USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 18
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Upon consideration of that Clause in the Warrant (Viz't):
Whether any Measures shall be taken to prevent Strangers coming into Town or any of the Inhabitants to be Inoculated after a certain time allowed for that purpose.
Voted, that the Hon'ble Harrison Gray Esq. Hon. Samuel Wells Esq. Royal Tyler Esq. John Barratt Esq. Thomas Cushing Esq. John Ruddock Esq. Benjamin Kent Esq. be and here by are appointed a Committee to consider of this Matter, and Re- port as soon as may be.
The Records show the action of the committee at an adjourned meeting held in the afternoon of the same day:
The Committee Appointed to consider " Whether the Town will take any Measures to prevent Strangers coming into the Town or any of the Inhabitants to be Inocu- lated after a certain Time allowed for that purpose," Report-That no Person not being an Inhabitant of this Town shall have liberty to come into this Town in order to be Inoculated untill the first of April, nor shall be Inoculated in said Town after the 10th Day of April next. And those of the Inhabitants of the Town that have removed into the Country, shall not have liberty to be Inoculated in the Town after the first Day of May next, unless at that Time there shall be upwards of twenty Familys visited with that Distemper-After debate had thereon, the Question was put, Whether said Report be accepted-Passed in the Affermative.
At an adjourned meeting, on the following day, it was
Voted, That the said Report be in part reconsidered, and that all Persons Inhab- itants and others have free liberty to come into Town and be Inoculated before the 20th of April next; and that after that Time the Selectmen be desired to take the same Measures for cleansing the Town of ye Infection as were practised in 1732, and that those Votes be published in the Boston News Papers, that all Persons may have notice of the Town resolutions and conform themselves accordingly.
At an adjourned town meeting on the afternoon of the 15th day of May the town took more decided action upon the matter of inoculation, as will be seen by the following extracts from the Records :
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Royal Tyler, Esq., in the Name of the Overseers, acquainted the Town that 1,025 of the poor Inhabitants had passed through the Small Pox by Inoculation under their inspection and care, a number of whom who had been Inoculated, supplied with Medicines and attended Gratis by the Physicians as follows, viz .: Dr. Kast, 150; Dr. Sprague, 71; Drs. Church & Lord, 50; Dr. Roberts, 43; Dr. Jackson of P., N. Hampshire, 33; Dr. Sylvester Gardner, 31; Drs. Gardner and Barnett, 27; Dr. John Perkins, 24; Dr. Whitworth, 23; Dr. Yougust, 17; Dr. Bulfinch, 16; Dr. Pecker, 16; Dr. Doubt, 15; Dr. Warren, 14; Dr. Loyd, ?; Dr. Grozier, 4; Dr. William Per- kins, 4; Dr. Pynchon, 4; in all, 526. Whereupon it was Voted unanimously that the Thanks of the Town be and hereby are given those Gentlemen Physicians, who in this Season of difficulty and distress have generously Inoculated and carried through the Small Pox Gratis so considerable a number of the poor Inhabitants.
The Town entered upon the consideration of that part of the Warrant which re- lates to the clearing of the Town of the Small Pox and being informed that many Persons now Inoculated and sick of the said Distemper do come from other Towns to this for that purpose,
Voted, that the Town esteem it a great grievance that such Persons obtrude them- selves to perpetuate a Distemper among us, which the Town are taking every Measure to clear themselves from and therefore,
Voted, that the Selectmen take every legal Measure to remove any Persons from the Town who shall after this date obtrude themselves in the like mnanner upon the Town, and that the Names of such Persons who shall hereafter obtrude themselves as aforesaid, the Towns they come from, and the Places in this Town where they are harboured, shall be published in the Papers, and all the Inhabitants are desired upon any such Persons coming into the Town, to give immediate notice thereof to the Selectmen.
At the same meeting steps were taken to obtain authority from the General Court to free themselves from the same danger:
Upon a motion made and seconded, the Question was put (viz't.): " Whether the Representatives shall be Instructed to make Application to the General Court the approaching Session for an Act to be provided Which shall impower the Selectmen to remove any Persons who shall presume to come from other Towns into this either infected with the Small Pox, or with design to receive the Infection-Passed in the Affermative-It was then Voted that the Committee Appointed to draw up Instruc- tions to our Representatives, be desired to instruet them on this head accordingly.
A few days after, May 24, 1764, the citizens took measures to do away with the inoculating hospitals that had been established in their midst.
