USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 22
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On April 20. 1841. all the chairs in Jefferson Medical College were vacated upon the peremptory order of the trustees, because of internal differences, and the following Faculty was installed : Dr. Robley Dung- lison. Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence : Dr. Robert W. Houston, Materia Medica and General Therapeutics: Dr. Joseph Pan- coast. General. Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy : Dr. John K. Mitchell. Practice of Medicine : Dr. Thomas D. Mütter, Institutes and Practice of Surgery : Dr. Charles D. Meigs, Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children : Dr. Franklin Bache, Chemistry. This Faculty remained un-
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changed for the long period of fifteen years. For a year or two, the number of students was not materially increased. largely owing to the rival school of Dr. Mcclellan, but in 1843 the graduates numbered forty- seven, and this was increased in 1845 to 116. In 1844 two rooms were rented for the use of patients after grave operations, and at the clinic. December 23. 1846. Dr. Mütter gave the first exhibition in Philadelphia of the anesthetic power of ether. About 1849 the surgical clinic used rooms adjoining the college of the north : these were subsequently re- modeled to accommodate fifteen patients, and here the clinic was main- tained until the building of the hospital.
Philadelphia had now become a great educational centre for the medical profession. During the winter of 1845-46 more than one thousand students were enrolled in the city, from all parts of the United States and from abroad-from Nova Scotia, the West Indies, Ireland and France, and one from far off Burmah. In addition, the faculty of Jefferson Medical College greeted with pleasure the presence of many medical officers of the army and navy, and twenty-nine graduates of other incorporated institutions who had chosen this college in order to acquire more thorough knowledge of medicine and surgery.
At the annual commencement in March. 1860. 175 candidates were graduated, but there was soon to be a serious diminution in num- ber. For several years there had been maintained in Philadelphia pri- vate schools for medical instruction in special branches. One of these was that of Dr. William S. Forbes, who instructed in Anatomy and Operative Surgery: another, that of Dr. D. Hayes Agnew : and a third. that of Dr. Hunter McGuire. All were brilliant teachers, and they drew large classes from among those ambitious students who were using every means to fit themselves for their profession. the greater number being at the same time attendants in the college. Dr. McGuire
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was the principal actor in a scene of dramatic force and interest. A native Virginian, marked by the traits which characterize the most forceful elements of his State, he was an impassioned advocate of the cause of secession. Whether he took the initiative in inducing the Southern students at Jefferson to withdraw from that institution, is uncertain. At least. he gave willing heed to the importunities of the Richmond Medical School, and led several hundred medical students away from Philadelphia, and his part in this affair ultimately led to pro- hibition of such schools as that at Richmond, which promised to the se- ceders the same relative standing as at Jefferson and gratuitous instruc- tion. Allured by such promises, and fired by their hostility to the North and its institutions, several hundred, led by McGuire, turned their backs upon their college to enter that at Richmond. Many of McGuire's fol- lowers entered the rebel army, as did he himself. and he rose to high rank in its medical corps. After the war he devoted himself to medical teach- ing and writing. and with mach success. He received the degree of doctor of laws from the University of North Carolina in 1887. and sub- sequently he received a degree from Jefferson Medical College.
To quote from Dr. Holland's "History of Jefferson Medical Col- lege." "when the civil war broke out, as two-fifths of the class usually came from the Southern States, it is not surprising that in two years the roll of students shrank from 630-the largest class which up to that time had attended any medical college in this country-to only 275." Jefferson was also largely represented in the Umon army, in the ranks, with commissions, and in the medical corps. It need only be added in this connection, that in 1864-65 many of the Southerners who had left Jefferson at the beginning of the war came back to review their studies and receive their diplomas.
In 1866 a daily clinic was established, with Dr. Jacob M. DaCosta
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as lecturer on clinical medicine, and a summer course of instruction was begun the same year. In 1868, after twenty-five years of active service. impaired health obliged Dr. Dunglison to retire from his Professorship and also from the position of Dean. His continued association with the Faculty was deemed desirable, however, and he was made Emeritus Professor in his department, and he continued in that capacity until his death, April 1. 1869.
