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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre film^s 6 des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 6 partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN" MASSACHUSETTS. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A. Williams & Co. will send by post, on receipt of the price, any of the following publications : — An IlLSToiurAL AnimKss, Uickntknnial and Ckntknnial, dolivored .July 4, 1870, at Grotoii, Massacliusetls. Oefavo, paper cover. 80 piigcs. Price $1.00. An IIistouical Addkkhs delivered at Groton, Mussiicliiisetts, February W, lf*M», at the dedletition of three iiioiiiiiiieiits erected by the town. Octavo, paper cover. 5(( pages. Trice .'K) ceiif.x. CoLST William i>l Duf.x-roNrs'.s Campauin.s in A.mkhica, 1780-1781. Translated from the French Manuscript, with an Intro- duction and Notes. Octavo, paper cover. Pp. xvl. 170. Price $2. KriTAnis FKOM tub old Buuyijjg Gmiu.si} in Grotcin, Massaciu:sktts. WItli Notes and an Appendix. Illustrations. Octavo, cloth. Pp. xlx. ^71. Price f.'t.OO. TlIK KAKLV JtKCOUDSOK Glt()TON, MA.SSA(;iirSKTTS, lflfi','1707. With Note.*. Octavo, cloth. 201 pages. Price $.'.0(». mtitovs of mtnitint in mautimmtm. A Centennial Address DEUVKKEI) BEFOKE THE MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY AT CAMBKIDGE, JUNE 7, 1881 BY SAMUEL AUBOTT GREEN, M.D. IJ O S 1' O N : A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY. Old Cornkr Bookstore. 1881. J'rtNs of JJiuitl. Clxpp tt San. •VH Wii-hiiiKtoii Stii'ci. TO 3r!je JWcmorjj of DOCTOR JOSHUA GREEN, OF OKOTON, WHO WAS, DITRINO IIALK A CKNTURY, A MICMUEIl OF TlIK Passuc^usetts Peblcal jsocietg, AND FOR MANY YKARS ONK OK ITS COUNCILLORS, THIS AUUUESS IS INSC'RIUEU, WITH FILIAL PIETY, BY HIS SON. ii'^ A small edition of this Address was printed before its delivery, for the convenience of the writer; though in s present fori some changes have since been made. It was delivered in the Sanders Theatre, when parts of it were necessarily omitted on account of its length. CENTENNIAL ADDKESS. L The Massachusetts Medical Society is about to enter uinm the seeond eentuiy of its ex- istence. Following- tlie custom of this centennial period, it proposes to celebrate the anniversary of its origin by the story of its life. It was born in trou])lous times ; and its founders were still en- gaged more or less actively in a political strug CENTENNIAL AD1>UES8. • ( ill! ^riicy saw that iK'ttcr results were afoomplishotl by {'onccrU'd action tlian by individual fH'ort; and they wevv then ready to associate themselves to- getliei' for the purpose of inii)rovinj^ the jjractice and raisinj;' the standard of its study. It is a sin- gular fad in tlu^ social economy of all'airs, that some of the oldest and most learned scientille as- sociations, both in this country and in Euro[)c, have been formed during the clash of arms and the din of war ; and this Society is no exception. Nothing hap[)ens in this world by chance, though oftentimes it may be difUcult to discover the h\v which underlies a princijde. The Massachusetts Medical Society was incor- porated on November 1, 1781, and its charter was signed by Samuel Adams, as president of the Sen- ate, and by John Hancock, as governor of the Commonwealth. These ])atriotic names suggest Kevolutionary times. It will be noted that the centennial anniversary of the birth of the Society docs not occur for some numths to come; but it is fair to assume that tlie preliminary steps for its or- ganization cover this interval. In the pi'csence of this audience it need not be said that a period of ges- tation always precedes a birth ; and without attempt- ing to fix the limit of this period I shall assume that it is now a century since tlie conception of the Society took place in the brains of its founders. There had been before this time a medical soci- ety in Boston, which was the first one formed in America. It a])pears to have been in existence as early as the year 1735, though it did not continue CEXTENXIAL ADDRESS. loii'i:. lis records niv invtnovnl)ly lost, and nil that is known abc>ut it is jjfatiiorcd IVoni fraj^nient- nry Kources. It is very likely that it included in its list of nicinhcPH some of the ministers, as they were intci'cstcd in the study and practice of medi- cine. J)r. AVilliam Douglass, a noted author and physician of that day, writes, under date of Feb- ruary 18, 17.*]5-IU), to Cadvvallader Colden, of New York, that . . . Wo have lately in Tioston fonnod a medical socinty, of wliicli. tills irciitlcinaii [Dr. ('lurk, tlio bciirur of tlm Itstter], u niciiiix'i' tlii'icof. (MM rf\\{' yon ii |)iirticiiliir iutcouiit. We desij^ii fi'oin time to time to imldisli .somo short pieces; there is now ready tor the jiretiM iiuniher one, with this title-pago : — Nl'MIJKll On'e, MKDICAL MKMOIIIS CONTAIM.Nd 1. A niiscellany. Practical introduction. 2. A history of the dysentery epidemical in I'oston in 1734. y. Some account of a ;;iitta-serena in a youiiy woman. 4. The aniitomical inspection of a spina ventosa in the vertebriu of the loins in a younif man. 5. Some practical comments or remarks on the writings of Dr. Thomas Sydeidiain. Fublitihed l>y a Medical-Society in Boston, New-England. This letter is now among* the Golden Papers, in the possession of the N^ew York Historical Soci- ety ; a copy of it is printed in the second volume, fourth series, ol' the Massachusetts Historical Col- lections ([)ages 188, 180). Gutta serena, Englished into drop serene, was the cause of Milton's blintlness. The poet alludes to himself, when he says: — " Eyes that roll in vnin To tiinl thy piorein^' ray, and tiiid no dawn ; So thick a droji surcne hath (luunched their orbs." ST-^CWCT . 1 fl CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. The disease was afterwards known as amam'osis. Spina ventosa is an affection of the osseous sys- tem, — according to old notions, — in which the texture of the bone dilates, seemingly distended with air. The first number of these " Medical Memoirs " was never printed. It was probably Dr. John Clark, at that time an eminent practitioner of med- icine, who is referred to in the letter, as a mem- ber of the Society. He was born on December 15, 1698, and was then at the height of his pro- fessional zeal, when he would naturally be inter- ested in a scientific association. He belonged to a family of medical antecedents and traditions, being himself of the fourth generation in a direct line of John Clarks, all physicians, and he was fol- lowed by three more, equally direct, of John Clarks, these three also physicians, — covering a period of more than a century and a half and in- cluding seven generations of the same name. During the year 173(5, Dr. Douglass ]nil)lished a pamphlet entitled '"The Practical IIISTOKY of a l!^ew Epidemical Eruptive Miliary Fever, with an Angina Ulcusculosa which prevailed in Boston !New England in the years 1735 and 173(3." It 's insci'ibed, " To a Medical Society in lioston,'''' and the preface begins : — " Gentlen^en, This Piece of Medical IHntory does naluralhj address it. aelf to you, considering that I have the pleasure lif being one of your nnml>er, that you have been fellow labourers in the management of this dis/enii)er, and therefore corn/n'tent judges of this performance, and tiiat where dij/iciilt or extraor- dinary Cases have occurred, in any of your private practice, I CENTENNIAL ADDP.ESS. 9 teas favourerl to visil the Palientu in order to make a mimife Clinical e)i(/Hiry : in short, loithout your af<.-iisfance this piece would have been less perfect, and not so well vouclicd." In " The Boston AVeekly N'ews-Lcttcr," Janua- ry 5, 1737, there is a long communication, ad- dressed " To the Judicious and Learned Presi- dent and Members of the Medical Socictt/ in Boston,^'' and signed '^'^ J*hllanthropos.^^ It takes strong ground in lavor of reguhiting the practice of physic throughout the province, and advocates the plan of having all practitioners examined by a board of physicians and surgeons appointed l)y the General Court. The writer is justly severe on the " Shoemakers, Weavers and Almanack- malers, with their virtuous Consorts, who have h\id aside the proper Business of their Lives, to turn Quacks." In the same newspaper of N^ovember 13, 1741, is an interesting report of a surgical operation per- formed about that time for urinary calculus, on Joseph Baker, a boy six years old. It Avas done "in Presence of the Medical Society," by Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, and "according to Mr. (Jhesel- deii's late Improvement of the lateral Way." The report begins: — " A ]\rp(liriil Society in TJnston Ne\v-Kiiifl:ni(l. loUh no quack- ish Hew, as is the manner of sonic ; bid lor the C'omjorf and Benejlt of the unhappy and miserable Sujfcrcrs by flic exrru- ciatiny Pain, occasioned by a Stone in the Bhuldcr, do Publish the following Case." Dr. Gardiner, the opei'ator in this case, was a rising young siu'geon who had studied his pi'ofes- sion in London and Paris. He began the pi'ac- 10 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. f i; i tice of medicine in Boston, whci-c he also lectured on anatomy, Avhich he illustrated by i)repai'ations brought from Europe. Ilis enterprise led him to establish an apothecary's shop, in which he car- ried on an extensive wholesale and retail business. His career as a physician and surgeon was attend- ed with remai'kable success, and he soon acquired from his profession both fame and fortune. His pi'osperity, however, was interrupted by the poli- tical troubles which preceded the Revolution, and during the struggle he took sides with tlic mother country. He thus became odious to the patriots ; and when Boston was evacuated by the British troops, he was compelled to leave his native coun- try and pass eight or ten years in exile. He finally returned and died at Xew])ort, Khode Island, August 8, 178(3, in the 80th year of his age. Although the Medical Society in Boston was short-lived, no account of the history of medicine in the State would be complete which did not mention its existence. In its day it exerted a good influence on the profession, and showed a zeal on the part of the physicians which is alike honorable to their