YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
Edith and Maude Wetmore
in memory of their father
George Peabody Wetmore
B.A. 1867

RHODE ISLAND

Historical Tracts.

1^0. 12.

PEOVIOENCK
SIDNKY S. KIDEK.
1881 .

Copyright by
SIDNEY S. EIDER.
1879.

X. (2.
f

PKOyiDEKCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS

Medical School

FORMERLY EXISTING IN

BROWK UNIVERSITY,

PROFESSOKB AND GRADUATES.

CHARLES W. RARSONS, M. D.,
PROFESSOR OF I-HYSK iI.OflY' IN BROWN UNIVERSITY.

PEOVIDEIiCE, RHODE ISLAND :
SIDNEY S. RIDER.
188 1.

Copyright by
SIDNEY S. .EIDER.
1881.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE,

The following paper wiis read before the Rhode Island
Historical Society, Tuesday evening, March 22, 1881.
Hitherto no history of the Medical Department which for
merly existed in Brown University has been written. This
papci' seemed to supply the deficiency. Its complete yet
concise nature peculiarly fitted it to be included in this series
of Historical Tracts. The origin of the series, being a
desire to provide a publication wherein could be preserved
just such efforts as this one is. The patrons of the series
are to be congratulated upon the willingness with which
the author of tlie paper yielded to the solicitation of the
publisher.

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT

BROWN UNIVERSITY.

The Medical Department of Brown University
dates from the year 1811. Onl}' two medical schools
then existed in New England. One was that con
nected with Harvard University, founded mainly by
the energy of Dr. John Warren, about the close of
the revolutionary war. The other was that of Dart
mouth College, which was created by the persistent
ability of one man. Dr. Nathan Smith, a native of
our neighboring townof Rehoboth, a great organizer,
and very eminent medical teacher and writer, who
was for some years its only professor.* This was
founded in the year 1798. Medical students, in the
?Nathan Smith was born 30th September, 1?62; M. B., Harvard, 1790; pro
fessor (1798-1829) at Dartmouth, Yale and Bowdoin Medical Schools ; died at
New Haven, 26th January, 1829.

2 HISTORICAL TRACT.
rural parts of New England, were usually apprenticed
to some retired army-surgeon or well known physi
cian, for a term of three or four years, during which
the preceptor was entitled to their services in pre
paring medicines, attending on the sick, and in opera
tions in minor surgery ; in return, they were to
receive instruction in the different branches of med
icine. They were certified as fitted for practice, not
commonly by receiving the degree of M. D., but by
a license from some examining board.
In the very early history of the colony of Rhode
Island, we find both a license "to administer physic
and practice chirurgery," and also the degree of
" Doctor of phissick and chirurgery," conferred on
Captain John Cranston, not by any medical board or
faculty, but by the General Assembly. This was
one of its first acts, after receiving the charter of
1663.* About sixty or seventy years ago, several medical
schools were formed in New England, — a sign, I
suppose, that a need was felt of more wide-spread
opportunities for medical education, and probably of
* Arnold's History of Ehode Island, 1., 303. E. I. Col. Eec, vol. ii., p. 33.

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 6
a higher standard in the less populous States . Nathan
Smith was brought down from the wilds of the upper
Connecticut, to organize such a department in Yale
College (1813). The oldest of these medical schools,
and the third in New England, was that connected
with Brown University. The college was then pur
suing its even course of academic training, with an
average of about a hundred students. Dr. Messer
had been its President since the year 1804, at which
time it changed its name from "Rhode Island College"
to "Brown University." Its charter authorized its
Fellows to " admit to and confer any and all the
learned degrees which can or ought to be given and
conferred in any of the colleges or universities in
America." Under this authority, the degree of
Doctor of Medicine was sometimes conferred in a
complimentary manner on persons already eminent
in the profession, and not as based on a course of
medical study in this University. Dr. Solomon
Drowne, who graduated at the college in 1773,
received this honorary degree in 1804; and Doctors
Pardon Bowen and Levi Wheaton, of the classes of
1775 and 1782 respectively, received the same title

4 HISTORICAL TRACT.
in 1812. In examining the catalogues, and even in
comparing them with the records of the corporation,
it is sometimes impossible to distinguish honorary
degrees from those given in course. In some cases,
physicians who had received the degree of M. D. at
some other institution, were admitted at this college
^'ad eundem gradum," to the same degree.
In September, 1811, three medical Professors were
appointed in Brown Universiiy : Dr. William
Ingalls, of Anatomy and Surgery ; Dr. Solomon
Drowne, of Materia Medica and Botany ; and Dr.
William Corlis Bowen, of " Chymistry." A com
mittee of the Corporation was appointed to procure
a suitable person to give lectures on the Theory and
Practice of Physic.
Of these three Professors, Dr. Ingalls was the
least known in Rhode Island, 'bf which he was not a
resident. He was born at Newburyport, Mass.,
3d May, 1769, graduated at Harvard in 1790, and
there took a degree as Bachelor of Medicine in 1794,
and Doctor of Medicine in 1801. He lived in Bos
ton through his whole professional life, and became
prominent in practice, especially in surgery. So

brown university medical school. 5
great was his fondness for anatomical pursuits, that
he kept a private room for the practical study of
human anatomy, and also a museum of specimens and
preparations, in the upper part of his house on School
street. He moreover had an anatomical lecture-room
in an upper story on Market street (now called
Cornhill), where, writes his son, "he demonstrated
human anatomy nightly to listening and heedful
students ; to how many is not known, probably an
average of twenty-five or thirty. The late Surgeon-
General Joseph Lovell, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, and
J. V. C. Smith, became prominent." At what date
these lectures were first given, or how long they were
continued, I do not know. It appears that the
Doctor gave lectures at the college in Providence
soon after being appointed in 1811 ; that in 1815,
Dr. John Mathewson Eddy, of Providence, was
appointed adjunct, or assistant, professor ; that in
1816 Dr. Ingalls offered his resignation, which was
referred to the next annual meeting of the Corpora
tion, but not then acted upon, so far as its records
show ; and, lastly, that pupils continued to attend
his lectures in Boston, the time thus spent counting

6 HISTORICAL TRACT.
as part of their required course of study in Brown
University. My authority for this last statement is
the venerable Dr. George Capron, of Providence, who
writes, in a memoir of Dr. Levi Wheaton, that Dr.
Ingalls gave a few courses at the University, " and
then transferred his lectures to Boston " ; and who
tells me that he attended the Doctor's course at Corn-
hill, Boston, about the year 1820, and as part of his
course as a medical student at Brown. He says that
while in Boston he often attended the medical lectures
of the Harvard professors, Jackson and Gorham, and
that the students were sometimes invited to hear Dr.
Warren. He describes Dr. Ingalls as not a fluent
lecturer. The Rev. Dr. Edwards A. Park, of Andover,
Massachusetts, who graduated at the academical
department of Brown Universit3% 1826, has done me
the great favor to write me some of his recollections
of his college days. The following extract from his
letter tends to confirm my belief that Dr. Ingalls'
lectures in Boston were counted as part of the med
ical course at this school : " I had a very pleasant
acquaintance with Dr. William Ingalls. He was very

