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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
2 3 1833 03395 4170
Go 974.802 P53upm Carson, Joseph, 1808-1876. A history of the Medical department of the ...
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GENEALOGICAL DEPARTMENT CHEF SE CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS A HISTORY
OF THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,
FROM ITS
FOUNDATION IN 1765.
WITH
SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF DECEASED PROFESSORS.
BY JOSEPH CARSON, M. D.,
PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA AND PHARMACY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIET , ETC.
DATE MICROFILM 5-30-78
ITEM ON ROLL 2 CAMERA NO.
13 CATALOGUE NO. 7-102 873
PHILADELPHIA: LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON. 1869.
974.811/P1 Jád
US/CHAN 97,811 Jak WT
WITHDRAWN From the Family. History Lib
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1869, by
JOSEPH CARSON, M. D.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of the State of Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA : COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/historyofmedical00cars 0
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL
TO THE ALUMNI
OF THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,
This dolork
IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT
THE AUTHOR
١
PREFACE.
THE author of this History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania was appointed to deliver the opening lecture of the course of 1865, on the occasion of the centenary anniversary. That lecture, delivered at the request of the Faculty, consisted of a succinct statement of events preceding, and of the circumstances connected with, the foundation of the Medical School, with an exposition of the character and labors of the individuals who were prominent in the enterprise of transferring medical education from the Old World to the New, and who by their learning, talents, and energy contributed to its success. It was written for public delivery, and was by no means a complete history of the Medical Department of the University.
Although urged to the publication of that lecture, the author conceived that a more extended account should be given of the origin and progress of the School, and that a fuller notice should be presented of the lives of the emi- nent men who, by establishing its reputation and extending its usefulness, were identified with its history. A consider- able amount of materials had been collected to accomplish this object, but the entire field of research had not been exhausted, and many sources of information still remained available. In the intervals of leisure since the period re- ferred to, the author has been steadily employed in collecting
1*
vi
PREFACE.
all the materials necessary for the extended history that is now placed before the medical public.
It is proper to state that a brief account of the Medical School has been in print for many years, prepared originally by Professor Wood as a valedictory discourse to the class of 1836. This was subsequently printed in connection with the catalogue of the graduates. Another notice of the Medical Department, by the same author, is contained in a General History of the College and University published in the third volume of the "Transactions of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania;" these have been employed for comparison and verification of impressions derived from original au- thorities.
The main sources from which the author has derived his materials are the Minutes of the Board of Trustees and those of the Medical Faculty. The former are entire from the foundation of the Academy and College; while the latter date from 1800. He has also consulted the Minutes of the Penn- sylvania Hospital, and of the Philosophical Society, and the manuscript documents preserved in the Historical Society, as well as the public papers, more particularly the " Pennsyl- vania Gazette" and the "Pennsylvania Journal." To these may be added numerous original letters in his own posses- sion. He is largely indebted to biographies-many of them extremely rare-of the Professors who, at different epochs, have been connected with the University, and to the pam- phlets and documents contained in the Philadelphia Library, as well as in the libraries of the Philosophical and the His- torical Societies, and more especially in that of the Penn- sylvania Hospital, which is rich not only in medical science, but in medical history.
Reference has been made to every source from which in- formation is derived. There are, moreover, several mooted points discussed in the progress of the history which the
vii
PREFACE.
author has endeavored to place in their correct light; in doing which it seemed just that the authority upon which statements are made should be open for examination.
In the publication of the work, great pleasure is taken in acknowledging the obligation the author is under to his friend, Dr. La Roche, for assistance with the revision, and for many valuable suggestions that have been adopted.
The work has occupied much time in its preparation, and entailed a large amount of labor, ample recompense for which will be received should it subserve the design for which it has been written-namely, to communicate to his fellow- alumni all the information he has been able to gather with respect to the history of their Alma Mater.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
17
CHAPTER II.
The first physicians of Pennsylvania-Their education abroad-Their professional and public influence -- The succeeding generation of medical men, and their education at home and abroad-Their cha- racter and labors-The institution of the American Philosophical Society, and of the Pennsylvania Hospital 26
CHAPTER III.
