History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 184

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Pennsylvania : Vice Presidents, Drs. Jonathan Knight, of Connecticut, Alexander H. Stevens, of New York, James Moultrie, of Sonth Carohna, and A. H. Bu- chanan, of Tennessee ; Secretaries, Drs. Alfred Stillé, of Philadelphia, and J. R. W. Dunbar, of Baltimore; Treasurer, Dr. Isaac Hays, of Philadelphia.

It is difficult to overestimate the blessing that the formation of this association has been to the medical profession of the United States. Among all it has done, probably second to none both in importance and benignity is the action at the second annual meet- ing, in 1849, at Boston, regarding the increased devo- tion to medical literature and the assistance to be rendered physicians in the publication of their works.

The Clinical Society was organized under the name of the Northern Medical Association of Phila- delphia on the 5th of December, 1846, at a meeting held at the Northern Dispensary, No. 603 Spring Garden Street. The first officers were Dr. Benjamin S. Janney, president ; Dr. Arnold Naudain, vice-pres- ident ; Drs. Thomas H. Yardley. N. L. Hatfield, and John Uhler, conncil ; Dr. M. B. Smith, treasurer ; Dr. Isaac Remington, recording secretary; and Drs. R. H. Townsend and Joseph R. Bryan, reporting secre- taries. The meetings were held at the Northern Dis- pensary, but when the location of that institution was changed to 608 Fairmount Avenue the association moved with it. The association received its original name from the fact of its being composed of physi- cians residing in the northern portion of the city. It is the only medical society in the city open to women, Dr. IIannah T. Croasdale and Dr. Ida E. Richardson being the first lady members admitted, on the 22d of April, 1881. The Northern Medical As- sociation was reorganized as the Philadelphia Clini- cal Society, at a meeting held Jan. 25, 1884, at the College of Physicians, corner of Thirteenth and Lo- eust Streets. The following officers were elected : President, Dr. Henry Beates, Jr .; Vice-President, Dr. E. E. Montgomery ; Second Vice-President, Dr. Hannah T. Croasdale ; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. Ida E. Richardson ; Recording Secretary, Dr. I. G. Heilman ; Reporting Secretary, Dr. G. Betton Mas- sey ; Treasurer, Dr. L. Brewer Ilall ; Censors, Drs. A. S. Barton, S. N. Troth, Albert H. Smith, James B. Walker, and Henry Rihl. The number of members after reorganization was abont seventy. The society meets at the College of Physicians on the fourth Friday of every month, except July and August. The initiation fee is three dollars and the annual dues two dollars. The society is composed entirely of resi- dent members.

The Philadelphia County Medical Society was organized at a meeting held at the Ilall of the Col- lege of Pharmacy, on Filbert Street above Seventh, on the 11th of December, 1848, at which Dr. Samuel Jackson was made president, and Dr. D. Francis Condie, secretary. The first stated meeting was held

at the same place on the 16th of January, 1849, when Dr. Samuel Jackson was elected president for the ensuing year ; Dr. George Fox and Dr. T. F. Bet- ton, vice-presidents ; Dr. D. Francis Condie, recording secretary ; Dr. Henry S. Patterson, corresponding secretary ; Dr. M. M. Reeve, treasurer ; and Drs. T. Hobson, Wilson Jewell, J. F. Meigs, Isaac Parrish, and D. Tucker, censors. The successive presidents have been :