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 7
gentlemanly in his intercourse, and prepossessing
in his personal appearance. I may be mistaken in
my reminiscences, but I received the impression that
he had sometimes lectured in Providence, and some
times in Boston, but in each case lectured as a Pro
fessor of Brown University."
The following extract from an anonymous pamph
let, " suggesting improvements in the academical
system," published in 1815, illustrates the condition
of the medical school at that time, and also appears
to throw light on the position of Dr. Ingalls, and his
" transfer" of his lectures to Boston : " On the present
plan, the medical professors depend for compensa
tion entirely on the fees of attendance. This gives
them a most precarious standing. Repeatedly has it
been the lot of a professor, as the season for his
lectures approached, to visit the college, inquire how
many attendants would be had, be informed that for
this or that reason they would be very few, and
return to his residence, lamenting that he must wait
another year, because an unfortunate arrangement
has made the discharge of his duties dependent on
the accidental finances and feelings of fifty or sixty

8 HISTORICAL TRACT.
youth. This state of things is too humiliating. It
has already occasioned the loss of one distinguished
professor." Dr. Ingalls lived to be eighty-two years old, dying
the 9th September, 1851. A memoir of him, writ
ten by his son of the same name, appears in a volume
of "Memorial Biographies" of the New England
Historic-Genealogical Society, just published (page
328). It mentions among the traits of his character,
charity, cheerfulness, gentleness, fondness for the
society of those he deemed his friends, unflagging
industry. The following sentences are extracted
from this memoir :
" In the early years of this century It was a custom with many
people in this region to be ' bled,' especially in the spring, and a
goodly proportion of them would come Into the doctor's office,
take off their coats, roll up their sleeves, and sit down for the
performance of the operation, not only as though it was a mat
ter of course, but because they thought it was a duty, and essen
tial in promoting and maintaining their health ' to lose blood ' ;
and some of them came in the autumn as well" as in the spring.
Pondering the custom, the conclusion was quickly arrived at by
the doctor, that the operation of phlebotomy should not be per
formed without an investigation as to the state of health of the
applicant for its performance. If he were in good health, there

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 9
certainly was no necessity for his quota of blood being lessened ;
if he were ill, he should be carefully and properly examined, so
that the physician could give a sensible opinion as to suitable
treatment. Thus it was that the doctor was instrumental in
causing the abolition of a pernicious habit."
Dr. Solomon Drowne was born in Providence,
11th March, 1753, and graduated in the fifth class at
Rhode Island college, now Brown University, 1773.
He studied medicine with Dr. William Bowen, and
at the University of Pennsylvania (then the only
organized medical school in the country), where he
took the degree of M. D. He was in the service of
the colonies as surgeon, was in General Sullivan's
expedition on Rhode Island, served at different points
in Connecticut and New York, and witnessed the
evacuation of New York city by the British troops.
In the fall of 1780, he went on a cruise as surgeon
in theprivatesloop-of- war Hope, his journal of which
has been printed. He won the regard of Lafayette,
the Counts de Rochambeau and d'Estaing, as well as
of other French officers, to such a degree by his med
ical ability and skill as a surgeon, that the chief of
medical staff entrusted their invalid soldiers to his
care when they left for home.

10 HISTORICAL TRACT.
In 1784, he went to Europe. " Some of my
friends," he wrote, "expressed surprise at my quit
ting my home and exposing myself to the fatigues
and many disagreeable circumstances incident to so
long a voyage, charitably deeming me sufficiently
qualified for the practice of my profession. For my
own pact, I confess a strong, persevering desire, with
bold, adventurous hand, to unfurl the veil that con
ceals from me the charms of nature and art, to visit
different nations and view the manners as they rise,
to penetrate as much as possible the sources of useful
knowledge, and especially to accomplish myself in
the divine art of healing."
He attended hospitals and lectures in London and
Paris, and gained the acquaintance of several English
and French physicians, and of other eminent men in
England, and Franklin, Jefferson, and other dis
tinguished Americans then in Paris. " His journal
during this period contains a minute and lively
description of all prominent places and objects of
interest, particularly botanical gardens, rare plants
and works of art."
Returning to his native country, he soon became

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 11
one of the proprietors of the Ohio Company, and
went to Marietta in 1788, and lived there nearly a
year. He afterward resided in Virginia, and for sev
eral years in Pennsylvania. During these wander
ings he frequently appeared as orator, — delivering
eulogies on Generals Varnum and Washington, and
four 4th of July orations.
In 1801, Dr. Drowne came back to Rhode Island,
and bought an estate in the town of Foster, where
he could indulge his love for country life, his fond
ness for gardening, for botany and varied reading.
He built his house on a hill, which he named Mount
Hygeia. He founded a botanical garden, and "from
his professional tours, which extended to Provi
dence, and not unfrequently to other States, he
always returned with seeds, or plants, to enrich his
collection. He also sent abroad for plants, and was
the first to introduce many species into our country,
which have since become common." People came
from long distances to see this fiimous garden. He
is said to have raised and prepared his own opium.
In medical practice he appears to have tended to sim
plicity, and to a greater trust in the powers of nature

12 HISTORICAL TRACT.
than was common in his time. By simplicity, he
meant an avoidance of officious interference, and in
particular of uniting many remedies in one prescrip
tion. " Butternut pills, decoction of mallows, and
pussy-willow tea" were among his favorite medi
cines. Dr. Drowne was, however, better fitted for a life
of study and learned leisure than for every- day
medical work. It is told of him, that if, on his way
to see a patient, he espied an interesting botanical
specimen, he would stop, and perhaps spend all day
in meadow or thicket.
He became a Fellow of the College in 1783, and
held the office as long as he lived. As the only
physician on the Board when the medical school was
begun, he probably took part in promoting its estab
lishment, and perhaps in suggesting the personnel of
its Faculty. He held the office of Professor of
Materia Medica and Botany, from 1811 nominally
till his death in 1834, or much longer than the medi
cal school continued in being. But I believe he gave
no instruction in college after President Wayland
began his administration in 1827. In 1813, two

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 13
years after his appointment, a committee of the
Corporation was instructed "to take into considera
tion the expediency of establishing a. Botanic gar
den." This committee consisted of Nicholas Brown,
Thomas Lloyd Halsey, and Samuel G. Arnold (the
father of our late President). I find no farther
mention of a botanic garden, on the records of the
Corporation, but am assured that it was laid out and
enclosed, near the southeast corner of the College
campus.' A variety of beautiful tulips, raised from
those which adorned his garden in Foster, alSo were
cultivated in the front campus, near the old "Presi
dent's house."
Rev. Dr. Park writes as follows :
"I had a very pleasant acquaintance with Dr. Solo
mon Drowne, and attended one course of his lectures
on Botany. The course consisted of only twelve or
fourteen lectures. They were illustrated by some
botanical specimens, which, however, appeared to me
quite 'dry.' His lectures were technical, and did not
interest me. Still I was only sixteen years old when
I heard them, and was not prepared for as many
technicalities as he introduced.

