis. Deus enim has leges posuit in creando et observavit, quas nos observando de- tegimus. Boerh. insit. Ad diem 18 Julii, hora, locoque solitis. Edinburgi ; cum typis Academicis M,DCC,LXIII. 8vo. pp. 55. 28 RUSCHENBERGER, an active share in the institution of lectures on different branches of medicine in the College of Philadelphia, and in the establishment of a dispensary and of a medical society in that city. The progress of these institutions is minutely described in his letters to Dr. Cullen, toward -whom he always appears to have felt and expressed a very grateful attachment."^ From Edinburgh he went to Paris and spent some time studying anatomy with M. Sue. He had acquired the rudiments of the art of making anatomical preparations by corrosion from " the two Hunters " while in London. Fine injections were first made by Ruysch, and therefore called the Ruyschian art. He says, " I once showed a preparation of the vessels of the kidney I had thus executed at Paris at a meeting of the French Academy of Surgery in the year 1764. Except M. Morand, none present had ever seen such a preparation. The art was unknown there, till I communicated it, first at Paris and after- ward in the south of France."^ During the spring and summer of 1764 he travelled in France, Switzerland, and Italy, visiting the medical schools, hospitals, and public institutions. He daily noted what he saw. His manuscript journal has been preserved.^ From it Dr. Morgan's account of his visit to the celebrated Mor- gagni has been taken. He left Rome, Friday, July 6, 1764. " Sunday, July 21, 1764. We received a visit this morning from Dr. Sevati, Professor of Medicine at Bologna, and husband of the celebrated female professor of natural philosophy in this city, Laura Maria Clementina Bassi. He conversed on anatomical and medical subjects, and charged me with a letter introductory to the acquaint- ance of the celebrated Morgagni at Padua. 1 Vol. 1, pp. 140, 141. An Account of the Life, Lectures, and Writings of William Cullen, M.D., Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinburgh. By John Thomson, M.D., T.Pv.S.L. and E., etc. 2 vols., 8vo. Edinburgh and London, 1832. * Art of making anatomical preparations by corrosion. By John Morgan, M.D. Trans. Am. Philos. Soc, vol. 2, p. 366. 1786. ^ A copy of it, made by the Rev. George Uphold, Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Pittsburg, Pa., in March and April, 1847, is in the library of the His- torical Society of Pennsylvania. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 29 " Padua, "Wednesday, July 24, 1764. " P. M. I went to pay my respects to the celebrated Morgagni, Professor of Anatomy at Padua, to Avhom I had letters from Dr. Sevati, of Bologna. He received me with the greatest politeness imaginable, and showed me abundant civilities, with a very good grace. He is now eighty-two years of age, yet reads without spec- tacles, and is alert as a man of fifty. I found that he was unac- quainted with anatomical preparations made by corrosion. I showed him a piece of a kidney which I had injected at Paris, and which was finely corroded. Broken as it was, he was highly pleased, and saw at once the utility of such preparations. I apologized for the state it was in, from having brought it so far. He was pleased to answer, ex ungue leonem — that he saw enough from that small specimen to convince him of the excellency of such preparations. He acknowledged he had never seen any preparation before in which the vessels were so minutely filled. Ruysch, he says, had sent him some of his preparations, in which the vessels appeared more like a confused mass than distinct, in the manner of this. I asked him what method he took to trace the vessels. He told me, he did always in subjects where the inflammation was great, which made the vessels appear distinct and plain, but these were not durable as preparations by injection. He then conveyed me into a small cabinet, where he showed me a great number of skeletons of the human foetus, in a series, from a few weeks old to nine months, and from that upward to an adult. Amongst others, a foetus of six or seven months old, in which the form was complete, except near half of the spine — i. e., the back part of it was wanting all the way up ; nor had it ever either brain or spinal marrow. He showed me also a calculus, formed on a needle, in the bladder of a man, which had stopped up the urethra without forming any ulceration, or the least sign of a cicatrix of a wound. This, and the following which he showed me, are spoken of in his treatise, Be Sedihus et Causis Morborum, viz., the second was a calculus formed on the point of a corking pin, Avhich a female had introduced a little way into her bladder, which, being irritated thereby, conti'acted, and drew the pin into the bladder, so as to lay the foundation of a calculus, of which she died. 30 RUSCHENBERGER, " He shoAved me, likewise, many curious preparations of the bones of the ear, and pointed out the spur-like process of the malleus which his master in anatomy, Valsalva, could never find till he showed it to him ; also, the three semicircular canals, separate from all the other bones, with the five holes opening so as to be seen at the same time; also all the organ of hearing, with the external ear, the hard and soft parts together, freed from all the surrounding hard bone ; and, lastly, the internal cavity of the ear, with all the parts in situ, which he had so prepared as to see the different bones in their place without touching them at all. This he had done partly with a file and partly with a hard-tempered knife, like adamant, and — a great deal of patience. He had sawed the cranium in two, as usually done in dissecting the brain, but acknowledged if he had taken the temporal bone out, he could work much easier, as the surrounding bones would not have impeded the motion of his hand in dissecting. " In this cabinet he had a series of portraits of old anatomists, his famous predecessors at Bologna, in which he pointed out a particu- larity with regard to dress ; the necks of the first being covered with a kind of caul, like a modern monk's hood ; this gradually lessened, and a fur lining took the place, but the neck less covered up, till at length they came to wear bands, which at first were small, and gradually enlarged to the greatest size. In this cabinet were the portraits — /. e., the heads — of two beautiful girls, done by Rosalba, in crayons. I asked. Whose were these ? and he told me as follows : ' That he had fifteen children, of whom remain two sons and eight daughters ; every one, as they grew up, requested to become nuns, which he esteemed very singular, and that they entered by pairs into four difierent convents. When their time of probation was expired, they were, at ther own choice, to live in the world or take the veil, which last they all preferred ; the two youngest going into the strictest order of Franciscans, where they go barefooted and always veiled. Before these were shut up thus for life, the celebrated female paintress, Rosalba, as a friend of Morgagni, drew these portraits and made him a present of them, before he knew she had any intention to draw them. As the others are of orders less strict, and may be seen with- out veils, there was less occasion for their portraits.' "I presented him, before coming away, with my thesis, and he was INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 31 SO good as to do me the honor of making me a present of his late publication, 2 vols, folio, ' De Sedibus et Causis Morborum,'^ of which there have been three different editions within these three years, being in the highest estimation throughout Europe, and all the copies of the first edition already bought up." In his introductory lecture, delivered Nov. 2, 1789, befoi-e the trustees and medical students of the College of Philadelphia, and printed in the American Museum for November, 1879,'-' Dr. Ben- jamin Rush relates, that Dr. Morgan "had the honor of a long con- ference with the celebrated Morgagni, at Padua, when he was in the eightieth year of his age. This venerable physician, who was the light and ornament of two or three successive generations of physi- cians, was so pleased with the doctor that he claimed kindred with him, from the resemblance of their names, and on a blank leaf of a copy of his works which he presemted to him, he inscribed with his own hand the following words : 'Affino suo, medico preeclarissimo Joanni Morgan, donat auctor.'" By whose invention Dr. Rush was made authority for this fanciful tale is not now known. Dr. Morgan's account of his visit to Mor- gagni suggests nothing of the kind. The three volumes presented to him by Morgagni, and nine other folios, were bequeathed to the College of Physicians by Dr. Morgan, and delivered by his executors in February, 1790. At the bottom of the title-page of the first volume the following is written: " Viro experientissimo et humanissimo D. Di Joanni 3Ior- gan Auctor," and at the bottom of the title-page of the second volume, " Viro de Re anatomico bene merito Do. Dr. Joanni Mor- gan Auctor.'''^ ^ The title of the work is "Jo. Baptistce Morgagni, P. P. P. P., de Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen indagatis. Venetiis, MDCCLXI." At the bottom of the title-page of the first volume is written, "Viro experientissimo et humanissimo D. D. Joanni Morgan, Auctor." ' Keprinted in the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences Philadelphia, 1820. ^ The author's gift to his kinsman, John Morgan, a most distinguished physician. * Grift of the author to the most skilful and accomplished Dr. John Morgan. 2d vol. : Gift of the author to Dr. John Morgan, highly deserving in anatomy. 32 RUSCHENBERGER, From Padua Dr. Morgan slowly made his way into Switzerland. "While at Geneva, on Sunday, Sept. 16th, he visited Voltaire at Ferney, an estate which that illustrious man had purchased and built a house upon five or six years before. Dr. Morgan's account of this visit has been recently published.' He returned to London in the autumn. While there he was elected, 1765, a fellow of the Royal Society, a licentiate of the Col- lege of Physicians of London, and also of the College of Physicians of Edinburgh, ^oon after his arrival in London he wrote the following letter to Dr. William Cullen : " London, November 10, 1764. " Very Dear Sir : " Can you forgive me if, upon my being just returned fi*om my tour through France and Italy, I write you but a very short letter till I have been here a week or two longer, and got myself a little composed. At present what with a crowd of acquaintances every day, with the kindest intentions, breaking in upon that time I pro- posed to devote to writing to my friends, and the chaos of ideas which disturb my regular thinking at present, I find I cannot execute the task as I ought. Everything I tell you now must be rather broken hints, than a connected relation. " I have not been able to see M. Senac whilst last in Paris. I was at Fontainbleau once with that view, but he was then for a night or two with the King at Choisy, which I knew" not of at the time ; and I was too much hurried to repeat the visit, as I wanted to reach London in time enough to sail in the fall for Philadelphia ; I think I cannot now sail till toward spring. " The most agreeable incidents happened to Mr. Powel and myself in our tour, which lasted about eight months. It was crowded Avith a great variety of the most interesting circumstances, full of pleasing scenes for the most part, and of a nature different from and more agreeable than what I have been commonly used to. "The order of our travels through Italy was Genoa, Leghorn, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Naples and its environs. After our return to Rome, it was on the Adriatic side of Italy, through Loreto to Bologna, Ferrara, Padua, Venice ; we took Padua in the way again 1 The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. x. p. 43, 1886. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 33 on our return, and passed through Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, the States of Parma and Placentia, to Milan and Turin. We crossed the Alps to Geneva, returned to Paris through Lyons, and from thence came to London about a week ago. " We were in the suite of the Duke of York at Leghorn, Florence, and Rome, where we were particularly presented to him, and had access to all the grand entertainments made for his Royal Highness, which were indeed superbly sumptuous and magnificent. We had a private audience with the Pope, four English gentlemen of us being presented at that time. He was aifable and courteous. At Turin we had the honor of being presented to his Sardinian Majesty and the Royal Family, and obtained express leave from the King to see the fortifications of Turin, and those which defend the pass into his dominions by the Alps. When at Geneva we paid a visit to Voltaire, to whom we had a letter, and were entertained by him with most singular politeness — for us I mean — perhaps usual enough in regard to Voltaire. "There is a pretty good physical — I mean medical — university at Bologna, and Morgagni has a very crowded class at his anatomical lectures at Padua. There are some other schools of medicine in Italy: but, upon the whole, to me they seem to be behindhand — medicine not being in high repute, or cultivated with that spirit it ought to be. "As to the grandeur of the ancients, from what we can see of their remains, it is most extraordinary. Arts with them seem to have been in a perfection which I could not have imagined. Their palaces, temples, aqueducts, baths, theatres, amphitheatres, monu- ments, statues, sculptures were most amazing. The soul is struck at the review, and the ideas expand ; but I have not leisure to dwell now on these topics. " I must return to the world where I now am just agoing — this as different from the former, I mean the rest of Europe I have seen, as that from Italy, and really to me it does not appear more so. "At Paris I took my seat in the Royal Academy of Surgery, of which I have the honor to be admitted as a corresponding member [July 5, 1764] — a distinction from a resident fellow. I am now preparing for America, to see whether, after fourteen years' devotion 3 34 RUSCHENBERGER, to medicine I can get my living without turning apothecary or prac- tising surgery. " My scheme of instituting lectures you will hereafter know more of. It is not prudent to broach designs prematurely ; and mine are not yet fully ripe for execution. My best compliments to all your family, not forgetting them particularly to my mamma Cullen, and to your eldest son. Believe me to be, with the greatest esteem, dear sir, your affectionate friend, and much obliged humble servant, "John Morgan."' Dr. ]Morgan returned to Philadelphia in the spring of 1765. He was in his thirtieth year. Honors had been conferred upon him abroad on account of his scholarly proficiency and professional learn- ing, in which, probably, he was not excelled by any physician who had previously settled in the province. His reputation preceded his arrival, and moulded public opinion in his favor. He obtained almost at once a large share of the best practice. He restricted his business to the practice of medicine exclusively, refused to dispense medicines, and declined to attend surgical cases. This departure from the custom of physicians of that time was de- signed to separate the practice of pharmacy and of surgery from that of medicine, and lead the public to recognize them as distinct vocations. He was confident that the result of such division would enhance the dignity and character of the physician in public esteem, and facilitate the cultivation of the several departments of the pro- fession to the advantage of all concerned. He steadily tried to make the practice of medicine a cash business, by collecting a fee at each visit, the amount of which to be scaled by the patient according to his dignity and means. As already stated, Dr. Morgan was appointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, May 3, 1765, in the College of Phila- delphia. At the commencement. May 30th and 31st, he delivered a "Discourse on the Institution of Medical Schools in America." He married, September 4, 1765, Mary, daughter of Thomas Hop- kinson and his wife, Mary Johnson, of New Castle Co., Del, She ^ Thomson's Life of Dr. Cullen, vol. 1, p. 633 INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 35 died without issue, January 2, 1785, and was buried under the floor of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia.^ At the commencement, May, 1766, Dr. Morgan was awarded a gold medal, which had been presented by Mr. John Sargent, of London, to the College of Philadelphia, to be bestowed on the author of the best essay on " The reciprocal advantages of a perpetual union between Great Britain and her American Colonies." His competitors for this prize were Stephen Watts, Francis Hopkinson, and Joseph Reed. Their papers were published together in a small volume, the name of the author of each being appended to it ; the essay of Mr. Reed was not signed by him.^ He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, December, 1766, and was one of the curators for 1769. He con- tributed four papers, which were published in the second volume of the Transactions of the Society. At the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. William Smith, Provost of the College, Dr. Morgan went to Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies, in 1773, to solicit contributions for the institution, and ob- tained about three thousand pounds.^ Early in the War of Independence, Dr. Morgan gave up a lucrative practice, in opposition to the judgment of friends, to accept the office of Director-General and Physician-in-Chief of the American Hospital, to which he was appointed October 17, 1775. He was successor to Dr. Benjamin Church, the first Director-General, who was dismissed, 1 Provincial Counsellors of Pennsylvania who held Office between 1733 and 1776, and those earlier Counsellors wh' were sometime Chief Magistrates of the Province, and their Descendants. Py Charles P. Keith. Philadelphia, 1883. Kecord of Pennsylvania Marriages prior to 1810. Harrisburg, 1880. Vol. i. p. 182. " Sunday last, died, greatly lamented by her numerous friends and acquaint- ances, Mrs. Mary Morgan, the amiable consort of Doctor John Morgan, of this city." — Pennsylvania Journal, Saturday, January 8, 1785. * Life and Correspondence of Joseph Keed, Military Secretary of Washington at Cambridge, etc. By his Grandson, William B. Keed. Vol. i. p. 40. Lindsay & Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1847. ^ A Memoir of the Eev. William Smith, D.D., Provost of the College, Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia. By Charles J. Stille. Philadelphia, 1869. 36 RUSCHENBERGER, being convicted of treasonable correspondence. In the performance of his arduous duties he provoked the antagonism of many of his subordinates, especially among the regimental surgeons and mates, because, it is supposed, he insisted upon a rigidly economical use of hospital stores, and recommended that, prior to appointment, the qualifications of medical officers should be ascertained by suitable examination. He had rivals among the medical directors in the army, who did not act in harmony with him. Many complaints were made that the supplies to the hospitals were deficient. He applied to Congress to be informed of the source of these charges, but in vain. He had an interview with Dr. Rush, who had been elected to Congi-ess, July 20, 1776, for that year, after the Declaration of Independence had been proclaimed, which he, with others who had been elected with him, signed after the document was engrossed, but obtained no information from him, though he was chairman of the medical committee. Dr. Morgan says : "When the remnant of the army that retreated from Brunswick had crossed the Delaware, I proceeded to Philadel- phia to wait on Congress, and to lay matters before them in person, for such regulations for the better care of the sick and wounded as were suitable to the occasion, and to obtain an explanation and amendment of the resolves of Congress, October 9th. I met Dr. Rush in the street, and attempted, for a moment, to detain him till I could acquaint him with the present circumstances and situation of affairs ; he gave me no time. All he said was, that ' he was glad I was come ; it would take a great burden from his shoulders,' and passed on. When I afterwards called upon him at his house to represent matters to him there, as a member of the medical com- mittee, for relief, the sum of his answer was that ' he would not for ten times the consideration go through the amazing toils and diffi- culties of my station.' But instead of relief from the difficulties and hardships of my situation, all the returns I received from Congress, are complaints disregarded, grievances unredressed, and without an hearing, and without assigning a reason, a dismission from my station, as if Congress intended to fix a stigma on my character. But however hidden the motives for such conduct are, a day may come when these will be fully understood. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 37 "The same gentleman who then felt, or seemed to feel for my situation, having since accepted a place, near of kin to that which he then so earnestly deprecated, may perhaps remember it. I can truly say, should he aspire to, or hereafter enjoy, that very place, I do not wish him the ill treatment and ingratitude for his services in it, which I have experienced."^ Dr. William Shippen, Jr., who was chief physician of the flying camp from July 15, 1776, submitted to Congress, March, 1777, a plan for the organization of the hospital department, which, with some modification, was adopted. He was elected, April 11th, Director-General of all the military hospitals of the United States. He resigned the office, January 3, 1781.^ He had been arraigned before a military court, sitting in Morristown, N. J., charged with improper administration of his office. In an address to the public, January, 1781, printed on a large foolscap page. Dr. Morgan says : " Unable to bear further investigation of his conduct, he has been compelled to quit the station of Director-General of Hospitals, by a forced resignation.^ At the election of representatives to Congress from Pennsylvania, March 10, 1787, Dr. Rush was not returned, but in the course of the year he was appointed Physician-General of the Military Hospital of the Middle Department, but after a short time resigned his com- mission, Jan. 30, 1788.* Without a hearing Congress dismissed Dr. Morgan from office, Jan. 9, 1777. Although he was subsequently acquitted of all blame,* this summary dismissal was a distressing shock. ^ The effects of the blow ^ Vindication of his Public Character, etc., p. 148. 2 Journals of Congress. ^ Eush MS., vol. 29. * Journal of Congress, 1788. * After his dismissal, a committee of Congress, appointed at his request, in- vestigated his whole conduct and honorably acquitted him of all the charges which had been brought against him. ^ How keenly he felt the action of Congress is manifested in "A Vindication of his Public Character in the Station of Director-General of the Military Hos- pitals and Physician-in-Chief of the American Army, Anno 1776." By John Morgan, M.D., F.K.S., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic in the College of Philadelphia ; member of several Koyal Colleges and Academies, and Philosophical and Literary Societies in Europe and America. Printed by Powars & Willis. Boston, M,DCC,LXXVII. 8vo., pp. 43-158. Philadelphia Lbrary, Kidgway Branch. 38 RUSCHENBERGER, were permanent. He and Dr. Rush jointly presented to the trustees of the university of the State a memorial, Feb. 28, 1781, objecting to serve as professors if Dr. William Shippen, Jr., be appointed professor of anatomy. He was appointed, however, and in Nov. 1783, Dr. Rush accepted the chair of chemistry. Dr. Morgan seems not to have performed the duties of the office, although he was elected, at the same time, professor of the theory and practice of medicine. In the only public biographical notice of Dr. Morgan is a false statement which from long-continued iteration has acquired the sta- bility of truth. An attempt to correct it here seems proper. In his introductory lecture, Nov. 2, 1789, eulogizing Dr. Morgan, Dr. Rush says : " It was during his absence from home that he con- certed with Dr. Shippen the plan of establishing a medical school in this city." The frequent repetition of an erroneous statement on such emi- nent authority makes its correction important and, at the same time, difficult. In his eulogium on Dr. William Cullen, July, 1790, Dr. Rush says — whether truly or sophistically, may be a question : "To be- lieve in great men, is often as great an obstacle to the progress of knowledge, as to believe in witches and conjurors. It is the image- worship of science ; for error is as much an attribute of man as the desire of happiness ; and I think I have observed that the errors of great men partake of the dimensions of their minds, and are often of a greater magnitude than the errors of men of inferior understanding." There is reason to believe that Dr. Morgan never "concerted" with Dr. Shippen a plan for establishing a medical school in this city. In his letter to Dr. Cullen, Nov. 10, 1764, Dr. Morgan says: "My scheme of instituting lectures you will hereafter know more of It is not prudent to broach designs prematurely, and mine are not yet fully ripe for execution." At the commencement of the College of Philadelphia, May, 1765, when Dr. Shippen was probably present. Dr. Morgan said, in his discourse on the institution of medical schools : " It is with the highest satisfaction I am informed from Dr. Ship- pen, Junior, that in an address to the public, as introductory to his INSTITUTION OF COLLEOE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 39 first anatomical course, he proposed some hints of a plan for giving medical lectures among us. But I do not learn that he recommended at all a collegiate undertaking of this kind. What led me to it was the obvious utility that would attend it, and the desire I had of presenting, as a tribute of gratitude to my alma mater, a full and enlarged plan for the institution of medicine, in all its branches, in this seminary where I had part of my education, being among the first sons who shared in its public honours. I was further induced to it from a consideration, that private schemes of propagating knowl- edge are instable in their nature, and that the cultivation of useful learning can only be effectually promoted under those who are patrons of science, and under the authority and direction of men incorporated for the improvement of literature. " Should the trustees of the College think proper to found a pro- fessorship of anatomy, Dr. Shippen having been concerned already in teaching that branch of medical science is a circumstance favor- able to our wishes. Few here can be ignorant of the great opportu- nities he has had abroad of qualifying himself in anatomy, and that he has already given three courses thereof in this city, and designs to enter upon a fourth course next winter." "As far as I can learn, everybody approves of my plan for institut- ing medical schools, and I have the honor of being appointed a public professor for teaching physic in the college here."^ Preface p. xiv. It is not probable that an honorable man — as Dr. Morgan undoubt- edly was — would have used such language had he ever " concerted" ^ A Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America; Delivered at a public Anniversary Commencement, held in the College of Philadelphia May 30 and 31, 1765. With a Preface, containing amongst other things, the author's apology for attempting to introduce the regular mode of practising Physic in Philadelphia. By John Morgan, M.D., Fellow of the Royal Society at London; Correspondent of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris; Mem- ber of the Arcadian Belles Lettres Society at Rome; Licentiate of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in London andin Edinburgh; and Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the College of Philadelphia. 12mo. pp. xxvi.-63. Philadelphia. Printed and sold by William Bradford, at the corner of Market and Front Streets. MDCCLXV. Lewis Library, College of Physicians of Philadelphia: Library Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 40 RUSCHENBERGER, with Dr. Shipper! on the subject. The discourse was delivered on a public occasion, and afterward printed. No part of it has been con- tradicted. No evidence has been published to show that Dr. Shippen had in any way assisted Dr. Morgan to devise the plan for a school of medicine in Philadelphia which he had laid before the Trustees of the College. Nor is it certain that they met or were together while abroad. Though Dr. Rush's error in connection with this subject is not significant, does not "partake of the dimensions" of his mind, it is sufficiently great to be noted for correction, in the interest of truth. The work which Dr. William Shippen, Jr., did toward the insti- tution of medical teaching in Philadelphia was most important and creditable. After more than three years sojourn in Europe he returned to Philadelphia in May, 1762. About the same time a number of crayon pictures and models and casts of anatomical parts, a gift from Dr. John Fothergill, of London, reached the Pennsylvania Hospital, and were exhibited for the benefit of the institution. The Pennsylvania G-azette for Nov. 11, 1762, contains the follow- ing announcement : " Mr. Hall — Sir : Please inform the public, that a course of ana- tomical lectures will be opened this winter in Philadelphia, for the advantage of young .Gentlemen now engaged in the study of Physic, in this and the neishborino: Provinces, whose circumstances and Con- nections will not admit of their going abroad for Improvement to the Anatomical Schools in Europe, and also for the Entertainment of any Gentlemen who may have the curiosity to understand the Anatomy of the Human Frame. " In these Lectures the situation, Figure and Structure of all the parts of the human body will be demonstrated, and their respective Uses explained, and, as far as a Course of Anatomy will permit, their Diseases, with the Indications and method of Cure briefly treated of; all the necessary Operations in Surgery will be performed, a Course of Bandages exhibited, and the whole conclude with an explanation of some of the curious Phenomena that arise from an examination of the Gravid Uterus, and a few plain general Directions in the Study and Practice of Midwifery. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 41 " The Necessity and public Utility of such a course in this grow- ing Country, and the Method to be pursued therein, will be more particularly explained in an Introductory Lecture to be delivered the 16th Instant, at six o'clock in the Evening, at the State House by William Shippen jun. M.D. " N. B. The Managers and Physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital, at a Special Meeting, have generously consented to coun- tenance and encourage this Undertaking ; and to make it more en- tertaining and profitable have granted him the use of some curious Anatomical Casts and Drawings (just arrived in the Carolina, Capt. Friend), presented by the judicious and benevolent Doctor FOTHERGILL, who has improved every Opportunity of promot- ing the Interest and Usefulness of that noble and flourishing Insti- tution," According to this announcement, the Introductory Lecture was delivered. Whether it was printed or not has not been ascertained. The Pennsylvania G-azette of Nov. 25, 1762, No. 1770, contains the following : " Dr. Shippen's Anatomical Lectures will begin to morrow Even- ing, at six o'clock, at his Father's house in Fourth street. " Tickets for the course to be had of the Doctor, at five Pistoles each; and any Gentlemen who incline to see the subject prepared for the Lectures, and learn the art of Dissecting, Injecting, &c., are to pay five Pistoles more." Those lectures were repeated during the winters of 1763-64 and of 1764-65, three courses. Dr. Shippen had thus established a private school of anatomy. The announcement of these lectures does not suggest that he regarded them as first steps in the formation of a complete medical college in which he expected to have, in time, the cooperation of competent teachers ; nor has any testimony been found to show that he intended to make his private school a part of the College of Philadelphia. Some months after Dr. Morgan had presented his plan of establish- ing a public school of medicine, he became a candidate for the pro- fessorship of anatomy. His enterprise, the first of the kind in America, for which he has been justly praised, had, no doubt, a 42 RUSCHENBERGER, quickening influence, and prepared the way to the adoption of Dr. Morgan's scheme. He was a pioneer. Nevertheless, the credit of founding the first school of medicine established in America under a chartered institution belongs exclu- sively to Dr. John Morgan. The importance of the foundation is manifest in the palpable advantages Avhich the community has derived fiom it. Their consequence enhances the merit of his work, and that gives interest to whatever relates to his career. Dr. Morgan was buried beside his wife, under the middle aisle of St. Peter's Church, October 17, 1789. Angelica Kauffman painted a portrait of him while he was in Rome, in 1764. The picture is in the possession of his relatives at Morganza, Pa. A copy of it is in the Wistar and Horner Museum of the University. A photograph of an etching from the original was made, not very long ago, by F. Gutekunst, of this city. The record of proceedings of the College shows that during the year 1790, nineteen meetings were held, all occupied chiefly by the afiairs of the College. On the 21st of April, twenty Fellows, in a body, to represent the Society, attended the funeral of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The by-laws were printed for the first time and presented to the Fellows, June Ist.^ At a special meeting, held on Friday, at 5 o'clock, p. m., July 9th, "in the Grammar School," twenty-five Fellows being present. Dr. Rush delivered an eulogium on Dr. William Cullen, late Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinburgh, in com- pliance with the unanimous wish of the College, May 4, 1790, to do honor to his distinguished character, and to express its sense of the loss which the republic of medicine has sustained in his death. October 5th, Dr. Samuel Duffield was elected treasurer of the College, vice Dr. Gerardus Clarkson. 1 At that time the Fellows of the College numbered 28. Sect. 1, Art. VIII. of the by-laws: "No member shall divulge the private transactions of the College." INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 43 NOTICE OF DR. GERARDUS CLARKSON. Dr. Gerardus Clarkson, the youngest of the six children of Mathew Clarkson and his wife, Cornelia Banker de Peyster, was born in the city of New York, in 1737. His father died at the age of forty years. His mother removed to New Brunswick, N. J., and there married the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Shortly afterward, in 1743, Mr, Tennent was called to the New Presbyterian Church, in Philadelphia. Gerardus was educated under the supervision of his stepfather, at Log College, Bucks Co., Pa., then under the direction of the Rev. William Tennent, father of Gilbert. He studied medicine under Dr. Thomas Bond. At the close of his apprenticeship, he went to Europe in 1760, and after a prolonged absence returned and settled in Philadelphia. Relative to the career of Dr. Gerardus Clarkson, the first treasurer of the College, only meagre and unsatisfactory statements have been found in print. The Pennsylvania G-azette for Sept. 22, 1790, tells us that Dr. Gerardus Clarkson died on Sunday, Sept. 19th, in the fifty-third year of his age, leaving a numerous and respectable family ; and that his public and private and religious character was in every sense exemplary. The compiler of the Lives of Eminent Philadel- phians now deceased, merely informs us that he was a son of jNIathew C. Clarkson, of New York, and that he was practising medicine as early as 1774. It is registered in Christ Church, Philadelphia, that Gerardus Clarkson married. May 13, 1761, Mary Flower. She died, and was buried in St. Peter's churchyard January 20, 1795. He is named among the members of the Philadelphia Medical Society in 1766 or '67. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society Oct. 14, 1768, and a trustee of the University of the State of Pennsylvania July 21, 1780. The minutes show that he was rarely absent from the meetings of the board of trustees. The duties of treasurer of the College he discharged exactly. Diligent inquiry for more information about his life has been fruitless. He was buried in Christ Church cemetery Sept. 20, 1790. There is tes- 44 RUSCHENBERGER, timony that he was a pious, affectionate, modest, beloved physician, and was mourned by a large circle of friends. John Swanwick has expressed lament for his loss in verses which are among his poems, published in 1797.^ December 7, 1790, the committee on the annual statement of prevalent diseases presented a report. Drs. Jones, Rush, and Parke were appointed to prepare an address, asking Congress to discourage the importation and use of distilled spirits. Dr. Abraham Chovet, one of the founders, died March 24, 1790. His death is not recorded in the minutes of proceedings. NOTICE OF DR. ABRAHAM CHOVET.^ Of the twelve senior founders of the College Dr. Chovet is one who was not born in or near Philadelphia. At the time of forming the Society his years exceeded fourscore. At such an advanced age men are not invited to engage in a new enterprise unless their qualifica- tions are eminent in the estimation of their colleagues. And it is notable that the publications of his time tell us very little about Dr. Chovet. It is only by joining together fragments, a paragraph here and a sentence there, that an outline of his character and career can be sketched at the present time. Mary Ann Marshall presented to the Pennsylvania Hospital an admirable miniature wrought of wax in high i-elief, on the back of the framing of which is deeply scratched, "Abraham Chovet, born May 25, 1704— Drawn May 25, 1784, by his servant Dr. Van Eeckhout." In the letter, dated Christmas, 1871, which accompanied the gift. Miss Marshall states that the miniature was presented to her grand- ^ Poems on Several Occasions, by John Swanwick, Esq., one of the Kepresen- tatives in the Congress of the United States from the State of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1797. ^ This is not a French but an English patronymic ; one of a class of two syl- lable names ending in ei or ett, as Cobbett, Collet, Corbet, Dallet, Govet, Levet, Lovet, Plunket, Nisbet. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF r'HILADELPHIA. 45 father in 1793, by Mrs. Susannah Maria Penelope Abington, the doctor's daughter, who died in 1813. Both she and her father were buried in Christ Church cemetery, at the corner of Arch and Fifth Streets. Dr. Chovet was born in England and educated in London. He fled to Philadelphia with his widowed daughter from one of the West India islands to escape from an insurrection of slaves, some years before our revolution. It is stated in Memorials of the Craft of Surgery in JEngland, by John Flint South, London, 1886, that Mr. Abraham Chovett was appointed, Aug. 21, 1735, Demonstrator of Anatomy in the United Company of Barbers and Surgeons, and resigned Aug. 19, 1736. The identity of that demonstrator of anatomy and this founder of the College can scarcely be doubted, though the printer has given to his name a redundant t. The tombstone of Mrs. Abington, Dr. Chovet's daughter, tells that she was born Oct. 30, 1736, and died April 3, 1813. Construed in connection with the date of his appointment in the United Company of Barbers and Surgeons, this record implies that he was married in London. His wife died in Philadelphia, and was buried in Christ Church cemetery February 12, 1785. A periodical of the time announces that Dr. Abraham Chovet, an eminent anatomist and extraordinary man, died, of an acute disease, March 24, 1790, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. He visited his patients in all weathers till within a few weeks before his death. A few minutes before he died he requested his family to give him a plain funeral, and by no means to have the bells rung for him, because he wished not to disturb sick people by such an unnecessary noise. The custom of ringing a passing hell was originally a signal of a soul's passing from this world into the world of spirits, and intended to call upon all persons within the sound of that bell to fall on their knees and pray for that departed soul. Dr. Chovet said, " that physician was an impostor who did not live till he was eighty." He devoted the early part of his life to the study of anatomy, under the ablest anatomists of Europe. He after- ward settled in the island of Jamaica, where he continued his 46 RUSCHENBERGER, anatomical dissections and studies. He came to Philadelphia in 1770.^ Dr. John Morgan says, in his paper on the " Art of Making Anatomical Preparations by Corrosion : " " Dr. Chovet, now [1786] resident in this city, has indeed a good collection of Avax preparations of different parts of the human body, which he made in his younger days and brought hither from Europe."^ Christopher Marshall, who had accumulated a competency as a druggist and retired from business before the American Revolution began, attended Dr, Chovet's lecture, January 27, 1775. His advertisement was thus : " At the Anatomical Museum in Videl's Alley, Second Street, on Wednesday, the seventh of Decem- ber, at six in the evening, Dr Chovet will begin his course of Anatomical and Physiological lectures, in which the several parts of the human body will be demonstrated, with their mechanism and actions, together with the doctrines of life, health, and the several effects resulting from the actions of the parts ; on his curious collec- tion of anatomical wax-works, and other natural preparations ; to be continued the whole winter until the course is completed. "As this course cannot be attended with the disagreeable sight or smell of recent deceased and putrid carcases, which often disgust even the students of Physic, as well as the curious, otherwise inclined to this useful and sublime part of natural philosophy, it is hoped this undertaking will meet with suitable encouragement. " Tickets to be had for the whole course at Dr. Chovet's house in Second Street, Philadelphia."^ The price of a ticket was three guineas. In his history of the institution. Dr. George B. Wood states that the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital, in April, 1793, purchased from the executors of this eminent and somewhat eccentric physician, his collection of anatomical preparations and wax models, then re- garded as masterpieces of the art. They, with the Fothergill crayons ^ The Universal As^^lum and Columbian Magazine, for March, 1790, p. 138. * Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. ii. p. 366, 1786. ' Passages from the Diary of Christopher Marshall, kept in Philadelphia and Lancaster during the American Revolution. Edited by William Duane. Philadelphia : Hazard & Mitchell, 1839-49. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 47 and casts, were given to the University of Pennsylvania, in April, 1824. Those which have not been ruined by frequent moving are still in the Wistar and Horner Museum at the University. It is related that a contrite Tory, Isaac Hunt, was in a cart riding through the streets, and at different halts confessing his eri'ors and asking pardon of a following mob of persecutors, to earn exemption from a threatened coat of tar and feathers. When they stopped at his corner. Dr. Kearsley, who was known. to be an enthusiastic Tory, threw up his window and snapped a pistol twice at the crowd. He was immediately seized and disarmed. They took Hunt out of the cart and allowed him to be conducted to his home. Dr. Kearsley was placed in the cart and paraded through the streets with beating drum, and, although he made no concessions, he was left at his home. The same day, Sept. 6, 1775, Dr. Chovet, also a Tory, in dread of tar and feathers, sought asylum at the house of Christopher Mar- shall, but was refused entrance. Late in the evening he tapped at the window to announce his narrow escape. He had been several hours concealed under the hay in Mr. Marshall's stable, where the tar and feathering party sought him twice, and once were very near, as he believed, on the point of discovering him. Dr. Kearsley was arrested the next day, and, being staunchly loyal to the king, was imprisoned, sent to Carlisle, Pa. and died there November, 1777,^ still a prisoner. Dr. Bridges announced to the College, Dec. 4, 1867, that he had received, through Dr. Alexander Wilcocks, of this city, from Mrs. L. C. Hay, of Trenton, N. J., a portrait of Dr. Abraham Chovet. At the next meeting of the College the Hall Committee was authorized to have it cleaned and framed. The picture is in the library of the College. It is a likeness of the full face only, wearing a cheerful, animated expression. Dr. Chovet is represented to have been a man of small, almost dwarfish stature, and of a mirthful, jocular disposition. It is related that he received and opened a ship letter at " the coflFee house," and was asked what news it brought. He sedately answered, "I am in- ^ Christopher Marshall's Remembrancer. 48 RUSCHENBERGER, formed that a cobbler whose stall was on London bridge has just died, and, has left — Gentlemen, how much do you suppose?" One an- swered, a hundred pounds. "No," replied the Doctor, "guess again." Several sums were named, but the Doctor shook his head. One mentioned five thousand pounds. Then the Doctor pocketed his letter, and as he was passing quickly into the street, said, *■' Gen- tlemen — not a farthing." Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia, describes his appearance in advanced life. According to the tradition which he records. Dr. Chovet, enfeebled by age, might be seen almost daily, shuffling along in seeming haste. His bowed head, which leaned forward beyond the cape of his old-fashioned black coat, was covered by a small cocked hat, closely turned up behind upon the crown and cocked in front, which did not conceal his long white hair. He lacked teeth and his compressed lips were in continuous motion as if he were crunching something. He carried a gold-headed Indian cane, se- cured by a black silken string, dangling from his wrist. The heels of his capacious shoes, well lined in winter season with thick woollen cloth, and ferrule of his cane might be heard jingling and scraping the pavement at every step. On the street he always seemed to be hastening, as fast as his aged limbs would permit, to a patient dan- gerously ill, without looking to the right or the left. It is said that he used expletives freely in his conversation, and was notable for sarcastic wit.^ These little bits of history do not imply that his career was alwaye smooth. Necessity to go on foot at his very advanced age — ^even up to a few weeks of his death — to visit patients in all kinds of weather, signifies that his was not a victorious business life. Yet, his charac- ter and the high quality of his professional acquirements entitle him to rank among the eminent seniors of the College, and with them to respectful remembrance. The average attendance at the meetings of the College during 1791 was 12.2. 1 Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, vol. 2, p. 181. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians now deceased. William Brother- head. Philadelphia, 1859. