USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from its foundation in 1765 > Part 8
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Dr. WILLIAM SHIPPEN, Jr., Professor of Anatomy, &c.
ADAM KUHN, Professor of Botany and Materia Medica.
BENJAMIN RUSH, Professor of Chemistry.
" Who severally expressed their satisfaction upon the re- newal of their connection with the Trustees of the College, and their restoration to their Professorships under them, in discharging the duties of which as heretofore it was their wish and intention to continue.
1 Life of Dr. Franklin by Dr. Stuber, Duo. ed., N. Y. 1825. See also remonstrance referred to, "Pennsylvania Gazette."
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"Dr. John Morgan, Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, not being at present within the State, the Trustees consider him reinstated and entitled to continue in his office until his return home, when he is to be waited on by the Com- mittee in like manner as the other Professors have been, in order to know whether it is his intention to resume the exer- cise of his Professorship as heretofore."
In October, 1789, Dr. Morgan died at the age of fifty-four years. It is stated that he had retired very much from active life, actuated by chagrin at his treatment by Congress, in re- moving him from the post of Director General, upon charges from which he was ultimately exonerated. That Dr. Morgan had lost his interest in the duties of his Professorship, would appear from a communication from the Professors to the Trustees of the University in December, 1788, in these terms : " that the Faculty are of opinion that the Medical School suffers for want of a course of lectures being delivered annu- ally on the Theory and Practice of Physic."
On the 24th of October, 1789, Dr. Rush was elected to the Chair of Theory and Practice in the College; and on the 29th of October, Dr. Kuhn resigned his Professorship and took that of Practice in the University, to which he was elected November 4th, 1789. " At the same time a letter was read from Dr. Wistar recommending lectures on the Institutes of Physic, to be in connection with those of Chemistry by the Professor of the latter branch, which was agreed to."
On November 17th, 1789, Dr. Caspar Wistar was unani- mously elected Professor of Chemistry (to succeed Dr. Rush) and of the Institutes of Physic. Dr. Samuel Griffitts was unanimously elected Professor of Materia Medica and Phar- macy ; and Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton was unanimously elected Professor of Natural History and Botany.
The Medical School of the College having been thus reor- ganized, and that of the University continuing in full opera- tion, a rivalship naturally sprung up between the two insti- tutions, or rather it may be called an antagonism, which was singular from the fact of an inosculation existing in the per- son of Dr. Shippen, who held his Professorship in both.
It has been seen that Dr. Kuhn had joined the University,
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as Professor of the Theory and Practice, and on the 19th of December, 1789, Dr. James Hutchinson, an active member of the Board of Trustees, was elected Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica in that institution.
When, in 1789, the College was restored to its former posi- tion, with possession of its functions and privileges, it was determined no longer to confer the degree of Bachelor of Medicine. The reason for this course is thus stated: "It having been considered that it would not be for the honor of the College or the advancement of sound literature to con- tinue the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, lest young and in- experienced men under the sanction of that degree and of their Collegiate education, assuming the name of Doctor, might be tempted to impose upon the public, by a too early Practice, it has, therefore, been determined that the Degree of Doctor in Medicine shall be the only medical degree con- ferred in this Seminary."1
In point of fact it would appear from the early records that, as was anticipated, comparatively few of the primary graduates ever applied for the doctor's degree, and even these bore no proportion to the whole class of students in attend- ance, most of them going into active service without the evidence of qualification. With regard to the system of degrees established, Dr. Rush, in his correspondence with Dr. Morgan, as early as 1768, makes this comment: "I have read the laws you have established with regard to the conferring degrees in Physic, and have shown them to several gentle- men in this place (Edinburgh) who, upon the whole, approve of them. Some of them have thought that conferring Bache- lors' Degrees in Physic would tend to depreciate their value, as few young men would ever have leisure enough after they began to practise, to return a second time to the College in order to write a Thesis or go through the other necessary forms, previous to being admitted Doctors of Physic. Upon this account they have proposed that no one should be ad- mitted to the physical honors, until he had studied there two or three years, and afterwards published a Thesis. But you who are upon the spot can best judge of the propriety of the
1 Pennsylvania Gazette.
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regulation." The correctness of the prognostication con- tained in the foregoing extract was shown by the result, and led to the abandonment of the first degree.