14 HISTORICAL TRACT.
"I remember the Botanical Garden. Some plants
in it were very strange to me. They seemed to be
very precious. My most vivid recollections of it,
however, are that the Garden was all grown over
with weeds and that nettles had covered the face
thereof; and the wooden fence enclosing it was
partly broken down. My impression is that as early
as 1822 the Garden was abandoned."
His last conspicuous public appearance was in an
oration in behalf of the Greeks, 22d February, 1824.
To that cause he brought the earnestness of his
classical enthusiasm, and the graces of his somewhat
emotional and florid oratory. At a later period,
I dimly remember, — or think I remember, — being
taken by ray father to see the venerable doctor lec
turing on Botany in the old town-house.
Dr. Drowne seems to have been marked by a
gentle idealism, a contemplative view of nature,
which rose above the technicalities of botanical
science, or a study of the medical virtues of the
simples he loved to gather. In thinking of the
influences that might have moulded his mind in its
forming period, I could not but attribute something

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 15
to his intercourse with the philosophers and physi
cians of Paris, at a most critical period of history.
In the traits I have just referred to, and in a certain
Arcadian simplicity of character, he reminded me of
Bernardin de St. Pierre, whose story of Paul and
Virginia was published in Paris at the very time that
Drowne was there, and whom he might very possibly
have known. After this comparison had occurred
to my mind, I was pleased to read in the obituary
notice of our late associate, Mr. Henry B. Drowne,
that his father, the Doctor, was so great an admirer
of St, Pierre that he named his son for him, Henri
Bernardin. Professor Drowne died 5th February, 1834.*
Dr. William Corlis Bowen belonged to a family
very eminent in .medical practice in the history of
Providence. Indeed, its patriarch. Dr. Richard
Bowen, when living in Seekonk, or what is now
East Providence, had patients in the town of Provi-
* The materials for this notice of Dr. Drowne are drawn from many sources,
especially a Memoir in Communications of Ehode Island Medical Society, vol.
i, page 25, and a notice by Dr. Usher Parsons in the Literary Journal, Provi
dence, May, 1834.

16 HISTORICAL TRACT.
dence, which is reported at his time, just two hun
dred years ago, to have had no physician living
w^ithin its limits. His great-grandsons were the pop
ular physicians, Drs. William and Pardon Bowen,
still remembered by our older fellow-citizens. Dr.
William lived at the foot of College street. His son,
William Corlis, was born 2d June, 1785, entered
Rhode Island College, but went with President Maxcy
to Union College, where he graduated in 1803.
After a few years of practice in Providence, he
went to Europe, and studied at the University of
Edinburgh, then a leading seat of medical education.
He there took a medical degree in 1809. A copy of
his inaugural essay, — "De Sanguine Mittendo" —
(on blood-letting) is in our College library. He
studied also in Paris, and at London was private
pupil of the great surgeon, Astley Cooper.
In 1811 he resumed practice in his native town,
and was chosen Professor of Chemistry. He re
signed that office just two years later. He made
extensive experiments with bleaching liquor with
the view of introducing a business since successfully
conducted here. His early death is attributed to

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 17
these experiments, and to his inhaling chlorine or
strong acid vapors. He died of consumption, 23d
April, 1815, when not quite thirty years old.
My father, Dr. Usher Parsons, wrote of him as
follows :
"In the death of Dr. William C. Bowen, Rhode
Island lost its brightest ornament of the medical pro
fession. No one before his time enjoyed the advan
tages of such distinguished instructors so great a
length of time ; and with his ardor in the pursuit
of professional knowledge, his discriminating and
comprehensive powers of mind, he was uncommonly
capable of being improved by such advantages. His
suavity and kindness of manner endeared him to all
who were the subjects of his professional care, and
no one could be more successful in gaining the
respect and confidence of the good and the wise ; in
proof of which it may be observed that his precep
tor, Dr. Hamilton of Edinburgh, called him as con
sulting physician in a perilous disease of his own
wife, and the writer of this notice had the satisfac
tion of hearing very honorable mention made of his
acquirements by Sir Astley Cooper." *
* Thaoher's American Medical Biography.

18 HISTORICAL TRACT.
On the resignation of Dr. Bowen, in 1813, a com
mittee was appointed to procure a suitable person to
give lectures in chemistry. Two years later. Dr.
John Mackie, of Providence, was chosen Professor
in this department, but he declined to serve, and in
1817, Mr. John DeWolp, Jr., of Bristol, was
appointed and accepted the office.
I have been favored with the following notice of ¦
Professor DeWolf, from his son, Dr. John J.
DeWolf, now of this city :
"He was born in Bristol, R. I., 26th February,
1786, and died in the same town, 23d February,
1862. He entered Brown University in 1802, but
did not graduate. His chemical education was
mostly obtained from Dr. Robert Hare, of Phila
delphia. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry
in 1817, and for more than twenty years pursued
a course of brilliant success as a lecturer and experi
menter. After resigning his professorship in B. U.,
he held the chair of Chemistry in the medical col
leges at Woodstock and Castleton, Vejmont, and
subsequently in the medical school at St. Louis.
"He delivered courses of popular lectures in

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 19
Providence, — (in the old theatre, where Grace
church now stands,) — in New Bedford, and in
Savannah, Ga. His lectures were always attended
by large and appreciative audiences.
"During the later years of his life, he resided upon
his farm in Bristol, occupied in the pursuits of agri
culture. He gave much time to reading and study.
He became a distinguished scholar, in the English,
Latin and Greek classics, and was a proficient in the
Hebrew also. His works of History, Poetry and
Belles-Lettres he read; those of science, he studied.
"In the course of his life he was frequently called
upon to officiate as orator at public anniversaries and
before literary associations. His addresses were
always distinguished for their finished rhetoric and
their sparkling wit. His oration on 'Prejudice,'
before one of the college societies, is well remem
bered by many.* It elicited the highest encomium
from President Jefferson, who addressed the author
an autograph letter, which is still preserved.
"Prof. DeWolf possessed decided poetical talent,
and in his earlier years composed many fugitive
pieces, which appeared in print from time to time.

20 HISTORICAL TRACT.
but few of which have been preserved. Among the
latter may be mentioned his paraphrase of the 148th
Psalm, which was adopted in the Hymnal of the
Episcopal church, and stands as No. 433.
"Another early poetical production of Professor
DeWolf, written during the war with Great Britain,
in 1812, has been preserved, and may be found in a
volume of naval and patriotic odes, published in
1813. This war, as we all know, was brought on
by the impressment of American seamen into the
British naval service. Prof. DeWolf, then quite a
young man, indited a poem or song, descriptive of
the seizure and sufferings of American seamen, who
were taken from our vessels by British cruisers and
impressed into the British navy. It is entitled the
Youthful Sailor, and American seamen who were
taken prisoners and confined in the famous Dart
moor prison, in England, during the war, in
formed Professor DeWolf, after their liberation and
return home, that they often sung this song during
their imprisonment, and thereby excited the ire of
the prison officials, who repeatedly forbade them to
use it, but they continued to sing it, nevertheless.

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 21
"The well-known 'Life of Deacon Goodman,
wherein is shown the inconvenience of not having
a musical ear,' was written by Professor DeWolf
not manj' years before his death. It first appeared
in a Boston paper, and was extensively copied all
over the Union.
"Professor DeWolf was not merely a literary man,
but became a highly scientific man, well versed in
ethics, mathematics and astronomy, and the various
branches of natural philosophy, but more especially
in chemistry, his favorite department, to which he
devoted the best years of his life."
A graduate of the class of 1826, who was a con
stant attendant on the lectures of Professor DeWolf,
contributes the following reminiscences :
"Professor John DeWolf was appointed to the
professorship of chemistry in Brown University in
the year 1817. It was then comparatively a new
science; and but little, if any, attention had been
given to that subject in the college previous to that
time. He immediately commenced the delivery of a
course of lectures, which at once awakened an inter
est in that branch of knowledge, not only among the