Dr. Satuuel Jackson, 1849-33; Dr. John F. Lamb, 1:33; Dr. Thomas F. Betton, 1854; Dr. D. Francie Condie, 1855; Dr. Wilson Jewell, 1856 ; Dr. Gouverneur Emerson, 1857 ; Dr. John Bell, 1858 ; Dr. Benjamin H. Coates, 1859 ; Dr. Isaac Remington, 1860; Dr. Joseph Carson, 1861 ; Dr. Alfred Stille, 1862; Dr. Samuel D. Gross, 1863; Dr. Lewis B. Gebhard, 1864; Dr. Nathan L. Hatfield, 1865; Dr. William Mayburry, 1866; Dr. Andrew Nebinger, 1867; Dr. George Hamilton, 1868; Dr. William L. Knight, 1869; Dr. William H. Pancoast, 1870; Dr. James Aitken Meiga, 1871; Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, 1872; Dr. William B. Atkinson, 173; Dr. Washington L. Atlee, 1874; Dr. William Goodell, 1875; Dr. T. M. Drys- dale, 1×76; Dr. Henry H. Smith, 1877-80; Dr. A. H. Smith, 1880-81 ; Dr. H. Y. Evans, 18$2; Dr. W. 31. Welch, 1883-84.

The society was incorporated Oct. 2, 1877. Since 1878 it has issued an annual report of its transactions. The number of members in January, 1884, was four hundred and ten. The society is the only one in this city which is entitled to representation in the Amer- iean Medical Association or the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania. It meets in the building of the College of Physiciaus, corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets.

The objects of the society are: "The advancement of knowledge upon all subjects connected with the healing art, thereby lessening human suffering by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to this country, and enlarging the avenues to knowledge from the discoveries and publications of foreign countires; the organization of the medical profession in connection with the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania and the American Medical Association ; the elevation of the character and the protection of the rights and interests of those engaged in the practice of medicine, and the study of the means calculated to render the medical profession most useful to the public and subservient to the inter- ests of humanity."

The members of the society must be citizens of the county of Philadelphia, graduates of at least one year's standing from a respectable medical school, and of good moral and professional reputation. A physician removing into this county is not eligible for membership until he has practiced for one year within the county. The admission fee is five dollars, the annual contribution four dollars. Stated meetings are held on the first Wednesday of January, April, June, and October. Conversational meetings are held on the second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of each month from September to June, both inclusive.

The Pathological Society was organized on Oct. 14, 1857, at a meeting held in the picture-house of the Pennsylvania Hospital, on Spruce Street, above Eighth. The first officers were as follows : President,

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MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Professor Samuel D. Gross, M.D .; Vice-Presidents, study of obstetrics and diseases of women and children. There are four classes of members,-resident, associate, corresponding, and honorary,-all of whom must be Dr. René La Roche and Dr. Alfred Stillé; Treasurer, Dr. Addinell Hewson; Secretary, Dr. Jacob M. Da Costa; Assistant Secretary, Dr. T. G. Morton. During | practitioners in good standing in the profession, and the earlier portion of its existence, before the County especially interested in the study of obstetrics or the diseases of women and children. The entrance-fee payable by resident members is five dollars, and the annual dues three dollars. The regular meetings of the society take place upon the first Thursday of every month. Society had acquired a great degree of importance, the College of Physicians and the Pathological Society were the two most important medical organizations in Philadelphia. Among its members have been the most prominent physicians of the city. The succes- sive presidents of the society have been as follows: Dr. Samuel D. Gross, 1857 ; Dr. René La Roche, 1858 ; Dr. Alfred Stillé, 1859, 1861-62; Dr. Edward Harts- horne, 1860, 1863; Dr. Jacob M. Da Costa, 1864-66; Dr. John H. Packard, 1867-68; Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, 1869; Dr. John Ashhurst, Jr., 1870; Dr. James H. Hutchinson, 1871-72; Dr. William Pepper, 1873; Dr. H. Lenox Hodge, 1876; Dr. Samuel W. Gross, 1879; Dr. James Tyson, 1882. The society meets in the building of the College of Physicians.

The objects are "the cultivation and promotion of the study of pathology, by the exhibition and descrip- tion of specimens, drawings, and other representations of morbid parts." Its meetings take place on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, except July and August. Its membership is composed of residents, non-residents, and correspondents, any re- spectable physician being eligible. The admission fee to resident members is five dollars, and the annual contribution four dollars. A committee on patho- logical research, a committee on publication, and a committee on morbid growths are elected annually in October. The committee on pathological research is empowered to aid, from the funds of the society, any member of the society engaged in pathological ex- periment, upon being satisfied that such research is in actual progress, and that it is so conducted and of such a nature as to benefit the science of pathology. The results of such inquiries must be contributed to the "Proceedings of the Pathological Society." To the committee on morbid growths the specimens exhib- ited in the meetings of the society may be referred for microscopical examination.