On November 17th, 1789, the following rules respecting a medical education having been passed by the Trustees of the College, and ordered to be made public for the informa- tion of those students who desired the degree of Doctor of Physic, were published in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" :---
"1. No person shall be received as a Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Medicine until he has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and has applied himself to the study of Medicine in the College for at least two years. Those students, candidates who reside in the City of Philadelphia, or within five miles thereof, must have been the pupils of some respectable practitioner for the space of three years, and those who may come from the country, and from any greater distance than five miles, must have studied with some repu- table physician there for at least two years.
"2. Every candidate shall have regularly attended the lectures of the following Professors, viz., of Anatomy and Surgery; of Chymistry and the Institutes of Medicine; of Materia Medica and Pharmacy; of the Theory and Practice of Medicine; the Botanical lectures of the Professor of Natural History and Botany; and a course of lectures on Natural and Experimental Philosophy.
"3. Each Candidate shall signify his intention of gradu- ating to the Dean of the Medical Faculty, at least two months before the time of graduation, after which he shall be exam- ined privately by the Professors of the different branches of medicine. If remitted to his studies, the Professors shall hold themselves bound not to divulge the same; but if he is judged to be properly qualified, a medical question and a case shall then be proposed to him, the answer and treatment of which he shall submit to the Medical Professors. If these performances are approved, the Candidate shall then be ad- mitted to a public examination before the Trustees, the Pro- vost, Vice Provost, Professors and Students of the College; after which he shall offer to the inspection of each of the Medical Professors a Thesis, written in the Latin or English
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Language (at his own option) on a medical subject. This Thesis, approved of, is to be printed at the expense of the Candidate, and defended from such objections as may be made to it by the Medical Professors, at a Commencement to be held for the purpose of conferring degrees, on the first Wed- nesday of June every year.
" Bachelors in Medicine who wish to be admitted to the Degree of Doctor in Medicine, shall publish and defend a Thesis agreeably to the rules above mentioned.
" The different Medical Lectures shall commence annually on the first Monday in. November, the lectures in Natural and Experimental Philosophy about the same time, and the lec- tures on Botany on the first Monday in April.
"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
President of the Board of Trustees.
WILLIAM SMITH,
Provost of the College and Secretary of Board of Trustees."
The University continued the practice of conferring two degrees; in other respects its rules and requirements were very analogous to those of the College.
The state of things exhibited with respect to medical teach- ing by two institutions, in so contracted a sphere as the city of Philadelphia then offered, could not be otherwise than unsatisfactory. This appears clearly from a statement made upon the Minutes of the University, April 6, 1791, being part of a report on the condition of the Schools, to wit: "Of the Medical students who have attended the lectures of the different Professors, since the separation of the College, it cannot be accurately ascertained how many are attached to this Seminary, with a view to graduation in it.
" The Professor of Anatomy, who is also Professor of Anatomy under the College, has been attended in his last course of lectures, which commenced in November, 1790, by one hundred and four. About twenty of these have not at- tended the lectures of any other of the Professors of either Seminary. Fifty-five, however, have attended the lectures of the other Medical Professors of the University with a view to graduation in it."
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The field for two establishments was proved to be too re- stricted, and after party spirit had subsided, and faction had been lulled to rest, a calm appreciation of the circumstances then existing led to the conclusion, that in union there would be additional strength and prosperity. In speaking of the condition of affairs that existed, the late Chief Justice Tilgh- man refers to the part that was taken by Dr. Wistar in bringing about the union of conflicting interests. "Philadel- phia had then the misfortune to be divided between two rival schools, the Faculty of Medicine of the College and that of the University of Pennsylvania. He saw and lamented the consequences of this division. It was his wish to unite in one great institution the talents of the city. But finding that the period of union had not yet arrived, he accepted the Pro- fessorship offered to him by the College, in order to preserve an influence to be exerted at the proper season, and in this purpose he was not disappointed, for he had the satisfaction of contributing largely to the much desired union which was afterwards effected."1
An amicable adjustment was brought about, followed by an Act of the Legislature, September 30th, 1791, passed in accordance with petitions from the two schools, setting forth the terms of the agreement upon which they had decided to unite. It was agreed that the name of the Institution should be " THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA," and that it should be located in the city of Philadelphia. Of this name her graduates have sufficient reason to be proud.