heads and creditable to their hearts. The origin of the Society may have had some connection w^ith the ei)idemic of dii)htheria which broke out in Bostoji during the suminer of 1735; at any rate, it was organized about that time. It is known to have been in existence late in the autunni of 171:1, though ten years afterward there was no trace of it. Dr. Lloyd, who began the practice of medicine in Boston about the year I- . li CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 11 17o2, and eontimiod in it for more than half a eon- turv, had no recollection of such an association. This last fact is mentioned by Dr. Uartlett, in his address before the Massachusetts Medical Society, June G, 181(1, and shows that it had disappeai'ed before Dr. Lloyd's time. The founders of this local society, the pioneer association of its kind in the country, rei)resented the active medical thought in Boston ; and though they are nnknown to us even by name, deserve on this occasion a tribute which is freely given. A long generation passes, and the Massachu- setts Medical Society t^kes the field, and occupies the broad limits of the State, including the dis- trict of Maine. Many of the original members had served in the army, and were familiar with the capital operations of the hospital and the bat- tle-field, while others had filled important public positions of a civil character. In any presence they would have been considered accomplished physicians and surgeons, and they were the peers of other professional men. Together with the clei-gy they represented the education and refine- ment of the community. But before entering upon the history of this venerable eorj)oration, I may be allowed to go back and give a sketch of the rise and progress of medicine in ^Massachu- setts during the colonial and provincial periods. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the winter of 1G20, they found that a few years before their arrival a deadly pestilence had raged all along the New Eng-land seaboard, and that the natives I 12 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. had been more tliaii decimated by the epidemic. Cotton Mather sayts: — " Tlie Indian)^ in these Parts had newly, even atont a Year or Two beforf!, been visited with such a i)rodigious Pestileiieo; as carried away not. a Tenth, but Nine Parta of Ten (ytts Histoiifiil Collections, i. 148. * Good Newes tioiu New-Eiiglaud, page 18. ^ CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 13 corded history, it is known that Avhole villages of the natives have been swept away by this sickness. The Indians had no knowledge of medicine, but were accustomed to treat disease largely by in- cantations and powwows. There is, however, a popular belief to-day that the Indian doctor is skilled in botanical remedies, as he is wont to use the infusions and decoctions of various roots and herbs. AVhile there is no ground for such an im- j)ression, he will yet be consulted as long as the race of simpletons continues to exist — perhaps till the millennium. The ravages of small-pox among the ignoi'ant natives were fearful, as they had no kno.vledge of inoculation or vaccination ; and thus a new danger opposed the white settlers, who were already overburdened by their cares and trials. During the first winter at Plymouth, the colo- nists lost half their number by disease, and of the other half most of them were sick, and so weak that they could not take proper care of themselves or of each other. Scarcely twelve men were left alive in the settlement, and only about three times as mau}^ women and children to share in their misery. Fifty persons, all told, included the whole l)opulation of Plymouth in the spring of 1621. They suffered fearfully from scurvy, and this was largely the cause of the great mortality which befell them. Says Wood, in his " New Englands Prospect : " — ..." wliereas many died at the begiiiniiig of the plantations, it was not because the Country was unliealthfull, but because their 3 14 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. * f Mf bodies were co niptod witli sciwliot, wliich was nauj^ht, the Beefe and Pork iK-iiij; tjijiitcd. tlicir Iiiittrr and Cheese eornipted, their Fisli rotten, and voyanom- inated tlie Cialenists, as tliey were snp|)osed to follow the teaehing's ol'CJalen ; and they might be ti h1 the hot; do('t( )l'that di IMie oth I'mea tlie l)olanie doctors or mat iiay. L lie oilier school ado|)ted the doctrines of Paracelsus, and gave "chemical " medicines, which included miiu'ral substances and a lew of the most active vegetable compounds. The supporters of the second school were sometimes called chemists. Thei'e w^as ol course a bitter rivalry l)etween the two sects; and, if everything" that was said about the one l)y the other was true, the poor i)atients had to sutler. It is very likely that the prejudice existing to-day against mineral medicines dates back to this hostility. The folloAving advertisement appears in " The Boston Gazette," June 19, 174-1, and alludes to the medicines of the two schools. The advertiser, Mr. Clardincr, who lias ))een mentioned l)efore In these pages, was not only the most noted drug- gist in ^ew England, but also an accominished physician and surgeon: — " t7"(t.s< imparled in the Ship from London. And to oe Sold by Mr. Sylresler Ganliner, At the Sign uf the I'niooiii and MortiU- in jMiirlborongli-Strect. All Sorts of Dniiis ;ui(t Medicines, l)0th C'liymietil ;ind CJnleni- cal; where all Doctors, Apothecaries or others, may be sii|i|i'y't and freshest of Either at the lowest I'riee ; and Captains of Ships with Doctor's Boxes i»ut n|t in the neatest and best Manner; with printed Directions: Likewise all Mer- 20 ( KXTKNNrAIi ADHIIKSH. f rlianfs may lie furiiisli('(l at (li(> sdinn PIiico with Sh'^jooiim Clio^ts |)iit ii|i in llic same .Manner, ami at tin- ■^aiim Price, at tliey am t'(ir \\n' l{(iyal Navy, at the Apollieeary's Mail in Loiidan ; wliero onli/ are to lie Scilil ii\ A|i|Htinlment of tlm I'litentecu, tho tnio Doctor Jld/emau'ii IVr'tonil." ^riie (.'ally i)l>ysl('ianH of Now En^hind, liow- C'vor, do not Hccm to liave entered into tlii.s niedi- eal eontrovei'sy, l)ut *>{ive siieli remedies as tliey saw lit, witlioiit re^iU'd to either seliool, tlioiigli they followed a rontine prtietiee. 4Mie relation of ejuise and elfeet was slighted l)y them, and an air of mystery tmd superstition jjervaded the whole donntin of theriii)enties. I'lie literature of tho l)rofession was seanty, and for that reason easily mastered. They had no knowledge of })jithology, and bnt little of anatomy. It mnst not bo forgot- ten that there wore bnt very few regular grtidu- ates of medieino in the eountry for more than a hnndred years after its settlement. From the year l(i()7 to 17)J0, a period of sixty-three years, — ae- eording to Judd, in his History of lladley, Massa- ehnsetts, — there was neither physieijin nor sur- geon in Nortluunpton, a large and rieh town ; though at one time an nnsnecessfnl attempt Avas made to obtiiin a bone-setter. — (Page GKJ.) In such ])laces there was always some good house- ■\vife Avho acted as nurse on important occasions, and she generally pei-formcd Avell tho part of a doctor. Only to this audience I will whisper, whtit must not be I'opeated abroad, that there was as little sickness and as much longevity in Nortli- ani[)ton tis in other towns that were favored by physicians. Every household had its simple do- (KNTFA'MAL ADDItKSS. 21 ■'^ mostic ivincdics for common oomplaints, and few AV( re llu' Jainiru's that did not possess sonio old book ('(Mitaiuing mainiscript receipts i'or ordinary ailiiu^nts. The remedies used l)y the early practitioners of Kcw England were lai-'^ely made n[) of simples, as they were called, in contradistinction to coni- pounds, and consisted princi[)ally of herbs dear to old women, thou<;h none the less valuable on that account. Occasionally they strike us as absurd? and sometimes excite feelin«j;s akin to disgust. An electuary of millepedes looks learned, and sounds as if it might bo sweet ; but looks are nothing and sound is empty, when we consider that 'millepedes is the scientific name for sowbugs, so common in the country, under damp, soggy planks. Excre- tions and secretions were emi)loyed as curative agents, and had their particular parts to play in the treatment of disease. These remedies were j)rescril)ed at times by the best physicians two hundred years ago. In England, during this period, the ])ractice of medicine was equally crude. 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. In " The Boston Gazette, or, "Weekly Adver- tiser," December 18, 1753, is a long communica- tion, covering two pages of the newspaper, setting forth " Examples of Great Medicines drawn from unpromising Bodies.''^ It is made up of extracts li'om a work published at Oxford, England, in the r -a :' ! i ! ISP-BBIPiiB it . i I I 22 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. year 1G64. The article is printed with the foilow- iiiir siib-headiniTs : " Medicines out of Soot ; " ■»' " The Use of llorse-dwuj ; " " Medical Virtues of Human Urine ; " " Medicines out of Humane Blood ; " and " The 6/rea^ W^^^^^ «^' '"^'^^ i?