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 49 April 1st. Dr. Benjamin Say was elected Treasurer, vice Dr. Samuel DuiSeld resigned. July 5tli. Dr. William Shippen, Jr., was elected Vice-President in place of Dr. John Jones, deceased. August 2d. Dr. Redman thanked the College for his reelection as President. September 6th. To enable the College to hire a room suitable for its meetings and accommodation of its library, it was determined to increase the entrance fee to ten pounds ($26.66), and after July, 1792, the annual contribution to four dollars. December 6th. A room in the hall of the American Philosophical Society had been leased from December 10, 1791, till June 10, 1794, — three years and a half — for thirty pounds ($79.80) prepaid — less than $23 a year — and the room furnished at a cost of $72. The thanks of the College had been presented to the Trustees of the late College and Academy of Philadelphia for the use of a room. The Society's beginning as an independent householder was modest, inexpensive. NOTICE OF DE. JOHN JONES. The decease of Dr. Jones is not mentioned in the record of pro- ceedings. But in returning thanks to the College for his reelection to the presidency. Dr. John Redman said, August 2, 1791, "I should not have been easy under the sense I had of my growing in- firmities of body and mind for some time past, to have continued to accept the honor you have so repeatedly conferred upon me, but from the consideration that you always joined a colleague with me as Vice-President, whose eminence and reputation in our profession, and whose clearness of judgement, vigor of faculties, and easy manner of conveying his sentiments, together with his friendly dis- position to aid me, fully obviated and prevented any ill effects, natur- ally to be expected from declining age, and rendered my situation more pleasant than otherwise it might have been. But though much and justly respected by us, and all connected with him in kindred, friendship, and business, he was mortal, and he has gone — no more to return, to aid by his talents, or gratify us by his presence at our 4 50 RUSCHENBERGER, meetings, or cheer us by his affability, agreeable converse, and polite manners. And, therefore (though somewhat late and unseasonable), I must indulge myself in sympathizing Avith you and regretting the real loss which the republic of medicine in general, and our col- legiate society in particular, have sustained thereby. Much did I expect, from his being several years younger than myself, and so well and justly esteemed by you, that he would be my next successor; and from a settled resolution soon to request my dismission (if not otherwise removed), I sometimes flattered myself with having the pleasure to see him raised to your presidential chair — to which I should most heartily have concurred — as well on account of his own merit and qualifications, as because it would have been highly grati- fying to me to be a living witness of our College being headed by one whose eminence in more than one of the material branches of medical science, and reputation among our citizens in general was still very flourishing, and whose connection with and estimation in which he was held by the higher orders and rank of them, was so conspicuous and intimate, as might contribute to the greater external dignity of the institution, and render its influence more powerful and effectual on any particular occasion of public utility, wherein it might be thought requisite or be called upon to exert it." The first President's tribute to the memory of the first Vice- President excites curiosity now to know something of his career. Dr. Redman speaks only of those personal qualities which made him a beloved companion, when a dozen Fellows, more or less, assembled at the afternoon meetings and discussed matters in a col- loquial manner, both before the meeting was called to order and after its adjournment. The record implies that the formal proceedings seldom occupied much time. Dr. Joseph Parrish, in his obituary notice of Dr. Thomas Parke, alludes to tradition of the early meetings where the elders and juniors mingled in pleasant and profitable con- versation. Dr. John Jones, son of Dr. Evan Jones (and grandson of Edward Jones, whose wife Mary was the eldest daughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne), was born at Jamaica, Long Island, N. Y., in 1729. All his grandparents belonged to the Society of Friends, and were born INSTITUTION OP COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 51 and lived in Wales prior to 1682. In that year Edward Jones and his family settled in Merion Township, County of Philadelphia, Pa. After studvino; medicine for some time under the direction of Dr. Thomas Cadwalader and of his father, who practised medicine in Philadelphia for a while before he removed to Long Island,^ John Jones went to Europe, continued his studies in London, Edinburgh, and Paris, and, in 1757, received the degree of M.D. from the University of Rheims. On his return from Europe, he settled in New York and obtained practice. About the year 1758, he was a surgeon in the colonial army employed against the French. At the close of this war he resumed private practice. When a medical department was estab- lished in what was then King's College, 1768, he was appointed professor of surgery.^ He was chosen, April 21, 1769, a member of the American Philo- sophical Society, and elected a member of its Council, January, 1786. In the autumn of 1775, he published -P?am Remarks on Wounds and Fractures^ for the use of surgeons of the army and navy, very many of whom at that time lacked surgical experience. In the then critical condition of American aifairs, the work was regarded as op- portune and valuable. About the close of the year 1779, or the beginning of 1780, he settled in Philadelphia. In 1780 he succeeded Dr. John Redman as one of the Physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital ; was elected the first President of the Humane Society, and a consulting physician of the Philadelphia Dispensary. In 1786 he was elected the first Vice-President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Dr. John Jones was especially distinguished as a successful lithoto- mist, and also as an accoucheur. He was generally considered to be the foremost American surgeon of his day, noted for the prudence ^ The Early Physicians of Philadelphia and its Vicinity. By James J. Levick, M.D. "^ History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. By Joseph Carson, M.D., etc. Note p. 68. 62 RUSCHENBERGER, of the plan and the celerity of his operations, a quality very highly valued before the introduction of anaesthetics.^ He Avas an intimate friend and the physician of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and attended him in his last illness. He -was also the family physician of President Washington after the government of the United States was removed to Philadelphia. Dr. Jones personally was of medium but slender stature. His chest was well-formed. He was frequently afflicted with asthma. He had a quick and penetrating eye, a cheerful though sedate coun- tenance, and his whole deportment was urbane. His gravity of ap- pearance and dignity of manners never failed to command respect. Few persons possessed more of those engaging qualities which render a man estimable, both professionally and otherwise, than Dr. Jones. His conversation was most pleasing. His language flowed in an easy, spontaneous manner, and was animated by a vein of sprightly but always unoffending wit, which delighted while it secured attention. He was a belles-lettres scholar ; was observant, and pos- sessed a good memory ; and was ever a most agreeable, entertaining, and instructive companion. Dr. Jones died June 23, 1791, in the sixty-third year of his age, very sincerely and widely regretted. The average attendance at the meetings during 1792 was 10.1. March 6th. Dr. Waters volunteered to be librarian for one year. April 3d. The printing of a volume of transactions was discussed; Drs. Shippen, Rush, and Griffitts were appointed, June 5th, to pre- pare a preface for the work, and papers to be printed were selected by ballot. 1 The Surgical Works of the late John Jones, M.D. Formerly Professor of Surgery in the College of New York, Fellow [?] of the American Philosophical Society, President of the Humane Society, and Vice-President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and Philadelphia Dispensary. The third edition. To which are added a short account of the life of the author with occasional notes and observations. By James Mease, M.D., Resident Physician of the Port of Philadelphia. Printed by Wrigley & Berriman, Phihidelphia, 1795. Copy presented by Dr. Mease to the Library Company of Philadelphia. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 53 July 3d. The publication of Transactions was postponed and the committee discharged. November 6th. At his own request, Dr. Waters was superseded as librarian by Dr. Leib ; and as a member of the Committee on Meteorology by Dr. Parke. The minutes of 1792 are brief, without interesting record. Two Fellows were elected, and one of the Seniors died. The loss is not noted. NOTICE OF DR. GEORGE GLENTWORTH. Dr. George Glentworth was born in Philadelphia, July 22, 1735. After completing an academic course, he was apprenticed to Dr. Peter Sonmans, a physician and surgeon of extensive practice, and a member of the American Philosophical Society from October, 1768. He died March 15, 1776, aged sixty-seven years. At the close of his apprenticeship. Dr. Glentworth was appointed a junior surgeon in the British Army. He went to Europe in 1755, spent three years attending hospitals and lectures, and, after defending a thesis on pulmonary consumption, received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh. On his return to Philadelphia he became the partner of Dr. Son- mans. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society October 14, 1768. In 1777 he relinquished a large practice, and accepted, first the appointment of a regimental surgeon, and afterward that of a senior surgeon in the military hospital of the American army. He re- sumed private practice in 1780. In 1786 he joined in founding the College of Physicians, and was one of the twelve Senior Fellows. He died from an attack of gout November 4, 1792, aged 57 years. It is represented that he was noted for his humanity to the poor ; for his good temper and agreeable deportment, and for being a con- stant reader of professional books. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Magaw, on the Sunday next after his 54 RUSCHENBERGER, funeral, spoke of him from his pulpit. He said: "Thy fellow citizens, thy neighborhood, thy family, thy church, miss thee, vener- able man, Glentworth ! the faithful, the experienced, able, successful physician, whose pleasing unwearied task it was, by day and by night, to soften and relieve the ills of sickly human nature ; Glent- worth, the mild, the sociable, the friendly, the intelligent, the patri- otic citizen ; Glentworth, the amiable pattern of domestic attention, worth and respectability. The testimony to thy virtues, given in this solemn place, is short ; not so shall be the remembrance of them."^ Notable and interestinfj events connected with the College occurred during the year 1793. The average attendance at the nineteen meetings was 10.5. Dr. William Clarkson resigned February 9th, because new and different engagements would prevent him from discharging his duties in the College. NOTICE OF DR. WILLIAM CLARKSON. Dr. William Clarkson, a son of Dr. Gerardus Clarkson, was born November 7, 1763. He was a graduate of the College of New Jersey, and, in 1785, of the medical department of the University of the State of Pennsylvania. After his resignation from the Col- lege of Physicians he entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. He was settled in Bridgeton, N. J. ; in Schenectady, N. Y. ; in Savannah, Ga., and in John's Island, S. C, where he died September 9, 1812. He married Catharine, a daughter of William Floyd, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. May 7th. Article 7 of the Constitution was amended so as to read : " The business of the Censors shall be to inspect the records and examine the accounts and expenditures of the College, and report thereon. And all communications made to the College, after being read at one of the stated meetings, shall be referred to the President, Vice-President, Censors, and such other members of the College as 1 Columbian Magazine, p. 367, vol. 9, 1792. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 55 shall be nominated for the purpose, who shall determine by vote taken by ballot, on the propriety of publishing them in the Trans- actions of the College." Under a rule of this kind, unimportant or imperfectly considered essays had little chance of publication A committee to print,^ another to publish," and a third^ to prepare a preface for the first volume of Transactions were appointed. A special meeting was held August 25th, to consider what steps the College should take, consistently with duty to their fellow citizens, in connection with "the prevalence of a fever of a very alarming nature in some parts of the city." Drs. Rush, Hutchinson, Say, and Wistar, were appointed to consider the subject and report the next day. August 26th. It was resolved to meet every Monday at four o'clock P.M., "to confer upon the treatment of the existing malignant fever." The following "directions for preventing the further progress of the malignant fever" were adopted, signed by the Vice-President and Secretary, and a copy ordered to be sent to the Mayor of the city. August 26, 1793. The College of Physicians having taken into consideration the malignant and contagious fever which now prevails in this city, have agreed to recommend to their fellow citizens the following means of preventing its progress : First. That all unnecessary intercourse should be avoided with such persons as are infected by it. Second. To place a mark upon the door or windows of such houses as have any infected persons therein. Third. To place the persons infected in the centre of large and airy rooms, in beds without curtains, and to pay the strictest regard to cleanliness by frequently changing their body and bed linen; also by removing as speedily as possible all offensive matters from their rooms. Fourth. To provide a large and airy hospital, in the neighbor- hood of the city, for the reception of such poor persons as cannot be accommodated with the above advantages in private houses. 1 Eoss, Wistar, and Griffitts. ' Leib, Currie, and Gibbons. ^ Rush, Shippen, and Griffitts. 56 RUSCHENBERGER, Fifth. To put a stop to the Tolling of the Bells. Sixth. To bury such persons as die of this Fever in carriages, and in as private a manner as possible. Seventh. To keep the streets and wharves of the city as clean as possible. As the contagion of the disease may be taken into the body, and pass out of it without producing the fever, unless it be rendered active by some occasional cause, the following means should be attended to, to prevent the contagion being excited into action in the body : Eighth. To avoid all fatigue of body and mind. Ninth. To avoid standing or sitting in the sun, also in a current of air, or in the evening air. Tenth. To accommodate the dress to the weather, and to exceed rather in warm than in cool clothing. Eleventh. To avoid intemperance ; but to use fermented liquors, such as wine, beer, and cider, with moderation. The College conceives Fires to be a very ineffectual if not dangerous means of checking the progress of the fever. They have reason to place more dependence upon the burning of Gunpowder. The benefits of Vinegar and Camphor are confined chiefly to infected rooms, and they cannot be used too frequently upon handkerchiefs or in smelling bottles by persons whose duty calls them to visit or attend the sick. (The original of the above, with some erasures and some words interlined, is in the writing of Dr. Rush.) September 3d. An account of yellow fever in 1762, with the method of cure, by Dr. John Redman, was read. For his important communication the College voted him its thanks.^ The Secretary reported that twenty-six copies of the first part of Vol. I. of the Transactions of the College had been received from the publisher. The printing committee was directed to send a copy to the author of each paper in the volume, and to the medical societies of the United States and of Europe. Ordered that the College meet every Tuesday and Friday, at 4 o'clock, p. M. 1 The original MS., written by Dr. Redman, is in the library of the College INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 57 September 6th. A letter was received from Dr. Rush, "recom- mending the liberal use of mercury, particularly in the first stage " of the epidemic ! Also, from Dr. Charlton, President of the Medical Society of the State of New York, asking information concerning the contagious fever now prevalent in the city. Letters of similar import were received from the Secretary of the Treasury and Dr. Stevens, of New York, September 13th. September 17th. Drs. Redman and Currie were the only Fellows present. After this day there was no meeting of the College till November 5th. Then the President submitted a note, in substance : October 1st. The President and Secretary, as well as many other members, being sick, several out of town, and the few remaining being very much engaged, the President and Secretary, after an exchange of letters on the subject, had determined not to issue notices of meetings. The President had received letters of inquiry from the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, and from Dr. Buchanan, of Baltimore. Being too ill to answer them, the Secretary had acknowledged their receipt. He had also received, October 30, a letter from Governor Mifflin, asking : " Was the disorder imported or not ? If imported, by what means and from what place ? If not imported, what were the prob- able causes that produced it ? " What measures ought to be pursued to purify the city from any latent infection ; and what precautions are best calculated to guard against a future occurrence of the calamity ? " I am persuaded that the public spirit and benevolence of the College of Physicians will induce them cheerfully to excuse and comply with this request, which is intended to establish a foundation for regulations that may cooperate with their professional labors in preserving their fellow-citizens the invaluable blessing of health." Drs. Ross, Parke, Currie, Carson, Foulke, B. Duffield, and Wistar were appointed a committee to prepare a reply to the Governor's questions. It is probable that Dr. Rush was acquainted with the contents of Governor Mifflin's letter, and that the members of the committee of 58 RUSCHENBERGER, August 25th, of -wliich he was chairman, were not unanimous in opinion as to the source and nature of the epidemic. At the time, Dr. Rush was confident that tlie origin of the disease was domestic, and tliat it was highly contagious. He subsequently (1798) aban- doned his belief in the contagion of yellow fever. He was not in accord with some Fellows of the College on the subject which engaged so much attention. Dr. Rush, the most renowned physician of Philadelphia, who had been an active Fellow of the College from its foundation, sent to the President the following letter : For the President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia : Dear Sir : I beg you would convey, by means of this letter, my resignation of my Fellowship in the College of Physicians. I request at the same time their acceptance of a copy of Dr. Wallis's edition of the works of Dr. Sydenham. With the tenderest sentiments of respect for yourself, I am, dear Sir, your sincere friend and the College's Avell wisher, Benjamin Rush. Philadelphia, November 5, 1793. The resignation was accepted, and the Secretary directed to thank him for the gift of books. Why did he resign ? Dr. Charles Caldwell, who was a pupil of Dr. Rush, in his auto- biography describes the introductory lecture delivered to the medical class at the University in November, 1793, by Dr. Rush after his resignation from the College of Physicians. He says : "The discourse, though highly colored, and marked by not a few figures of fancy and bursts of feeling, was, notwithstanding, sufiiciently fraught with substantial matter to render it no less instructive than it was fascinating. Though fifty-two years and more than seven months have passed over me since the time of its delivery, yet are many of the representations it contained as fresh in my memory as the occurrences of yesterday ; and were I master of the pencil, I could accurately delineate the figure, countenance, atti- tude, and entire manner of the professor, as he sat at his desk. "Nor was the lecture entirely sombre, lugubrious, and pathetic. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 59 Far from it. Among other topics, the Doctor referred to the abuse and persecution he had sustained from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, as a body, and from several individual physi- cians of the place, on account of the extent to which he had carried bloodletting in his practice in the epidemic, but more especially on account of a purgative dose he had introduced, which in size was de- nounced as perfectly enormous. It was a mixture of ten grains of calomel and ten of jalap — a dose which is now accounted moderate, at least, if not diminutive. But previously to that time calomel had never been so copiously administered in Philadelphia, nor, as far as I am informed, in any other part of the Middle or Eastern Atlantic States. From three to five or six grains of that article had been re- garded until then as an ample dose. " In his representations of the wrongs he had thus suffered, and of the calumnies and invectives with which he and his practice had been assailed, the Doctor was sufficiently sarcastic and trenchant. Nor were his remarks altogether unspiced with humor and ridicule. Of the denunciation of his purgative dose of teyi and ten, as it was con- temptuously called by his enemies and revilers, he gave the following terse and ludicrous account : " ' Dr. Kuhn,' said he, ' called it a murderous dose ! Dr. Hodge called it a dose for a liorse ! And Barton called it a devil of a dose ! Dr. H.,' he continued, 'who is nearly as large as Goliath of Gath, and quite as vauntful and malignant, even threatened to give me a flogging. Dr. H. flog me ! Why, gentlemen, if a horse kicks me, I will not kick him back again. But here is my man Ben (his coach- man) whose trade is to beat beasts. He is willing to meet Dr. H. in my place, and play brute with him as soon as he pleases. I have that to do which belongs to a man.' "^ November 12th. The committee appointed to prepare a reply to the Governor's communication submitted a report which was recom- ' Autobiography of Charles Caldwell, M.D. "With a preface, notes, and appendix. By Harriot W. Warner. Lippincott, Grambo & Co., Philadel- phia, 1855. Pages 183, 184. Possibly Dr. H. means Dr. Hutchinson, who had been dead, at the time of the lecture, about two months. 60 RUSCIIENBERGER, mitted with a request to have the facts authenticated. Drs. Say, Leib, and Barton were added to the committee. November 19th. The committee was discharged ; and Drs. Parke, Carson, and GriflBtts were appointed to answer the Governor's com- munication. November 26th. A reply to the Governor was adopted ; substan- tially, that the fever was imported in vessels arriving in the port after the middle of July. Cleanliness of the streets, the use of gun- powder as a disinfectant, and of unslacked lime in privy wells were recommended. December 3d. Drs. Samuel DuflBeld and Caspar Wistar were elected Censors in place of Dr. Hutchinson, deceased, and Dr. Rush, resigned. Dr. Huffh Hodjre was elected a Fellow. NOTICE OF DR. JAMES HUTCHINSON. In his autobiography, Charles Biddle states that Dr. James Hutchinson "was fat enough to act the character of FallstafF without stuffing." His portrait, which is in the Wistar and Horner Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, does not suggest that his person was of such size or figure. Mr. Biddle says : " He took a warm interest in the politics of the State, and was an active member of the then rising Democratic party. Eminent as a practitioner, he fell a victim to his noble efforts in behalf of the humbler class of his fellow citizens in September [7th], 1793." Yellow fever in Philadelphia, in 1793, created much alarm among the citizens. Very many left the city in fear of it. Mr. Biddle says : " Although almost afraid to let him come into my house, I sent for Dr. Hutchinson, to advise with him about removing. Before Mrs. Biddle he just mentioned that there was a dangerous fever in town, and that we had best leave it, but when I went to the door with him he told me he had never seen anything so alarming, and desired me to get Mrs. Biddle out of town immediately, and to go myself as soon as I could. He said that, as a physician, he thought it his duty to remain, and let the disorder be ever so bad, he would INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 61 not leave town. I walked a little way down the street with him. At parting, he gave me his hand, and said it was doubtful whether he should see me again. I laughed at him, little suspecting this would be the last time we should ever meet. It was some days before I could arrange matters so as to leave the city, before this worthy man was taken with the disorder, and died in a few days. He was a very able physician, and one of the best of men. A student of his, who staid with him, said he went to all the poor people who sent for him. Visiting one of them, who was a poor old woman, he caught the infection. This student was with him, and said when the doctor opened the door of the sick woman's room there was such a stench came from it that he ran out of the house. The doctor went in, opened the windows, and sat some time in the room. That night he was taken with the fever, which proved fatal to him. His death increased the alarm very much, and occasioned many to leave the city. He had a great deal of practice, and was respected and esteemed by men of all parties that knew him." In this connection, Mr. Biddle says : "What added greatly to the distress of those unhappy persons who took the fever, was the differ- ence of opinion among our most eminent physicians respecting the proper treatment of it. What one recommended, another would condemn, so that all confidence in them was lost. I believe that, in general, too much medicine was given. I was reminded at this time of an anecdote I had often heard Dr. Franklin tell, respecting a malignant fever that was in Barbadoes, which swept off great numbers of the inhabitants. At last they were out of medicine, and it was expected they would all die. It happened, however, otherwise ; for after the medicine was gone, every person that had the disease recovered."^ Dr. Adam Kuhn, in his lectures on yellow fever, says that Dr. Shippen informed him that "Mr. Pryor has an account of thirty- three persons who were sick in the part of the city in which he lived. Of these, seventeen had medical assistance, and of the whole number 1 Autobiography of Charles Biddle, Vice-President of the Supreme Execu- tive Council of Pennsylvania, 1745-1821. Privately printed. E. Claxton & Co. Philadelphia, 1883. 62 RUSCHENBERGER, one recovered ; the other sixteen were not attended by any physician, and of this number one died ! Mr. Pryor had the disease when it prevailed in 17G2. He is a man of observation, and assisted his neighbors, and in his own family directed what he thought proper. His method consisted in fomentations with vinegar to bring on perspi- ration, and in recommending wine whey to support it, by which means, he says, all who followed his directions recovered. " The Rev. Mr. Helmuth, Rector of the German Lutheran con- gregation in this city, and who probably saw as many in the disease as any person among us, and who is a gentleman of observation, informs me that some persons, not regularly bred, succeeded much better in the treatment of this disease than the regular physicians. "A number of physicians and students of medicine fell victims to the fever. They contracted the disease by their attendance on the sick. They were treated differently, according to the ideas which they or their medical friends entertained of the nature of the fever. Much the greater number, however, of those who died, as I am informed, were attended by gentlemen who were advocates of plentiful bleeding, and purging with calomel and jalap. Another circum- stance which always appeared to me decisive against this mode of practice, is that the great mortality in the city happened after the time that this method became more generally employed."^ At the beginning of his illness, Dr. Hutchinson sent for Dr. Kuhn, who, in his lectures on yellow fever, says, substantially, " On Saturday, the 31st of August, and within five hours from the time of the attack, I saw him, and received this account from him : That at three o'clock that morning he was seized with a most violent head- ache, attended with fever. He had gone to bed about eleven o'clock, perfectly well ; indeed, he never felt better, or in higher spirits. He was not sensible of any chilliness, pain in the back, or sickness of the stomach. He had no pain anywhere, except in his head, which he described as excruciating. His skin was dry ; his pulse was not much more frequent or fuller than in health. It was determined he 1 Lectures on Yellow Fever. By Adam Kuhn. MS. Libr. Coll. Phys. Philadelphia. No. F., 844. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 63 should take some laxative, and as he preferred cream of tartar, that was directed. '' Mrs. Hutchinson, with great anxiety, asked me Avhether it was yellow fever. Observing my embarrassment, he immediately an- swered, ' there is no doubt of it,' for he had that day week examined the houses in Water Street. "At my evening visit, I found the laxative had operated once. He was directed to use the cold bath, to take the elixir of vitreol, to drink Ehenish and water, lemonade, and eat ripe fruit. " Next morning, I found he had passed a restless night. The pain in the head continued. The cream of tartar had not operated a second time. The bath had refreshed him much. He was desired to repeat the cream of tartar and cold bath. "In the evening he informed me that the cream of tartar had operated three times, and to my extreme regret I learned that at each time he had gone down two pair of stairs, besides the steps into his yard, which had fatigued him considerably. He was to repeat the bath, continue the elixir of vitreol and regimen. " The next morning, September 2d, he informed me that the cream of tartar had operated eight times after I saw him, and that he was obliged to check it with laudanum, as he felt himself much weakened by it. He was to continue the bath and take an ounce of bark in substance in the course of the day. He had no sickness of stomach ; the headache had abated, though it was not removed. " In the evening, I found the bark had purged him violently ; he had not less than ten stools without using any means to check it. I could not help expressing to him my chagrin at so unexpected an effect. I desired him to take fifteen drops of laudanum after every evacuation, until they were suppressed; to continue the bath, etc. He had no sickness of stomach from the beginning; nothing ap- peared unfavorable except debility from too much unintentional purging. " Next morning, I found that a single dose of laudanum had checked the purging. Though the pain in the head was abated, he had been restless in the night. He was to continue the bath, bark, and vitreol, and to use laudanum if necessary. " In the evening, he had taken six drams of bark ; had three or 64 RUSCHENBERGER, four stools ; the bark had sickened him ; it was therefore discon- tinued, but he was to persevere in the use of the wine, bath, and vitrioL This was the fourth day of his disease. There was no un- favorable symptom, except debility, which was far from considerable ; no sickness of stomach ; no delirium ; pulse regular, good. " This was the last time I saw him, for that evening I was so much more indisposed than I had been, that I found myself unable to go out. I therefore, early the next morning, sent him notice of my indisposition, and requested him to call some physician." Dr. Currie visited him that day, and daily until he died. A few hours after his message had been sent, a pupil of Dr. Hutchinson called on Dr. Kuhn, and informed him that " Dr. Rush had visited Dr. Hutchinson and had recommended him to take jalap and calomel, which the Doctor wished me to know and to have my opinion. My answer was that it Avas impossible for me to give an opinion ; to acquaint Dr. Rush that he had had near thirty stools in three days, and if Dr. Rush thought further purging was necessary, my opinion was, he ought to follow the advice. I was at the same time informed that Dr. Hutchinson was no worse than when I left him." In a lecture to his class Dr. Rush had charged Dr. Kuhn with misrepresenting the case of the late Dr. Hutchinson. In defending himself. Dr. Kuhn related the case in detail, and read a statement by Dr. Currie, derived from his own daily record of the case after his attendance besan. Dr. Currie wrote : " I made Dr. Hutchinson a visit on the 4th of September, about eleven o'clock a.m., which was the fourth day of his fever. He was then sitting up in bed, conversing with the Health Oflacer of the Port on business relative to his office. "After the health officer left, he gave me a detail of his symptoms and treatment with permission to publish it. He spoke much in favor of the advantages he had derived from the cold bath after his bowels had been evacuated by repeated doses of cream of tartar. Bark had deranged his stomach, but the vitriolic acid agreed well, and was grateful to his palate. He was now so well that he discon- tinued every kind of medicine, and made use of lime-juice punch occasionally for drink. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 65 " In the afternoon he went down stairs, and as he returned to his chamber his nose began to bleed, and continued bleeding until he was much debilitated and faint. "At bed-time he took forty-five drops tinct. opii, rested the fore- part of the night, but awoke before morning with sickness and great distress. " I visited him about ten o'clock with Dr. Barton, His pulse was then low, skin cold and dry, his face bloated and livid, and his mind was considerably deranged. His thirst became insatiable. He cast up all he drank as soon as his stomach became full, with straining and noise. In the intermission of puking he was frequently affected with singultus. From this time he obstinately refused making use of any kind of remedy, except one or two enemas, constantly assur- ing his friends that there was nothing the matter with him, till the seventh day of the disease, when he became comatose and expired on the eighth." The records furnish very little to be a«lded to this sad story. The first secretary of the College of Physicians, Dr. James Hutchinson, was born in Wakefield Township, Bucks County, Pa., January 29, 1752, His father, Randal Hutchinson, was a farmer, and a member of the Society of Friends. James began his primary education in a school under Paul Preston. Afterward he was at the Burlington Academy, New Jersey, at another in Virginia, and received his bachelor's degree with the first honor from the College of Philadelphia. He studied medicine under Dr. Evans, of this city. In 1774, the College of Philadelphia awarded him a gold medal for proficiency in chemistry. The same year he went to London where he was a pupil of Dr. John Fothergill. He returned home in 1777, by way of France, bearing with him important dispatches to Congress from Dr. Franklin, then American Minister at the French Court, The ship in which he was passenger, when in sight of the American coast, was chased by a British cruiser. To save the despatches, Dr. Hutchinson left the ship in an open boat under fire, and safely reached the shore. He saw her captured by the enemy, with all his 5 66 RUSCHENBERGER, baorgase, including a collection of medical books he had made in England and France. Soon afterward he joined the American army as Surgeon-General of Pennsylvania, and served throughout the war. The Legislature appointed him, 1779, a Trustee of the University of the State of Pennsylvania, an office he held at the time of his death. He was also professor of materia medica in that institution until it and the College of Philadelphia were merged, 1791, into the University of Pennsylvania. Then he was elected professor of chemistry. During several years he was Ph3^sician of the Port, and one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which positions he held at the time of his death. Dr. Hutchinson was an influential democrat, and was warmly in- terested in Pennsylvania politics. He always declined to accept office, though often solicited. After the British evacuated Philadel- phia, he served as one of the Committee of Safety. Being an inti- mate and confidential friend of the leading men of the Kevolution, he was received at headquarters at all times, and the Commander-in- Chief often invited his opinion in reference to the medical depart- ment. Dr. Hutchinson married Miss Sydney Howell, by whom he had two sons. One of them was a lawyer in Philadelphia, and the other was for some years Consul of the United States at Lisbon.^ NOTICE OF DR. JOHN MORRIS. Another of the founders of the College, Dr. John Morris, one of the class of juniors, died of yellow fever in September, 1793. He was born September 27, 1759, studied medicine under Dr. Charles Moore at Montgomery, Pa. He practised medicine in Burlington, N. J., for a time before he removed to Philadelphia. ' American Medical Biography: or Memoirs of Eminent Physicians who have Flourished in America. By James Thacher, M.D. , etc. Eichardson & Lord, and Cottons & Barnard, Boston, 1828. The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians now Deceased. By Henry Simpson. William Brotherhead, Philadelphia, 1859. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 67 The average attendance at the fifteen meetino;s of 1794 was 10.4. At a special meeting March 10th, it was announced that the chair- man of a Committee of the House of Representatives, appointed to prepare a bill "to regulate the practice of physic within this State," had requested the assistance of the College. Drs. Samuel DuflBeld, Parke, and Say were appointed to wait upon ,the Assembly's Com- mittee in the State House, the next day at four o'clock p.m. The following was ordered to be published in the newspapers : College of Physicians of Philadelphia, March 10, 1794. Present 1-5 members. The College, taking into consideration the disagreeable tendency of the many alarming reports which have prevailed for some time past respecting the existence of the disease called the yellow fever in the city, and being desirous to relieve the minds of the inhabitants from any unnecessary apprehensions, unanimously agreed to inform their fellow citizens that, to the best of their knowledge, there is not a single case of the above-mentioned fever in the city or Liberties. Published by order of the College. John Redman, President. March 14th. The Committee on the bill to regulate medical prac- tice submitted a report. The College substantially recommended that, except graduates of the University, applicants for license to practise physic within the State should be examined by persons appointed by the College for the purpose, and that the penalty for non-compliance with the law should be considerable. Also, that apothecaries should be examined and licensed. December 2d. Drs. Wistar, Say, and Benjamin Duffield were ap- pointed to consider the defects of the health laws and suggest suit- able amendments in a report to the College. Their report, January 6, 1795, may be found in the published Proceedings of the College of Physicians. 68 RUSCHENBERGER, NOTICE OF DR. JOHN CARSON. Dr. John Carson, a son of William Carson, who had emigrated from Antrim, Ireland, was born in Philadelphia November 12, 1752. No record of his career has been found. He received the degree of M.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and while abroad married Agnes Hunter. In 1786 he participated in the organization of the Philadelphia Dispensary ; and from May 11, 1786, till July 4, 1788, he was surgeon of the First Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry. While a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, he was elected, January 7, 1794, a professor of chem- istry in place of Dr. James Hutchinson, deceased. Dr. John Carson died October 26, 1794. December 17th. A committee from the Board of Health sub- mitted plans of a proposed hospital for contagious diseases, which were freely discussed. The average attendance at the fourteen meetings of 1795 was 10.2, January 26th. The report of the committee on the health laws was sent, as a memorial of the College, to the Legislature.^ At a special meeting February 10th, the Board of Health asked the cooperation of the College in devising a plan of a hospital for the accommodation of persons afflicted with contagious diseases. Drs. Kuhn, Parke, and Wistar were appointed to confer with the Board of Health on the subject. July 7th. In a letter to Dr. Samuel Duffield the Governor re- quested the College to nominate four of its members to advise the consulting .physician of the Port (Dr. Samuel Duffield) respecting the quarantine and purification of vessels, and the removal of persons infected with contagious diseases. Under instructions, the President sent to the Governor a list of the Fellows of the College from which he might make the appoint- ments desired. The Governor appointed Drs. Kuhn, Parke, Wistar, and Griffitts. 1 Proceedings of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, p. 9. Philadel- delphia, 1798. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 69 October 6th. Dr. Nicholas Way — appointed an associate, 1790 — appeared and took his seat as a Fellow of the College, having been elected at the previous meeting. Drs. John Gumming and Thomas C. James were elected Fellows. The average attendance at the twelve meetings of 1796 was 10. June 7th. Dr. William Annan was elected a Fellow. July 5th. Dr. Thomas C. James was elected Secretary. The College unanimously passed a vote of thanks to Dr. Samuel P. Griffitts for his punctual and assiduous attention to the duties of Secretary during eight years. The average attendance at the twenty-one meetings of 1797 was 9.6. August 15th. The Governor of the State addressed the President of the College requesting information in reference to the presence of yellow fever in the neighborhood of Penn Street ; and the opinion of the College upon the best mode of averting the threatened calamity. The receipt of the Governor's letter was acknowledged, informing him that a malignant contagious fever had appeared in Penn Street. Drs. Currie, Wistar, and Griffitts were appointed to report on "the measures necessary to prevent the introduction and prevention of contagious diseases." The report was made and sent to him August 17th in form of a letter. August 23d. The inspectors of the Board of Health requested the College to meet daily, or as often as may be convenient, to pub- lish such information, and offer such advice to the citizens as, in its judgment, may tend to check the progress of contagion ; and to communicate to the Board, from time to time, such information as may be deemed necessary. Drs. Kuhn, Wistar, and Hodge were appointed to report the next day on the method of purifying houses, regulating funerals, restrict- ing intercourse with houses in which contagious disease exists, and of checking the j^rogress and extension of contagion. August 24th, 5 P.M. The committee reported, and on the 25th the report was amended and adopted, and ordered to be laid before the inspectors of the Health Office. 70 RUSCHENBERGER, September 5th. A letter, dated August 26th, was received from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, requesting the College to com- municate to the Governor now whatever information it may have on the existing malignant fever; and as frequently as may be con- venient during the session of the Legislature, which was to meet tlie following iSIonday, that he might lay reliable statements on the sub- ject before the members. The President acknowledged the receipt of the letter the same day. October 30th. A letter, dated October 24th, from the Governor was read, asking "■ What measures ought to be pursued to purify the city from any latent infection ; and what precautions are best calcu- lated to guard against the future occurrence of a similar calamity?" Drs. Wistar, Grij05tts, and James were appointed to prepare a reply to the questions. An answer was submitted and unanimously adopted November 7th. The same committee was instructed to draft a memorial to the Legislature to carry into effect the propositions contained in the answer to the Governor's letter, and, December 5th, after its adop- tion by the College, to present it. Dr. Adam Sej'bert was elected a Fellow. Governor Mifflin did not regard the College of Physicians as the only source of reliable information on yellow fever. He addressed the following communication to Dr. Rush, which implies that his authority in the premises Avas highly estimated at the time. Philadelphia, 6th November, 1797. Sir: I am desirous to obtain, for the information of the Legisla- ture, the most correct account of the origin, progress, and nature of the disease that has recently afflicted the City of Philadelphia, with a view that the most efficacious steps should be taken to prevent a recurrence of so dreadful a calamity. I have requested the opinion of the College of Physicians on the subject ; but as I understand that you and many other learned members of the Faculty do not attend the deliberations of that institution, the result of my inquiries cannot be perfectly satisfactory without your cooperation and assist- INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 71 ance. Permit me, therefore, Sir, to beg the favor of you, and such of your brethren as you shall be pleased to consult, to state in answer to this letter the opinion which your i-esearches and experience have enabled you to form on the important subject of the present investi- gation. I am respectfully, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Thomas Mifflin. Dr. Benjamin Rush. A reply, without date, to this letter signed by Benjamin Rush, Charles Caldwell, William Dewees, John Redman Coxe, Philip Syng Physick, James Reynolds, Francis Boyes Sayre, John C. Otto, William Boys, Samuel Cooper, James Stuart, Felix Pascalis, and Joseph Strong, is published with the Governor's letter. It covers six octavo pages. The doctrine of local origin of the fever is ad- vocated in it. It is notable that the signers were among the founders of the American Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia.^ The average attendance at the seventeen meetings during 1798 was 10. January 2d. It was resolved to publish the proceedings of the College relative to the prevention of the introduction and spreading of contagious diseases. At a special meeting on the 23d, Drs. Wistar, Griffitts, and James, who had been appointed to superintend the publication, reported that the work had been printed. Its distribution was ordered. The title is as follows : * "Proceedings of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia relative to the prevention of the introduction and spreading of contagious diseases. Printed by Thomas Dobson, at the Stonehouse, No. 41 South Second Street, Philadelphia, 1798." 