A History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania from its Foundation in 1765 with Sketches of the Lives of Deceased Professors

Front Matter

A HISTORY

OF THE

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT

Preface

The author of this History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania was appointed to deliver the opening lecture of the course of 1865, on the occasion of the centenary anniversary. That lecture, delivered at the request of the Faculty, consisted of a succinct statement of events preceding, and of the circumstances connected with, the foundation of the Medical School, with an exposition of the character and labors of the individuals who were prominent in the enterprise of transferring medical education from the Old World to the New, and who by their learning, talents, and energy contributed to its success. It was written for public delivery, and was by no means a complete history of the Medical Department of the University.

Although urged to the publication of that lecture, the author conceived that a more extended account should be given of the origin and progress of the School, and that a fuller notice should be presented of the lives of the eminent men who, by establishing its reputation and extending its usefulness, were identified with its history. A consider-able amount of materials had been collected to accomplish this object, but the entire field of research had not been exhausted, and many sources of information still remained available. In the intervals of leisure since the period referred to, the author has been steadily employed in collecting all the materials necessary for the extended history that is now placed before the medical public.

It is proper to state that a brief account of the Medical School has been in print for many years, prepared originally by Professor Wood as a valedictory discourse to the class of 1836. This was subsequently printed in connection with the catalogue of the graduates. Another notice of the Medical Department, by the same author, is contained in a General History of the College and University published in the third volume of the “Transactions of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania;” these have been employed for comparison and verification of impressions derived from original authorities.

The main sources from which the author has derived his materials are the Minutes of the Board of Trustees and those of the Medical Faculty. The former are entire from the foundation of the Academy and College; while the latter date from 1800. He has also consulted the Minutes of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and of the Philosophical Society, and the manuscript documents preserved in the Historical Society, as well as the public papers, more particularly the "Pennsyl-vania Gazette” and the “Pennsylvania Journal.” To these may be added numerous original letters in his own possession. He is largely indebted to biographies—many of them extremely rare—of the Professors who, at different epochs, have been connected with the University, and to the pamphlets and documents contained in the Philadelphia Library, as well as in the libraries of the Philosophical and the Historical Societies, and more especially in that of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which is rich not only in medical science, but in medical history.

Reference has been made to every source from which information is derived. There are, moreover, several mooted points discussed in the progress of the history which the author has endeavored to place in their correct light; in doing which it seemed just that the authority upon which statements are made should be open for examination.

In the publication of the work, great pleasure is taken in acknowledging the obligation the author is under to his friend, Dr. La Roche, for assistance with the revision, and for many valuable suggestions that have been adopted.

The work has occupied much time in its preparation, and entailed a large amount of labor, ample recompense for which will be received should it subserve the design for which it has been written—namely, to communicate to his fellow-alumni all the information he has been able to gather with respect to the history of their Alma Mater.

Chapter I

A HISTORY

OF THE

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

INTRODUCTION.

The most enlightened nations of all periods have perceived the advantages, and zealously promoted the formation of colonial settlements. Accordingly those nations who most figure in the records of history were more or less engaged, at the acme of their prosperity, in thus extending the sphere of their influence and authority. In the language of William Penn, “Colonies are the seeds of nations, begun and nourished by the care of wise and populous countries, as conceiving them best for the increase of human stock, and beneficial for commerce.”

Without detailing the numerous instances of enterprise in this direction, or the circumstances attending their varied fortune, it will be pertinent to the subject of present interest to state prominently the fact, that of all the races who have been thus distinguished, not one has been more successful than that branch of the Teutonic stock from which we are lineally descended. Conqueror of the Roman Empire, and the legitimate inheritor of its glory, the race of Teutons has sent its sons broadcast over the earth, and has its offshoots, as flourishing communities, on every continent. Deriving our descent from this redoubtable people through Anglo-Saxon ancestry, we are in this land to-day the representatives of a civilization which has never lost a foot of soil to which it has been transplanted, nor yielded, by force of arms, to any rival or competitor for supremacy; for wherever Anglo-Saxon domination has been carried, there has it been permanently established.

