USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from its foundation in 1765 > Part 3
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Dr. THOMAS BOND, as Physician.
Mr. JOHN BARTRAM, as Botanist.
Mr. THOMAS GODFREY, as Mathematician.
Mr. WILLIAM PARSONS, as Geographer.
Mr. SAMUEL RHODES, as Mechanician.
Dr. PHINEAS BOND, as Gen. Nat. Philosopher.
Mr. THOMAS HOPKINSON, President.
Mr. WILLIAM COLEMAN, Treasurer. B. F., Secret.
To whom the following Members have since been added, viz : Mr. Alexander, of New York, Mr. Morris (Ch. Justice of the Jerseys), Mr. Horne, Secretary of do., Mr. Jno. Coxe, of 3
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Trenton, and Mr. Martyn, of the same place. Mr. Nicholls tells me of several other gentlemen of this city that incline to encourage the thing. And there are a Number of others in Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, and the New England Colonies who we expect to join us as soon as they are acquainted that the Society has begun to form itself.
I am, sir, with much Respect, your most humble Servant, B. FRANKLIN.
The Hon. Cadwallader Colden, Esq.
It will thus be seen that in the organization of the Philo- sophical Society our profession occupied a prominent place. The subjects of inquiry pertaining to it stood at the head of the list, and of the nine original founders two were medi- cal men.
Another society came into existence about the year 1750, which in a considerable measure took precedence of its elder sister. This association had its origin very much in the same way as the first, and was likewise, in its infancy, called the Junto. In April, 1766, it assumed the name, and went into operation as the " American Society for Promoting and Pro- pagating Useful Knowledge." It was likewise supported by the medical men of the day, and the names of Morgan, Evans, Cadwalader, Bard, Redman, Kuhn, Moore, Graeme, and Ship- pen may be enumerated as contributing to give weight and dignity to its proceedings.1
In the year 1768, greater activity was infused into the " American Society ;" large additions were made to the list of fellows and correspondents, and among them were Dr. Franklin himself, then in England, and other men of great distinction. "The proceedings were no longer those of a de- bating club, but of a learned Society." At the same time the Philosophical Society appears to have acquired additional vitality, as it were, from emulation infused into it by the activity of its younger sister. Nevertheless, "the necessity for the existence of two societies devoted to the same extended field of research and inquiry did not exist, and it is an evi-
1 Minutes of the American Society.
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dence of the good sense and kindly feeling of both parties interested that the proposition of union prevailed when the proper influence was brought to bear upon them."] From the minutes of the American Society, January 28th, 1768, it appears that the overture came from the younger association, and in the negotiation that ensued the medical members were influential in securing the result, as the following letter from Dr. Bond to Dr. John Morgan will show :-
DEAR SIR : I have considered the proposals you made me yesterday of our taking some further steps towards your uniting with us in a Philosophical Society, and as it was always my desire, and I think may yet be readily effected, I should be pleased to confer with you about it, and will do everything in my power to cultivate that harmony which should subsist among the lovers of science.
I will confer with such of our members as I can meet with this morning, and I shall be glad to meet you, with such of your members as you think proper, at my house, or any other place, at half-after twelve o'clock this day, that no time may be lost.
I am, yours respectfully,
THO. BOND.
January 28th, 1768.
At the end of the year (December 30th, 1768), the two societies were united under a title which was derived from both, " The American Philosophical Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge."
Throughout the entire subsequent career of the Philosophi- cal Society the medical profession has had its full share of honor in the bestowal of offices upon its members. This dis- tinction has been fully earned by the deep interest taken by them in its welfare, and by their contributing to its trans- actions scientific investigations and papers which have pro- moted its reputation. Of the thirteen presidents elected by ballot five have been medical men.2
1 Discourse of Dr. Patterson.
2 The names of the physicians elected to the Presidency of the Society are, Caspar Wistar, M. D., Nathaniel Chapman, M. D., Robert Patterson, M. D., Franklin Bache, M. D., and George B. Wood, M. D.