The report of a town meeting, held at that date, is in part as follows:
The Petition of a considerable number of Inhabitants that the sense of the Town may be known respecting Inoculating at Noddles Island: And that such steps may be taken as will effectually prevent any Inoculating Hospitals being erected in this Town, or the Limits of it-was read-Also Letters from the Selectmen of Chelsea, and the Doctors Perkins and Loyd-
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And after the Debate had thereon-Voted, That the Selectmen be desired to with- draw their leave of Inoculating at Noddles Island, and that the Hospital there be discontinued; And that the Town allow of no Inoculating Hospital within the Limits and Confines of the Town of Boston.
The selectmen, who had been very active in taking measures to ex- tirpate the dread disease, acted at once upon the instructions of the town meetings.
We find in the selectmens' minutes, 1764-1768 (twentieth report Record Commissioners), the following account of their action, and that of the physicians in consultation with them:
At a Meeting of the Select men April 19. 1766 [sic.]
Present Joshua Henshaw Esq. Joseph Jackson Esq. John Scollay Esq. Benjamin Austin Esq. Samuel Sewall Esq.
The following Advertisement was sent to the several Printers, for a place in their Papers, viz't. :
BOSTON, April 19, 1764.
The Time for the permission of Inoculated in this Town by a Vote of the Inhabit- ants at a General Town Meeting being limitted to the 20t of April ends to Morrow, therefore the Selectmen expect that no Person will presume to come in for Inocula- tion after the 20t Day is past, and they hereby inform the Public, that the Gentlemen Physicians belonging to or now in the Town have engaged to conformity to said Vote, that they will not Inoculate any Person after the time limitted.
By Order of the Selectmen, WILLIAM COOPER, Town Clerk.
The Time for the permission of Inoculation in this Town, ending to Morrow, the Gentlemen Physicians belonging to or now in the Town, were desired to attend the Selectmen, who accordingly attended, when they engaged that they would not Inoc- ulate any Person after the Time Limitted by the Town-The Physicians who came into this agreement are as follows, viz't .: John Perkins, James Pecker, John Clark, Nyot Doubt, James Lloyd, John Sprague, Henry Will: Crozier, Hall Jackson, Joseph Warren, John Peck, Mr. Mather, Nathaniel Perkins, Thomas Bulfinch, Myles Whit- worth, Sylvester Gardner, Benjamin Church, Mr. Lord, Mr. Williams, Charles Pyncheon, Mr. Tamer, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Roberts, Godfrey Cast for himself and Mr. Wells, Joseph Gardner for himself and Mr. Barrett.
Memo.
The Physicians sent to who did not attend the Selectmen are Samuel Marshall, Samuel Gilston, Mr. Smith, Mr. Mather, Mr. William Perkins.
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We select the following reports of the official action of the selectmen in regard to this matter from many appearing in these same "minutes:"
At a meeting of the Selectmen, May 12, 1764.
Present Joshua Henshaw Esq. Joseph Jackson Esq. John Scollay Esq. Samuel Sewall Esq. John Ruddock Esq.
The following Advertisement was sent to several Printers for a place in their Papers to be published Monday next.
The Selectmen have heard that many Persons are coming into Town from the Country for Inoculation, under a notion that liberty has been granted therefor, wherefore they inform all Persons whatsoever, that no such liberty has been or will by them be given, and if Persons do persist in their intrusion upon the Town they cannot answer for the effects of that resentment which has risen and is still rising in the Breasts of Multitudes of the Inhabitants against those who attempt so grossly to abuse them as to make this Town a Hospital, notwithstanding proper Hospitals are provided conveniently situated to receive such as incline to take the Distemper. The Selectmen and Overseers are now visiting the Town for the information of the In- habitants at their meeting tomorrow, by which will be discovered the state of the Town with regard to the Infection, and what Strangers or others do intrude upon us.
By Order of the Selectmen,
WILLIAM COOPER,
Town Clerk. And again :
At a Meeting of the Selectmen, June 9, 1764.
The Several Constables of the Town attended, and gave in their Return of the state of the Town with respect to the Small Pox; by which it appears that there are 33 Familys in Town which have the Small Pox among them, in which are 41 Persons still sick of that Distemper-and that 178 Familys are yet exposed to the Infection, in which are 291 Persons liable to the Disorder.