The colonists of North America had all the qualities to secure a permanent foothold, and to extend territorial dominion. They seem to have counted the cost of relinquishing the attractions and advantages of European civilization, and having determined to cast their lot in a distant land, and settle in a wilderness, were ready to undergo the privations, hardships, and frequent perils incident to so bold an undertaking. With stout hearts, vigorous frames, firm and unwavering faith, and confidence in an unconquerable will to surmount obstacles necessarily to be encountered, they persevered tenaciously in their efforts, and, slowly emerging from their difficulties, were eminently successful in converting the primeval forest into a dwelling-place of abundance and luxury. The country they were preordained to subjugate, and to transmit as an inheritance to their children, was no El Dorado. To obtain gold or silver, or precious stones, from its streams or mountains, entered into the imagination only of the wildest dreamers; but it possessed a virgin soil of untold richness, and bays and rivers of vast proportions; and it had every requisite for the support of an industrious, enterprising, self-reliant people, who would bestow their labor without stint, and by the sweat of their brow render nature herself conducive to the acquisition of independence, prosperity, and wealth. The settlers soon discovered that their land of promise was a cereal producing country, by the cultivation of which bread could be produced in abundance for domestic demand, and to spare; that the plough and the sickle were the engines of present and prospective affluence, and that upon the use of these must depend everything that contributes to the erection of a flourishing community, of a first-class power among the nations, with its commerce, manu , and arts. In 1680 Mahlon Stacy wrote thus to a friend in England, from New Jersey: “We have wanted nothing since we came hither but the company of our good friends and acquaintances; all our people are very well, and in a hopeful way to live much better than they ever did, and not only so, but to provide well for their posterity. I live as well to my content, and in as great plenty as ever I did, and in a far more likely way to make an estate.”

Writers upon political economy, when estimating the sources of the wealth and prosperity of nations, have given comparatively too little attention to the importance of one natural family of the vegetable kingdom, the Gramineæ; yet with reference to ourselves, its cultivation was the foundation of our first successes, of our prodigious growth and augmentation, of our moral and intellectual elevation, and of our influence upon mankind. Food, then, has been made a dominant power, and all creation virtually recognizes the truth of the assertion.

With the relief from anxiety and concern for immediate and temporary requirements, and an improvement in material sources of prosperity, came new wants, spontaneously arising, to a thriving, active, and reasoning people. The need of literary and scientific cultivation was fully understood, and incited to practical endeavors to meet its suggestions. The school and the schoolmaster were early introduced as an institution, and we may advert with interest, not unmingled with pleasure and pride, to the former days when the rustic school-house and the “Log College” were the seats of educa tion and learning of the country, when, with spelling and reading, with writing and arithmetic, the classics and philosophy constituted the daily round of teaching imposed on one professor. From such humble beginnings have proceeded the most successful and elaborately-organized educational establishments, which having acquired a world-wide reputation, and in the full tide of usefulness, are evidences of the intelligence and refinement of the nation.

Besides the necessity of systematic instruction for the prosecution of the increasing business of the people, and for the extension of their relations at home and abroad, there was soon felt that of providing for the future successful performance of professional duties. As population multiplied, this need was thoroughly appreciated. The educated men had become, from the earliest period of the settlements, the leading characters, whether occupied in administering the laws, and governing the State, in expounding the doctrines of religious belief, or in administering to the sick; and hence a respect for the higher orders of learning which were regarded as conducive to efficiency and usefulness became fixed in the minds of the community. The first practitioners of the healing art had been educated in the parent country; when following the fortunes of their less gifted countrymen they had become participants of their struggles and trials. Such were the few medical men who first landed on our shores, and who encountered all the difficulties of administering to the ailments incident to a new climate, aggravated by deficient facilities of protection from the elements and exposure. They were, in many instances, possessed of a thorough education and of classical accomplishments, and nobly sustained their part in the untried scenes through which they passed.