22 HISTORICAL TRACT.
students, but in the neighborhood. It occupied a
neglected place in the prescribed studies of the
University. "The chemical apparatus belonging to the college
was very limited and imperfect, — hardly worthy the
name. It was understood that he used his own
apparatus, which he brought with him, whenever he
commenced a course of lectures and experiments.
"He had a very happy faculty of communicating
the truths of the science to the youthful mind. He
had himself a full conviction of the importance of
the science he taught, and inspired the same convic
tion in others. He attracted the attention and ex
cited the interest of every student in the lecture-
room. He impressed whatever he presented and
demonstrated deeply on' the memory of the hearers.
"The interest he had awakened, and the popularity
he enjoyed in the University, were evident from the
lively pleasure with which the students anticipated
the time when his lectures were to begin. He al
ways had a full attendance. He opened to the eyes
of the student, in his peculiarly attractive manner,
the wonders of a new and brilliant science, to which

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 23
the recent discoveries of its votaries had added fresh
interest and splendor. He developed these brilliant
discoveries and explained to us the benefits they
were destined to confer on the varied pursuits of
man. Sometimes in drawing practical deductions
from the science he was teaching, he would sud
denly electrify the class by illustrating its truths
in glowing and eloquent words, so impressive and
graphic as not to be easily forgotten. His experi
ments were generally successful. When, from de
ficiency in the apparatus, or impurity in the mate
rials used, he was doubtful of success, he always
forewarned the class. I only recollect one instance
of failure where he had full confidence in the trial.
He was carefully prepared in what he proposed to
teach, and was sensitive about any failure in a
proposed experiment."
The Reverend Professor Park writes as follows :
"I attended Professor DeWolf 's lectures on chem
istry when I was a member of Brown University. I
think he lectured without notes, and am confident
that he was not confined to any written manuscript.
He lectured with a loud voice and with great freedom

24 HISTORICAL TRACT.
of manner. His speech was rapid and conversa
tional. He enlivened his lectures with his wit. He
appeared to be enthusiastic ini his subject. He took
a lively interest in his pupils. We felt that he was
our friend.
"Professor DeWolf was popular and the students
heard him gladly, and they derived as much instruc
tion from him as they were capable of retaining.
All my associations with him are very pleasant, and
I am conscious of feeling gratitude to him for his
inspiriting words. To be conscious of this feeling
after the lapse of fifty-seven years, is itself a sign
that the lecturer was a man of skill and tact."
In September, 1815, the chair of Theory and
Practice of Physic was filled by the appointment
of Dr. Levi Wheaton. He was born in Provi
dence, 6th February, 1761, and graduated at Rhode
Island College in 1782. Our Society possesses his
two diplomas as A, B. and A.M., dated 1782 and
1793, and both signed out of due time by President
Maxcy. His college studies had been interrupted
by the revolutionary war, which, however, gave him

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 25
opportunities of acquiring valuable medical experi
ence. In 1778 he was attached to a military hospital
in Providence; he spent the summer of 1779 at
Westerly, in the family of Dr. Joshua Babcock,
engaged in teaching the Doctor's children and study
ing medicine. He was afterward surgeon of a pri
vateer, was taken prisoner and taken into New York,
where he was detained,. and had charge for some
months of the prison hospital-ship Falmouth.
After the close of the war, he accepted an invita
tion to settle at Hudson, New York, which was
founded to a great extent by Providence people, as
related by Mr. Stephen B. Miller in his interesting
paper.* He was the earliest physician in that place ;
in 1791 he formed a partnership with Dr. Younglove,
who had the reputation of treating small pox suc
cessfully. On the festival of John the Baptist, 1788,
he delivered at Hudson "a sensible and well-adapted
oration." This Society has his commissions as com
mon clerk of that city, 1787, and Recorder of the
same, 1794 and 1795.
After practicing there about ten years. Dr. Whea-
* Read before the R. I. Historical Society, 16th November, 1880.
3

2(3 HISTORICAL TRACT.
ton returned to his native town, and here lived through
more than half a century, becoming well-known as a
physician. Of the two colleagues in the medical
school who dealt with the immediately practical
studies, Ingalls, the surgeon, was the more reluc
tant to bleed his patients, while Wheaton, the phj-^-
sician, had great faith in that operation. "His prac
tice was based upon the theory that diseases, in this
climate at least, are generally inflammatory, and that
when inflammation is controlled the disease subsides
as a necessary consequence. It was a common re
mark with him, that we do not bleed enough ; h.e
had not had occasion to regret bleeding in more than
two or three instances in the whole course of his
practice, but he had very frequently regretted the
omission of it."
"It was his usual practice to make brief memoranda
of his cases every night in his day-book, in connec
tion with his charges for services, to which he would
occasionally refer to refresh his memory. It was
rarely, however, that he had occasion to make such
a reference, and those who knew him will recollect
how particularly and circumstantially he would relate

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 27
a case of days' or even weeks' duration, from his
unaided memory. Every symptom and every pre
scription would be recalled with the utmost exactness.
Whenever he had under his care a painful and criti
cal case, he seemed to experience the most extreme
solicitude. It would be the all-engrossing subject
of his thought and the topic of his conversation.
The best authorities would be examined, and per
chance a medical friend consulted. The writer has
more than once seen him walking his room at a late
hour at night wholly absorbed in anxious thought
upon some critical case."*
Dr. Wheaton was a scholarly and well-read man,
retaining a fondness for classical studies as well as
for novels and current literature. He wrote fre
quently for medical periodicals aud for newspapers.
In his later years he contributed many articles to
the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, with the
signature of Senex. He was one of the Trustees
of Brown University, from the year 1798 till his
death. * These sentences are from a memoir of Dr. Wheaton, prepared by Dr.
George ('apron, and published in Communicatiuns of K. I. Medical Society,
vol. i, page 19.

28 HISTORICAL TRACT.
Dr. Wheaton was a raan of dignified personal ap
pearance ; I knew him only in his great age, when
his erect white hair and thoughtful face commanded
attention and respect. He had something of that
look of intellectual power which was more marked
in his distinguished nephew, Hon. Henry W^heaton.
I remember one occasion when he came, alone and
unheralded, into a meeting of the Rhode Island
Medical Society, and its members, by a general and
spontaneous movement of respect, arose and con
tinued standing till the venerable Doctor had taken
his seat.
He died 29th August, 1852, at the age of ninety-
one. Dr. John M. Eddy, of Providence, who was ap
pointed adjunct-professor of Anatomy and Surgery,
in September, 1815, died early in the year 1817.
As his health was impaired for some time before his
death, he cannot have given much instruction after
his appointment. He may have conducted one
course of lectures. The Providence newspapers of
24th May, 1817, contain notices of his death. I
copy the following from the Gazette of that date :

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 29
"Died, in Havana, whither he had repaired for the
benefit of his health, John M. Eddy, M. D., of this
.town. In the height of usefulness, the prime of life,
and the brightness of a well-earned reputation, he
has been called from the stage of life. His loss will
be severely felt by this community, whose esteem
and respect he had secured by his virtues, his skill
and his services. His declining health induced him
to repair to Havana, where he fell a victim to the
yellow fever."
Dr. Eddy was one of the forty-nine physicians
who petitioned for an Act of Incorporation of the
Rhode Island Medical Society, (passed at the Feb
ruary session of the General Assembly, 1812), and
who were named in it as the original Fellows.
In September, 1822, Dr. Usher Parsons, of
Providence, was appointed adjunct-professor of
Anatomy and Surgery ; and one year later, he
was chosen Professor, in place of Dr. Ingalls, whose
resignation was at last accepted.
Dr. Parsons was born in Alfred, Maine, 18th
August, 1788. He studied medicine in his native