The following letter was sent Drs. Nathaniel Parker and Loyde:
GENTLEMEN-
Above is an attested Copy of the Town Vote relative to Inoculating at Noddles Island, & whereby you 'l perceive that we follow the Orders of the Town when we acquaint you that we now Withdraw our leave for Inoculating at said place.
By Order of the Selectmen,
WILLIAM COOPER, Town Clerk.
BOSTON, June 9, 1764. DRS. NATHANIEL PERKINS & LOVD.
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MEDICAL HISTORY.
At a Meeting of the Selectmen June 11, 1764. The following Advertisement was this Day published in the several News Papers:
BosTON, June 9, 1764.
Upon enquiry into the state of the Town with regard to Small Pox, it appears it is now in only thirty three Familys, which encourages the Selectmen to hope that the Town may be cleared of said Distemper in ten Days or a Fortnight provided those who moved into the Country to avoid it will forbear coming in, till they may do it with less danger than at present. In the mean Time we would advise all Persons who have had the Infection in their Familys immediately to smoke, Cleanse and air their Houses and all such Things as may retain the Infection, that our Friends from the Country may not be exposed when they return to us. Also that all Persons who have been Inoculated for the Small Pox at Point Shirley, are warned against coming up to this Town without producing a Certificate from their Doctors, or in their in- fected Garments, or intill they are thoroughly air'd and cleansed, and entirely clear from Infection, as they would avoid the resentment of the Town which runs too high to be long restrained. As to the Physicians of the Town, the Gentlemen will not violate their Obligations to us, or be so regardless of the interest of this Community as to Inoculate a single Person in the Town after this Time.
JOSHUA HENSHAW, JOSEPH JACKSON, JOHN SCOLLAV,
BENJAMIN AUSTIN, SAMUEL SEWALL, JOHN RUDDOCK, Selectmen.
The selectmen finally succeeded in confining small-pox patients to designated hospitals, in establishing a partially effective quarantine at Castle William and Rainsford Island, and in overcoming the disease as an epidemie, although the Records show that they were continually contending with cases imported in trading vessels, and that their quarantine rules, judged by those of to-day, were sadly wanting in stringency.
Diphtheria, or a disease of very similar nature, broke out as epidemic in Boston and vicinity in 1435-36, and created great excitement and dread. Dr. Douglass, whom we have before mentioned, and who was a really scientific and skilled physician, described it in a pamphlet bearing the following remarkable title:
The Practical History of A New Epidemical Eruptive Miliary Fever, with an Angina Ulcusculosa which prevailed in Boston, New England, in the Years 1735 and 1736-[Boston, 1736].
It is inscribed to a medical society in Boston, and the preface begins :
Gentlemen, This Piece of Medical History does naturally address itself to you con- sidering that I have the pleasure of being one of your number, that you have been fellow laborers in the management of this distemper, and therefore competent judges
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of this performance, and that where difficult or extraordinary cases have occurred in any of your private practice, I was favoured to visit the Patients in order to make a minute Clinical enquiry: in short, without your assistance this piece would have been less perfect, and not so well vouched.
He says of the disease, "It was vulgarly called the Throat Illness, or a Plague in the Throat."
The disease was so destructive, and the reputation of it had so far spread through the Province, that the selectmen felt called upon to issue the following circular in order to protect their trade:
THE Select-Men of the Town of Boston, in order to inform the Trading Part of our neighbouring Colonies, concerning the State of the present prevailing Distemper in this Place, did desire a Meeting of as many of the Practitioners in Physick as could then be conveniently obtain'd. The Practitioners being accordingly met, did unanimously agree to the following Articles :
1. THAT upon the first appearance of this Illness in Boston the Select-Men did advise with the Practitioners ; but they at that Time having not had Opportunities of observing the Progress of the Distemper, it was thought advisable (until further Experience) to shut up that Person who was supposed to have received it in Ereter to the Eastward; upon his Death the Watch was soon removed, but no Infection was observed to spread or catch in that Quarter of the Town; therefore no Watches were appointed in the other Parts of the Town where it afterwards appeared, the Prac- titioners judging it to proceed from some occult Quality in the Air, and not from any observable Infection communicated by Persons or Goods.
2. THE Practitioners and their Families have not been seised with this Distemper in a more remarkable manner (and as it has happened not so much) than other Families in Town, even those Families who live in solitary Parts thereof.
3. AS to the Mortality or Malignity of this Distemper, all whom it may concern are referred to the Boston Weekly-Journal of Burials : by the Burials it is notorious, that scarce any Distemper, even the most favourable which has at any Time pre- vail'd so generally, has produc'd fewer Deaths.
