Boston City (part 18 of 67)

same time he was publishing, in conjunction with Dr. John Ware, the Boston Journal of Philosophy and the Arts. His election into the American Academy in 1823 brought him into intimate association with the best minds in literature and science. On the foundation of the Mechanics' Institution, in 1826, Dr. Bowditeh was president, and Mr. Treadwell a vice-president. About this time he began to lecture in Boston on mechanics, and was employed by the city government in making surveys looking to the introduction of water into Boston.1 In 1829 he received an honorary degree from Harvard College, and gave a course of lectures to the students. In 1830 he invented his machinery for spinning hemp and flax, a description of which was pub¬ lished, with drawings, in the Memoirs of the American Academy.2 Seven years were spent in maturing this invention, by which yarns are made stronger and more uniform, and also at less cost, than before. By 1833 the number of these machines set up by the Boston Hemp Company was sufficient for the annual manufacture of one thousand tons of hemp. From 1834 to 1845 Mr. Treadwell was Rumford Professor in Harvard College. The remainder of his active life was devoted to the invention and construc¬ tion of cannon of lighter weight or of larger calibre than had hitherto been thought practicable. He published two memoirs on the subject, remarkable for their scientific precision and the knowledge he displayed of the materials with which he was dealing. After some years of infirmity, Professor Treadwell died in Cambridge in 1872. 3

J. F. Dana was born in Amherst, N. H., in 1793, and graduated at Harvard Col¬ lege in 1813. He studied medicine, partly with Dr. Gorham and partly in London, and took his degree at the Medical School in 1817. He settled in Cambridge as a physician, and in 1819-20 assisted in refitting the chemical laboratory of the College and in teaching chemistry. Dr. Dana was appointed lecturer on chemistry at Dart¬ mouth in 1817, and professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy from 1820-26. In 1826- 27 he was professor of Chemistry in the College of Surgeons, New York; and died there in 1827. He contributed many papers on chemistry, etc., to Si l liman's Jour¬ nal, and published in 1826 Epitome of Chymical Philosophy.

Simeon Borden was born in Fall River in 1798, and was brought up in Tiverton, R. I. He was fond of mathematics, particularly geometry. He was educated as a surveyor and engineer, and made his own surveying compass. In 1828 he had charge of a machine-shop in Fall River. In 1830 he devised and constructed an instrument for measuring a base line, an account of which was published in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. From 1834 to 1841 he was in charge of the Trigonometrical Survey of Massachusetts, having already assisted in the measure¬ ment of the base line.4 Though it was the first example in this country of a geodetic survey, the work was found by the officers of the U. S. Coast Survey to be admirably done. Mr. Borden also laid down the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In 1851 he was employed to suspend a telegraph wire across Hudson River, from the Palisades to Fort Washington, two hundred and twenty feet above the river. He constructed several railroads, and published in 1851 Useful formula adapted to the operations of constructing and locating Railroads. His residence was in Fall River, where he died in 1856.

8 [He provided by will, that, upon the death Ed.] of his wife, equal fifths of the residue of his 4 [See map mentioned in Vol. III. Introducestate should be paid to Harvard College Li- tion, p. xi. - Ed.]

John Lowell, Jr., son of F. C. Lowell, was born in Boston in 1799. After studying in the schools of Boston and Edinburgh, he entered Harvard College in 1813. He left at the end of two years on account of his health, and in 1816-17 made two voyages to India. On his return he was engaged in the East India business in Boston, giving his leisure to his own cultivation and the public service. After 1832 he made an extended journey in Europe and the East, and died at Bombay in 1836. He inherited a taste for mathematics, and made elaborate computations upon the dimen¬ sions of the Pyramids. In 1833, at Edinburgh, he studied mineralogy. While residing in Albania he kept a daily register of the thermometer, barometer, and hygrometer. His bequest of $250,000 for founding the Lowell Institute has, as one of its benefits to the community, been instrumental in diffusing a knowledge of the sciences, and, by that diffusion, inciting some to a scientific career.1 2

Benjamin Lincoln was born in Hingham in 17 33. He was a distinguished officer (Brigadier-General) in the War of the Revolution, and in Shays's Rebellion ; Secretary of War in 1781-84 ; and Collector of Boston from 1789 to 1808. He died at Hing¬ ham in 1810. He published two papers in the Memoirs 9 of the American Academy, which show that he took an interest in geology and botany. He spent his last years in literary and scientific pursuits.

Manasseh Cutler was one of the earliest cultivators of botany3 in New England. He was born in Killingly, Conn., in 1742 ; graduated at Yale in 1765 ; was settled as minister at Ipswich Hamlet (now Hamilton), where he died in 1823. He studied law, theology, and medicine, after having first tried a mercantile life. He was a pioneer in promoting emigration to the West ) and set the example by going there himself, in 1 788, in a sulky, - a journey of seven hundred and fifty miles in twenty-nine days. He re¬ turned in 1791, and was a member of Congress from 1800 to 1804. In 1785 he pub¬ lished 4 a paper of great merit, and one hundred pages long, giving " An Account of some of the vegetable Productions naturally growing in this Part of America, botanically arranged." He begins with these words : " In an infant country, where Nature has been liberal in her productions, and internal resources are greatly wanted, few objects can be of greater importance than natural history. Yet, unhappily, there is no branch of useful knowledge we have so little cultivated. The cultivation of this branch of science will open to our view the treasures we possess unenjoyed ; and must eventually tend to the security and welfare of our citizens, the extension of their commerce, and the im¬ provement of those arts which adorn and embellish life." In 1809 he published a short paper " on a singular natural production, in which one part appears to be a plant and the other an insect, etc." He explains it and says : " It often happens that things which at first view seem miraculous are found on examination not to be miraculous, but produced in the regular course of nature." 5

1 [See an account of the Institute in the chapter on "Education," and of his family re¬ lationship in the chapter on " Libraries," in the present volume. - Ed.]

John Lowell was born in Newbury in 1744, and graduated at Harvard College in 1760.1 2 He came to Boston in 1761, and died at Roxbury in 1802. He rose to great eminence as a lawyer, statesman, and judge in the U. S. district court. Massachu¬ setts owes to him the most pregnant sentence in the Bill of Rights : All men are born free and equal? He was greatly interested in botany and other branches of natural history. His advent into the Corporation of Harvard College, in 1784, was signalized by an appeal to the State Legislature in favor of creating a botanic garden at Cam¬ bridge. The King of France had offered " to furnish such garden with every species of seeds and plants which may be requested, from his royal garden, at his own ex¬ pense." The application was unsuccessful at that critical period in the history of the State. In 1791 President Willard received a letter from Mr. Buck of Hamburg, who had studied under Linnaeus, suggesting an exchange in specimens of natural history ; but the College was not in a condition to accept the offer. In 1802 Judge Lowell originated a movement, which was fully consummated in 1805, for establishing a botanic garden and a professorship of Natural History in the College; and gave gen¬ erously to the fund of $30,000 which was raised for this purpose.

Winthrop Sargent was born in Gloucester in 1753, graduated at Harvard College in 1771, and died on his passage from the South to Boston in 1820. He entered the army in 1775, and served with distinction. In 1786 he was appointed surveyor of the Northwest Territory, and, from 1798 to 1801, governor of the Mississippi Territory. He made his large opportunities serve the ends of natural history by publishing in the Memoirs of the American Academy a catalogue of forest and other trees along the River Ohio, and meteorological observations in the vicinity of Natchez. He also fur¬ nished an account of the earthquakes felt in Mississippi, Dec. 16, 1811, and Jan. 23, 1812, the first of which overturned chimneys and rang the bells in the steeples.3

Benjamin Waterhouse was born in Newport, R. I., in 1754, and died in Cambridge in 1846. He was sent to London in 1775, and educated at Edinburgh and Leyden universities. In 1782 the Medical School of Harvard University was founded, and Dr. Waterhouse was one of the three professors in it, and remained in office until 1812. For twenty years he gave voluntary lectures to the Senior class in the College, on botany, which were published, with the synopsis of a larger course on natural his¬ tory, in the Anthology / 4 and afterward (1811) in a pamphlet. When, in 1793-96, the nucleus of a mineralogical cabinet was formed by the gifts of Dr. Lettsom and the Hon. James Bowdoin (consisting of more than nine hundred specimens), Dr. Waterhouse was appointed keeper.5

William D. Peck6 was born in Boston in 1763, graduated at Harvard College in 1782, and died in Cambridge in 1822. He tried to be a merchant, but his heart was not in the business. Self-taught, he became an eminent botanist and entomologist. He was the first professor of Natural Flistorv at Cambridge, holding office from 1805 to 1822. He published 7 a paper on four remarkable fishes, a description and history of the slug-worm, canker-worm, and lion-ant, and an account of the reputed sea-serpent ; also remarks, in Latin, on the kamellia japonica and the thea bohea. His artistic talent was useful in enabling him to sketch the objects of his study, as is seen in the illustrations which accompany his publications. His father was an eminent naval architect, and built ships for the Government.1 The son inherited his models and also his mechanical talent, and made a microscope and other instruments, which should help him in his studies. In 1818 he published a catalogue of American and foreign plants in the Botanic Garden. Before coming to Cambridge he had made collections at Kittery of insects, plants, fishes, and birds. For his valuable paper on the cankerworm he received a- gold medal from the Massachusetts Agricultural Society.

