USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from its foundation in 1765 > Part 9
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1797. He continued to practise medicine, however, until within a few years of his death, which occurred in 1819. In his person, movements, and manners, as well as in his mental constitution, Dr. Kuhn was rigid, stately, and punctilious, and has been represented as a "true type of the Old School of Society."
Upon the resignation of Dr. Kuhn, the duties of his place were performed by Dr. Rush until the year 1805, when the two Chairs-of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, and of Institutes and Clinical Medicine-being united, he was elected unanimously to the Professorship.
At the same time a change was deemed to be expedient in the Chair which had been held so long by Dr. Shippen. Sur- gery, during this period, had remained in association with Anatomy and Obstetrics, when Dr. Physick presented himself, the vindicator of its just claims, and the representative man of its dignity and importance. He was unanimously elected Professor of that branch in the University of Pennsylvania on June 4th, 1805. It may be stated that the Chair of Surgery was created for him and by him.1
In 1805 the first action was taken with respect to the posi- tion of the University relative to other schools that had arisen in the United States. It appears from the Minutes of the Faculty, December 12th, that the subject was considered as a special one. It is the first time that any action was taken upon the question of the footing upon which students from other schools should be admitted, as follows :-
' On Dr. Physick's election, it was Resolved by the Board of Trustees "That it shall be essential to obtaining a Degree in Medicine for the stu- dents to attend the Lectures of the Professor of Surgery." Minutes of the Board.
In the University of Edinburgh Surgery was not early taught as a dis- tinct subject ; "and even so late as 1777, when the College of Surgeons petitioned the patrons to institute a separate Professorship of Surgery in the University, they were opposed by Monro, then Professor of Anatomy, as interfering with his subject ; and he succeeded in getting his commission altered, so as to include Surgery, which was thus made a mere adjunct of the anatomical course, and continued to be so taught (if it could be said to be taught) until the institution of the chair of Surgery in 1831."-(The Edinburgh School of Surgery ; an Introductory Lecture by James Spence, F. R. C. S. E., Professor in the University of Edinburgh. Ed. Med. Journ., vol. x. Part I. p. 482. )
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"It was agreed that Daniel Newcomb, who had attended one course of Medical Lectures in the University of Cam- bridge, Mass., and another course of ten weeks in the Univer- sity of Dartmouth, N. H., and had also studied medicine under the care of a respectable practitioner two years, should be admitted to an examination as a candidate for the Degree of M. D., after the expiration of the present session, during which he has attended each of the Professors."
In 1806, the subject of irregular practitioners was taken up by the Medical Faculty, and a petition laid before the Legis- lature in the following terms :-
" That many lives of the citizens of Pennsylvania are yearly lost by their being committed to the care of men, not quali- fied by education or talents to practise medicine.
" That this calamity has been very much lessened in several of our sister states by Laws to prevent any one exercising the profession of a Physician or Surgeon, who is not a gra- duate in some University or College, in which the branches of Medicine are taught by different professors, in an exten- sive manner, or who has not been approved after a previous examination by persons qualified for that purpose and ap- pointed by the Government. Your memorialists therefore humbly solicit that a similar law be passed in Pennsylvania. They do not wish it to have a retrospective operation, but request that its obligations and penalties take place from the date of the law."
This, like every subsequent effort on the part of the Pro- fession to regulate its practice in accordance with enlightened legislation, had no influence with our political rulers. In- deed, the time has not yet arrived when restrictions upon assumptive claims to skill or wisdom can be tolerated by the community, the members of which must either suffer, or pro- tect themselves by their own intelligence and discrimination between true and false claimants for public patronage.
The year 1808 was marked by the death of Dr. Shippen, whose career had been a distinguished one. Nature had been uncommonly lavish in his form and endowments. "His person was graceful, his manners polished, his conversation various, and the tones of his voice singularly sweet and conciliatory.