<'//i7S." Under the second sub-heading the writer goes on to show that " there arc not any Medicines to be taken into the Body more cheap and contemptil)le than the Excrements of Men and Horses^ and than Insects ; and yet that even these want not consid- erable Medical Virtues." He furthermore asserts that " the juice of Horse-dung, especially of Stone- hor'ses,''^ — i. e. stallions, — is good for the stoppage of urine, and certain other complaints. The early physicians used to jilace much reli- ance on the powers of nature to expel the mater ies morhi from the system, })articularly by way of the ki ^ leys ; and a glass vessel to hold the in-ine was considered a necessary article in the sick-room. A very superficial examination of the fluid was made, by holding it up between the light and the observer, in order to see its color, and whether it was clear or turbid; and from the condition of the water the conclusions were drawn. The folloAviug signs of urine are taken from a book, by AY. Mather, and published pi'obably at London in the year 1084. It is a volume of 4G(j pages, but the title-page is missing : — " 1. Red Urine sigiiifioth heat of the Blood. " 2. White, rawness and indigestion in the Stomacli. " y. Tliick, like ])n(ldle. excessive labour or sirkness. " \. White or red gravel in the bottom threatens the Stone la the Reins. " 5. Hlaok or green, commonly death." CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 23 Dr. George Emery, a Salem physician of unsa- vory reputation, in November, 1(357, was fined forty shillings " for changing a bottle of water of Goody Laskin. & respitted untill next Court & to be rt nittt^l if he sliall acknowledge he did euill in it, or not well in soe doing & ffees Court 30"*." — (Essex County Records, Salem Court.) John Josselyn, an Englishman, came to this country in the summer of 1003, and afterward wrote a book, which was entitled ^'New Ewjlands KARITIES Discovered : in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that Country. Together with the The Physical and Chijruryical Reme- dies wherewith the Natives constantly use to Cure their Distempeiw, Wounds, and Sores." It was published at London in the year 1G72, and con- tains a large number of homely remedies to be found in i\\Q fauna iumX flora of the country. The following morsels of medical wisdom are taken from different parts of it : — Picking the gums with the bill of an osprey is good for the tooth-ache; I}(!ar's grease is good for aches and cold swellings; Beaver's cods are much used for wind in the stomach and belly, jiarticularly of pregnant women ; Moose horns are much better for ])hysick. than the horns of other deer; A stone found in the heatl of the cod-lish, when pulverized, stops iiuxcs of blood, and one found in their bellies is a remedy for the stone in the blad- der; Scarifying the gums with a thorn i'loni tlie doglish's liack cures tootli-a(^he; The heart of a rattlc-snakf is an antidot(( to its bite ; liurning " s])unck, an excresence growing out of black birch," in two or three ])laces on the thigh of a patient, helps sci- atica; Watermelon ih often given to those sick of fe\ers, and other hot diseases, with good success. ISIuch dependence used to be placed, as I have already said, on the use of roots and herbs ; and the various kinds thought to possess healing prop- 24 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. erties were carefully gathered diirintiis ; Iiivalidos oiuiics iiliii'mi(|iic sine prcstio sanitati restitiiit; Et pcue oninuni Natiiram t'ccit Mt'dioam. In his "History of N^ew England" (II. 315, .310), Governor AVintlirop nv ntions the first a])pearancc ill lioston of a partici lar nialadv of a constitntional character, which is coeval with the history of man- kind. It was hri.iight from Spain l)y a sailor dur- ing* the spring of I'JiG, and is called in Winthrop's acconnt by the name of lues venerea. It was some time before its i-eal nature was '^ discovered })y such in the town as had skill in physic and sur- gery, but there Avas not any in the country who had been practised in that cure;" and during the interval sixteen persons became affected. Fortu- nately at this period a young surgeon ha])i)ened to arrive, '''■ who had had experience of the right way of the cui-e of that disease," and, as the record goes, " He took them in hand, and through the Lord's blessing recovered them all \bkmk\ in a short time." For the reputation of the sailor's wife w ho had just been delivered of a child, I will add that the disease is su[)i)osed to have Ijcen si)read by the neig-hbors who drew her breasts as well as suckled her baby. The magistrates took CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 27 tlic case iiiulcr eonsidoratioii, Init came to no sat- islac'toiy eonelusioii in ivi>ar(l to it. It was thought by some "that tlie \,'onian was infeeted by the mixture of so many spirits of men and women as drew her breast." This is the earhest reeoi'ded instance in t^e colony of a form of dis- ease Avhicli is familiar to j)iiysicians and common in all seaport towns. Winthrop, in his History (I. lU'J-.'JlG), gives also another occiu'rence of medical interest. It is an account of a monsti'ous birth, which created nuich excitement Avhen it became publicly known. It seems that one Mary Dyer, the wife of William Dyer, of Boston, was delivered of a monstrosity, October 17, 1(3)J7, and its birth concealed Ijy Good- wife Hawkins, who ofliciated on the occasion. The mother Avas a milliner, and had always borne a good re})utation. The child was still-born, and had becu viewed by no other person than the mid- wife and Anne Hutchinson, the enthusiast. Ano- ther Avoman had had a glimi)se of the tei-ati- cal object, but Avas unable to keej) the secret, as the other tAVo had done. In this A^ay the matter leaked out. When Mrs. Hutchinson Avas about to leave the colony some time afterward, she Avas questioned in regard to the allair, and then told ev(!rything. She said by way of excuse that she had been advised by Mr. Cotton, the minister, to take this course ; and subsequently Mr. Cotton himself justified it to the GoA^ernor, ])artly on the ground that it Avas an admonition IVoni Heaven to that particular family, and the Avorld at large Avas i I I! f; il ! I'H.i . II I li i' i 28 CENTE NX r AL ADDRESS. not sii|)])()sc'(l to 1)0 C'oncenu'd in the inaltor. The ini(hvilc''.s re|)oi-t ol" Uie case to Governor AV'^in- thi'op was as Ibllows:- - '• It was !i wdiiiiiii cliild. still-lir I'li, about two moiitlis before the just lime, liiiviiii^ lil'e a ktw lioiirs Ix'l'ore; it ciime liipliiigs till slic turned it; it was of ordinary Itia less; it liad a face, but no head, and the ears stDud npon tlie shoulders, and were like au ape's; it liad no forehead, hut over the eyes four horns, ,iard and sharp; two of thcni Wfr(! al)ove one inch l<)n_<^, the other two sliorlcr; the eyes standin:if out. and the mouth also; tlm nos<^ hooked U|)ward ; all over the breast and ba(;k lid! of sharp pi'icks and scales, like iithoruback; the navcI and all the belly, with tlie distinction of tlie sex, were where the back should be. and the back and hips before, where the belly should have been ; behind, between the shoulders, it had two mouths, and in eacdi of tiiem a |>iece of red flesh stickinir out; it hail arms and leii's as other cliildrim; but, instead of toes, it had on each ftjol tliree claws, like a young fowl, witli sluirp talons." The stories were so eonllieting', and the excite- ment ran so high in the matter, that the Governor, with the advice of some of the inagisti'tites and elders of the town, ordered tlu; body to be taken up, six months after its burial, when "most of tlu)se things were to be seen, as the horns and claws, the scales, etc." It is also recorded that Avlu'u the child " died in the mother's body (which was al)out two hours before the birth), the bed whei'con the mother lay did shake." This furnished all the testimony needed at that time to show that the whole ail'air was su[)eruatural. I*oor Mtiry Dyei- was subsequently hanged on Boston Conmion, »Jnne 1, 1060, a victim to the persecution of the (Quakers. It is not a little singidar that Mrs. ^Iutc^" son herself, a short time al'tcrward, w;is also the su , '*t of a medical and clerictd inquiry. Her theological ;i ! CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 29 hiTcsy had taken a uterine form of expression, ac- cording to tlie belief of those days, tliongh now it would be considered a case of hydatids. She was then living in Rhode Island, and — I again quote from Winthrop's History — '• After liLM* time v fuIfilUHl, that she expected deliverance of a cliihl, was delivered of a monstrous birth, which, being diverse- ly related in the country (and, in tiie open assembly at lioston, upon a lecture day, declared l)y Mr. Cotton to bo twenty-seven S('veral lumps of man's seed, without any alteration, or mixture of anything from the woman, and thereupon gathered, that it migiit signify her error in denying iidierent righteousness, but that all was Christ in us, and nothing of ours in our faith, love, etc.) hereupon the governour wrote to Mr. Clarke, a physician and a preacher to those of the island, to know the certainty there- of, who returned him this answer: Mrs. Hutchinson, six weeks before her delivery, perceived her body to be greatly distempered, and her sjiirits failing, and in that regard doubtful of life, she sent to me, etc., and not long after (in immoderato iluore uterino) it was brought to light, and I wan called to see it, where I beheld, first unwashed (and afterwaids in warm water,) several lumps, every oni' of them greatly confused, and if you consider each of them according to the representation of the whole, they were altogether without form." .... "The fmall globes I likewise opene "iiuiulred and fifty years ago. They help iis catch the coloring of that period; and no picture of the times is com- plete without it. It would be impossible for us to reach the same conclusions, becanse we reason from different premises. There is a kind of moral parallax as well as a physical one ; and we should bear in mind the apparent displacement of an ob- ject as seen from different points of time as well as of positioii. The angle of metaphysical vision to-day subtends a much larger arc than it did two or three centuries ago. Among those who came over in Winthrop's fleet was Kiehard Palgrave, a physician, from Stepney, London. He settled in Charlestown, though neither himself nor his wife was ever con- nected Avith the church in that town. Their eccle- siastical relations were always with Boston, where those of their children who were born in this coun- try were baptized. He lived about twenty years, after coming to ^New England. Another passenger in the same fleet was AVil- liam Gager, one of the deacons of the Charlestown Church, whom Governor Dudley styles " a right godly man, skilful chyrurgeon," l)ut who unfor- tunately died soon after his arrival. Another among the early settlers of Massachu- setts who practised medicine, was Giles Firmin, Jr., who came to this country in the year 1632. His father — " a godly man, an ai)othecary of Sud- bury in England," according to Winthrop — arrived CENTENNIAL ADDUKSS. 