In some cases the theological and medical professions were united in the same individual, medicine being studied as an accessory science, with the especial view—as is now frequently done by our missionaries—to meet the exigencies of administering, if required, not only in spiritual concerns, but in bodily derangements. This union of the clerical and medical professions has been adverted to by Dr. Thatcher, who thus explains it: “The inducements to emigrate, with the large proportion of the colonists, was of a religious nature. They were restive and unhappy under the restrictions and even persecutions which emanated from the bigotry of the Church Establishment of England.” “The Puritan clergy of England were, for more than twenty years prior to the emigration of the first settlers, subjected to the sharpest persecution. Hence, as a precautionary measure in case of an ejectment, a considerable number of clergymen of that period were educated to the medical profession, and not a few were eminent practitioners before they crossed the Atlantic. When these professional men came to form connections in the Colonies, it was found that the small congregations were unable to afford them a comfortable support; hence the necessity and convenience of their resorting to secular avocations.”

Dr. Sewell remarks, in this connection, that “so far were the professions of Divinity and Medicine united that the clergy not only prescribed for the sick, but entered into medical controversies, and wrote practical works on the diseases of the country.” There were several medical works published in America at an early date by divines. A physician as well as a learned clergyman of Boston, Thomas Thatcher, in 1677, published a work entitled, “A Brief Guide in the Smallpox and Measles.” This was soon followed by the work of another clergyman, which bore the title of “A Good Management under the Distemper of the Measles.” The Rev. Benjamin Colman, also of Boston, printed a small pamphlet entitled, “Some Account of the New Method of Receiving the Smallpox, by Grafting or Inoculating.” Nathaniel Williams wrote a pamphlet on the “Method of the Practice in the Smallpox,” published in 1730. And Thomas Howard, in 1732, put forth a treatise upon Pharmacy. Even as late as 1775, we find, in the “Pennsylvania Magazine” for April, the history of a malignant fever, attended with some new symptoms, in Sussex County, Delaware, by the Rev. Mr. Matthew Wilson, of Lewestown. The two avocations, however, occasionally interfered with each other, as is illustrated by the following incident: In a neighboring State, a theological physician was in the midst of his usual Sunday services when a message was conveyed to him that a negro girl was dangerously ill and needed his medical attention. Having no other means in the pulpit of giving his directions, he seized a hymn-book and wrote upon the fly-leaf, “Let the wench be blooded, and wait until I come.” The book is now in the possession of the clerical grandson of the clerical doctor, who in his day was an influential personage.

It must not be supposed that from the very commencement of the settlements there was the highest degree of skill, or consummate learning. The colonists, in the infancy of their establishments, were apparently satisfied with a moderate amount of professional competency. It is recorded that “Jan Petersen, from Alfendolft, was employed as barber (as surgeons were then denominated) on South River (Delaware) at ten guilders per month from the 1st of July, 1638.” At a little later period, we are told by Gordon that the salary of a secretary in New Sweden was eight dollars a month, of a barber ten, and of a provost six. He adds: “We must not infer from comparison of the wages of the secretary and barber, that the latter was most valued, though most appreciated. The first had doubtless the most honor, though the second had a greater compensation in base lucre.” When the Swedish possessions had passed into the hands of the Dutch, the Director of the colony at New Arnstel (afterwards New Castle), Aldricks, writes “that our actual situation is certainly very distressing by an ardent prevailing fever, and other diseases, by which the large majority of the inhabitants are oppressed and broken down; besides that, our barber died, and another, well acquainted with his profession, is very sick.” The practice of the times was probably confined to bleeding, and the administration of salts and simples. These did not always succeed, however, for in some of the references in connection with epidemic disorders, it is stated that this mode of treatment was unsuccessful. A low type of disease may have been prevalent.