In 1 7 S 5 Robert Annan of Boston described the skeleton of a large animal found near Hudson River. In 1786 the Hon. James Warren of Milton published a paper on the effect of light upon vegetation. In 1788 the Hon. Timothy Edwards of Stockbridge gave an account of a large bone or horn found in his neighborhood. In 1791 the Rev. Asa Packard of Marlborough wrote briefly upon the retreat of swallows in winter. In the same year an anonymous article appeared,2 " On the Influence of Air upon Vegetation."

In 1794 Professor Williams, formerly the Cambridge astronomer, published a work On the Natural and Civil History of Vermont, which indicated his continued interest in science, and was highly praised by a competent authority.

Thaddeus M. Harris was born in Charlestown in 1768, and graduated at Harvard College in 1787. At first he taught school in Worcester, and then was invited to be private secretary to Washington ) but he declined the offer, and was appointed librarian of the College, and remained in that office from 1791 to 1793. He was settled as a minister in Dorchester in 1793, and died there in 1842. Dr. Harris pub¬ lished in 1820 a book on the Natural History of the Bible, and in 1806 a short paper3 on shells found in Dorchester.

John Lowell (son of the Judge) was born in Newburyport in 1769,4 and graduated at Harvard College in 1786. He was a highly gifted lawyer in Boston, but retired from practice in 1803, and gave much of his time to advancing the intelligence and prosperity of the city. He inherited a taste for botany, horticulture, and agriculture ; and co-operated with his father's efforts to establish the Botanic Garden at Cambridge. He was a member of the Linntean Society, and took an active part in its proceedings, communicating a paper on some of the customs of the Italians and Romans.

J. C. Warren was born in Boston in 1778, and graduated at Harvard College in 1797. He studied medicine with his father, and then went to London and Paris to complete his professional studies. He began to practise in Boston in 1802. He was assistant professor in the Medical School from 1806 to 1815, and then succeeded his father to the place which he filled until 1847. 5 He remained an honorary professor till his death, in 1856. As a surgeon he had the highest reputation of any one in New England, - being equally remarkable for his skill and courage. After his retirement in 1847 he devoted himself to natural history and to the interests of the Boston Society of Natural History, of which he was president. He made large collections in anatomy, osteology, and fossils, and formed the Warren Museum, - the central figure in it being the great mastodon from Newburgh. In 1854 he published Remarks on some Fossil Impressions in the Sandstone Rocks of Connecticut River. In 1852 he published an account of the Mastodon Giganteus of North America, with twenty-seven plates; and a second edition in 1856, with thirty plates. Only a week before his death he gave the finishing touch to a memoir on the Argonauta, numerous species of which he had collected, described, and delineated. Although seventy years old when he retired from his weighty duties as professor and principal surgeon of the Massachusetts General Hospital, he pursued the studies of his leisure with all his early vigor and enthusiasm.

Thomas Cole was born in Boston in 1779, and graduated at Harvard College in 1798. His profession was that of a teacher. He was at first principal of an academy in Marblehead, and from 1808 to 1835 conducted a school for young ladies in Salem. A disease of the heart compelling him, in 1835, to relinquish the labor and anxiety of his school, he devoted his time to the pursuit of natural history, which was always con¬ genial to his taste. His special study was on the infusoria ; and he became an expert in the use of the microscope upon these and other objects which he examined. He was a member of the American Academy and the Essex Institute,1 and contributed to their Proceedings. In 1850 he communicated to the Institute a paper giving a his¬ torical sketch of investigations of the infusoria, to which was appended a catalogue of the infusoria found in the neighborhood of Salem. This was printed in the first vol¬ ume of the Proceedings of the Essex Institute. He was highly valued by all who could appreciate zeal and scholarship, and died greatly lamented in 1852.

Parker C. Cleaveland was born in Rowley in 1780, graduated at Harvard College in 1799, was tutor in the College from 1803 to 1805, was professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Bowdoin College from 1805 to 1828, and of Chemistry and Mineralogy from 1828 to 1855. He died in 1858. In mineralogy he had no equal in his day, and is regarded as the father of American mineralogy. In 1808 he made a short communication on fossil shells found in the neighborhood of Brunswick : but he is best known by his treatise on Afineralogy and Geology, editions of which appeared in 1816, 1822, and 1856. He also published an account of halos and parhelia seen in Brunswick^in 1815 and 18 18.2

George Osgood was born at Fair Haven in 1784. He studied medicine with his father, attending the medical lectures at Cambridge, and occasionally teaching in the district schools. In 1805 he began the practice of his profession in Danvers, where he remained until his death in 1863. In early life he resided for a few years in Hamil¬ ton, and, like many others, was inspired by Dr. Cutler with that love of nature and of botany which he carried through his long life. Without being a scientific botanist, he had an extensive knowledge of the flora of his neighborhood, which he made very useful to Dr. Bigelow and others who were studying the subject systematically.

Chester Dewey was born in Sheffield, Mass., in 1784, graduated at Williams Col¬ lege in 1806, was tutor and professor there for nineteen years, and at Rochester, N. Y., from 1850 to his death in 1867. The interval from 1825 to 1850 was also devoted to teaching. For fifty years he was a frequent contributor to the American Journal of Science. His duties as professor brought him into closer contact with physical and chemical science than with natural history, and he wrote upon it, particularly upon meteorology ; 3 but his inclination was decidedly towards botany, and he made the report upon the Herbaceous Flowering Plants of Massachusetts. He selected for special study the genus Carex, followed it up in successive publications for forty-three years, and became a "leading authority" upon it.

Andrew Nichols was born in Danvers in 1 785. Until he was eighteen years old he worked upon his father's farm, attending only the district school. His love of nature led him to aspire to the profession of medicine. After spending two years at the Andover Academy he began to study for this profession in 1805, and in 1808 started his prac¬ tice in Danvers, which he continued until his death in 1853. He was familiar with the flora and fauna of his neighborhood, and published some papers on the " Batrachians " in the Journal of the Essex Institute.

Thomas Nuttall was born of humble parents in England in 1 786. He was a printer by trade, and emigrated to this country in 1808. He probably brought with him a taste for natural history, but his knowledge was acquired here, and mostly by his own wide explorations, which began within two years of his arrival. He was familiar with min¬ eralogy and ornithology, but his strength was in botany. In 1822 he was appointed curator of the Botanic Garden in Cambridge, and held the place for ten years. Then he resumed his wanderings across the Rocky Mountains to Oregon and California, and on the Pacific Ocean. He returned to England in 1842, where he died in 1859. The fruits of his studies were published in this country by the American Academy and the Philosophical Society, and in separate works. His Remai'ks and Inquiries Concerning the Birds of Massachusetts was printed in Cambridge in 1833.1 Dr. Gray said of him : " Altogether, the name of Nuttall must ever stand very high among the pioneers of botanical science in the United States."

Jacob Bigelow was born in Sudbury in 1787, and graduated at Harvard College in 1806. From 18x0 to his death in 1879 he resided in Boston, and attained the highest rank as a scientific physician. He was professor in the Medical School from 1815 to 1855 ; and Rumford Professor, on the application of science to the arts of life, from 1816 to 1827. Though having many claims on the gratitude of this city, he is here to be remembered for his devotion to natural history. For three years he gave lectures on botany, partly in conjunction with Professor Peck. In 1814 he published a description of the native plants of Boston and the environs, which passed through three editions. In 1817 he began to publish the American Medical Botany, which was completed in three volumes in 1820. But his profession and natural history com¬ bined did not exhaust the fertility of his knowledge. In 1829 he published Elements of Technology, and a second edition in 1840, under the title of The Useful Arts, - the fruits of his Rumford lectures.

J. E. Teschemacher was born in England in 1 790. He came to this country in 1832, and finally settled in Boston, where he lived twenty-two years, until his death in 1853. He exhibited at an early age a love of nature, and devoted whatever leisure he could extract from a busy mercantile life to the study of natural history, and made himself a good botanist and an accomplished mineralogist. He had an intimate acquaintance with agriculture and horticulture. His latest investigations were insti¬ tuted with a view to ascertain from what kind of plants coal had been formed ; and to this end he had collected an immense number of rich specimens. He was a member of the two principal scientific societies of Boston, and contributed to their Transactions. His addresses before the Boston Society of Natural History, the Horticultural Society, and the Harvard Natural History Society have been published.

Francis Boott was born in Boston in 1792, and graduated at Harvard College in 1810. After spending four years in Europe he returned to this country in 1814, and spent the largest part of the next six years in studying the botany of New England. In

1816 he undertook with Dr. Bigelow a botanical exploration of the mountains of New England, ascending Wachuset, Monadnock, Ascutney, and Mount Washington. In 1820 he went to England, and took a degree as Doctor of Medicine at Edinburgh in 1824. After studying in the schools of medicine and natural history in Paris, he settled in London as a physician, where he died in 1863. He also lectured on botany, and in one branch of it he was unrivalled. The last six years of his life were devoted to publishing his great work, at his own expense, entitled Illustrations of the Genus Carex , on which he had expended many years of labor, and money without stint. At an early period he was invited to the chair of Natural History in Harvard College, but family ties bound him to England.

B. D. Greene 1 2 was born in Demerara in 1 793, while his parents were temporarily absent from Boston, and graduated at Harvard College in 1812. He first studied law and was admitted to the Boston Bar ; but his taste for natural history inclined him to¬ wards medicine, which lie studied in the schools of Paris and Scotland, and in which he took his degree at Edinburgh in 1821. Not needing his profession for his support, he had the leisure and the means to cultivate his scientific tastes. His favorite study was botany. He surrounded himself with an extensive herbarium and a valuable botanical library, not merely for his private use, but for the service of investigators in the country. He did not write for the public, for he was a silent student of nature, and shrank from popular applause ; but he rendered a great service to naturalists by his sympathy, his example, and his influence. He was the first president of the Society of Natural History, and made it the recipient of his books and his collections, and also of a generous legacy when he died in 1862.