31 here about the saiiH' tiino; and in some accounts the two have l)een conlbundcd from the similarity of their names. It is very likely that Giles, senior, was a medical practitioner. The son did not long remain in Boston, but soon returned to England; coming agani, however, to these shores a few years sul)sequontly. He had l)een educated at the University of Cambridge, and was learned in medicine. He is the first man known to have taught in New England this l)ranch of science, and he seems to have left a professional imprint on the minds of his students. He soon remov- ed to Ipswich, where he was widely known as a successful physician. His practice does not appear to have been a lucrative one, for he writes to Winthroj, some years afterward, — " I am strongly sett upon vo studye divinitie, my studies else must be lost: for physick is but a meene helpe.'" Sub- se([uently he carried this plan into execution, and studied theology, after which he returned to Eng- land, where he was ordained and settled as a rec- tor Nevertheless, he continued to practise his early profession. The apostle Eliot, vgB*w under date of Septem- ber 24, 1()4:7, writes to Mr. Shepard, the minister of Cambridge, and expresses the desire that — " Our joimg Students in I'hysick may be trained up better than yet they bee, who have ouely theoreticall knowledge, and are forced to fall to i)racti.se before ever tliey saw an Anatomy made, or uuely trained up in making experiments, for we never had but one Anatomy in tlie Countrey, wliich J\Ir. Giles Firman (now in England) (bd make and read upon very well, but no more of that now." ^ ' Hutchinson's Collection of Orif^iual Papers, &c., page 109, 2 Massuchusetts Historical Collections, third series, iv. 57. immm F 82 CENTENNIAL ADDllESS. r* All anatomy is the old iiamo for a skeleton, and Mr. Firmin may be considered, in point of time, the iirst medical lecturer in the country. His in- struction must have been crude, and conii)rised little more than informal talks about the drv bones before him; but even this might be a great help to the learners. At any rate it seems to have excit- ed an interest in the subject, for the recommenda- tion is made, at the session of the General Court beginning October 27, 1G47, — a few weeks later than the date of Eliot's letter, — that " we conceive it very necessary y' such as studies phisick, or ehi- rurgery may have liberty to reade anotomy & to anotomize once in foure yeares some malefacto"" in case there be such as the Courte shall alow of." ' The ape tie Eliot himself was skilled in medi- cine, and he tried to teach the Indians some gene- ral principles of the study as well as a knowledge of the human body. He was desii'ous that they should be instructed in the ruies and precepts of the art, so that they might give up their " i)ow- wows " and rely on prayer m the treatment of the sick. 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 Physich added unto their other Accomplishments ; ' General Court Records, ii. 175. CENTENN I A L AD I >I{ KSS. ',y.\ which like hhn [their fathoi*], tluy used for the Good of iiiiuiy; as, iiuU'od, it is well known, that until Two llunih'od Years aew» iNt IS anv one in a li the C onntrcv. lie is as intimate with (Jailen and llyi (OC- rates (at least ways with their works.) as ever I have heen with you, Even in our most Familiar C'onverse. And is so conversant with the great variety of Nature, that not a Drug or Simple i-an Kscajtehim; whose Power and A'ertues are known so well to him, he needs not Practise new Ivvperimeiits upon his Patients, except it he in desperate Cases, when Death must be expel! (I by Death. 'I'his also is Praise-worthv in him. That to the Poor he always prescribes ciieap but wliolcsome .Med icmes, not curniir them of a Consumption in their Podics, 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 (hardens." — (•' The Publications of the Prince Society," iv. 'J1-!)G.) Harvard Colle<^e was founded in the year 1638; and during the period from this time till IToO, there had been but ni.iie of its graduates who had CENTKXNIAL ADDUESS. :w ever received a medical depfrce. Of tliis mimbcr, two liad taken it at J*adua, in Italy; one cacii at ('anil)i'i(l<4C', Oxford, Aberdeen, and JiCydeii; and three others iiad received it |>rohal>ly in Kn^land, though tlu' phice is not nuntioni'd. 'I'hc decree j;iven at (Jxl'ord was u liaccahinreate ol'^Iedicine. lietwei'n tlie classes (d' I7JJ7 and 17.">() tlu're were five *>Ta(lnates who many years aftei'ward received from the Collegi' the dej>ree oi" ^I.D., pro honoris causa. They were Dr. lOdward Angustns llol- yoke and J)r. Cotton Tufts, both former presidi-nts of this Society; Dr. John Si)ra<^ue, of Dedham; Dr. Thomas liullinch, of Boston, and Dr. Oliver Prescott, of Groton. The opj)ortunities for successful imposition in the treatment of disease were unusuallv favorable in the early days of the colony; and the ([uacks were not slow U> avail themselves of the chances. During the first winter at Boston, the Court of Assistants fined Nicholas Knopp Wvq pounds — " for t:ikoiii,<; vpoii liim to cure tlic scurvcy l)y a wutcr of iioe worth nor valiit', wliidi lit^ solde att a very duarc rutu, to lioi; iin- prisoiH'il till \w,i' pay liis iliiie or uiuo .securytic for it, or els to ho wliil)|i('(l iV; sliali)i! lyaliln to any mans ai'cun of wiionic lit; iia' ■ reccaiied money fur the s'' water." — (Cieueral Court liee(jnls, i. 07.) The recor(j, however, does not sttite which dose he took in the way of punishment, hut as three pounds of the fine ^v•ere subsecpiently remitted, it is fair to infer that he was not whii)[)ed. If we now had as wise legislation in regard to medicine, there w(mld be less quackery in the connnunity. 13y a law passed a fev/ years later, regulating the ^^••■1 36 CENTENXIAL ADDRESS. H I !! H '! i 1 proccdciico of passengers in feny-boats, pivfer- enco was given to public i)ersonagcs, and to " Phy- Hitians, Chirurgeons, and Midwives." The colonial authorities appear to have taken 6tei)s, at an early day, to guard against the intro- duction of infectious and contagious diseases from foreign ports. An order was passed l)y the Gen- ^'ral Court, at the session beginning in March, lo-x7-48, which established a strict quai-antine over all vessels coming from the AVest India Isl- ands. It prohibited the landing of persons or goods from such vessels, until the Council saw fit to decree otherwise. At that time " y" plague or like in[fectious] disease," — i)erhaps yellow fever, — was raging in some of these islands, and this fact was the cause of the order. Dui'ing the session beginning May, 1649, — one yet;" afterward, — it is recorded that — "The Conrtc doth tliiiiko moeto. thnt tlio order, conocrnincf the sloping ot West liidiii slii[).s tit the Castle slioiild horehy ha ro- pi!iil('(l s(!cniig it hiitii plciisod God to stay tlie sicklies there." — (Geueriil Court Records, ii. '2'AH.) 'No further sanitary regulations are recoi'ded until October 11, li)()5, 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 i-epealed just two years afterward, owing to the disappearance of the disease. The quarantine grounds then were near the Castle, aftei'ward called Castle AVilliam, but now known as Fort Independence. CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 37 These two orders appear to have been made to meet sj)ccial emergencies; but they comprise ihe 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 169.3, in Boston, where it had been bi'ought 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 (Massa- chusetts Historical Collections, fifth series, V. 379, 380), 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 niglit Tim? Wadsworth's man dies of the Fever of tiie Fleet, as is sup[)osoervation of life or health ; as Chirnrgions, Mid- wives. I'iiy-itians or others. ])resnme to exercise, or put fortli any aet contrary to the iinown ap[iro\ed Kiiles of Art, in each Mystery and occupation, nor exercise any force, vioh?nce or cruelty upon, or toward> the Imdy of any, whether youiiij or old. (no not in the most dillicnlt and dcsjicrate eases) without the advice and consent; of such as are skillfull in ilie same Art, (if such may be had) or at least of some of the wisest and jrravest then present, and con- sent of the patient or patients if they i)e menlis conipotCfS, much less contrary to .«uch advice and consent; npon siicii scnere punish- ment as the natur<; of the fact may deserve. whii;h Law neverthe- less, is not intended to discourajfc any from ail lawfull tise of their skill, iiut rather to incouiai^e and direct them in tiie riyht use thereof, and inhii>it and re.^treine tiie presuini)tuons arro^•aney of such as through pre>idence of their own skill, or any other sinister respects, dare iiuldiy attempt to exercisi; any violence uiion or towards the liodyes of young or old. one or other, to the ])rt;iiidic(i or hazard of the life or limlie ol' man. woman or child. — ("The (ieiieral Laws ami Lilterties of the .ALi-^.^acliuseUs Colony," Cam- britlge, 1072. page "Js.) The i'ollowing petition in maiuiscript is found, without signature or date, among the Ma'^sachu- Ltt*" g5it<:'SSg''"'5il8Cy3l' BWWji'yil 40 CENTENNIAL ADDEESS. iii ! I 1 setts Archives at the State House (IX. 21). In the arrangement of the papers it has been assigned to the year 1G53, and it belongs doul)tless to that period. It probably had some connection with the discussion growing out of the condition of affairs which culminated in the law just mentioned: — To the Honor^^ Court. Wheras there be many Chirurgions tliat came over in the Ships into thiw Hay, & liere practise both Physick & Chinirgery to the liazarding of tlie lives & liinbes of some, & the detriment of many, being vnskilfull: in those Arts. ^lay it please tiiis Hon- oured Court to take it into Consideration wliether such ought not to be restrained, & that first they may be exercised by the skilfull & authorised Phisitians «& Chirurgions in this towne, & then being found skilfull, & approved by them may by some JMagistrates be licensed to practise the time they are resident here, but if any one hall presume on shore to practise w"'out liberty granted, that some fine may be imposed vpon him for every such default according to you' discretion. With a low standard of professional education even among the physicians, it was not to be expected that there would be much general intel- ligence on medical matters in the community at large. A stream never rises higher than its source. The ignorant are provei-bially credulous and easily deceived. The following extract Avill show the strain to which weak credulity may be put. It is taken from " The Boston Weekly News-Letter," January 14, 1717, which was the first newspaper, and at that time the only one, l)ublished on this continent. Perhaps some cynic in this audience may say that for pure and unadul- terated abstu'dity it can be capped by almost any quack advertising sheet at the present time, and I am not ready to dispute it. CENTENISIAL ADDEESS. 