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In his intercourse with society he was gay without levity, and dignified without harshness or austerity." With respect to his powers of teaching, it is stated that those pupils who went abroad "declared that they had met with no man who was superior to Dr. Shippen as a demonstrator of anatomy, and very few, indeed, who were equal to him." " In explain- ing the success of Dr. Shippen in teaching anatomy, we may take into view another faculty which he also exerted with great effect. He went through the subject of each preceding lecture by interrogation instead of recapitulation-thus fixing the attention of the students; and his manner was so happy that this grave process proceeded like a piece of amusement. His irony was of a delicate kind, and so blended with humor that he could repress forwardness and take notice of negli- gence so as to admonish his class without too much exposing the defaulter."1
In speaking of Dr. William Hunter, it was remarked by Dr. James that "it was under the tuition of this truly inge- nious anatomist and physician that the late amiable and saga- cious Professor of Anatomy and Midwifery in this Univer- sity laid the foundation of that celebrity which many years of extensive professional employment nurtured and matured. It was by forming himself after this model that, in the de- livery of his interesting lectures, he at once delighted the gay and instructed the grave by the amenity of his manner and the utility of his practical precepts.
' Methinks I hear him now, his plausive words He scattered not in ears, but grafted them, To grow there and to bear.' ">2
The merits and reputation of Dr. Shippen were recognized abroad as well as at home. From the " Pennsylvania Chroni- cle" of May 2, 1768, the subjoined notice has been taken : "Dr. William Shippen, Jr. of this City, was on the third of Feb- ruary last unanimously elected a Fellow of the Royal College
1 Wistar's Eulogium.
2 MS. Lecture, Introductory to his Course on Obstetrics, 1810, by Thomas C. James, M. D., etc.
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of Physicians of Edinburgh." In 1805 he was chosen Presi- dent of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, succeeding, as the second President, the venerable Dr. John Redman. This office he held until his death.
On the decease of Dr. Shippen, the full duties of the Pro- fessorship were assumed by Dr. Wistar, by whom for some time previous they had been performed, teaching during the succeeding years both anatomy and midwifery.
In 1809, a change was brought about in the Chair of Chemistry by the death of Dr. Woodhouse. This gentleman was born in Philadelphia in 1770, and was educated at the University, from which, in 1787, he received the degree of A. B. He studied medicine with Dr. Rush, and graduated in 1792, as Doctor of Medicine, at the first Commencement after the union of the Schools. His Inaugural Essay was upon the " Persimmon." Before his graduation he had served in the army as a medical assistant, and took part in the un- fortunate campaign of General St. Clair against the Indians, during which he was exposed to the risk of massacre which befell the army of that commander.
The attention of Dr. Woodhouse had been especially di- rected to chemical pursuits, in which he had acquired some reputation, and hence his election in 1795, under the circum- stances that have been detailed, although he had as his com- petitor so able a chemist as Dr. Adam Seybert. Immediately upon his appointment, it is stated, "he went to work with zeal, and delivered a course of lectures with great applause ; and as almost the whole of his time was devoted to the study of his favorite science, he added to the number, variety, and brilliancy of his experiments."1 Dr. Caldwell, who was an attendant upon his lectures, informs us that he became in a short time so expert and successful an experimenter as to receive from Dr. Priestley, who had just arrived in the United States, and had declined the appointment, very flat- tering compliments upon his dexterity and skill. That dis- tinguished gentleman, on seeing him engaged in the business of his laboratory, did not hesitate to pronounce him equal, as
' Thatcher's Lives, p. 222.
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an experimenter, to any one he had seen either in England or France.' His enthusiasm was unbounded, and his style of speaking of his subject sentimentally impressive. He intro- duced to his juvenile auditors the science by the term of " Miss Chemistry," and strenuously urged fidelity and devo- tion to her as a chaste and eminently attractive mistress. Dr. Woodhouse adhered to the doctrine of Priestley, and may be said to have been the last of the American chemical philosophers entertaining the belief in Phlogiston. His pub- lished contributions to chemical science were numerous.
Dr. Woodhouse was succeeded by Dr. John Redman Coxe, who for two years previously had been a member of the Board of Trustees. The date of his election was July 10, 1809.