In the order of time a geologist now appears who, if Boston did nothing for him, did much himself for the scientific reputation of the whole State. Edward Hitchcock was born at Deerfield in 1793. At the academy of his native village he exhibited a love for mathematics and science in general, and served there as the principal from 1815 to 1818. Then he studied theology at New Haven, and was settled in Conway, Mass., from 1821 to 1825. In 1825 he was called to the chair of Chemistry and Natural History in Amherst College, where he remained until his death in 1864. During ten years of this period he served as its president. He was a laborious worker and writer, and produced sixteen volumes and pamphlets, and contributed fifty-three papers to the scientific journals, the most important of which relate to geology. An attempt at a State geological survey had been made by North Carolina. With this exception the two geological surveys of Massachusetts in 1832 and 1837, suggested and executed by Professor Hitchcock, set the example for a brilliant array of similar State and Territorial surveys, equally beneficial to science and to the community, illustrating the natural history and developing the resources of the whole country. Professor Hitchcock's study of fossil foot-prints was embodied, after thirteen years, in a paper published by the American Academy in 1848, with twenty-four plates ; but the treasury of the Commonwealth has been freely opened for printing and embellish¬ ing his voluminous reports on the geology and ichnology of the State. As one of the principal pioneers in the geology of New England, he deserves a place in this memorial.

In 1818 Dr. J. F. Dana and Dr. S. L. Dana (brothers) made a joint contribution to the Memoirs'2, of the American Academy, entitled " Outlines of the Mineralogy and

Geology of Boston and its Vicinity, with a Geological Map." Dr. S. L. Dana was born at Groton in 1795 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1813, and at the Medical School in 1818. He practised his profession for a time in Gloucester and Waltham; but chemistry had stronger attractions for him, and he engaged in the manufacture of vitriol and other chemicals. In 1833 he was appointed chemist of the Merrimac Print-Works, and removed to Lowell, where he died in 1868. I11 the application of his science to art, he invented a new process for bleaching, known as the American method, an account of which was published by a foreign society in 1836. Whatever he touched he improved. His inventions in calico-printing led to an interest in agri¬ culture, where he also found room for his science. In 1839-40 he delivered lectures on the Chemistry of Agriculture, which were printed under the title of A Muck Matiual for Fanners . The Massachusetts Agricultural Society awarded him a prize for his Essay on Manures. A competent judge has said of him : " In point of time, originality, and ability, Dr. Dana stood first among scientific writers on agriculture in this country."

T. W. Harris was born in Dorchester in 1795. He graduated at Harvard College in 1815, and at the Medical School in 1820. From this time until 1831 he practised in his profession at Milton. He was librarian at the College from 1831 to his death in 1856, and for part of the time gave instruction in natural history. Though harassed by incessant cares he acquired an enviable reputation as a naturalist, at home and abroad. He was a most conscientious observer, and gifted with the power of making a faithtul and intelligible transcript of what he saw, by pen and pencil. His specialty was entomology, in which he had no equal ; and his report to the Legislature in 1841 on insects injurious to vegetation testifies to his industry and patience, his accurate eye and his facility of description. Lie was at home in other branches of natural history (especially in botany), and published fifty papers upon them. At the time of his death he had been engaged upon the study of the origin of cultivated plants, and man's agency in their distribution. Three editions (in 1842, 1852, and 1862) were published of his Insects of New England Injurious to Vegetation. To say that his merits were equal to his modesty, is to award him the highest praise.

Since the sounds of Boston's last great celebration died upon the ear, it has lost one of its best citizens, having many claims upon its gratitude in addition to the encour¬ agement which he gave to the love of Nature. G. B. Emerson was born in Wells, Me., in 1797, graduated at Harvard College in 1817, and was tutor in mathematics there from 1819 to 1821. He was the first principal of the High School of Boston, then teacher of his own private school for young ladies, and always devoted to the interests of education throughout the State.1 Before coming to college he was familiar with the trees, plants, and shrubs around his home, and was eager to read all books on botany that were within his reach. When, in 1837, a movement was made by the Society of Natural History to induce the Legislature to authorize a zoological and botanical survey of the State, as the fitting complement to the geological survey, Mr. Emerson was selected to represent the society, of which he was then the president. The Government responded promptly to the appeal, and Governor Everett requested Mr. Emerson to recommend persons fitted to conduct such a survey. The members of the society were anxious that Mr. Emerson himself should take part in it, and he was induced to divide the botany with Professor Dewey. He devoted the summer vacation for nine years to explorations through the State, the issue of which was his admirable Report on the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, published in 1 846. In 1 8 75 Mr. Emerson published a new edition, elegantly illustrated with colored plates. He died in 1881.

F. W. P. Greenwood was born in Boston in 1797, graduated at Harvard College in 1814, and at the Divinity School in 1817. He was settled at first in Baltimore, and afterward in Boston, where he died in 1843. His fine, sensitive constitution was in harmony with the wonders and beauties of nature, and he made a special study of conchology and botany. Dr. Greenwood was an active and highly esteemed member of the Society of Natural History, and made frequent contributions to its Proceedings.

Silas Durkee was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1 798, graduated at Dartmouth Col¬ lege in 1822, and then studied medicine. He practised his profession in Portsmouth until 1841, when he removed to Boston, where he died in 1878. He devoted the leisure of a full and successful professional life to marine botany and entomology, and was an honorary member of the Natural History Society at Montreal and the State Society of New York.

W. B. O. Peabody was born in Exeter, N. H., in 1799, graduated at Harvard Col¬ lege in 1816, and at the Divinity School in 1819. He was settled in Springfield in 1820, where he died in 1847. Outside of his profession Dr. Peabody was interested in natural history, and was selected by Governor Everett to make the report upon the ornithology of Massachusetts.

William Oakes was born in Danvers in 1 799, graduated at Harvard College in 1820, and at the Law School in 1825. After an experience of two or three years at Ipswich, he left the practice of the law and devoted himself until his death, in 1848, to the study of natural history, and became the most eminent botanist of his day in New England. While in college he received his first impulse towards this study from Pro¬ fessor Peck. He collected with his own hands specimens of almost every New Eng¬ land plant, making explorations of the White Mountains in 1830 and again in 1842, and attending to the geology and mineralogy as well as to the botany. He prepared a catalogue of the plants of Vermont for Thompson's History of that State, and in 1848 he published Scenery of the White Mountains , with sixteen plates ; but he was too cautious a student to rush precipitately before the public, and his great legacy to science is his collection of beautiful specimens, with his notes and descriptions, for¬ ever paying their silent tribute to his zeal and acquisitions.

What is called the Physics of the Globe may be ranked under the head of Physics or of Natural Plistory, according to the way in which the subject is treated. It is only within a few years that systematic observations in meteorology, and often with self-registering instruments, have superseded the desultory labor of amateurs and revealed the law of the winds and the law of storms. Nevertheless, the history of the weather in this vicinity is more complete than for any other place on this continent, and is equalled by that of few places in Europe.

Mr. Thomas Brattle was one of the earliest observers in this field.1 The observa¬ tions of Winthrop, from 1742 to 1779, of Wigglesworth, from 1782 to 1793, of Web¬ ber, from 1790 to 1807, supplemented by those of Farrar and Bond, record the tem- perature and pressure of the air at Cambridge for more than a century. Dr. Enoch Hale s (1790-1848) observations in Boston comprise the period from 1818 to 1848 ; and those of J. P. Hall (1799-1866) extend from 1821 to 1866.1 At Salem Dr. Holyoke (1728-1829) kept a meteorological journal from 1786 to 1821, and with less fulness to 1829." It the ordinary march of the atmospheric changes did not escape notice, it is certain that no extraordinary aspect of the sky would pass unheeded. Such were the dark days of 1716, 1780, 1785, and 18x9, surpassing in gloom that of 1881. Such were the earthquakes of 1638, 1658, 1663, 1727, and 1755. The last was the occasion of a lecture given by Professor Winthrop in the college chapel. The Rev. Thomas Piince, of the Old South Church, took the same occasion to reprint a sermon which first appeared in connection with the earthquake of 1727. lie indulged in some leflections 3 on Mr. W inthrop for diverting the minds of the people, by his physical explanation, from the moral consideration suggested by the extraordinary season. Mr. Winthrop said, in reply, that the season was no more extraordinary when he gave his lecture than when Dr. Prince reprinted his sermon, with an elaborate ap¬ pendix, both the sermon and the appendix entering largely, if not deeply, into a material explanation of the event. Pi'ofessor Williams made a careful study of the twenty-four earthquakes felt in this viciirity during the last century.4

Since the first aurora borealis was observed in Boston, Dec. 17, 1719, a record has been kept at Cambridge of similar displays, amounting to about seven hundred ; and the theory of Mairan in regard to the periodicity of the Northern Lights has been corroborated.5

A. knowledge of the declination of the magnetic needle and its changes is indispensable at sea, and of no small importance on land, especially in a country where the original surveys were made by compass. The observa¬ tions of Brattle, Winthrop, Williams, Willard, Sewall, Bowditch, and Bond, at Cambridge, Salem, or Boston, have presei'ved the history of these changes since 1708. Professor Sewall (1734-1804) was an indefatigable observer. "Often in my youth," says Mr. Sydney Willard,6 "I saw Mr. Sewall passing slowly by the President's house, crippled, tottering, and tremulous from debility, steadying himself by the fence, and now and then stopping at the President's to communicate his magnetic observations."