In the Introductory Lecture delivered by Dr. Rush in the month of November, 1791, he thus expresses himself upon the subject of the union : " I should do violence to my feel- ings should I proceed to the subjects of the ensuing course of lectures, without first congratulating you upon the union of the two Medical Schools of Philadelphia, under a Charter founded upon the most liberal concessions by the gentlemen who projected it, and upon the purest principles of patriotism
1 An Eulogium in commemoration of Dr. Caspar Wistar, late President of the American Philosophical Society, &c., delivered before the Society, March 11th, 1818, by the Hon. William Tilghman, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, &c., Philadelphia, 1818, p. 20. 7
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in the Legislature of our State. By means of this event, the ancient harmony of the different professors of medicine will be restored, and their united efforts will be devoted, with accumulated force, towards the advancement of our Science."
By the arrangement entered into, provision was made for the employment of all the Professors of the two previously existing Faculties, according to the especial predilections and fitness of each incumbent, although no doubt in the spirit of compromise some sacrifices of tastes and wishes were made highly honorable to the parties interested.
With this new era the Announcement of the Professors and their subjects was as follows :-
Anatomy, Surgery, and ) WILLIAM SHIPPEN, M. D.
Midwifery, CASPAR WISTAR, M.D., Adjunct.
Theory and Practice of Medicine, ADAM KUHN, M. D.
Institutes of Medicine and
Clinical Medicine,
BENJAMIN RUSH, M. D.
JAMES HUTCHINSON, M. D. Chemistry,
Materia Medica and Pharmacy, SAMUEL P. GRIFFITTS, M. D.
Botany and Natural History, BENJ. SMITH BARTON, M. D.
The elections according to the order given were made on the 23d of January, 1792. Dr. John Ewing was elected on April 3d, 1792, Professor of Natural and Experimental Phi- losophy, and on the 26th was again chosen Provost.
At the time the Medical Professors were elected, it was " Resolved, that it shall not be essential to the obtaining a Degree in Medicine for the student to attend the Professor of Natural History and Botany." With this exception the " Rules respecting a medical education and the conferring of Degrees in Medicine" were similar to those which have been given as adopted by the College. The Degree of Bachelor of Medicine was dropped by the University when thus reor- ganized, and the Doctorate alone conferred. In this particu- lar the practice of the University of Edinburgh was followed.
JAMES HUTCHINSON, M.D. Physician to the Hospital 1777-1793
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CHAPTER VIII.
Death of Dr. Hutchinson-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Woodhouse to the professorship of chemistry-Resignation of Dr. Griffitts-Sketch of his life-Election of Dr. Barton to the chair of materia medica-Resig- nation 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 elec- tion 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.
NOT long after the coalition of the medical schools and the arrangement of the Faculties under the auspices of the Uni- versity, a change occurred in the chair of chemistry. Its in- cumbent, Dr. Hutchinson, died in the autumn of 1793, of the epidemic yellow fever.
Dr. James Hutchinson was born in 1752, in Bucks County, Pa. He was educated at the College of Philadelphia, and graduated with the first honors of his class. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Cadwalader Evans, and attended the medical lectures of the college.1 In the year 1774, at the time he graduated Bachelor of Medicine, the trustees presented him with a gold medal for his superior knowledge in chemistry. On one side of this medal was repre- sented a circle of laurel, with the inscription on the exergue, " Jacobus Hutchinson 1774.". On the reverse a retort ; on the exergue, " Naturæ artisque arcana retexi, Col. Phil."