4. AS formerly, so now again after many Months observation, we conclude, That the present prevailing Distemper appears to us to proceed from some Affection of the Air, and not from any personal Infection received from the Sick, or Goods in their neighborhood.
NATHANIEL WILLIAMS, HUGH KENNEDY,
WILLIAM DOUGLASS, WILLIAM DAVIS, THOMAS BULFINCH,
JOHN CUTLER,
MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
The first medical society in America was formed in Boston, but, un- fortunately, we have no knowledge of its name, and its records, if ever kept, have completely disappeared.
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MEDICAL HISTORY.
From contemporary correspondence fortunately preserved we know of its existence, and are able to fix the date of its formation at about 1435.
Dr. William Douglass, a noted author and physician of that day, writes, under date of February 18, 1735-36, to Cadwallader Colden, of New York, that
We have lately in Boston formed a medical society, of which, this gentle- man [Dr. Clark, the bearer of the letter], a member thereof, can give you a partic- ular account. We design from time to time to publish some short pieces; there is now ready for the press number one, with this title page :-
NUMBER ONE,
'MEDICAL MEMOIRS
CONTAINING
1. A miscellany. Practical introduction.
2. A history of the dysentery epidemical in Boston in 1734.
3. Some account of a gutta-serena in a young woman.
4. The anatomical inspection of a spina ventosa in the vertebræ of the loins of a young woman.
5. Some practical comments or remarks on the writings of Dr. Thomas Sydenham.
Published by a Medical-Society in Boston, New-England.
This letter is now among the Colden Papers, in the possession of the New York Historical Society; a copy of it is printed in the second volume, fourth series, of the Massachusetts Historical Collections (pages 188, 189).
The first number of these " Medical Memoirs " was never printed. It was probably Dr. John Clark, at that time an eminent practitioner of medicine, who is referred to in the letter, as a member of the society. He was born on December 15, 1698, and was then at the height of his professional zeal, when he would naturally be interested in a scientific association. He belonged to a family of medical antecedents and traditions, being himself of the fourth generation in a direct line of John Clarks, all physicians, and he was followed by three more, equally direct, of John Clarks, these three also physicians,-covering a period of more than a century and a half and including seven generations of the name.
In The Boston Weekly News-Letter, January 5, 1737, there is a long communication, addressed "To the Judicious and Learned President and Members of the Medical Society in Boston," and signed " Philan- thropos." It takes strong ground in favor of regulating the practice of physic throughout the province, and advocates the plan of having all
24
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SUFFOLK COUNTY
practitioners examined by a board of physicians and surgeons appointed by the General Court. The writer is justly severe on the " Shoemakers, Weavers, and Almanackmakers, with their virtuous Consorts, who have laid aside the proper Business of their Lives, to turn Qnacks."
In the same newspaper of November 13, 1441, is an interesting re- port of a surgical operation performed about that time for urinary cal- culus, on Joseph Baker, a boy six years old. It was done "in Presence of the Medical Society," by Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, and "according to Mr. Cheselden's late Improvement of the lateral Way." The report begins:
A Medical Society in Boston, New-England, with no quackish View, as is the manner of some; but for the Comfort and Benefit of the unhappy and miserable Sufferers by the excruciating Pain occasioned by a Stone in the Bladder, do Pub- lish the following case.
Although the Medical Society in Boston was short-lived, an account of the history of medicine in the State would be incomplete which did not mention its existence. In its day it exerted a good influence on the profession, and showed a zeal on the part of the physicians which is alike honorable to their heads and creditable to their hearts. The origin of the society may have had some connection with the epidemic of diphtheria which broke out in Boston during the summer of 1435: at any rate, it was organized about that time. It is known to have been in existence late in the autumn of 1741, though ten years afterwards there was no trace of it. Dr. Lloyd, who began the practice of medi- cine in Boston about the year 1752, and continued in it for more than half a century, had no recollection of such an association. This last fact is mentioned by Dr. Bartlett, in his address before the Massachu- setts Medical Society, June 6, 1810, and shows that it had disappeared before Dr. Lloyd's time. The founders of this local society, the pioneer association of its kind in the country, represented the active medical thought of Boston.
THE MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY.
The war for Independence had brought the medical fraternity into prominence and had been the means of bringing together from differ- ent parts of the State physicians of skill and experience.