Commencement of medical teaching in America-Dr. Cadwalader's lectures on anatomy in Philadelphia-Dr. Hunter's lectures at New- port-Dr. Shippen, Jr., opens an anatomical school-Dr. Fother- gill's contributions for teaching anatomy-Dr. John Morgan, his education and early labors-Dr. Shippen's education and studies- Dr. Morgan submits his plan of a medical school to the trustees of the college .
39
CHAPTER IV.
Foundation of the College of Philadelphia-Application of Dr. Morgan -His appointment to the professorship of theory and practice of physic-His public discourse-Dr. Shippen appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery-Organization of the medical department- Dr. Bond delivers clinical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital- Rules for the government of the medical department of the College- Dr. Wm. Smith's lectures on natural and experimental philosophy . 52
CHAPTER V.
Dr. Adam Kuhn ; education and appointment to the professorship of botany and materia medica-Fees of the college-Degree of Bache- lor of Medicine conferred in 1768-Degree of Doctor of Medicine
X
CONTENTS.
PAGE
conferred in New York in 1769-Commencement exercises of the college on the occasion of conferring the degree of M. B .- Dr. Ben- jamin Rush ; his education and correspondence while in Europe ; appointment to the professorship of chemistry-First faculty of medicine organized-Commencement of 1771 64
CHAPTER VI.
Connection between the medical department of the College of Phila- delphia and that of the University of Edinburgh-Sketch of the origin of the Edinburgh school and of its position in 1768-Dr. Cullen . 7
CHAPTER VII.
Effect of the American Revolution upon the College of Philadelphia- Abrogation of its charter and the establishment of the University of the State of Pennsylvania-Restoration of the charter and privileges to the college-Union of the two institutions under the name of University of Pennsylvania . 86
CHAPTER VIII.
Death of Dr. Hutchinson-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Wood- house to the professorship of chemistry-Resignation of Dr. Griffitts -Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Barton to the chair of materia medica-Resignation of Dr. Kuhn and election of Dr. Rush to the chair of practice-Creation of the chair of surgery and election of Dr. Physick, professor-First recognition of the ad eundem footing. Petition to the legislature with respect to irregular practitioners- Death of Dr. Shippen and election of Dr. Wistar-Death of Dr. Woodhouse and sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Coxe to the chair of chemistry-Opinion of the faculty with respect to chemistry 99
CHAPTER IX.
Separation of Obstetrics from the Chair of Anatomy-Estimation of this branch in Europe, and its elevation to an equal position with other branches of the Medical Schools-Dr. Shippen's endeavors to improve its condition in America-Election of Dr. James to the Chair of Obstetrics in the University of Pennsylvania-The tardy admission of the subject to an equality with others-Mode of exam- ining for degrees-New By-Laws for the regulation of the Medical Department-Rules for graduation . 110
xi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X. PAGE
Death of Dr. Rush-His services to the Medical School and his doc- trines-Election of Dr. Barton to the Chair of Practice, and of Dr. Chapman to that of Materia Medica-Death of Dr. Barton-Sketch of his life and labors as a teacher and naturalist-Election of Dr. Chapman to the Professorship of Practice, and of Dr. Dorsey to that of Materia Medica . 120
CHAPTER XI.
A Faculty of Natural Sciences organized by the Board of Trustees. Death of Dr. Wistar-Sketch of his life and services to the Univer- sity-Anatomical Museum-Dr. Dorsey succeeds Dr. Wistar-Death of Dr. Dorsey-Sketch of his life-Transfer of Dr. Physick to the Chair of Anatomy-Election of Dr. Gibson to the Chair of Surgery -Dr. Horner appointed Adjunct Professor of Anatomy . 134
CHAPTER XII.
Degrees in Pharmacy-Foundation of six studentships in the Medical Department-Appointment of Dr. Dewees Adjunct Professor of Ob- stetrics and the Diseases of Women and Children-Settlement of the ad eundem footing of other Schools of Medicine-Application for the transfer of the Botanical Professorship to the Medical Faculty-Ap- pointment of Dr. Samuel Jackson as an Assistant to the Professor of Practice, &c., to teach the Institutes of Medicine-Resignation of Dr. Physick ; sketch of his life and services-Election of Dr. Horner to the Chair of Anatomy . 145
CHAPTER XIII.