Dr. Hutchinson subsequently went to London and con- tinued his medical education under the protection and guid- ance of Dr. Fothergill. It is stated by his biographer that " while pursuing his studies in Europe the disputes between
1 The tickets of admission to the lectures of the professors are in posses- sion of his grandson, Dr. James Hutchinson. They are written on the back of "Playing Cards."
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England and the American Colonics were approaching a crisis, which he saw must end in an open rupture. The prospect of this event hastened his return to his native country, the cause of which he warmly espoused. He returned home by way of France, and was entrusted with important despatches from Dr. Franklin, the American Minister there, to the Congress of the United States. When near the American coast, the ship in which he was a passenger was chased by a British armed ves- sel, and being anxious to save the despatches, he left the vessel in an open boat under a heavy fire from the enemy and landed safely. A short time after he left the vessel, she was captured by the enemy in sight, and he lost everything he had, includ- ing a fine medical library collected in England and France." Dr. Hutchinson served in the army during the Revolution, and was especially interested in public affairs. In a vindication of himself from the charge of receiving pay to which he was not entitled, published in the "Pennsylvania Journal," Feb. 6, 1782, Dr. Hutchinson gave an account of the services ren- dered by him during the war. In this he states that he was in the employment of the United States for upwards of one year, and of the State of Pennsylvania from the latter part of 1778 till the beginning of February 1781. While in the Continental service, he had a commission as the Senior Surgeon to the Flying Hospital in the Middle Department, and with only six assistants inoculated 3496 men, while the army lay at Valley Forge. When the army moved across the North River, after the battle of Monmouth, having no duty to perform in his own department, and desirous of being useful to his country, he went to Rhode Island as a volunteer in the expedition against that place under General Sullivan. Soon afterwards he resign- ed his commission. On his return to Philadelphia he was appointed Surgeon to the State Navy. The emoluments de- rived for medical services may be learned from the following statement : " The pay annexed to this station (state navy) was three continental dollars and five rations per day. The duty consisted in taking care of the officers and men belonging to the gallies, and of the Militia who were occasionally at Fort Mifflin. This, though considerable, was performed without an assistant." The first pay he received from the State was in March, 1779, when it was equal to three shillings specie per
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day, and thus gradually decreasing as continental money de- preciated till it was reduced to about three pence or four pence. In Feb. 1781, there being no longer need of his services, he was discharged.1
In 1779, when the University superseded the College, Dr. Hutchinson was appointed one of the Trustees by the Legisla- ture, and took great interest in its prosperity. In 1781 he refused the chair of practice, and in 1783 that of chemistry, in- fluenced doubtless by the wish to see them filled by the pre- vious incumbents of the College ; and further, not to embar- rass the organization of the medical faculty, in the existing unpleasant state of affairs occasioned by the abrogation of the College charter.
In 1789, when the restitution of the rights of the Col- lege was effected, he accepted the Chair of Materia Medica and Chemistry in the University; and on the union of the schools, in 1791, was chosen the Professor of Chemistry. The further arrangement of the Professorships concentrated the medical talents of the city. In this result he heartily co- operated.
At the time of his death he was one of the Secretaries of the Philosophical Society, and for fifteen years had been one of the Physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital.
The Chair of Chemistry, left vacant by the death of Dr. Hutchinson, was conferred, January 7th, 1794, on Dr. John Carson, a member of the Board of Trustees, but this gentle- man dying before entering upon the duties, the position was offered to Dr. Priestley, by whom it was declined.
The reasons assigned by Dr. Priestley for the non-accept- ance of the appointment for which he was so eminently qualified, were that his views were directed to a country life as best calculated to permit indulgence in his tastes, and to aid him, by its seclusion, in his pursuits, and that this course would be of further advantage to himself and wife in conse- quence of a weak state of health. He therefore left the city, and settled at Northumberland, Pa.2
! Pa. Journal, Feb. 6, 1782.
2 Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley, to the year 1795, written by himself, with a continuation to the time of his decease, by his son Joseph Priestley. Northumberland, 1806. Vol. i. p. 163.
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On July 7th, 1795, the vacant Chair of Chemistry was filled by the appointment of Dr. James Woodhouse, who in the following session commenced his course of lectures.