The limits prescribed to this paper make it necessary to omit everything but the names of the scientific men who were born in and around Boston since 1800, but who have finished their work on earth. In many cases their names alone are sufficient to indicate who they were to the present generation. The reputation of not a few is world-wide. All of them were members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, or of the Boston Society of Natural History,, or of both. Extended notices of their lives and labors may be found in the publications of these societies. Arranged chronologically, there have been in ( 1 ) Mathematics and As¬ tronomy, Sears C. Walker, Benjamin Peirce, George P. Bond, Joseph Win-

In reviewing the ground covered by this memorial, the reader will notice that a taste for mathematics and physical science was developed at an earlier period than the love of natural history; but the latter has grown to be a formidable rival. A large part of the work done in science in every field has been accomplished by amateurs otherwise engaged in earning a support. In the last century and before, it was the clergy, - at a later period it was the physicians, - who recruited the ranks of scientific men.

This is a memorial of the dead and not of the living. Even the names will be missed here of veterans in science whose reputation has crossed the ocean and is an honor to the places that can claim them ; but happily they still live, and must wait for the appendix which 1930 will bring to these volumes. The coming jubilee is full of promise for science. Acad¬ emies, societies, observatories, laboratories, museums, libraries, journals, - all stand ready to lend a helping hand. These institutions are memo¬ rials of the science which is ripe for them and of the intelligent munificence which has endowed them. It would be invidious to name the largest benefactors unless there was room for all. Some have given of their pov¬ erty; others from their abundance. Praise to those who, when Boston was young, did what they could for science without these advantages ! Discoveries can no longer be made by scratching on the surface of nature ; delicate and costly instruments must be provided. Scientific men will furnish the nerves, if the wealth of the community will supply the sinews. Listen to the words of Washington addressed to the first Congress: " There is nothing that can better deserve your attentive patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in any country the surest basis of public happiness."

By Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D.

^pHE need of a medical man to accompany the planters of Massachusetts Bay was recognized by the Company from the very outset. At one of its earliest meetings, held in London on March 5, 1628-29, it is recorded that a proposition was made " to Intertayne a surgeon for [the] plantacon," and Mr. Pratt " was ppounded as an abell man " for the place. His given name was John, and after coming to New England he lived at one time in Cambridge. At the same meeting Robert Morley was appointed " to serue as a barber and a surgeon [on all] occasyons belonging to his Calling to aney of this [Company] that are planters, or there seruants." In those days a barber-surgeon attended to the ordinary cases of minor surgery, such as pulling teeth, bleeding, and cupping. This record furnishes the earliest official action taken by the Massachusetts Company to supply the colonists with medical attendance.

Before this time, however, the Puritans in England had been subjected to bittei persecution ; and, foreseeing the possibility of an ejectment, a con¬ siderable number of their ministers had studied medicine. They saw the probable wants of the future, and fitted themselves, as best they could, for any emergency that might arise in a new settlement. Hence they formed a large proportion of the early physicians of the colony. These Puritan ministers were men of liberal education, and some of them authors of the earliest medical treatises printed in America. It was with them a matter of conscientious duty to heal the body as well as to save the soul. Each one practised in his own flock, and for his fee generally received that which is considered better than money, though not equally current at the counter. Occasionally they took part in the medical controversies of the day, and defended their views with much skill and ability. Cotton Mather speaks of this union of the two professions as an " Angelical Conjunction," and says that 11 ever since the Days of Luke the Evangelist, Skill in Physick has been frequently professed and practised by Persons whose more de¬ clared Business was the Study of Divinity 'n

At the period when Massachusetts was settled, medicine was an art rather than a science, and just ready to take a new departure under the guidance of Sydenham. Certain facts about disease were learned by rote, as it were, and the treatment was nearly the same in all cases without regard to the minute symptoms. The public believed in specifics , and remedies were prescribed as if they were infallible or sovereign. Says Shakespeare : -

About this time there were in Europe two schools of medical practice, of which the one was in the habit of prescribing vegetable substances alone, and the other for the most part mineral preparations. The first of these schools was denominated the Galenists, as they were supposed to follow the teachings of Galen ; and they might be termed the Botanic doctors of that day. The other school adopted the doctrines of Paracelsus, and gave " chemical " medicines, which included mineral substances and a few of the most active vegetable compounds. The supporters of the second school were sometimes called Chemists. There was of course a bitter rivalry between the two sects ; and if everything that was said about the one by the other was true, the poor patients had to suffer. It is very likely that the prejudice existing to-day against mineral medicines dates back to this hostility.

An advertisement in the Boston Gazette , June 19, 1744, speaks of "All Sorts of Drugs and Medicines, both Chymical and Galenical," - an allusion to these two schools.

The early physicians of New England, however, do not seem to have entered into this medical controversy, but gave such remedies as they saw fit, without regard to either faction, though they followed a routine practice. The relation of cause and effect was slighted by them, and an air of mys¬ tery and superstition pervaded the whole domain of therapeutics. The literature of the profession was scanty, and for that reason easily mastered. They had no knowledge of pathology, and but little of anatomy. It must not be forgotten that there were but few regular graduates of medicine in the country for more than a hundred years after its settlement. Dr. William Douglass, a young Scotchman who had just begun practice in Boston, writing to Cadwallader Colden, of New York, under date of Feb. 20, 1720- 21, says that "we abound with Practitioners, though no other graduate than myself. We have fourteen Apothecary shops in Boston. All our Prac¬ titioners dispense their own medicines." 1

The remedies used by the early practitioners of Massachusetts were made up largely of "simples," as they were called in contradistinction to compounds, and consisted principally of herbs dear to old women, though none the less valuable on that account. Occasionally they strike us as absurd, and sometimes excite feelings akin to disgust. Excretions and secretions were employed as curative agents, and had their particular parts to play in the treatment of disease. These remedies were prescribed at times by the best physicians two hundred years ago. When Charles II. was on his death-bed, according to Macaulay, he was bled largely, and a loathsome volatile salt, extracted from human skulls, was forced into his mouth.

John Winthrop, the founder of Boston and Governor of Massachusetts, was well versed in medicine; but his public services to the colony were so marked that his minor ministrations among friends and neighbors are thrown into the background. The venerable Cotton says of him just before his death, that he had been a " Help for our Bodies by Physick , for our Estates by Law." 1

His son, John Winthrop, Jr., for some years an inhabitant of Massachu¬ setts and afterward Governor of Connecticut, was a noted physician.2 He was one of the earliest members of the Royal Society of London, and an accomplished scholar. He had a large correspondence with scientific men, from which many interesting facts are gathered about medicine in the early history of the colony. A third generation of the family, represented in the person of Wait Winthrop, a son of John, Jr., was also proficient in the profession. In Cotton Mather's sermon preached at his funeral, Nov. 7, 1717, there is an " Epitaphium," from which the following is an extract: -

Among those who came over in Winthrop's fleet was Richard Palgrave, a physician, from Stepney, London. He settled in Charlestown, though neither himself nor his wife was ever connected with the church in that town. Their ecclesiastical relations were always with Boston, where those of their children who were born in this country were baptized. He lived about twenty years after coming to New England.

Another passenger in the same fleet was William Gager, one of the deacons of the Charlestown Church, whom Governor Dudley styles " a right godly man, skilful chyrurgeon," but who unfortunately died soon after his arrival.

Another among the early settlers of Massachusetts who practised medi¬ cine was Giles Firmin, Jr., who came to this country in 1632. His father

"a godly man, an apothecary of Sudbury in England," according to Winthrop - arrived hereabout the same time; and in some accounts the two have been confounded from the similarity of their names. It is very likely that the elder Giles was a medical practitioner. The son did not long remain in Boston, but soon returned to England ; coming again, however, to these shores a few years subsequently. He had studied for a while at the

University of Cambridge, and was learned in medicine. He is the first man known to have taught in New England this branch of science, and he seems to have left a professional imprint on the minds of his students. A little later he removed to Ipswich, where he was widely known as a success¬ ful physician. His practice does not appear to have been a lucrative one, for he writes to Winthrop some years afterward : " I am strongly sett upon to studye divinitie, my studies else must be lost ; for physick is but a meene helpe." 1 Subsequently he carried this plan into execution, and studied theology; after which he returned to England, where he was ordained, and settled as a rector. Nevertheless he continued to practise his early pro¬ fession.

" Our young Students in Physick may be trained up better than yet they bee, who have onely theoreticall knowledge, and are forced to fall to practice before ever they saw an Anatomy made, or duely trained up in making experiments, for we never had but one Anatomy in the Countrey, which Mr. Giles Firman (now in England) did make and read upon very well, but no more of that now." 2

An "anatomy" is the old name for a skeleton, and Mr. Firmin may be considered, in point of time, the first medical lecturer in the country. His instruction must have been crude, and comprised little more than informal talks about the dry bones before him ; but even this might be a great help to the learners. At any rate it seems'to have excited an interest in the sub¬ ject, for the recommendation is made, at the session of the General Court beginning Oct. 27, 1647, a few weeks later than the date of Eliot's letter, that -

"We conceive it very necessary y' such as studies phisick, or chirurgery, may have liberty to reade anotomy, and to anotomize once in foure yeares some malefac¬ tor in case there be such as the Courte shall allow of."3

Charles Chauncy, that stern Puritan, President of Harvard College, and also Leonard Hoar, who succeeded him in the presidency, were regular graduates of medicine at Cambridge in England. Chauncy left six sons, all of whom were educated at Harvard College and became preachers. " They had," says Cotton Mather, " an Eminent Skill in Physick added unto their other Accomplishments; which, like him [their father], they used for the Good of many; as, indeed, it is well known that, until Two Hundred Years ago, Physick in England was no Profession distinct from Divinity."4 John Rogers, the fifth president of the college, was also a practitioner of medicine. Hoar was the first president who was a graduate of the institution, but Rogers was an earlier graduate who became its president afterward.