There are other allusions made to the Dutch-Swedish Colony on the Delaware. In a letter from Aldricks to the Director-General, Stuyvesant, March, 1659, the “causes” then operating against it are stated; among others, “that prevailing violent sickness which wasted a vast deal of goods and blood from one year to another, and which not only raged here, but everywhere throughout this province, and which consequently retarded, not only our progress in agriculture, but threw a damp over other undertakings.” In 1660, Beekman, the Collector, speaks of “Peter Tenneman to be employed as a surgeon by the Company,” and adds: “We are in want of a good surgeon, as it happened already more than once; thereto we wanted very much Mr. Williams, the barber (surgeon) in this city; but having then some patients there (probably New York) he could not come hither, and when he came he often had not by him such medicaments as the patients required, wherefore the sick are suffering.”

These extracts furnish an interesting view of the posture of affairs, and of the difficulties encountered at the period.

The profession has always been burdened with charlatans, and the early history of it in this country presents no exception. Smith, who wrote in 1758, when speaking of the profession of New York, says: “A few physicians among us are eminent for their skill. Quacks abound like locusts in Egypt, and too many have been recommended to a full practice and profitable subsistence; this is less to be wondered at, as the profession is under no kind of regulation. Loud as the call is, to our shame be it remembered, we have no law to protect the lives of the king’s subjects from the malpractice of pretenders. Any man, at his pleasure, sets up for physician, apothecary, and chirurgeon. No candidates are either examined, licensed, or were sworn to fair practice.” This condition of things was also exhibited by Dr. Peter Middleton in his introductory lecture in 1768, upon the opening of the Medical School, who stigmatized a class of practitioners as the “needy outcasts of other places in the character of doctors.”

There is an instinctive tendency among scientific men, when transplanted to new and unexplored localities, to investigate the objects of natural interest to which they are introduced, and none could have been better calculated to arouse curiosity, or lead to exploration, than the surroundings of the colonial physicians. The natural science with which they were best acquainted was botany. It had necessarily entered into their studies as an element of medical education, and was so closely associated with the therapeutical methods of the time, that the transition was an easy and attractive one from the study of the plants to which they had been accustomed to unknown productions everywhere thrust upon their observation.

The rich and resplendent Flora of North America was a subject for wonder and contemplation to the true votary of nature, well calculated to awaken his enthusiasm, irrespective of the practical application that might be made of its study and investigation to the interests of humanity. When Professor Kalm, of Obo, a distinguished naturalist, was sent by the Universities of Sweden and the Government to this country in 1748, he landed in Philadelphia, and thus narrates his impressions: “I found that I was now come into a new world. Wherever I looked to the ground I everywhere found such plants as I had never seen before. When I saw a tree, I was forced to stop and ask those who accompanied me, how it was called. The first plant which struck my eyes was an andropogon, or kind of grass—and grass is a part of botany I always delighted in. I was seized with terror at the thought of ranging through so many new and unknown parts of natural history.” This was an instinctive expression of feeling on the part of one of the most accomplished naturalists of the age. The colonial physicians were not neglectful of resources that lay within their reach. Stimulated by a desire to render themselves independent in the supply of their remedial agents, they made important discoveries in regard to the value of indigenous plants, which have stood the test of experience. By them standard additions were made to the Materia Medica list, not only of this country, but of Europe. Some of the medicinal productions of the continent of America were known to the aborigines. The names of Clayton, Tennant, Lining, Chalmers, Garden, Shoeff, Colden, and Mitchell, may be honorably mentioned in association with the botanical productions of North America; and in compliment to several of them Linnæus named such genera as emanated from their researches. It is stated that Dr. Tennant received one hundred pounds from the Virginia legislature, in 1739, in consequence of the discovery of the efficacy of senega in pleurisy. Dr. Garden’s name is closely connected with the recognition of the anthelmintic properties of Spigelia Marilandica.