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In the " Transactions of the American Philosophical Society," printed in 1769, which contain the joint contributions of the two societies for the previous year, of twenty papers upon various interesting subjects eight pertain to medical science.1
The subsequent volumes contain many important and inter- esting medical communications, as well as others upon general science from members of the medical profession.
The other institution to which we must now allude, as fill- ing a large space in the affections of the public, and quite as much dependent for its successful operation upon the medical profession as upon legislative or private aid, and whose annals in connection with the medical administration are blended with those of the University, is the Pennsylvania Hospital. It is not necessary to detail minutely the circum- stances under which this noble charity sprung into existence. A professor of the University has accomplished the task of writing its history, and it may be said of this, as of all his literary labors, " nihil tetiget quod non ornavit."2 The fact on which we desire to dwell is that the instigation to meet the requirements of the sick and wounded indigent citizens of the increasing colony emanated from its most natural source, the medical profession, in the person of Thomas Bond, who, although most ably seconded by the suggestive mind of Ben- jamin Franklin, may be regarded, without disparagement to - the benevolence and efficiency of the great philosopher, as the originator of the undertaking.
The physicians of the hospital first appointed were Lloyd Zachary, Thomas and Phineas Bond. To these were soon added Thomas Graeme, Thomas Cadwalader, Samuel Preston
1 The small volume of Transactions to which reference is here made was the first published by the Society. It is of the small octavo size. A copy is not in the possession of the Society, whose first series of Transactions is a reprint in quarto form, not following the order of the original. We met with this original publication in the Philadelphia Library in connection with the "Pennsylvania Magazine" for 1769, edited by Lewis Nichola, and bound with it. The number in the catalogue is 1504 O. Apparently this early volume of Transactions had been lost sight of and forgotten.
2 An address on the occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Found- ing of the Pennsylvania Hospital, delivered June 10, 1851, by George B. Wood, M. D., published by the Board of Managers.
-
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Moore, and John Redman. It is worthy of notice that at the time of the incorporation of this charitable institution, when, on an appeal for assistance being made to the Provincial Assembly, one of the objections offered to the measure was that the cost of medical attendance would alone be sufficient to consume all the money that could be raised, it was met by the offer on the part of Drs. Zachary and the Bonds to attend the patients gratuitously for three years. This became the settled understanding with the Board of Physicians and Surgeons ; nor have we learned that the compact has ever been annulled or abrogated during the period of one hundred and seventeen years (from 1751 to the present date), an instance of disin- terested philanthropy which has been generally followed in the charitable institutions depending on medical attendance, not only of this city, but throughout the length and breadth of the land.1
In this institution was the first clinical instruction given by Dr. Thomas Bond in connection with the collegiate course, and it may be stated, so close has been the association between the hospital and the medical school, that of the twenty-nine professors, who have occupied collegiate chairs, eighteen have been attending physicians or surgeons of the hospital, and five of the seven medical men first elected to these positions in the hospital were trustees of the college.
The foundation of the medical library of the hospital dates as far back as 1763. The first medical book possessed by it appears to have been a gift from that warm friend and gene- rous benefactor of the institution, Dr. John Fothergill. It was the Materia Medica of Dr. William Lewis, London, 1761. " When the managers resolved to demand a fee for the privi- lege of attending the wards of the hospital, and consulted with the physicians in regard to the destination of the sum raised, these gentlemen, Thomas Bond, Phineas Bond, Cad- walader Evans, and Thomas Cadwalader, although having claims upon such gratuities, according to the custom of the
1 In his " Travels in the United States" in 1788, this fact was thought by Brissot de Warville of sufficient importance to be particularly noted and published.
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British hospitals, full of scientific zeal, proposed to apply the money to the foundation of a medical library for the advantage of the pupils of the institution."1 In 1767, Hugh Roberts and Samuel Neave presented as executors of Dr. Zachary, forty- three volumes from his library. The Library of the Penn- sylvania Hospital contains by donation and purchase between ten and eleven thousand volumes.
1 Preface to Catalogue of the Medical Library of the Pennsylvania Hos- pital, by Emil Fischer, M. D.
.
THOMAS CADWALADER:
THOMAS CADWALADER, M.D. Physician to the Hospital 1751-1777
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CHAPTER III.