The Obstetrical Society was organized at a meet- ing held June 6, 1868. Dr. Francis G. Smith was elected the first president. The number of original members was twenty-eight. The successive presi- dents have been: 1868, 1869, and 1870, Dr. Francis G. Smith; 1871, Dr. Robert P. Harris; 1872 and 1873, Dr. William Goodell ; 1874 and 1875, Dr. Albert H. Smith ; 1876, Dr. John S. Parry ; 1877 and 1878, Dr. John H. Packard; 1879 and 1880, Dr. Lewis D. Harlow ; 1881 and 1882, Dr. Edward L. Duer; 1883 and 1884, Dr. Richard A. Cleeman. The society was incorporated April 14, 1877. The number of active members in February, 1884, was ninety-two. The society has always met in the building of the College of Physicians.

The object of the society is the advancement of the

The Medico-Legal Society of Philadelphia was organized as the Northwestern Medical Association at a meeting held in a hall at the corner of Twentieth Street and Ridge Avenue, on the 8th of November, 1877. Dr. George E. Stubbs was temporary chair- man. The original design of the society was the pro- tection of physicians against patients who were likely to be delinquent in paying bills, by the preparation of confidential lists containing the names of such per- sons. The first permanent officers were elected on the 1st of February, 1878, Dr. C. R. Paul being chosen president; Drs. T. S. Butcher and G. M. D. Peltz, vice-presidents; Dr. Richard D. Stretch, recording secretary ; Dr. T. V. Crandall, corresponding secre- tary ; Dr. J. D. Nash, treasurer ; and Drs. A. S. Gerhard, J. Peltz, and M. Franklin, censors. These officers all retained their positions until April of 1883, except that Dr. Franklin was succeeded, in 1879, by Dr. D. N. Connor. The officers elected April, 1883, are as follows: President, Dr. Thomas B. Butcher ; First Vice-President, Dr. T. V. Cran- dall ; Second Vice-President, Dr. F. B. Hazel ; Sec- retary, Dr. Richard G. Stretch ; Corresponding Sec- retary, Dr. George B. Oliver; Librarian, F. L. Weir; Censors, J. Peltz, A. S. Gerhard, and D. N. Connor. The society has held its meetings at the offices of its members. A reorganization took place in 1883, the name of the society being changed to the Medico- Legal Society, and its province widened to include the reading and the discussion of papers upon the subject of medical jurisprudence. Lawyers are ad- mitted as members. Conversational meetings take place monthly, and business meetings quarterly.

The Laryngological Society was organized at a meeting held at the house of Dr. J. Solis Cohen, 1431 Walnut Street, on the 7th of May, 1880, at which Dr. J. Solis Cohen was chosen president ; Dr. Carl Seiler, secretary ; and Dr. Harrison Allen, Dr. Isaac Barton, and Dr. George Y. McCracken, the executive com- mittee. The first stated meeting was held on the 28th of May following at the house of Dr. Cohen, when the officers elected at the previous meeting were continued for the ensuing year. Dr. Cohen was president for two years, Dr. Harrison Allen succeeded him in 1882, and Dr. Charles S. Turnbull in 1883. Dr. George Y. McCracken is the present secretary.

The object of the society is to promote an interest in the study of diseases of the throat and nose. Members are all specialists in laryngology or in

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

associated diseases of the head. The initiation fee is five dollars, the annual dues two dollars. The so- ciety meets at the houses of members on the last Friday of each month, each member in turn being visited. A paper is read at each meeting, and inter- esting cases are exhibited.