While the election of a successor to Dr. Woodhouse was pending, the Medical Faculty took decided ground with reference to the qualifications needed in the Professor of Chemistry of a Medical School. Their views are thus pre- sented in a letter to Chief Justice McKeen, one of the Trus- tees, at his request.
"It is particularly expedient that the Professor of Chemis- try should have a full and extensive knowledge of Medicine, because very many valuable articles of the Materia Medica are derived from Chemistry; and the nature of these articles can only be understood by a person who has a competent knowledge both of Chemistry and Medicine. The students of Medicine, who almost exclusively support the Professor- ship of Chemistry, are induced to do so in consequence of its application to Pharmacy and the different branches of Medi- cine, viz., Physiology, Pathology, Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and the Practice of Physic. No man can teach Pharmacy unless he has had some knowledge of the Practice of Medicine, and the application of Chemistry to Physiology ; and the other branches of medical science above mentioned can only be taught by a chemist who understands them.
" The teaching of Chemistry in this University has hitherto been confined to the Professors of Medicine; and the success
1 Autobiography of Dr. Charles Caldwell.
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attending this arrangement appears to us good reason for continuing it.
" In addition to this it may be observed, that we believe Chemistry is taught by Medical Professors in all the Univer- sities of Europe, that of Upsal excepted, where the late Sir T. Bergman was Chemical Professor. But in Sweden Chemistry is cultivated principally on account of its application to Mineralogy, and the Chemical Professors are not members of the Medical Faculty.
" We beg leave again to suggest that our Professor of Chemistry has always taken an active part in the business of the Medical Faculty, judging of the qualifications of the respective candidates in every branch of their profession, and examining Inaugural Theses on subjects relating to Medicine."
The letter was signed by Drs. Rush, Wistar, Barton, and Physick.
This expression of opinion was called for by a resolution pending before the Board of Trustees, that the Professorships of Natural History, Botany, and Chemistry, "should not hereafter be considered as pertaining to the Medical Depart- ment of the Faculty, although gentlemen of the medical pro- fession are and shall continue eligible to those professorships." The proposition was not entertained.
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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 in the Medical Schools-Dr. Shippen's endeavors to improve its condition in America-Election of Dr. James to the Chair of Obstet- rics in the University of Pennsylvania-The tardy admission of the subject to an equality with others-Mode of examining for degrees- New By-Laws for the regulation of the Medical Department-Rules for graduation.
IN 1810 a separation was effected between the two branches of Anatomy and Obstetrics, which had continued in the hands of a single Professor from the origin of the School of Medicine -a long period of forty-five years. This was owing more to the ignorance of the community at large with respect to the utility of Obstetrics than to the want of appreciation of its importance on the part of the profession. "Indeed, the public had to be educated to the opinion that science and extensive medical knowledge were required to conduct 'labor' with safety and success, as much as surgical operations or the treatment of disease."
In Europe, Obstetrics, as an art and science, was forced to disenthral itself from prejudice and disesteem. In consequence of the fastidiousness existing among women, it was little ap- pealed to in aid of their sufferings. Delivery was assigned to, or rather permitted to be exercised by those entirely igno- rant of its principles. Midwifery was in the hands of elderly women, who were usually conceited in proportion to their ignorance. To show that in the middle of the eighteenth century, midwifery was hardly regarded as belonging to the regular duties of the medical practitioner, it may be stated that Dr. Smellie, who afterwards contributed so much to improve and perfect it, at the commencement of his career
A CORNER IN THE LIBRARY.
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ALUMNI NOMINATION OF TRUSTEES.
I. By action of the Corporation, taken December 20, 1894, five members of the Board of Trustees may be elected upon the nomination of Alumni ; but not more than one each year and as the terms of these members ex- pire in rotation. All graduates of either College or Seminary of three years' standing are entitled to nominate. Ballots are sent by mail to all such alumni, announcing the expiration of the term of the trustee whose place is to be filled. The ballots must be returned to the Secretary of the Corporation on or before a designated day prior to the annual meeting of the Corporation at Hamilton. In electing, the trustees select one from three names having the greatest number of nominating ballots. Of the present members of the Corporation, the following have been elected on Alumni nomination :
GEORGE W. DOUGLASS, whose term expires in June, 1905. H. H. PEABODY, whose term expires in June, 1906.