30 HISTORICAL TRACT.
town, and afterward at Boston, under the tuition of
Dr. John Warren. He was licensed to practice,
February, 1812. In July, 1812, he received a com
mission as surgeon's-mate in the navy ; and served
under Commodore Perry on the great lakes. He
gained promotion to the rank of surgeon, and the
warm friendship^ of his commander, by responsible
and devoted service at and after the battle on Lake
Erie. As surgeon of the frigate Java, with Perry,
he subsequently passed several months on the Medi
terranean, and visited the medical and scientific insti
tutions of Naples, Palermo, Rome and Florence.
He received the degree of M. D. at Harvard, in
1818. At a later voyage with Commodore Macdon-
ough he obtained leave of absence, and spent several
months in Paris and London, attending the hospitals,
keeping records of his observations, especially in
surgery, and gaining the acquaintance of eminent
surgeons aud naturalists. He returned to his native
country in 1820, with an ardor in the pursuit of
medical knowledge, and especially of anatomy, which
led to the fulfilment of his early aspirations to be
come a public anatomical teacher. His enthusiasm

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 31
in this branch had been insf)ired, partly in his early
days of medical study by the lectures of Dr. Alex
ander Ramsay, of whom I shall speak again ; and
partly by his visits to the great European collections,
especially the Hunterian Museum in London, and a
friendship he had formed with the favorite pupils
and successors of its founder, John Hunter.
He was Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at
Dartmouth College, 1821, took up his residence in
Providence in 1822, and resigned his commission in
the navy in 1823. He wrote that his "motive for
engaging in the business of lecturing was a desire to
establish a museum of anatomy, human and com
parative, on the plan of the late John Hunter's."
In Brown University, he gave lectures both to the
medical class and to the college students, till 1826.
He then published an introductory lecture entitled,
"The Importance of the Sciences of Anatomy and
Physiology as a branch of general education ; being
an introduction to a course of lectures to the upper
classes in Brown University."
If we may accept the testimony of two surviving
pupils of the school, the opening of courses by Dr.

32 HISTORICAL TRACT.
Parsons gave new life to' the institution. He made
arrangements, through channels over which a veil of
secrecy had to be thrown, for a supply of anatomical
material. He was the owner of valuable and novel
representations of human structure in wax models
made in Italy. He had learned from Dr. Ramsay
the methods of displaying and preserving the perish
able organs, such as he afterwards described in a
volume, published at Philadelphia, 1831, on the
"Art of making Anatomical Preparations." Dr.
Capron speaks of the medical s(5hool as having been
"re-organized" in 1822. Dr. Francis L. Wheaton,
(M. D., 1827,) states the facts quite as strongly.
I once more avail myself of the valuable reminis
cences of the Rev. Dr. Park. He writes : "I re
member very well the impression made by the ad
vent of Dr. Usher Parsons to the Professorship of
Anatomy in Brown University. The fact of his
having been a surgeon in the United States navy,
and at the battle of Lake Erie, gave him great eclat
as he assumed the Professorship. I heard him de
liver two lectures. He read them from his manu
script. His manner was not animated. I was only

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 33
fifteen years of age when I heard him, and could not
understand him, for he was speaking to post-gradu
ates." Dr. Parsons subsequently became very prominent
in the practice of his profession, somewhat specially
in surgery and as a consulting physician. His numer
ous writings contributed to medical journals, and
essays written for the Boylston and Fiske Fund
prizes, made his name widely known over the coun-
tr3'. In 1853, he was chosen first Vice-President of
the American Medical Association, and at the next
annual meeting officiated as its acting President.
He took an active part in measures which led to the
foundation of the Rhode Island Hospital. He was
also engaged in historical and genealogical studies,
especially in regard to the aboriginal inhabitants
of Rhode Island, and the history of the battle on
Lake Erie. He contributed one important work to
pre-revolutionary history, — the "Life of Sir William
Pepperrell." His labors in these directions were
fitly commemorated by our late President, Hon.
Samuel G. Arnold, in a discourse delivered 1st
June, 1869.

34 HISTORICAL TRACT.
He died at Providence, 19th December, 1868,
aged eighty.
Dr. Alexander Ramsay was sufficiently well-
known in this country to receive notice in the two
leading American biographical dictionaries, — those
of Allen and Drake. They mention that he was
born in England ; my father used to call him a
Scotchman. He had published at London and Edin
burgh illustrated works on anatomy. He gave
anatomical courses at different places in New
England, — my father heard him at Fryeburg,
Maine, — and he was reputed to be a skilful anato
mist, as he must have been a stimulating lecturer.
He died at Parsonsfield, Maine, 24th November,
1824. I hope it will not be deemed a breach of confi
dence, if I lay before this Society a letter addressed
by him to "The Managers of the College in Rhode
Island," which has never been laid before either of
its governing boards. Conway, N. H., June 15th, 1823.
Gentlemen : — Being an utter stranger to you, and unac
quainted with your Institution or its regulatious, I must beg

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 35
leave to refer you to my former pupil, Dr. Parsons, who pre
sents this.
When, twenty years back, I was called by your colleges of
New York, Dartmouth, &c., to introduce the youth to the
manner and Doctrines of Anatomy, Physiology, Medicine and
Surgery I had practiced and published In Kurope. Professors
were then fully aware of the necessity of Improvements. These
are amply diffused by the numerous scholars I have had the
honor of receiving on this continent. The expense and labour,
however, of reducing the plan in shape of a Museum is the lot
of very few. This has in some measure been effected in six
years, by my pupils. I must esteem myself fortunate, were
this institution rendered permanently useful under a pupil. My
entire apparatus of Books, Drawings, Preparations, &c., esti
mate of ^10,000. The preparations about $4,000, detached from
the rest. I would willingly set the plan in motion on reasonable
terms, and have the whole on equally easy purchase, provided,
that the Institution was forever to be appropriated to the im
provement of the Youth, which would not fail to commence
a new era In Medical improvement. I beg leave, gentlemen, to
assure of the high consideration of your obedient servant,
Alex. Ramsay.
The Managers of the College, Rhode Island.
Under the same date. Dr. Ramsay writes to Dr.
Parsons :
"Sir:— During my Northern Tour, I had the pleasure of
polite observations delivered by you, where I was concerned,
from gentlemen who had attended your discourses."

36 HISTORICAL TRACT.
He then gives directions for the preparation of a
ma1;erial which was to be thrown into the blood
vessels, to render them distinct, and preserve them
in a form for subsequent study. It is essentially
the same material which I remember my father's
using many years later. The Doctor continues :
"By the Concord Patriot and Portland Statesman you notice
that having collected a Museum, on the Plan so universally
approved in Europe and America, as the medium of an arranged
school, this is offered for sale, as a rudiment of National Im
provement. The best proof of the efficiency of the Institution
is that the entire mass is the produce of American labor under
my direction, and that wherever my pupils settle, publick confi
dence is experienced by thera. I could wish you came here, that
we might converse on the subject, as this method cannot fail to
raise any college which completely adopts* it. I have addressed
a card to your Managers of the College that you may not appear
in the character of officious."
The brick school-house at the head of College
street, which had been built for a grammar school,
by a subscription of $1,452.86, in the year 1810,
was set apart as the "anatomical building." Its
upper story was used for dissection, and the pre
paration of specimens for the lectures, and an open-