Commencement of medical teaching in America-Dr. Cadwalader's lec- tures on anatomy in Philadelphia-Dr. Hunter's lectures at Newport- Dr. Shippen, Jr., opens an anatomical school-Dr. Fothergill's contri- butions 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.
IT has been stated that the medical men who first settled in the Province of Pennsylvania came with their countrymen from Europe, and that into their offices or shops apprentices were received, to be trained in a knowledge of the healing art. It was well understood, however, that the highest grade of medical acquirement could not be derived from the re- sources alone of private practitioners, no matter how well informed they might be, or versed in the every-day applica- tion of science to the demands that were made upon their skill; and hence the resort, on the part of the rising genera. tion, to prominent seats of instruction abroad.
The return of these youthful travelled aspirants was hailed with pleasure by their friends and fellow-citizens. The acquire- ments additionally gained by them from a visit to Europe afforded promise of a life of usefulness and distinction. They were believed to be conversant with the latest discoveries and improvements, and the exponents of the progressive attainment of the age. To their preceptors they returned with interest the debt of gratitude for early instruction, becoming in turn the teachers whose field of enterprise and labor lay in dif- fusing the results of their studies and inquiries. In exempli- fication it may be stated, that Dr. Cadwalader, who had studied anatomy in London under the guidance of the celebrated Cheselden, gave demonstrations to the physicians of Phila- delphia, when he settled himself among them. It is interest- ing to know, that the place of delivery of these lectures was
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in Second Street above Walnut, on the back part of the lot which faces Dock Street. The Bank of Pennsylvania subse- quently occupied the site. With respect to these lectures,. Dr. Wistar remarks: "I suppose that the anatomy of that day, as well as of the present, enjoyed the honorable protection of literature, and that the dissections were made under the aus- pices of the most profound scholar of Pennsylvania, the Presi- dent, James Logan, founder of the Loganian Library." "This probably was the first business of the kind ever done in Philadelphia."1
Credit is likewise to be awarded to Dr. William Hunter, of Newport, Rhode Island, a native of Scotland, and a relative of the celebrated Hunters, who, upon settling in America, gave lectures upon anatomy in 1754, 155, '56. As Dr. Cadwalader had been established in Philadelphia some time before the year 1751, at which date he was appointed one of the physi- cians of the hospital, and gave his lectures upon his return from Europe, the probability is in favor of his having first entered upon this branch of teaching.
Dr. William Shippen, Jr., the son of Dr. Shippen already mentioned, who had recently returned from Europe, com- menced a course of anatomy in 1762. In the "Pennsylvania Gazette," November 25, 1762, is the following announcement : "Dr. Shippen's Anatomical Lectures will begin to-morrow evening, at six o'clock, at his father's house in Fourth Street. Tickets for the course to be had of the Doctor, at five Pistoles each, and any gentlemen who incline to see the subject pre- pared for the lectures and learn the art of Dissecting, Injec- tions, &c., are to pay five Pistoles more."
The Introductory to this course of lectures was delivered in one of the large apartments of the State House, and many of the gentlemen of Philadelphia heard it with pleasure. The number of students who attended his lectures was twelve. Dr. Wistar, in his Eulogium upon Dr. Shippen, after the pre- ceding statement, adds, "Such was the origin of our medical school." Three courses of this private character were de- livered.
1 Wistar's Eulogy upon Dr. Shippen, Jr.
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Dr. John Fothergill appears uniformly to have evinced an interest in Pennsylvania, at first in relation to medical affairs, and subsequently in a more extended way by his anxiety to avert the calamity of war between the colonies and the mother country.1 He was of the same religious persuasion as Wil- liam Penn, and hence his concern for the welfare and pros- perity of the Province. Dr. Wistar tells us " that the people of Pennsylvania seem always to have been regarded with affection by this gentleman, but at the present period he was more interested in them than usual. The Pennsylvania Hospital had lately been erected; he took it for granted that students would resort to it, and supposed that they would experience great difficulty in acquiring a knowledge of anato- my. To remedy this defect in the medical education of Penn- sylvania, he employed Rimsdyck, one of the first artists of Great Britain, to execute the crayon paintings, now at our Hospital, which exhibit the whole structure of the body, at two-thirds the natural size, and the gravid uterus, with many of the varied cirumstances of natural or preternatural partu- rition, of full size. Jentry, an anatomist of London, is said to have made the dissections from which these paintings were made, and Dr. William Hunter sometimes examined the work. They are supposed to have cost two hundred guineas, which, in addition to one hundred and fifty guineas which he con- tributed to the institution, constitute a most substantial proof of his regard as well as of his liberality."