Medicine In Boston

period.1 He was born in Boston, Sept. 16, 1637, and graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1657, being one of the first natives of the town that studied medicine. While esteemed as a physician, his reputation is based more on his labors in connection with the body politic than the body phys¬ ical. He died Oct. 31, 1715, having filled many public positions of trust and honor.

John Dunton, who came to New England in the spring of 1686, wrote home some interesting letters which were published. They contain consid¬ erable gossip about men and things in the colony at that time, and refer in particular to two Boston physicians. Dr. Thomas Oakes - a brother of President Oakes, and a graduate of Harvard College - Dunton calls " the greatest TEsculapius of the Countrey," and says that -

" His wise and safe Prescriptions have expell'd more Diseases and rescu'd Lan¬ guishing Patients from the Jaws of Death, than Mountebanks and Quack-Salvers have sent to those dark Regions : And on that score, Death has declar'd himself his Mortal Enemy : Whereas Death claims a Relation to those Pretenders to Physick, as being both of one Occupation, viz. : that of Killing Men." 2

" His Skill in Pharmacy was such, as rendered him the most compleat Pharmacopean, not only in all Boston, but in all New England ; and is beside, as much a Gen¬ tleman as any one in all the Countrey." . . . " He is as intimate with Gallen and Hypocrates (at least ways with their works), as ever I have been with you, Even in our most Familiar Converse. And is so conversant with the great variety of Nature, that not a Drug or Simple can Escape him ; whose Power and Vertues are known so well to him, he needs not Practise new Experiments upon his Patients, except it be in desperate Cases, when Death must be expell'd by Death. This also is Praise-worthy in him, That to the Poor he always prescribes cheap, but wholesome Medicines, not curing them of a Consumption in their Bodies, and sending it into their Purses ; nor yet directing them to the East-Indies to look for Drugs, when they may have far better out of their Gardens." 4

The opportunities for successful imposition in the treatment of disease were unusually favorable in the early days of the colony ; and the quacks were not slow to avail themselves of the chances. During the first winter at Boston, the court of assistants fined Nicholas Knopp five pounds

" . . . for takeing vpon him to cure the scurvey by a water of noe worth nor value, which he solde att a very deare rate, to bee imprisoned till hee pay his ffine or giue securytie for it, or els to be whipped and shalbe lyable to any mans accon of whome hee hath receaued money for the sd water." 5

The record, however, does not state which dose he took in the way of punishment; but as three pounds of the fine were subsequently remitted, it is fair to infer that he was not whipped. If we now had as wise legislation in regard to medicine, there would be less quackery in the community. By a law passed a few years later, regulating the precedence of passengers in ferry-boats, preference was given to public personages, and to " Physitians, Chirurgeons, and Midwives."

The colonial authorities appear to have taken steps, at an early day, to guard against the introduction of infectious and contagious diseases from foreign ports. An order was passed by the General Court, at the session beginning in March, 1647-48, which established a strict quarantine over all vessels coming from the West India Islands. It prohibited the landing of persons or goods from such vessels, until the council saw fit to decree other¬ wise. At that time " ye plague or like in[fectious] disease" - perhaps yellow fever - was raging in some of these islands, and this fact was the cause of the order. During the session beginning May, 1649, one year afterward, it is recorded that -

"The Courte doth thinke meete, that the order, concerning the stoping of West India ships at the Castle should hereby be repealed seeing it hath pleased God to stay the sicknes there." 1

No further sanitary regulations are recorded until Oct. 11, 1665, when a warrant was issued by the General Court, ordering all vessels coming from England to be placed in quarantine. This order was due to the prevalence of the " plague" in London at that time; but it was repealed just two years afterward, owing to the disappearance of the disease. The quarantine grounds then were near the Castle. These two orders appear to have been made to meet special emergencies ; but they comprise the whole legislation of the seventeenth century, so far as it relates to quarantine in Massachusetts.

It is said that the first appearance of yellow fever in what is now the United States occurred during the summer of 1693, at Boston, where it had been brought from Barbadoes. A fleet, under the command of Sir Francis Wheeler, arrived in the early summer of that year, after an unsuccessful attempt on the island of Martinico. Chief-Justice Sewall alludes to this fleet in his diary,2 under date of June 13, when he says that " severall of the Frigotts come up above Long Island; " though he does not mention whence they came. It is probable that they had arrived within a few days. A short time afterward he records that -

" Last night Tim? Wadsworth's man dies of the Fever of the Fleet, as is' supposed, he having been on board and in the Hold of some ship. Town is much startled at it."

"Capt. Turell is buried. Mr. Joseph Dassett was buried yesterday, being much lamented. Jn? Shove and - Saxton died before, all of the Fleet-Fever, as is suposed ; besides others. The Town is much startled. Capt. Byfield speaks of re¬ moving his wife and daughters to Bristow. One of the Fleet-Women dies this day, July 24, 1693, at David Johnson's, over against the Town-house.

At irregular intervals after this time, quarantine laws were passed or mod¬ ified to meet the needs of the public. A necessary adjunct to such legisla¬ tion was a hospital; and as early as the summer of 1716 a committee of the General Court was appointed to select a location for such a building. In due time they reported on two sites, - Spectacle Island and Squantum Neck; but as the owner of the island would not sell it at a fair price, they recommended Squantum as the proper place. A strong protest to this proposition, however, came from the towns of Dorchester, Braintree, and Milton, and that project was abandoned; but during the next year a quar¬ antine hospital was built on Spectacle Island, which was used for infectious diseases until the year 1737, when the establishment was transferred to Rainsford Island, where it remained until the year 1849. It was then established on Deer Island, where it was kept until April, 1867, when it was removed to Gallop's Island, at which place the quarantine buildings for the port of Boston are now situated.

In the year 1649 a law was passed which is commendatory to the wisdom of that time. It regulated, within certain limits, the practice of medicine and surgery, and required the practitioner to act according to the most ap¬ proved precepts of the art in each domain. It was a salutary enactment, so far as it went; but it afforded only a slight protection against the deficien¬ cies of the profession. It was like leaning on a broken reed, however, since it made no provision for educating medical men, and established no test of their qualifications. The attempt, however, is worthy of notice as being the first one, on the part of the colonial authorities, to restrain the quackery of the day. The tendency of the law was to confine the profes¬ sion to skilled persons ; and it must be granted that the whole medical legislation of that period was in the interest of sound learning, as under¬ stood at the time. The present generation will do well if, tried by the standard two centuries hence, they display as much common-sense in such matters as was shown by the founders of the colony.

The character of the diseases that prevailed in the early days of the colony was substantially the same, though not entirely, as nowadays. It is known that intermittent fever often occurred in certain sections of Massa¬ chusetts where now it is never seen.

The Rev. Mr. Danforth of Roxbury, during the winter of 1660, makes the following entry in the church records : " The Lord was pleased to visite vs, with epidemical colds, coughs, agues, and fevers."1 Under date of Sept. 8, 1671, he says furthermore: "This summer many were visited with ye ague and fever." And again the next year, September n, he records: "Agues and fevers prevailed much among vs about ye Bay, and fluxes and vomiting at Boston." These extracts are taken from the printed edition.

John Josselyn wrote An Account of Two Voyages to New England, which was published at London in the year 1674. He speaks of arriving at Boston, Sept, r, 1671, and finding "the Inhabitants exceedingly afflicted with griping of the guts, and Feaver, and Ague, and bloody Flux." 1 The plain Anglo-Saxon word used as a synonyme of the intestinal canal has gone down in the language, and become indelicate to this generation.

The women had their representatives in the profession in olden times as well as in our day, though they were not so strenuous in regard to their political rights as their modern sisters are. Anne Hutchinson was among the earliest of the sisterhood who practised medicine in Massachusetts. She came to Boston in the year 1636; and in A Short Story, etc., by Thomas Welde2 (London, 1644), she is spoken of as a person "very helpfull in the times of child-birth, and other occasions of bodily infirmities, and well fur¬ nished with means for those purposes." 3

" Mr-S Sarah Alcock dyed, a vertuous woman, of vnstained life, very skilful in physick & chirurgery, exceeding active, yea vnwearied in ministering to ye necessities of others. Her workes praise her in ye gates." 4

Two years later, March 27, 1667, it is recorded in the same book that " Mi John Alcock, Physician, dyed. His liver was dryed up and become schirrous." 5 Possibly an autopsy was made in this case.