41 BoMoT), On the Lords day ISroriiiiij.f tlio sixfli Currant, a striini;(i tiling iVll ont licrci. One Tlionias Sniitli a Sawvfr alxnit four JMontli ago, lionglit a Lusty Tall new negro, fit for hiss Employ, who after e()ni|)lain'aiiiud Wlllard, Teacher of a Church in BOSTOX," and published in the year 1G9J, it is announced that — That Excellent ^/i/w/o/e against all Clripings called ^r/ua a>j/i torminalix, which if taken it not only cures the (Iripings of (iuts, iV: Wind ('liolick. hut [)rev(niteth that wot'ul Disienipt'r the />/•*/ Jh'Uii Ach. Sold l}y Benjamin Harris. Price os. the Half Pint JJottle. Harris was one of the printers of the little book; and he advertises in the same page *" An Ingenious Piece which turns Georijt KcUh inside outwards," by Cotton Mather. The price of it, in boards, was one shilling, — the cost of about two ounces of the medicine. , At the sale of a part of the Brinley i ;|| 1 ' 1 il i ■ 42 centp:nxial address. ijtl I ill I lil)rary in Xow York, two years aj];'o, a C'opy of tlic siunv work, luulcr the titk' of " Littk' Flocks Giiardeel a^i'iiinst Grievous Wolves," I'etehed twenty-ei<^ht dollars. The ])iiblishei- of ''The Boston Evening Post," in liis issue of March 21, ITIJT, advertises "The Pool" Man's Family-Book, Oi', A new Editi(ni of Calpepers London Dispensatory " as a work "Yery Useful foi' Families, especially in the Country, where learned and skilful Physicians are not very easily met with." The merits of the edition are given Avith some prominence. The book purports to contain: — 1. Three hundred nseful Addifionf^. 2. All Ike Nuten thai loere in the Marcjenl are hroiKjJd into the Bool- between Iwu sneh Crotche'.s a.s ihe.' (iorxl of tlio I'nlilii'ii. a certain PcM'sou li;iili a secret M (■(iK'inc wliirli cure: tlie ( ira\il and CI loliclv unnic( Hatch aiK Dry BlUv Acli in a liule Time; auil lestures the Lae of tlie Limbs '^AmMmmmmrhmm CENTEXXfAL ADDRESS. 43 !irf''iiii- (tlio' tif ncvci- so loi", ( ontimiiiiico.) and i^ cxo'llciit for tlio (ioiil. I'juiuiif of Mr. Sainin'l (I'l'rri.-'li, r>uok~clli'r. iic.ir tln^ IJrick Mfctiiiy House, over iiifaiii>t tlic 'rown-IIoiix' in llostdii. N. Ji. The Poor who urc not uhh' to pay for it. may have it (/ratis. Tho early practitloiuTs of iiu'tllcine liad a foiitl- iiess i'or voiU'wi'C'lion, and th(! lanct't was in conslant requisition. Good Deacon and Doctor Fuller, Avho lived id Plviuoutli, writes to Govei'uor lirad- lord, under date of June 28, l(j.'}(), "I liave been at Matapan [Dorchester |, at the request of Mr. "NV'arham, and let some twenty of these ])e()i)lc blood; I had conference Avith them, till I was weary." This last exi)ression may have been also his <>uide in the medical treatment; that is, he continued to bleed until he got tired. Such heroic ])i'actice was of common occurrence, and exciti'd no remark. The ministers too were expert in l)hlebotoniy, and they were wont to bleed and l)ray, in all severe cases. Then there were the barber- surgeons who wielded with ecjual facility the razor and the lancet, as well as used the jaw-breaking key on the aching teeth of their unfoi'tunate friends. The pathetic stoiy of William Dinely has often been told. lie was a barber-surgeon who perished during a severe snow-storm, De- cembei' 15, 1G38, between Boston and Roxbury, whither he was going to pull a tooth. It Avas many days before his body was iound, and his poor widow sutfered great anguish. Her grief hastened the coming event Avhich she was autici|)ating Avith so much joy, and she named the baby Iuilhcf(/o)ie Dinely. ^. 44 NTENXIAL ADDRESS. if m Formerly in P]n;j;lan(l the patient, while nnder- goiiiij;' venesection, was wont to gi'asp a pole in order to make the blood How more freely, and as the pole was lial)le to be stained, it was painted red. When it was not in use, the barber would hiwv^ it up on the outside of his door, with white Jinen swathiny-bands twisted round it. The i-ed and white pole of the present day, so eonspieuons in front ;)f barbers' shops, has resulted by evolution from this custom. It is worthy of note that, in this country since the Great Rebellion, a blue stripe is frecpiently added, makin<>' the i)atriotic combin;ition of the " Red, White, and Blue." The character of the diseases that juevailed in the eaiiy days of the colony was substantially the same, though not entirely, as nowadays. It is known that intermittent fever often occurred in certnin sections of Massachusetts, where now it is never seen. The Reverend Mr. Danforth, of Roxbury, during the winter of 1G(>0, makes the following entry in the Chui'ch Recoi'ds: "The Lord was pleased to vi^-ite vs, with epidemical colds, coughs, agues, & fevers." — (Page 11)9.; lender date of Sei)temb<>v 8, 1G71, he says furthermore: " This sununer mai.y ■Nv^ere visited with y" ague & fever." And again ihe next year, Septem])er 11, he records: " Agues & fevers prevailed nuicli among vs about y*" Bay, & fluxes & vomiting at Boston." These extracts are taken from the printed edition, ])reviously noticed. flohn Josselyn, who has been already mentioned in these pages, wrote " An Account of Two V^oy- CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 45 ages to 'N'ew-Eiig'land," which was published at London in the year 1()74. lie s])eaks of arriving at Boston, Se[)tember 1, 1071, and finding " the Inhabitants exceedingly afHicted with gi'iping of the guts, and Feaver, anil Ague, and bloody Flux." — (Page 213.) In another place he says that " the Diseases that the EtujUsh are afflicted with, are the same that they have in En(jland, with some pi'oper to New-Etuiland, griping of the belly (accompanied with Feaver and Ague) Avhich turns to the bloudy-tlux, a common disease in the Coun- trey." — (Page 1S3.) Joshua Scottow, in his " Old Men's Tears," published in 1(391, with a nomen- clature more exi)ressive than elegant speaks of the " burning and spotted Fevers, shaking Agues, dry Belly Achs, plague of the Guts, and divers other sore distempers" (page 15), which have afflicted the plantation. The plain Anglo-Saxon word, used as a synonym of the intestinal canal, has gone down in the language, and become indelicate to this generation. The well ventilated houses of that period, while inviting some disorders, kept oif others, and their occupants somehow or other managed to live to a good old age. The men had not as yet ac- quired the habit of using those rasping liquors, so conducive to renal affections, but contented them- selves with honest rum and pure wines, to say nothing of the product of their home-brewing. Small-pox was to them a terror, which has since been deprived of much of its dread. In short, the modifications of disease, as now seen, are due 7 46 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. ! i' i * 1 1\ % principally to the different circumstances and habits of Hfe prevailing in the community. The settlers m the main led quiet and unexciting lives; and there was little tendency to those mental disorders which are so characteristic of an active business community. The delicate relations existing be- tween the mind and the body were rarely disturbed by outside influences ; and when the manifestation of such a disturbance took place, it was considered a visitation from heaven or the other place, and the treatment was to be found in prayer. If the intellect was beclouded by a haze or excited by illusions, the explanation was sought anywhere but in the right direction. It was not known that there are physical causes for many metaphysical facts. Twenty years before the outbreak of witchcraft at Salem, a young maiden of Groton was seized with a variety of nervous disorders, constituting a well-marked case of hysteria, which created a great deal of excitement in the town. At the outset it baffled the skill of the neighbors, who were inclined to think that she was possessed of the devil; and the minister was called in, who talked with her and prayed with her, but all to no purpose. A physician was sent for next, " who judged a maine p* of her distemper to be naturall, arising from the foulnesse of her stomacke & corruptnesse of her blood, occasioning fumes in her braine, & strange fansyes." Finally the poor girl confessed that she had made a covenant with the Devil; and her actions were so strange that CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. d7 the doctor was nonplussed and threw np the case, lie then " consented that the distemper was Dia- bolicall, refused further to administer, advised to extraordinary fasting." A council of ministers was convened to consider the matter, but they did not seem to help her. The poor girl afterward declared that she had signed a league with his black majesty, in her own blood. It is not recorded what became of the girl; but if she had been attacked twenty years later, she would have been tried and hanged as a witch. A long account of the case is given in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, fourth series, YIII. 555. Much of the mist in the medical atmosphere of the colony had been blown from the shores of the mother-country. The credulity of the igno- rant was remarkable. In England the touch of the royal monarch, " Such sanctity hath Heaven given his hand," was considered a specific for the King's evil or scrofula. The custom began as early as the reign of Edward the Confessor, and was kept up until that of George I., when it was dropped. At one time a form of prayer used in touching for the evil was inserted in the Book of Common Prayer. It is not strange, therefore, that some lingering faith in the absurd custom should crop out in New England. A petition is on file, among the Massa- chusetts Archives (CXXYIII. 