The Medical Jurisprudence Society originated in the beginning of 1884, Dr. Henry Leffman and Hampton L. Carson being the prime movers in its organization. The preliminary meeting was held on the 18th of January, 1884, in the hall of the College of Physicians, at which Dr. Samuel D. Gross was chosen president, and committees were appointed to prepare for a permanent organization. Meetings are held monthly from October to May, inclusive. The society is to be composed of members of the medical and legal professions and such other persons as may be interested in medical jurisprudence.

The Philadelphia Neurological Society .- The first meeting to organize the Philadelphia Neurologi- cal Society was held in the building of the College of Physicians on the evening of the 15th of Decem- ber, 1883, pursuant to a call issued by Drs. Charles K. Mills, F. X. Dercum, J. T. Eskridge, and Wharton Sinkler. At a second meeting, on Monday, Jan. 28, 1884, the following officers were elected : President, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell ; Vice-Presidents, Drs. Charles K. Mills and I. N. Kerlin; Secretary and Treasurer, Dr. James Hendrie Lloyd; Council, Drs. S. Preston Jones, Wharton Sinkler, and J. T. Eskridge; Re- corder, Dr. Lewis Brinton.

The object of the society is to promote the study of neurology in all its branches. Members must he engaged in some branch of the study. The society is composed of active, corresponding, and honorary members. The first-named must be regular physi- cians, residing in the city of Philadelphia or its vicinity. Corresponding members live outside the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia, and are limited to twelve in number. Honorary members are dis- tinguished neurologists or alienists, who are not active or corresponding members. They are limited to six in number. The annual dues are four dollars. The meetings are held on the fourth Monday of every month from October to April, inclusive. The society admits ladies as members.

Hahnemann only dates back to about the beginning of the present century, and many of its disciples did not become converts to it until they had reached or passed middle age. and been long engaged in the other school. It was not introduced in Philadelphia until 1831, when Dr. George Butt, who was a friend of Dr. Constantine Hering, and had studied homœ- opathy with him in Paramaibo, South America, opened his office here. The next was the cholera year, and Dr. Butt was very successful in his treatment of the disease. He remained in this city until 1837, when he removed to Nazareth, Pa., dying there in 1875. In 1833 he was joined by Dr. Constantine Hering, a native of Saxony, born in 1800, and one of the ablest cham- pions of homeopathy. Some time after this Dr. Her- ing opened a school of the new system in Allentown, but it was not a success in the financial sense, and he returned to Philadelphia. He accumulated an exten- sive practice, and died in 1879. One of his pupils, Dr. Lingen, was a practitioner in 1839, and in 1848 removed from Philadelphia to Mobile, where he died in 1864. Dr. Matlack was probably also a student of Dr. Hering, as he, in 1835, had a homeopathic office on Arch Street, below Seventh. In 1870 he removed to Germantown, and died there five years later. Dr. Gideon Humphrey was, between 1836 and 1840, prac- ticing homœopathy in Philadelphia, and was noted for his zeal in the propagation of its principles, to which he was a convert from the other school. He was a native of Delaware, to which he returned some forty years ago. Dr. Jacob Jean's initiation into homeopathy dates back to 1835, and he remained faithful until his death, in 1879. In 1836, Dr. Jonas Green came over to homœopathy, and about 1860 re- moved to New Orleans for the remainder of his life. Following closely after him was Dr. Walter Wil- liamson, who opened his office in Philadelphia in 1839. He was one of the organizers of the American Institute of Homeopathy, of which he was president in 1848, and of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, in which he filled a professional chair. As a teacher be had under his charge scores of the later practi- tioners. He died Dec. 19, 1870. These early Hahne- mannians had up-hill work to gain the confidence of the public in their innovations upon the familiar sys- tem of medicine, and one of those who did exceedingly effective service was Dr. Samuel Richard Dubs, who practiced for three years after his graduation, in 1836, and in 1839 changed to the new school because it had built up his own health after the other had failed to do so. For the following nineteen years he practiced in Philadelphia, where he was engaged in the founda- tion of the first homeopathic college in the United States, the American Institute of Homeopathy, and the Provers' Union. He was the first homoeopath to employ and advocate, in 1539 and 1840, the prepara- tion of medicines on the decimal scale, and of carry-

