Benjamin Rush ALS to Samuel Latham Mitchell

Book

18th Century Medicine in Philadelphia

Name/Title

Description

A fabulous letter between two of the most important early physicians in American history. Even more so as Rush mentions not only his feelings on the poor state of medical education in America, but also Yellow Fever and how physicians both struggled over the idea of its origin being domestic vs imported and whether it was in fact contagious vs. non-contagious. He discusses how some physicians changed their points of view (which is interesting because Rush also changed his point of view as to whether the illness was contagious or not, initially feeling it was then changing his position). He also mentions Mitchell's Medical Repository, which was the first medical journal in the United States, and was founded by Mitchell in 1797. " Philadelphia Aug 1, 1811 Many-Many thanks to you for your facts in support of the uses which I have ascribed to the spleen and thymus gland. They are directly in point to my opinions, and I shall not fail of acknow-ledging my obligation to you for them in my lectures next winter. In the meanwhile I wish you would give them publicly in your Repository, or in any other periodical publication. Our country abounds in tories in medicine, as well as in politics. many of our physicians admit nothing to be new or true that is not distilled to us thro' European Alembics. You sir have (P2) done much to establish the originality and independence of American genius in science. In consequence of which you now enjoy an extensive and well earned reputation in your own, as well as in foreign countries. As proof of the Colonial spirit of medicine in ur country to which I have alluded, I will mention a thinking fact. Two physicians in our city once zealous advocates for the domestic origin of the yellow fever have lately veered round to the opposite side of the question. 'O! That I were a dog said General Lee (when he heard of the sentence of the Court Martial that condemned him) that I might not call man my brother' - O! that I were a farmer that I might not call such physicians my bretheren. Success to your new medical institution! I wish graduation in both our universities were made more difficult and a longer (P3) lesson of study required to prepare candidates for it. Wealth, respect, and Friendship! From Dear Sir, Yours Truly, Benjn Rush. "

Web Links and URLs

Swann Auction Lot , Samuel Latham Mitchell and lewis and Clark, Wikipedia Samuel Latham Mitchell

General Notes

Note Type

Historical Note

Note

Mitchill taught chemistry, botany, and natural history at Columbia College from 1792 to 1801 and was a founding editor of The Medical Repository, the first medical journal in the United States. In 1793, he was elected a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were James Gregory, Dugald Stewart, and John Rotherham.[5] In addition to his Columbia lectures on botany, zoology, and mineralogy, Mitchill collected, identified, and classified many plants and animals, particularly aquatic organisms. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1797.[6] From 1807 to 1826, he taught at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York and then helped organize the short-lived Rutgers Medical College of New Jersey, which he served as vice president until 1830. While at Columbia, Mitchill developed a fallacious theory of disease; however, it resulted in his promotion of personal hygiene and improved sanitation.[7]