8vo. pp. 37. Lewis Library — Coll. Phys. of Philada. Parnphlets, No. 1558. It contains all the correspondence, memorials, etc., in connection with the proceedings from August 25, 1793, till December 26, 1797, inclusive. May 1st. Dr. James Hall, one of the junior founders, having re- turned to the city, after an absence of some years, resumed his fel- lowship in the College. 1 The Medical Repository, vol. i. pp. 391-98. New York, 1797. 72 RUSCHENBERGER, August 6th. The President called a special meeting in conse- quence of a report made to him by Dr. Wistar that malignant fever existed in the city. The College directed the information to be given to the Board of Health. Aucrust 7th. Drs. Parke and James were instructed to wait upon the Board of Health this evening, to learn what measures have been taken in connection with the subject of the communication made to it on the 6th. November 13th. Drs. Wistar, GriflStts, and James were appointed to investigate the origin and progress of the malignant contagious fever of this year. Their report was submitted and read December 4th. December 11th. Drs. Kuhn, Currie, Parke, Wistar, Griffitts, and James were appointed to draw up a narrative of the proceedings of the College in 1793 and 1797, and the fticts relative to the origin and progress of the malignant fever of 1798, with a statement of the best methods of preventing the introduction of similar diseases in the future. December 24th. Their report was adopted and ordered to be pub- lished.^ It is entitled: "Facts and observations relative to the nature and origin of the pestilential fever which prevailed in this City in 1793, 1797, and 1798. By the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Printed by Thomas Dobson, at the Stonehouse, No. 41 South Second Street, Philadelphia, 1798-1800." Pp. 52. No. 485, Leivis Library — Cfoll. of Phys. of PMlada. The opinion of the College, expressed in this pamphlet, is that yellow fever is imported and its extension is a result of contagion. The average attendance at twenty meetings during 1799 was 10.7. January 1st. A copy of the pamphlet, "Facts and Observations," etc., was sent to each member of the State and of the Federal Leg- islatures, of the City Corporation, of the Board of Health, as well as to corresponding medical societies. Letters on the origin of fever, addressed to Dr. Currie, by Dr. 1 Five members of the committee with Drs. Dorsey, Seybert, and Say, con- stituted the meeting. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 73 Edward Miller, of New York, and by Drs. Isaac Rand and John Warren, of Boston, were read. February 5th. Drs. Wistar, Griffitts, and Leib Avere appointed to confer with members of the House of Representatives of the Com- monwealth in reference to amending the health law then under con- sideration, and to draft a memorial on the subject. February 8th. The memorial submitted was adopted by the College, and the committee directed to present it to the Legislature. It is as follows : To the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Penii- sylvania: The Memorial of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia respectfully represents — that they have considered the bill for estab- lishing an health office, now before your house, with that attention which a subject so important to every member of the community naturally excites, and are convinced that it is materially defective in several respects, which they beg leave to specify. 1st. The Board of Health is enjoined and empowered to perform several duties, viz., to appoint a resident and consulting physician, to make regulations for the Lazaretto, and the vessels under quarantine, to prescribe the mode of visiting vessels, persons, and houses. "To determine, when any suspicion arises in the mind of the resident physician or quarantine master respecting the infectious state of any vessel, cargo, or crew," what measures shall be taken to purify the cargo and restore the health of the diseased persons— which said duties can only be performed by persons who are acquainted with the nature of diseases and the effects of the opei'ations of contagion — but that bill does not provide for the formation of a Board of Health possessed of such information ; on the contrary, each board, probably uninformed, is directed to nominate its successors, whereby errors, if any arise, may be perpetuated. By repeated experience the College is induced to believe that the most important objects of the law, the prevention of the introduction and extension of pestilential and con- tagious diseases, will be lost if the Board of Health have not this information. 2d. The law allows an annual rotation of the members of the Board of Health, whereby it will probably be composed of new mem- 74 RUSCHENBERGER, bers in the season of danger when the experiences of former years will be necessary. Whereas, the only principle upon which men originally unacquainted with the object of their appointment can be supposed capable of performing the duties of it, is their long continu- ance in office. 3d. The law makes no special provision for preventing the intro- duction of the plague to which we are exposed at all seasons of the year, more especially by the constant intercourse between this country and Algiers, which has lately taken place. By order of the College of Physicians. John Redman, President. Thomas C. James, Secretary. June 4th. The proposition offered May, 1798, to make the annual contribution of fellows three dollars, was adopted. July 1, 1799 — present 15. A special meeting was called by the President in compliance with a request of the Board of Health, in consequence of the prevalence of an alarming fever. After a free interchange of opinion, it was resolved that — From information which the College has received from several of its members, it appears that there exists in Penn Street and its vicinity, a malignant fever of the same nature with that which pre- vailed in Philadelphia in 1793, 1797, and 1798 : and it is the opinion of the College that, taking early and proper precautions, such as separating the diseased from the healthy, removing the shipping which lie from South to Pine Street, to a safe distance from the city ; and evacuating and carefully inspecting the dwelling-houses, stores, and counting-houses, and the wharves, within the limits aforesaid, will be the most effectual means of checking the further progress of the disease. Dr. Griffitts was desired to hand a copy of the above to the Board of Health. July 2d. The following reply was received : Health Office, 7th mo. 2d, 1799. To the College of Physicians : The Board of Health received Avith gratitude the communication from your College. They have endeavored to give it the weight a INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 75 communication from so respectable a source demanded, but they can- not coincide in sentiment with you regarding the propriety of issuing a proclamation, or giving a direction for the removal of the inhabi- tants from the part of the town you mention, or the vessels from the wharves adjoining. A public notification would perhaps create a terror that might add to the predisposing cause of the sickness, if any such cause exists. They are convinced of the necessity of early precaution, but they also dread to give an alarm, which must inju- riously affect the welfare of the city, and which may, perhaps, even- tually be unnecessary, the consequences of which as it regards the health are doubtful, but which would certainly operate powerfully against the interest of the citizens. They solicit your attention to the effects of a publication from you on this subject, and shall be obliged by every information which can be had to assist them in maturing their opinions at this eventful period. By order of the Board. Edwaed Garrigues, President. Paschall Hollingsworth, Secretary. It was resolved that each Fellow give formal information to the Board of Health, and also to the College, of every case of malignant fever which may come under his notice, as soon as its nature has been ascertained ; and, until further notice, the College meet every other evening at 8 o'clock. August 21, 1799. The President, at the instance of several Fel- lows of the College, called a special meeting to consider the present state of health in the city. After discussion, it was agreed to send the following to the Board of Health : Gentlemen : The College of Physicians conceive it to be their duty to inform you that recent events have confirmed the opinion which they have lately expressed to your board, and they feel it incumbent on them to repeat, that a malignant contagious fever, of the same nature with the disease which raged here in the years 1793, '97, and '98, prevails among us at this time to a very alarm- ing degree. By order of the College. Wm. Shippen, Vice-President. Thos. C. James, Secretary. 76 RUSCHENBERGER, Sept. 24th. The President called a special meeting to consider the followincr communication from the Governor of the State : Falls of ScHt7YLKiLL, 20 Sept., 1799. Sir : At the instance of many of our fellow-citizens, I am induced to request that you will obtain from the College of Physicians a representation, whether, in their opinion, the lives of the electors will be in danger from the prevalence of any malignant or contagious fever by attending at the place fixed by law for holding the ensuing general election, within the city and suburbs of Philadelphia ? The Act of Assembly renders such a representation necessary before the places of election can be changed : and therefore I hope the College will favor me with an early communication of the result of their deliberations on the subject. I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, sir, your most obedient humble servant, Thomas Mifflin. Dr. Redman, President of the College of Physicians. The College answered as follows : Philadelphia^ Sept. 24, 1799. Sir : In answer to your letter of the 20tli inst. I am directed by the College of Physicians to inform you that from present appear- ances they judge it will not be safe to hold the election at the Com- missioners Hall in Southwark — that the Town House in the Northern Liberties will be safe, and that it will be most advisable not to hold the election at the State House. I have the honor to be with great respect and esteem, sir, your friend and servant, John Redman. Thomas Mifflin, Esq., Governor of the State of Pennsylvania. Nov. 26th. The President called a snecial meetincc to consider the following communication from the Secretary of the Commonwealth : Sir : The Governor directs me to request that you will favor him with the sentiments of the College of Physicians on the origin and INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 77 nature of the late fever, and any improvement that can be made in our system of health laws. I am, with great respect, sir, your most obedient humble servant, A. J. Dallas, Secretary. Dr. Redman. November 20, 1799. Drs. Wistar, Griffitts, Currie, and James were appointed to draft an answer, which was submitted and approved Nov. 28, and is as follows : Sir. : In compliance with your ref^uest, expressed in Mr. Dallas's note of the 20th inst., the College was convened on the 26th, by their direction. I now inform you that they believe the origin and nature of the late fever to be precisely similar to those of 1793, 1797, and 1798. In our memorial to the Assembly in 1797, as well as in our publi- cation of last year, entitled Facts and observations relative to the nature and origin of pestilential fever, etc., we gave our sentiments fully on this important subject, accompanied with a minute detail of facts in support of our opinions. Without entering at present into any further relation of facts, which time will not permit, and a repetition of which we suppose to be unnecessary, we shall remark generally that the parts of the city and of Southwark contiguous to the river, where the fever this year, as heretofore, appeared, its symptoms and progress all tend to confirm our former opinions that it is a pestilential contagious disease intro- duced amongst us by the shipping. With respect to the health laws, we repeat that the Board of Health ought to consist of persons who have a competent knowledge of the subject. Every law for securing the city against the destructive effects of any pestilential contagious disease should have for its second object the speedy extinction of such contagions when they appear. Measures for the purpose can be of no avail unless they are under- taken soon after the disease is known to exist, but the experience of the last two years has been that those who are not qualified to judge promptly may doubt of the existence of the disease until the oppor- 78 RUSCHENBERGER, tunity of preventing its extension is lost. And that, notwithstanding the diiFerence of opinion amongst physicians respecting the origin, yet they have generally been agreed as to the existence of the fever very soon after its appearance. No person whose private interest may be affected by quarantine laws should be a member of this board, the business of which would be more usefully conducted if the change of members were not so frequent, as the experience gained by one year's service is lost by the customary rotation. The laws might be more simple. The quarantine should commence on the first day of May, after which time no vessels subject thereto should be permitted to come up to the city until the middle of October. By order of the College. John Redman, President. November 28, 1799. Thomas Mifflin, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The average attendance at the twelve meetings during the year 1800, was 9.8 ; and of the thirteen meetings of 1801, 8.7. One Associate and one Fellow were elected in 1800, and two Fellows in 1801. It is noted, in 1800, that the rent of the apartment occupied by the College was fixed at $40 a year ; and, Dec. 1, 1801, twelve members present, the by-laws were amended so as to make seven a quorum for election of Fellows. At the fourteen meetings of 1802 the average attendance was 9. Feb. 2d. Dr. Glentworth proposed Dr. Jenner, and Dr. Parke nominated Dr. Lettsom as Associates. March 2d. Dr. Lettsom was elected an Associate of the College, but Dr. Jenner's nomination was not approved, or noted on the minutes. July 6th. Dr. Thomas T. Hewson was elected Secretary of the College. July 16th. Present, 12 Fellows. The Vice-President called a special meeting at the instance of the President of the Board of INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 79 Health, in consequence of the prevalence of an alarming fever in the vicinity of Vine and Front Streets. After a free interchange of views, it was resolved : "From information which the College has received from several of its members, it appears that a malignant fever of the same nature with that which prevailed in 1793, '97, '98, and '99 has existed for ten or twelve days past in the vicinity of Vine and Front Streets, and it is the opinion of the College that the most effectual means of checking the progress of the disease will be an immediate separation of the sick from the healthy, and a recommendation to the healthy in the neighborhood of the sick to remove into the country, and a general suspension of intercourse with the infected houses." The Secretary was desired to present to the Board of Health a copy of the resolution, with the two pamphlets published by the College. Nov. 2d. Drs. Griffitts, Currie, and Wistar were appointed to con- sider the present state of the health laws. They submitted a report Nov. 16th. Drs. Wistar, Griffitts, Currie, and Leib were appointed to draft a memorial on the subject to the Assembly of the Common- wealth, which was adopted Dec. 7th ; and copies of it were distributed to members of both houses of the Legislature. It is as follows : To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania : The Memorial of the College of Physicians re- spectfully showeth — That your memorialists have a common interest with their fellow-citizens in the prosperity of this city ; that prompted by this common interest they submit to you their opinions, the result of experience and mature consideration, on the system necessary to be adopted to guard against the introduction of pestilential and contagious diseases from foreign countries. They conceive that the inefficacy of the existing regulations contained in the present health laws is not only known to you, but that it is universally acknowledged, and that public opinion and public safety call for a more efficient system. Your memorialists forbear entering into the subject ; they apprehend it to be unnecessary to enter into a detail of the minor points of regulation ; they mean only to suggest the general princi- ples of the law, leaving the development to the wisdom of the Legis- lature. 80 RUSCHENBERGER, Under tliese impressions your memorialists beg leave to submit the following propositions : That a Board of Health, to consist of not more than five persons, be appointed by the Governor, who shall be commissioned during good behavior, and receive an adequate compensation for their services. That no vessel from any port or place specified in the fifth section of the present health law, the European ports of the Mediterranean excepted, be permitted to come up to the city from the 1st of May till the 1st of October. That the Board of Health have full power, in case of the appear- ance of pestilential and contagious disease in the city or its suburbs, to remove the persons infected, their attendants, and the families in which the disease occurs. The Board of Health, your memorialists conceive, requires a new organization ; its duties are arduous and not without hazard ; they require time and attention, and necessarily interfere with the avoca- tions of men of business who are competent to the situation. It cannot therefore be expected that they can be effectually performed unless some emolument be attached to the service. Its members ought to be few, to hold their ofiices during good behavior, and be appointed by the Governor, inasmuch as promptitude and vigor are more the attributes of small than of large bodies, as experience is necessary to the due performance of their duty, and as an efficient responsibility will thereby be annexed to the appointment. Such is the subtle nature of contagion and such the inefficiency of means hitherto employed to prevent its introduction, that nothing short of an actual interdiction of intercourse with the infected places appears competent to its prevention ; your memorialists are therefore of opinion that the only actual security of the citizens against the im- portation of diseases of a malignanfr and contagious character from foreign countries must be found in the total exclusion of vessels from infected ports during the period above recited. That the Board of 'Health ought to have a plenary power to re- move persons infected with malignant and contagious diseases and INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 81 those who have been within the sphere of their action, your memor- ialists conceive has been amply demonstrated by the sad experience of several years. The arrestation of such diseases depends more upon the removal of the sick than of the healthy, as the records of the years '93, '97, '98, '99, and the present year will evince, for even the almost entire depopulation of the city unaided by frost was insuf- ficient to its extinction. These general propositions are submitted by your memorialists with deference, but with a sincere conviction that on their adoption depends the future safety of Philadelphia against the ravages of that disease which has impoverished many a worthy family, and con- signed many a valuable citizen to the grave. By order of the College. John Redman, President. Thos. T. Hewson, Secretary. At the twelve meetings of 1803, the average attendance was 7.7, January 4th. Drs, Robert Harris and Charles Caldwell, by declining to pay the annual contribution for three successive years, have vacated their seats. The Secretary was directed to furnish them with a copy of this minute. At the twelve meetings of 1804, the average attendance was 7. July 3d. Previous to the annual election, a letter was read from Dr. Redman, expressing a desire that another should be elected President in his place. No change of officers was made. The Secretary was directed to inform Dr. Redman of his election, and to assure him of the respect and esteem of the College. October 2d. Drs. Currie, Seybert, and Hewson were appointed to assist — as prescribed by Article 7 of the Constitution of the Society — the Presidents and Censors to consider Avhat papers in possession of the College are proper for publication. The average attendance at the seventeen meetings of 1805 was 7.5. January 1st. The Committee selected thirteen papers to be pub- lished. 6 82 RUSCHENBEKGER, The Committee on Publication was requested to examine the papers on malignant, contagious fever, and report what measures in reference to them are proper to be taken by the College. April 2d. The Vice-President was requested to ask Dr. Munson, Sr., of New Haven, as to the authenticity of Coleman's " History of the Importation of Yellow Fever into New Haven in 1794." June 4th. The use of the room occupied by the College was granted to the Agricultural Society on condition that it pay half the yearly rent of the room, $20. July 2d. William Shippen was elected President ; Adam Kuhn, Vice-President ; Samuel Duffield, Thomas Parke, Caspar Wistar, and Samuel P. Griffitts, Censors; Thomas Say, Treasurer; and Thomas T. Hewson, Secretary. August 20th. At a special meeting, called at his request, Dr. Currie stated that a malignant fever had appeared in the neighbor- hood of Catharine and Water Streets. September 10th. Dr. Currie stated that the malignant fever had spread considerably in Southwark, but the number of cases within the city limits had not increased ; also, that he and Dr. James had been appointed by the Board of Health to request the College to point out the means of preventing the contagion from extending in the city. Drs. Griffitts, Wistar, and Parke were appointed to confer with the Board of Health on the subject. September 19th. A special meeting, called at the request of the Board of Health, in reference to the following letter from the Secretary of the Commonwealth : Lancaster, September 15, 1805. Sir : The Governor directs me to call the attention of the Board of Health to the 25th Section of the Act of Assembly, passed the fifteenth day of February, 1799, entitled " An Act to regulate the General Elections within the Commonwealth," and request that the Board will be pleased to inform him whether the state of the malig- nant fever at present prevailing in the suburbs and City of Philadel- phia will render it necessary to change the places fixed by law for INSTITUTIOX OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 83 holding the next general elections within the same, and if so, to point out the places they may deem most convenient for said pur- poses. I am, sir, very respectfully, Your most obedient servant, T. M. Thompson. Ebenezer Ferguson, Esq., President of the Board of Health. P. S. — Be pleased to communicate this to the College of Physicians of the City of Philadelphia. The College directed the Secretary to furnish the Board of Health with a copy of the following resolution : That it is the opinion of the College, that, from present appearances, it will not be safe to hold the election at the Commissioners' Hall in Southwark ; that the usual places of holding the elections in the City and Northern Liberties will be safe. October 1st. In a letter to the Vice-President, dated New Haven, May 3, 1805, Dr. Eneas Munson confirmed his account of the origin of the yellow fever at New Haven in 1794. December 10th. Drs. Griffitts and James were appointed to super- intend the publication of the papers on malignant fever. The work is entitled: "Additional Facts and Observations Rela- tive to the Nature and Origin of the Pestilential Fever." By the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 8vo., pp. 99. Printed by A. Bartram. For Thomas Dobson, at the Stonehouse, No. 41 South Second Street. Philadelphia, 1806. Lewis Library, Coll. Phys. of Pkilada., No. 485. Copies of the work were distributed February 4, 1806. The average attendance of the 12 meetings of 1806 was 6.7 ; of the 12 meetings of 1807, was 7.2 ; of the 12 meetings of 1808, was 6.5; of the 12 meetings of 1809, was Q.b; of the 12 meetings of 1810, was 6.3 ; of the 13 meetings of 1811, was Q.Q, and of the 12 meetings of 1812, was 5.9. During the first twenty years of the recorded existence of the Col- lege, ending January, 1807, the average attendance at the meetings was numerically small ; but relative to the number of Fellows it was as large as it is now. In January, 1787, the College consisted of 84 RUSCHENBEKGER, 24 Fellows, the founders. Between that time and January, 1807, 22 were elected, making an aggregate of 46. From this are to be deducted three who forfeited their fellowship ; three who resigned, and six who died, making 12, leaving the number 34. And tAvo or three were absent from the city during months at a time. From these data it is conjectured that about one-third of the Fellows in the city attended the stated and special meetings. Many of the Fellows of the College were members of other socie- ties of the time, which claimed their attention and presence ; and the Fellows generally were actively engaged in professional business. The American Medical Society still existed. The Philadelphia Medical Society was carried on with spirit, and held weekly meet- ings. Those Fellows of the College who were professors in the University, as well as others, were very frequently present, and the fortnightly stated meetings of the American Philosophical Society were usually attended by some of the Fellows of the College, many of whom were members of it, as well as of the Philadelphia Medical Society. The Chemical Society of Philadelphia, which was instituted in 1792, held stated meetings weekly, in the Philadelphia Laboratory, or Anatomical Hall. Some of the Fellows of the College were members of it. The chief purpose of this Association was to acquire information relative to the minerals of the United States. A stand- ing committee of five was charged with the duty of analyzing any mineral which might be submitted to it, provided it were sent free of expense, with an account of the locality and situation in which it was found. The analyses were made without charge. Notice of these terms was published in several newspapers of the United States. In 1797 the members of the Analyzing Committee, to either of whom a mineral might be submitted for examination and report were : Thomas Smith, No. 19 North Fifth Street. James Woodhouse, No. 13 Cherry Street. Samuel Cooper, No. 178 South Front Street. Adam Seyhert, 191 North Second Street. John C. Otto, 37 North Fourth Street.^ 1 The Weekly Magazine, Philadelphia, February 3, 1798. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 85 In April, 1798, Thomas P. Smith delivered a "learned and ingeni- ous oration " before the Society, a copy of which was requested for publication. George Lee was the Junior Secretary. The officers of the Chemical Society of Philadelphia in 1802, were James Woodhouse, President ; Felix Pascalis and John Redman, Vice-Presidents ; William S. Jacobs, Librarian ; William Brown, John S. Dorsey, Curates; John Y. Bryant, Treasurer; Thomas Brown, Secretary} A Society for investigating the causes for the late mortality in this city is about to be instituted, and a book for the subscription of such as mean to become members of it, lies at the bookstore of Mr. Armrod, No. 41 Chestnut St.^ This public notice probably relates to the Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia. From the mutilated I'ecord of proceedings of this short-lived society, bits of its history, the names of some of its members may be learned. January 15, 1798. Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia. Pre- sent, Physick, President; Caldwell and Reynolds, Vice-Presidents; Rush, Strong, Cooper, Otto, Coxe, Budd, Dewees, Pascalis, Heylin, Gallaher, and Sayre. The by-laws were discussed. Adjourned to meet January 22d, 6 o'clock P.M. at Mr. Lees school-room in Norris's Alley. January 22d. In addition to those named above Dr. Mease is noted among those present. July 9, 1798. Roll of members to be called, and fines of absentees to be collected. August 8th. The Academy presented to the Board of Health a document embracing its views on the yellow fever, then prevailing, which was published for the information of the public and signed by the President, Philip Syng Physick, and Secretary, Francis Bowes Sayre.^ 1 The Philadelphia Directory, City and County Register for 1802. By James Robinson. The names of Fellows of the College are in italics. ' The Weekly Magazine, vol. i. p. 3L Philadelphia, 1798. ^ History of Yellow Fever, 1798. By Thomas Condie and Richard Folwell. 86 RUSCHENBERGER, November 20th. Francis Bowes Sayre and Cooper reported dead. Dr. Mease was appointed to read a memoir of Sayre, and Dr. Coxe a memoir of Cooper. J. C. Otto, Secretary. December 10th. A seal of the Society was adopted, with the legend, " The Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia. Instituted January 8, 1798." The incorporation of the Society was proposed. It was resolved to meet in the future at Mr. Pool's school-room in Cherry Alley. December 17th. Dr. Caldwell delivered the semi-annual address, a copy of which was requested for immediate publication. Dr. Mease read the report of a committee appointed to draft an answer to the publication of the College of Physicians. Dr. Coxe delivered an eulogium on Dr. Sayre. January 15, 1799. The answer to the College of Physicians was ordered to be inserted in the several newspapers of the city. Dr. Mease read his eulogium on Dr. Cooper. February 11, 1799. Ordered that 6 copies of Dr. Caldwell's semi- annual address be given to each member of the Academy ; that 300 copies be retained by the librarian, and the rest to be disposed of by Mr. Bradford.^ At a stated meeting of the Academy of Medicine, the following were elected officers for 1799 : Philip Syng Physick, President ; Charles Caldwell and William Dewees, Vice-Presidents ; John C. Otto, Secretary ; James Gallaher, Librarian ; William Budd, Treasurer. Charles Caldwell, William Dewees, James Mease, Felix Pascalis, and James Reynolds, Committee on Correspondence- John Redman Coxe, John C. Otto, James Stewart, and Rene La Roche, Committee on Meteorology. Benjamin Rush, Philip Syng Physick, and Joseph Strong, Com- mittee on Revision. William Budd, James Gallaher, and Isaac Heylin, Committee on Annual bills of Mortality. 1 Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Collection of Manuscripts. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 87 The Academy Avill publish a volume of transactions in the course of a few weeks/ The Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia did not long survive. The Medical Lyceum of Philadelphia was founded in 1804. The following list of its officers is given in Robinson's Philadelphia Directory for 1806. Drs. John Redman Coxe, William P. Dewees, N. Chapman, and John S. Dorsey, Presidents ; Dr. E. Griffiths, Treasurer ; Dr. J. C. Rousseau, Librarian ; Dr. C Meredith, Curator ; Dr. G. Farquhar, Corresponding Secretary ; and Samuel Tucker, Recording Secretary.^ A prize of a gold medal worth fifty dollars was offered February 5, 1808, for the best essay on the question, "Does the human body possess the jDOwer of absorbing substances applied to its surface? "^ The essays were to be submitted before January 1, 1809. No award was made. The offer of the prize was renewed February 22, 1809. For 1809 the officers were John Syng Dorsey, President ; Messrs. Armstrong, and Mezyek, Vice-Presidents ; Elijah Griffiths, Treas- urer; Dr. Barton, Jun., Librarian; Dr. William Shaw, Curator; Dr. J. C. Rousseau, Corresponding Secretary ; and — Clark, Re- cording Secretary. Notice of the Medical Lyceum after 1819 has not been met with. The number of Fellows habitually present at the meetings was probably somewhat restricted, not only by the meetings of several societies in which they were interested, but also by the lack of pub- lication of transactions. Fellows of the Society in many instances published papers in periodicals, in preference to presenting them to the College. Drs. Thomas T. Hewson, Joseph Parrish, John C. Otto, and Thomas C. James edited " The Eclectic Repertory and Analytical 1 Medical Eepository, 1799. 2 Medical Museum, vol. 2, 1806. s Medical Museum, vol. 5, 1808. 88 EUSCHENBERGER, Review, Medical and Philosophical. Edited by a Society of Physi- cians." The first quarterly number appeared October, 1810, and the publication continued till October, 1820. The first number of a new series was begun January, 1821, entitled " The Journal of Foreign Medical Science and Literature," being a continuation of the "Eclec- tic Repertory," conducted by Samuel Emlen, Jr., M.D., William Price, M.D. A^ol. 3, 1823, edited by Samuel Emlen, Jr., M.D., and the 4th and last, 1824, by John D. Goodman, M.D. Whatever may have been the cause, the College was in a languid condition during several years. June 2, 1807, the entrance fee was reduced from $26.67 to $15. NOTICE OF DR. JOHN REDMAN. After more than eighteen years' service Dr. Redman, in compli- ance with his often expressed wish, was relieved of the presidency of the College July 2, 1805. He died of apoplexy at the advanced age of 86 years, March 19, 1808, two years and eight months after Dr. William Shippen had been elected in his place. He had been a faithful and efiicient officer, rarely absent from the meetings ; was one of the founders of the College, and yet no notice of his death is recorded on its minutes. The many references to him in the preceding pages imply that he was highly respected in the community on account of his benevolent character and professional skill. His deportment seems to have been always sincere, pleasant, but somewhat sedate. He is not named in connection with any occasion of mirth or festivity ; but Dr. Benjamin Rush, who habitually garnered, or rather hoarded, every scrap of manuscript which came to him, has left among his papers the follow- ing : "Dr. Redman's Toast, — The dignity and success of the healing art : And long health, competent wealth, and exquisite happiness to the individual practitioner, Avho makes the health, and comfort and happiness of his fellow mortals one of the chief ends and delights of his life, and acts therein from motives that render him superior to all the difficulties he may have to encounter in the pursuit thereof."^ 1 Rush MS., vol. 22, p. 8. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 89 By preserving that bit of paper, Dr. Rush has unconsciously cast a little gem on the cairn of his dear old master. It is a witness of his devotion to "the healing art;" and indicates what the conduct and qualifications of the "individual practitioner" should be, in his opinion, to deserve the many blessings which he provisionally wishes for him. The toast was good and applicable when delivered, is now, and ever will be. It holds up precepts which, if generally followed as closely as the first president of the College seems to have followed them, would augment the worthiness of the profession, and conse- quently the esteem of the people for its members. Dr. Redman was born in Philadelphia, February 27, 1722. He was educated at Mr. Tennent's Academy, and studied medicine under Dr. John Kearsley. When he was qualified to practise, he went to Bermuda, where he remained several years, and thence to Europe. He passed one year in Edinburgh, attended lectures, dissections, and hospitals in Paris, and graduated at Leyden, July, 1748. After pass- ing some time at Guy's Hospital, he returned to and settled in Phila- delphia, where he soon acquired celebrity. He was one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital from 1751 to 1780 ; one of the trustees of the College of Philadelphia, 1765 ; and a member of the American Philosophical Society from January 19, 1768. When he retired from practice, 1784, he was elected an elder of the Second Presbyterian Church. He published in 1759, A Defence of Inoculation. During forty years Dr. Redman resided on the west side of Sec- ond Street, about a hundred yards south of Arch Street. He " was somewhat below the middle stature, his complexion was dark, his eyes black and uncommonly animated ; and his gesture and speech such as indicated a mind always busy and teeming with new and original conceptions of human and divine things."^ Dr. Redman was "an antiquated looking old gentleman, usually habited in a broad-skirted dark coat, with long pocket flaps, buttoned across his under dress ; wearing, in strict conformity with the cut of his coat, a pair of Baron Steuben's style of military boots, coming above the knees for riding. His hat flapped before and cocked up * Medical Museum, vol. v. ♦ 90 RUSCHENBERGER, smartly behind, covering a full bottomed powdered wig — in front of wbicli might be seen an eagle pointed nose, separating a pair of piercing black eyes — his lips exhibiting (but only now and then), a quick motion, as though at the moment he was endeavoring to extract the essence of a small quid."^ At a special meeting, July 25, 1808, Dr. Caspar Wistar was chosen by ballot to prepare an eulogium in commemoration of Dr. William Shippen, late President of the Society, which was delivered in the college hall in Fourth Street, March 7, 1809, in presence of different societies invited to attend.^ Dr. Adam Kuhn was elected President, Dr. Samuel Duffield, Vice- president, and Dr. William Currie, a Censor, September 6, 1808. NOTICE OF DR. WILLIAM SHIPPEN. Much has been said of the career of Dr. Shippen in preceding pages. Yet something may be properly added. Dr. William Shippen, Jr. — commonly called professor, to dis- tinguish him from his eminent father, William Shippen, the elder — was born in Philadelphia, Oct. 21, 1736, and died in Germantown, July 11, 1808, aged 71 years.' He received a bachelor's degree from the College of New Jersey in 1754. His father taught him medicine till 1758, when he went to Europe. In 1761 the University of Edinbui'gh conferred upon him the degree of doctor of medicine. He returned to Philadelphia in May, 1762, and, the same year, Nov. 16, delivered at the State House an introductory lecture to a course of lectures on anatomy the first delivered in Philadelphia, if not in America. The regular coui'se began at his father's house in Fourth St., Nov. 26th. His lectures were repeated yearly till Sept. 23, 1765, when he was elected 1 Watson's Annals, vol. ii. p. 382. ^ This discourse was not printed till after Dr. Wistar's death, 1818. ' Descendants of Dr. 'William Shippen. Compiled by Mr. Charles E. Hilde- burn. ' The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. i. p. 109, 1877. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 91 professor of anatomy and surgery in tlie Medical School of the Col- lege of Philadelphia, which had been planned and inaugurated by Dr. John Morgan, May, 1765. After the College was superseded by the University of the State of Pennsylvania its trustees elected him. May 11, 1780, professor of anatomy, surgery, and midwifery. Afterward he was professor of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania till 1806, when he retired. He was appointed, July 15, 1776, " chief physician of the flying camp." He submitted to Congress, March, 1777, a plan for the organization of a hospital department, which, with some modifica- tion, was adopted. Congress elected him, April 11, 1777, "Director- General of all the military hospitals of the Armies of the United States," an office from which he resigned Jan. 3, 1781. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society Nov. 1767, one of its Curators for 1771, and one of its Secretaries for 1772. If he contributed anything to the literature of either medicine or science, it has not been found. His claim to the enduring approba- tion of his fellow-citizens mainly rests on his being the pioneer of systematic teaching of anatomy and surgery in Philapelphia, for which he was eminently qualified. His skill, his eloquence as a teacher, exercised during forty years in the first medical school of the country, made him widely known at home and abroad, and won for him permanent distinction and respect in the medical world. Nov. 5, 1811, Drs. Parke and Griffitts were appointed to confer with the Board of Health in compliance with its request. They re- ported, Feb. 4, 1812, that the Board of Health urged the coopera- tion of the College in an application to the Legislature for renewal of the health law. Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the senior class of founders of the College, died April 19, 1813. He resigned in 1793. Though he has been the subject of many eulogies his life has not been precisely described. 92 RUSCHENBERGER, NOTICE OF DR. BENJAMIN RUSH. Dr. Rush was born on his fathers farm, twelve or fourteen miles northeast of Philadelphia, Dec. 24, 1745. Both his grandfather, James Rush, who died in 1727, and his father, John Rush, were gunsmiths. Their ancestors, most of them members of the Society of Friends, followed William Penn to this country 1683. While Dr. Rush was very young his father died, and left him to the care of his mother, to whose affectionate effort he was indebted for his education. Her very limited means prompted her, for the wel- fare of her son, to establish herself on Market Street east of Second, in a retail trade of groceries and provisions. Her place of business was indicated by a sign, and known as the "Blazing Star." The crown of her enterprise, industry, and maternal devotion is seen in the renown of her son : she alone enabled him to achieve it. About the age of eight or nine years Rush was placed in the West Nottingham grammar school, sixty miles southwest from Philadel- phia, then in charge of his uncle, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley. After due preparation he was transferred to the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, from which he received the bachelor's degree in 1760, before he had completed his fifteenth year. He was next apprenticed to Dr. John Redman for six years. He kept a common-place book, and in it made notes of his observations on the yellow fever prevalent in 1762. During his seventeenth year he translated the Aphorisms of Hippocrates from Greek into English. At the conclusion of his apprenticeship he went to Europe, and after publicly defending a thesis, De Coctione cihorum in ventriculo, the University of Edinburgh conferred upon him, in 1768, the degree of doctor of medicine. Then he passed some time in London, attending hospitals and lectures. After a visit to Paris, he returned to Philadelphia in the spring of 1769, started in the practice of medicine and was soon elected professor of chemistry in the College of Philadelphia. February 26, 1768, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society ; a curator, 1770-72 ; one of the secretaries, INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 93 1773-76 ; one of the councillors, 1786 ; and one of the vice-presi- dents, 1797 to 1801. He contributed six papers to the Transactions of the Society. He was active among those who planned and established the Philadelphia Dispensary, in 1786, and was one of its attending physicians. In 1789 he was elected professor of the theory and practice of medicine, vice Dr. Morgan, deceased; and was one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital during thirty years. He was a member of Congress six and a half months, from July 20, 1776, and, after it had been engrossed, signed the Declaration of Independence, which had been adopted prior to his election. He was appointed, in 1777, physician-general of the military hos- pital of the middle department. In 1789 he was a member of the convention of Pennsylvania for the adoption of the federal constitution. President John Adams appointed him Treasurer of the Mint of the United States ; he held the office during the last fourteen years of his life. Dr. Rush possessed quick perception and tenacious memory. He was an early riser, persistently industrious, and his facility in the use of language in writing, conversation, and public speaking was eminent. " His gentleness of manner, his sympathy with the distressed, his kindness to the poor, his varied and extensive erudition, his profes- sional acquirements, and his faithful attention to the sick, all united in procuring for him the esteem and respect, and the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and thereby introducing him to an extensive and lucrative practice." During several years he had from fifteen to thirty private pupils, students in his office. His philanthropy was manifested in promoting whatever seemed to him likely to ameliorate the condition of mankind. He favored all means of education, recommended the establishment of free schools in every county of the State. He was active in promoting the >onterests of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa. He advocated tem- perance, and was president of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery. 94 RUSCHENBERGER, He condemned the use of tobacco and was opposed to capital pun- ishment. In spite of his general benevolence he was dogmatic, impatient of contradiction, and often unreasonably resentful. Some conflict of opinion on College affairs with the Provost, the Rev. Dr. John Ewing, prompted him to sever his membership with the Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. Dr. was pastor. His attitude was unfriendly and resentful to those medical friends whose opinions in connection with yellow fever were in conflict with his own. His relations with many of the medical men of Philadelphia became so unpleasant to his sen- sitive nature that, in 1797, he expressed readiness to remove to New York, provided he were appointed to a medical professorship in Columbia College. Aug. 13, 1813. Dr. Samuel Duffield declined reelection to the office of Vice-President, because his condition of health prevented him from attending the meetings of the College. Aug. 2, 1814. Arrears of rent for three years were ordered to be paid. An inefiectual application to reduce the rent of the room occupied by the College to less than forty dollars a year was made Dec. 6, 1814, and again March 7, 1815. July 4, 1815, the reported balance in the treasury was $141.81. Jan. 2, 1816, an examination and selection of papers in possession of the College suitable for publication was ordered. Aug. 5, 1817. The decease of our much respected President, Dr. Adam Kuhn, having taken place since our last meeting, the Secre- tary is directed to record it. NOTICE OF DR. ADAM KUHN. Dr. Adam Kuhn was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Novem- ber 17, 1741, old style. His grandfather, John Christopher, and his father, Adam Simon Kuhn, were natives of Furfeld, a small town INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 95 on the Neckar in the circle of Suabia. Both came to Philadelphia in 1733. Adam Simon Kuhn was a bright man, improved by a liberal edu- cation, and was considered a very skilful and successful practitioner of medicine. He was a magistrate of the borough of Lancaster and an elder of the Lutheran Church. Dr. Adam Kuhn's first studies in medicine were directed by his father. In the autumn of 1761, he left Philadelphia and arrived at Upsal, by way of London, early in January, 1762, having traversed Norway and a part of Sweden. He studied botany and medicine under Linnseus and the other professors of the University of Upsal until July or August, 1764. Then he returned to London and remained about a year. He went to Edinburgh and received the degree of M.D. from the University, June 12, 1767, his thesis being De Lavatione Frigida. While abroad he visited France, Holland, and Germany. He returned from London, and settled in Philadelphia, January, 1768. He soon acquired a respectable practice and a high degree of estimation among his elder medical brethren. In January, 1768, he was appointed professor of materia medica and botany in the College of Philadelphia; and in January, 1774, one of the physicians of a society instituted for inoculating the poor for smallpox. During the preceding year, 1773, above 300 persons died of smallpox. The unsettled state of public affairs put an end to the society in April. He was elected one of the Physicians of the Pennsylvania Hos- pital, May, 1775, and after serving the institution more than twenty- two years, he resigned in January, 1798. He was one of the consulting physicians of the Philadelphia Dis- pensary, founded 1786, and was always among the foremost of its steady friends and patrons. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society from January 19, 1768 ; one of the curators from 1769 to 1771, and a councillor from 1796 till 1802. He was one of the founders of the College of Physicians, of which he was elected President, September 6, 1808. He was appointed professor of the theory and practice of medi- 96 RUSCHENBERGER, cine, November, 1789, in the University of the State, and to the same cliair, in January, 1792, in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he resigned in 1797. He married, in the island of St. Croix, May, 1780, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Hartman, Esq., and had two sons. He relinquished practice in the autumn of 1815. Fully sensible of his approaching dissolution, he died July 5, 1817, aged seventy- five years. His thesis, and a short letter to Dr. John C. Lettsom, on diseases succeeding the transplantation of teeth, printed in the Memoirs of the Medical Society of London, vol. i., are his only publications. " This is not the only instance in which a dislike to appear before the public has deprived us of the experience of those who were best qualified, by their talents and observations, to communicate instruc- tion." '' Dr. Kuhn was not remarkable for the powers of imagination ; but in sound judgment he greatly excelled. His talent for observa- tion was profound. He was through life a studious reader ; a lover of music from his youth; remarkably abstemious and regular in his diet, and neat in his person." He was reserved in his general intercourse, but affable and com- municative in the company of his friends. His manners were void of ostentation or assumption. In conduct he was firm and decisive; and he was strictly punctual and observant of all his engagements.^ His sincerity is manifest in the following extract from his MS. lec- tures on yellow fever : "The consequences that have attended it [yellow fever of 1793] have interested the feelings of the Avhole community in the highest degree ; but the practitioners of physic in this city are more particu- larly concerned, as it has not only brought the spirit of discord among them, but has certainly lessened the confidence in the art and the professors of it which they heretofore possessed in an eminent degree. 1 The Eclectic Repertory and Analytical Eeview, vol. viii. p. 235. Phila- delphia, 1818. Reprinted in separate form. See Pamphlets, vol. 8. Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Also, in Thacher's American Medical Biography. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 97 As I mean to confine my remarks in a great measure to what came under my own observation, it may be proper to mention that I saw the first patient in this fever on the 23d of August [1793], and the last on the I'ith of September. The state of my health then render- ing me incapable to continue my attendance on the sick, I quitted the city on the 14th of September, and returned on the 1st of No- vember. Within that period I visited near 70 different patients; of these, 10 only had the yellow fever, including two for whom I pre- scribed, though I had it not in my power to visit them, and three whom I attended in consultation, being patients of other gentlemen of the profession. I ought to observe that I was confined by indis- position from the 3d to the 10th of September; that I then visited a few patients until the 12th, but finding my strength not equal to the task, and my headache and fever returning, I left the city, as before observed, on the 14th. Of these ten five died, but it is with a satisfaction I want words to express that I can with truth declare that every person for whom I prescribed within 48 hours of his being seized with the fever recovered and continues in health, except the mode of treatment was changed, which happened in the case of the un- fortunate Dr. Hutchinson, after sickness prevented me from continu- ing my attendance on him. Of the other patients whom I attended within that period, some labored under diseases peculiar to the climate at all seasons of the year, and others were attacked with influenza, which prevailed generally as an epidemic in the city at the same time."^ March 3, 1818. The Secretary was directed to record the death of Dr. Caspar Wistar, which occurred January 22, 1818, in his 58th year. April 7th. Drs. Parke and Griffitts were appointed to publish Dr. Wistar's eulogium on Dr. William Shippen. NOTICE OF DR. CASPAR WISTAR. Dr. Caspar Wistar was born in Philadelphia September 13, 1761, and educated at the Penn Charter School. His discernment of the ^ MS. Lectures on Yellow Fever. By Adam Kuhn. Libr. Coll. Phys. Phila., F. 844. 7 98 RUSCHENBERGER, need and comfort of medical aid to those hurt at the battle of Ger- mantown in 1777 determined his choice of profession. He became a pupil of Dr. John Redman, and during the last year of his appren- ticeship attended the practice of Dr. John Jones. In 1782 the University of the State of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the desxree of Bachelor of Medicine. He sailed for England October, 1783, and, after spending a year in London, went to Edinburgh. The University of that city conferred upon him, June, 1786, the degree of M.D., after publicly defending his thesis, De Animo Demisso. After an absence of more than three years, he returned to Philadelphia January, 1787. He was appointed an attending physician of the Philadelphia Dispeiisary the same year. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society July 20, 1787; was one of the curators 1792-94; one of the vice- presidents 1792-1814; and succeeded Thomas Jefferson as President, January 6, 1815. He contributed six papers to the Transactions of the Society. In 1788 he married Isabella Marshall, who died in 1790. In 1789 he was elected professor of chemistry in the College of Philadelphia. In the autumn of 1793 he was appointed a physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and resigned in 1810. He married Elizabeth Mifflin in 1798. He was elected to the professorship of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania in 1808, and filled the office at the time of his death. He succeeded Dr. Rush as President of the Society for the Abo- lition of Slavery; and was one of the censors of the College of Physicians from December 3, 1793, till he died, January 22, 1818. Dr. Wistar was in every respect an exemplary man, remarkable for his strong good sense, amiable deportment, professional skill, and superior qualifications as a teacher of anatomy. His social disposi- tion induced him to entertain in a modest way at his home, every Saturday evening, medical and other friends, as well as distinguished strangers who came to the city. To continue those pleasant gather- ings, members of the American Philosophical Society, soon after his INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPUIA. 99 death, instituted a social club, and, as a token of appreciation of his worth, called it the Wistar Party. Every Saturday evening each member of the club in turn entertained a company of invited guests, spreading before them a repast of such solids as may be taken with fork or spoon without the aid of knife. Circumstances connected with the civil war brought the Wistar Party to an end in 1863, or 1864. Only one or two of the members at that time have survived the suspension. The places of the de- ceased have been filled. The party has been revived. The archives of the club, and the old copper-plate from which the notable cards of invitation (illustrated by a portrait of Dr. Wistar) were printed, have been conveyed to it. Dr. Caspar Wister, a kinsman of the eminent professor, gave the first Wistar Party of the repaired organi- zation on Saturday evening, January 8, 1887 ; and so, what was for very many years a prominent feature in the social character of Philadelphia, has been restored, and is likely to be permanent. The following verses, by Dr. George Bensell, of Germantown, ex- press the general sense of the public loss at the time, caused by the death of Dr. Wistar : Wistar is dead ! his gentle spirit's flown, In blessed trust, to happier worlds unknown ; And many an aching heart and tearful eye Give the sad proof, the best of men must die. The good, the wise, the multitude deplore, The virtues that they loved are now no more. Thou, Avho from others oft the stroke did stay, While Death hung o'er his seeming destin'd prey, Fate turn'd aside, and oh ! could no one save And rescue thee, like others, from the grave ! Alas! could no one of tlie Healing Art Save from the tomb, that good, that generous heart. While genius, learning, wisdom bow the head And deeply mourn their favorite, Wistar, dead. Under instructions, Drs, Griffitts and Parrish had printed a hun- dred copies of the by-laws corrected up to April 7, 1818. When the by-laws were first printed, 1790, the College consisted of 28 Fellows. 100 RUSCHENBERGEK, Thirty-one years after its foundation only 18 names are on the roll of Fellows : Thomas Parke, F., William Currie, F., Samuel Powel Griffitts, F., Thomas T. Hewson, Thomas C. James, Joseph Parrish, Michael Leib, Plunket F. Glentworth, Adam Seybert, Nathaniel Chapman, Henry Neill, Samuel Stewart, Edwin A. Atlee, Wm. P. C. Barton, Isaac Cleaver, John Moore, Samuel C. Hopkins, John W. Moore. Seven Associates: James Tilton, David Hosack, Samuel Bard, John R. B. Rodgers, Lewis Jones Jardine, William Boys, Joseph P. Minnick. Between Jan. 2, 1787, and April 7, 1818, 33 had been elected Fellows, making, with the 24 founders, an aggregate of 57. Of these 32 had died, 3 were dropped, and 4 Avere placed on the roll of Associates. Of 11 Associates elected prior to 1818, 1 had become a Fellow, and 3 had died, leaving 7 on the list. A list of all deceased Fellows and Associates is printed with the by-laws.^ The entrance fee was fifteen dollars — reduced to ten dollars, December 5, 1820 — and the annual contribution was three dollars. Provided every Fellow was punctual in the payment of his contribu- tion, the yearly income of the College was fifty-four dollars. July 7, 1818. Thomas Parke was elected President ; Samuel P. Grifiitts, Vice-President ; William Curi'ie, Thomas T. Hewson, Plunket F. Glentworth, and Henry Neill, Censors; Thomas C. James, Treasurer ; and Joseph Parrish, Secretary. * Charter, Constitution, and By-Laws of the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia, 1818. Lewis Libr. Coll. Phys., Med. Tracts, vol. x. No. 1383. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 101 The active interest of the College in forming, establishing, and maintaining the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, renders a somewhat detailed account of its proceedings in this connection appropriate. CONNECTION OF THE COLLEGE WITH THE PHARMACOPCEIA, Napoleon the Great, in 1803, ordered to be prepared the Codex Medicamentarius seu Pharmaco'pceia CralUca. An ordinance of the King of France, August 8, 1816, directed it to be printed forth- with, and every apothecary to procure a copy of it within six months of the date of its publication, and prepare his medicines according to its formulas, under a penalty of 500 francs.^ Long before that work was begun the College of Physicians of Philadelphia endeavored to interest the medical public in the forma- tion of a pharmacopoeia for the United States. At a stated meeting of the College, June 3, 1788, John Redman, John Jones, Adam Kuhn, William Shippen, Jr., Benjamin Rush, Samuel P. Griffitts, Caspar Wistar, and James Hutchinson were appointed a committee to form a pharmacopoeia for the use of the College. As a result of their discussion of the subject the idea of preparing a work for local use seems to have been abandoned. Nine months after the appointment of this committee, the College ordered, April 7, 1789, a copy of the following circular to be sent " to the most respectable medical characters in the United States : " Sir : The Physicians of this city, from a desire of extending medical knowledge, and of promoting harmony and uniformity in the practice of physic, have associated themselves under the name of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. With a view to render their institution more extensively useful, they have resolved to address the most respectable medical characters in the United States, intimating their Designs, and requesting such information as may be most conducive to carry them into effect. One of the Objects of the College has been that of forming a Pharmacopoeia adapted to the present state of medicine in America ; 1 Eclectic Repertory, vol. vii. p. 267. 102 RUSCHENBERGER, for which purpose a committee of their members has been some time since appointed, who have made some progress in their work. When we consider the great number of publications of this kind which Europe has been, and is annually producing, we think no doubt can arise of the absolute necessity of some standard amongst ourselves to prevent that uncertainty and irregularity which in our present situation must infallibly attend on the compositions of the Apothecary and the prescription of the Physician. And as we wish this Work may be accommodated to the practice of medicine throughout the United States, and that every useful addi- tion may be made to former publications, we request that you will favor us with your sentiments on the subject, and particularly inform us what Native American Remedies have been discovered amongst you. It will be necessary to give the botanical and vernacular names of such substances, and to ascertain their virtues with most scrupulous Precision. As we are desirous of publishing a volume of Transactions as often as materials are afforded, we shall be much obliged to you for whatever Communications you may favor us with on medical subjects. Although we particularly address those Physicians who are best known to us, yet as there must be many others, men of learning and rank in the Profession, the knowledge of whom has not yet reached this place from the want of that intercourse which would be so desir- able and useful to the Advancement of Medical Science, we wish that you would communicate to them our intentions and that they would excuse this unavoidable omission, and furnish us with their assistance as though they were severally addressed. Letters and communications are to be directed to the President or Secretary of the College. Signed by order of the College, JoHX Redman, President. Samuel Powel Griffitts, Secretary. Philadelphia. One hundred copies were ordered to be printed and the Censors directed to forward them to the proper persons. May 4, 1790. A letter from Dr. James Tilton, President of the INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 103 Medical Society of the State of Delaware, relating to the Pharma- copoeia was read. August 3, 1790. A letter, July 18, 1790, from the Medical Society of New Haven, addressed to the President of the College, Dr. John Redman, was read : Substantially that the Society will be happy, if in its power, to afford the smallest assistance to the laud- able design of forming a pharmacopoeia adapted to the present state of medicine in America. The letter is signed by the committee of correspondence, Leverett Hubbard, Eneus Munson, Ebenezer Beardsly, Ebnathan Beech, and Samuel Nesbett. The subject was not abandoned. May 3, 1791, Dr. Benjamin S. Barton was appointed a member of the committee on the pharma- copoeia. The committee reported to the College November 6, and December 4, 1792; and January 1, and Api-il 2, 1793, and Avas continued. Dr. Thomas Pai-ke was added to the committee Jan- uary, 1794. Drs. Griflfitts, Barton, and James were appointed June 6, 1797, to prepare and submit to the College a statement " of all medicinal substances and pharmaceutical processes " which seem proper to be included in the intended pharmacopoeia. It is not doubted that leading physicians in different sections of the country felt the need of a pharmacopoeia, and that the proceed- ings of the College in this connection had increased their interest in the subject, and led the way to the formation of the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. The Pharmacopoeia of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the first of the kind in the United States, was published in Boston, 1808. It was fully noticed and commended for its accuracy.* A printed circular, dated New York, November 21, 1818, and signed by David Hosack, John R. B. Rogers, Samuel L. Mitchell, John Stearns, John Watts, Jr., T. Romeyn Beck, Lyman Spalding, Wright Post, and Alexander H. Stevens, was sent by Lyman Spald- ing, secretary of the committee, to Dr. Joseph Parrish, Secretary of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, with a request that he 1 The Medical Kepository. Second hexade, vol. 5, p. 396. New York, 1808. 104 RUSCIIENBERGER, would hand it to the President that it might be laid before the Col- lege at its next meeting. The plan proposed — detailed in a circular issued March 4, 1818 — was : 1. That the Pharmacopoeia should be formed by and under the authority of the several incorporated Medical Societies, the several incorporated Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, or medical schools, and such medical schools as constitute a Faculty in any university or college in the United States; and in case there should be any State or Territory in ^Wiich there was no incorporated medical society, medical college, or school, that voluntary associations of physicians and surgeons in such State or Territory should be respectfully invited to unite in the undertaking. 2. That the formation of a pharmacopoeia may not be undertaken unless it should receive the approbation of a majority of the afore- said institutions in the United States. 3. That a convention should be held in each of the four grand divisions of the United States to be composed of delegates from the medical societies, schools, and associations. 4. That each district convention should form a pharmacopoeia, or select one in general use, and make therein such alterations and additions as may adapt it to the present state of medical science ; and elect delegates to meet in general convention in the city of Washing- ton on the 1st of January, 1820. 5. That the convention should form the national work from the district-convention pharmacopoeias. 6. That each district convention should be held at such time and place as may be agreed upon by a majority of the aforesaid institu- tions in the respective districts. Dr. Lyman Spalding devised the plan just described and sub- mitted it, January, 1817, to the New York County Medical Society.^ Feb. 2, 1819. A circular was received from the Medical Society of the State of New York, proposing the above plan for the forma- ^ Eeport on the Pharmacopoeias of all Nations. By J M. Flint, Surgeon, U. S. Navy. In the Sanitary and Statistical Eeport of the Surgeon-General of the Navy for the year 1881. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 105 tion of a national pharmacopoeia, and that delegates from the middle district should meet in Philadelphia, June 1, 1819. The plan proposed in circulars, dated March 4 and Nov. 21, 1818, from the Medical Society of the State of New York, Avas approved. Drs. Parke, Griffitts, Hewson, Jones, Stewart, Atlee, and Parrish were appointed delegates from the College to meet delegates from other societies, June 1. The chamber of the College was offered as a place of meeting. To aid the preparation of the work, the College had printed, May, 1819, the outline of a pharmacopoeia.^ The Convention of the Middle States for the formation of a Na- tional Pharmacopoeia met June 1, 1 819, in the chamber of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The following named delegates were present : From the College of Physicians of Philadelphia: Drs. Thomas Parke, Samuel P. Griffitts, Thomas C. James, Thomas T. Hewson, Edwin A. Atlee, Joseph Parrish, Samuel Stewart. 3Iedieal Society of the State of New York: Drs. Samuel L. Mitchell, John R. B. Rodgers, John Watts, Jr., Lyman Spalding, Alexander H. Stevens. College of Physicians and Surgeons of the State of New York : Drs. Wm. J. Macneven, John W. Francis. College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York: Dr. Lyman Spalding. Neiv Jersey Medical Society : Drs. Charles Smith, John Van Cleve. The Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland: Drs. Samuel Baker, Elisha De Butts. The 3Iedical Society of Delaware : Dr. Allen McLane. 3Iedical Society of the District of Columbia : Drs. Henry Hunt, Thomas Henderson. Dr. Thomas Parke was elected President ; Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, Vice-president ; Lyman Spalding and Samuel Baker, Secretaries of the Convention. 1 Pharmacopoeia. 8vo. pp. 40. An interleaved copy, presented by Dr. Edwin A. Atlee, is in the Library of the College, No. 3362. 106 RUSCHENBERGER, Two pharmacopoeias in outline and a code of ethics were submitted to the convention and considered. Samuel L. Mitchell, Alexander H. Stevens, Lyman Spalding, John Watts, Jr., of New York; Thomas Parke, Thomas T. Hew- son, of Philadelphia; Allen McLane, of Wilmington, Del. ; Elisha De Butts, Samuel Baker, of Baltimore; and Henry Hunt, of Washing- ton, D. C, were appointed to represent the body at the general con- vention for the formation of a pharmacopoeia, to meet in Washington, D. C, Jan. 1, 1820. The convention of the Middle States adjourned sine die, June 4, 1819. A convention of delegates from societies and institutions of the eastern disti-ict of the United States met in Boston, June 1, 1819. 3Iedieal Society of New Hampshire: Drs. Reuben D. Mussey, Ebenezer Learned, Matthias Spalding, and John P. Batchelder. Medical Society of 3Iassachusetts : Drs. John C. Warren, John Goram, Jacob Bigelow, James Thacher, and George C. Shattuck. Medical Society of Vermont: Drs. Erastus Torrey, and Selah Gridley. Brown University in Rliode Island : Dr. William Ingalls. Medical Society in Rliode Island: Dr. Solomon Brown. Medical Society in Connecticut : Dr. Eli Ives. Dr. Warren was chosen Chairman, and Dr. Bigelow Secretary. The delegates from Massachusetts submitted a plan of pharmaco- poeia, which was referred to Drs. Mussey, Goram, Torrey, Ingalls, and Ives for examination and amendment. On their motion the pharmacopoeia of the Massachusetts Medical Society, as now revised, was adopted by the convention to be presented to the general con- vention at Washington, D. C, Jan. 1, 1820. Drs. Ives and Bigelow were chosen, by ballot, to represent the eastern district in the general convention. The convention adjourned June 2, sine die. The national convention for forming a pharmacopoeia met at Washington, D. C, Jan. 1, 1820, and, on the 8th, announced that the faculty, by a spontaneous effort, and without public summons or compensation, had compiled a Codex Medieamentarius, or Book of Rules and Directions, for selecting and compounding the articles INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 107 employed in practice. The whole civilized world may behold a great and growing nation, speaking a similar language, possessing the same general laws, using a uniform denomination of value, and conform- ing to each other in the rules of preserving health, and of preparing remedies. A committee of five was appointed to superintend the publication of the work of the convention. Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell was President, and Dr. Thomas T. Hew- son Secretary of the convention, which ceased January 8, 1820. February 1, 1820. The delegates from the College to the general convention at Washington submitted their report. The undersigned, who were deputed by the district convention held in this city, in the month of June, 1819, as members of the College, to meet the delegates in the general convention assembled in Washington, D. C, on the 1st of January, 1820, for the purpose of forming a National Pharmacopoeia, have the honor to report: That in addition to the prospectus agreed upon in the convention of the middle district, the delegates from the northern district pre- sented a regular manuscript pharmacopoeia. After a mature exami- nation of the list of simples, preparations, and compounds contained in these two plans, the general convention agreed upon the several articles deemed necessary to be introduced into the work which had been confided to them. In forming the materia medica list some difficulties arose, occasioned principally by the multifarious articles presented, whose virtues were not generally known, though according to reports, made on very respectable authority, they appeared to be well entitled to the attention of the medical practitioner. Wishing not to exclude articles of real value, as not yet intro- duced into general practice, desirous at the same time of not over- loading the catalogue of simples to be kept in the apothecary shop as essential articles of the materia medica, the general convention determined on forming two lists according to the circumstances pred- icated above. In the arrangement of the materia medica the plan proposed in the middle district convention has been departed from. From the variety and confused character of the synonymes employed to designate par- 108 RUSCHENBERGER, ticular articles great difficulties presented, to obviate -which appeared to be an object of primary importance. By selecting the article to be employed in medicine, and giving it an alphabetical arrangement, according to the most approved nomenclature, in the leading column, and referring, in the second column, to such authors as had described the sources from which the article was derived, it was believed that a clear and scientific list of the materia medica would be found accessi- ble to the common apothecary, at the same time aifording that degree of precision required in a wide extent of country where so many and discordant denominations prevail. In this plan a preference is given to the writers of this country for the most obvious reason, the desire of rendering the work intelligible to every American. The list of preparations and compounds is pretty nearly what was agreed on in the convention of the middle district. Few additions have been made, and where several preparations of nearly the same character had been introduced, it was deemed advisable to make the selection according to the most approved formula, so that the list has been increased. A committee of five persons has been appointed to arrange and prepare the work for the press, who will be glad to receive aid of those who take an interest in the work. Thomas Parke. Thomas T. Hewson. Philadelphia, 1st February, 1820. February 1, 1820. The expenses of the delegates of the College to the general convention, ^119.33, were ordered to be paid ; and. May 17, those of Dr. Hewson Avhile in New York as one of the publication committee. The College was admitted to be entitled to a share of the copy- right of the Pharmacopoeia, which amounted to ^246. September 4, 1821. Drs. Samuel P. Griffitts, Thomas C. James, and Thomas T. Hewson, who had been appointed for the purpose, August 7, reported that they had carefully revised the Pharmacopoeia, and presented a list of suggested alterations, to be sent to the publi- cation committee to aid in a further revision of the work. At the first meeting of the general convention at Washington, INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 109 January, 1820, it was determined that the pharmacopoeia should be revised every ten years, and to this end the President of it was directed to notify all the incorporated State medical societies, colleges, and schools, on the first of January, 1828, to elect delegates to repre- sent them in the general convention to be assembled at Washington, D. C, January, 1830. April 29, 1828. A printed circular from the President of the general convention of January, 1820, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, notify- ing the institutions concerned that each is authorized to elect three of its members to represent it in the convention to meet in Washington, January 1, 1830, and requesting that the names of the delegates chosen be sent to him before April 1, 1829, was presented by Dr. Hewson.^ Drs. Hewson, Joseph Hartshorne, and George B. Wood, Avere appointed to examine the national pharmacopoeia, and, before the election of delegates to the convention is held, report any amend- ments, corrections, and additions, which they may deem advisable. January 27, 1829. On motion of Dr. Hewson, the Secretary was directed to send to each Fellow a copy of a resolution that the mem- 1 "Writ for the Medical Convention of 1830." " "Whereas, the Convention that was held at the city of "Washington in the month of January, 1820, for forming a Pharmacopoeia for our United States of America did resolve that the President of that Convention should, on the first day of January, 1828, issue writs of election to the several incorporated State Medical Societies in the Northern, Middle, Southern, and Western districts of the Nation, requiring them to ballot for three delegates to a General Convention to be held at Washington, on the first day of January, 1830, for the purpose of revising the American Pharmacopoeia ; and whereas, the several institutions, as aforesaid, are by the same authority requested to forward to the President on or before the first day of April, 1829, the names of the three persons chosen; with sundry other provisions contained in the historical introduction to the work, to whicli the reader is referred. "Now, therefore, I, Samuel L. Mitchell, give notice to all the incorporated Medical Societies, Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, Medical Schools, and Faculties of Universities, Colleges, and all other authorized bodies that they choose proper persons to represent them in the General Convention to be held in January, 1830, for revising the Pharmacopoeia. " Given under my hand, this first day of January, 1828, at the city of New York. Samuel L. Mitchell, President.'^ 110 RUSCHENBERGER, bers be requested to furnish the committee on the pharmacopoeia a statement of their observation or experience in connection with articles of materia medica not in the national pharmacopoeia, and sugges- tions for its improvement. Dr. Bache was added to the committee. June 30, 1829. The committee on the pharmacopoeia was author- ized to employ Mr. D. B. Smith, at the expense of the College, to make some experiments for the use of the committee. November 24, 1829. The committee presented a final report, of which the concluding paragraph is as follows : " The critical exami- nation of formulas and processes, the collating of authorities, both chemical and pharmaceutical, and the discussions incident to their inquiries, have imposed on your committee the necessity of holding not less than one hundred meetings, have protracted their labors beyond what was anticipated, and have prevented them from making an earlier report." Drs. George B. Wood and Franklin Bache were appointed dele- gates to represent the College in the general convention of January 1, 1830, and their expenses were directed to be paid. January 26, 1830. They reported in substance that very few of the delegates were in Washington on Friday, January 1st, the day appointed for the meeting of the convention, and, therefore, organiza- tion was deferred until Monday, January 4th. Those then present were Drs. Lewis Condict and Isaac Pearson, from the Medical Society of the State of New Jersey ; Dr. John L. Morris, from the Medical Society of Delaware ; Dr. James H. Miller, from the Medico-Chi- rurgical Faculty of Maryland ; Drs. Thomas Henderson and N. W. Worthington, from Columbia College, D. C. ; and Di's. Wood and Bache, from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia : eight in all. Dr. Lewis Condict was elected President, and Dr. Thomas Hender- son, Secretary. Believing that the number of delegates present was inadequate to impart to the action of the convention the authority and influence requisite to secure the object in view, it was determined to invite the assistance of all congressmen present who were also members of the profession, as well as of the Surgeon-General of the Army, and the Senior Surgeon of the Navy. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. Ill January 5th. Surgeon-General Joseph Lovell, Dr. Nathan Gaither, of Kentucky, and Dr. G. E. Mitchell, of Maryland, members of Congress, joined the convention. The revised draft of a pharmacopoeia from the College of Physi- cians of Philadelphia was presented, and referred to a committee of five, including the delegates from the College. A committee was appointed to devise a method for assembling the next convention. January 6th. The convention met in one of the rooms of the Capitol, occupied by the Columbian Institute. Dr. Samuel Swan, member of Congress from New Jersey, and Dr. Bailey Washington, Surgeon U. S. Navy, took their seats. January 7th. The committee to wdiich it had been referred, re- ported that in its opinion, " the draft of pharmacopoeia presented by the Philadelphia delegates was decidedly superior to the original work, and should be adopted as the basis of the new edition," and recom- mended that it should be referred to a committee composed of mem- bers from each of the large cities of the Union, authorized, after diligent examination, to amend or alter, and then publish it, as the National Pharmacopoeia. The appointment of members of the com- mittee was not restricted to the delegates present. They were selected on account of their supposed interest in the subject, which was infeiTed from their connection with the convention of 1820. The committee consisted of Dr. Thomas T. Hewson, chairman, and two members from each of these cities: Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D. C, Charleston, S. C, Lexington, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio. A copy of the draft of the pharmacopoeia was to be furnished to the members of each city, which, after due consideration, was to be returned with amendments suggested to the chairman, who will notify all the members to meet in Philadelphia at any time he may, at his discretion, determine. At this meeting the proposed amendments will be adopted or rejected after due discussion. The chairman was authorized to fill vacancies in the committee, with the consent of the President and Secretary of the convention. 1 1 2 RUSCIIENBERGER, The method of assembling the National Convention of 1840 requires the President to notify the institutions concerned, through the medical journals, January 1, 1839, to elect delegates, and report their names to him immediately after their election. The names reported are to be published by him, October, 1839, in the medical journals, with a request that these delegates meet in convention at Washington, D. C, on the first Monday in January, 1840.^ When the reading of the report, summarized above, was concluded, the College voted its thanks to the delegates for their services, and authorized Drs. Hewson, Wood, and Bache, to have a copy of the draft of the pharmacopoeia made for each city named, at tlie expense of the College. The founding and publishing of this very important work is ascrib- able very largely, if not exclusively, to the enterprise of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It was the only institution represented in the very slenderly attended national convention that presented a draft of a pharmacopoeia. Without it there would have been no basis for the revision of the work by this convention. General interest in the subject seems to have flagged after the publication of the pharmacopoeia of 1820. No medical institution of New England or New York sent delegates to the National Con- vention of 1830. Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, of New York, the presi- dent, did not appear at the meetings. An explanation may be interesting at this time. An attempt was made, either designedly or through misunder- standing, to forestall the national convention, and so supersede its work. The prescribed method of constituting a convention to meet January 1, 1830, was that the president should, on the first of January, 1828, " issue writs of election to the several incorporated * The gentlemen appointed on the committee were Dr. Thomas T. Hewson chairman ; Drs. Jacob Bigelow and .John W. Webster, for Boston; Alexander H. Stevens and John "Watts, for New York ; George B. Wood and Franklin Bache, for Philadelphia; Samuel Baker and Elisha De Butts, for Baltimore; Thomas Henderson and N. W. Worlhington, for Washington; John K. Tres- cott and James Moultrie, for Charleston, S C. ; W. H. Kichardson and R. W. Dudley, for Lexington, Ky. ; John Morehead and Charles E. Pierson, for Cin- cinnati. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA, 113 State medical societies, etc., in the northern district, requiring them to ballot for three delegates to a general convention to be held at Washington on the first of January, 1830, for the purpose of revising the American pharmacopoeia ; and that these several institu- tions be requested to forward to the president, on or before the first day of April, 1829, the names of three persons thus designated by ballot ; and the president of the convention is hereby requested, on the said day, to assort and count the said votes, and to notify the three persons who shall have the greatest number of votes of their election ; and in case there should not be three persons who have a greater number of votes than others, then the said president is desired to put a ballot into the box for each of tliose persons who have an equal number of votes, and draw therefrom such number of ballots as shall make the number of delegates three, and notify as before." This method to be applicable alike to the middle, southern, and western districts. The prescription for constituting the second convention was con- strued to mean that it was limited to twelve members, three repre- senting each of the four districts — that the institutions of the districts were not severally authorized to representation, and that the president, Dr. Mitchell, the sole judge of the district election, was to receive and count the ballots cast in each. Proceeding in accordance with this view. Dr. Mitchell decided that Drs. Eli Ives, of New Haven, Jacob Bigelow, of Boston, and Daniel Oliver, of Hanover, had been elected delegates from the Northern District, and Dr. James McNaughton, of Albany, John B. Beck and A. W. Ives, of New York, delegates for the Middle District. These six delegates and the president regarded themselves to be the duly constituted National Convention for revising the pharma- copoeia ; and by mutual consent, previously ascertained, they met in New York, Jan. 1, 1830, "for the sake of convenience," instead of proceeding to Washington. They resolved " to prepare and publish an improved edition" of the pharmacopoeia, and, for the purpose, to meet again on the first Wednesday of June, 1830, at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, in New York. By means of a circular, they invited the 114 RUSCHENBERQER, medical societies and institutions not represented to send a delegate to this convention of seven to assist in the revision. On the second day of June ten delegates were present — five from New York, two from Yale, one from South Carolina, one from Ohio, and one from Berkshire. They issued a volume entitled — The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of Ayneriea. By the Authority of '^G-eneral Convention for the formation of the American Pharmacoj^oeia," held in 1830. Second edition : from the first edition, published in 1820, with additions and corrections. S. Converse, Keiv York, November, 1830." A reviewer says that book-agents were employed to sell it to the apothecaries of different towns, going from shop to shop chanting its worth. Nevertheless, the spurious work Was not largely sold. The authors of it were disappointed. Their work did not earn for them a character for eminently precise learning, or very scrupulous dealing.^ No one seems to have supposed that they were ignorant of the pro- ceedings of the National Convention at Washington. Be that as it may, no conclusive reasons are now apparent to justify their course in the premises. The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America. By Au- thority of the National Medical Convention, held at Washington, A.D. 1830. John G-rigg, Philadelphia, 1831, Avas published early in the year, and was well received by the profession.^ Its New Y'ork counterfeit lost the little circulation it may have had when first uttered. In July, 1831, Drs. Wood and Bache announced that they would publish a Dispensatory of the United States, designed especially to illustrate the pharmacopoeia. It was issued in January, 1833. The fifteenth edition appeared in March, 1883. This excellent work helped to give currency to the first, as well as to the subsequent decennial revisions of the Pharmacopoeia. July 2, 1839, the College, in compliance with due notice, elected Drs. George B. Wood, Franklin Bache, and Henry Bond delegates 1 The North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. xi., January, 1831, pp. 178-200. 2 Ibid., April, 1831, pp. 441-455. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 115 to the National Medical Convention for the revision of the pharma- copoeia. Subsequently Dr. Wood, having been appointed to represent the University of Pennsylvania, resigned, and Dr. Joseph Carson was elected in his place. December 24, 1839. Drs. Thomas T. Hewson, George B. Wood, and Franklin Bache, who had been a committee to revise the phar- macopoeia of 1830, reported, in substance, that they had begun work toward the close of May and up to date had given close attention to it. meeting usually three times a week. Availing themselves of per- mission granted by the College they had engaged the assistance of practical pharmacists, William Hodgson, Jr., and William Proctor, Jr. They had noted in an interleaved copy of the first decennial revision of the pharmacopoeia the amendments which they proposed, and pre];)ared also explanatory notes on the alterations recommended, combined with the reports of Messrs. Hodgson and Proctor on par- ticular processes, which, should the report be adopted, may be useful to the delegates by enabling them to understand the aims of the committee. March 3, 1840. The report of the delegates, dated January 20, was presented. Substantially, that they had assisted in the organi- zation of the National Medical Convention at Washington, Jan. 1, 1840, and besides themselves were present : Theophilus Dunn, of the Rhode Island Medical Society ; Lewis Condict, of the New Jersey Medical Society ; G. B. Wood, from the University of Pennsylvania; Robley Dunglison, from the Jefferson Medical College ; Wm. W. Morris and James Couper, from the Delaware Medical Society ; John R. W. Dunbar, John C. S. Monkur, and Edward Foreman, from the Washington University, Baltimore ; Joshua J. Cohen, from the Medico-Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland ; » Thomas Sewall and N. W. Worthington, from the 3Iedical Society of the District of Columbia ; Thomas Miller, Harvey Lindsley, and John M. Thomas, from Columbia College, Washington, D. C. ; John W. Davis, from the Yincennes Medical Society, Indiana; and William Bacon Stevens' from the Georgia Medical Society, twenty in all. It is notable — in connection with the proceedings of 1830 — that no ^ Bishop of Pennsylvania from January 2, 1862. 116 RUSCHENBERGER, delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, or New York were present. Dr. Condict was elected President, Dr. Wood, Vice-President, Dr. Worthington, Secretary, and Dr. Harvey Lindsley, Assistant Secretary. The Surgeon-General of the Army and the Senior Surgeon of the Navy were invited to participate in the proceedings. Again the only papers submitted to the Convention were from the College. They were referred to a committee (Bache, Davis, Stevens, Cohen, and Dunn) to report a plan of revision and publication. The communication from the College of Physicians and all com- munications thereafter received were referred to the committee of revision and publication, consisting of seven (Wood, Bache, Dungli- son, Cohen, Dunn, Stevens, and Sewall) of which three were a quorum. The committee, which was to meet in Philadelphia at the call of the chairman, was authorized to request the cooperation of the Colleges of Pharmacy of the United States, to fill vacancies, to publish the revision and take whatever measures necessary to accomplish the object of this convention. The committee was directed to report, on the conclusion of its labors, its proceedings to the Secretary of this Convention, to be laid by him before the next one. The time of meeting of the National Medical Convention was changed from January to ^lay, because the difficulty of winter travel prevented many delegates from being present. The President was instructed to notify all institutions concerned. May 1, 1849, to elect three delegates to attend the National Medical Convention on the first Monday of May, 1850, and request each body to make a careful revision of the pharmacopoeia and report the result to the meeting. He was also to request medical and pharma- ceutical institutions to send the names of their delegates to him as soon as elected that they may be published in the medical journals and newspapers in February or March, of 1850. The College voted its thanks to Drs. Bache, Bond, and Carson, for their services, and ordered their expenses, in all $112.47, to be paid. The committee of revision held its first meeting February 10, 1840. Their work was published in Philadelphia in 1842. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 117 As stated already, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia assisted to create and form the pharmacopoeia published in 1820. In the manner described, the College contributed the result of careful reviews of the work in aid of the revisions made under the authority of the National Medical Conventions of 1830, '40, '50, '60, '70, and '80. Except the sixth, all the revisions of the pharmacopoeia were prepared and published in Philadelphia. The convention of 1850 consisted of thirty members present, of whom five were the first delegates ever admitted from colleges of pharmacy. Of the seventy-nine delegates present in the convention of 1880, twenty-one — little more than a fourth — were from pharma- ceutical institutions. Of these thirteen were appointed on the com- mittee of revision and publication, consisting of twenty-five members. It was instructed to award the publication to the publishing house offering the best terms. In the execution of this instruction there was disagreement. The work was issued in New York, 1882, by publishers whose bid, in the opinion of many, was the least eligible of all the bids made. Had the best terms offered been accepted, the publication would have continued in Philadelphia. The value of the labors and incidental expenses of the College in aiding to establish and foster the pharmacopoeia through many years — more than a half century, is measurable by the degree of importance accorded to the work. It is for the common benefit of the people. This fiict is a very cogent if not conclusive reason why it should be hereafter maintained under the authority and at the expense of the United States, and cease to be among the charitable cares of local medical institutions. Pharmacopoeias of European States are com- piled and published at national expense, under authority of each government. The Pharmacopoeia is not the only work for the common welfare to which the College has given efficient help. It has always been ready to aid in the preservation of the public health, and in the pro- motion of investigations likely to benefit it, directly or indirectly. The desire to print the Transactions of the College was manifested at long intervals. Drs. J. W. Moore and Otto were appointed Feb- ruary 1, 1820, to assist the censors in selecting those papers in possession of the College which they might consider suitable for pub- 118 RUSCHENBERGER, lication. The poverty of the Society at the time made such occu- pation premature. The College consented, August 1, 1820, to examine such essays as might be submitted for prize medals offered by the Humane Society for the best two dissertations on Suspended Animation from Submer- sion, and express its opinion of the comparative merits of the essays. December 5, 1820. The entrance fee to the College was reduced to ten dollars. The following, addressed to the President of the College, was read: The Select and Common Councils at their last meeting appointed a joint committee "to inquire into the facts connected with the ap- pearance and prevalence of malignant or pestilential disease during the past summer and present autumn, and report those means they may deem best adapted to prevent its recurrence or to check its prog- ress." That Committee respectfully invites the College of Physicians, the Academy of Medicine, the Board of Health, the Lazaretto phy- sician, the Port physician and others, to communicate answers to the following questions, directing to No. 225 Spruce Street. By order of the joint Committee, John R. C gates. Chairman. November 29, 1820. 1st. Had you an opportunity of observing any cases of malignant fever in Philadelphia in the months of July, August, September, and October, 1820 ? 2d. In those districts which, according to your experience, were most affected by disease, what peculiar causes were discovered which did not exist in other parts of the city ? 3d. Did the disease abate in any considerable degree before the appearance of frost ? 4th. AVhat means should be adopted with a view of preventing the recui'rence, or of checking the progress of malignant autumnal fever in this city ? Drs. Hewson, Griffitts, and Emlen were appointed to prepare answers. At a special meeting, Dec. 20th, they submitted a report which was INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 119 ordered to be transmitted to the chairman of the joint committee of the Select and Common Council of the city, as follows : The College of Physicians of Philadelphia have deliberately con- sidered the questions proposed by you on the 29th of November last, and have directed the following replies thereto to be communicated to you : 1st. Most of the members of the College had an opportunity of observing cases of malignant fever in Philadelphia, in the months of July, August, September, and October last. The type was as ma- lignant as we have ever known it. Those persons who remained in the infected district, after being taken sick, seldom recovered. Reme- dies did not appear to have the usual effects in these cases. 2d. The Board of Health, from their more correct knowledge of the facts, are best qualified to give satisfactory answers to these particulars. 3d. The disease, though malignant, was partial. It gave way in appearance to frost, but not in that striking manner which had occurred in years when it was more widely spread. 4th. During the months of June, July, August, and September every vessel from the coast of Africa, West Indies, and Continent of America to the southward of Cape Fear, should undergo a strict search and perform an effectual quarantine. This proceeding should take place during the whole year with respect to vessels from the Mediterranean. To prevent the spreading of malignant fever amongst us, the Board of Health should have full power to remove vessels and per- sons, and prevent communication with infected places ; also, to have infected houses and bedding thoroughly cleansed. And, lastly, we would advise strict attention to the means for producing cleanliness and free ventilation, especially in those parts of the city near the Delaware, where the malignant fever has always made its first appearance. This cannot be done whilst Water Street continues in its present confined situation, with the accumulated filth of many years, and, for the most part, without privies. We, therefore, strongly recom- mend the prosecution of the plan now in contemplation for removing the whole of the buildings from the east side of Front St., inclusive, 120 RUSCHENBERGER, to the river, beginning at Vine and ending at South St., according to the original plan of "William Penn, the wise and intelligent founder of our city.^ April 3, 1821. The College was pressed for its rent, which had not been paid during more than four years. A committee appointed for the purpose, reported that it had borrowed $250, for ninety days? at the usual rate of bank discount. The arrears of rent, $228.33, were paid. July 3d. The note was due. Its payment, as far as the condition of the treasury would allow, was ordered ; and the treasurer reported, Aug. 7, that he had paid $150 on account of the note, and had a balance of §27.87 in the treasury. Feb. 5, 1822. The rent for the preceding year, $20, was paid. July 2d, the treasury had been overdrawn $6.66. July 3, 1823. Bills for fuel and rent, and balance of the note, with interest, $110, had been paid, leaving the College still in debt to the treasurer, $18.62. These records of financial deficiency should not be forgotten. April 6, 1824. Drs. Neill, James, Parrish, Hewson, and Otto were appointed to prepare a fee bill, which was considered at subse- quent meetings and adopted Nov. 2d. June 1st. A proposition to reduce the entrance fee from ten to five dollars was ordered to lie over for three months. Oct. 5th. It was proposed that the meetings of the College during the winter season should be at seven o'clock p.m. Nov. 2d. Dr. Joseph Parrish stated to the College that John Zim- merman, a prisoner at Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Co., Pa., was to be ^ A detailed history of this fever may be found in "An Account of the Yellow or Malignant Fever in the City of Philadelphia, in the summer and autumn of 1820, with some observations on that disease. Kead before the Academy of Medicine. By Samuel Jackson, M.D., President of the Board of Health." Published in the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences, vol. 1, 1820, and vol. 2, 1821. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 121 executed on the 30th instant, for the murder of his daughter, and that there were strong reasons for believing that he was insane when he committed the crime and is still. Drs. Griffitts, James, Otto, and Parrish were instructed to ascer- tain the facts of the case, and, if deemed expedient, to request a special meeting of the College. Nov. 9th. Special meeting. The committee confirmed Dr. Par- rish's report, and submitted a memorial which was adopted, as follows : To John Anthony Shultz, Govej-nor of the State of Pennsylvania. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, in conformity with the nature of their institution and of their practice in important cases, respectfully call the attention of the Chief Magistrate of the Com- monwealth to a subject which is deeply interesting to humanity and to civil society. We have learned from the public papers that John Zimmerman is now in the prison of Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Co., Pa., under sentence of death for murder of the first degree, and that the 30th of the present month is the day appointed for his execution. From infor- mation received by members of the College, there appear to them sufficient grounds to conclude that the murder was committed by said Zimmerman in a state of insanity. We have ascertained that the prisoner's mother was for many years aflHicted with mental derangement, and that two of his sisters have been, for some time, also insane. The illness of the prisoner's daughter at the time he destroyed her, Avith the unremitting attention he is said to have paid her during her sickness, subjected him to tlie combined operation of great bodily fatigue and mental anxiety, which were causes especially calculated to produce a malady, to which it would appear he possessed a very strong hereditary predisposition. Medical men, whose opportunities for acquiring information in mental diseases are most extensive, are fully aware of the difficulty of arriving speedily at correct judgment in some cases of most decided insanity, for it is a well-known fact that maniacs who are neces- sarily placed under confinement, from a regard to the safety of the 122 RUSCIIENBERGER, community, will often display astonishing acuteness and system in accomplishing plans that are founded on the most inconsistent and irrational premises. Under these views, and deeply impressed with the awfulness of consigning to death a fellow-man, who, if insane, ^annot be regarded as accountable for his actions, we do, as Christians and citizens of Pennsylvania, most respectfully and earnestly entreat that the Gov- ernor will cause to be delayed the execution of the sentence of death on the prisoner Zimmerman until his real condition can be satis- factorily ascertained. Jan. 22, 1825. The Governor replied to the memorial, Jan. 17, that he had respited the execution of the unfortunate Zimmerman from time to time, and caused his mental condition to be examined by three respectable neighboring physicians, Avho do not agree in opinion ; and now, under the circumstances, he felt it to be his duty to respite him till March 30th. He requested that the College would appoint some of its members to visit the unfortunate Zim- merman. The committee to which the Governor's letter was referred, re- quested, in a communication adopted by the College, Feb. 1st, to be furnislied with the notes of evidence taken by the presiding judge at Zimmerman's trial, previous to visiting the prisoner. The Governor could not comply with the request, because he had not possession of the notes of testimony asked. The Fellows selected to visit Zimmerman plead the inconvenience of leaving their business in the city during the prevalence of an epidemic influenza, and were excused. In their places, Drs. Parke, James, Otto, J. Wilson Moore, and Parrish, or any two of them, were appointed, and instructed, March 26, 1825, to go to Orwigs- burg, and, armed with the Governor's commission, examine Zim- merman. April 5th. They reported that they reached Orwigsburg in the evenino; of March 28th, and remained until the morning of the 30th. Within that time they had four interviews with Zimmerman, heard the testimony of the sheriff and his deputies, and carefully considered the judge's notes of evidence taken at the trial. The result of this investigation, they said, "leaves not a doubt in our minds that for INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 123 several days previous to the death of Rosina Zimmerman, up to the period Avhen the prisoner came under our observation, he, the said John Zimmerman, has been afflicted with insanity." Thos. Parke, Jos. Parrish, John W. Moore. April 2, 1826. An authenticated copy of this report was sent to the Governor. Zimmerman's sentence was not executed. The intervention of the College in this case cost the Society $50.25, travelling expenses of the committee. Nov. 2, 1824. The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy represented that there was reason to believe that some practitioners received a royalty on prescriptions, as a consideration for sending them to certain apothecaries, and asked the College of Physicians to aid in extin- guishing the evil practice. The subject was referred to a committee, and after receiving its report, the College of Physicians assured the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Dec. 7th, that none of its Fellows had ever degraded him- self by such collusion, and hoped that the College of Pharmacy may be able to restrain its members from such improper conduct. At the same time attention was invited to those apothecaries who habit- ually prescribe for those who neglect to apply for proper medical advice. March 1, 1825. The College of Pharmacy appointed a committee — Messrs. D. B. Smith, Henry Troth, and Peter Lehman — to confer with committees constituted by the medical profession on " the most advisable means of discountenancing and checking the evil." The College of Physicians considered its participation in the pro- posed action inexpedient, because it would be " assuming authority over the members of another association," and, therefore, declined the conference, and at the same time expressed its opinion that the laudable efforts of the College of Pharmacy to check the improper practice of medicine by apothecaries would be effectual. As long as there are medical practitioners and apothecaries whose conduct is not controlled by professional ethics or rules of honor, irregularities and vicious practices of the kind just referred to will 124 RUSCHENBERGER, continue to exist, and measures to repress them will be always required, June G, 1826. The secretary Avas directed to record " the death of our much respected vice-president," who died May 12th, in his sixty-seventh year, NOTICE OF DR, SAMUEL POWEL GRIFFITTS, Samuel Powel Griffitts, the third and last child of William Griffitts and his wife Abigail Powel, who were members of the Society of Friends, was born in Philadelphia, July 21, 1759, He was educated at the College of Philadelphia, studied medicine under Dr. Adam Kuhn, and received the degree of Bachelor of Medicine from the University of the State of Pennsylvania, July, 1781, He went to Paris the same year, and spent some time there attend- ing lectures and visiting the hospitals. In the fall of 1782, he re- paired to Montpellier ; and at the Medical School there, which was tlien famous, he followed a course of lectures. He devoted a part of the spring and early summer to visiting various places on the conti- nent, and reached London in June, 1783, In the autumn he went to Edinburgh and returned to London in the spring of 1784, After an absence of three years, diligently employed in observation and study, he returned to Philadelphia m the autumn of the same year. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, January, 1785, and was one of its Council 1791-97. In 1786 he took an active part in founding the Philadelphia Dis- pensary. Many ascribe this work to his exertions alone. But in a short manuscript found among his papers Dr. Griffitts gives the credit to another. He says : " In the spring of 1785, Dr. Henry Moves, who was then in Philadelphia giving a course of lectures upon natural philosophy, proposed to some persons of his acquaintance there, the instituting a public dispensary for the medical relief of the poor, much on the same plan as those of London and other large cities of Great Britain. The Doctor drew up the plan thereof, assisted by S. Powel ; but on account of his short stay in Philadel- phia, delayed making any further progress in the business, except INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 125 talking of it amongst his friends, and desiring me to keep it in mind, and to look out for a proper house. On the i-etui-n of the Doctor to the city, the subject was revived ; and after several conversations between Dr. Moyes, S. PoAvel, Drs. Rush, Hall, Morris, and him- self, a plan was agreed upon by them, and the institution organized. The first meeting of the managers and physicians was held at the City Tavern, February 10, 1786, when it was resolved, as the first step, that the managers and physicians should collect subscriptions. At the next meeting, February 24th, they reported 320 subscribers. Dr. Griffitts was a manager, and for seven years an attending physician of the institution. During forty years, wdth very few exceptions, he was a daily visitor at the Dispensary. To meet the demands of the poor for medical relief, caused by a large increase of population, a dispensary was established in Southwark and one in the Northern Liberties in 1816. In the foundation of these addi- tional charities he w'as probably no less actively interested than he had been, thirty years before, in instituting the first ; so that, as Dr. Emerson says, " he may be fairly considered as the father of the dispensaries of his native city." He was a member of the Humane Society from 1786, and joined the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, which was chartered in 1789. He married Mary, a daughter of William Fishbourne, in 1787, who, with their six children survived him. He w^as appointed professor of materia medica in the University of Pennsylvania, 1792, and resigned the office after four years' service, 1796. During the prevalence of yellow fever in 1793, '97, '98, '99, 1802 and 1805, his services were conspicuous. " He stood in the midst of the desolation, and, regardless of personal danger, was solely intent upon extending relief to his suffering fellow-citizens." When the French refugees from St. Domingo, who escaped from the successful insurrection there in 1793, arrived in Philadelphia, destitute of all but their lives, they found Dr. Griffitts to be their efficient friend. He spoke their language fluently. He was very active in procuring money and means and applying them to relieve the necessities of the sufferers. In a short time $12,000 were 126 RUSCHENBERGER, collected from our citizens for their use, a large part of which was confided to Dr. Griffitts for distribution among them. When the Philadelphia yearly meeting of the Society of Friends, in 1811, proposed to make suitable provision for the care of such of its members as were deprived of their reason. Dr. Griffitts eagerly enlisted himself in the cause. The subject had been on his mind many years. As soon as the Society had determined that an institution should be founded and placed under the direction of the contributing members of the Philadelphia yearly meeting, he drew up the plan and took a most active part in all the duties connected with the erection of the buildings and arrangements for the reception of patients. His labor contributed largely to the institution of the Friends' Asylum, near Frankford. Dr. Griffitts Avas an early riser, and always began the day by reading some part of the New Testament in Greek or Latin. " Im- pressed Avith a deep sense of the paramount obligations of religion, he was seldom known to be absent from the meetings of worship or business of his society." All his conduct Avas characterized by punctuality. " The private worth and domestic virtues of Dr. Griffitts will forever endear his memory to his family, and to all Avho kneAv him intimately. As a friend, he was kind, sincere, and obliging ; as a husband attentive and affectionate : as a father fond and indulgent. His piety was founded on the Christian dispensation, as inculcated in the precepts, and maintained in practice by the religious Society of Friends." July 4, 1826. Thomas C. James Avas elected Vice-President of the College, in place of Dr. Griffitts deceased. May 1, 1827. A resolution, introduced at a previous meeting, was adopted that each member, in turn, beginning at the head of the list, shall, at each stated meeting, read an original or selected paper which shall be the subject of discussion ; and that " every person failing to perform the duty shall pay the sum of one dollar." Dr. Parke read the first paper. On the Use of Cold and Warm Bathing^ July 3d. At each subsequent meeting during many years a paper Avas read. To create and foster a custom of presenting INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 127 contributions of the kind, in spite of lack of means to publish the Transactions, it was resolved, January 29, 1828, that the author of any paper read before the College might publish it in the North American Medical and Surgical Journal. October 24, 1829, when it was his turn to read a paper, Dr. Parke excused himself, and paid the fine, one dollar.^ September 4, 1827. The stated meetings of the Society were up to this time held in the afternoon. It was resolved, the propo- sition having bdbn submitted March 6, 1827, that the hour of meet- ing in future be at seven o'clock p.m. from October until March, and at eight o'clock p.m. from April till September. A motion, made October 2d, that the stated meetings be held on the last Tuesday in each month, was adopted December 4, 1827. At this meeting Drs. Neill, Meigs, Ruan, Mitchell, and Hodge submitted a proposition that the number of fellows of the College shall not exceed forty. It was considered January 29, 1828, and postponed. In consequence of the change in the time of meeting, the bill for rent included a charge of $6 a year for candles. July 29, 1828. The death of Dr. William Currie, one of the founders of the College, who died June 13th, is recorded. NOTICE OF DR. WILLIAM CURRIE. William Currie, a son of an Episcopal clergyman, who was a native of Scotland, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1754. It was designed that William should become a clergyman. With this view his education was directed. Under the instruction of his father and competent teachers, he acquired thorough knowledge of Latin and Greek, and a superficial knowledge of the Hebrew lan- guages. It is stated that at an early age he had imbibed opinions in conflict with those inculcated by the Thirty-nine Articles, and for this reason he was not willing to become a public teacher in the Church. He 1 The treasurer reported, November 26, ]83:>, that the fines paid up to date amounted to §17. 128 RUSCHENBERGER, preferred the medical profession, and was apprenticed to Dr. Kearsley. After the close of his apprenticeship he attended the medical lectures of the College of Philadelphia. No diploma Avas conferred upon him. Whether he obtained from the professors (as his contemporary and fellow constituent of the College of Physicians, Benjamin Duffield, did, because no commencement Avas held in 1774) certificates that he had attended their lectures has not been ascertained. It is certain, however, that he did not write M.B. or M.D. after his name on the title-page of any one of the several books and pamphlets which he published. He entered the American Army as a surgeon early in the revolu- tionary conflict. In 1776 he was attached to the military hospital on Long Island, and subsequently at Amboy. His father was a tory, and viewed the resistance of the colonies to the authority of the mother country as highly improper. He earnestly endeavored to dissuade his son from entering the army, and promised, if he had determined to engage in military service, to use his influence to obtain for him a surgeon's commission in an Eno-lish regiment. Young Currie was inflexible. He conceived it to be his duty to prefer the service of his country, in spite of the toil, danger, and privations incident to it, rather than that of its oppressors with all its advantages then seemingly in prospect. At the close of the war he began to practise medicine in the town of Chester, and soon afterward married. The Philadelphia Directory for 1785 records his residence at the corner of Second and Pine Streets. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society July, 1792, and contributed to the Transactions, vol. iv., a paper On the Insalubrity of Flat and 3Iarshy Situations ; and Directions for Preventing or Correcting the Effects thereof. For many years he was a member of the Board of Health, and senior physician of the Magdalen x\sylum. His first wife having been dead some time, he married, 1793, the widow of Dr. Busch. They had one son and three daughters. The son and one daughter survived their parents. The death of Mrs. Currie, in 1816, made upon him a profound and lasting impression. From that time it is stated that his mental vigor gradually abated, but he INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 129 addressed a bright communication, December 6, 1820/ to the joint committee of the City Councils on the yellow fever of that year. He became hopelessly childish later, and so continued till his death in 1828. Dr. Currie was well acquainted with medical literature, and was highly estimated by cotemporary physicians. He was a successful practitioner, and amassed considerable wealth. He Avas always, however, extremely plain in his dress and manners, and strictly temperate in all things. To the deserving poor he freely gave his professional services, and, in cases of need, money also. " In private life, Dr. Currie presented a truly amiable disposition. It must be acknowledged that in the warmth of conversation his love for satire would lead him occasionally to place in a ludicrous light the foibles of his professional opponents, but for this he in some measure compensated by always giving them full credit for whatever talents or estimable qualities they might possess. Throughout life he observed a stern integrity, which would never permit him to do injustice knowingly even to the character of an enemy." Though he did not assent to the doctrines of the trinity and of eternal punishment, he was a member and constant attendant of the Episcopal Church. He was an attentive student of the Bible. Before retiring to rest at night he habitually read a chapter in the Greek or English Testament, and so manifested his spirit of religious devotion. June 30, 1829. The censors reported the balance in the treasury $109.42. Jan. 31, 1832. The college appointed Drs. Otto, Bache, and Wood, to confer with a committee of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy on the means of introducing the Pharmacopoeia into general use. As the result of the conference the original of the following paper was ordered, March 27th, to be preserved in the archives, and a copy of it to be sent to the College of Pharmacy. 1 Report of the Joint Committee of Cour.cils, relative to the Malijjnant or Pestilential Disease of the Summer and Autumn of 1820, in the City of Phila- delphia. Philadelphia, 1821. 9 130 RUSCHENBERGER, The undersigned members of the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia, convinced of the importance of having a uniform standard for the preparation of medicines, and believing the Pharmacopoeia prepared by the National Medical Convention of 1820, and revised by that which met at Washington in January, 1830, to be the best adapted to meet this object, do hereby recognize the authority of the same, and agree to use their influence with the apothecaries to pro- cure the adoption of its formulae in the shops. Thomas Parke, Thomas C. James, John C. Otto, Joseph Parrish, Joseph Hartshorne, Thomas T. Hewson, Henry Neill, J. Wilson Moore, Charles D. Meigs, N. Chapman, Henry Bond, Hugh L. Hodge, Franklin Bache, George B. Wood, William Darrach, Charles Lukens, B. H. Coates, John Ruan, John Moore, J. K. Mitchell, John Bell, R. M. Huston, George Fox, R. La Roche, J. P. Gebhard, Thos. H. Ritchie, Joseph Togno. April 12. The Board of Health requested the college to ap- point a committee "to institute an impartial examination into all the facts in relation to the epidemic cholera, and to report in detail the result of the investigation for the benefit and satisfaction of the unprofessional as well as of the medical part of the community." Drs. Thos. C. James, T. T. Hewson, H. L. Hodge, John Bell, C. D. Meigs, B. H. Coates, and R. La Roche, were appointed in accordance with the request, which was amended and adopted May 31st, and sent to the Board of Health. May 28, 1833. In accordance with instruction, the secretary reported that he had prepared lists of all the fellows and associates elected since the origin of the society. He was directed to have blank leaves inserted in the first volume of minutes, and record upon them the names, with a note of loss by death, resignation, and forfeiture of membership, according to his plan. Nov. 26. The balance in the treasury was $308.42. The treas- urer and secretary were directed to invest the surplus in some pro- ductive stock. They reported, Dec. 31st, that they had purchased INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 181 of the six per cent. Chesapeake and Delaware Canal loan for $298.76. This is the first indication of financial ease noted on the minutes in forty-six years. The By-laws being out of print, they were referred, June 25, 1833, to Drs. Bond, Bache, and Hodge, to examine and report " Avhether it is expedient to make any alterations in them." They suggested amendments in September. The by-laws were considered at the subsequent meetings, section by section, and unanimously adopted. May 27, 1834. They were printed, with a list of the fellows,^ 250 copies, and each fellow supplied with one July 1st. Notable changes were made. The charter superseded the consti- tution. The by-laws were made to conform to its provisions. The number of associates was limited to forty, ten of whom should be foreign. Candidates for fellowship, instead of applying for admis- sion, were to be proposed by three fellows, and balloted for at the next or subsequent meeting. The entrance fee was fixed at ten, and the annual contribution at three dollars. The stated meetings were to be held on the first Tuesday of every month ; from October to March at 7, and from April to Sep- tember at 8 o'clock P.M. The by-laws provided, besides a committee of three fellows on the library, standing committees, 1, on the Theory and Practice of Medi- cine ; 2, on Surgery ; 3, on Midwifery ; 4, on Diseases of Children ; 5, on Materia Medica and Pharmacy ; 6, on Meteorology and Epi- demics ; 7, on Public Hygiene. It was a duty of the president and vice-president, at the stated meeting in August of every year, to assign the fellows to one or other of these committees. Each com- mittee was required to submit an annual report at stated times. Each paper intended for the Transactions was to be referred to a special committee. The duties of the committee on the library were to purchase books, take care of the library, as well as of all papers confided to it by the college, and cause them to be published under its direction. ^ Included in vol. iii. Summary of Transactions of College of Physicians, 1849-50, printed 1834. Number of Fellows then 31. 132 RUSCHENBERGER, Feb. 3, 1835. Dr. Parrish announced the death of the president, Dr. Thomas Parke, the last survivor of the founders of the college, who died January 9th, in the 86th year of his age. NOTICE OF DR. THOMAS PARKE. His biographer, Dr. Joseph Parrish, said, June 7, 1836 : " I have often listened with delight to conversations in this room [hall of the American Philosophical Society] many years ago, and from aged lips have heard many interesting facts and anecdotes they derived from those who were old when they were young. I might enume- rate the venerable Kuhn, Duffield, Parke — and of lesser age — Wistar, Griffitts, Glentworth, etc. These, with many more, may be remembered as links in that chain which connects us with an honor- able generation that has now passed away." Thomas Parke, the fourth president, and the last one who was a founder of the college, was born in Chester County, Pa., August 6, 1749, 0. S. He became a pupil of Robert Proud, then, 1765, a cele- brated classical teacher in this city. He studied medicine during three years, under the direction of Dr. Cadwalader Evans. The College of Philadelphia conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, June 5, 1770. He seems to have been always content with this. At that period as much, and perhaps considerably more, study and preparation were necessary to obtain that degree than have been requisite since to secure, from some of our many com- peting institutions, the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He went to London in 1771, attended the clinical practice of Guv's and St. Thomas's Hospitals, heard a course of lectures at Edinburgh, and returned to Philadelphia in 1773. He at once began to practise in partnership with Dr. Evans, his former master. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, Jan. 21, 1774, and was one of the curators, 1795-96. He married, April, 1775, Rachel, eldest daughter of James Pem- berton, Avho died in 1786, leaving a daughter and two sons. They survived their father, Avho remained a widower, and, during his long life and declining years, were pleased to minister, in the most affec- tionate manner, by day and by night, to his happiness and comfort. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 133 Their filial devotion was most loving and exemplary ; it is cited as conclusive evidence of the excellence of their father's nature. Dr. Parke was elected one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital in 1777, and served till 1823 — a term of 4:0^j years. None was more faithfully assiduous in attention to his duty. His abilities were mai-ked more by solidity than brilliance ; more by plain common sense than by flights of genius. In his intercourse with his professional brethren, his deportment was always dignified and courteous. Dr. Parrish says, " He was truly a peacemaker, and as such was blessed with the respect and kind feeling of his medical associates. Amidst all the collisions which may have agi- tated our community he held the even tenor of his way, main- taining his own opinions without unfriendly collision with others. " In the memorable and deeply to be deplored controversy about the contagion and non-contagion of yellow fever, he has told me how he labored, in the early stage, to preserve harmony in the pro- fession by personal and friendly eff'orts extended to prominent and estimable characters who held conflicting opinions. He saw, as he expressed it, the small spark ; but he was unable to extinguish it and prevent the conflagration. Still such was the discretion which marked his course, so convinced were all parties of the purity of his motives that he retained their universal esteem. " In the discharge of his duty to his patients and the community at large he was faithful and intrepid. No circumstances of personal danger, of privation, or fatigue would induce him to abandon his post during those awful epidemics of yellow fever which have con- signed so many thousands of our citizens to the grave. " Nothing could move him ; and although in the year 1793, in common with many of his professional brethren, he was laid pros- trate by the disease, not a few of whom fell victims to its violence, yet he rose from his attack to renew his best efforts to stay the progress of the destroyer. Noble, indeed, is such an example, and worthy to be followed. " He was always alive to the active duties of his profession, and the calls of humanity, even in advanced age. " For some years previously to his death I attended him through 134 RUSCHENBERGER, several severe attacks of illness ; one, a remittent fever then preva- lent through all parts of our country. " His fine and vigorous constitution rose above these depressing causes, and he still continued his usual avocations. He always visited his patients oh foot, and in this respect was similar to Drs. Kuhn and Griffitts." Feeling unable to discharge his duties in the college, owing to his advanced age and declinino- health. Dr. Parke resigned his fellowship Nov. 30, 1830. Drs. Otto and Parrish were instructed to request him to withdraw his resignation, and assure him that the college excused him from involuntary attendance. At the meeting of Dec. 28th he occupied the chair. Again, Jan, 31, 1832, he tendered his resignation, but at the request of the fellows, he consented to continue his connection with the college. Bodily infirmities prompted him to offer his resigna- tion, for a third time, July 30, 1833, but Drs. Otto and Parrish, at the instance of the college, induced him to withdraw it. June 2, 1835. The treasurer reported that the income of the college for the preceding year was (fines $13, annual contributions $84, entrance $10) $107 ; and the total expenditures were $82.82. July 6. A special meeting was held on account of the death of the president. Dr. Thomas C. James, who died the day before at 8 o'clock P.M. Resolutions of regret ; that a fellow be appointed to prepare a memoir of the deceased, and that the college adjourn to meet the next day at his late residence to attend his funeral at 4 o'clock P.M., were adopted. Oct. 6. Drs. Coxe, Bond, and Moore, Avere appointed to arrange for the convenient and safe keeping of the records of the college and for the better accommodation of the library. Feb. 2, 1836. On motion of Dr. R. M. Huston, certain remarks about the college, published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of January 6, 1836, were referred to the censors for investi- gation and report. March 1. Dr. Henry Neil, in behalf of the censors, reported that they had fully examined the observations alluded to, as follows : INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 135 " When empiricism shields itself under the cloak of regular fellow- ship with those who are bound by the laws of honor to sustain the dignity of the medical profession, it is extremely mortifying ; and the man who deliberately demeans himself and degrades the order to which he may have been admitted deserves pointed reprobation, even though enveloped in collegiate parchment." This remark occurs in a short notice of a pamphlet entitled, " Annual Medical Statistical Report of Dr. J. Togno's Infirmary for the Cure of Deafness, from 1834 to 1835. ' To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them, is not to show their weakness but to put out their own eyes ' — Locke. By J. Togno, M.D. Univ. Penna. ; Member of the Philadelphia Medical Society and of the Philadelphia College of Physicians. ' Let the deaf hear.' Philadelphia, 1835." The censors call attention to an important distinction between empiricism properly so-called, and the modes of proceeding usually followed by empirics in the furtherance of their views. The former is highly disgraceful and criminal; in themselves the latter may not be dishonorable or vicious, but become so in connection with the interest they are intended to promote. To employ a secret remedy, or to recommend the indiscriminate use of any one remedy is strictly empirical ; to be liberal in self commendation, to take every oppor- tunity to advertise one's supposed special or general competence, and to strengthen one's claim to favorable notice by certificates from others, though not in accord with the generally accepted rules of professional propriety, do not involve any immorality, unless the object aimed at be immoral. The censors condemned the tone, as well as some substantial parts of the pamphlet ; but did not feel justified in recommending any course of action in the premises by the college. Dr. Togno read a paper in reference to his case, consisting chiefly of charges of misconduct in one or more fellows of the college. He demanded that his paper should be recorded on the minutes. It was referred to the censors. They reported. May 3, 1836, in substance, that Dr. Togno had read before them, April 9th, the paper to which he had referred in his communication to the college, and at the same time stated that 136 RUSCHENBERGER, having instituted legal proceedings against Dr. Coates he did not ask redress from the college. At a meeting of the censors on the 19th, Dr. Coates said that, as well as he could recollect. Dr. Togno's communication was substantially correct, and had the investigation been restricted to a professional tribunal, he would have adduced evidence to justify his remarks, but as the matter had been referred to a law court, he was not willing to communicate anything which might reach Dr. Togno and be prejudicial to his defence. The censors declined to express any other opinion in the case than that the request of Dr. Togno to record his communication on the minutes should not be granted. May 10. A special meeting to consider the case. After the report of the censors was read. Dr. Togno read a communication containing his views on professional deportment, and comments on the report of the censors, and immediately retired from the hall. After discussion of the subject it was " Resolved, That this college is not satisfied with the reply of Dr. Togno to the report of the censors, acting as a special committee, made on the 5th of April, 1836, and that it regards as unprofessional and injurious both to the cause of medical science and to the interests of the community, reports addressed to the general public in which statements of cases are given without any detail or specification of the mode of treat- ment." The presence of Dr. Togno at any meeting subsequent to this is not recorded. Sept. 6. A committee of the trustees of the Preston Retreat — a lying-in charity hospital — applied to the college for advice in reference to a plan of building for the insitution. The application was referred to the committee on midwifery. The committee sub- mitted a report, a copy of which was sent the trustees Nov. 15th. Nov. 22. A fee bill was adopted. The secretary was instructed to have 2000 copies of it printed, and to send one to each practi- tioner in the city. It retained a place among the by-laws till April 5, 1871, and was then abolished. Jan. 3, 1837. A half centui'y had elapsed since the foundation of the college ; but the fact is not noted in the minutes. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PUYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 137 June 6. The treasurer reported a balance of $212.70. August 1. A communication from the Board of Health, asking the opinion of the college as to the comparative insalubrious in- fluence of ponds full of clear water and of ponds partially full which contain decaying animal and vegetable matter, also as to the proper season for draining and filling ponds with earth and rubbish contain- ing more or less animal and vegetable matter, was received and referred. The committee submitted a reply, August loth, and a copy of it was sent to the Board of Health. Nov. 7. The Treasurer and Secretary reported that, in obedience to instructions, they had purchased four shares of Lehigh Coal and Navigation stock, at 84, amounting, with brokerage, to $336.84. Jan. 1, 1839. The college recommended the Legislature to estab- lish a public square with a fountain in each district of the city. May 7. A resolution that the number of fellows of the college shall not exceed 65, was informally submitted, and withdrawn Sept. 3d. Dec. 3. The treasurer and secretary reported that, in compliance with instructions, they had invested, of surplus funds, $222.23 in the Schuylkill Nav. Co. 6 per cent, loan, at y9. June 2, 1840. When the by-law in reference to standing com- mittees was adopted, the college consisted of 31 fellows, and four members were assigned to each committee. Now the number of fellows was more than double, and the working of the committees had become cumbersome. For this reason, and to impose a direct responsibility, the by-law was amended so as to require the president, at the meeting in June, to nominate a committee on the library, and appoint a member to report annually on each one of the following subjects: 1, Public Hygiene; 2, Theory and Practice of Medicine; 3, Surgery ; 4, Midwifery ; 5, Diseases of Women ; 6, Diseases of Children; 7, Materia Medica; 8, Meteorology and Epidemics. These committees were active for sixteen years, till January, 1851. The annual reports made by them were published in the Transactions of the college. July 7. The censors reported a number of papers in possession of the college worthy of publication. 138 RUSCHENBERGER, Aug. 4. The secretary reported that 250 copies of the amended by-laws had been printed/ Oct. 5, 1841. It was resolved to publish a quarterly summary of the Transactions, and, Nov. 2d, a committee of publication was ap- pointed. The secretary reported, March 1, 1842, that the first number had been printed and distributed to the fellows and others. June 1, 1842, the treasurer's balance was $113.40. Jan. 3, 1843. Dr. Henry Bond resigned the office of secretary. The college voted him its thanks, Feb. 7th, for his faithful dis- charge of duty during eleven years. Of nine nominated. Dr. D. Francis Condie was chosen to fill his place. Nov. 7. The college sent to the chairman of a joint committee of the councils of the city, having charge of the subject, a preamble and resolutions recommending the purchase of Lemon Hill, with a view to the preservation of the purity of the water supplied to the city from the Schuylkill River.- Feb. 2, 1844. The secretary reported that 250 copies of the by- laws had been printed ; and, March 5th, 250 copies of the fee bill were ordered. June 4. The treasurer reported that the aggregate of expenses for the year ending June 4th, was $429.30, and that the balance in treasury was $68.07. June 29. A special meeting was held at 5 o'clock p. M., to manifest respect for the memory of the late Vice-President, Dr. John C. Otto. Twenty -nine fellows were present. The meeting adjourned to attend the funeral in a body. ^ A copy is bound with Summary of Trans, of Coll. of Phys. of Philada., vol. iii , 1849-50. The number of Fellows whs 66. » Summary of Trans, of Coll. of Phys., vol. i. p. 178. Fairmount Park iiad its origin in this purchasp. Horace J. Smith's reprint of papers by S. Keyser, 1856, and Thomas Cocheran, 1872, relative to a public park. Philada., 1886. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 139 Jan. 7, 1845. The treasurer reported that, including the Schuyl- kill Nav. loan, which had been paid, he had invested $300 in the District of Spring Garden loan. Oct. 10. A special meeting was held at 3 o'clock p. m., on account of the death of the late Vice-President, Dr. Henry Neill. After appointing a committee to prepare appropriate resolutions, the college adjourned to attend the funeral. Nov. 3. Resolutions in reference to Dr. Neill were unanimously adopted. A circular letter from the New York State Medical Society was read, announcing that a national medical convention, consisting of delegates from the medical institutions of the United States, would be held in the city of New York, May, 1846 ; and also a letter from Dr. N. S. Davis to the president, requesting that the college appoint delegates to represent it. The matter Avas referred to Drs. Wood, Moore, Bond, Bell, Condie, and Hewson. On their report, it was resolved, Dec. 2d, that "While the college cordially approve of the proposed object, they do not under present circumstances deem it expedient to appoint delegates to represent them in the convention." March 6, 1846. "A communication was received from Dr. Sharp- less, and, after some discussion as to the light in which the said communication was to be viewed, it was, on motion, unanimously resolved [11 fellows present], that the name of Dr. John T. Sharp- less be ' removed from the list of fellows' of this College."^ The college had been long desirous to obtain more convenient quarters than the hall of the Philosophical Society afforded. In Feb. 1832, Drs. James, Wood, and Meigs were appointed to confer with a committee of the Atheneum on a proposition to erect a build- ing suitable for the joint accommodation of several societies. Dec, 1838, a committee Avas appointed to inquire whether it Avas practi- cable to obtain apartments better adapted to the convenience of the 1 Trans, of Coll. of Phys., vol. i. p 375. This expulsion — the only one in the century — had its origin in a paper read by Dr. Sharpless before the College, " On the Use and Abuse of Pessaries," and the discussion which it provoked. 