The following quaint epitaph is found in the Phipps Street Buryingground at Charlestown, and would seem to indicate that occasionally in early times midwives were commissioned to practise their calling. Some mischievous person has skilfully changed the number on the stone slab, so that 3,000 reads 130,000: -

Here lyes Interred ye Body of M? Elizabeth Phillips, Wife to Ml Eleazer Phillips. Who was Born in Westminster, in Great Brittain. & Commission'd by John Lord. Bishop, of London, in ye Year 1718 to ye Office of a Midwife; & came to this Country, in ye Year 1 719. & by ye Blessing of God, has brought into this world above 3000 Children :

In the year 1648 Margaret Jones, of Charlestown, was found guilty of witchcraft; and she was the first person hanged in New England for that offence.1 She had been a practising physician, and her medicines, accord¬ ing to the best testimony of that period, had " extraordinary violent effects." It was said that " she would use to tell such as would not make use of her physic, that they would never be healed, and accordingly their diseases and hurts continued, with relapse against the ordinary course, and beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons."

The earliest treatise on a medical subject published in this country was a broadside, twelve inches by seventeen in size, written by the Rev. Thomas Thacher, the first minister of the Old South. It bears date Jan. 21, 1677-78, and was printed and sold by John Foster, Boston. The title is, A Brief Rule To guide the Common People of New England How to order themselves and theirs in the Small Pocks , or Measels.2 It was intended to furnish some popular hints in regard to the management of this disease, which was then much more prevalent than now. A second edition of this Brief Rule was printed in the year 1702.

The introduction of variolous inoculation was the most important event in the medical history of the Province ; and in promoting it the ministers took a leading part. It occurred in the summer of 1721, when there was not a single practitioner of medicine in Boston, with the exception of Dr. William Douglass, who was a regularly graduated physician. Some of the ministers were the peers of the doctors in medical knowledge, though with less clinical experience. In this state of affairs, it can readily be understood that it was a " free fight," whenever there was a medical controversy. Dr. Douglass, the leader of the opponents of inoculation, was a Scotchman, who came to Boston in the year 1718. He received his medical education in Paris and Leyden ; was a man of fine intellectual parts, and a versatile writer. He knew astronomy, and could calculate eclipses. He had a taste for natural history, and was withal an excellent botanist. He studied his medical cases, and took careful notes by the bedside. With a large prac¬ tice, he wrote on a great variety of subjects, and it is not strange that occa¬ sionally he was inexact in his statements. It was wittily said of him, by some one, that he was always positive and sometimes accurate. He had little tact, and it is not surprising that he found himself continually in con¬ troversy. He died on Oct. 21, 1752, having passed his whole professional life in Boston, where he had much influence as a physician.3

The credit of the introduction of inoculation into this country is gener¬ ally given to the Rev. Cotton Mather, who had read, in the Philosophical T ransactions of the Royal Society at London, that this method was used in Turkey as a means of protection against small-pox. During a long time the practice had been kept up in Constantinople, where it was brought from

Brief R U L.

2, This nature attempts - i. By Separation of the impure from the pure,thruflmg it out from the Veins to the Flcfh- - 2- By driving out the impui^rQa:jhc£ki}iiii.th£ Sian.

3. The firft Separation is done in thefirft four dayes by a Fcaverifh boyling ( Ebullitioo'of the Blood, laying down the impurities m the FIclby parts which kindly effeded the Feavcnfh tumult is calmed.

y There arc fcveral Errors in ordering thefe fick ones in both thefc Operation* of Naturevwhich prove very dangerous and commonly deadly cither by overmuch haften ing Nature beyond its own pace, or in hindering ol it from its own vigorous operation.

* The Separation by Ebullition rathe Fcaverifh heat is over hcightned by too much Clothes, too hot a room hot Cordials, as Diafcordium, Gafcons powder and fuch like, for hence come Phrtnx.iet, dangerous csceftive fwcats, or the flowing of the Pocks in¬ to one overfpreading fore, vulgarly called the Flox.

7. The fame feperjtion is overmuch hindred by prcpoflcrous cooling that Fcayerifh* boyling heat, by bloodletting , Glyfters, Vomits, purges, or cooling medicines . For though thefe many times haften the coming forth of the Tox. yei they rake away that fupply v.bich fhould keep them out till they are ripe, wherefore they fink m again to the dead¬ ly danger of the fick.

ft. If a Fbrenfit happen, or through a PletkorP ( that isfulncfs of blood ) the Circula¬ tion of the blood be hind red, and thereupon the whole insfs ofblood choaked up, then either let blood, Or fee that their diet, or medicines be not altogether cooling, but let them in no wife be beating, therefore let him lye no otherwife covered in his bed then he w as went in health : His Chamber not m«de hot with fire if the weather be temperate, let him drink fmall Beer only warm'd with a Toft let him (up upthm»««r>'-*>W,or »<*- ter portage made only of Indian Flour and water, inftcad of Oat-m'al : Let him cat boild App'tr, But I would not advife ax this time any medicine befidcs. By this mcansthatexcefTive Ebullition ( or boyling of his blood ) will by degrees abate, and the Symptoms ceafe-. If not, but the blood be fo mraged that it will admit no delay, then either let blood ( if Age will bear it ) or elfe give forae notably cooling medicine, or 1 efrcfli him with more free An .

9 Bur if the boiling of the blood be weak anJdull that there is caufcto fear it is not ahlc to work a Separation as it's wontto be in luch as have been let blood, or arc fat, or Flegmatick or brought low by fomc other fickncf* or labuur ol the( Gomrrhra ) run¬ ning of the Rems, or fomc other Evacuation - Infuch Cafes, Cordials muft drive them out, or they muft dy..

ic. In time of driving out the Peeks from the Flcfh, here care muft be had that the P u flute s keep, out ina right mcafurctill they have attaint thejr end without going m agam, for tbar-is deadlyt 1 . In this time ta*c heed when the Puffultt appear whilft nor yet ripe, lead by roo much heat thac anfe a new Ebullu.on ( or Feavcrifti boyling ) for this troubles the dri¬ ving out , or brings back thefeparaied pins into the blood , or the Fleftiy parrs over I heated ape difabled from a right fuppuration or.Jaftly the temper of the blo^d/nd tone ol the Flefh is fo perverted [bar it cannot overcome and dtgeft the matter d riven out 12. Vet on the other hand the broking out muft not be hmdred, by expofmg the fick unco the cold. The degree of beat muft be fuch as is natural agrees with the tem per of the fleftiy pins : (hat w.iicheicccdior falls fhort is dangerous : Therefore the leafonol the year, Age of the Pick, and their manner cf life here require a difcrcet and different Confideration. requiring theCounfel of ah expert Phyfltian.

'14. If the Puftles\go in and a flux of the belly follows (Tor clfe there is no fuch danger) then Cordials arc to be ulcd,yct moderate and not tot) often (or fear of new Ebultmon.

15. If much fpitnng( Ptj.ihfmiu) f o'low you may hope all will go well, therefore by no means hinder it : Only with warm fmall Beerier their mouths be wafbed.

- 1*? as this difeafe therefore appcarFbv its fig ns, let the flek ahftcinfrpm. and Wine, and open Air, let him ufc fmall Bear warmed with a Toft for his ordi¬ nary drink, and moderately when he Oe ires it For food ufe watrr-grurl. water-potand other things having no mamfeft hot quality, c.Ty of digcftion boild Apples, and mdk foraetimes for change, bur the coldncE taken off Let the ufe of his bed be according to the feaforiof the year, and the multirude of the Pockj, or as lound perfons

.arc wont. In Summer let him rife according to cuftome, yet fo as to be dcfenJeffhoth from heat and cold in Estcefs, the difeafe will be the fooner over and lefs troublcfom^> tor being kept in bed nourifhetb the Feavcnfh heat and makes the Pocks break out' with e painful mflamation

1 9. 4n 3 coldcrfeafon and breaking forclrof a multitude of Pteftults, forcing the fick To keep his bed. let him be covered according to his cuftome in health a moderate fire in the winter being kindled in his Chamber, morning and Evening.* * neither need he keep his Arms alw ayes in bed, or ly A ill in the fame place, for fear Icnfthc JJiould fwcat which is very dangerous cfpccially to youth.

20 Before the fourth dJy ufe no medicines to drive out, nor be too ftrifl with the fick, tor by how much the more gently the Papules do grow, by lo much the fuller and pcrfcflcr will the Separation be.

22. From that time a fmall draught of warm milk ( not not ) a little dyMwith Set ft fron may be given morning and evening till the Puftultt arc cotnc to tlu ir due greatnefi and npcnefv

25 When the Puftnhs begin ^0 dry and cruft, leaft the rotten vapours ftrike inward, .which foraetimes caufeth fudden death', Take morning and evening fomc temperate Cordial as four or five fpoonfuls of Malaf wii u tinged with a little A affr0n.

25. Beware of anointing with Oils, Fans , Ointments, and fuch defenflves, for keep 'ing the corrupted matter in the p* ft teles from drvmg up,by-thoraoifturc.they fret deep

26. The young and lively men thar arc brought to a plentiful fwcat in fhis fickne's* about the eighth day the fwcat flops ol it felf, by.no means afterwards to be drawn out again-, the lick thereupon feels moft troublcfomc difreft and a ngui(b> and then makes abundance of water and fo dyes.