Resignation of Dr. James-Sketch of his life-Dr. Dewees elected Pro- fessor of Obstetrics-Retirement of Dr. Coxe from the Chair of Materia Medica-Sketch of his life-Restitution of the Chair of In- stitutes-Election of Dr. Jackson to it-Election of Dr. Wood to the Professorship of Materia Medica and Pharmacy-Resignation of Dr. Dewees and election of Dr. Hodge-Sketch of the life of Dr. Dewees -Faculty as organized in 1835 154
CHAPTER XIV.
Resignation of Dr. Hare-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. James B. Rogers to the Chair of Chemistry-Change in the lecture term-Resig- nation of Dr. Chapman-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Wood to the Chair of Practice, and of Dr. Carson to that of Materia Medica and Phar- macy . . 165
xii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV. PAGE
Death of Dr. James B. Rogers-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Robert E. Rogers to the Chair of Chemistry-Death of Dr. Horner- Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Leidy to the Chair of Anatomy- Resignation of Dr. Gibson, Sketch of his Life-Election of Dr. Henry H. Smith to the Professorship of Surgery-Resignation of Dr. Wood-Election of Dr. Pepper to the Chair of Practice-Re- signation of Dr. Jackson and of Dr. Hodge-Election of Dr. F. G. Smith to the Chair of Institutes, and of Dr. Penrose to that of Obstetrics-Resignation of Dr. Pepper and his decease-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. A. Stille to the Chair of Practice-Supple- mentary Course of Lectures 180
-
CHAPTER XVI.
Clinical instruction
CHAPTER XVII. 192
University Buildings and accommodations for the delivery of the lectures
. 205
APPENDIX
213
INDEX
. 223 ·
3 1833 03395 4170
Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple
CHRIST HEALING THE SICK BY BENJAMIN WEST, LONDON, 1816 "And the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them."
HISTORY
OF THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE most enlightened nations of all periods have per- ceived the advantages, and zealously promoted the forma- tion of colonial settlements. Accordingly those nations who most figure in the records of history were more or less engaged, at the acme of their prosperity, in thus extending the sphere of their influence and authority. In the language of William Penn, "Colonies are the seeds of nations, begun and nourished by the care of wise and populous countries, as conceiving them best for the increase of human stock, and beneficial for commerce."1
Without detailing the numerous instances of enterprise in this direction, or the circumstances attending their varied fortune, it will be pertinent to the subject of present interest to state prominently the fact, that of all the races who have been thus distinguished, not one has been more successful than that branch of the Teutonic stock from which we are lineally descended. Conqueror of the Roman Empire, and the legitimate inheritor of its glory, the race of Teutons has sent its sons broadcast over the earth, and has its offshoots,
1 Penn, in issuing his proposals, entered into an elaborate argument to show the advantages of colonization .- Penn's Works, fol. Annals of Pennsylvania, by Samuel Hazard, pp. 305.
2
18
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF
as flourishing communities, on every continent. Deriving our descent from this redoubtable people through Anglo- Saxon ancestry, we are in this land to-day the representa- tives of a civilization which has never lost a foot of soil to which it has been transplanted, nor yielded, by force of arms, to any rival or competitor for supremacy; for wherever Anglo-Saxon domination has been carried, there has it been permanently established.