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. - 37
ing or trap-door allowed them to be lowered into
the lecture-room beneath. The courses on anatomy
appear to have been sometimes given, — probably at
an earlier period, — in the upper rooms of Dr.
Bowen's building at the corner of South Main and
Leonard streets. A certain anatomical tradition and
aroma long lingered around both these classic pre
cincts. I think that most, if not all, the courses in
other departments were delivered in University Hall.
The audience frequently contained practicing phy
sicians, as well as pupils. One gentleman from See
konk used to come to the anatomical course on
horseback, wearing a somewhat conspicuous queue.
Among other rogueries of the students, a committee
was appointed to ask this gentleman to cut off his
queue, on the pretext that it -interfered with the
pupils' seeing the lecturer's specimens or illustra
tions. The request was communicated to the physi
cian just as he was mounting his horse after lecture ;
fortunately he was not so obstinate as Knicker
bocker's hero, Keldermeester, and the request was
complied with, and the obnoxious queue gave no
more trouble. 4

38 HISTORICAL TRACT.
A story is told of a certain skeleton in the course
of preparation, which was left in a barrel in front of
the "anatomical building," and hence involved Pro
fessors Wheaton and Parsons in trouble. By some
forgetfulness, it was allowed to remain out-of-doors
till college students began to roll and kick it down
the steep of College street, and at the level of
Benefit street it ran against some obstacle, I think
the steps of the old town house. Out came the head
of the barrel, followed by another head, and great
was the consternation and excitement. A startled
crowd gathered around the spot ; stories were soon
astir of desecrated graves ; search was even made in
one place of a recent burial, which was found not to
have been disturbed. A medical student, who was
supposed to be implicated, found it convenient to
visit his uncle's house in the country, and remained
there till the affair had blown over. Dr. Parsons
returning from Boston, — I think the next day, —
claimed the bones as his own property, but public
oi^inion demanded a prompt and decent burial.
The whole matter of supply of material for the
practical study of anatomy was, as it must be, in-

BROWN /TNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 39
volved in difficulty and hazard. A full account of
it would include tales of nocturnal adventure, the
evasion or befooling of night watchmen, and a mys
terious traffic.
We have spoken of the Professors, who and how
many were the graduates? I cannot ascertain the
exact number of those who took medical degrees in
course, but they were probably a little more than
ninety. Of these, three became distinguished prac
titioners in this State, Drs. Lewis L. Miller,* (M.
D., 1820,) and George Capron (1823), of Provi
dence, and Dr. Hiram Allen, f of Woonsocket
(1825). Dr. Jerome V. C. Smith (1818), was
a well-known author, for many years editor of the
principal medical periodical of New England, the
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and was
Mayor of Boston in 1854. Dr. Alden March (1820)
*Dr. L. L. Miller, born at Franklin, Mass., 6th January, 1798; son of Dr.
Nathaniel Miller, a distinguished surgeon; removed (1827) from Franklin to
Providence; became very eminent as a surgeon; President R. I. Medical
Society, 1846-47; died 8th March, 1870, aged seventy-two.
fDr. Hiram Allen, born at Franklin, 1803; studied under Dr. Daniel Thur-
ber, of Mendon; spent his active professional life at Woonsocket; becoming
prominent as a physician and citizen ; President E. I. Medical Society, 1851-52 ;
died 15th March, 1864, aged sixty-one.

40 HISTORICAL TRACT.,
was born in Sutton, Mass., 20th September, 1795;
attended medical lectures at Boston and here, and is
said to have been distinguished when here for his
skill in anatomy. He practiced many years in Al
bany, going there directly after graduating, was
eminent as a surgeon, was founder and President,
and for about thirty years the leading instructor of
the Albany Medical College, and was President of
the American Medical Association. He died 17th
June, 1869.
The last class which left this medical institution,
while it was still in active operation, contained its
most distinguished graduate, a native of Rhode
Island, who, after a life of eminent usefulness in
other States, returned to his rural home to die. His
name belongs emphatically to Rhode Island history.
Elisha Bartlett was born in Smithfield (now
North Smithfield), 6th October, 1804. His parents
were members of the Society of Friends. After
attending local schools, he was sent to an institution
under the control of the Friends in New York,
where he received an excellent classical education.
He did not go to college. He studied medicine

BROWN university MEDICAL SCHOOL. 41
under different teachers, among them, Drs. Levi
Wheaton of Providence, John Green and Beojamiu
F. Heywood of Worcester. He attended medical
lectures both at Boston and Providence, and gradu
ated here in 1826.
He then spent a year in Paris. One of his first
publications, (Boston, 1831,) is entitled "Sketches
of the character aud writings of eminent living
surgeons and physicians of Paris." This is trans
lated from the French ; our Society is fortunate in
possessing a copy of it. He visited Italy at that
time. He began medical prjictice in Lowell, Mass., where
he became a popular and successful physician. His
"elegant person and accomplished manners, his un
common conversational powers, and his varied at
tainments rendered him a universal favorite." He
was the first Mayor of Lowell, was twice elected,
and was also a member of the General Court.
But the career for which he was specially adapted , and
in which he was destined to gain great eminence, be
gan when, in the year 1832, he was chosen Professor
in the Medical College founded ten years previously at

42 HISTORICAL TRACT.
Pittsfield, Mass. He held this appointment several
years, and similar offices at Dartmouth College,
Woodstock in Vermont, the University of Mary
land, and Transylvania University in Kentucky.
The culmination of this career was reached in 1852,
when he was appointed Professor of Materia Medica
and Medical Jurisprudence in the College of Physi
cians and Surgeons in New York city. "His urbane
and courteous manners, his native and simple elo
quence ; his remarkable power of illustration, the
singular beauty and sweetness of his style, all com
bined to render him one of the most popular and
attractive of lecturers."
Dr. Bartlett was equally eminent as an author. In
addition to several addresses which received the hon
ors of publication, he produced two works of great
importance and permanent value. One is entitled
the "History, Diagnosis and Treatment of the
Fevers of the United States," published first in
1841, and in subsequent editions in 1847 and 1852.
This book, like all his writings, is marked by the
beauty and clearness of its style, the easy flow of
language and felicity of expression. Its chief value

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 43
is in establishing the distinction between the typhoid
fever, more or less indigenous in New England, and
the more malignant and contagious typhus, which
we have known here as ship fever, bred from famine
and overcrowding and dirt.
His "Essay on the Philosophy of Medical Science"
was published in 1844. Its leading thought is, that
medical science consists wholly of observation, and
generalization from direct observation ; that medical
DOCTRINES do uot coustitutc a legitimate element of
this science, but are merely hypothetical explana
tions or interpretations of the ascertained phe
nomena. The school of observation, he says, "is
characterized by its strict adherence to the study
and analysis of morbid phenomena and their rela
tionships, by the accuracy, the positiveness and the
minute detail, which it has carried into this study and
analysis; and by its rejection, as au essential or
legitimate element of science, of all a priori reason
ing and speculation."
Of this book. Dr. O. W. Holmes writes as fol
lows, in a warmly affectionate tribute to the memory
of its author :