In 1796 Dr. Griffitts resigned the Chair of Materia Medica.
Dr. Samuel Powell Griffitts was a prominent member of the Society of Friends. He was born in Philadelphia in 1759. Having been classically educated at the College of Phila- delphia, he studied medicine with Dr. Kuhn. He attended lectures during the troubled times of the Revolution, and graduated Bachelor of Medicine in the University, July 4th, 1781. He then proceeded to Europe, but, on account of the war existing between Great Britain and the United Colonies, went first to France. After spending some time in attend- ance upon the lectures and hospitals of Paris, he went to Montpellier, where, in the winter of 1782-83, he attended a course of lectures. An attraction of this celebrated school at that time was the distinguished medical philosopher Barthez. The following year was spent in London and at the Medical School of Edinburgh, when, after an absence of three years, he established himself in his native city:
The first public enterprise in which he was engaged was the foundation of the Charity which has operated so beneficially in relieving the miseries of the poor, known as the " Phila- delphia Dispensary." This institution went into operation in 1786; and, either as one of its Physicians or in the capacity of Secretary of the Board of Managers, his services were given to it till the close of his useful life.1
' The Attending Physicians and Surgeons were Dr. Samuel Powell Griffitts, Dr. James Hall, Dr. William Clarkson, Dr. John Morris, Dr. John Carson, and Dr. Caspar Wistar.
The Consulting Physicians were Dr. Jones, Dr. Wm. Shippen, Jr., Dr. Adam Kuhn, and Dr. Benjamin Rush.
To promote the aims of this institution, various means were adopted. From the "Pennsylvania Gazette" of Feb. 8th, 1786, we obtain the fol- lowing notice .-
"We are happy to inform the Public that Dr. Moyes has kindly offered to deliver Lectures in the Hall of the University, upon the most interesting and useful parts of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, after he has finished the present course, at half a dollar a ticket for each lecture, for the benefit of this charity."
The Dispensary was opened in STRAWBERRY ALLEY.
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Dr. Griffitts' connection with the College and University continued during six sessions, and throughout this period his lectures are said to have "evinced great industry in the acqui- sition of useful materials, method and perspicuity in their arrangement, and zeal for the advancement of his class in solid information. But the situation of a public lecturer was not altogether congenial to his feelings, which were most gratified by an active discharge of the less conspicuous duties of life. Perhaps, too, the disinclination which he always manifested to hold any place of emolument may have exer- cised some influence in producing his resignation of a chair which was every year becoming more profitable, and even at that period conferred one of the highest honors within the reach of the profession."1
In consequence of his early studies in connection with Ma- teria Medica and Pharmacy, Dr. Griffitts was deeply interested in the formation of a National Pharmacopoeia. In June, 1788, he was placed on a Committee of the College of Physicians to form a Pharmacopœia for the use of the College, but this undertaking was permitted to slumber until 1820, when the College united with other societies for the formation of our present national work. Dr. Griffitts served upon the Com- mittee then appointed, and for this duty his former experience well qualified him.2 He died in 1826.
Upon the resignation of Dr. Griffitts, Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton succeeded to the Professorship of Materia Medica, still retaining that of Natural History.
After twenty nine years of active service in the School of Medicine, Dr. Kuhn retired from the Chair of Practice in
1 Memoir of Dr. Samuel Powell Griffitts, by Governeur Emerson, M. D. North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. iii. p. 151, 1827.
2 In 1782 a small collection of receipts was published by Dr. William Brown, more particularly intended for the use of the Army. In 1788 the following action was taken by the College of Physicians : "On Motion, ordered that a Committee of eight, viz., Drs. Redman, Jones, Kuhn, Shippen, Rush, Griffitts, Wistar, and Hutchinson, be appointed to form a Pharmacopœia for the use of the College." The U. S. Pharmacopoeia was first issued in 1820. In the Life of Dr. Thos. T. Hewson by Dr. Franklin Bache, and in the Life of Dr. Bache by Dr. G. B. Wood, will be found an interesting account of this work.
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