In 1870 was organized the Alumni Association, of which the elder Gross was made the first president. This eminent man, renowned as a practitioner, teacher, and author, died on May 6. 1884. His remains were cremated at Washington. Pennsylvania. Subsequently, on May 5. 1897. a life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled in Washington City : the donors were the American Surgical AAssociation and the Alumni Association of the Jefferson Medical College, while the granite pedestal was provided for out of an appropriation made by .Act of Congress. He was one who was at once loved and revered by his associates and pupils. He was a slow. steady and fearless operator, a notably accurate diagnostician, and a brilliant speaker in the amphitheatre and class 10011.
In 1873 the legislature made an appropriation of $100,000 for the erection of a new Hospital building. This was one of the first as it was one of the noblest undertakings in which the influence of the Alumni Association was exerted in behalf of the College. Its members were not only instrumental in procuring the necessary legislation, but they were generous in their personal subscriptions. The institution was opened in September. 1877, and cost, with its equipment, nearly $186.000. This amount was made up in part by donations. I. V. Williamson lead- ing with the munificent gift of $50.000. \ large medical staff was at once created. and has been constantly maintained. The legislature sub-
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sequently appropriated a further sum of $100,000, payable in install- ments of $10,000. To provide an endowment fund, the trustees offered to: found and support one free bed on the donation of $5,000 or the annual payment of $300, and this proffer met with cordial responses From 1. V. Williamson, Henry C. Lea. Thomas A. Scott. Asa Parker. . \. Whitney. A. J. Drexel. Joseph Pancoast, Jesse George Thomas D. Mutter, the Reading Railroad, and others. In 1878 a Pathological Museum was established in connection with the hospital; in 1880 the new Laboratory bnikling adjoining the Medical Hall was opened, pro- viding facilities for section teaching in operative and minor surgery. undl for instruction in practical chemistry, microscopy and physiology; and in 1881 was equipped the Laboratory of Materia Medica and Phar- macy in the Medical Hall. From the moment the Hospital was opened (in 1877) it became an important factor in medical teaching, as well as in the treatment of disease. While primarily intended for the in- struction of medical students, it was especially advantageous to the patients, who were afforded, without cost, the services of leading prac- titioners, chosen for eminent ability, each in his own special depart- ment, and. as a result, patients suffering from complicated disorders have long come to this clinic for diagnosis and treatment, from all over Pennsylvania and adjacent States.
As early as 18go it became apparent that the Hospital buikling was inadequate to the demand, and in 1894 was purchased a six-story buildling adjacent to the Hospital proper, which was styled the Hospital Annex. In 1899 the splendid edifice at the northwest corner of Tenth and Walnut streets. the new Medical College buikling, was completed -representing the best of architectural skill, within and without- modern, attractive and useful, and representing the outlay of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even before this work was finished, the trustees
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had entered upon the self-appointed task of preparation for the erection of a new Hospital-a structure which in excellence of construction and interior appointments will rival any building of its kind, and will cost upwards of three-quarters of a million dollars.
The Faculty rolls of Jefferson Medical College for the year 1903- 1904 contained the names of two emeritus and twelve regular profes- sors, ten honorary and clinical professors, five adjunct and assistant professors, four lecturers and associates, fourteen demonstrators, one prosector, and fifty-six other instructors and assistant demonstrators.
OTIIER MEDICAL SCHOOLS.
The Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia had its origin May 13. 1848. as a society or permanent association of physicians. It was chartered in 1850. and in 1867. by virtue of an amendatory act. it was transformed into a regular Medical College, with power to con- fer degrees. Those who were the principal factors in its institution and development were Drs. John V. Shoemaker, William S. Stewart. and the late Drs. William H. Pancoast. Henry E. Goodman and Peter D. Keyser. The College is wholly a product of the last two decades. and, to quote Dr. F. P. Henry, "in the rapidity and vigor of its growth is probably without a parallel in the history of medical schools."