44 HISTORICAL TRACT.
"Clear and logical as everything he wrote, irresist
ible if accepted as the development of truth in one
direction, it has been reproached with throwing out
of sight the higher qualities of imagination and in
vention in their legitimate applications to science.
It is only fair, perhaps, to say, that perfectly as it
evolves«its own conclusions, it would be less open
to charges of omission, if a chapter, such as he
might well have supplied, had been added on the
action of the inventive mind in the discovery of
truth. Not the less is Dr. Bartlett's essay of per
manent excellence, because in the close logical pur
suit of his chain of propositions, he has seemed to
exclude principles which under another aspect his
own imaginative mind would have been the first to
recognize." Dr. Bartlett wrote many graceful poems, which
appeared in newspapers and magazines, and were
treasured by his friends. In the last year of his life
a modest volume was printed, entitled "Simple Set
tings in verse, for six portraits and pictures ; from
Mr. Dickens' Gallery."
Dr. Bartlett died at his Smithfield home, after a

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 45
long, painful and peculiar disease, attributed to lead
poisoning, on the 19th July, 1855.*
I have no adequate data for determining the
number of medical students at different periods.
Thacher's American Medical Biography, published
in 1828, gives the number of students, 1825-26, as
forty ; but this is probably a mere estimate. There
were only five graduates-in-course in 1826 ; yet
there was no progressive waning in the number. In
the three years, 1818-20, there were sixteen gradu
ates-in-course ; in 1821-23, twenty-two; in 1824-26,
twenty-eight ; — according to a list which I have pre
pared with care, aud which will be found in the
Appendix. The school would not appear to have
been dwindling. It fell rather suddenly ; and we
have now to state the events which led to its extinc
tion. At a special meeting of the Corporation, held the
13th December, 1826, Dr. Messer resigned the presi
dency, and the Rev. Francis Wayland, Jr., of Bps-
*The facts in regard to Dr. Bartlett's personal history are mostly taken from
a Discourse on his Lil'e, Character and Writings, by Dr. Elisha Huntington, of
Lowell, and a brief Memoir published by Mr. S. S. Rider.

46 HISTORICAL TRACT.
ton, was unanimously chosen to fill that office. He
was nearly thirty-one years old, had graduated at
Union College, 1813, had been tutor for four years,
and had just been chosen Professor, in that institu
tion. He brought with him very definite views as
to college discipline, and a profound conviction of
its importance. He began his duties here in Feb
ruary, 1827. At a special meeting of the Corpora
tion in March, the following preamble and resolution
were adopted. The records of the Corporation do
not state by whom they were presented, but they
were unquestionably inspired, if not introduced, by
President Wayland.
"Whereas, It is deemed essential to an efficient course of
instruction, and to the administration of discipline in this
University, that all its officers be actual residents within the
walls of the Colleges ; therefore,
" Resolved, That no salary or other compensation be paid to
any Professor, Tutor or other officer, who shall not during the
course of each and every term occupy a room in one of the
colleges (to be designated by the President), and assiduously
devote himself to the preservation of order and the instruction
of the students, or the performance of such other duty as may
belong to his station."
The Secretary was directed to send copies of this

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 47
vote to Professors Tristam Burges, John DeWolf,
Solomon Drowne and Horatio Gates Bowen.
At the next regular meeting, salaries were voted
on this condition : That the officers named, "and
such others as may be hereafter appointed, devote
themselves during term-time exclusively to the in
struction and discipline of this institution, occupj''
rooms in college during study hours, and attend in
their several departments such recitations as the
President may direct, not exceeding three recita
tions of one hour each in every day."
Such was the action of the Corporation in the
year 1827.' The names of the medical Professors
and of the Hon. Tristam Burges appear in the
annual catalogue of that year, with no special re
mark appended. But in the Catalogue of 1828,
an asterisk is prefixed to each of the names, Burges,
Drowne, Wheaton, DeWolf and Parsons, with the
following note below: "The gentlemen to whose
names the asterisks are affixed are not of the im
mediate government, and do not, at present, give
any instruction in the Universitj''." In 1829, the
same notice appears, but Dr. Wheaton's name is

48 HISTORICAL TRACT.
omitted. In the annual Catalogues of 1830 and
1831, a still more pointed statement is made : "The
gentlemen to whose names the asterisk is prefixed
give no instruction in the University and have no
concern in its government."
It was impossible that a medical school shouFd
continue under these regulations. Physicians in
active practice, or men in public life like Mr.
Burges, could not be officers of daily discipline,
resident within college-walls, and visiting the stu
dents' chambers each evening. The names of these
Professors, after being thus starred for two succes
sive years, as neither concerned in instruction nor
government, then drop altogether out of the Cata
logue. The downfall of the Medical School was
not caused by hostile feeling on the part of the
President, but was, so far as we can see, an inci
dental result of his unswerving convictions and
policy in regard to college government. In draw
ing the reins up so suddenly and turning so sharp
a corner, it was not strange that something should
be jolted out, and the medical school had the loosest
hold.

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 49
The action which thus dismissed gentlemen of
distinction in the medical profession, and an emi
nent lawyer and public man like Mr. Burges, from
the service of the University, led to a good deal of
feeling and newspaper controversy. The Gazette,
edited by Benjamin F. Hallett, admitted articles on
both sides, but with a leaning against the policy of
Dr. Wayland. It is not worth while to rake up the
long-smothered ashes. The extraordinary abilities
and success of Wayland, both as administrator and
teacher, are recognized beyond any possible cavil.
A single extract may be admissible, — to show the
spirit and style of the attacks that were made on
him. It is from an editorial article published in the
Commencement season, 1830.
"Some of the most able Professors that formerly
graced this institution have been dismissed, almost
with insult, and nearly the entire course of lectures
in different branches of science, which alone formed
any pretence for denominating the institution an
University, have been dispensed with, without an
effort on the part of the Corporation to preserve
these advantages to the students, while at the same
5

50 HISTORICAL TRACT.
time -the expenses of instruction have been nearly
doubled, because the decreasing number of the
students, — owing to this aud other causes, — is sup
posed to render it necessary."
Two general views may be taken of the principles
that should govern the selection and ordering of
college-teachers. One is that which would shut in
the teacher from the outside world, aud make him
exclusively or strictly a college-man. This plan has
the advantages of securing personal acquaintance
between .instructors and pupils, a moral influence
which, it may be presumed, will generally be
healthful, and a uniform scheme of discipline, ^nd,
to some extent, a uniform type of mental develop
ment in both teachers and taught.
The other plan welcomes men of distinction and
power who are at the same time engaged in literary
or active pursuits outside of the college, who bring
with them a breath from the conflicts of mature life,
or from the still air of delightful studies. It recog
nizes in the talent which rules the forum or shakes
the senate some pledge of power to train young men
in practical logic and rhetoric. It was this general

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 51
idea which made John Quincy Adams the first Pro
fessor of Oratory at Harvard, and Tristam Burges
at Brown, and which sought our former townsmen,
George William Curtis and George Washington
Greene as "non-resident Professors" at Cornell.
There has been no medical department in this
institution since the advent of President Wayland,
and for almost fiftj' years there was no medical man
in the Faculty. For some years. Anatomy and Phy
siology were taught, with a host of other subjects,
by the President, who had studied medicine in his
youth. In the year 1834, Professor Chace took the
title- of Professor of Chemistry, Physiology and
Geology, — and it is needless to say that every sub
ject he taught was handled with consummate ability.
But the instruction in these sciences has been adapted
to academic, not to medical, students.
Whether a medical school will ever be revived
here, is a question not of history, but of very doubt
ful forecast. Providence, from a town of 15,000
inhabitants, has grown into a city of more than
100,000. It contains a Hospital aud Dispensary,
both furnishing opportunities for clinical instruc-

52 HISTORICAL TRACT.
tion far surpassing any that the Professor of Theory
and Practice of Medicine could command in Dr.
Messer's time. The University has for several years
shown great hospitality to those physical sciences
which are tributary to the medical art, — zoology,
botany, chemistry and physiology. Its liberal spirit
gives assurance that it would welcome the addition
of a medical school to its other departments, if the
community and the profession should be ready to
demand it. But, on the other hand, a medical col
lege, to keep up with its rivals, must have a vastly
larger equipment of men aud apparatus, than was
needed three-score years ago, and is hence a very
expensive establishment, while the multiplication of
cheap medical schools tends to lower the standard
of attainment and the value of a degree. Its foun
dation-study involves a constant conflict with that
instinct which would shield from mutilation or
familiar handling the poor relics of the human
form. It seems to me that one school like that
connected with Harvard University, and one other
to keep up a healthful rivalry with it, are enough
for New England. Whether this city, the second

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 53
in New England, shall become the seat of such a
school must depend very much on the zeal, persist
ence aud ability of its physicians.