140 KUSCHENBERGER, society. A room offered by the University of Pennsylvania was declined, Sept. 1840. A joint committee, composed of representatives of the Philadelphia Medical Society, the Philadelphia Medical College, and the College of Physicians, proposed, Oct. 1840, to form The Medical Hall Association of Philadelphia, to procure "an edifice suitable to accommodate the meetings of various medical associations," and be a convenient and safe depository for their libraries and museums. To accomplish the object it was proposed to sell 300 shares of stock, with certain privileges, for $50 each. The college considered it inexpedient for medical institutions in their corporate capacity, either singly or jointly, to undertake the Avork. Feb. 2, 1841. Drs. Fox, J. R. Paul, and Condie, appointed for the purpose, Nov. 3, 1840, reported that the cost of a proper build- ing for the college would probably exceed $15,000 ; that the plan proposed was generally approved and many liberal subscriptions were promised, but as an amount sufficient to justify the college in under- taking its erection cannot be immediately raised, the committee asked to be discharged. Oct. 5. A committee was directed to ascertain whether the college could be accommodated in the hall recently purchased by the Philo- sophical Society [Chinese Museum, 9th South of Chestnut St.], and if not, to inquire for a room elsewhere. Nov. 1, 1842, the secretary reported that no definite information about a room had been obtained. April 4, 1843. The Philosophical Society increased the rent of the room occupied by the college to fifty dollars a year. Dec. 3, 1844. A committee was directed to inquire whether an apartment for the college could be had in a building nearly com- pleted for the Mercantile Library Company at the S. E. corner of Fifth and Library Streets. The committee reported, March 4, 1845, that an airy, well-lighted room, on the third floor, separate and distinct from the rest of the building, having an entrance from Fifth Street, suitable for the meetings and accommodation of the library, INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 141 was offered at an annual rent of $185, including attendance and heating. After duly considering the ability of the college to afford the increased expense, the committee was directed, June 3d, to engage the room at $175 a year, from July 1st, and have it fitted and furnished suitably to accommodate the library and the sessions of the college ; it was also authorized to solicit " voluntary contri- butions " from the fellows to defray the cost. The spirit of the college was stirred by this undertaking as it had not been before. July 1, 1845, the entrance fee was increased to $15 and the annual contribution to $5. The college had been a tenant of the American Philosophical Society more than fifty-three years, from Dec. 10, 1791. The treasurer was instructed to give notice that the college " Avill cease to occupy its present room after to night," and to pay the amount of rent now due. The balance in the treasury was $16.43. The fellows contributed liberally. The library com- mittee was instructed to move the property of the college to the new apartment. For the first time, the record of proceedings was headed, " Hall of the college, August 5, 1845." The cost of fitting and furnishing the " Hall of the College " was $280.42J. It was met by subscriptions, $213, sale of old book- cases $9.45 ; leaving a deficit of $57.97, which the treasurer was ordered to pay. The meetings were more numerously attended in the ncAv quarters than they had been previously. The proceedings from Xov. 1841, are published in detail in the Transactions, which were issued quarterly. The financial condition of the society improved. The expenditures for the year ending June 2, 1846, were $375.33, and the balance in the treasury $201.45. A new edition of the by-laws and of the fee bill were issued, June, 1848. The year 1849 was notable in the progress of the college. A building fund, which enabled the society to construct the building which it now occupies, was started, and the pathological museum was 142 RUSCHENBERGER, begun. The importance of these measures entitles them to separate consideration. Sept. 4, 1849, an amendment of the by-laws was adopted, to exempt from the annual contribution those fellows who may be away twelve months or more on army or navy service, during their absence. Jan. 6, 1851. All the committees, except that on meteorology and epidemics, were abolished. March 2, 1852, Twenty-nine fellows, who were members of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, represented to the college in a memorial that, as the two societies met on the same night, they were obliged to be absent from the meetings of one or of the other. For this reason it was determined, April Gth, that the stated meetings of the college should be held thereafter on the first Wednes- day instead of the first Tuesday of the month. To obtain more convenient apartments for the use of the college " the picture house of the Pennsylvania Hospital,"^ I^o. 820 Spruce St., was leased at $250 a year. The furniture was at once trans- ferred, and the first meeting of the society in it was held July 4, 1854. It remained there till its final removal to its new and per- manent home, March, 1863. THE MUSEUM. June 5, 1849, Dr. Isaac Parrish moved the following preamble and resolution : Whereas, The institution of a cabinet of pathological specimens, under the control of this college, would greatly facilitate the promo- tion of science and secure to the profession a valuable amount of material of this kind which would otherwise be lost; Resolved, That a committee be appointed to consider the means of eifecting the object.^ 1 The picture house was erected for the accommodation and exhibition f'f the painlinsx*^ presented to the huspital b}' the artist, Benjamin West. They are now in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. * I>aac Parrish, John Neill, John Bell, Henry H. Smith, and Edward Hailoweli were appointed. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA, 143 June 19. The committee submitted a report and resolutions : That it is expedient to found a museum of pathological anatomy, to be under the direction and control of the college, and that a sum not exceeding $50 be appropriated for the erection of the necessary cases within the hall, and for the preparation and arrangement of such specimens as may be presented. That a curator and committee on the museum be appointed as officers of the college, in the same manner as the librarian and library committee are appointed, and that their duties shall'be defined by the by-laws. The measure was adopted Aug. 7, 1849, and the by-laws were amended accordingly, Sept. 4th. Oct. 2, Dr. John Neill was elected curator, and Drs. Moreton Stille, Edward Hallowell, and Isaac Parrish, the Committee on the Museum. In Nov. the committee reported that a considerable number of pathological specimens, many of them from the collection of the late Dr. Joseph Parrish, had been received, and that a microscope of low" power had been presented by Dr. B. H. Coates. A case for their accommodation had been erected at a cost of $25. The museum grew very steadily during more than thirteen years, until June, 1863, Avdien it was united with the collection of Dr. Mutter. June 19, 1856, a special meeting was held to hear a communica- tion from Dr. Miitter. In his behalf. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell stated that Dr. Miitter's collection of pathological and other specimens consisted of 474 bones, 215 wet preparations, 200 casts, 20 wax preparations, 8 papier-mache models, 5 dried preparations, 4 oil and 376 water-color paintings ; and that he proposed to give this collec- tion to the college, and also a bequest of |30,000 to increase the museum and pay the salary of a lecturer, on condition that the college shall provide a fireproof building suitable for their preservation. Dr. Mutter, in his letter addressed to. the college. May 20, 1856, says : " Gentlemen : In consequence of ill health, I find myself obliged to resign, for a time at least, the. office and duties of a teacher of surgery. " With the view of rendering some return to my profession for the 144 RUSCIIENBEKGER, benefits derived from its prosecution for so many years, and, above all, to serve at once the cause of science and of humanity, I have determined to found a pathological museum which shall be open to all physicians and to all students of medicine without fee or charge of any sort. I herewith offer the guardianship of this museum to the Philadelphia College of Physicians as the body best qualified by the character of its members and the nature of its pursuits for undertaking the trust." He theif states, in substance, that he had been offered $20,000 for his collection ; that it had cost more money, besides his attention and labor during twenty-four years ; that, in his opinion, it is for illustrative purposes "almost unrivalled." He says he will hand over "my museum" to the Philadelphia College of Physicians as soon as a suitable building shall be provided for its reception, and will bind himself to keep the said museum in order, free of cost to the college, during his life. "At my death my executors are ordered to pay over to the trustees of my museum (already named) the sum of f 30, 000, to be devoted by them to objects hereinafter specified." Among other things, he proposed that the " Curator of the Museum of the College of Physicians shall also be the Curator of my collec- tion," implying that he did not then contemplate a junction of the two. In conclusion, he said : " I desire the museum to receive the following designation : Pathological Museum of the College of Physicians, Founded A. D. 1856, by Thomas Dent Mutter, M.D., LL.D." The proposition was referred to Drs. Bache, Paul, Norris, Jewell, Stille, and Wood. They reported, July 2, as follows : " Having carefully examined the proposals of Dr. Mutter, they find that his purpose is to establish a great "pathological museum," of which his own ample collection shall form the basis, and to place this museum under the "guardianship" of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia as the body " best qualified for undertaking the trust." It is not therefore a gift that Dr. Mlitter makes to the college. It is in fact a gift to the whole profession which he proposes to deposit INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 145 with the college as a trust, to be applied by them under certain regu- lations and restrictions to the objects for which the museum is to be established. Considering the amount of pecuniary sacrifice made by himself, the cabinet having cost him $20,000 or upward, he very reasonably expects that the college will be disposed, in the interests of the pro- fession, to contribute toward the cost of its proper accommodation and preservation. The committee have no hesitation in recommending the college to join in the noble enterprise proposed by their fellow Dr. Miitter; but as there are a number of conditions in the proposals presented by him to the college which require a much more careful consideration than the committee has yet been able to give them, and which, if accepted, will place the college under very serious responsibilities, the committee requests to be continued with authority to consult with Dr. Miitter on the subject and report to the college the result. They submitted resolutions, 1, approving of Dr. Miitter's purpose; 2, thanking him in behalf of the profession ; and 3, expressing the willingness of the college to cooperate with him in the establishment of the proposed pathological museum. The committee discussed the details of his proposition with Dr. Miitter without conclusion. In a note, dated Sept. 25, 1856, he informed the committee that he was greatly disappointed that matters had not been arranged — that his "papers are all packed up and in bank," and " I am too ill and too busy to give the proper time and care to the arrangements between the college and myself. All I can do is to leave the matter open until I return, which may be next spring." The committee was discharged from further consideration of the subject. Two years afterAvard, Dr. Miitter informed Dr. George B. Wood, Oct. 27, 1858, that he was ready to confirm his proposal in reference to the pathological museum. The committee was reappointed and instructed to complete the arrangements with Dr. Mutter. Dec. 1, 1858, the committee reported that Dr. Miitter desired the college to agree that the building shall be finished in three instead 10 146 RUSCHENBERGEB, of five years from the date of the agreement, — that the committee deems it inexpedient to accede to this desire, and that Dr. Miitter is ready to execute the agreement, in its present shape. The college instructed the committee to have the document legally prepared for execution. At a special meeting, Dec. 6, the action of the committee Avas unanimously approved. Dr. Miitter signed the agreement Dec. 11, 1858, and the officers of the college Jan. 8, 1859. The committee reported, Jan. 5, 1859, that previous to his depart- ure for Europe, Dr. Miitter had placed his museum in charge of three trustees to be delivered to the college as soon as the building shall be completed. A certified copy of the deed of trust, and of a catalogue of the collection, by which it may be identified, was ob- tained Feb. 2, 1859. Dr. Franklin Bache announced, April 6, that Dr. Miitter died March 16, 1859.^ According to the terms of agreement with Dr. Miitter the college, in order to acquire his bequest, was bound to erect within five years a fireproof building in which there should be an apartment of dimen- sions sufficient to accommodate the museum which he had formed, and additional room for its probable increase. Within the period stipulated, the trustee of the Miitter fund and the trustees of the Miitter collection were duly notified that the build- ing required by the terms of the agreement had been erected, and was ready to be occupied, March, 1863. The committee on the Miitter Museum had been appointed, Jan. 1863 ; and the curator of the museum of the college was appointed in June curator of the Mutter Museum. But the trustees of the Miitter fund doubted whether the building was fireproof according to the requirements of the agree- ment ; and also whether the application of the income to purposes recommended by the building committee was in conformity to its spirit. June 3, 1863, the building committee reported that these objections had been removed. The President of the Pennsylvania Company * Dr. Joseph Fancoast was requested to prepare a memoir of Dr. Mutter. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 147 for Insurance on Lives, etc., trustee of the Mutter fund, addressed to Dr. Isaac Hays, chairman of the building committee, the following note: Dear Sir : We have received the certificate of Mrs. ]M. W. A. Mutter that she is satisfied that the building erected at the corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets by the college is a fireproof build- ing, and that she agrees and desires us to pay to the chairman of the committee of the Miitter Museum the income of the fund appro- priated by Dr. Mutter for the use of said museum according to the deed of trust. We have also the certificate of Mr. Errickson that the building is fireproof, and will comply with the direction of the said deed and her wish. Respectfully yr. obt. svt. Charles Dutilh, The deed-poll states in substance that the late Dr. Thomas Dent Miitter, in an agreement dated Dec. 11, 1858, covenanted to convey to the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives certain real and personal estate, the income from which "to be appropriated for the support, preservation, and maintenance of a certain Museum of Pathological and Anatomical Preparations and Specimens in a fire- proof building to be erected" by the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia. It is agreed, inter alia, " that said income shall be devoted to the following purposes, and to no other, namely, 1st, for the salary of a curator, $300 ; 2d, for the salary of a lecturer, $200 ; and the remainder of said income to the preparing, fitting up, keep- ing in order, increasing and insuring of pathological afld anatomical preparations and specimens, etc." In order to remove doubt about the use of the income for cer- tain other objects or purposes than those specified, Mary W. A. Mutter, the executrix, declares : " I am satisfied that, according to the true intent and meaning of the said articles of agreement, the putting up of cases to contain and preserve the said preparations and specimens is included in the provision for preparing and fitting up and keeping in order the said preparations and specimens, and therefore that the expenses thereof may properly be defrayed from said income, and that the providing of chairs, tables, pens, ink, and 148 RUSCHENBERGEK, paper for the said museum is one of the trusts to the performance of which the said income is to be exclusively devoted." August 5, 1863. The college presented its thanks to Mrs. Miitter for her "promptness, courtesy, and liberality," in carrying the agreement into eifect. The pathological and anatomical specimens — more than one hun- dred — collected by the college between 1849 and 1863, were arranged in the same apartment with those of Dr. Miitter, and placed in the immediate custody of the curator, under the supervision of the committee on the Miitter Museum. In fact, the method of managing the affairs of its museum, through the agency of a curator and a committee of three annually elected, devised by the college in 1849, was continued after the reception of the bequest. All the collections of the college and of Dr. Miitter were then joined in one museum, and was named the Miitter Museum. The official functions of the committee on the Miitter Museum were not changed, except that the chairman of the com- mittee, under a provision of the agreement between the college and Dr. Miitter, became the lawful agent to receive and receipt for the income of the Miitter fund in behalf of the college ; but responsi- bility for its expenditure rests exclusively in the college. Misap- propriation of any part of this income may forfeit the bequest. This possibility makes it eminently proper that the committee on the Mutter Museum especially should act, as it always has, in strict subordination to the authority and laws of the college. Unusual expenditures are sanctioned before they are made, and the treasurer pays no bills until they are formally approved by the society. Jan. 6, 1864. Cases had been provided, and the collections had been removed from the Jefferson Medical College and arranged. The i\Iiitter collections consisted of 1139 specimens, 200 casts, 48 oil paintings, and 364 water colored drawings. These, with the numerous preparations previously acquired by the college, constituted the Miitter Museum of the College of Physicians. Many specimens were added at different times. In October, 1867, Dr. W. F. Atlee presented his entire pathological cabinet, and subsequently added to it. The expenditures on account of the Miitter fund did not absorb INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 149 the income. As early as Dec. 6, 1865, the college authorized the chairman of the committee of the Mutter Museum to invest $2000 of the accumulated fund. In May, 1867, Dr. Robert Bridges was paid $300 for analyzing the urinary calculi of the collection. The expenses incidental to the Miitter lectureship were properly charged to the fund. In 1873, after obtaining legal advice on the subject, the purchase of some costly books desirable for use in connection with the Museum was author- ized. Still the income accumulated. July 2, 1878, the balance was $4891.29. The college directed $4000 to be invested in such manner that it might be readily converted into cash in case of need. This investment was sold, by direction of the college, August 4, 1874, in order to pay for the Hyrtl collection, bought for ,$1800 gold. In July, 1876, $800 were paid for the Politzer collection. In July, 1877, the balance was $2943.81. The college directed, Oct. 2, 1878, the accumulated income to be invested, from time to time, in legal securities. The apartment had become so much crowded by the end of 1876, that considerable increase of the number of specimens by purchase was considered not expedient till i-oom should be provided for their preservation and proper display. Consequently the income of the Miitter fund accumulated ; the balance at the close of 1883 exceeded It had been foreseen ten years previously that space for the accommodation of the rapidly growing library and museum would be needed ; and, to provide means to enlarge the college hall, a build- ing fund was begun. It increased so slowly, however, that it was yet quite inadequate to meet the demand. Under the circumstances, it was suggested that the college could be justified in borrowing $5000 of the surplus income of the trust fund, giving a mortgage to insure payment of the debt ; and that as much more as might be necessary should be obtained elsewhere on like security. Upon the propriety of adopting such a financial plan opinion was divided. Discussion resulted in referring the question to the com- mittee on finance, and, at last, to a legal tribunal. It was argued that the college could legitimately use accumulated 150 RUSCHENBERGER, income to extend the space for museum purposes, for the reason that a chief object of the Mutter trust is to pi*ovide for the maintenance and continuous increase of a free medical museum. It is obvious that the increase of the number of objects must be limited by the space afforded for their display, and, therefore, opportune expansion of that space is fairly a part of the cost of increasing the contents of the museum. Some wei'e confident, on the other hand, that, under the terms of its agreement with Dr. Mutter, the college is bound to augment the capacity of the building continuously, pari passu, with the increase of the museum, and to apply the income of the fund exclusively according to a literal construction of its specifications. Two eminent lawyers separately gave opinions on these points, based on partial data submitted to them by the different parties. Their opinions did not coincide ; had they been alike, their authors lacked the ofiicial position which is needed to make legal opinion authoritative, decisive. The committee on finance engaged legal counsel, Feb. 16, 1884. An eminent lawyer gave notice, a day or two later, that he had been retained by the committee on the Miitter Museum, and that, inas- much as this committee occupied the position of lender, it should be the plaintiff in the proposed amicable suit. The chairman of the committee on the Mutter Museum, in a petition to the Court of Common Pleas No. 2, dated March 27, stated in substance that the College of Physicians had not, in answer to its application, instructed the committee in reference to the disposition to be made of the accumulated income of the Mutter fund in such manner and form as would justify and protect the action of the com- mittee in the premises, and, therefore, the Court was asked to order the College of Physicians to answer the application of the committee and abide by the directions Avhich the Court might give. The fact that the college had authorized, Oct. 2, 1878, the chairman of the committee to invest in legal securities from time to time such parts of the income as may seem desirable, was not mentioned. It will be observed that the chairman of the committee on the Mutter Museum — an agent elected annually by the college for specified purposes — assumed that the committee i^ a body somehow INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 151 separate from the college, having in some limited sense a discretion and responsibility independent of it, with a qiiasi-veto right to control all uses of money on account of the museum. On such assumption only is based its call on a legal tribunal to intervene and compel the college to act in the premises as the Court might be pleased to direct. In behalf of the College of Physicians, the chairman of the com- mittee on finance answered the petition, claiming substantially that the accumulated income of the Mutter legacy may be used in build- ing whenever the growth of the museum is arrested by lack of space, for the reason that the maintenance and continuous increase of the museum are chief purposes of the trust, which cannot be realized without provision of sufficient room in which newly acquired objects may be preserved and exhibited ; and this the college is not bound to supply. The Court referred the petition and answer to a master. He heard testimony and arguments, prepared a report, and, on exceptions made in behalf of the college, amended it. Then it was duly sub- mitted, and the matter was debated before the Court, The Court decreed in substance that henceforth the college is " bound only to take care of the museum and expend the income of the fund in accordance with the directions of the agreement, and can, in no contingency, be called on to provide other or additional accommodation for the museum." The Master recommended in his report that the petitioners — the members of the committee on the Miitter Museum — have leave to pay to the College of Physicians $5000 of surplus income upon the execution and delivery of a mortgage for the amount on the college building, with a stipulation in it that if the college shall expend the money in enlarging its premises, neither principal nor interest thereon for any period shall be due or collectable so long as the college shall comply with the terms of the trust. The Court objected that a mort- gage on the building of the College of Physicians might work de- struction of the Mutter ^luseum through foreclosure. If the college should be unable to pay the sum borrowed, its building would be sold, and, as a consequence, accommodation of the museum would be taken away. Therefore the court decreed, in place of a mortgage, Articles of Covenant in which it is stipulated that the petitioners 152 RUSCHENBERGER, shall have leave to pay $5000 to the college provided that it agrees to expend the said sum in building an enlargement of the premises ; to accommodate the said collection as heretofore, and in all respects comply with its agreement with Dr. Miitter ; and at all times hereafter indemnify and save harmless the said petitioners, their heirs, execu- tors, and administrators from all liability whatsoever by reason of the premises. And the Court " further ordered that this decree shall be a complete and full discharge of the petitioners of and from all lia- bility in the premises," and that the costs of the case be paid by the petitioners. The college executed the articles of covenant. Without incurring debt, the premises were enlarged, and the museum was transferred into the spacious apartment provided for it in November and De- cember, 1886. MUTTER LECTURESHIP. The museum was not the sole object of Dr. Mutter's legacy. The agreement provides, Article 16, that the college "will appoint, once in every three years, a lecturer, whose duty it shall be, during that- period, to deliver annually a course of lectures on some point or points connected Avith surgical pathology. The same lecturer shall not be appointed for two such successive terms of three years. Such lecturer shall be subject to directions from the college in regard to the period and duration of his course ; but no such annual course shall consist of less than ten lectures." Under this provision the college appointed, March 2, 1864, Dr. John H. Packard lecturer for three years. "Inflammation" was the subject of his lectures. Dr. Harrison Allen was appointed March 6, 1867, gave one course of lectures, and resigned Nov. 1868. Dr. John H. Brinton was appointed Jan. 6, 1869, gave a course of lectures on gunshot injuries, and resigned Jan. 5, 1870. No candidate for the lectureship appeared during the year 1870. In view of the difficulty of obtaining competent persons to lecture under the terms of the agreement, the college determined, Feb. 1, 1871, with the consent of the executors of Dr. Miitter's will previously INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 153 secured, that one course of lectures should be delivered triennially, and that the lecturer should receive the whole compensation provided for three years. Dr. J. Solis Cohen was appointed lecturer April 5, 1871. Dr. AY. F. Jenks was appointed, Nov. 4, 1874, to deliver a course of lectures on the surgical pathology of the female sexual organs ; but ill health compelled him to withdraw from the engagement Oct. 6, 1875. Dr. R. M. Bertolett was appointed the same day. He resigned Nov. 7, 1877. Dr. S. W. Gross was appointed, Feb. 6, 1879, for the three-year term ending 1876, and delivered a course of lectures on the surgical pathology of tumors. Dr. E. 0. Shakespeare was appointed, June 6, 1879, for the term of 1877—8-9, to give a course of lectures on the nature of inflamma- tion. Dr. H. Formad, the last upon whom this honor has been con- ferred, was appointed Nov. 1, 1882, the subject of his course of lectures being gangrene and blood poisoning. The college has earnestly endeavored to execute every part of Dr. Mutter's trust ; but the result has not been equal to the effort, nor to probable expectation in all respects. The lectureship on surgical pathology has procured only eight courses of ten lectures each since its foundation, at a cost of at least $3000. The average attendance at any one course has not been stated ; but it was never sufficient to imply that the medical community in general very highly appreciated the opportunity of improvement which they offered. Whether the museum is worth the labor, care, and money neces- sarily expended to maintain and increase it continuously, without end, is a question not easily answered. While the usefulness of such collections to help teachers of medical science in their demonstrations may not be doubted, their value in possession of a medical society composed chiefly of busily employed practitioners of medicine and surgery is not quite certain. Many visit the museum merely to gratify curiosity. How many resort to it only for study, or consult it for information alone, has not been ascertained. Possibly the founder did not underestimate the general benefit which would flow 154 RUSCHENBERGER, from his munificent gift ; but, up to this time, conclusive evidence that medical science has gained anything from it is wanting. THE BUILDING FUND. On motion of Dr. George Fox, Nov. 6, 1849, a committee^ was appointed to ascertain the probable cost of a lot, and the sum neces- sary to erect thereon a building suitable for the college, and to submit a plan for raising the money. The committee reported, Dec. 4, that the cost of a lot and of the erection of a building were estimated at $20,000, and recommended that the securities ($945) now held by the college, with contributions which might be received from fellows and others, be vested in a trust, composed of three fellows of the college, and held by them until the fund shall amount to $20,000, which shall be then expended exclu- sively in the purchase of a lot and the erection of a building. The report was adopted, and Drs. George B. Wood, George Fox, and J. Rodman Paul were elected trustees of the building fund, Jan. 15,. 1850. A committee to solicit contributions was appointed.^ Considered in connection with the previous history of the college^ its meagre income and very modest expenditure from the beginning, the institution of this building fund was a long step forward. There was nothing apparent in the immediate surroundings to encourage belief that the project would be very soon realized. Few were inter- ested in its success, but they were sagacious and patient and hopeful, and did all in their power to promote the enterprise. Their work laid the foundation of the stability and progress of the college by securing for it a permanent abode, a fixed home. No doubt the fellows then active, but noAv in final repose, hopefully awaited the periodical reports of the growth of the fund, and indulged in pleas- ing conjectures about the coming fortune of the society ; every fresh report cheered their efforts to augment the sum of contributions, and ^ George Fox, George B. Wood, Isaac Hays, J. K. Paul, and Charles D. Meigs. ' Drs. Fox, Condie, Moreton Stille, West, and Norri?. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 155 Jan. 5, 1853 4, 1854 3, 1855 2, 1856 7, 1857 6, 1858 5, 1859 so each succeeding report was made better. The trustees announced January 6, 1851, investments at par $6,546.16, and cash $73.40. They reported January 6, 1852, the investments at market rate 17,400. Contributions during the year . . $3,795 The present value of the fund . . 11,295 12,000 15,000 15,907 18,145 19,745 21,545 The object for which the trust was created had been attained. The chairman asked the fellows of the college " to take sucli action as they may deem best." Feb. 2, 1859. Measures were adopted to continue the trustees of the building fund for five years. A committee was appointed, March 4, to purchase a lot. It announced, Jan. 4, 1860, that a lot at the corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets had been bought for $10,867.93, and the deed delivered to the trustees of the building fund. The committee was discharged. The trustees reported that the cash and securities amounted, Jan. 1, 1860, to $12,682, and that the estimated value of the whole of the property, real and personal, in their hands was $24,373.41. Dr. George B. Wood promised, April 4, to advance $5,000, which he thought would be needed in addition to $25,000 to be raised, in order to finish the building in time to secure the Miitter legacy. A committee^ was appointed, Dec. 5, to procure plans of building. Jan. 2, 1861, the trustees reported that the building fund amounted to $15,845.15; and, Feb. 6, that they had purchased a lot, 18 by 118 feet, joining the eastern boundary of the college property, for $3,540.67, thus securing an increase of the site for the college buildino;- Isaac Hays, J. R. Paul, G. W. Norris, Edward Hartshorne, and George Fox. 156 RUSCHENBERGER, May 8. A plan of building was submitted, the erection of which the architect estimated would cost $28,000. Further consideration of the subject was postponed till the next meeting. June 5, 1861. Dr. Wood said, in a letter read at the meeting : " The college, therefore, has to raise $12,000 before they have the requisite amount. Cannot this be done in any way ? I do not, as I before told you, like the idea of a mortgage, which, should any serious calamity occur to the city, might imperil, through the depre- ciation of property, the whole of the money which has been raised with so much difficulty, and might even put Dr. Miitter's museum in danger." July 3. The chairman of the committee on plans read a letter from Dr. Wood, in which he urged the adoption of a plan of building such as might be completed within the means of the building fund, satisfy the terms of agreement with Dr. Miitter, and be afterward extended. Sept. 4. A plan of building was submitted by the committee, the southern part of which embraced two apartments on the ground floor, each 44 by 23 feet, one designed for lectures and the other to receive the Miitter collections, and so secure the bequest. The entire plan covered an area of 73 feet on Thirteenth Street by 56 feet on Locust Street. Oct. 2. Swayed by the idea that builders' estimates are uncertain, and that the fund was still insufficient, the college determined that it was "not expedient to take measures forthwith for the erection of a new hall ;" but resolved, Dec. 18, to begin to build. The plans were approved. A building committee was appointed, and authorized to invite proposals for supplying material and labor, and to appoint W. H. Windrim, architect, to supervise the proposals. The trustees stated, Jan. 1, 1862, that the market value of the invested fund was about $10,000, besides rents, cash, and contribu- tions, amounting to $2,268. A motion that it was inexpedient at that time to erect a building, was laid on the table. Feb. 19, 1862. The committee was authorized to make contracts for the construction of the southern part of the hall, covering an area of 78 by 56 feet, the whole cost not to exceed $13,700 ; and, April 2, for the completion of the whole of the exterior, the ground plan of INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 157 which measures 110 by 56 feet, at an additional cost of not more than $7,000. The building was so nearly ready to accommodate the society that the managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital were notified in Nov. 1862, that the college would give up the "Picture House" at the end of the year, or a month or two later. The college met in the new hall for the first time, March, 1863. The final report of the trustees of the building fund was presented and the trust annulled. The treasurer reported, June 3, that $5,000, loaned on the security of a mortgage, had been deposited in bank to the credit of the college. The payment of interest on that loan continued to be a serious incum- brance, and there was no prospect at any time that the society would ever be able to pay the principal. It would still be a burthen, had not Dr. George B. Wood generously provided in his Avill for the extinguishment of the debt. July 1. The building committee was constituted the hall com- mittee until the next annual election. It reported, Jan. 6, 1864, that the hall was in complete repair, but the rooms were unfurnished. The building committee presented its final report, Feb. 3, 1864, and was discharged with a vote of thanks for " the energetic and successful manner" in which its work had been done. The committee reported that the site of the college cost $14,408 Building, paving, etc. ...... 25,250 Furniture, book-cases, gas-fixtures, etc. . . . 1,100 Total $40,758 "It must be manifest," the committee remarks, "that we have reason to be proud of what the profession of our city has done for the promotion of our science, the improvement of the healing art, and the relief of human suffering. And this has nearly all been accomplished by the contributions from our hard-worked and inade- quately compensated profession ; the whole sum furnished from other sources amounting to only about twenty-five hundred dollars. " We are gratified, also, to be able to state that this great enter- 168 RUSCHENBERGER, prise has been .achieved without involving the college in any debt except the mortgage for five thousand dollars."^ Not many years after the society was fixed upon its own premises the rate of increase of the library warned the fellows that room in the building for its accommodation would be insufficient at no very distant day in the future. Taught by past experience how dis- couragingly tedious is the work of gathering a considerable sum of money in numerous gifts from a small community, not many members of which are beyond the need of working daily for support, the college, in order to provide in time for the foreseen want, appointed a committee," Jan. 6, 1875, to devise a plan for collecting a building fund at the earliest day practicable. The proposition of the com- mittee, which was adopted April 7, was that all entrance fees and any annual surplus which the college could aiford, should be appro- priated to the building fund, and that subscriptions, donations, and legacies to it should be encouraged. Dec. 1, ^400 were transferred from the treasury of the college to the fund. Want of room increased more rapidly than the building fund. The committee of the Mutter Museum and the Hall committee were instructed, Jan. 4, 1882, to inquire "whether part of the accu- mulated interest of the Mutter fund could not be borrowed, to be invested in the contemplated addition to the building, and the re- mainder to be raised on mortgage at five per cent, to be paid off by the establishment of a sinking fund. Dr. J. M. Da Costa presented, March 3, 1883, a thousand dollars to begin a special building fund, and a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions to it.^ Feb. 6, 1884, Dr. Mitchell reported that on the first of July the available fund would amount to about $7515, and proposed to aug- ment this sum by the issue of bonds for suitable amounts, not to 1 Summary of the Transactions of the College of Physicians of Pniladelphia, vol. iv., new series, 1874. ^ Drs. George Fox, J. R. Paul, L. Rodman, EUerslie Wallace, and I. Minis Hays. » S. Weir Mitchell, C. S. Wurts, J. M. Da Costa, I. Minis Hays, and J. L. Ludlow. Dr. Da Costa declined, and Dr. J. C. Wilson was appointed in his place, April 4. A. J. Drexel, $250 A. H. Moore, 250 J. F. Sinnott. 125 INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 159 ■exceed $20,000, to be secured to trustees by a mortgage on the building ; $5000 of the bonds to be purchased by the committee of the Mutter Museum, and the rest by fellows of the college. The proposition was referred to the committee on finance, which reported at a subsequent meeting against its adoption. A committee on building was appointed.^ March 4, 1885, the aggregate of the building fund was $14,581. April 1. The thanks of the college were presented for donations to the building fund to Mrs. Cyrus McCormick, of Chicago, $1000 ; Mr. Hartman Kuhn, $500; Mr. Samuel Clarkson, $400; Mrs. Mifflin Wistar, $100 ; and, April 8, to Mr. William Disston, $500 Mr. " Ed. H. Fitler, 250 " George W. Childs, 250 The committee on building was authorized to proceed at once to construct a third story on the hall at a cost not exceeding $24,500, exclusive of heating apparatus, and, if necessary to borrow $6000, secured by a mortgage on the hall, a fellow having volunteered to pay the interest thereon for three years. The necessary scaffolding was erected ; the work of construction, begun May 27, 1885, was completed May 31, 1886. In Dec. 1885, Mr. George W. Childs contributed $2500 to finish the work. The interior was not completed till some time in November. Thanks to the generosity of many of the fellows and the bounty of their friends, whose contributions exceed $6000, the college has enlarged its premises without incurring any debt, at a cost of $26,498.50. PUBLICATIONS OF THE COLLEGE. A proclamation to the people that the College of Physicians of Philadelphia had been founded, which was printed in The Pcnnsyl- 1 John H. Brinton, E. Hartshorne, Ellwood "VYilson, J. H. Hutchinson, and C. S. Wurts. Dr. Hartshorne resigned from the committee March 5, and Dr. Kobert P. Harris was appointed in his place. 160 RUSCHENBERGER, vania Packet and Daily Advertiser^ February 1, 1787, with the form of its constitution and list of members, was the first publication of the society. The college published an eulogium on Dr. William Cullen by Dr. Rush, delivered July 9, 1790. A desire to publish the Transactions of the college had been long manifest before its realization was effected. The importance of such method of publication Avas comparatively great, because it was at that time almost the only way by Avhich professional essays could be presented to the public. Now, periodicals, issued weekly, monthly, quarterly, are open to competent writers on every imagin- able subject of special or general interest to society. The first part of volume 1 of Transactions of the College of Physi- cians of Philadelphia Avas published in July, 1793. Among other things it contains a discourse on the objects of the institution, read before the college by Dr. Benjamin Rush, Feb. 6, 1787. A pamphlet entitled Proceedings of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia relative to the prevention of the introduction and spreading of contagious diseases was published in 1798. Another, Facts and observations relative to the nature and origin of the pestilential fever ivhich prevailed in this city in 1793, 1797 and 1798. By the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, was issued in 1800. Dr. Wistar's eulogium on Dr. Wm. Shippen delivered in March^ 1809, was published by the college April, 1818. The college was inactive during many years. Hoping to revive the spirit which characterized the early times of the society, measures were adopted to publish quarterly a summary of its transactions. Between Nov. 1841 and Jan. 1850 three volumes were issued under the direction of a committee on publication. To reduce the cost of production, so that it would be less incon- venient to defray, an agreement was made with a firm of book pub- lishers to print and sell the work. A new series of the summary of transactions was begun Nov. 1850, and continued until the end of July, 1857. Then, the importance of curtailing the expense induced a change in the method of publication. An arrangement was made with the proprietors and editor thereof to publish, free of cost, in INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 161 The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, the written and verbal communications, and abstracts of discussions, and supply a sufficient number of separate copies for the use of the college after the publication of each number of the journal. Under this arrange- ment the new series was continued to the completion of the fourth volume, Jan. 1874. In Nov. 1874, the contract with The American Journal of the Medical Sciences was annulled, and the college resumed the publica- tion. The first volume of the third series of the Transactions was issued in 1875, and the eighth volume in 1886. Timely and sub- stantial aid received from Dr. DaCosta in 1885, prevented a threatened suspension of the publication for lack of means. An essay on the yellow fever of 1762, in Philadelphia, by Dr. John Redman, read Sept. 3, 1793, was printed by the college in 1865. From first to last, amendments to the by-laws of the society have caused them often to be printed. "The charter, constitution, and by-laws of the College of Physi- cians of Philadelphia," were first printed separately for the use of the fellows in 1790. Article 8, Section 1, provides that "no mem- ber shall divulge the private transactions of the college." A list of the names of the fellows is contained in this, as well as in all subsequent issues of the by-laws. They show the number of fellows at the date of publication of each, as follows : 1790, 28 fellows. 1863,^ 134 and 22 N. R. 1818, 18 1864,^ 129 " 23 1834, 31 1870,1 181 " 31 1840, 66 1875, 203 " 31 1848, 94 1882, 180 " 24 1856, 119 and UN. THE R. 1886, LIBRARY. 207 " 31 The record of the society shows that the question of forming a library was first formally considered in 1788. A committee was appointed in reference to the matter June 3 ; and its report laid on 1 The articles of agreement between the college and Dr. Mutter are appended to this edition. 