An institution of the highest class is the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in Medicine, now in its twenty-second year. It numbers in its Faculty some of the most accomplished physicians and surgeons in America.
The Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia is notable as being the first institution of its school of medicine to be in- corporated and empowered to confer the medical degree. It was char- tered in 1848. At that time there were in the United States about three
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hundred physicians who, reared in "the old school," had become in larger or smaller degree followers of Hahnemann. In 1844 was organized the American Institute of Homeopathy, antedating by two years the old school American Medical Association. The latter named body having declared the pupils of homeopathic physicians ineligible to ma- triculation in the only medical colleges then existing, the adherents of the new school, led by Drs. Constantine Hering, Jacob Jeanes and Wal- ter Williamson, procured an act of incorporation from the legislature. under the title of the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. The new college opened its first session October 16, 1848. in a building on the site of 635 .Arch street, whence it removed in 1849 to a more commodious edifice at 1105 Filbert street. In 1869 the name of the in- stitution was changed to the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1886 removal was made to the fine group of build- ings on North Broad street, two squares north of the city hall. The properties are not surpassed in eligibility by any medical school in the country, and comprise nearly two acres of ground and four spacious buildings. The Museum, which had its founding in 1850. has long been an object of particular pride to teacher and graduates. The Library is the most complete in existence in its particular class of medical sci- ence, including the Hering library, containing Dr. Hering's "Paracelsian Collection." the most complete collection of the writings of Paracelsus and the commentaries of other writers thereon that is known to exist : together with all of Hahnemann's works. in the original, many of them enriched by annotations in the handwriting of Dr. Hering. The Col- lege numbers nearly fifty instructors, has an annual student list of nearly three hundred. and since its foundation has given instruction to nearly four thousand students.
The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania was opened October
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12, 1850, in a small building in the rear of 627 .Arch street, Philadelphia. In 1861 was opened the Women's Hospital, founded mainly through the efforts of Dr. Ann Preston, inspired by a desire to provide clinical ad- vantages for the college students. In 1869 a progressive course of study was instituted, and the college thenceforward rapidly extended its use- fulness. In 1875 a college edifice was built, and it is worthy of note that this was the first edifice in the world expressly built for the educa- tion of women in medicine. In 1883 Clinic Hall was opened; the out- door obstetric department was founded in 1888; Brinton Hall, the home of the Young Women's Christian Association, was opened in 1888. and some years later came into the possession of the college; in 1895 the original Women's Hospital building was replaced by a large and handsome structure; and in 1895 the Hospital and Dispensary of the Alumnae of the Women's Medical College was opened. In the year 1000 the College celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, when the corps of professors and instructors for the year numbered sixty-six, and reports were read giving the number of graduates to that date as 940. The institution has since made various important additions to its already splendid equipment, and holds an honored place among the medical schools of the country.
In 1886 was established the Western Pennsylvania Medical Col- lege. at Pittsburg, which in 1895 became the Medical Department of the Western University of Pennsylvania. The original college build- ing has been recently rebuilt and enlarged. Through the liberality of Isaac Kaufmann was built the College Dispensary and Emma Kaufmann Clinic, where more than five thousand patients are annually treated. The College controls the obstetric service in the fine Reineman Hospital. a gift of the late Adam Reineman. More than seventy Professors and
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other instructors are engaged, and all departments are as capably taught as in other kindred institutions which have had long existence.
COURSES OF MEDICAL STUDY.
The cause of medical education was greatly advanced through the operations of " An Act for the Promotion of Medical Science." which was ostensibly the result of the endeavors of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, but which in reality originated with Dr. William S. Forbes.