The colonists of North America had all the qualities to secure a permanent foothold, and to extend territorial domin- ion. They seem to have counted the cost of relinquishing the attractions and advantages of European civilization, and having determined to cast their lot in a distant land, and settle in a wilderness, were ready to undergo the privations, hardships, and frequent perils incident to so bold an under- taking. With stout hearts, vigorous frames, firm and un- wavering faith, and confidence in an unconquerable will to surmount obstacles necessarily to be encountered, they perse- vered tenaciously in their efforts, and, slowly emerging from their difficulties, were eminently successful in converting the primeval forest into a dwelling-place of abundance and luxury. The country they were preordained to subjugate, and to transmit as an inheritance to their children, was no El Dorado. To obtain gold or silver, or precious stones, from its streams or mountains, entered into the imagination only of the wildest dreamers; but it possessed a virgin soil of untold richness, and bays and rivers of vast proportions; and it had every requisite for the support of an industrious, enterprising, self-reliant people, who would bestow their labor without stint, and by the sweat of their brow render nature herself conducive to the acquisition of independence, prosperity, and wealth. The settlers soon discovered that their land of promise was a cereal producing country, by the cultivation of which bread could be produced in abundance for domestic demand, and to spare; that the plough and the sickle were the engines of present and prospective affluence, and that upon the use of these must depend everything that contributes to the erection of a flourishing community, of a first-class power among the nations, with its commerce, manu-
19
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
factures, and arts.1 In 1680 Mahlon Stacy wrote thus to a friend in England, from New Jersey: "We have wanted nothing since we came hither but the company of our good friends and acquaintances; all our people are very well, and in a hopeful way to live much better than they ever did, and not only so, but to provide well for their posterity. I live as well to my content, and in as great plenty as ever I did, and in a far more likely way to make an estate."2
Writers upon political economy, when estimating the sources of the wealth and prosperity of nations, have given comparatively too little attention to the importance of one natural family of the vegetable kingdom, the Gramineæ; yet with reference to ourselves, its cultivation was the foundation of our first successes, of our prodigious growth and augmen- tation, of our moral and intellectual elevation, and of our influence upon mankind. Food, then, has been made a dominant power, and all creation virtually recognizes the truth of the assertion.
With the relief from anxiety and concern for immediate and temporary requirements, and an improvement in material sources of prosperity, came new wants, spontaneously arising, to a thriving, active, and reasoning people. The need of literary and scientific cultivation was fully understood, and incited to practical endeavors to meet its suggestions. The school and the schoolmaster were early introduced as an institution, and we may advert with interest, not unmingled with pleasure and pride, to the former days when the rustic school-house and the "Log College" were the seats of educa-
' That enthusiastic writer, Gabriel Thomas, when speaking of the crops of the settlers, informs us that " Their sorts of grain are Wheat, Rye, Pease, Oats, Barley, Buckwheat, Rice, Indian Corn, Indian Pease, and Beans, with great quantities of Hemp and Flax, as also several sorts of eating Roots and Turnips, Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, etc., all of which are produced yearly in greater quantities than in England. There are several Husband- men who sow yearly between seventy and eighty acres of Wheat, each, besides Barley, Oates, Pease, and Beans."-An Historical and Geographi- cal Account of the Province and Country of Pennsylvania and of West Jersey in America, etc., by Gabriel Thomas, who resided there about fifteen years : London, 1698, p. 10.
¿ Smith's New Jersey, p. 114.
20
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF
tion and learning of the country, when, with spelling and reading, with writing and arithmetic, the classics and philo- sophy constituted the daily round of teaching imposed on one professor. From such humble beginnings have pro- ceeded the most successful and elaborately-organized educa- tional establishments, which having acquired a world-wide reputation, and in the full tide of usefulness, are evidences of the intelligence and refinement of the nation.
Besides the necessity of systematic instruction for the pro- secution of the increasing business of the people, and for the extension of their relations at home and abroad, there was soon felt that of providing for the future successful perform- ance of professional duties. As population multiplied, this need was thoroughly appreciated. The educated men had become, from the earliest period of the settlements, the lead- ing characters, whether occupied in administering the laws, and governing the State, in expounding the doctrines of religious belief, or in administering to the sick; and hence a respect for the higher orders of learning which were re- garded as conducive to efficiency and usefulness became fixed in the minds of the community. The first practi- tioners of the healing art had been educated in the parent country; when following the fortunes of their less gifted countrymen they had become participants of their struggles and trials. Such were the few medical men who first landed on our shores, and who encountered all the difficulties of administering to the ailments incident to a new climate, aggravated by deficient facilities of protection from the ele- ments and exposure. They were, in many instances, pos- sessed of a thorough education and of classical accomplish- ments, and nobly sustained their part in the untried scenes through which they passed.