27. Signs difcovcrmg the Affiultar Hrft are beating pain in-the head. Forehead and temples,pamin the back, great flccpmcfs,ghftfing of the eycsQuntng glimmerings fee® before them itching of them all'o with tears flowing of rhemfelvcs, itching ol the Nofe, j Thort breath, dry Oaugh>crttJ>eezing, hoarfenefs, heat rednefs, and fenfe of pricking over the whole body, rerrors in ih: fleep forrowand reftlcftnefs, beating of the heart,

\ foon conic rtf ripening , d the Symptomcs be gentle, the Feaver redd, and after the I breaking forth Ihabit.i If thevoice be tree* and breathing eafle-, efpecially ifihePon j be red white diftlntl-, foil lew, round, (harp top'd, only without and not in.theaiv I ward partA »f there be large bleeding at the nofe. Thefe figns are hopeful

29. Bur fuch figns arc doubtful, when they difficultly appear, when theyfinkinagam, when they arc black, blcwifh, green, hard, all in one, it the Feaver abaro not wjth their b' akmg forth ifthcre be Swooning, difficulty of breathing, great thirft,qumfey, great unquictnrfs. an'i it is very dangerous, if there be toyn'dwith irfoaie other malig. nam Feaver, called by fome the pcftilcntial Pox.- the Spotted Feaver^ oft joyned with it.

50 Deadly Signs if the Flnv of the Bell) happen, whcnthcy are-broke forth, if the Urmcbc blcody or black,or the Ordure of that Colour, Orifpure blood be caft out by the Belly or Gumms: I hefe Sigus arc for the rai)ft p^n deadly.

AMa, and had met with much success. Dr. Mather was impressed with the importance of the method, and tried to interest the Boston doctors in the subject. With one exception, however, they seemed to be either indifferent or opposed to the whole matter. This exception was Dr. Zabdiel Boylston,1 who took up the practice of it amid the most violent opposition of his professional brethren; and on June 26, 1721, he inoculated his own son Thomas, six years of age, his negro man Jack, of thirty-six years, and a little negio boy, of two and a half years. They all had the disease very lightly, and he was encouraged to try the experiment on others. In his judgment the safety and value of the operation were soon established ; but the medical profession were sceptical, and their opposition strong and bitter. With Dr. Douglass at their head they talked against it and wrote against it, and moreover they had the newspaper press on their side. Opposed to them were Dr. Boylston and the ministers, who at last carried the day. At one time the public feeling was so excited that the advocates of the practice were not safe even in their own houses. The town was patrolled by the rabble with halters in their hands, threatening to hang Dr. Boylston, if they could find him, to the nearest tree.

An attempt was made early in the morning of Nov. 14, 1721, by means of a " Fired Granado," to destroy the house of Cotton Mather, who had at the time a kinsman living with him and under his charge for inoculated small-pox. Fortunately the fuse was shaken out of the shell, and no serious damage done. A full account of the affair is given in the Boston News- Better , Nov. 20, 1721, which says that -

" When the Granado was taken up, there was found a paper so tied with a Thread about the fuse, that it might outlive the breaking of the Shell, wherein were these words : Cotton Mather, I was once one of your Meeting ; But the Cursed Lye you

Of the Boston newspapers the Nezv England Courant , edited by James Franklin, was particularly hostile to the new method.2 Within the period of one year Dr. Boylston inoculated two hundred and forty-seven per¬ sons, and of this number only six died ; and during the same time thirtynine other persons in the neighborhood were inoculated by two other physicians, and all made good recoveries. This low rate of mortality, as compared with that among persons who had taken small-pox in the natural way, was a telling argument in favor of inoculation. The array of these statistics carried the public to the side of Dr. Boylston, who was now honored to the same degree that he had previously been libelled by a fickle populace. He was invited by Sir Hans Sloane, the Court physician, to visit London, where he received the most flattering attentions from the scientists of England, as well as from the reigning family. He was chosen

1 [See Vol. II. p. 557, and Index to that vol- 2 [See the chapter on the " Press of the Proume, for references to inoculation. - Ed.] vincial Period," in Vol. II. p. 394. - Ed.]

a member of the Royal Society, and read a paper before that learned body on the subject of small-pox inoculation in New England. This was pub¬ lished in London in the year 1726, and dedicated by permission to the Princess of Wales. In this pamphlet he gives a minute account of many of his cases, telling the names of his patients in full, besides stating their ages; and in the preface he apologizes for the liberty he has taken in doing so. A second edition of this pamphlet was published at Boston, in the year 1730. In th'e course of time inoculation conquered all opposition, and finally became a well established fact in the community. Some of those who had bitterly opposed it were now its warmest friends. Notably among them was Dr. Benjamin Franklin; and in the small-pox epidemic of 1752, even Dr. William Douglass both practised inoculation and spoke of it as a " most beneficial Improvement." In writing on the subject he expresses himself " at a loss for the Reasons why Inoculation hitherto is not much used in our Mother Country, Great Britain ; considering that it has with good Success been practised in our Colonies or Plantations." 1 During three quarters of a century the practice was continued, until it was super¬ seded by the great discovery of Jenner.

The next excitement in the medical history of Boston was an epidemic which raged fifteen years later, and excited great consternation. This was described at the time by Dr. Douglass, a close observer in such cases, who wrote a good account of it. The title of this pamphlet is: "The Practical HISTORY of A New Epidemical Eruptive Miliary Fever, with an Angina Ulcusculosa which prevailed in Boston, New England, in the Years 1735 and 1736" (Boston, 1736). The diagnosis was rather obscure, and the disease baffled the skill of the physicians. " It was vulgarly called the Throat Illness, or a Plagne in the Throat , and alarmed the Provinces of New Eng¬ land very much." Dr. Thacher, in his account of Douglass in the Amer¬ ican Medical Biography, calls the disease by the name of angina maligna ; which is a generic term, and includes any inflammatory affection of the throat or fauces, such as quinsy, malignant sore throat, croup, or mumps. It has been considered also to be scarlatina; but the description leaves little doubt that the diagnosis at the present time would be diphtheria. Dr. Douglass's essay was republished in the Neiv England Journal of Medicine and Sztrgery (Boston, 1825), with an editorial note that "it has been pro¬ nounced by competent judges one of the best works extant upon the sub¬ ject of which it treats." 2

The disease was so malignant and the public so much alarmed, that the town of Boston, in its corporate capacity, took action in the matter; and the following circular in the Boston Weekly Nezvs- Letter, April 29, 1736, will explain itself : -

The Select-Men of the Town of Boston, in order to inform the Trading Part of our neighbouring Colonies concerning the State of the present prevailing Distemper in this Place, did desire a Meeting of as many of the Practitioners in Physick as could

1. That upon the first appearance of this Illness in Boston, the Select- Men did advise with the Practitioners ; but they at that Time having not had Opportunities of observing the Progress of the Distemper , it was thought advisable (until further Experi¬ ence) to shut up that Person who was supposed to have received it in Exeter to the Eastward ; upon his Death the Watch was soon removed, but no Infection was observed to spread or catch in that Quarter of the Town; therefore no Watches were appointed in other Parts of the Town where it afterwards appeared, the Practitioners judging it to proceed from some occult Quality in the Air, and not from any observ¬ able Infection communicated by Persons or Goods.

2. I he Practitioners and their Families have not been seized with this Distemper in a more remarkable manner (and as it has happened not so much) than other Families in Town, even than those Families who live in solitary Parts thereof.

4. As formerly, so now again, after many Months Observation, we conclude, That the present prevailing Distemper appears to us to proceed from some Affection of the Air, and not from any personal Infection receiv'd from the Sick, or Goods in their

Nathaniel Williams, whose name heads the signatures, was an active and useful man in his day and generation. In the affairs of life he performed the triple role of preacher, doctor, and school-master. The union of these three characters was no infrequent occurrence in former times. In each he appears to have played well his part ; and his career entitles him to more than a passing notice. He was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Oliver) Williams, and was born in Boston, Aug. 23, 1675. He graduated at Har¬ vard College in the class of 1693, and in the summer of 1698 was ordained - according to the sermon preached at his funeral by Thomas Prince - " an EVANGELIST in the College-Hall , for one of the West India Islands. But the climate not agreeing with his Constitution, He soon returned to this his native City." At one time he was engaged in giving private instruction to boys; and he had the reputation of being an excellent classical scholar. In the year 1703 he was appointed usher at the Free Grammar School, now known as the Boston Latin School; and subsequently, in 1708, he was chosen to the mastership, which position he held until 1 734.1 He studied " Chymistry and Physick under his Uncle, the Learned Dr. fames Oliver, of Cambridge , one of the most esteemed P hysicians in his Day; " and even while teaching continued to practise his profession of medicine. He died Jan. 10, I737_38; and the Boston Weekly News-Letter of January 12 calls him "the Reverend and Learned Mr. Nathaniel Williams," and speaks of him " as a very skilful and successful Physician ; " and says that " as his Life has been very extensively serviceable, so his Death is esteemed as a public Loss."

John Cutler was the son of John Cutler, and born Aug. 6, 1676, at Hingham. The father was a " chirurgeon," and served in King Philip's War. He came originally from Holland, where his name was Demesmaker. On coming to this country he adopted the English translation of his Dutch patronymic, and called himself Cutler; and ever afterward the family was so designated. His marriage is thus given in the town records of Hingham : -

" Johannes Demesmaker, a Dutchman (who say his name in English is John Cutler) and Mary Cowell, the daughter of Edward Cowell of Boston, were marryed by Captaine Joshua Hobart on the fourth day of January, 1674."

The births of seven children are also recorded in the same records. I give the entries of the two oldest and the two youngest of these children, as they show how the distinction between the names was made at the out¬ set, and that it was dropped in the course of time. The oldest child was John, who became the physician and signed the circular relating to the epidemic : -

"Johannes Demesmaker, whose name in English is John Cutler, the son of Jo¬ hannes Demesmaker, a Dutchman, and of Mary his wife, was born on the sixt day of August, 1676."