Prior to the enactment of the law there was much difficulty in procuring material for the dissecting room, and some incidental scandals. The needs of the medical schools stimulated a most degrading traffic- that carried on by the so-called "resurrectionists." through connivance with those charged with the burial of the unclaimed dead. or by down- right robbery of cemeteries, and which brought obloquy upon the schools and their teachers, no matter how innocent of complicity in the nefarious transaction. Dr. Forbes, while an army surgeon during the civil war. had been a pained witness of the want of a practical knowledge of anatomy on the part of many of the medical corps, and attributed their ignorance to the obstacles in the way of systematic dissections while students. Moreover. he had a personal knowledge of the difficulties, if not dangers, which beset the teacher. for in 1807. while proprietor of the College Avenue Anatomical School in Philadelphia, he was brought to trial under a charge of grave robbing, of which. however. he was acquitted.
At a meeting of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, on Feb. ruary 6. 1867. Dr. Forbes offered resolutions looking to the enactment of a law sanctioning the dissection of dead human bodies, under proper restrictions, and be presented his reasons with much force. He stated,
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also, that at the previous session of the legislature he had procured the introduction of a bill of which he was the author, and which had passed the House, but failed in the Senate because of opposition on the part of a member of that body who had denounced the measure as "11- worthy of the age in which we live."
At this meeting of the College. Dr. Forbes also read the draft of his "Act for the Promotion of Medical Science, and to Prevent the Traffic in Human Bodies in the City of Philadelphia." In this it was provided that the bodies of deceased persons requiring to be buried at public expense should be used within the state for the advancement of medical science, preference being given to medical schools, public and private, such bodies to be distributed among the same in proportion to their number of students ; the removal of such bodies beyond the State, or traffic in them, was expressly forbidden. Decency was safeguarded by the provision that the body of no person should be disposed of as before provided if the deceased, during his last illness, should express a desire for burial; if a kinsman of the deceased should request that the body be buried; or if the deceased person were a stranger or traveler who had died suddenly.
The proposed law was approved by the College, and a committee ( Drs. W. S. Forbes, S. D. Gross and D. Hayes Agnew ) was appointed to urge its passage by the legislature. Dr. Gross was unable to go to Harrisburg, and Dr. Hartshorne attended in his stead. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Wilmer Worthington, of West Chester, a physician, and a man of high character and great influence. There was determined opposition to "the Ghastly Act," as it was termed by prominent statesmen. The hill was referred to a committee, which brought in an adverse report, whereupon Senator Worthington procured a recommital, and this gave opportunity for the committee from the
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College to appear and urge its views, which it did so effectively that the committee now recommended the passage of the bill. When the bill was called up in the Senate, it was objected that unless the pro- visions of the act were restricted to Philadelphia it ought not to pass, of the grounds that the views of the constituents of the rural repre- sentatives were not known. The College representatives made answer that their colleagues had the catholic desire of having the benefit of the act extended to every part of the State, but that, if it could not be so exended. they would receive it for themselves. Such was the prejudice against the measure that the restriction was made, except in the case of Allegheny county, which was included at the request of its senator. The bill became a law on March 18. 1867, and was signed by Governor John W. Geary.
Immediately afterward. a voluntary association of the demonstra- tors in the chartered and private schools of anatomy was formed for the purpose of providing for an equitable distribution of unclaimed Ixxcies, and this organization was maintained until the act of 1883 ren- dered it superfluous by extending the operations of the act throughout the State, and by making specific provisions for the equitable distribu- tion of material for dissecting purposes.