270), from a poor man asking the Governor to grant him a hrief, which is another name for a license to collect money for a specified purpose. It is as follows : — T i\ I m I ii h: 48 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. To his ExccUoiipys S' Ediiund Aiidrows Cap* CJcii'!' of all h\n MiijcHtics Iforsus of New Kiiyiaiul uiid (iovcrnour ol' uU y" said T(!riltory('H The liiiinblo petition of William llufchiiis Inhabitant In y* provinci) of Now Ilanipshrio In New Knjflaiid Ihinihlo Shewoth That y" Lord hath hoen pleasod thnni^jh lii.s Kij^ditcousn [ess] to visit and corroot yo' pooro Snpjdycant about y" spaco [or] tornio of Six yoaros with vntollorablo soors all over his Mo[dy] Not withstandinn hue hath made vso y" iMost Lcarnod & S(!ilfnk'ist phisitians that hee could iiuare off ; bnt found . . . [remjc'dy as to his Cure; And Sundry persons .ludf^nicnt is, that the Lord hath apointed to Salve yo' much aflcetod Supplycant non but our Gracious Lci), it i.s ivconii'd that " Tlio 1st of the 1 Ith jnontii [January 1, ](3.")7-H|, Mr. Thomas Oliver, one of the rulin<;' elders of tiiis ciiurcli, died, heing ninety years old, — a man by his outward proCessioii a ehii'urgeon." IMiiy it iiloase tliis hoiioivd Court to Consider of y' Piiiiit-s and Cost: I IiaiK! l)in at in drrssini,'. .I(isc|ili Wliitisofy' discaso called y" kinjfs cvi!!. w'' liatli liiiK' vndcrniy hand s'po.i . 20. nionllis liotli for st'rjfcry . and |ihisirk. y'' disease lieinfj; in my .ludjirnent liai'd to 1)(! Cured \v' out anipnfation (\v'"y''l»(>y would never Consent vnio) yet I know not what y" lord will do in l)lessing y" nieaties vsed. fen- he is in jrood eiise for y" pressent and is able to wnrkc tor his lining and hegine to tread upon his foote Y" in all dewty to bo co Tilo: Omvkb I would for the time past if it. please you . ills for medical attendance made out against the government, which are on file at the State House. Sometimes such papers were acted on favorably by the pidilic oilicers, and sometimes not; though I am unable to lind out by what authority such accounts were paid, except on the broad ground of Christian charity. As early Jis the year 1G41, the General Court ordered that it woidd "grant no Benevolence, except in forreign occti- sions, and when there is Money in the Treasury sufficient, and our debts ffrst satisfied.'" ' The General Laws and Liberties of the Massachusetts Colony, page 9. In . ^!l |i 1 s '*'■ 1 H!i! 50 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. Another ]iapor of the same imi)ort as Ohver's is that of John Kndieott, Jr., who j^ives the items of his bill ; and Avith it are otlier documents. They are as follows: — Know all men Ity tlicas proasonce that I .Tolin Clarke beinge ucry sickn and liaue bin with .M'^ Talor hut finding no good, hy the (jlouornors order was sent to M' Endecott .md tlirough the goodnes of god am recouered out of tliat disease As witnes my hand: Jo" Clakke the 28 10 (i7 a poor man one John Clarke being weak and sike by reason of a s(niruy and a dropsy, by tiu; Consent of tiie (jlouernercame to me and through tli(! gocxlnes of god by the use of such means as god lit put in to my heart he is finiy recouered out of his diseas Jo. Em)1x:ott Cirurgio" M Endecott after }•' M"^ Taler came to me and gaue him over, did undertake to helpe him, it hatii bcene at Labor and cost about it and though the disease be treated yet the man wanting good re- freshinge is but weake. 1 desire that M' Endecott may be . . . Hi. 1)1.1. LiNMiHAM G. Debiter to John Endicott for the Cure of J[ohn Clarke,] By Conserue de Asinthiuin 01 00 ]}y a Vomit and atendans 00 0.3 00 By a Cordiall Electuary 00 10 00 By Conserue de Cochiearia 00 10 00 By viset.s and seucrall other medisense . . 01 00 o;} Oo . Taken out of ^V John Endicotts booke written b}' him selfe The Deputyes Judge meete that this l)ill of n"" ")" 0. be ])ayd to the Successor of M: John Endecott by the CoiTiittee ap])oynted to take care of those poore people!, if they liaue ar.y Stocke in their hands, or otherwise that it be payd'lty the Country Treasurer, with refferrence to the Consent of or lion''.'' mai;ists hereto IS: 8'.'' 1808 Wii.M,\M Tokuky Cleric not Consented too by y" iVIagistrats \) curiam John Pvnciion but on further. Consideration. .Tiidge meet to refeer to the Treasurer wiio on Confeieiic w"' some phisitian may allow him what he see' Just, their brethren the deputy hereto. Consenting: Edw. Kawson Secret Consented to by the l)<'piityes William Tokkev Cleric (Massachusetts Archives, c. liy-122.) CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 61 The following bill gives a fair idea of the fees for visits and the cost of medicines two hundred years ago, when physicians furnished their own drngs. Richard Skinner was a niarinei-, and it seems that a suit was brought against him, by Dr. Bassett, for medical attendance on his hite ^vife. It is not recorded what was the matter with her, but it is evident that one of her symptoms was constiiJation. Novemfc 23".' 1(591 M: Skinners Hill for medicam" Adniinistred to his late Wife f s .1 Imp" One great laxative potion to be taken in two doses . (» 1 (t 21" one laxative (liister 2 more another (llister the same day U 2 U more one (ireut Cordial potion to take at seuall times 10 more another great potion to evacuate the humors as ahoue • • •. 10 for diuei's visitts to giue orders for her nioderatinji ) ,, ,. ,. lierselte ni lier dyet it otiier neeessiarie advice ) Xemfc 1" for one prize Js'epliritick pills '} more for one Laxatine ditto ,'} for another potion more Composed 4 10 for a great sudoriti(i ct divreti(iue potion) . against the oitstriiction of the reiiies \ for more vissitts as ahoue being in all abnue 40 Times fi for flooding her in the Arme 10 Error Excepted in Boston the -iC.'" Aprill IC.'.li I'r.rr.K IJasskit Doctor April. 27. 1C92 Dr. Peter IJassett made Oath to the Account above in County Court Attest JosKi'ii Wi;bu Cler (Massachusetts Archives, xxxvii. 333.) The i'ollowing letter gives a list of medicines tiiat were probably in conmion use at the time of its date. It was written by Dr. Humphrey JJradstreet, w 1' ■' In r: : W ^i m 52 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. just after the attack made by the Indians on York, Maine, when there was a hirge nnmbei* of Englisli killed, wounded, or carried away by the enemy. Dr. Bradstreet was a young' physician, who after- ward settled at liowley, Massachusetts. Some of the names in the list, to say the least, are quaint. Oleum catdlorum or pujipies' oil, as a medicine, has gone out of use, but skunk's oil, rattlesnake's oil, and goose's oil, equally absurd, are all now to be found in the domestic pharmacopoGia of many a New-England family. The Latinity of some of the words may be questioned, and it would be difficult to give their modern equivalents. A. Latin suffix on an Anglo-Saxon root looks odd, but at the same time Emjdastrum Stidicum is expressive. The letter contains an expression that has dropped out of the technical language of the profession. After speaking of medicines for "gunn shott wounds as for y" first intentions," the writer goes on to say that he has some still left that "might be prop"" for y" last Intentions but not for y'' first." Every physician is familiar with the iarmjirst inten- tion as applied to the healing of wounds; but last intention is now never heard in such cases, though it is easy to see that it means healing by granulation. Portsm'.' January y° 20: l()f*| To the Hon''''' the Gouern' and Coiincill of y" Massatuset CoUony in N England IMay it please your honours I make bold with all huinhlc sub- mission to acquaint yo'' Honours that I am altogather out of INIedicens for gunn shott wounds as for y" first Intentions, and as w(>e haue had verry lamentabk! Incursions soe lately at York and killing and wounding ifc Carrying away, as your Hon" ha\e al- ready heard wee Innubly hope, and how suddainly we may haue y' like God only knows — w'^'' iu his Mercie preuent, and should ii CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 53 I be Comma[n]?ion in olden times as well as in our day, though they were not so strenuous in regard to their })olitieal rights as are their modern sisters. Anne Hutchinson was among the earliest of the sisterhood who practised medicine in Massa- chusetts. She came to Boston in the year 1G3G, and in " A Short Story," &c., by Thomas Welde (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 furnished 8 1" l) ' i> I li:l iilll" 54 CENTENNIAL ADDEESS. with means for those purposes." — (Page 31.) She was a noted character m colonial history, and by her heretical teachings and preachings soon threw the whole settlement into a flame, foi* which she was subsequently banished. The town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1GG3, " voted and agreed that [Mrs. Bridget Fuller, of Plymouth,] should be sent to, to see if she be willing to come and dwell amongst us, to attend on the office of a midwife, to answer the town's necessity, which at present is great." — (Bliss's History, page 53.) Mrs. Fuller was the widow of Dr. Samuel Fuller, one of the Mayflower passengers, who has been mentioned before in these pages. This official invitation, however, was not accepted, as she con- tinued to dwell in Plymouth, where she died some time during the next year. She had learned the art, doubtless, from her husband. In the Rcxbury Church Records, under date of November 2/^ 1665, Mr. Danforth, the minister, writes : — " M" Sarah Alcock dyed, a vertuous woman, of vnstained life, very skilful in physickifc chirurgery, exceeding active yea vnwear- ied in ministering to y" necessities of others. Her workes praise her in y*-" gates."