The account of the arrival and reception by the Hospital of the donation of Dr. Fothergill is given in the Minutes of the Board of Managers, to wit-"At a Meeting of the Mana- gers and Treasurer, in the Warden's Room at the Court House, Philada., the 8th, 11 month (Nov.), 1762.
" The Board being called at the request of Dr. William Shippen, Jr., lately arrived from London, he attended and informed the Board that per the Caroline, Capt. Friend, are
1 Life of Dr. Fothergill by John Coakley Lettsom, M. D., see the "Works of Dr. Fothergill," London, vol. 3d, 1784, Oct., also in Quarto ed. The ac- count of Dr. Fothergill's association with Dr. Franklin is most interesting, in an effort to prevent the American war. His political papers on this sub- ject are worthy of perusal.
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arrived from Dr. John Fothergill seven cases, which contain a parcel of Anatomical drawings, which the Dr. informed him, when in London, he intended as a present to the Pennsylvania Hospital, but that he has not received any letter or invoice of them, nor any further directions but what the Doctor verbally gave him, and that he concludes his constant en- gagements prevented his writing per the ship. But by a letter from him to James Pemberton, dated 4th mo. (April) last, he therein signifies in general his intentions of sending this Present to the Hospital, and the uses he proposes thereby. Of it the following is an abstract :-
"I distributed the books thou wast pleased to send me as desired, but they came perhaps at an unlucky juncture. Money is much wanted here for numerous purposes, and men part with fifty pounds with reluctance, when they know that a little more would purchase them a hundred; the Hospital, however, must subsist itself as well as possible till better times. I propose to send, by Dr. Shippen, a present to it of some intrinsic value, tho' not probably of immediate benefit. I need not tell thee that the knowledge of Anatomy is of ex- ceeding great use to practitioners in Physic and Surgery, and that the means of procuring subjects with you are not easy ; some pretty accurate anatomical drawings, about half as big as the life, have fallen into my hands, which I propose to send to your Hospital to be under the care of the Physicians, and to be by some of them explained to the students and pupils who may attend the Hospital. In the want of real subjects these will have their use, and I have recommended it to Dr. Shippen to give a Course of Anatomical Lectures to such as may attend. He is very well qualified for the subject, and will soon be followed by an able assistant, Dr. Morgan, both of whom, I apprehend, will not only be useful to the Province in their employments, but if suitably countenanced by the Legislature, will be able to erect a School of Physic amongst you, that may draw students from various parts of America and the West Indies, and at least furnish them with a better idea of the rudiments of their Profession, than they have at present the means of acquiring on your side of the water.
"Should the Managers of the Hospital think proper, I could
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wish that, if the drawings and casts I shall send per the next convoy come safe, they might be lodged in some low apart- ment of the Hospital, not to be seen by every person, but with the permission of a Trustee, or for some small gratuity for the benefit of the House."
The Minutes, moreover, express : "And Dr. Shippen pro- posing to exhibit a Course of Lectures on Anatomy this winter, requested he might have recourse to the said drawings and casts; and the Managers being desirous of countenancing him in his undertaking agree he may have the use of them, in such manner and place, as after consulting with the physi- cians may be thought most convenient, and not prejudicial to the drawings, as they require to be handled with the greatest delicacy and care; and after consulting with the Physicians, who, on notice being sent them, attended on the occasion, viz., Thomas Bond, Phineas Bond, William Shippen, Jr., John Redman, and Cadwalader Evans, to whom the proposal of Dr. Shippen, Jr. of his exhibiting a Course of Lectures, &c., being communicated, they unanimously expressed their ap- probation thereof, and it was concluded that the several cases should be conveyed to the Hospital and that the physicians and managers will attend at 3 o'clock P. M. to view the contents."