APPENDIX.

THE TWO DIPLOMAS.
At the meeting of the Historical Society where this paper was
read, two diplomas were exhibited. One was that conferred on
Elisha Bartlett, in 1826, when he attained the degree of M. D.
It is signed by Asa Messer, President, and by Solomon Drowne,
Levi Wlieaton and Usher Parsons, iProfessors. The subject of
his inaugural essay was the Causation of Epidemics, — a fit
prelude to his maturer essays on Fevers.
The otlier was a certificate, of membership in the " Brown
University Medical Association," or " Consociatio Medica
Universitatis Brunensis,"— conferring in questionable Latin all
the rights, privileges and honors of membership on Zachariah
Allen. It is dated 9th March, 1813, and signed by William
Ingalls, President, John M. Eddy, Vice-President, and Thomas
M. Barrows, Secretary. It did not convey the title of M. D.
This Association was formed very soon after the foundation of
the Medical School. It collected a library, to which the Hon.
William Hunter -gave many books that had belonged to his
father, Dr. William Hunter, of Newport.

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 55
Sixty-eight years after the date of this certificate, Zaci-iariah
Allen, LL. D., President of the Rhode Island Historical Society,
and the Senior Trustee of the University, presided at the meeting
where this account of the Medical Sohool was presented, and
added fresh and valuable contributions from his stores of
memory aud wisdom. He attended the lectures of Professor
Ingalls ; and took his seat in the Board of Trustees at the very
meeting of the Corporation of the University at which the pre
amble and resolution that embodied Dr. Wayland's views in
regard to the duties to be required from Professors, were
introduced.

56

HISTORICAL TRACT.

MEDICAL GRADUATES OE BEOWN UNIVERSITY.

[Under each year, the names of those whose degrees are
known or presumed to have been honorary, or ad eundem,
are printed in italics.']

1804.
Solomon Drowne (A. B., 1773J.
1812.
Pardon Bowen (A. B., 1775J.
Levi Wheaton (A. B., 1782J.
1813.
William Corlis Bowen (M. D.,
Edinburgh, 1807 J.
Charles Cotton (A. B., Harvard,
1808J.
WiUiam Ingalls (A. B. , Har
vard, 1790J.
John Mackie (A. B., 1800J.
1814.
Benjamin Austin.
Micaja Hawkes.
Abner Phelps.

1815.
Thomas Manning Barrows.
John Mathewson Eddy.
James Mann (A. B. , Harvard,
1776;. 1816.
William Birchmore.
Charles Dix.
Artemas Johnson (A. B., 1808).
Samuel Allen Kingsbury.
David March (A. B., 1811).
John McGore.
Caleb Miller.
Erederic Augustus Parker.
Samuel Bugbee (A. B., 1802J.
1817.
William Henry Allen (A. B.,
1811).

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL.

57

Goodwin AUenton (A. B.,
1814).
George Aldrich Bolton.
Thomas Burr.
Andrew Mackie (A. B., 1814).
Joseph Mulliken (A. B., Dart
mouth, 1802).
John Phillips.
Samuel Atwood Shurtleff.
Nathaniel ililler. 1818.
Tyler Briggs.
John Richardson.
Jerome Van Crown inshield
Smith.
John Atherton Wadsworth
(A. B., 1814).
Shimoleth Stow Whipple.
Ariel 3Iann. 1819.
Jason Hawes Archer CA. B.,
1816).
Elisha Harding.
Royal Tyler.
Abijah Draper (A. B., 1797 J
Lemuel KollocJe (A. B., 1786).
1820.
Lucius Allen.
John Kingsbury Briggs.

Isaac B. Hovey.
Silas James.
.Tohu Lummus.
Alden March.
Lewis Leprilete Miller, (A. B.,
1817).
Cyrus Morton.
William Peck.
WiUiam Johns. 1821.
John .Stratton Champney.
Obadiah Elkins Durgin.
G.ardner Mason Peck.
David Pluinmer.
Caleb Hopkius Snow (A. B.,
1813).
John Cook Tibbitts.
Jonatlian Ware.
.leremiah Williams.
WiUiam Blanding (A B.,
1801J.
Caleb Fiske.
David King (A. B., 179GJ.
1822.
George Washington Bliss.
George William Russell Corlis
CA. B., 1808).
Henry Francis.
Jacob Fuller.

58

HISTORICAL TRACT.

Asa Green.
Caleb Greenough.
Dyer Hughes.
Daniel Ingalls.
George WiUard (A. B., 1808).
Alfred Wood. 1823.
Samuel Tubbs Angier (A. B.,
1818).
George Capron.
Ezra Bartlett Gale.
John White.
Thomas Oliver Hunt Carpenter.
Abiel Hall. 1824.
William Henry Bradley.
Hiram Bucklin.
Draper Carpenter (A. B.,
1821).
Jonathan Dearborn.
Amory Gale.
Johnson Gardner.
John Gregory Needham (A.
B., 1821).
Warren Partridge.
Menzies Rayner Randall.
Henry Willard.
Elias Frost (A. B., 1804;.
Ashbel WiUard.

1825.
Hiram Allen.
Hezekiah Eldridge.
Joseph Jairus Fales (A. B.,
1820). '
Levi A. Hannaford.
Robert Eddy Hemenway.
William Hutchins.
Thomas Miner.
Thom.as Paine Moore.
Levi Rawson.
Morrill Robinson.
Philemon Stacy.
Samuel Gould Stanley.
Freeman Thompson.
John Jeffries (A. B., Harvard,
1815;.
Usher Parsons (M. D., Har
vard, 1818;.
Edward Beynolds (A. B., Har
vard, 1811;.
Daniel Thurber. 1826.
Elisha Bartlett.
Ezra Leonard (A. B., 1801).
Benjamin Norris (A. B., 1823).
John Rose.
John Scoville.
Thomas Bucklin.

BROWN UNIVERSITY MEDIC.\L SCHOOL. 59
John Green (A. B., 1804;. Francis Levison Wheaton.
1827. Elihu White (A. B., 1824).
William Stillman Stanley (A. Jeremiah Fisher Ames {M. D.,
B , 1825). Harvard, 1827).

The following graduates of the College are said to have
received the degree of M. D., but I do not know where or
when. If either of them received the title at Brown, I can
find no record of it. a. b. a. b.
Elisha Pope Fearing, - 1807 George Gary, 1820
Luther Metcalf Harris, 1811 Joseph Warren Fearing, 1823
Thomas Bump, 1814 .lohn Waters Tenney, 1823
Eliphalet Williams Hervey, 1824.

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