In some cases the theological and medical professions were united in the same individual, medicine being studied as an accessory science, with the especial view-as is now fre- quently done by our missionaries-to meet the exigencies of administering, if required, not only in spiritual concerns, but in bodily derangements. This union of the clerical and medical professions has been adverted to by Dr. Thatcher,
21
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
who thus explains it: "The inducements to emigrate, with the large proportion of the colonists, was of a religious nature. They were restive and unhappy under the restric- tions and even persecutions which emanated from the bigotry of the Church Establishment of England." "The Puritan clergy of England were, for more than twenty years prior to the emigration of the first settlers, subjected to the sharpest persecution. Hence, as a precautionary measure in case of an ejectment, a considerable number of clergymen of that period were educated to the medical profession, and not a few were eminent practitioners before they crossed the At- lantic. When these professional men came to form connec- tions in the Colonies, it was found that the small congrega- tions were unable to afford them a comfortable support; hence the necessity and convenience of their resorting to secular avocations."
Dr. Sewell remarks, in this connection, that " so far were the professions of Divinity and Medicine united that the clergy not only prescribed for the sick, but entered into medical controversies, and wrote practical works on the dis- eases of the country." There were several medical works published in America at an early date by divines. A physi- cian as well as a learned clergyman of Boston, Thomas Thatcher, in 1677, published a work entitled, “ A Brief Guide in the Smallpox and Measles." This was soon followed by the work of another clergyman, which bore the title of " A Good Management under the Distemper of the Measles."1 The Rev. Benjamin Colman, also of Boston, printed a small pamphlet entitled, "Some Account of the New Method of Receiving the Smallpox, by Grafting or Inoculating." Na- thaniel Williams wrote a pamphlet on the "Method of the Practice in the Smallpox," published in 1730. And Thomas Howard, in 1732, put forth a treatise upon Pharmacy.2 Even
1 A Lecture delivered at the opening of the Medical Department of Columbia College, in the District of Columbia, March 30, 1825, by Thomas Sewell, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Washington City. (p. 8.)
2 An Historical Sketch of the state of Medicine in the American Colonies from their first settlement to the period of the Revolution, by John B. Beck, M. D .- Transactions of the New York State Medical Society, 1850.
22
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF
as late as 1775, we find, in the "Pennsylvania Magazine" for April, the history of a malignant fever, attended with some new symptoms, in Sussex County, Delaware, by the Rev. Mr. Matthew Wilson, of Lewestown.1
The two avocations, however, occasionally interfered with each other, as is illustrated by the following incident: In a neighboring State, a theological physician was in the midst of his usual Sunday services when a message was conveyed to him that a negro girl was dangerously ill and needed his medical attention. Having no other means in the pulpit of giving his directions, he seized a hymn-book and wrote upon the fly-leaf, "Let the wench be blooded, and wait until I come." The book is now in the possession of the clerical grandson of the clerical doctor, who in his day was an influ- ential personage.
It must not be supposed that from the very commencement of the settlements there was the highest degree of skill, or consummate learning. The colonists, in the infancy of their establishments, were apparently satisfied with a moderate amount of professional competency. It is recorded that "Jan Petersen, from Alfendolft, was employed as barber (as surgeons were then denominated) on South River (Dela- ware) at ten guilders per month from the 1st of July, 1638."2 At a little later period, we are told by Gordon that the salary of a secretary in New Sweden was eight dollars a month, of a barber ten, and of a provost six. He adds : "We must not infer from comparison of the wages of the secretary and barber, that the latter was most valued, though most appreciated. The first had doubtless the most honor, though the second had a greater compensation in base lucre."3
When the Swedish possessions had passed into the hands of the Dutch, the Director of the colony at New Arnstel (afterwards New Castle), Aldricks, writes "that our actual situation is certainly very distressing by an ardent prevailing fever, and other diseases, by which the large majority of the inhabitants are oppressed and broken down; besides that, our
1 The letter giving this account is dated March 22, 1775.
2 Annals of Pennsylvania, p. 49, from Albany Papers.
3 The History of New Jersey, by Thomas F. Gordon, p. 13.
23
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
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