Joseph Carson

“ 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. ”

“ Attractive and plausible as have been the systems of medical philosophy presented to the world, as generalizations they all partake of the deductive method of investigation, which assumes first principles of too limited a scope to admit so wide an application as has been made of them. The animal economy cannot be regarded as obedient to one single law of government, by which the vital operations of its parts and organs can be all accounted for; and the day has passed when even brilliant discovery in one track of research can carry captive the entire mind of the profession. ”

“ Rush must have received an intimation, as in October, 1768, he thus wrote from London to Dr. Morgan: “I am much obliged to you for continuing to read lectures upon Chemistry. I hope to be in Philadelphia in May or June next, so that I shall relieve you from the task the ensuing winter. Is it necessary for me to deliver publickly an Inaugural Oration? Something must be said in favor of the advantages of Chemistry to Medicine, and its usefulness to medical philosophy, as the people of our country in general are strangers to the nature and objects of the science.” ”

“ In the changes that had taken place in the Faculty of the University of Edinburgh, at the period when the founders of the American School were educated within its walls, Cullen had come upon the theatre of action, and filled the highest place in their affections. As with the students of the University of Leyden, Boerhaave had been the ruling spirit, and had stamped his genius upon their thoughts and opinions, so, by the pupils who listened to his instructions, Cullen was regarded as the paragon of scientific medical intellectuality. ”

“ It has always been a matter of question whether Dr. Barton would have distinguished himself as a teacher of purely practical medicine, as he had done in the chair which afforded the opportunity of indulging in the especial bent of his genius. His reputation rests upon his success as a naturalist, and cultivator of the branches of knowledge depending upon the natural sciences for their elucidation. ”

“ To the compeers which have been brought into existence by its own and other instrumentalities and which are engaged in laudable and honorable efforts to disseminate true learning and science, and to improve the efficiency and maintain the exalted character of the Medical Profession, the University should ever extend a cordial sympathy. The reputation acquired by them is reactive. It is only by mutually sustained energy that the good of mankind can be successfully promoted. ”

“ The term of my apprenticeship being expired, I devoted myself for four years to a military life, principally with a view to become more skilful in my profession, being engaged the whole of that time in a very extensive practice in the army amongst diseases of every kind. The last five years I have spent in Europe, under the most celebrated masters in every branch of medicine, and spared no labor or expense to store my mind with an extensive acquaintance in every science that related in any way to the duty of a physician ”

“ The scheme you have published for conferring degrees in Physic has met with the approbation of Dr. Cullen himself, who interests himself warmly in everything that relates to your reputation or success in life; he thinks himself happy, he says, in educating those young men to whom so important a Medical College as that in Philadelphia will owe its foundation and future credit.”
“I thank you for the pains you have taken to secure me the Professorship of Chemistry. I think I am now master of the science, and could teach it with confidence and ease. ”

“ Chapman had no pretensions to be a reformer, that he could change the character of Medicine, or that, by the means at his command as a practising physician, he could elevate it from its position as a highly cultivated art, to a lofty science. At this time General Anatomy was unknown. Pathological Anatomy had revealed only the grosser alterations of the organs. Physiology shed no illuminating ray on Pathology and Practice. Pathology was almost entirely conjectural; Chemistry was incapable of solving the actions of living beings, and the attempts made were deceptions ”

“ To trace the course of medical science through its phases of doctrines and opinions, from the commencement of the eighteenth century, when a remarkable impulse was given to it, to the time when Dr. Rush terminated his labors, would be an agreeable and instructive task. It would present the account of the contest between the lingering power of scholasticism, monkish credulity, bigotry, and dogmatism, and the teachings of experiment, observation, and reason. [2] In Medicine, as in other sciences, the victory declared itself upon the side of humanity. ”

“ I need not tell thee that the knowledge of Anatomy is of exceeding great use to practitioners in Physic and Surgery, and that the means of procuring subjects with you are not easy; some pretty accurate anatomical drawings, about half as big as the life, have fallen into my hands, which I propose to send to your Hospital to be under the cape of the Physicians, and to be by some of them explained to the students and pupils who may attend the Hospital. ”

“ Whereas, finally, in our Institution, holding the rank of a University, the very name of which implies universality of instruction, it is highly desirable that provision should be made for teaching all the sciences an acquaintance with which is in a greater or less degree essential to a complete and thorough medical education ”

“ This procedure on the part of the University, in the matter of improving and elevating the practice of pharmacy, aroused the enterprising spirit of the druggists and apothecaries of Philadelphia, and incited them to found a “College of Pharmacy,” an independent institution, which, through the instrumentality of its school and of its journal, and by its vigilance with reference to the conduct of its members, has been of incalculable service to the profession of pharmacy, not only in the city of Philadelphia, but throughout the United States. ”