" Peter Demesmaker (the son of Johannes Demesmaker, a Dutchman, and of Mary his wife, an English woman) was born on the seventh day of July, 1679."

The father removed to Boston about the year 1694, and lived in Marl¬ borough Street, now a part of Washington Street, near the Old South Meeting-house. He had a large practice, and was the preceptor of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, who afterward became famous during the time of the small-pox inoculation. He died, probably in the winter of 1717, and his son John, Jr., inherited his practice as well as the homestead. The son married the widow, Mrs. Joanna (Dodd) Richards; and he was actively connected with the King's Chapel, of which church he was a warden. He died Sept. 23, 1761, having lived a long life of usefulness.

improv'd and greatly belov'd among us, as a skillful Physician and Surgeon, and was held in Esteem for his strict Piety." An inventory of his property contained among the items: " Druggs [£] 284: 4: 4;" " Chirurgical Instrum'" of all Sorts, 120; " "3 Glass Cases of Veins and Anat: 50." This appraisal was made according to the paper money of New England, which at that time was much depreciated; and it would be difficult to calculate the gold value.

Thomas Bulfinch, the last signer, was the son of Adino Buffinch, a mer¬ chant of Boston, who came to this country from England about the year 1680. The son was born in 1694, and began the study of his profession with Dr. Zabdiel Boylston as his preceptor. Pie afterward went to London, and received instruction in anatomy and surgery under the famous Cheselden, and subsequently to Paris, where he completed his professional educa¬ tion. On his return to Boston he married a daughter of John Colman, at that time a prominent merchant. He soon acquired the reputation of an ex¬ cellent physician, and enjoyed a very large practice. He died Dec. 2, 1757, leaving a son, Phomas, Jr., who followed in the footsteps of his father as a successful practitioner.1

1 he first inoculating hospitals in the neighborhood of Boston - one at Point Shirley and the other at Castle William - were opened in the winter of 1764, during an epidemic of small-pox. The Point Shirley hospital was established by the governor of the province, with the advice of the council, and placed under the charge of several physicians. A notice in the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser, March 19, 1764, sets forth that -

" Those Physicians of the Town of Boston who are engaged in carrying on the inoculating Hospital at Point Shirley, being prevented giving their constant Attendance there during the continuance of the Small- Pox in Town, hereby notify the Public that they are join'd by Doctor Barnett of New Jersey, who will constantly attend at said Hospital with one or other of said Physicians whose Business will permit, and employ the utmost Diligence and Attention for the relief of those that put themselves under their care. They further notify that Point Shirley contains as many comfortable and decent Houses as will be sufficient to accommodate as many Persons as will probably ever offer for Inoculation at one Time, from this or the neighbouring Governments, and is well furnished with every requisite Convenience both for Sickness and Health."

Dr. William Barnett lived at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and had ac¬ quired considerable reputation in Philadelphia as a promoter of variolous inoculation.

1 [See VoL II. p. xlv, for the father's signa- often occur in the Massachusetts Archives, - ture ; the son's is herewith. His certificates " Royalists," - that this or the other person's

" In order to inlarge the Conveniences for Inoculation in addition to those already proposed at Point- Shirley, that every Person desirous of undergoing that Operation may have an Opportunity of doing it, without endangering the Spreading the Dis¬ temper, and that this Town may be, as soon as possible, freed from the apprehension of the Small- Pox, the Governor has consented that the Barracks of Castle- William shall be improved for the Purpose of Inoculation from this Time into the Middle of May next. And the said Barracks are now opened to all physicians having Patients to Inoculate, under such Rules as shall be thought proper to be made for that purpose.

Dr. Samuel Gelston

Gives this Publick Notice to his Patients in Boston and the adjacent Towns that he has prepared (by Permission of his Excellency the Governor) all comfortable Ac¬ commodations for them at the Barracks at Castle -William, in order to their being inoculated for the Small- Pox under his immediate Care.

N.B. - His Rooms are in that Part of the Barracks where the Patients of Dr. Nathaniel Perkins , Dr. Whitworth, and Dr. Lloyd's are received.

All Persons inclined to go to the Barracks at Castle- William to be inoculated where Dr. Gelston resides, may apply to Dr. Lloyd, at his House near the King's Chapel, who will provide them a Passage to the Castle.

Dr. Gelston was a physician of Nantucket, and had previously managed a small-pox hospital at Martha's Vineyard, where he had successfully inocu¬ lated eighty-one persons. There were at this time several private estab¬ lishments in the town, at which inoculation was carried on.1

It is said that many came to Boston from all parts of the province and from other colonies to be treated in these hospitals. During a period of five weeks after they were first opened, it is estimated that more than three thousand people received the disease, and not a fatal case among them. The Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser, April 16, 1764, is my authority for the statement.

It was during this epidemic that the library of Harvard College was burned, on the night of Jan. 24, 1764. The fire occurred in vacation time, and while the building was used by the General Court, which was then

1 [The files of the city clerk show at this inoculate in, May, 1764. The same files show an time a petition of William Tudor and others to elaborate chirographical effort of John Vina], the the selectmen, to warn a town-meeting to see if town's writing-master, asking compensation bethey will prevent "four physicians and a for- cause the small-pox has broken up his school, eigner " building a house within the town to - Ed.]

" A collection of the most approved medical Authors, chiefly presented by Mr. James of the island of Jamaica, to which Dr. Mead and other Gentlemen have made very considerable additions ; Also anatomical cutts and two compleat skeletons of different sexes. This Collection would have been very serviceable to a Professor of Physic and Anatomy, when the revenues of the College should have been sufficient to subsist a gentleman in this character." 1

The allusion contained in the last paragraph seems to indicate that the question of a medical professorship in the college had been broached be¬ fore this time. Even in the earliest days of the institution a certain amount of instruction had been given in medicine. Small though it was, it is not for us to despise its influence. Johnson, in his Wonder-Working Provi¬ dence (London, 1654), - written about the year 1650, - describes the col¬ lege at a period near that time, and says that " some help hath been had from hence in the study of Physick."2 It is very likely that Cambridge was the place where Giles Firmin taught anatomy, as mentioned in a pre¬ vious page of this chapter.

The American Revolution had opened a new field for medical investiga¬ tions, and the establishment of military hospitals furnished increased facil¬ ities for the study of practical anatomy. The opportunities for dissection were frequent, and the young and enthusiastic students of medicine were not slow to avail themselves of these advantages. Dr. John Warren had been appointed superintending surgeon of the military hospital in Boston,3 and his zeal for anatomical and surgical studies soon prompted him to utilize some of the bodies of soldiers who had died without friends to claim for them the last rites of burial. To this end, in the winter of 1780, he began a course of demonstrations at the hospital, situated at the west end of the town, near the site of the Massachusetts General Hospital; and this course of lectures was the forerunner of those now given at the Har¬ vard Medical School. These demonstrations were carried on with great secrecy, and attended only by a few physicans and medical students. Dur¬ ing the next winter another course was given, which was more public ; and these two courses laid the foundation of the present Harvard School. Dr. Warren was encouraged in the undertaking by the help he received from the Boston Medical Society, an association organized about that time to pursue anatomical studies. The school began operations in the year 1783 ; and Dr. Warren was chosen, most naturally, to fill the professorship of anatomy and surgery. At first the lectures were delivered at Cambridge, and were attended not only by the medical students but by the senior

3 [See Vol. III. p. 1 1 2. Dr. George B. Lor- Dr. Ephraim EMt, is given in the Mass. Hist. Soc. ing printed an account of the medical profes- Proc., November, 1863. - Ed.]

class of the college. Subsequently the whole course of instruction was given in Boston, where there were better opportunities for clinical practice and surgical operations. This change took place in the autumn of 1S10, though it had in part been brought about during the preceding year. The removal was followed immediately by a large increase in the number of students.

Dr. Warren held the position from his election, Nov. 22, 1782, until his death, which took place April 4, 1815. He was succeeded by his son, Dr. John Collins Warren, who held the place until the year 1847, when he was followed by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. It is not a little remarkable that during a period of nearly a century this chair has had but three occupants.

In the early days of its history the school was not known by its pres¬ ent name, but was called the Medical Institution of Harvard College; though somewhat later it is spoken of as the Medical School of Harvard College, or of Harvard University. Occasionally it is mentioned in the newspapers as the Boston Medical School; and after its removal from Cambridge it is sometimes called the Massachusetts Medical College, - the name given to the building erected in Mason Street for the use of the school. An engraving of this structure may be found in the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, for April, 1S16, and is here reproduced. It is only in recent times, - perhaps within twenty-five years, - that the institution has been called the Harvard Medical School. This name has grown up gradually, and now we seldom or never hear any other given to it.

The protective power of vaccination was discovered in England by Edward Jenner, near the end of the last century; and the news of its discovery was soon brought to this country. Among the first persons here, and perhaps the first whose critical attention was called to its importance, was Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, of Cambridge. Its introduction, like that of vaiiolous inoculation, was destined to meet with many difficulties and obstacles; and Dr. Waterhouse was to be the champion. He wrote much as an advocate ol the cause; and, against popular ridicule and prejudice, he succeeded in carrying the day. A communication, signed with his initials and dated at Cambridge, March 12, is found in the Columbian Centmel of March 16, 1799- It is headed " Something curious in the Medical

The Medical College In Mason Street.1

Line," and is the first account of vaccination that was given to the public in this country. He printed the article in a newspaper in order to excite " the attention of oui dairy farmers to such a distemper among their cows," and to inform the profession generally of this security against small-pox.