— (Page 203.) Her husband, like Mrs. Fuller's, was a physician ; and he is mentioned in the next paragraph. Two years later, March 27, 1667, it is recorded in the same book that " M*" John Alcock Physician, dyed. His liver was dryed up & become schir- rous." — (Page 205.) Possibly an autopsy was made in this case. I lif' CENTENlSriAL ADDRESS. The following quaint epitaph is found in the Phipps Street buvying-ground at Chai'lestown, and would seem to indicate that occasionally in early times midwives were commissioned to practise their calling. Some mischievous person has skil- fully changed the number on the stone slab, so that 3,000 reads 130,000:— Here lyes Interred y* Body of Mr' {Elizabeth Phillips, Wife to Mr Eleazeu Phillips. Who was Born in Westminster, in Great Brittain. & Conimission'd by John Lord. Bishop, of London, in y° Year 1718 to y« OiKce of a Midwife; & came to this Country, in y« Year 1719. & by y' Blessing of God, has brought into this world above 3000 Children: Died May 6*" 1761. Aged 76 Years. In the year 1G48 Margaret Jones, of Charles- town, was found guilty of witchcraft ; and she was the first person hanged in New England for that offence. She had been a practising physician, and her medicines, according to the best testimony of that period, had " extraordinary violent eflPects." 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." In this way she used her powers as a witch to acquire practice and increase her gpiiis; according to the judgment of her contemporiiries, she suf- fered a just penalty of her sins. I wonder much mm V' 1; 1 1- L I I ■■ • 1!', i':[ III '-: ■I i i> 56 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. whether there is any similar travesty of intelli- gence in our day. The pretensions of the healing mediums and other charlatans suggest an unsatis- factory answer. Subsequent to this period inquests were held, and post mortem examinations made, at various times in Massachusetts during the seventeenth century, and a certain amount of anatomical knowledge was thus picked up. The relative position of the internal organs and their general appearance were learned in this way by the persons who witnessed the operations. The ad^ antages that one may derive from his opportunities depends upon himself alone, and at this late day it cannot be estimated how much the profession gained from these limited sources. ]S^o one can tell how far thought in the early dawn of colonial medicine was stimulated by such examinations. The result of an inquest held June 1, 1670, on the body of Jacob Goodale, is recorded in the Essex County Court Papers (Yolume XXX. leaf 46), at Salem, in the complaint against Giles Corey. The jury found — " seueral wrongs he hath had on liis body- as vpon his left arme and vpon his right tliigh, a great bruise, w"^"" is very much swold. and vpon tiie reyues of his backe. in colour, difleringe from the other parts of his body we caused an incision to be made much bruised ami Run w"' a gelly and the skiu broke vpon the outside of each buttocke. Sworne to 30: 4^ 76" This is the case which Cotton Mather mentions in "The Wonders of the Invisible World." — (Boston, 1693.) It is there stated — l\ I CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 57 "That abont Seventeen Years ai^o. Oiki< Con/ kept ;i iinii in liis House, that was almost a Natural Kool ; which Man DyM sud- denly. A Jury was Iinpaiinel'd upon him, amonjf whom was Dr. Zurobbdbel Endicvl ; who found the man bruised to Death, and having dodders of Blood about his Heart." — (I'age 14G.) In an inquest held May 2, 1GT8, and recorded in the Essex County Court Papers (Volume XXX. leaf 4G), at Salem, tlie return is made by the " Chirurgeon " that he — " searcht the Body of one called Edward Bodye: T made Inci- sion upon the parte of his Body which was most suspitious which was u,)on the Temporall Muscle: I layd the Bones Beai'e: wee could nott find any fracture in the least nether was the Hesh in any wise corupted or putrified." An account of an autopsy is given in the Roxbury Church Records. It is found in the printed copy, under date of August 20, 1074, and is as folloAVs : — "John Bridge, died of y" Winde Collick and was buried the day following. His body was opened, he had sundry small holes in his stomak & bowels, & one hole in his stomak y' a man's fist might passe tlirough. w''h is thought was rent w'.'' vyolent stiain- ing to vomit, the night before he dyed, for the watchers observed v' something seemed to rend w"'in him, and he saide of it 1 am a dead man."— (Page 181.) This is one of the earliest recorded instances of a 2>ost mortem examination, to be found in Kew England. Jossel^'ii mentions an autopsy which occiu'red before this one, but he gives no definite facts with regard to it. In "An Account of Two Yoyiiges to Il^ew-England " (London, 167-i), he speaks of — "a young maid that was troubled with a sore pricking at her heart, still .ms she lean'd her body or stept down with her foot to the one side or the other ; this maid during her distemper voided ' t M IS h 58 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. worms of tlu! loiifftli of a (iiiger all liairy witli black heads; it so foil out that the maid dywl; her friends desirous to diseover the (•aiis(^ of the distemper of her heart, had hei' opeii'd. and found two crooked hones growing; u|)OU the top of the heart, which as she bowed her body to the right or left side would job their points into oiif! iind the same place, till they had worn a hole quite through."— (Page 18G.) Cliiof Justice Sewall in his Diary, September 22, 1(37(3, speaks of an Indian who had been hanged the day before, and dissected on the date of the entry in tlie journal. The examination was made in the presence of several persons, when one of them — probably Hooper by name — " taking tlie ^ in his hand alHrmed it to be the stomack." The earliest treatise on a medical subject, pub- lished in this country, was a broadside, 12 inches by 17 in size, written by the Reverend Thomas Thacher, the first minister of the " Old South." It bears date January 21, 1677-8, 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." 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. Dr. Increase Mather wrote a pamphlet entitled " Some further Account from Zyo«,rZo/i, of the Small- Pox Inoculated. The Second Edition. AVith some Remarks on a late Scandalous Pamphlet Entituled, Inoculation of the Small-Pox as practis'd in Bos- ton," &c., Boston, 1721. The first half of this pamphlet appeared originally in " The Boston CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 59 lie Gazette," of February 5, 1721-22, Xo. lir>, cover- ing the third page of the ne\vs})aper; aiul this impression constituted tlie first edition. Dr. Mather was also the author of u broadside printed at Boston, in November, 1721, giving "Several Reasons proving that Inoculating or Transplanting the Small-Pox is a Lawful Practice, and that it has been Blessed by GOD for the Saving of many a Life." There is "A LETTER, ahout a Good Mcmaqe- ment under the Dlstem2)er of the Measles," «fcc., which was printed Avithout date oi" signature, some time during the last century. It is mentioned by Dr. Josiah Bartlctt, in his histoi-ical address deli- vered before this Society, June G, 1810, who speaks of it as being "on the files" of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and leaves it to be inferred that it is in manusci'i])t. Dr. Bartlctt says that it was written, probably, during the latter part of the sev- enteenth century, and that "it can be viewed in no other light, than as an ancient curiosity." Sevei'al writers of medical history have repeated the same statement. The eopy of the " Letter " in the possession of the Historical Society is a small four-page, printed sheet, and its full title is " A LETTER, about a Good Manaijement under the Distemjjer of the Measles, at this time Spread- ing in the Country. Here Pahllshedfor the ]ie)wfit of the Poor, and such as may ivant the help of Able Physicians.''^ It bears the marks of having been folded, and in former times might have been spoken of as " on !• GO CENTEKMAL ADDRESS. the files.'" It Is signed " Yonr //<((rtf/ Frknd and St^rt'dtd,'' and iininediately below, the words " Cotton Mather, I j;iiess. by the Style " are written in Dr. Jeremy lielkna|)'s iiand-writin^. On the authority ol' this ^iiess it lias been asei'ibed to Dr. Mather; and in the catalogue of ante-revolutionary publieations given in the " Transactions " of the American Antiquarian Society, it has been referred to the year 171J3 as the date of its appearance, because at that time measles were very prevalent in Boston. An advertisement, however, in " The Boston Evening Post," November 12, ITJJD, an- nounces this "Letter" — with its long title given exactl}^ — as '' eTust published," which would seem to fix the time of its api)earance. As.Mather died February 13, 1728, it is plain that he could not have written it, unless it was a re-publication, of which there is no evidence. Cotton Mather, however, did write a medical paper entitled " The Angel of Bethesda, An Essay upon the Common Maladies of Mankind," in which he gives a list of " approved remedies for the Maladies, Accompanied with jnany very practicable Directions for the Preservation of Health." The original inanusci'ipt, which was never published in full, is in the possession of the America i Anti- quarian Society at Worcester. An interesting abstract of it was given by Dr. Joseph Sargent, in the " Proceedings " of that Society, for April 28, 187'i. There is internal proof that the essay was comi^lctcd after the year 1724. It should not be confounded with " The Anael of Beth- U' fi >l CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. U- csda, Visiting- tlio TXYALTDS of a Miserable "VVOKLl^j" anotlier tract written by Mather, and published at New London, Conneetieut, in the year 1722, but having- on tlie title-j)agc only the signature " ]}y a FELLOW of the; KOYAL SOCIETY." There is evidently a connection be- tween the two works, but the manuscript one is fuller and more extensive. Anothei" medical tract by a minister, — the Rev- erend Benjamin Colman, — was " Some Observa- tions on the New Method of Receiving the Small- Pox by Inyraftuiij or Jnoculathuj. By Mr. Colmau.