“ The physicians who occasionally engaged in its practice had received no instruction, with the exception of a few, who, having visited Europe, brought home a general knowledge of the subject, but who, from the prejudices existing against the employment of male practitioners, had few opportunities and fewer inducements to perfect their knowledge. Hence midwifery existed almost universally as an art; the aged and imbecile nurse was preferred to the physician. ”

“ Modern research, by employing every available means and vastly improved appliances, has demonstrated that the forces that are active in controlling and regulating the animal organism are numerous and wide-spread. Haller, Hunter, and Bichat led the way in basing pathology upon physiological knowledge, by which alone practical medicine can be successfully directed; and exhibited clearly that observation, experience, and inductive reasoning are the sure methods of obtaining right principles. Without these, as has been remarked by Dr. Rush, “medicine is an humble art, and a degrading occupation.” ”

“ From the uniform success which has attended the career of the medical school of the University, assurance is given that the responsible charge which has been transmitted from generation to generation has been faithfully preserved; that the trust committed to its professors has always been regarded as a sacred one, and that as such it has been emulously cherished. ”

“ I have considered the proposals you made me yesterday of our taking some further steps towards your uniting with us in a Philosophical Society, and as it was always my desire, and I think may yet be readily effected, I should be pleased to confer with you about it, and will do everything in my power to cultivate that harmony which should subsist among the lovers of science. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Rogers was a popular teacher; the full store-house of his mind was drawn upon to instruct his pupils, and no pains or labor did he spare to make easy to their comprehension the important truths he taught. In one portion of his course he was especially interesting; this was organic chemistry. Of late years it has become a prominent department of medical science, and, from the success with which it has been cultivated, will become ultimately so interwoven with medicine as to require a large share of attention from medical students. ”

“ This, like every subsequent effort on the part of the Profession to regulate its practice in accordance with enlightened legislation, had no influence with our political rulers. Indeed, the time has not yet arrived when restrictions upon assumptive claims to skill or wisdom can be tolerated by the community, the members of which must either suffer, or protect themselves by their own intelligence and discrimination between true and false claimants for public patronage. ”

“ I should do violence to my feelings should I proceed to the subjects of the ensuing course of lectures, without first congratulating you upon the union of the two Medical Schools of Philadelphia, under a Charter founded upon the most liberal concessions by the gentlemen who projected it, and upon the purest principles of patriotism in the Legislature of our State. ”

“ For forty-four years he continued to expound the science of Medicine to admiring listeners, attracted by the polish of his language, the smoothness of his diction, and the clearness of his expositions. As age advanced, he truly became the “old man eloquent,” and had the satisfaction of witnessing the progressive increase of the class in attendance upon his lectures, from the small number with which he began his career to over four hundred at its close. ”

“ No jealousy or suspicion appears to have been entertained towards them, and certainly it may be affirmed that medical men have as deep a stake in the prosperity of the schools as the representatives of other professions or occupations. Although the custom of electing members of the medical profession was for a time suspended, the return to it may be regarded as a happy omen, and the present honorable body may be congratulated upon the accession to its deliberations of such discreet and proper members as the medical gentlemen who now constitute a portion of its number. ”

“ It is impossible to present a complete list of the students attending lectures in the College and University prior to 1810. No catalogues are in existence to which to refer for information, and all that can be known of the progressive prosperity of the School is derived from the annual registration of the graduates. For a long time no regular minutes of the Faculty of Medicine appear to have been kept, and our source of knowledge of the affairs of the Medical Department is the record of the Board of Trustees. ”

“ This triumph of Truth and humanity over ignorance and prejudice may be considered as complete. Obstetrics was confessedly equal to the other branches of medical science, and its practitioners and teachers were authoritatively pronounced on a par with Surgery and the Practice of Medicine. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The opinion that the natural sciences were important in a scheme of medical instruction may be observed to have constantly influenced the actions of the Board of Trustees, whether of the College or of the University; for we find that although without practical results, Mr. William Bartram was elected Professor of Botany in 1782. Although Dr. Barton was not the first Professor of Botany, he was the first of Natural History, and, so far as can be discovered, the “first teacher of Natural Science in this Cis-Atlantic World.” ”

“ As it is calculated to promote the Benefit of Mankind by the improvement of the beneficent Art of Healing and to afford an opportunity to students of acquiring a regular medical education in America, it is hoped it will meet with public encouragement, more especially as the central situation of this city, the established character of the Medical Professors, the advantages of the College and of the public Hospital, all conspire to promise success to the Design. ”

“ Morgan in the library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Dr. Morgan, while in Europe, appears to have constantly revolved in his mind the course he would pursue. In writing from London, November 10th, 1764, to Dr. Cullen, he remarks: “I am now preparing for America, to see whether, after fourteen years’ devotion to medicine, I can get my living without turning apothecary or practitioner of surgery. My scheme of instituting lectures you will hereafter know more of. It is not prudent to broach designs prematurely, and mine are not yet fully ripe for execution.” ”