Chapter II

The first physicians of Pennsylvania—Their education abroad—Their professional and public influence—The succeeding generation of medical men, and their education at home and abroad—Their character and labors—The institution of the American Philosophical Society, and of the Pennsylvania Hospital.

When Penn made up his company of emigrants, which, under his own guidance, landed on the shores of the Delaware in 1682, he was not unmindful of the medical wants of his incipient colony. Several well-educated members of the profession united their destiny with that of the party who arrived that year. It is known that one at least of these physicians was on board the Proprietary’s own vessel, the Welcome, where his services were called into requisition on the voyage from England, as smallpox broke out among the crew and passengers shortly after their embarkation. The attention of a practitioner of the healing art must have been beneficial to those who were attacked by the disease, and, under such appalling circumstances, his presence must have been a source of encouragement and comfort to all who constituted the adventurous company. The individual referred to as having been on board the Welcome was Thomas Wynne. Another skilful physician who arrived at this period was Dr. Griffith Owen. It appears from the records that the sphere of operation in the immediate line of medical practice was too limited for all of the gentlemen who had arrived, and as they were men of the highest order of intelligence and acquirement, their talents were turned to account in organizing the settlement. Dr. Wynne was a Welsh gentleman, and is said to have practised previously with reputation in London. After serving as Speaker of the first Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, and being much employed in political business, he died in ten years from his arrival. From his public position he appears to have paid but little attention to medicine. Dr. Wynne left a son-in-law, Dr. Edward Jones, also one of the emigrants of 1682. He settled in Merion Township, near Philadelphia, and enjoyed considerable repute as a physician.

Dr. Griffith Owen, whose merit and ability raised him to several offices of trust, continued his vocation as physician, “in which he was very knowing and eminent,” as we are informed by Proud. This gentleman, indeed, appears to have been the chief medical practitioner of Philadelphia, and was highly respected for his professional talents, integrity, and spirit. He left no record of a medical sort, and dying in 1717, at about the age of seventy, was succeeded by a son, who practised some time after his father’s death. Dr. Owen, besides his medical employment, was a preacher among Friends. The individuals of whom mention has been made were in the prime of life when they identified themselves with the success of the newly-created Province.

A narrative has been given by Thomas Story, of the first recorded surgical operation in Pennsylvania, as follows: “The next day, being the 1st of the 10th month (December, 1699, old style), we went over Chester Creek on a boat to the town, and as the Governor landed (William Penn’s second visit), some young men, officiously, and contrary to express command of some of the magistrates, fired two small sea pieces of cannon, and being ambitious of making three out of two, by firing one twice, one of the young men, darting in a cartridge of powder before the piece was sponged, had his left hand and arm shot to pieces; upon which a surgeon being sent for from on board a ship then riding, an amputation of the member was quickly resolved on by Dr. Griffith Owen (a Friend), the surgeon, and some other skilful persons present. But as the arm was cut off, some spirits in a basin happened to take fire, and being spilt on the surgeon’s apron, set his clothes on fire, and there being a great crowd of spectators, some of them were in the way, and in danger of being scalded, as the surgeon himself was upon his hands and face, but running into the street, the fire was quenched, and so quick was he that the patient lost not very much blood, though left in that open, bleeding condition.”

In the progress of time, the inhabitants of the thriving and extended colony of Pennsylvania became so numerous as to require a greater number of medical attendants. In the year 1711, Dr. John Kearsley arrived; and in 1717, Dr. Thomas Graeme. Both of these medical men were well educated, and became distinguished citizens. Dr. Kearsley, although throughout his career extensively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, was not inattentive to the public interests of the province. He was a favorite of the people, and as a member of the House of Assembly, after advocating their interests in debate, was carried to his home upon their shoulders. From the Rev. Dr. Dorr we learn that “he was for fifty-three years a member of the vestry of Christ Church, and always took an active interest in all its concerns. To him, more than to any other individual, we are indebted for the present beautiful edifice, he having superintended the building from the commencement to its completion, and often was in advance large sums of money to defray the expense of materials and the bills of workmen.” When the church was completed, “on May 11, 1747, the vestry passed a vote of thanks, and ordered a piece of plate of the value of forty pounds, to be given to Dr. John Kearsley, for his care and trouble in rebuilding and ornamenting the church, and as a lasting testimonial and acknowledgment of his services done for this church and congregation.”