EUGENE A. ROWLAND, whose term expires in June, 1906. EDWARD M. GROUT, whose term expires in June, 1907. ROBERT G. SEYMOUR, whose term expires in June, 1907.
2. The Alumni Association passed, in 1900, the following resolution :
Resolved, That at each annual meeting, the Alumni Association sug- gest to the voters, candidates for the vacancies, for which the Alumni may make nominations in the following year ; that to this end, nominations be made in the meeting, and the Association ballot for the selection of as many candidates as at the time it may think it wise to present, and that such nominations be regarded as in no wise binding upon voters,- but only as suggestions intended to secure such concert in voting as has not been obtained by other means.
IN the last annual report, the illustrations of tablets on the walls of the Hospital on which are inscribed the names of many contributors, having been approved by the friends of the Institution, it has been decided to introduce into the current issue, copies of the older paintings belonging to the Hospital.
GENEALOGICAL DEPARTMENT CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
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THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
" united the occupation of cloth merchant and practitioner of midwifery at Lanark.271
Instruction in midwifery was first commenced in Edin- burgh in 1726. The patrons of the University then founded a Professorship of this branch, to which was appointed Mr. Joseph Gibson. With respect to this the following statement is made by Mr. Bower: "At the time Mr. Gibson made his proposals to the Town Council, the practice of Midwifery in Scotland was completely engrossed by females. The pro- fession of Accoucheur, little more than thirty years ago (from 1817), was esteemed very unbecoming a gentleman, and so strong was the current of vulgar prejudice against those who practised it, that it was only in the most extreme cases, and, in general, when they could be of little or no service, that modest women would permit them to be called in for advice or assistance. Mr. Gibson solely instructed the midwives, and he was not a member of the Senatus Academicus. On his death in 1737, Mr. Robert Smith was appointed his successor, and was the first who had the status of a member of the Senatus.172
" Dr. Thomas Young, who in 1756 succeeded Mr. Smith, may truly be considered as the founder of this branch in the University of Edinburgh. He opened a class for students, instead of confining his attention to the education of females, and thus was the means of preventing midwifery from being engrossed by a very ignorant and credulous set of practi- tioners. He furthermore applied to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary for permission to fit up a ward for 'Lying-in Women,' and was successful."73
"Even among medical men, for a long time after the branch had been introduced into the studies of the Univer- sity, the prejudice against it continued. In 1769 an act was passed by the College of Physicians of Edinburgh, declaring those who practised Surgery, or any of its branches, including Obstetrics, disqualified from being admitted Licentiates of the College; and this having been carried by the majority, a
1 Life of Cullen, by Dr. J. Thomson, vol. i. p. 10.
2 Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, vol. ii. p. 254.
3 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 516.
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dissent from the determination was entered by Dr. Thomas Young. In this dissent he was supported by his Colleagues Drs. Cullen, Monro, Ramsay, Gregory, and Black, and by Dr. James Hay. In the progress of the discussion, which lasted until May, 1772, when the College reverted to their original resolution of prohibiting the practice of Surgery and its several departments, by Fellows of their own body, Dr. - Cullen took, in a great measure, the lead at the meetings of the College. The following reasons were given in opposition to this act with reference to Obstetrics."
"If the separation of Midwifery from Physic was the prin- cipal intention for passing this new act, it is certainly one of the most improper. Midwifery is a part of Surgery the most diversified that we know of, and the most requiring the general principles of physic. A judgment in physic is often inseparable from the practice of Midwifery, when it is not possible to have either the physician always at hand, or to render him useful unless he is exercised in the practice of it; therefore it is to the interest of mankind to have the two con- joined, if possible, in one person."
" We are persuaded that the public will think it for their interest, in cases which are attended sometimes with so great and sudden danger that physicians of the first rank should undertake the profession of Midwifery, and that the Legisla- ture will not suffer the College of Edinburgh to put a mark of contempt upon such physicians by excluding them from their Society."