11 162 RUSCHENBERGER, the table, July 1. It was resolved Aug. 5, ''That the several mem- bers of the college be requested to send to the secretary such books as they mean to present to the college." In December Dr. John Morgan presented twenty-four volumes, and added others in Jan. 1789. The committee appointed June 3, 1788, to prepare a plan for the formation of a library submitted the following, which was adopted March 3, 1789: First. That the business of collecting books from the members by way of donation to the library, of procuring a suitable place for keeping them, and a person to attend at stated times for lending them to the members, be committed to the Censors and Sec- retary, who shall consult the college respecting the time and manner of lending them. Second. That on the first Tuesday of July of every year, as soon as the treasurer has made his annual report of the balance remaining in his hands, the college do grant such sums as they may think proper for the service of the library for the ensuing year. These primary enactments distinctly imply that the acquisition of a suitable library was very desirable in the opinion of the college. In Oct. 1789, Dr. William Shippen presented the works of five authors. Dr. John Morris eight volumes, and Dr. John Jones several. In Nov. the president was authorized to draw fifty pounds ($133) for the purchase of books. Some were imported in 1790. In 1793 Dr. Rush presented a copy of Sydenham's works. A copy of the catalogue of the library of the Pennsylvania Hospital was received from Dr. Parke ; and the pamphlets of the college were ordered to be bound in 1794. In 1795 Dr. Parke sent £S5 to purchase books, and reported, Aug. 4, the receipt of twelve volumes from London. July 5, 1796, a hundred and twenty dollars were appropriated for the use of the library, and the censors were directed, Aug. 5, to prepare a list of books to be procured in Europe. Books purchased in Amsterdam arrived in 1797 ; and books of nineteen titles sub- mitted by the censors were ordered. In 1798 the censors were directed to prepare a list to be purchased. Between June, 1800, and July, 1818, additions to the library were made by gift and purchase every year. The censors reported, July 7, that some volumes were missing, and recommended that a catalogue be made. The committee INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 163 appointed for the duty/ reported January 5, 1819, that the catalogue had been completed. The number of books increased slowly. In 1825 the library of the Kappa Lambda Society was deposited in the college. On their report the censors were directed, Nov. 28, 1828, to have the book- cases repaired. The library committee stated, Jan. 6, 1835, that the library was in bad condition, going to decay, and was instructed to take measures for its preservation. The committee reported, June 7, 1836, that, besides a number of unbound pamphlets, the library contained 291 volumes, namely, 31 folios, 67 quartos, and 193 octavos ; and was in condition for use were it more conveniently placed. According to the annual reports of the library committee from this date till the close of 1843 very few volumes had been added, and the library was " rarely, if ever, used." In May, 1844, the medical library of Dr. Otto was purchased for $200, and in July placed in a room over the office of Dr. Hodge, N. W. corner of Walnut and Ninth Streets. June 4, an appropria- tion of $50, to arrange and catalogue the library, was made ; and the library committee recommended that a librarian be present one hour twice a month to loan books. The committee reported, June 3, 1845, that one case of books stood on the landing of the stairway leading to "our room;" that the Otto collection was at Dr. Hodge's office, and that the library was very little used. Drs. Bond, Condie, Parrish, and Wood had presented 137 volumes during the year. It was ordered, August 5, that the library should be open from eleven o'clock a. m. till two o'clock P. M. Most of the medical peri- odicals published in the United States and one from Canada were received in exchange for the Transactions of the college. The Philadelphia Medical Society deposited its library in the college Dec. 1, 1846, and claimed its restoration Dec. 7, 1859. During this period the books were accessible to the fellows of the college. ^ William Currie, Samuel P. Griffitts, and Thomas T. Hewson. 164 RUSCHENBERGER, The committee reported, March 6, 1849, that the library con- tinued "to steadily increase," and was "entitled to more attention than it received." June G, 1855. The committee reported, that soon after the removal to Spruce Street the library had been rearranged and catalogued, and that 350 volumes had been added during the past year. Dec. 5, Mrs. Moreton Stille presented 119 volumes as a " memorial of her late husband." Jan. 2, 1856, $125 were appropriated for binding, and the same sum for the use of the library, Jan. 7, 1857. !N^ov. 4. The committee reported the receipt of more than 900 volumes from Dr. Thos. F. Betton, including some rare and impor- tant works ; and, Dec. 1, 1858, that the library contained about 3560 volumes, and during the past year had been much more fre- quently consulted. The Betton collection numbered 1265 volumes. May 4, 1859. Ordered that the library be open one evening in the week. June 1. A selection of books from the library of Dr. Bond, bequeathed by him, had been received. Dec. 7. The committee reported that Mrs. Miitter had deposited 40 works ; that 397 volumes had been contributed during the year ; and that the library contained about 4000 volumes, besides pamphlets. Dec. 3, 1862. The State Medical Society presented a complete set of its Transactions^ and fellows of the college 192 volumes of French theses. Jan. 7, 1863. The executors of Dr. Isaac Remington presented 90 works, including 195 volumes, and 188 numbers of 10 peri- odicals. The library committee was authorized to move into the new building. Nov. 4. Ordered that cases be prepared to receive books to be presented by Dr. Samuel Lewis. The librarian reported the receipt of a large number of books from Dr. Thos. F. Betton. March 2, 1864. The chairman of the library committee, Dr. Alfi-ed Stille, read the following : INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 165 Feb. 27, 1864. My Dear Doctor : The books promised to the college some time ago have been placed in the library. I now beg to present them through you to the college, with the earnest wish that they may tend, in some degree, to advance its interests and usefulness. Very truly yours, Saml. Lewis. Dr. Alfred Stille, Ohairman of the Library Committee. On motion of Dr. Stille, Resolved, That the thanks of the college are hereby presented to Dr. Samuel Lewis for his munificent gift of more than 2500 volumes of medical books, and that they shall be preserved as a separate collection under the name of the Lewis Library. Drs. Isaac Hays, John H. Packard, and others, contributed a number of books and pamphlets during 1864. April 5, 1865. Dr. Samuel Lewis presented a MS. on the yellow fever of 1762, by Dr. John Redman, which was referred to the pub- lication committee with power. Sept. 25. Mr. George Ord presented his general library to the college on condition that the books be safely kept in the building of the institution. Mr. Ord died before the library was delivered, and the college paid $330 collateral inheritance tax on its appraised value, in Feb. 1866. Subsequently, July 5, 1882, it was sold for $550, which were ordered to be expended in the purchase of desirable books to be credited to the bounty of Mr. George Ord. April 4, 1866. In order that the library might be open daily, Dr. George B. Wood agreed to give $500 annually, as stated in the fol- lowing communication: March 17, 1886. My Dear Doctor: It has occurred to me that the library of the college of physicians is not so useful to the fellows as it ought to be, in consequence of the 166 RUSCHENBERGER, short space of time during which it is accessible. It often happens that a practitioner wishes to decide some point hastily by consulting the books ; or he may have a leisure hour or two Avhich he could very profitably spend in a large medical library ; or he may be investigating a point in relation to which it may be expedient to glance at a large number of authorities ; in short, it would be easy to indicate many ways in which our great collection might be made much more serviceable than it now is, if the library could be kept longer open. Knowing that the college has little money to spare, I have thought that 1 could not better dispose of a portion of my income than, with the approval and under the direction of the college, to apply it to this purpose. I would, therefore, propose to pay annu- ally to the treasurer of the college five hundred dollars, provided that with this sum arrangements can be made for keeping the library open every day, Sundays excepted, throughout the year, from 9 or 10 A.M. to 2 or 3. P.M. ; the rooms being comfortably warmed, and the librarian, or an assistant, present to hand the books wanted, and attend generally to the interests of the concern. In the uncertainty of human afiairs, it might happen, from unfore- seen misfortunes, that it would be inconvenient to me to pay this sum ; and I am compelled, therefore, to ask of the college an accept- ance of the grant subject to this contingency. If the college will, with this limitation, receive the proposed payment for the purpose mentioned, and direct and superintend its application, I assure you that I shall consider that they are doing me a favor. I shall probably be unable to be present at the next meeting, and I would thank you, if you find the proposed measure in accordance with your own views of what may be expedient in the case, to bring the subject before the college for their consideration. Sincerely your friend, George B. Wood. Dr. Isaac Hays. May 2, 1866. Dr. Wood presented the portraits of three of the former presidents of the college. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 167 Jan. 1, 1868. The library committee reported the state of the library as. follows : Volumes. Ord Library . . . 2,068 Lewis Library . . . 3,229, increase 264. East room . . . . 3,299 West " . . . . 3,98T " 387. 12,583 Duplicates .... 591, decrease 65 Volumes loaned from Dec. 1, 1865, to Dec. 1, 1866, 197. " " " " 1866, " 1867, 388. Feb. 5. Mr. Ferdinand Coxe presented a MS. note book of Dr. John Redman. March 4. Ordered that $500 be invested, including a donation of $445.90 from the Philadelphia Medical Society, and that the interest thereof be applied, in accordance with the condition of the gift, to increase the library of the college.^ July 2, 1879. Books bequeathed to the college by Dr. George B. Wood were received. Nov. 5, 1880. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell presented a thousand dollars to establish a Journal Fund, or for such other disposition of its income for the benefit of the library as the college may from time to time determine. The treasurer was directed to invest the gift and keep it separate under the title of the Weir Mitchell Library Fund. Dr. Mitchell ' The Philadelphia Medical Society, founded 1789, was discontinued in 1868. Its archives are in the college In The Medical News, Jan. 1843, is the follow- ing: "The Philadelphia Medical Society, for example, a naere acorn once, has grown into a huge oak whose branches extend from the north to the south of this Union, and whose motto might have been quantum latet, in allusion to its origin, instead of ea; collisione scintilla. This society had a very humble begin- ning; its junior members held their meetings in Lyttle's school house, a small frame building next to Geni. Cadwalader's house, south Second Street, below Spruce Street; each junior member carried his candle with him, and friend Lyttle's ink pots, in the desks, were the sockets for our candles ; then and there were discussed, as we thought, learnedly, of course, the merits of the CuUenian and Brunonian doctrines." 168 RUSCHENBERGER, made a second contribution of one thousand dollars to this fund March 1, 1882. Feb. 2, 1881. Miss Emily Thomas began to make a card catalogue of the library. Jan. 4, 1882. Mrs. Helen C. Jenks presented a large number of medical books. Nov. 5, 1884. Dr. Alfred Stille presented 695 volumes. April 1, 1885. The Samuel D. Gross library of the Academy of Surgery was deposited : it is to be the property of the college on the dissolution of the academy. Dr. I. Minis Hays presented 901 ; and, Jan. 6, 1886, Mr. George 1. McKelway 166 volumes. June 2, 1886. Mrs. J. F. Weightman presented 512 volumes, 351 of which were new to the library. With few exceptions they all treat of ophthalmological subjects, and with the Lewis collection make the library very full in this department. Mr. William Weightman presented, Jan. 1887, $1000, on condi- tion that the income from the investment thereof be used to purchase books on ophthalmic surgery to be added to the collection given by the widow of Dr. Weightman. The Parry library and the obstetrical library were received June 2, 1886, as a permanent deposit, the books to be catalogued and cared for as a part of the college library, to be used by the fellows, and members of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. At the close of 1886, the contents of the library were as follows :^ Volumes. Volumes. General library, 20,016 and duplicates. 1,718 Lewis " 9,276 Mutter " 94 On special deposit : Sam'l D. Gross library. 3,250 u 1,882 H. Lenox Hodge " 1,665 Obstetrical " 33 ii 326 34,284 3,926 ^ Annual Kcport of the Honorary Librarian, November 1, 1886. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 169 A journal club or association was formed in March, 1871, Avhicli lias since annually contributed to the library 16 medical periodicals. The Weir Mitchell fund supplies 14. Twenty-two journals, and the transactions of 20 societies are received in exchange for the transactions of the college. Many come from other sources, so that the recent issues of about 200 American and foreign periodicals are constantly on the racks or tables. These records of medical thoughts, creeds, and facts, past and present, here gathered together, constitute a source of knowledge, long ago opened and enriched, from time to time, both by modest and generous gifts from philanthropic men according to their means. They afford opportunity to all who desire to avail themselves of it to help themselves to information. Their use is not restricted to the fellows of the college. Any respectable person may freely con- sult them under the rules. The utility of a library is measured by the numbers who resort to it. If it be true that " supply creates demand," the number of readers should increase proportionately to the number of books placed at their service. The library has a progressive rate of increase which is great. Unless abated or arrested, which does not now seem likely, need of room for its accommodation is sure to come. Foreseeing the ap- proach of that need, possibly afar off, provision to meet it might be prudently made now, by starting a building fund — a plant of slow growth at best — to be ready not alone for construction, but also to extend the site for building whenever opportunity may offer. The entrance fees, and balances of every description annually appropri- ated to it, under an economical administration of the affairs of the college in every department, might accumulate a very respectable fund by the time it will be wanted — ten or fifteen years hence. DIRECTORY FOR NURSES. Feb. 1, 1882. On motion of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell a committee was appointed to inquire whether the college shall assume the duty of establishinsr a resistration for nurses. 170 RUSCHENBERGER, The committee instructed to organize a Directory for Nurses' reported, March 1, that more than a thousand dollars had been subscribed to secure the object by Mrs. E. W. Biddle, " T. W. Biddle, " Clarence Clarke, " Coles, " A. F. Franciscus, " G. L. Harrison, " Harry Hart, " Lippincott, " Thos. McKean, " Mitchell, Mr. A. Biddle, " G. W. Childs, " D. B. Cummings, " A. J. iJrexel, " W. Keid Fisher, Mrs. Powers, " W. H. Rawle, " Rhoads, " T. A. Scott, " G. Roberts Smith, " W. P. Tatham, " Tobias Wagner, " J. Lowber Welsh, " C. Wister. Mr. A. Haller Gross, " H. C. Lea, " J. S. Newbold, " Wm. Rawle, " Howard Roberts, Miss Bohlen, " Fox, " Mary R. Fox, " Meredith, " Paul, " Mary Paul, " Pendleton, " C. M. Rush, " Mary Rush. Mr, C. Piatt, Dr. C. B. Cadwalader, " J. H. Hutchinson, " Samuel Lewis, " J. F. Meigs. Arrangements were completed and the office opened for business, May 15. Miss Emily Thomas was elected Secretary Feb. 7, 1883, The Directory for Nurses is under the direct control of a com- mittee of three fellows of the college, annually elected, assisted by four ladies appointed by the committee. The ladies first appointed assistants were Mrs. ]M. Fulton, Mrs. Theodore Justice, Mrs. S. Weir Mitchell, and Miss S. Stevenson. Mrs. Moncure Robinson was appointed, March 3, 1885, in place of Mrs. Fulton, resigned. No other change has been made in the com- mittee first selected. For a moderate fee, skilled nurses, both male and female, are quickly furnished on personal application ; also, by telegraph from distant points, or by telephone in urgent cases. The office is open at all hours. About 500 names are on the register of nurses in the directory. Of these 86 are male, and 175 are graduates of training schools. During the year 1886, 1155 applicants were supplied with nurses. The income of the directory exceeds its expenses. The surplus is annually appropriated to the use of the library. 1 W. W. Keen, Albert H. Smith, S. Weir Mitchell. INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 171 ENTERTAINMENT FUND. Nov. 7, 1877. On motion of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, seconded by Dr. S. D. Gross, the council was requested to consider whether it is advisable that the President should give, at the expense of the col- lege, a reception in the hall once each year. The council reported, Jan. 2, 1878, that the state of the treasury alone rendered the prop- osition inexpedient. Feb. 7, 1883. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell presented five thousand dollars to establish an Entertainment Fund. The first fruit of this generous gift was a reception given, Sept. 8, 1884, by the college to the medical members of the American and British Associations for the Advancement of Science, assembled together in Philadelphia at that time. A dinner was given, with the aid of the fund, April 14, 1886, at which the loving-cup presented to the college by some ladies, at a suggestion of Dr. Mitchell, was introduced and used for the first CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. » .^ In accordance with the plan devised by a committee, appointed for the purpose Nov. 5, 1885,^ the president of the college, S. Weir Mitchell, M.D., LL.D., delivered a " Commemorative Address," Monday, January 3, 1887, at 7.30 P. m. in Association Hall (S. E. corner of Chestnut and Fifteenth Streets), in presence of the fellows of the college and many distinguished guests. After the address, at nine o'clock, there was a general reception in the hall of the College of Physicians. 1 Sir Matthew Hale said, the pledge of any health is one of the greatest arti- fices of drinkins: and leads to quarrelling in the kingdom. * Committee on Centennial Anniversary, Nov. 5, 1884. Alfred Stilly, I. Minis Hays, S. Weir Mitchell, S. W. Gross, and J. Ewing Mears. Diflferent days were proposed for the celebration. Some suggested September, some April, and others fixed upon January 2, 1887, because, according to precise reckoning of time, that is the hundredth anniversary of the first meeting of the society which is recorded. The college decided, Sept. 1, 1886, by a vote of 59 to 41, that January 2d was the appropriate date of the centennial anniversary. 172 RUSCHENBERGER, A special meeting of the college was held at noon Tuesday, Jan. 4, 1887. Professor Alfred Stille, M.D., LL.D., delivered an address, "Reminiscences of the College." Eleven recently elected associate fellows were individually intro- duced. The president, appropriately addressing each in turn, deliv- ered to him a diploma of his associate fellowship. Then, Professor J. M. Da Costa, M.D., LL.D., welcomed them all to the college roll in an address. As soon as the meeting adjourned those present were entertained at luncheon in the department from which the Mutter Museum had been very recently removed. At seven o'clock in the evening a hundred and twenty fellows, associates and guests of the college assembled in a hall of the Union League (Broad and Sansom Streets) and dined. There were toasts, the loving cup was circulated, and speeches were made. The com- pany separated at midnight. From ten o'clock A. M. till five o'clock p. m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 5th and 6th, a collection of portraits of eminent physicians and objects of professional interest, borrowed for the occasion, were exhibited in the hall of the college to hundreds of visitors. The demonstrations of satisfaction, and the interchange of cheering words about them, among the fellows and their friends, because the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, still of good repute, had attained the age of a hundred years, closed with this display. Atten- tion of the local public had been attracted. The institution was published more Avidely than it had been. The centennial celebra- tion, which in no sense affected the intrinsic worth of the college, simply made its existence more broadly known in the community, and in some degree spread knowledge of its value as an agency in fostering the cultivation of medical science in many ways — an object of much general importance, which is not justly appreciated, nor encouraged as it deserves to be outside of the profession. In comparing the past with the present, the fellows of the col- lege at this time may find reason to be boastful, if sedate men may INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. 173 ever boast at all. Several cotemporaneous medical societies in the city, ably conducted, tried for years to secure permanency, each hoping all the while to own a hall and in it a library and museum. Some of those societies, after ten, twenty, fifty, or more years' activity ceased to exist. With a single exception, all of them were discontinued without possessions to divide or bequeath. They left no sign of substantial progress, or evidence that they had contributed to the advancement of medical science. Their failure, in some mys- terious way free from a spirit of exultation, imparts a zest to our success, rendering apt La Rochefoucault's assertion, that there is something pleasant in the contemplation of the misfortunes of our best friends. At the close of 1849, when the society had existed sixty-three years, including the founders, 180 fellows had been elected. As a rule, they were dignified men, without exuberant estimate of them- selves, and therefore free from the littleness of self-commendation, notable for persevering and industrious ways, probity and frugality, discernment, caution, and professional ability, qualities which secured general confidence and respect, and enabled them to surmount ob- stacles which insufficient means from time to time opposed to the progress of the society. They laid the foundation of the respecta- bility, the reputation of the college, and sustained it. Its present satisfactory condition is ascribable largely to their acumen and wisely prudent management, without which occasion for a centennial celebration might have never come. The building fund, started in 1849, strengthened the attractions and ties of fellowship, and by its completion gave stability to the institution. More than twenty-eight hundred dollars, contributed by the fel- lows, were expended on this rare anniversary. A comparison of the state of the college a hundred years ago with its present condition may be interesting in this connection. The annual contributions paid by the fellows during the year 1787 amounted to |54, and the entrance fees to $216. With such moderate income the college willingly accepted the use of a room for its meetings in the Academy, rent free, during nearly five years. To obtain more convenient accommodations the entrance fee was increased to =£10, or $26.66, and the annual contribution was doubled. In December, 1791, the 174 INSTITUTION OF COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA. college leased a room in tlie hall of the American Philosophical Society for three years and a half, ending June 10, 1794, paying the rent for the whole term in advance, $79.80, at the rate of little less than $23 a year. The furniture of that room cost the college $72. Neither Redman, nor Morgan, nor Shippen, nor Kuhn, nor any founder, ever dreamed of or foresaw the day when the college would willingly see expended in the celebration of one anniversary of the institution five or six time as much as the income of a whole year of that period. The fellows of the olden time were careful that the slender income of the college should not be expended for any pur- pose unlikely to promote the objects for Avhich the society was insti- tuted — to increase and diffuse knowledge of the healing art. They did not consider that the intervention of college festivity on any occasion was necessary to ease the task or enhance the worth of the labors of the fellows, or promote the interests of the institution. Their acts and words, as the record shows, imply that such was their opinion. They were right ; but changed conditions justify different conduct. Had they been present with us (wearing queues as of old), they might have called our attention to the ancient views of the college on temperance, and turned away ; or they might have cheer- fully acquiesced in the methods of the present day, and congratulated the college on its prosperity, the contents of its published Transac- tions, the possession of a great library and museum ; and possibly have been pleased to join in rejoicing over the harvest grown from seeds of their planting. APPENDIX. FORM OP THE CONSTITUTION OF THE C0LLE(5E OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY 2, 1787. The Physicians of Philadelphia, influenced by a conviction of many ad- vantages that have arisen in every country from Literary institutions, have associated themselves under the name and title of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The objects of this College are, to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby to lessen Human Misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to our Country, by observing the effects of different seasons, climates, and situations upon the Human body, by recording the changes that are produced in diseases by the progress of Agriculture, Arts, Population, and Manners, by searching for Medicines in our Woods, Waters, and the bowels of the Earth, by enlarging our avenues to knowl- edge ; from the discoveries and publications of foreign Countries ; by ap- pointing stated times for Literary intercourse and communications, and by cultivating order and uniformity in the practice of Physick. For the purpose of obtaining these objects, the following Kules have been adopted : 1st. The College shall consist of twelve Senior Fellows and of an indefi- nite number of junior Fellows and Associates. 2d. The Senior and junior Fellows shall reside in the City or District of Southwark, or Liberties of Philadelphia. 3d. The Associates shall consist of such persons of merit in the profession of Medicine who do not live within the limits described for Fellows, without any regard to Diversity of Nation or Religion. 4th. The junior Fellows shall consist of such Practitioners of Physic as are of good moral character and decent deportment, and who are not under twenty-four years of age. 5th. The Senior Fellows shall be chosen from among the Juniors, by the Seniors only, within one month after a vacancy is declared. The Junior Fellows and Associates shall be chosen by the joint votes of all the Fellows. Three-fourths of the whole number of Senior Fellows shall concur in the admission of Seniors, and three-fourths of the Fellows shall concur in the admission of Juniors and Associates. 176 APPENDIX. 6th. All Laws, Regulations, and Appointments to offices shall be made by a Majority of the joint votes of all the Fellows. Tth. The officers of the College shall consist of a President, Vice-President, four Censors, a Treasurer, and Secretary, who shall be chosen annually from amongst the Senior Fellows on the first Tuesday in July. 8th. The Stated Meetings of the College shall be on the first Tuesday in every month. Besides these meetings, the President, or in his absence or indisposition the Vice-President, shall have power to call extraordinary meetings whenever important or unexpected business shall require, of which he shall be the judge. It shall likewise be in the power of any six Fellows of the College who concur in their desires of a meeting to authorize the President or, in his absence, the Vice-President to call it. 9th. The business of the Censors shall be to inspect the Records and examine the accounts and expenditures of the College and report thereon ; and all communications made to the Society, after being read at one of their stated meetings, shall be referred to the Censors, and such other members of the College as shall be nominated for the purpose to examine and report thereon to the College, who shall determine by a vote taken by Ballot, on the propriety of publishing them in their transactions. 10th. The business of the Secretary shall be to keep minutes of the meet- ings and transactions of the Society, and to record them in a Book provided for that purpose. Likewise to receive and preserve all books and papers belonging, and letters addressed to the College. 11th. The business of the Treasurer shall be to receive all the monies of the College, and to pay them to the order of the President or Vice- President only, which order shall be the Voucher of his expenditures. 12th. Every member of the College shall have a certificate of his election, with the seal of the College affixed thereto, signed by the President and Vice- President, and countersigned by the Censors and Secretary. The style of the certificates and all addresses from the College, shall be as follows : The President (or the Vice-President), and College of Phj'sicians of Philadelphia. 13th. No associate who comes to reside within the limits mentioned in the Second Rule shall be admitted to a Fellowship in the College without being elected in the manner prescribed for the admission of Junior Fellows. No new member shall be chosen who has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting. 14th. No Law or Regulation shall be adopted that has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting, nor shall any part of the Constitution be altered without being proposed for consideration for three months. The President, or the Vice-President when he takes the chair, shall have no vote, except in questions where there is an equal division of voices. Two-fifths of the Fellows shall be a quorum for all Business, except the APPENDIX. 177 election of nembers, the expenditure of money, the making of Laws, or the altering of the Constitution ; in the three last cases, a majority of the Fellows shall be a quorum. 15th. Every Fellow upon his admission shall subscribe to the above Rules, as a Testimony of his consent to be bound by them. He shall at the same time pay into the hands of the Treasurer the sum of eight dollars, towards establishing a fund for the use of the College ; he shall likewise pay two dol- lars annually for the same purpose. Senior Fellows. John Morgan, Gerard Clarkson, John Redman, Samuel Duffield, John Jones, Thomas Parke, William Shippen, jr., James Hutchinson, Adam Kuhn, Greorge Glentworth, Benj'n Rush, Abra : Chovet. Junior Fellows. Andrew Ross, Nathan Dorsey, Wm. W. Smith, . B. Duffield, James Hall, John Carson, William Clarkson, John Foulke, William Currie, Robt. Harris, Benj'n Say, John R. B. Rodgers, Samuel P. Griffitts, Caspar Wistar, Jun'r, J. Morris, Jas. Cunningham. This first constitution, signed by the 12 senior and 16 junior fellows, was superseded by an amended form, submitted by "a member" Aug. 7, 1887, and adopted Nov. 6, when 17 members were present. No change was made in the preamble. The following rules were substituted for those of the first constitution. 1 . The college shall consist of fellows and associates. 2. The fellows shall consist of practitioners of physic of character in their profession who reside in the city, or district of Southwark, or Liberties of Philadelphia, and are not under twenty-four years of age. 3. The associates shall consist of persons of merit in the profession of medicine who do not live within the limits above described. 4. Three-fourths of the whole number of fellows shall concur in the admis- sion of a fellow or associate. 5. The officers of the college shall consist of a president, vice-president, four censors, a treasurer and secretary, who shall be chosen annually, from amongst the fellows, on the first Tuesday in July. 12 178 APPENDIX. tj. The stated meetings shall be on the first Tuesday of every ii onth.^ Be- sides these meetings the president, or in case of his absence or indisposition, the vice-president, shall have power to call extraordinary meetings, whenever important or unexpected business shall require, of which he shail be the judge. It shall likewise be in the power of any six fellows of the college who concur in their desires for a meeting to authorize the president, or in case of his absence or indisposition, the vice-president, to call it. 7. The business of the censors shall be to inspect the records and examine the accounts and expenditures of the college and report thereon ; and all communications made to the society, after being read at one of their stated meetings, shall be referred to the censors and such other members of the col- lege as shall be nominated for the purpose, to examine and report thereon to the college, who shall determine by a vote, taken by ballot, on the propriety of publishing them in their transactions. 8. The business of the secretary shall be to keep the minutes of all the meetings and transactions of the society and to record them in a book pro- vided for that purpose. Likewise to receive and preserve all books and papers belonging, and letters addressed to the college. 9. The business of the treasurer shall be to receive all the monies of the college, and pay them to the order of the president or vice-president only, which order shall be the voucher for his expenditures. 10. Every member of the college shall have a certificate of his election, with the seal of the college affixed thereto, signed by the president and vice- president, and countersigned by the censors and secretary. The style of the certificates, and all addresses from the college shall be as follows : The presi- dent, vice-president, and college of Physicians of Philadelphia. 11. No associate who comes to reside within the limits mentioned in the second rule shall be admitted to fellowship in the college, without being elected in the manner prescribed for the admission of fellows. No new mem- ber shall be chosen who has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting. 12. No law nor regulation shall be adopted that has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting, nor shall any part of the constitution be altered without being proposed for consideration for three months. The president or vice president when he takes the chair shall have no vote, except in ques- tions where there is an equal division of voices. Two fifths of the fellows shall be a quorum for all ordinary business ;'^ but for the expenditure of 1 This rule was amended April 6, 1852. It was ordered tliat hereafter the meetings of the college shall be held on the first Wednesday instead of the first Tuesday in the month. The change was made in compliance with a request of 29 fellows, members of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, which holds its meetings every Tuesday. 2 Amended, April 1, 1788, so that seven fellows shall constitute a quorum for ordinary business. APPENDIX. 179 money, the making of laws, or altering the constitution, the majority of the fellows shall be a quorum. 13. Every fellow upon his admission shall subscribe to the above rules, as a testimony of his consent to be bound by them. He shall at the same time pay into the hands of the treasurer the sum of eight dollars towards estab- lishing a fund for the use of the college : he shall likewise pay two dollars annually for the same purpose. This amended constitution of November, 1787, has been signed by every fellow elected since that date. It has not been heretofore printed. THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MADE TO THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, BY THE FIRST PRESIDENT THEREOF, DR. JOHN REDMAN. Gentlemen : At our first meeting to form a society under the style and title of a College of Physicians, and to organize ourselves by choosing proper officers and members, so as to constitute a body, you were pleased to honor me with your suffrage and elect me your President. Upon that occasion I felt myself oppressed, and, for some reasons, undetermined whether I should continue in the office ; I therefore signified my acceptance only by a tacit consent rather than otherwise. On my return home, under a strong impres- sion of the weight, both of the office and my obligations to you, I sat down and wrote what occurred to me as a suitable address to you at our next or some future meeting, that might be most proper. Being unavoidably pre- vented, I had not the pleasure of attending your next meeting. But having now the peculiar happiness of seeing you convened in a body, and, I trust, united in those bonds which are the result of most benevolent principles, and may be efficacious for the most beneficent purposes, I feel highly honored in appearing before you as 5'our official head, and therefore deem it a proper opportunity to express my respects to you and regards for the society, by addressing you in the very words I then wrote, which I the rather chose to do, as they are dictated by the high sense I then had of the importance of the institution and its future eminence if rightly conducted, and were suggested by the immediate effusions of gratitude, without any exaggerations or arti- ficial colorings, and for which, indeed, I have no talents, if I had even desired or desi gned it. Being not used to speak in pubHc, I must beg leave rather to read it than attempt to pronounce it from memory, which, at my age, is not much to be depended on, and, while I bespeak your patient attention, I hope, cannot but assure myself of your candid and favorable construction of the matter, and benevolent excuse of any defects in the manner of deliver- ing it. 180 APPENDIX. When I look round me and see so many gentlemen of character for learn- ing, ingenuity, and integrity in the profession and practice of physick, and some whose talents have early called them forth into public notice and offices of dignity in the medical line, and who have conducted therein for many years, so much to their own reputation and to the satisfaction and advantage of their pupils and of their fellow-citizens ; and then look within mj'self and consider my own powers and the time allotted to me by Providence, from the state of those powers, and also that time of life which I have walked in from choice, having in my constitutional frame no great desires of exaltation above the middle state, nor higher ambition than to conduct therein rather with integrity and usefulness than eclat. After such a view I said it would be vanity or arrogance in me not to suppose that mj' election was more owing to the generous benevolence of your own minds, as a mark of respect to my age and long standing in the profession, and as a kind and disinterested testi- mony of approbation of my general conduct in life, and regularity in the practice of our art, than to any peculiar merit of mine. Nevertheless, I am equally bound in duty and gratitude to return you my best thanks for the honor you have done me, which I now do most heartily, to you gentlemen the senior fellows who elected me, and also to you gentlemen junior fellows, who, I am informed, unanimously approved of my election ; more especially as it places me first on the list of presidents of the College of Physicians, both in the State of Pennsylvania, and, I believe, in all the United States of America. This reminds me of two things, which I cannot recollect but with concern, and indeed I ought to regret. The first of them is that this insti- tution did not commence at an earlier period, and in the lifetime of one whose person, age, character, and reputation for medical abilities and respect- able deportment to and among us, as well as his generous, just, and benevo- lent temper of mind, and great acqiuaintaace with books, men, and things, and proper attention to times and seasons, would, I am persuaded, have pointed him out as our first object. And it would have been the highest gratification to me, as I believe it would to you all who knew him, to have given our suffrages unanimously to place him at the head of such an institu- tion. Having said this much, I am sure his name will readily recur to 30U all ; nor need I mention it, but that I always recollect with pleasure the name of our worthy and well-respected elder brother, and my much esteemed friend, Dr. Thomas Cadwalader.' Though it is now but a melancholy pleasure when joined with the reflection on the loss we sustained by his death. It would also have been very pleasmg to have seen another of our elder brethren, my predecessor in the presidentship of this institution. I 1 Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, a member of the American Philosophical Society from January 19, 1768, and one of its Vice-Presidents during the year 1769, died November 14, 1779, aged 72 years. APPENDIX. 181 doubt not 3'ou all easily judge that I mean Dr. Thomas Bond,^ more lately taken from us, and who so long and deservedly maintained a reputation for judgment and skill in the profession, and indefatigable assiduity to the last in the practice of physick and surgery. But they are no more — Et Heu ! Hinc ilia; lachrymfe, Mors fait ut semper inexorabilis. Et Tempus quod omnia devorat, homines qn-x bonos medicosque humi prosternit. And there may they rest in peace till old time itself shall expire, and that scene com- mences when these mortals shall put on immortality. The other circumstances I have to regret is the loss of that spirit of business, and that activity and vigor of body and mind, with their several faculties (such as they were), which I was once possessed of Whence I fear I may not be able to comport myself so fully up to the dignity of the station you have placed me in, and the credit of the institution as may yield the complete satisfaction to you or myself -could wish. These considerations occasioned some hesitation in my own mind at first in accepting it, at least no small apprehensions in myself, as feeling the weight rather oppressive, and overcome by the height of the prospect to which my imagination fondly raises the institution in dignity and utility if rightly conducted ; and to which our united wisdom, prudence and steady perse verence, will be found competent, even though my declining powers should not be equal to the part allotted me. But as I can be sure of the most candid construction of my actions and most benevolent excuse of my defects, which they will bear, with such friends with whom I have been long connected, and always transacted business to our mutual satisfaction and advantage. And I am confident of all needful aid from every member, not only on duty as such, but considered as medical gentlemen, whose pecu- liar characteristics is to succor those who labor under infirmities and diseases; and if you live long enough you will all be convinced by experience (as I am already) that old age, even in its commencement, partakes more or less of them both ; and as I am peculiarly happy, in not only the future expecta- tion, but present enjoyment of all possible assistance from those of you whom I have the honor to call my professional children, and the happiness to esteem and be esteemed and respected by them as such on all occasions ; I have, therefore, ventured to accept the honor you have conferred on me, and to undertake the trust you have reposed in me with a good will ; nor, indeed, could I have refused them without acting contrary to that kind of gratitude which both the laws of generosity and morality require of us ; and although I do'it with some fears, yet also with a resolution to exert in the best manner I can all the powers I have still remaining, to which I hope your generosity will add new vigor and strength to promote the credit and usefulness of our well intended institution ; reserving to myself the liberty and determination, that ' Dr. Thomas Bond, an original member of the American Philosophical Sociel}-, and one of the Vice-Presidents, from 1770 until he died, March 26, 1784, aged 72 years. 182 APPENDIX. if I find myself oppressed with the weight, or my infirmities increase so as not to be able to conduct in my station with constant attention or full pro- priety, to be the first to request and insist upon my resignation of it to those whose vigor and activity of mind and body may render them more competent and proper for your election ; in which I shall heartily join, and in everything as a private member, as long and as far as my age and powers will carry me, that tends to the welfare of the society, and its useful influence for the good of our fellow mortals. This leads me to conclude and declare that though you have been pleased to honor me so far as to place me at the head of your body, and thus to make me in a collective sense your superior, yet I shall ever count it my best honor, and feel it one of my greatest pleasures to be the devoted servant of the institution, and, gentlemen, your respectful humble servant, J- R. Respected Brethren : After I had writ the preceding address my mind took a more serious turn, which I willingly indulged, as the current of my thoughts related to the most substantial good of the institution, and in a cer- tain degree evidenced the earnestness of my desires to promote it. Under that view, craving your indulgence a few minutes longer, I will venture to read them as they were hastily written, exactly according to their rise, pro- gress, and termination in my own mind, and though the manner in which they are expressed may not bear every kind of criticism, yet I trust the matter of them is such as will give offense to none, but be approved by you all ; especially as the principles and grounds of them are the words of one of the wisest of men — I mean King Solomon in his 3d chapter of Proverbs — "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and leave not to thy own understanding ; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths ;" the antiquity of which words I hope will be no objection to them, with medical gentlemen who acknowledge that some of their oldest authors are equal if not superior to many of the moderns. Be that as it may, they led me to consider that in one place of the Scriptures of truth it is declared (and believed by all who count them authentic, and have made them the subject of their rational attention and serious meditation), that by the Grod of Heaven kings reign and princes decree justice ; and elsewhere, that except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the city the watchman watcheth but in vain. Taking these for granted, which I do most heartily, I am convinced that it highly becomes rational men in all their lawful enterprises and undertakings of importance, especially those which require wisdom and judgement, prudence and perseverence, efi'ectually to accomplish them, to acknowledge Grod to be their sovereign Ruler and the Over Ruler of all events, in wisdom, justice, goodness and truth ; and also to acknowledge their obligations to hiui for every good they have or do enjoy, as well as their dependence upon him for anj^ good they still hope for, or expect in the prosecution of afi"airs public or private, and for his protection, APPENDIX. 