The formation of a society for mutual discussion and improvement was a natural outcome of this increased intercourse among men who
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MEDICAL HISTORY.
had felt the evils of isolation, and the need of a larger field of observa- tion and study.
In establishing the Massachusetts Medieal Society its founders took an important step in securing a steady progress in their profession and in building up the reputation which attaches to Massachusetts medical men as a class.
The Act of Incorporation under which this society came into existence is as follows :
COMMONWEALTH of MASSACHUSETTS. In the Year of our Lord, 1781.
An ACT to incorporate certain PHYSICIANS by the Name of The MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY.
As health is essentially necessary to the happiness of society; and as its pres- ervation or recovery is closely connected with the knowledge of the animal economy, and of the properties and effects of medicines; and as the benefit of medical institutions, formed on liberal principles, and encouraged by the patron- age of the law, is universally acknowledged:
Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That, Nathaniel Walker Appleton, William Baylies, Benjamin Curtis, Samuel Danforth, Aaron Dexter, Shirley Erving, John Frink, Joseph Gardner, Samuel Holten, Edward Augustus Holyoke, Ebeneser Hunt, Charles Jarvis, Thomas Kast, Giles Crouch Kellogg, John Lynn, James Lloyd, Joseph Orne, James Pecker, Oliver Prescott, Charles Pynchon, Isaac Rand, Isaac Rand, jun., Micaijah Sawyer, John Sprague, Charles Stockbridge, John Barnard Swett, Cotton Tufts, John Warren, Thomas Welsh, Joseph Whipple, William Whiting, be, and they hereby are formed into, constituted and made a body politie and corporate, by the name of The Massa. hu- setts Medical Society; and that they and their successors, and such other persons as shall be elected in the manner hereinafter mentioned, shall be and continue a body politic and corporate by the same name forever.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the fellows of said society may from time to time elect a president, vice president and secretary, with other officers as they shall judge necessary and convenient; and they the fellows of said society, shall have full power and authority, from time to time, to determine and establish the names, number and duty of their several officers, and the tenure or estate they shall respectively have in their offices; and also to authorize and empower their president or some other officer to administer such oaths to such officers as they, the fellows of said society, shall appoint and determine for the well ordering and good government of said society, provided the same be not repugnant to the laws of this commonwealth.
And be it enacted by the authority aforcsaid, That the fellows of said society shall have one common seal, and power to break, change and renew the same at their pleasure.
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And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That they, the fellows of said society, may sue and be sued in all actions, real, personal or mixed, and prosecute and defend the same unto final judgment and execution, by the name of The Massa- chusetts Medical Society.
And be it enacted by the authority aforcsaid, That the fellows of said society may from time to time elect such persons to be fellows thereof, as they shall judge proper; and that they, the fellows of said society, shall have power to suspend, expel or disfranchise any fellows of said society.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the fellows of said society shall have full power and authority to make and enact such rules and bye laws for the better government of said society.
And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the said Medical Society shall be held in some convenient place in the town of Boston; and that Edward Augustus Holyoke, Esq; be, and he hereby is authorised and directed to fix the time for holding the said meeting, and to notify the same to the fellows of said Medical Society.
In the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, October 30, 1781. This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.
NATHANIEL GORHAM, Speaker. In SENATE, November 1, 1781.
This bill having had two several reading, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
Approved, JOHN HANCOCK. A true copy.
Attest,
JOHN AVERY, jun, Secretary.
In accordance with the last clause of this Act, Dr. Holyoke published a notice in The Boston Gasette and The Country Journal, November 12, 1781, calling a meeting of the members whose names were mentioned in the charter. It was called "at the County Court-House, in Boston, on Wednesday the 28th Day of this Instant November, at Ten o'Clock, A. M. for the Purpose of chusing Officers of the Society, and transact- ing any other Matter (which by this Act they are empowered to do) as they shall think proper." The charter members were thirty-one in number and represented different sections of the State: fourteen of them lived in Boston; two in Newburyport; two in Salem; and one in each of the following towns: Cambridge, Danvers, Dedham, Dighton, Great Barrington, Groton, Hadley, Northampton, Portland, Rutland, Scituate, Springfield, and Weymouth. By counties, as constituted at that time, Suffolk had sixteen members; Essex had five; Hampshire, three; Middlesex, two; Berkshire, Bristol, Plymouth, Worcester, and Cumberland, in the District of Maine, one each. 1
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