Before Dr. Cullen died this act was repealed, and practi- tioners of midwifery admitted as Fellows of the College.1
The elevation of Midwifery to its true position in England is due mainly to the writings of Dr. Smellie, Dr. William Hunter, and his pupil Dr. Denman; while Mauriceau and Baudelocque were, by their clear and philosophical exposi. tion of its principles, mainly instrumental in establishing its importance on the Continent.2
1 Life of Cullen, vol. ii. pp. 89-697. Continued by Dr. Craigie.
2 Dr. John Maubray is considered by Dr. Denman as the first public teacher of Midwifery in England, and in 1724 published a syllabus of his
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It has been seen that Dr. Shippen, while in Europe, cultivated obstetrical science. Upon establishing himself in business, he endeavored, by teaching its principles, to ame- liorate the evils which came from the assumption of its duties by persons destitute of competent skill or knowledge. In the "Pennsylvania Gazette," Jan. 1, 1765, we find this « curious advertisement :-
"Dr. Shippen, Jr., having been lately called to the assist- ance of a number of women in the country, in difficult labors, most of which were made so by the unskilful old women about them ; the poor women having suffered extremely, and their innocent little ones being entirely destroyed, whose lives might have been easily saved by proper management; and being informed of several desperate cases in the different neighborhoods which had proved fatal to the mothers as well as to their infants, and were attended with the most painful circumstances, too dismal to be related ! He thought it his duty immediately to begin his intended courses in Midwifery, and has prepared a proper apparatus for that purpose, in order to instruct those women who have virtue enough to own their ignorance and apply for instruction, as well as those young gentlemen now engaged in the study of that useful and necessary branch of surgery, who are taking pains to qualify themselves to practise in different parts of the country, with safety and advantage to their fellow citizens."
After giving an outline of the contemplated course, the advertisement goes on to state that, "in order to make the course more perfect, a convenient lodging is provided for the accommodation of a few poor women, who otherwise might suffer for want of the common necessaries on these occasions,
lectures. His course consisted of twenty lectures, twelve of which were anatomical and physiological, and eight practical.
Dr. Edmond Chapman was the second public teacher of this branch in London about the year 1730. " He was a practitioner in the country, and came to the metropolis once a year to deliver his lectures ; but his pupils were only instructed in the theory, as he had no machine; nor were they allowed to attend labors, for Smellie first introduced these two great im- provements. Dr. Chapman first described the forceps." This instrument had been invented by Paul Chamberlain .- Sketch of Medicine and Mid- wifery in Denman's Treatise on Midwifery. 8
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to be under the care of a sober, honest matron, well acquainted with lying-in women, employed by the Doctor for that pur- pose." This is the first attempt in this country to establish a practical school or hospital for lying-in women. By his exertions in this direction, Dr. Shippen succeeded in popu- larizing "Man Midwifery," and acquired a respectable share of practice. We are informed by Dr. Wistar, that prior to the Revolution, Dr. Shippen "seems to have had a distinct class of students in the branch of Obstetrics; after that he delivered a short course to his general class," and adds : "I believe there was no lecture in which he shone so much as in his Introductory one to Midwifery, upon the subject of dress and deportment."
The union of Anatomy and Midwifery, after Dr. Shippen's death, did not continue without remonstrance upon the part of the Professor, Dr. Wistar. From the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Jan. 9, 1809, immediately after his election, we find that he directed a letter to that body, "requesting, for reasons therein stated, that the Professorship of Anatomy and Midwifery be abolished, and that two distinct Professorships be established in this Seminary." The movement which ensued from this proposition led to the passage of the follow- ing resolution, April 11, 1810 :-
" That the present establishment of a Professor of Anatomy and Midwifery be divided, and that hereafter there shall be a Professorship of Anatomy, and a Professorship of Midwifery, but that it shall not be necessary in order to obtain the De- gree of Doctor of Medicine, that the student shall attend the Professor of Midwifery."
On the 29th of June, 1810, Dr. Thomas Chalkley James was elected Professor of Midwifery. To no one could the duties of this chair have been more appropriately committed than to this amiable, gentle, and accomplished gentleman.
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