For many years there were no uniform regulations for admission to a medical college. Such progressive men as the senior Pancoast. Gross and Da Costa, with others, had earnestly advocated a general elevation of the medical educational standard, but definite action was delayed until about 1892, when a number of medical colleges came to- gether and formed the Association of American Medical Colleges, which exercised a salutary influence, and through whose agency was finally enacted legislation which proved an additional barrier against those who presumed to enter upon practice with but a smattering of medical
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knowledge. For many years there had been practically no closing the doors against the illiterates. Young men presented themselves who were found sadly wanting in elementary education. Then, again, an embryo medico could study under the office tutorship of a practitioner who was not a graduate of any regular collegiate institution, and, by attending one course of practical anatomy and of clinical instruction. make himself eligible for a diploma. This loose system was to some degree abrogated through the adoption, by the leading medical colleges. of the requirement that the student must produce a satisfactory certifi- cate of having studied medicine for at least three years under a regular graduate, or licenciate and practitioner of medicine, in good standing. using the word "regular" in the sense commonly understood in the medical profession. The provisions laid down by the Association of American Medical Colleges proved remedial along all lines, tending to elevate the character and standing of the colleges comprising it. Among the excellent results of the confederation were the establishment of harmony among the individual colleges, and provision for uniformity in the curriculum. Reputable schools of medicine were brought nearer together in accord and methods, and those unworthy of confidence were ignored.
On May 18. 1893. was enacted a law which was intended to provide the necessary regulations for safeguarding the legitimate practice of medicine, and which has to a great extent fulfilled the expectations of its advocates. Under it there was established a Medical Council. com- prising the lieutenant governor, attorney general. secretary of internal affairs. the president of the state board of health and vital statistics. the president of the board of medical examiners representing the Meclical Society of Pennsylvania. the president of the board of medical examiners representing the Homeopathic Medical Society of
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Pennsylvania, and the president of the board of medical examiners rep- resenting the Eclectic Medical Society of Pennsylvania. Each of the Society boards named is composed of seven members chosen out of its own membership, and whose duty it is to examine and pass upon the quality and proficiency of practitioners of their own individual school of medicine. The law establishing these several boards is sufficiently broad and explicit to protect the several schools of medicine and their practitioners, and to exclude from the profession such as are of unworthy character, whether practicing under the guise of completed scholarship in some institution, or without anything worthy the name of medical education.
LAW SCHOOLS.
The first Law School in America was that which was opened in connection with the College which eventually developed into the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. The bar of Philadelphia was already famous for its ability, and lawyers' offices were eagerly sought by many am- bitious students. These latter, desirous of more ample opportunity for gaining professional knowledge, in 178g procured the use of a college room wherein to hold their meetings for discussions and moot trials. In the following year a prominent lawyer, Charles Smith, suggested to the college board the institution of a law lectureship, and he offered himself as a lecturer. Ultimately, James Wilson, a member of the board, and who was then a justice of the United States Supreme Court, was appointed a Professor of Law, and a course of instruction was vaguely laid down, and may be thus summarized :
1. To explain the Constitution of the United States, its parts and powers, and the distribution and operation of those powers; to ascertain the merits of that Constitution by comparing it with the constitutions of other States, with the general principles of government, and with the
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rights of men; to mark particularly and distinctly the rules and de- cisions of the Federal Courts in law and practice; to investigate the connection which subsists between the Federal Government and the several States, and, of consequence, between each of the States and all the others. ( It is interesting to note that these purposes were almost identical with those laid down by Thomas Jefferson at a later day ( 1819). in his syllabus with reference to the University of Virginia, of which he was the founder.)
2. To illustrate the genius, the elements, the originals, and the rules of the common law, in theory and practice, these including the law of nations, the civil law, maritime law, the law-merchant, and the law of each country, in all cases in which those laws are peculiarly appli- cable.
Announcement was made of three lectures each week, with law exercises on one day. The introductory lecture, on December 15. 1790. was a notable affair. Philadelphia was then the national capital, and the event was witnessed by President Washington and his Cabinet, the Houses of Congress, the State Legislature, and other important per- s mages. The lectures were continued through that winter, and a partial course was given during the following winter, then being abandoned. This law school was of little moment, and is only of interest as being the first law lectureship in the United States, and for the high dignity of the first law teacher.
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