Homeopathy in Philadelphia .- While the reg- ular schools and practitioners of Philadelphia have justly attained a reputation that is world-wide, the fame of the other great branch of the profession, the homeopaths, is not less enviable. Both in teaching and in practice, as well as in original investigation and the application of discoveries, the roll of their mem- bers discloses many most eminent and honored names of men who have conferred lustre upon what has not been inaptly termed the noblest and most beneficent -vience in which the human intellect can be employed. I heir record may not be so voluminous and venerable | ing the attenuations up by that scale instead of hy that of the regulars, for the distinctive system of

the centennial, as recommended by Hahnemann.

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MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Still another pioneer was Dr. Adolphus Lippe, son to have been the first physician who advocated the homeopathicity of hot applications to heated, in- flamed surfaces instead of cold, and he has strenu- ously argued for the most liberal culture for medical practitioners. of Count Ludwig von Lippe, who learned homco- pathy in Dr. Hering's Allentown school. A keen and thorough controversialist, he was always prepared to do battle with his tongue or pen for his opinions. In 1847 he removed from Carlisle to Philadelphia, and It will be seen that even previous to 1850 the Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, and the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, were established upon a firm basis. Dr. Richard Gardiner graduated from the former in 1848, and in company with Dr. Gideon Humphrey, his intimate friend, began homeopathic practice, and was a phy- sician in active service for more than sixty years. In the list of those whose connections with these insti- tutions are well known were Dr. Henry Newell from 1863 to 1868 he filled the chair of Materia Medica in the Homeopathic College. Although Dr. Walter Ward left Philadelphia in 1849, it was here that he qualified in his profession, joining the Ameri- can Institute of Homeopathy at its first session in Philadelphia, and becoming professor of Physiology in the Homoeopathic College, where he, with others, had the honor of signing the first diplomas granted by that body. Another graduate of Dr. Hering's school was Dr. Charles Neidhard, who, after 1837, ' Guernsey and Dr. Jabez Dake, the latter one of the was professor of Clinical Medicine in the Homeo- editors of the Philadelphia Journal of Homoeopathy. Dr. Guernsey entered the Pennsylvania College in 1856, and was for a long term professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, as well as dean of the faculty, and was also author of the "Key-Note System." At the centennial celebration, in 1855, of Hahnemann's birthday, Dr. Dake delivered the ora- tion, which was largely instrumental in elevating him to the chair of Materia Medica in the Hahne- mann College. Dr. Amos Russell Thomas adopted the new school soon after his settlement here, in 1856, and in 1867 took the chair of Anatomy in the same college, in addition to filling which he held the posi- tion of editor of the American Journal of Homreo- pathic Materia Medica. Another organ of the profes- sion is the Hahnemannian Monthly, of which the editor is Robert J. McClatchey, who has been in succession demonstrator of Anatomy and professor of Anatomy in the Homoeopathic Medical College. He has been secretary of the Philadelphia Homeopathic Medical Society from its institution, and in June, 1871, was elected general secretary of the American Institute of Homeopathy. pathic Medical College, and participated in the founding of the American Institute. Contemporary with him was James Kitchen, A.M., M.D., who adopted homeopathy in 1839, because the latter treatment had been triumphant in his own case. In 1828 he published a translation of Bouillaud's " Treatise on Rheumatism," and in 1841 a translation of Jahr's "Homeopathic Pharmacy." He relin- quished the chair of Clinical Medicine in the Ho- mæopathic College after one term, was placed in charge of the quarantine station in 1831, and was port physician from 1832 to 1836. Dr. W. S. Hel- muth studied homeopathy by the advice of Dr. Kitchen, and began the practice of it in 1840. Dr., Joseph Sims was a nephew of Dr. Helmuth, and a student in his office. He died in 1881. Dr. Joseph Berens graduated in medicine in 1841 at the Pennsyl- vania College, and two years later entered on the practice of homeopathy in Philadelphia. John K. Lee, A.M., M.D., who, from 1861 to 1863, was profes- sor of Materia Medica and the Institutes of Medicine in the Homeopathic College of Philadelphia, had re- ceived his degree from it in 1841. He was also United States pension surgeon.