With reference to these drawings, &c., the subjoined notice will be found in the "Pennsylvania Gazette," May, 1763: "The generous donation of Dr. Fothergill, of London, to the Penn- sylvania Hospital of a set of anatomical paintings and casts in plaster of Paris, representing different views of the several parts of the human body, being now deposited in a convenient chamber of the Hospital, and as there may be many persons besides students of Physic desirous to gain some general knowledge of the structure of the human body, Dr. William Shippen, Jr., proposes to attend there on the seventh day of the week, the 21st inst., at 5 o'clock P. M., and once a fort- night during the summer season, on the same day of the week and same hour, to explain and demonstrate them to such persons who are willing to give a dollar each for the benefit of the Hospital." At a subsequent period the drawings were deposited in the Museum of the University, where they re-
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mained until 1866, when they were retransferred to the Hos- pital to be placed in its Pathological Museum.
The lectures upon Anatomy by Dr. William Shippen, Jr., were thus in full operation when, in 1765, Dr. Morgan arrived from Europe. As he and Dr. Shippen, Jr., must be regarded as the fathers of systematic medical teaching in this country, it will be proper to give an account of their previous training and qualifications to assume so important a duty.
Dr. JOHN MORGAN was born in Philadelphia, in 1736, and acquired his literary education at the college of this city, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1757, with the first class which was graduated. He studied medicine with Dr. Redman, and upon the expiration of his indentures entered the Provincial army as a surgeon. This was at the conclusion of the French war, which terminated by the expulsion of that nation from Canada. In 1760, having resigned his commis- sion in the army, he sailed for Europe with the view of per- fecting his medical knowledge.
When speaking of himself with reference to this period, he states : "It is now more than fifteen years since I began the study of medicine in this city, which I have prosecuted ever since without interruption. During the first years I served an apprenticeship with Dr. Redman, who then did, and still continues to enjoy a most justly acquired reputation in this city for superior knowledge and extensive practice in physic. At the same time I had an opportunity of being acquainted with the practice of other eminent physicians in this place, particularly of all the physicians to the hospital, whose pre- scriptions I put up there above the space of one year. The term of my apprenticeship being expired, I devoted myself for four years to a military life, principally with a view to become more skilful in my profession, being engaged the whole of that time in a very extensive practice in the army amongst diseases of every kind. The last five years I have spent in Europe, under the most celebrated masters in every branch of medicine, and spared no labor or expense to store my mind with an extensive acquaintance in every science that related in any way to the duty of a physician ; having in that time ex- pended in this pursuit a sum of money of which the very in-
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terest would prove no contemptible income. With what suc- cess this has been done, others are to judge, and not myself."1
During Dr. Morgan's residence in London he experienced the benefit of the instruction of the Hunters and of Hewson. With the latter, as appears from his correspondence, he was on intimate terms. He graduated as M. D. at Edinburgh in 1763, his thesis being written upon the formation of pus. It is entitled "IIvorovous, sive Tentamen Medicum de Puris Con- fectione." This thesis, when published, was dedicated to the Medical Society of Edinburgh, in the following terms : "So- cietati Medicinæ Studiosorum in Academia Edinburgena du- dum institutæ."
In this essay the doctrine is maintained that pus is a secre- tion from the vessels, and in this he anticipated Mr. Hunter. Dr. James Curry, Lecturer at Guy's Hospital, gives the credit of priority in this statement to him, and says: "I could not avoid giving that merit to Dr. Morgan, who discussed the question with great ingenuity in his Inaugural Dissertation on taking his degree at Edinburgh in 1763; whilst I could find no proof that Mr. Hunter had taught or even adopted such an opinion until a considerably later period."2
While in England Dr. Morgan became a proficient in the art of injecting organs with wax, and preparing them by sub- sequent corrosion.3 Carrying with him to the continent the evidences of his skill, he acquired such a reputation as to pro- cure his admission as a member to the Academy of Surgery of Paris. While there residing, and attending the lectures of the distinguished anatomist M. Sue, he prepared a kidney by
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