183 direction and success therein, and accordingly to invoke his aid, and implore his blessing thereon. Hence it is that I feel it both mj' duty and inclination, as your oldest member, and especially as your president, and as very becoming to us at the Commencement of this our Institution in j'our name and on j'our behalf to acknowledge the Supreme Being to be our Sovereign, Lord, and Ruler, and also our obligations to him for every mercy and blessing we have been the subjects of, and especially for giving us capacities for such an under- taking, and influencing our wills to engage in so good a design at this time. In the same manner I do also acknowlege our dependence upon him for protection, direction, blessings, and success ; and furthermore 1 do, also in your name and behalf, invoke his aid and implore him to grant unto us in this and all our lawful enterprises, all that wisdom, prudence, discretion, and judgement, which are necessary to conduct it in a proper manner, to good effect and useful puri^oses ; and also that grace which may enable us to act herein from right principles, with just motives, to good ends, and according to the best rules and regulations, so that in this and all our works and ways, we may glorify Grod, and do good in our days; and finally that after we have publicly or privately served our generation faithfully according to the will of God, we may be fitted for and admitted into his Kingdom and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. MEMORIAL ON TEMPERANCE, 1787. To the Honorable, the Legishiture of the State of Pennsylvania : The Memorial of the College of Physicians of the City of Philadelphia, respectfully sheweth,' That your memorialists have seen, with great concern, the numerous evils which have followed the intemperate use of distilled spirituous liquors in the State of Pennsylvania. They decline taking notice of the baneful effects of these liquors on property and morals, and beg leave to confine their memorial to their influence upon the health and lives of their fellow citizens, and the population of their country. That among the numerous diseases which are produced by the use of dis- tilled spirituous liquors, they would only mention, the Dropsy, Epilepsy, Palsy, Apoplexy, Melancholy and Madness ; which too seldom yield to the powers of medicine. That where distilled spirituous liquors do not produce these terrible and obstinate diseases they generally impair the strength of the body so as to lessen its ability to undergo that labour, either in degree or duration, which it is capable of without them. That the prevailing ideas of ' Adopted at a stated meeting Nov. 6, 1787, presented by Drs. Jones, Kush, and GrifBtts, the Committee appointed Sept. 4, 1787. 184 APPENDIX. the necessity and advantages of using distilled spirituous liquors to obviate the injurious effects of extreme heat or cold upon the human body are alto- gether without foundation, and that they increase the evils they are taken to remove. That the inconvenience aris^ing from excessive labor, heat, or cold, is to be removed with much more safety and certainty by the use of Cider or malt liquors. Your memorialists therefore pray that your Honorable House would take the facts herein stated into their serious consideration, and as Guardians of the health and lives, no less than of the liberties and morals of their constituents, that they would enact such a law, for the checking the improper use of distilled spirituous liquors as to their wisdom and humanity may seem proper. Signed by the President and attested by the Secr'y, presented with a re- quest that it may be inserted in the journals of the House. LINES OCCASIONED BY THE DECEASE OF DR. OERARDUS CLARKSON, OF THIS CITY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1790.' Farewell, my friend, it seems we meet no more, Amid the perils of this hostile shore ; These eyes no more thy form rever'd shall see, Nor more thy friendly councils visit me, Amid the gloom of sickness or of woe. No further solace shall thy cares bestow. Nor 'mid the mazes of this checquered scene. Thy wisdom aid me, or thy bosom serene ! Gone are the daj's of friendship so sincere, Tho' once they sooth' d me, they now urge the tear, As flowers of spring— so lovely once to view. But now turned painful, what regrets pursue ; With unavailing grief, I seek thy urn. And look for pleasures that are past return ! Thine now are joys beyond what thought can paint. Such as the just console, and bless the saint, Crown'd with rich fruits beneath autumnal skies, The master saw thee, and bestowed the prize ; He spared thee winter's desolating sway. And took to regions of perpetual May ! 1 Poems on several occasions. By John Swanwick Esq., one of the repre- sentatives in the Congress of the United States from the State of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1797. APPENDIX. 185 There rest in peace — the Sabbath of the tomb For thee prepares an everlasting bloom ; Let not thy friend then foolishly repine As pleasures lost to him, so well exchanged for thine ! LINES SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF DR. HENRY STUBER. What beckoning ghost beside yon ancient towers, Invites to tread the melancholy isle, Where awful death has deck'd her lonely bowers, And sits in triumph o'er the dreary pile. Is it some statesman weary of the load, Which mad ambition on her sons bestows, That calls to view that desolate abode. Where ends at last his labours and his woes ? Is it some miser, whose usurious soul Could not enjoy what fortune chanc'd to give, That now in others would the sense controul. That took from him — the feculty to live? Ah no — 'tis Stuber, whose enlightened face, Dispell'd the mists of error where it shone : He still, in death, instructs the rising race. And bids them gather knowledge at his stone. Teaches by early industry to save. The fleeting moments of all precious time, If tears of friendship wishing at their grave. They pant like him, for laurels in their prime. Teaches, like him, with early zeal to tread The paths of honor, learning and renown. If Hke himself beloved — and mourn'd when dead, They'd wish in youth an everlasting crown. John Swanwick, Esq. 186 APPENDIX. MEMOKIAl. ON TEMPERANCE, ADDRESSED TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, DECEMBER, 1790. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled. The Memorial of the College of Physicians of the City of Philadelphia respectfully shoiveth .■' That they have seen with great pleasure the operation of the National Government, which has established order in the United States. They rejoice to find, amongst the powers which belong to this government, that of restraining, by certain duties, the consumption of distilled spirits in our country. It belongs more peculiarly to men of other professions to enumerate the pernicious effects of these liquors on morals and manners. Your memorialists will only remark that a great proportion of the most obsti- nate, painful, and mortal disorders which affect the human body are pro- duced by distilled spirits — that they are not onlj^ destructive to health and life, but that they impair the faculties of the mind, and thereby tend equally to dishonor our character as a nation, and to degrade our species as intelligent beings. Your memorialists have no doubt that the rumor of a plague or any other pestilential disorder, which might sweep away thousands of their fellow- citizens, would produce the most vigorous and effectual measures in our government to prevent or subdue it. Your memorialists can see no just cause why the more certain and exten- sive ravages of distilled spirits upon human life should not be guarded against with corresponding vigilance and exertions by the present rulers of the United States. Your memorialists beg leave to add further that the habitual use of dis- tilled spirits, in any case whatever, is wholly unnecessary — that they neither fortify the body against the morbid effects of heat or cold, nor render labor more easy, nor more productive — and that there are many articles of diet and drink, which are not only safe and perfectly salutary, but preferable to distilled spirits for each of the above-mentioned purposes. Your memorialists have beheld with regret the feeble influence of reason and religion, in restraining the evils they have enumerated. They centre their hopes, therefore, of an efl&cient remedy for them in the wisdom and power of the Legislature of the United States; and in behalf of the interests of humanity, to which their profession is closely allied, they thus publicly entreat the Congress, by their obligations, to protect the lives of their constituents, and by their regard to the character of our nation, and to the rank of our species in the scale of beings, to impose such heavy duties upon all distilled spirits as shall be effectual to restrain their intemperate use in our country. ^ Adopted December 27, 1790. APPENDIX. 187 THE ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, DR. JOHN REDMAN, THANKIN(i THE COLLEGE FOR HIS REELECTION, AUGUST 2, 1791.* Gentlemen : Having by indif^position of body been prevented from join- ing you at your last meeting and annual election, when you honored me with your suffrages, and reelected me to the Presidency of the College, I now take the first opportunity of returning you my hearty thanks for this renewed instance of your respect, the continuance of which, notwithstanding mj' infirm- ities, so evidently increasing with my years, leads me to add, that such kind indulgence toward an aged brother, arising chiefly from the benevolence of your own minds, demands my particular acknowledgements, and under that view gratitude obliges my acceptance of the office again at this time, which, otherwise in regard to myself, I should have wished to decline. For, to be candid and tell you the truth, I should not have been ea.sy under the sense I had of my growing infirmities of body and mind for some time past, to have continued to accept the honor you have so repeatedly conferred upon me, but from the consideration that you always joined a colleague with me as Vice-President, whose eminence and reputation in our profession, and whose clearness of judgment, vigor of faculties, and easy manner of conve3'ing his sentiments, together with his friendly disposition to aid me, fully obviated and prevented any ill effects, naturally to be expected from declining age, and rendered my situation more pleasant than otherwise it might have been. But though much and justly respected by us and all connected with him in kindred, friendship, or business, he was mortal, and he has gone — no more to return, to aid by his talents, or gratify us by his presence at our meetings, or cheer us by his affability, agreeable converge, and polite manners. And therefore (though somewhat late, and almost unseasonable), I must indulge myself in sympathising with you, and regretting the real loss which the republic of medicine in general, and our collegiate society in particular, have sustained thereby. Much did I expect, from his being several years younger than myself, and so well and justly esteemed by you, that he would be my next successor ; and from a settled resolution, soon to request my dismission (if not otherwise removed), I sometimes flattered mj'self with having the pleasure to see him raised to your presidential chair — to which I should most heartily have concurred, as well on account of his own merit and qualifica- tions, as because it would have been highly gratifying to me to be a living witness of our college being headed by one whose eminence in more than one of the material branches of medical science, and reputation among our citizens in general was still very flourishing, and whose connections with and estimation in which he was held by the higher orders and ranks of them, was so conspicuous and intimate, as might contribute to the greater external dignity of the institution, and render its influence more powerful and effectual 1 The college requested him to accept its thanks for his address, and directed that it be preserved on the minutes. 188 APPENDIX. on any particular occasion of public utility, wherein it might be thought requisite, or be called to exert it. But that I may not detain you longer on a subject now hopeless, with respect to him, I shall conclude it only with one observation or reflection, which, though partaking of the same gloomy complexion with the circum- stance which occasions it, yet may be useful in application, and I doubt not may have occurred to many of you, as well as myself, that though our loss in members since the commencement of our institution may not have exceeded the usual proportion, j^et I think it a little remarkable that the lot has hitherto only fixllen on our officers (except one who had previously resigned his meuibership), though no certain, or even plau.sible inference can be drawn from it, respecting those in that capacity more than others, still I thought it a remark worth noticing, as it may be of use to them, as well as all, if duly and seasonably attended to and improved ; and to none is appli- cation more proper than to him who makes it, and is the oldest among you. And now, gentlemen, as it doth not become us to murmur at, and much less to arraign, any of the dispensations of that Providence, which we believe is ever conducted in its arrangements by infinite wisdom and goodness, and always for the best on the whole, or be so absorbed in regretting our losses, as not to remember and thankfully improve the blessings we still enjoy — leaving the mournful scene we have just been contemplating . I now feel myself equally incited by duty and inclination to congratulate you on the judicious and prudent measure you have taken to fill up the vacancy which the death of our late worthy Vice-President had made, by electing to the office a gentleman so properly qualified for it ; who being born and educated among us, and after considerable expense of time and fortune had completed his studies abroad, was one of the first of those whose liberal minds and patriotic regards for their native country, led them to concert the plan for a complete medical instruction among ourselves ; and was the very first who stepped forth with manly firmness and becoming confidence in the utility and dignity of the plan, in the execution of it — and whose steadj' perseverence and judicious prosecution of the particular and important branch he first engaged in, in conjunction with those who followed him, and his example, in the several departments which, by mutual agreement, they undertook, have not only accomplished their design completely, but in such a manner as doth them much credit, and gained them great approbation and applause, both at home and abroad, and to the great emoluments of our country and the students of medicine, who may now, under their tuition, be as regularly instructed in medical science, and as fully and honorably qualified for practice, as in any of those foreign seminaries which are much older, many instances of which have been exhibited much to the honor of the professors of our medical school. All which considerations pointed him out as the proper object of our choice on the late occasion. And, therefore, as I had not the pleasure to be present and join my sufi"rage, I now think myself bound to express my APPENDIX. 189 hearty concurrence, and sincerely congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the Vice-Presidency of the first College of Physicians in America, and thus receiving in the midtiiue of life, and while your faculties are still vigorous and animated, this further reward of your merit and labors for the public good ; as well as on that of your late election into another institution founded on the principles of humanity and charity for the pious purpose of aifording relief to the indigent sick and deranged; where you will have the heart- affecting opportunity of exercising the virtues of the man, the physician, and Christian, and thereby insure and enhance the comforts of your declining 3'ears. Nor can I omit congratulating mj'self on the well-grounded hope I enter- tain of receiving from the abilities of our new Vice-President (and from the goodwill and politeness I have always experience when conjoined with him on other occasions), that aid and support in my office which my advanced age, and debilitated powers and defective senses make requisite ; and which may render my situation the more easy and pleasant while I remain in it, which cannot now be long, as I am persuaded I must soon recede either from prudential choice, or from necessity of another kind, needless here to mention: but which puts me in mind to conclude with declaring (as possibly this may be the last opportunity 1 may have of so doing on such an occasion), my hearty goodwill to and wishes for the prosperity and success of the Col- lege of Physicians in everything that may render it honorable and useful to our native country, now risen into empire, and rising in fame, and to the relief and solace of our sufifering fellow mortals, and also for the peace and happiness of each of you its members in j'our several stations and relations, civil and social, both here and hereafter. MEMORABLE DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE. Institution of the College Jan, 2, 1787. Institution of the library March 3, 1788. Incorporation of the College .... March 26, 1789. Institution of the pathological museum . . June 5, 1849. Institution of the building fund .... Nov. 2, 1849. Institution of the Miitter Museum . . . Dec. II, 1858. Institution of the second building fund . . April 7, 1875. BUILDING FUND. 1849. After it had been determined to continue the building-fund trust, Drs. Francis West, T. Hewson Bache, Edward Hartshorne, S. Weir Mitchell, Wm. Byrd Page, James J. Levick, and Robert P. Thomas were appointed March 2, 1859, " to solicit from the fellows additional contributions to the building fund of the college." They were authorized, April 6, 1859, "to 190 APPENDIX. solicit contributions from the citizens generally as well as from the fellows of the college;" but so many of the elders disapproved of the method that it was abandoned. This committee reported, Dec. 5, 1860, that it had procured subscriptions amounting to $4665, of which $2700 had been paid ; and, on its request, was discharged. From the minutes of proceedings of the committee on collections, ap- pointed Dec. 4, 1849 (see page 154), and the final report of the above-named committee, the following list of payments to the fund, up to Dec. 1860, has been compiled. It includes the original contributors. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FUND To erect >js. Phllad., vol. vii., 3d Series, 1884. Gebhard, Lewis P., M.D. By George Hamilton, M.D, Trans. Med. Soc, State of Pa., vol. x.. Part I., 1874. Gerhard, William W., M.D. By Thomas Stewardson, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., New Series, 1863-74. Gibbons, Henry, M.D. Anon. Med. and Surg. Reporter Philad., Nov. 22, 1884. By Prof. L. C. Lane. Pacific Med. and Surg. Journ. and Western Lancet, pp. 49-60, vol. 28, 1885. Editorial notice, vol. 27, p. 268. Gilbert, William Kent, M.D. By J. M. Toner, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 32, 1881. Glentworth, George, M.D. Anon. Columbian Magazine, vol. 9, 1792. Grant, William R., M.D. By Dr. Atlee. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., New Series, 1850-53. By Henry S. Patterson, ]\[.D. — with portrait. Simpson's Lives of Emi- nent Philadelphians. Greene, James M., M.D., U. S. Navy. By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, \o\. 23, 1872. Griffitts, Samuel P., M.D. By G. Emmerson, M.D. North Amer. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. iii., 1827. Thacher's Amer. Med. Biogr. By B. H. Coates, M.D. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. Gross, Samuel D., M.D., LL.D., D.C.L. By I. Minis Hays, M.D. Ti-ans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. vii., 3d Series, 1884. Med. and Surg. Reporter Philad., Jan. 8, 1870. By J. M. DaCosta. Proc Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxii., 1885. Anon. Med. and Surg. Reporter Philad., May 10, 1884. Autobiography, with Sketches of his Contemporaries. Edited by his Sons. 2 vols. 8vo. George Barrie, Philadelphia, 1887. Hamilton, George, M.D. By John Ashhurst, Jr., M.D. Tratis. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. viii., 3d Series, 1886. Hartshorne, Edward, M.D. By Henry Hartshorne, M.D., LL.D. Read Oct. 6, 1886. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad. 296 APPENDIX. Hartshorne, Joseph, M.D. By Charles Evans, M.D. Tram. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., New Series, 1850-53. By E. Hartshorne. M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. Philad., 1861. Anon. — with portrait. Simpson's Lives of EnuTicnt Philadelphiaiis, pp. 491-513. Hayes, Isaac I., M.D. Anon. Daibj Tribune, N. Y., Dec. 18, 1881. Bio- graphical Sketches of Members of the Assembly of New York. Anon. Appleton's Annual Encyclopaedia and Register of Important Events, for the year 1881. New York, 1882. Hays, Isaac, M.D. By Alfred Stille, M.D., LL.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, 1881. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. Proc. Amer. Philos. ,Sbc., vol. xviii., 1879, Henderson, Andreav Augustus, M.D. By J. H. Kidder, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 33, 1882. Hewson, Thomas T. By Franklin Bache, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. 3, 1849-50. A summary of same by Stephen W. "Williams, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 3, 1850. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. Hodge, H. Lennox, A.M., M.D. By William G. Porter, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. vi., 3d Series, 1882. Anon. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., vol. xiv., 1882. Hodge, Hugh L., M.D., LL.D. By R. A. F. Penrose, M.D. Read before the Trustees, Professors, and Students of the Univ. of Pa., Oct. 6, 1873. By William Goodell, M.D. lYans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., vol. x., Part I., 1874. HODGEN, John Thompson, M.D. By A. J. Steele, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 33, 1882. HosACK, David, M.D., By Alexander Eddy Hosack, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D., 1861. Appleton's New Amer. Encyclo- pedia. Hunter, Charles T., M.D. Anon. Trans. Med. Soc. State o/ Pa., vol. xvii., 1885. Williams's American Medical Biography, 1845. Anon. Med. and Surg. Reporter Philad., May 10, 1884. Hutchinson, James, M.D. Thacher'sAmer. Med. Biogr. The Lives of Emi- nent Philadelphians now Deceased, by Henry Simpson — with portrait. Philad., 1859. Jackson, Samuel, M.D. (Prof.) Anon. IVans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 24, 1873. APPENDIX. 297 Janney, Benjamin Say, M.D. By Andrew Nebinger, M.D. Trans. Med. 6'oc. State of Pa., 2d Series, Part V., 1860. James, Thomas Chalkly, M.D. By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D. Eead June,. 1841. MS. Biographical Sketches. Lib. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. Casket, 1830. Sim-pson's Lives of E77iinent Philadelphians. Williams's Amer. Med. Biogr., 1845. By Casper Morris, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. By Job E. Tyson. Eead Feb. 1, 1836, before the Hist. Soc. Pa. Pamphlet, 1836. Jewell, Wilson, M.D. By William T. Taylor, M.D. Travis. Med. Soc. State of Pa., vol. xiii., 1880. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 31, 1880. Jones, John, M.D. Thacher's Amer. Med. Biogr. Copied from Mease's notice. By James Mease^ M.D. The Surgical Works of the late John Jones, M.D. Philad. 1795. King, James, M.D. By J. M. Toner, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med, Assoc, vol. 31, 1880. Kirkbride, Thomas S., M.D. By John Curwen, M.D. Proc Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxii., 1885. Anon. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., vol. xvii., 1885. Klapp, Joseph, M.D. Anon. Trans. Med. Soc State of Pa., vol. xvii., 1885. Klapp, William Henry, M.D. By D. Francis Condie, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iii., 1856-62; also. Trans. Med. Soc State of Pa., 2d Series, Part II., 1857. Knight, Jonathon, M.D. By Christopher C. Cox, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 16, 1865. KuHN, Adam, M.D. By one of his pupils. The Eclectic Repertory, vol. viii., Philad. 1818. Anon. The Eclectic Repertory, v6\.l ; also, pamphlet. Thacher's ^wer, Med. Biogr. La Eoche, Eene, M.D. By John D. Jackson, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 24, 1873. By J. G. Nancrede, M.D. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. Lamb, John Ferguson, M.D. By Lawrence Turnbull, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc State of Pa., 6th Series, Part XL, 1871. Leavitt, Thaddeus L., M.D. By Eobert N. Downs, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, 1881. 298 APPENDIX. Le Conte, John Lawrence, ]\I.D. By George H. Horn, M.D. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxi., 1883-84. By Samuel H. Scudder. Read before the National Academy of Science, April 17, 1884. Trans. Amer. Entomological Soc. Philad. Maury, Francis Fontaine, M.D. By Samuel W. Gross, M.D. Trans. 3Ied. Soc. State of Pa., vol. xiii. Maybitry, William, A.M., M.D. By A. Nebinger, M.D. Trayis. Med. Soc. State of Pa., vol. x., Part II., 1875. McClellan, George, M.D. By S. G. Morton, M.D. T-ans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. 2, 1846-49. Pamphlet. By W. Darrach, M.D. " Introductory Lecture, Pennsylvania College, 1847-48." Pamphlet. Philad., 1847. Anon. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelpluans. By J. H. B. McClellan, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. McNaughton, James, M.D. By G. W. Tucker. M.D. Trans. Med. Soc. Co. of Albany, N. Y., p. 363, vol. iii. Albany, N. Y., 1883. Meigs, Charles D., M.D. By J. Forsyth Meigs, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv.. New Series, 1863-74. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 24, 1873. By John Bell, M.D. P7-oc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xiii., 1873. By John D. Jackson, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 24, 1873. Meigs, James Aitkin, M.D. By Henry C. Chapman, M.D. Trayis. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, 1881. By George Hamilton, M.D. Th-ans. Med. Soc State of Pa., vol. xiii., 1880. By Lawrence Turnbull, M.D. The Medical Bulletin. Pamphlet, 1881. By Frank Woodbury, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 31, 1880. Meigs, J. Forsyth, M.D. By Arthur V. Meigs, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. vii., 3d Series, 1884. By William Pepper, M.D. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxi., April, 1863, to Jan. 1864. Miller, Henry, M.D. By S. D. Gross, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 26, 1875. Mitchell, John Kearsley, M.D. By A. Nebinger, 31. D. Ti-ans. Med. Soc State of Pa., New Series, Part IV., 1859. Moore, John. By J. Wilson Moore, M.D. Read Nov. 1, 1856. MS. Bio- graphical Sketches. Lib. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. APPENDIX. 299 Morgan, John, M.D. By Benjamin Rush, M.D. (Introductory lecture delivered Nov. 2, 1789.) The Phi/ad. Journ. of the Med. and Phys. Sc, vol. i., 1820. Anon. Biographia Americana, New York, 1825. Anon. North Amer. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. iv., 1827. Thacher's Amer. Med. Biogr. By George W. Norris, M.D. The Early History of Medicine in Philadel- phia. Philad., 1886. Morris, Caspar, M.D. By J. Chester Morris, M.D. Eead before the Col- lege Nov. 2, 1887. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. x., 3d Series. Morton, Samuel George, M.D. By George B. Wood. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i.. New Series, 1850-53. By Sauford B. Hunt, M.D. A.mer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D., 1861. Anon. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. By William E,. Grant, M.D. Introductory Lecture. By C. D. Meigs, M.D. Proc. Acad. Nat^Sc. Philad., 1851. MussEY, E. D., M.D. Anon. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 18, 1867. Mutter, Thomas Dent, M.D. By J. Pancoast, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., New Series, Part V., 1860. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Phila- delphians. Nebinger, Andrew, M.D. By J. H. Grove, M.D. Eead before the Philad. Co. Med. Soc, May 11, 1887. Pamphlet, with portrait, Philad., 1887. Neill, Henry, M.D. By J. M. Paul, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. 2, 1846-49. Anon. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 3, 1850. Neill, John, M.D. By Edward Shippen, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., 3d Series, 1881. By D. G. Brinton, M.D. Proc Amer. Pliilos. Soc, vol. xix., 1880. Norris, George W., M.D. By William Hunt, M.D. Trajis. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. ii., 3d Series, 1876. Otto, John C, M.D. By Isaac Parrish, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., 1841-46. Anon. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 3, 1850. Simpson's Lives of Eminru t Ph iladelph ians. Parke, Thomas, M.D. By Joseph Parrish, M.D. Eead before the Coll. Phys. Philad., June 7, 1836. MS. Biographical Memoirs. Libr. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. 300 APPENDIX. Parker, WiLLARD, M.D. Anon. Me(V and Surg. Reporter Philad.,\o\.bO, . May 3, 1884. Parrish, Isaac, M.D. By Samuel Jackson, M.D., of Northumberland. Trans. Coll. Phyx. Phi/ad., vol. i.. New Series, 1850-53. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. Parrish, Joseph, M.D. By George B.Wood, M.D. Read May 4, 1841. MS. Biographical Memoirs. Libr. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. By George B. Wood, M.D. Philad. Med. Soc. Pamphlet, 1840. Williams's Amer. Med. Biography, 1846. Amer. Journ. of the Med. Sc, vol. xxvi. Parry, John S., M.D. By James V. Ingham, M.D. Tram. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. ii., 3d Series, 1876. Patterson, Henry S., M.D. Anon. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadel- phians — with portrait. Paul, John Marshall, M.D. By Edward Shippen, M.D., U. S. Navy. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, 1881. Paul, John Rodman, M.D. By S. Littell, M.D. Traw^. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., 3d Series, 1879. Peace, Joseph, M.D. By George Fox, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., 1841-46. Pennock, C. W., M.D. By Wm. W. Gerhard, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad.,.\o\. iv., New Series, 1863-74. By C. C. Cox, M.D., LL.D., Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 21, 1870. Pepper, William, M.D. By Thomas S. Kirkbride, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv.. New Series, 1863-74. By Augustine H. Fish, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., 4th Series, Part I., 1865. Anon. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 18, 1867. Pereira, Jonathan, M.D. Anon. London Lancet, Feb. 1853. Medical Examiner, March, 1853. Randolph, Jacob, M.D. By George W. Norris, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. 2, 1846-49. By J. Aitkin Meigs, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. Anon. With portrait — Simpson's Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. Ray, Isaac, M.D., LL.D. By Thomas S. Kirkbride, M.D. T-ans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, 1881. By Charles K. Mills, M.D. The Medico-Legal Journal, vol. v. New York, 1887. APPENDIX. 301 Redman, John, M.D. Thaclier's Amer. Med. Biogr. Anon. Biographia Americana. New York, 1825, Anon. Medical 3Iuseum, vol. v., 1808. Remington, Isaac, M.D. By Squire Littell, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iii., 1856-62. By George Hamilton, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., Part II., 3d Series, 1863. By Christopher C. Cox, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 14, 1863. Revere, John, M.D. By Valentine Mott, M.D. Pamphlet, 8vo. p. 40. New York, 1847. Anon. Medical Examiner, 1847. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 3, 1850. Rhoads, Edward, M.D. By William Pepper, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., New Series, 1863-74. By Henry Hartshorue, M.D. Proc Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xii., 1871. Ritchie, Thomas H., M.D. By John Marshall Paul, M.D. Read Sept. 5, 1837. MS. Biographical Sketches. Lib. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. Rogers, Robert E., M.D. By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, M.D. Proc Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxiii., 1885. By J. W. Holland, M.D. Eulogy delivered at Jeflerson Med. Coll., Sept. 30, 1885. Pamphlet. RUAN, Dr. John. By Henry Bond, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., 1841-46. Rush, Benjamin, M.D. Life of. Anon. Delaplaine's Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished Americans, vol. i., Part II., 1816. [Written by Dr. Charles Caldwell, see his Autobiograi^hy.] Anon. Thacher's Amer. Med. Biogr. Chalmer's Biography. Ree's Cyclopedia. Neio England Med. Journ. Amer. Med. and Philos. Register, New York, vol. iv., 1814. Simpson's Lives of Eminent Phila- delphians. Anon. Biographia Americana. New York, 1825. Portfolio, Oct. 1813. Eclectic Repertory, vol. 3, July, 1813. By David Hosack, M.D. Pamphlet. New York, 1818. Philad. Journ. Med. and Phys. Science, vol. 7, 1823. By David Ramsey, M.D. Pamphlet. By Rev. William Staughton. Pamphlet. Philad., 1813. By Samuel Jackson, M.D. (of Northumberland). Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. Philad., 1861. By Samuel L. Mitchell, M.D. Read before Coll. Phys. and Surg. N. Y., June, 1814. 802 APPENDIX. By Charles K. ]Mills, M.D. " Benjamiu Rush and American Psychia- try." Medico-Legal Journal, Xew York, 1886. The biographical notices of Dr. Benjamin Rush wear the form of eulogy. They lack detail and preciseness. Such records are not sufficient to enable the present generation to estimate fairly the qualities or limits of his merit, or determine to what features of his character his renown is to be ascribed. A life of Dr. Rush, with his correspondence and extracts from his diary, written in a purely judicial spirit would be very instructive. Materials for it may be found in the Ridgway branch of the Philadelphia Library. Sheppard, Frederick C, M.D. Anon. Tram. Med. Soc. State of Fa., vol. xvii., 1885. Shipped, William, M.D. By Caspar Wistar, M.D., 1809. Philad. Joum. 3Ied. and Physical Sc, vol. 5, 1822. Pamphlet, 1818. Thacher's Amer. Med. Biogr. Extracts from eulogy on, by Dr. Cald- well, 1808. The Portfolio, 1813. Anon. Biographia Americana. New York, 1825. By William E. Horner, ^NI.D. Introductory Lecture to his course on Anatomy, Univ. Pa., Nov. 7, 1841. By George AV. Xorris, M.D. The Early History of Medicine in Phila- delphia. Philad., 1886. Smith, Albert H., M.D. By Harrison Allen, M.D. Read Dec. 3, 1886. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xxiii., 1886. By James Tyson, M.D. Read Feb. 2, 1887. Trans. Coll. Phijs. Philad., 3d Series, vol. ix. Smith, Francis Gurney, M.D. By J. M. Toner, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 29, 1878. By Charles B. Nancrede, M.D. Tram. Med. Soc State of Pa., vol. xii., 1878. Smith, Nathan Ryno, M.D. By N. S. Lincoln, M.D. Tram. Med. Assoc, vol. 29, 1878. Smyth, Francis Garden, M.D. By Edward J. Nolan, M.D. Tram. Med. Soc State of Pa., vol. xiii., 1880. Stephens, Alexander H., M.D. By Christopher C. Cox, M.D., LL.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, \o\. 21, 1870. Stewardson, Thomas, M.D. By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, M.D. Ti-am. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. vii.j 3d Series, 1884. APPENDIX. 303. Stille, Albert Owen, M.D. By Christopher C. Cox, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 14, 1863. Stille, Moretoit, M.D. By Dr. Samuel L. Hollingsworth. Trans. Coll. Fhys. Philad., vol. iii., New Series, 1856-62. Also, in Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. By Francis Wharton, Esq. Preface to their joint work on Medical Jurisprudence, transcribed into the Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., 2d Series, Part I., 1857. Also, by David Burpee, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc. State of Pa., Part II., 3d Series, 1863. Thomas, Robert P., M.D. By Henry Hartshorne, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., New Series, 1863-74. Anon. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 18, 1867. Tilton, James, M.D. By L. P. Bush, A.M., M.D. Gaillard's Med. Journ.,. Feb. 1866. Also, in pamph. " The Delaware State Med. Soc. and its Founders in the Eighteenth Century," New York, 1866. By A. McLaue, M.D., and James Mease, M.D. Thacher's Ainer. Med. Biogr. Tucker, David H., M.D. By J. D. Jackson, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med._ Assoc, vol. 23, 1872. Turnpenny, Frederick, M.D. By Isaac Parrish, M.D. Read Sept. 1, 1840. MS. Biographical Sketches. Lib. Coll. Phys. Philad. F. 909. TuTT, Charles P., M.D. By W. Lehman Wells, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv.. New Series, 1863-74. By J. Henry Smaltz. Trans. Med. Soc State of Pa., 4th Series, Part II., 1866. Wallace, Ellerslie, M.D. Anon. Med. and Surg. Reporter Philad., March 14, 1885. Wallace, Joshua M., M.D. By F. G. Smith, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i., New Series, 1850-53. Warren, John C, M.D. By Edward Warren, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. Appleton's New Amer. Encyclop. Way, Nicholas, M.D. By L. P. Bush, A.M., M.D. Gaillard's Med. Journ., Feb. 1866. Also, in pamph. " The Delaware State Med. Soc. and its Founders in the Eighteenth Century," New York, 1866. Wellford, Beverly Randolph. By John D. Jackson, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 24, 1873. 304 APPENDIX. West, Francis, M.D, By Squire Littell, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iv., New Series, 1863-74. By Christopher C. Cox, M.D., LL.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 21, 1870. Wilson, William B., M.D. By Isaac Parrish, M.D. Trans. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. i.. New Series, 1850-53. WiLTBANK, John, M.D. Anon. Tram. Med. Soc. ta of Pa., Part I., 3d Series, 1862. WiSTAR, Caspar, M.D. By William Tilghman, C.J., Pa. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, 1818 ; also, with portrait, in Simpson's Live-i of Eminent Philadelphians. By Dr. Charles Caldwell. Philad. Med. Soc By David Hosack, M.D. Amer. Med. Recorder, vol. i., 1818. Pamphlet. Eee's Cijclopedia. North American JRevieio. By Caspar Morris, M.D. Amer. Med. Biogr. By S. D. Gross, M.D. 1861. Biographia Americana, New York, 1825. By William E. Horner, M.D. Introductory Lecture to his course on Anat., Univ. Pa., Nov. 1831. . Anon. Trans Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 19, 1868. Wood, George B., M.D., LL.D. By S. Littell, M.D. Trans, ('oil. Phys. Philad., vol. v., 3d Series, Oct. 1881. By Henry Hartshorne, M.D. Read Oct. 11, 1880, before the Amer. Philos. Soc. Proc Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. xix., 1880. By W. S. W. E. Amer. Journ. Med. Sc Oct. 1879. By John H. Packard, M.D. Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. 30, 1879. By John H. Packard, M.D. Trans. Med. Soc State of Pa., vol. xii., 1879. Yardley, Thomas H., M.D. By Squire Littell, M.D. Tram. Coll. Phys. Philad., vol. iii., 1856-62, p. 276. INDEX. A BOLITION Society, 1 J\. Academy, the, 4, 5 Academy of Medicine, 85 Address, first President's, 19, 21 inaugural, President's, 179 of thanks, President's, 187 American Philosophical Society, 3, 4 Medical Society, 15 Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, 3 Anatomical Hall, 7 Anatomy, first teaching of, in the U. S.. note, 12 Anniversary, centennial, 171, 173 Annual contribution, 74, 141, 142 Apothecaries, early, 13 Appendix, 175 Apprentices, medical, 11 Atheneum, 139 Attendance at meetings, 83, 84 BAKD, JOHN, note, 12 Baths, public, com. on, 23 Betton, Thomas F., gift to library, 164 Biographical notices, list of, 292 Board of Health, 69, 77, 82, 83, 91, 130. 137 Boston benefit societies, 2 Botanic garden, 23 Broadbelt, Francis E., to Dr. Rush, 17 Bridges, llobert, 149 British medical schools, 16 Building fund, 141, 154, 155, 158, 189 first contributors to, 190 Building a hall, 140 final report on, 157 By-laws, 42, 99, 131, 138, 141, 161 nADWALADEK, THOMAS, lec- \j tuies on anatomy, 12 Calculi, urinary, 149 Caldwell, Charles, 81 Cancer powder, Martin's, 14 Candles, charge for, 127 Carson. John, notice of, 68 Censors, list of, 193 Centennial anniversary, 171, 173 Charlatans, 13, 14 Chemical Society, 84 Children, diseases of, committees on, 199 Childs, George W., gift of, 159 Cholera, 130 Chovet, Abraham, notice of, 44 City Councils, 118, 119 Clarkson, Gerardus, notice of, 43 verses on the death of, 184 Clarkson, William, notice of, 54 Coleman, on importation of fever, 82, 83 College of Philadelphia, 5-9, 23, 24 College of Physicians, first record, 19 senior and junior Fellows, 19, 177 list of the first oflicers, 20 President's inaugural address, 179 time of meeting, 22 seal of, 22 Commencement, medical, the first, 7 Committees, standing, lists of, 195-200 Committee on meteorology and epi- demics, 22, 199 on Mutter's proposed museum, 144 Constitution, signed, 19 amendments to, 24, 54 new form offered, 23 Constitution of the College, 175 Contributors to building fund, 190 Contributions, annual, 23, 49, 74, 100, 131, 141 exemption from, 142 Councillors, list of, 194 Cullen, William, eulogium on, 42 Curators, list of, 195 Currie, William, and Dr. Hutchinson, 64 notice of, 127 DA COSTA, J. M., 158,161 Dates, memorable, 189 Delegates to American Medical Asso- ciation, 202 20 306 INDEX. Delegates to Centennial Medical Com- mission and International Medi- cal Congress, 202 to Convention to revise the Phar- macopoeia, 201 to Pennsylvania State Convention, 201 to International Convention at Paris, 1867, 201 to Quarantine and Sanitary Con- vention, 201 Directory for nurses, 169 committees on, 197 contributors to, 170 Diseases, introduction of, 25 Dispensatory of the U. S., 114 Distilled spirits, importation of, 44 Duffield, Samuel, 42, 94 ECLECTIC Eepertory, 87 Election, the city general, 82, 83 Entertainment fund, 171 Entertainments, committees on, 197 Entrance fee, 23, 49, 100, 118, 120, 181, 141 Exemption from contribution, 142 Expenditures, 141 FEE bill, 120, 136, 141 Fellow, to read at each meeting, 126 Fellows, list of, 100 number of, to limit, 127, 137 new list prepared, 130. Fever, yellow, 55, 56, 57. 61, 62, 74, 75, 79, 82, 118 ' notice of, by the College, 67 Governor Mifflin, letter from, 70, 76 proceedings of College on, 71, 72 Finance, committee on, 197 Fothergill head, si£;n of, 13 Founders, list of, 19, 20 Franklin, Benjamin, funeral, 42 G LENT WORTH, GEOEGE, notice of, 53 Great Britain, medical intercourse with, 16 Griffitts, Samuel P., bled by Dr. Rush, 13 letter to Dr. Rush, 18 notice of, 124 HALL of the Amer. Philos. Soc, room in, 49 Hull of the College, 141 Hall committees, list of, 197 Hall, James, letters to Dr. Rush, 16 Harris, Robert, 81, 232 Health, Board of, letter from, 74, 75, 78, 79 reorganization of, 80 Hospital for contagious diseases, 68 Humane Society, 1, 118 Hutchinson, James, notice of, 60 Hygiene, public, committees on, 198 TLLUMINATION, objected to, 25 1 Incorporation of the college, 24, 25 Infectious diseases, relative to, 26 International Medical Congress Trust, 202 TENKS, WILLIAM F., Prize Fund tl Committee, 198 Jenner, Dr., 78 Jones, John, notice of, 49 Journal, Association, 169 Journal fund, 167 Junto Club, 2 KEARSLEY, JOHN, 10 arrest and death of, 47 Kuhn, Adam, hisaccountof Dr. Hutch- inson, 62 notice of, 94 LABORATORY, the, 8 Leather Apron Club, 3 Lecturers, Mutter, 153 Lectures, committees on, 196 Leib, Michael, 53, 243 Le Mayeur transplants teeth, 13, 14 Lemon Hill, 138 Lettsom, John C, letters to Dr. Rush,. 18 Librarians, list of, 194 Library, Committees on, 195 Dr. Betton's gift to, 164 date of founding, 24 fund. Weir Mitchell's, 167 growth of, 161 Lewis, founded, 165 plan to form, 24 state of, in 1868, 167 in 1886, 168 Samuel D. Gross, 168 INDEX. 307 Library, obstetrical, 168 Ord, 165 Parry, 168 Philad. Med. Society's, 163 Isaac Remington's gift to, 164 George B. Wood's gift to, 165 Loving cup, 171 Lyceum, Medical, 87 Lyons, James, letter to Dr. Rush, 17 MARTIN, HUGH, cancer powder, 14 Materia Medica, Committees on, 199 Medical commencement, the first, 7 Medical Hall Association, 140 Lyceum, 87 practitioners, number of, 1788, 18 Society, the American, 15 the Philadelphia, note, 15 school, the first in the U. S., 1, 6 Medicine, theory and practice of, com- mittees on, 198 Meetings, average attendance at, 83 place of, 22, 49, 141 of the college, time of, 19, 22 55, 127, 142 Memorial of the college to the Legisla- ture, relative to a health ofllce, 73 relative to introduction of diseases, 79 relative to temperance, 183 to Governor Shultz, relative to insane murderer, 121 to Congress of the U. S , rela- tive to restricting the use of spirits, 186 Memorable dates of the college, 189 Mercantile Library Co. 's room, 141 Meteorology and epidemics, commit- tees on, 22, 199 Midwifery, committees on, 199 Mifllin, Thomas, letters from, 57, 59, 76 Mitchell, Samuel L., 109, 113 Mitchell, S. Weir, journal fund, 167 Morgan, John, letter to Dr. Cullen, 32 institution of medical schools, 34 Dr. Rush's error relative to, 31, 38 visit to Morgagni, 28 portrait of, 42 notice of, 26 burial place of, 42 Morris, John, notice of, 66 Murderer, insane, 121 Museum, pathological, 141, 142, 148 committees on, 196 Miitter fund, 149 applicable to building, 150 to purchase of books, 149 in court, 151 lectureship, 152 Thomas D., proposition to found a museum, 143, 146 NATIONAL Medical Convention of 184'5, 189 Notice of John Carson, 68 of Abraham Chovet, 44 of Gerardus Clarkson, 42 of William Clarkson, 54 of William Currie, 127 of George Glentworth, 53 of S. P.^Griffitts, 124 of James Hutchinson, 60 of John Jones, 49 of Adam Kuhn, 94 of John Morgan, 26 of Thomas Parke, 132 of John Redman, 88 of Benjamin Rush, 92 of Caspar Wistar, 97 of Thomas Wynne, 10 of Lloyd Zachary, 11 OFFICERS of the College, 20 Ord, George, library of, 165 Owen, Griffith, 10 PAPERS, selection of, for publication, 81,94 Parke, Thomas, notice of, 132 Parry library, 168 Pharmacopoeia, 24, 25, 101 American, of 1830, 114 Convention in New York, 1830, 113 National Convention of 1820, 106 report of committee on, 107 revision bv the college, in 1821, 108 in 1830, 110 to bring into general use, 129 United States'; of 1830, 114 Philadelphia Coll. of Pharmacy, 123,129 dispensary, 1, 8 Library Company, 1, 3 Medical Society, 15 gift from, 167 population of, in 1785, 10 physicians of, 8 Physicians of Humane Society, 1 early, in Philadelphia, 10 308 INDEX. Physicians, number of, 1785, 18 Picture house. Pa. Hosp., 142 Practice of medicine, regulation of, 67 Prescriptions, royalty on, 123 Presidents, list of, 192 Preston retreat, 136 Prize fund, W. F. Jenks, 198 Proceedings of the College published, 71 in the Transactions, 141 Public squares, 137 Publication, committees on, 196 of papers, 81, 82, 137 Publications of the college, 159 QUAKANTINE of vessels, 68 Quorum, 24 RECORDERS, list of, 195 Redman, John, inaugural address of, 179 his MS. on yellow fever, 165 his note book, 167 notice of, 88 thanks for reelection, 187 toast of, 88 Remington, Isaac, gift to librar}', 164 Rent, 78, 84, 94, 120, 140, 141 Report on Dr. Mutter's proposition, 144 final, of building co nmittee, 157 Revision of the Pharmacopoeia, 110, 115, 117 Rodgers, John, letter to Dr. Rush, 17 John R. B., letter to Dr. Rush, 17 Roll of Felluw-s 207 Rush, Benjamin, Caldwell's account of, 58 eulogium on Dr. CiiUen, 16 imported drug', 13 mercury, use of, 57 notice of, 92 resignation of, 58 ten and ten, 13 SEAL of the College, 22 Secretaries, list of, 193 Sharpless, John T., case of, 139 Shippen, William, the elder, if Shippen, William, Jr., lectures on anatomy, 40 advertisement of lectures, 40 notice of, 90 Societies' building, 139 Standing committee.- instituted, 131,137 Stuber, Henry, 15 lines on the death of, 186 Surgery, committees on, 198 TEMPERANCE, 23, 183, 186 Toast, John Redman's, 88 Togno, Joseph, case of, 134 Transactions of the college, printing of, 52, 55, 56, 117 publication of, 160 Transplanting teeth, 14 Treasurers, list otV194 Trust, International Medical Congress, 202 UNIVERSITY of the State of Penn- sylvania, 8 of Pennsylvania, 9 V ICE-PRESIDENTS, list of, 192 TT7EIR MITCHELL library fund, Wistar, Caspar, notice of, 97 lines on the death of, 99 AVistar party, 99 Women, diseases of, committees on, 199 Wood, George B., gift to the library, 165, 167 gift to the building fund, 190, 191 Wynne, Thomas, 10 ZACHARY, LLOYD, 11 Zimmerman, John, case of, 121 tomeo. OCT Z3W OCT 13 RECTI BfOMED. LIU "TSf- OCT 30138} OCT 2 4 Rm UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. APK21RECD V\ lA/^ Form L9-6>n-3, '54 (3446)444 ' f•^i^!^ivvi^^t•'