A learned native of Würtemberg who became a con- vert to the tenets of Hahnemann while serving as surgeon in the army of his country was Dr. Adolphus Fellger, who sailed for America in 1847, and speedily graduated from the Pennsylvania Homeopathic Medi- cal College, making his new home in this city. He was as well known as a scientist as a practicing phy- sician, and much of his time was spent in foreign travel. Dr. Charles Everett Toothaker came of a family that emigrated to America in 1604, and in which, from that time onward, there was an unbroken line of physicians. The date of his graduation from the Homeopathic College of Pennsylvania was 1851, when he was forty-six years of age. The pages of the Philadelphia Journal of Homeopathy have been largely enriched by his pen. In 1854 he assisted Dr. A. E. Small in preparing his work on domestic prac- tice, and also wrote upon skin diseases. He claims . Medical Investigator.

Dr. McClatchey's predecessor as editor of the Hahnemannian Monthly was Dr. James H. P. Frost, who removed to Philadelphia in 1865, to accept the professorship of Physiology in the Homeopathic Col- lege, and retired from the editorial and college chairs in 1868, to recruit his health in the country.

Dr. Henry Noah Martin became a homeopathic physician after the civil war, on account of his belief that the system had saved his life while he was in the Union army. He has been professor of Physi- ology in the Homoeopathic College, and professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, professor of Clinical Medicine, and professor of Prac- tice in the Hahnemann College. His labors in the literature of the profession have partly consisted of assisting in editing the Journal of Homeopathic Ma- teria Medica, and especially conducting the depart- ment of practice and clinical medicine, and he has also edited the department of gynæcology in the

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Dr. Morgan Jolin Rhees was a Philadelphian by birth, but after adopting homeopathy, in 1846, when he was chosen a member of the American Institute. he removed to New Jersey, and in 1849 to California. He was one of the early Hahnemannians io this vicinity who were entirely educated in that system.

Dr. David James, who became a convert to the Hahnemann school in 1841, and came to Philadel- phia fifteen years later, was the father of Bushrod James, and preceptor of Dr. John R. Reading, who, in 1868, was elected from the Fifth District of Penn- sylvania to the United States Congress. A pupil of Dr. Reading is Dr. William II. H. Neville, who took his degree in 1865 at the Homeopathic College, and is a member of the County Medical Society of Phila- delphia, the State Society, and the American Institute.

To the instrumentality of Bushrod W. James, A.M., M.D., the Homoeopathic Medical Society of Pennsylvania is largely indebted for its existence. For seven years he was its recording secretary, and was then promoted to its presidency. He has ac- quired a high reputation as a surgeon, having given much of his energy to that branch upon his gradua- tion from the Homeopathic College, in 1857, the same year in which Dr. Walter Martin Williamson, son of Dr. Walter Williamson, already spoken of, took his degree. The second Dr. Williamson has been chairman of the Bureau of Organization, Regis- tration, and Statistics of the American Institute, and chairman of the Bureau of Clinical Medicine and Zymosis of the State Association. Dr. Charles G. Rane occupied an office in Philadelphia from 1847 to 1850, and returned to the city in 1859. Between 1864 and 1870 he was professor of Pathology and Diagnosis at the Homoeopathic College, and issued a work upon Special Pathology. A Philadelphia homœopathist, who from 1862 to 1865 served as sur- geon in the United States army, is Dr. Rufus Sargent, who in 1857 had begun his practice in this city.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 184

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992