Dr. Kearsley died in January, 1772, at the advanced age of eighty years, and “left by his will a large part of his estate both real and personal, in trust to the corporation of the united churches of Christ Church and St. Peter’s, to found the institution which he named ‘Christ Church Hospital,’ the design of which is to afford a comfortable home for respectable, aged, indigent females.” By judicious management this benefaction has proved a munificent one.

Dr. Thomas Graeme, after a long career in medicine, in which pursuit he from time to time performed the duty of health officer, became an officer of the customs, and a justice of the Supreme Court. He finally retired to his country seat in Bucks County, where he spent the remainder of his life. This country seat has been known by the name of Graeme Park.

The influence of the intelligent and educated men whose names have been mentioned, was of incalculable advantage in all the ways where science and learning could be brought into requisition, but especially were their services important as teachers of their art and preceptors of the rising generation. The physicians who succeeded them were natives of the country. Of their number may be named Lloyd Zachary, Thomas Cadwalader, William Shippen, Sr., Thomas Bond, Phineas Bond, Cadwalader Evans, John Redman, John Bard, and John Kearsley, Jr. Several of these, as Zachary, Redman, and Kearsley, Jr., were the pupils—or, in the language then in vogue, the apprentices of the elder Kearsley, who, if the account speaks truly, was no lenient master. “He treated his pupils with great rigor, and subjected them to the most menial employments.” An apprenticeship at that time was no sinecure; it was a period of probation attended with toil and exactions. The pupil lived, for the most part, with his master—was constantly subject to his orders, whether in the task of preparing medicines to be used in his daily rounds, in carrying them to the patients, or in making fires, keeping the office clean, and other household duties now devolving upon domestics. “To these, Dr. Bard has been often heard to say, he would never have submitted but from apprehension of giving pain to his excellent mother, and the encouragement he received from the kindness of her particular friend, Mrs. Kearsley, of whom he always spoke in terms of the warmest gratitude, affection, and respect. Under such circumstances he persevered to the end of seven tedious years, stealing his hours of study from sleep, after the family had retired to rest, and before they arose from their beds”

The desire for medical knowledge was not satisfied, on the part of these American pupils, with the limited means of education at the command of their preceptors, who, as far as they were able, bestowed a training in the handicraft of the profession; and it was regarded as important that a visit should be made to Europe to complete the course of acquirement. We therefore find that most of the individuals alluded to pursued this plan, and returned to the field of their duty with all the accomplishments that a residence at the schools of the old world could afford to zealous aspirants for usefulness and distinction. The facilities for improvement which were presented in Edinburgh, in London, or in Paris, attracted thither these neophytes in the healing art; and to good account, as was shown in their subsequent career, did they apply the fund of information there acquired. Another seat of medical improvement was Leyden, which possessed attractions from the distinguished reputation of Boerhaave, of Albinus, and of Gaubius. Not a few of the earlier physicians of our country graduated at that famous University.

The fruits of the assiduity of these earnest inquirers into the nature and cure of disease are manifest in the valuable contributions made by them to the literature and practice of the profession. Their observations in so novel and undescribed a field as the maladies of a recently-settled country, whose geographical position was so remote from the ancient haunts of men, could hardly fail to elicit materials for publication which would be received with interest and thankfulness by contemporaries and colaborers, as well as be calculated to excite attention in foreign lands. The endeavors of the early physicians to contribute a share to the advancement of medical science are proofs of a thoughtful cultivation of it, and of a laudable desire to render the experience acquired available to others. They may be referred to with interest as the only means at our command of ascertaining the spirit which actuated and the principles which guided the pioneer fathers of the profession.