^^ — (Boston, 1721.) The author shows as nnich familiarity with the subject as was common among the medical writers of that day. He ex- presses the o])inion that he does not go out of his province in preparing the essay, as his sole purpose is to i)reserve life and minister to the comfort of fomilies. The Reverend Thomas IL'U'ward, " A Licentiate of the lioyal College, and Lecturer of the lioyal Chapell [now King's Chapel] , at Boston, in New England,^^ wrote "Electuarium Novum Alexiphar- macum; or, Anew Cordial, Alexiterial and Resto- rative Electuary," which was published at Boston, in the year 1732. The author proposed a much- mixed conglomeration to take the place of mith- radate, a still more complicated mass of medicated confusion. He speaks of the electuary as " my own," a form of expression which furnished the origin of the word nostrum, meaning our own or 7mj own. 9 i 02 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. Dr. Natlianicl AVilliains, who liad hccn an or- dained minister, wrote a niedieal pamphlet wiiicli was printed many years after liis death. Tiu' title was "The MF^I^IIOD of Tract iee in the Small' Pox, with Observations on the Way of Inocula- tion. Taken from a Manusei-ipt of the late Dr. Nathaniel AVilltams of Boston in K. E. Pnblished for the Common Advanta<^e, more es- pecially of the Country Tonnis, who may be visited with that Distemper." — (Boston, 17/52.) At the end it contains four pages with the heading " Small Pox by Inoculation, in 17JK)." Dr. AVilliams had a large practice, and, perhai)S, belongs rather to the class of physicians. These instances are enough to show that in former times the ministers took an active interest in medicine, and that some of them wrote practical treatises on the subject. In the Reverend Thomas Prince's preface to the pam})hlet last mentioned, it is stated that Williams studied with " the Learned Di*. James Oliver of Camhridge ; one of the most esteemed Physicians in his Day; who had a singular Help in the Art of Chymistry by the ingenious Dr. Lodowich a Oer- man, who was also accounted an excellent Physi- cian, and the most skilful Chymist that ever came into these Parts of America.''^ I think that Dr. Lodowick was the same person as Christian Lodowick who wrote a letter to Increase Mather, about the Quakers. It is dated February 1, 1G91-2, and was subsequently printed. CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 63 The colony and province of MasKjuhiisctls suf- fered severely i'roni the scourge of HUiall-pox, and the e[)ideinie8 of it were periodical. Tiiere was no weapon to figiit it, and when once started the dreaded disease burned, like a l)i<^ lire, until all the material for contagion was used up. The mortality from it was large, and the elfect disastrous; and any help was a boon to the community. Under these (drcumstanees the introduction of inoculation for small-])ox was a long stride in advance, though it was opi)osed at the outset in i)art on religious grounds. It was contended by some that an epi- demic was a judgment from God for the sins of a peo[)le, and any attempt to avert it was an inter- ference with His prerogative and would })rovoke Him the more. This view was opposed by others; and Dr. Zabdlel JJoylston, who was to be a promi- nent character in the controversy, wrote at the very beginning of it a pamphlet giving "Some ACCOUNT of what is said of Inoculating or Transi)lanting the Small Pox. By the Learned Dr. Einanuel Tlmonias, and Jacobus Pylarinus with some Kemarks thereon. To which are added A Few Quwries in Answer to the Scriqiles of many about the Lawfulness of this Method.''^ — (Boston, 1721.) Tlie Revci-end AVilliam Cooper, of Boston, wrote "A Kej)ly to the Ohjecllons made against taking the Small Pox in the AV^ay of Inoculation from Principles of Conscience. In a Letter to a Friend in the Country.'''' I have been unable to find the first edition of this pamphlet, but the third was 11 I 64 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. published at Boston, in tho year 1730. The pre- face, signed hy AV. Coopei', is dated March 4, 1721)- 30; and in it he says that "The following Letter was wrote and publish'd more than eight Years agoe, when the Town was in great Distress by the spreading of the Small Pox." He adds also that " Soon after the following Letter was printed here in Boston, it was reprinted in London, together with the lleverend Mr. Colman's Account of the Method and Success of this Practice ; to which was j)refix'd an historical introduction by the Reverend Mr. Keal." The introduction of variolous inocidation was the most important event in the medical history of the province; and iu promoting it the ministers took a leading })art. It occurred in the summer of 1721, when there Avas not a single practitioner of medicine in Boston, with the exception of Dr. William Douglass, who was a regularly graduated physician. Some of the ministei's were the peers of the doctors in medical knowledge, though with less clinical experience. Li this state of affairs, it can readily be understood that it was a fi'ce light, whenever there was a medical controversy. Dr. Douglass, the leader of the opponents of inocula- tion, wjis a Scotchman who came to Boston in the year 1718. He received his medical education in Paris and Leyden; was a man of line intt^llectual parts and a versatile writer. He knew astron- omy and could calculate ('(•lii)ses; he had a taste for natural history, and was withal an excel- lent botanist. He studied his medical cases, and ..U CENTEKNIAL ADDRESS. 65 took eai't'fiil notes by the bedside. Willi a lai'gc ])ractlce, he wrote on a great variety of snbjeets, and it is not strange that oceasionaliy lie was in- exact in his statements. It was wittily said of him by some one that he Avas always jiositive and some- times accurate. He had little taet, and it is not surprising that he found himself continually in con- troversy. He died on October 21, 1752, having passed his whole i)rofessional life in Boston, where he had much influence as a physician. The credit of the introduction of inoculation into this country is generally given to Cotton Mather, Avho had read in the Philosophical Transac- tions of the Royal Society at London, that this method was used in Turke}^ as a means of jirotec- tion against small-pox. During a long time the practice had been ke})t up in Constantinople, wlierc it was brought from Asia, and had met with much success. Dr. Mather was im[)i-essed with the im- ])ortance of the metliod, and tried to interest the Boston doctors in the subject. With one exception, however, they seemed to be either indilFercnt or opposed to the whole matter. This exception was Dr. Zalidiel Boylston, Avho took up the ])ractice of it ami*' the most violent oi)})osition of his professional brethren; and on the 2(3th of June, 1721, he inoculated his own son, Thomas, six years of age, his negro man, Jack, of thirty-six years, and a little negro boy, of two and a half years. ^Fhey all had the disease very lightly, and he was encouraged to try the e.\[n'ri- ment on others. In his judgment the safely and i; G6 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. valiio of tho operation >vei*e soon established; but the medieal profession Avei'e sceptieal, and their opposition stron<^ and bitter. AVith Dr. Douglass at their head they talked against it, and wrote against it; and moreover they had the newspaper ])ress on their side. Opposed to them were Dr. J^oylston and the ministers, who at last carried the day. At one time the public feeling was so ex- cited that the advocates of the practice were not safe even in their own houses. The town was ])atrolled by the rabble with halters in their hands, threatening to hang Dr. Jioylston — if they could Jind him — to the nearest tree. An attempt was made early in the moi'uing of iS^ovember 14, 1721, by means of a "Fired Gra- nado " to destroy the house of Cotton Mather, who had at the time a kinsnuui living with him, and under his charge for inoculated small-pox. For- tunatelv the fuse was shaken out of the shell, and no serious damai»'e done. A full account of the atfair IS given ui r. rv The Boston Xews-Letter," ^vJovember 20, 1721, which says that — " Wlu^ii tlie CJniiiiido Wiis taki-ii n|). tlicru was round a jiiipor so tied wiili ;i Tliiciid aiioiit llic I-'usc. that it niiniit outlive tlio hivMkiii;: or theSlicll; wlifrcin wciv tlu-se Words: COTTON MATHER. I was once one uf i/oar Jlfe.climj ; Jhtf Hie Cur.sed Lj/f^ you lold of YdU Luwir who ; made me leave You, You J)o(/, And Damn You, [will Enoculala ijou willi this, wilh a Fox to I/O a." Of the ]>os(on neAvsi)ai)ers "The H^qw l']ngland C urant,"' edited by James Franklin, was ])artic- ularly hostile to the new method. 'Vhv editor was an elder brother of lienjamin, at thi;; time the em- bryonic philosopher, avIio also worked on the CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 67 paper botli as a coinpositoi* aiul Avritcr. Within the period of one year Dr. lioylstoii iiioeuhited 247 persons, and of this nnnibei' only six died; and dnring* the same time )]9 other perscms in the neigliborhood were inoeidated by two otlier l)liy- sieians, and all made gocxl reeoveries. Tliis low rate of mortality, as eom]»ared with that amon<»' persons who had taken sinall-pox in the natnral way, was a telling argnment in favor of inoenlation. The an-ay of these statisties can-ied the pnblie to the side of Dr. Uoylston, who was now honored to the same degree that he had i)revionsly been libelled by a liekle popnlaee. He was invited by Sir Hans Sloane, the Court Physieian, to visit London, wiiere he reeeived the most flattering attentions from the seientists of England, as well as from the reigning familv. He was ehosen r member ot the Koyal Soeiety, and read a paper before that learned body, on the snbjeet of small-pox inocu- lation in Xew England. This was ]nd)lished in London in the year 172(1, and dedicated by permis- sion to the Princess of Wales. Li this pam})hlet lie gives a mimue account of many (jf his cases, telling the names of his patients in full, besides stating their ages; and in the ])reface he a|)()l()gizes for the liberty he has taken in doing so. ^V second edition this pamphlei was published at Boston, in the year 1730. In the course of time inoculation conqneivd all ojiposition, and finally became a well established fact in the connnunity. Some of those who had bitterly ojjposed it Avcre now its wannest friends. Notably among them was Dr. Benjamin G8 CENTEJnsriAL ADDEESS. If Franklin; and In tlio sniall-pox epidemic of ]7;')2, even Dr. William Douglass both practised Inocu- lation and s])oke of it as a ''most beneficial Im- ])rovement." In writing on the subject he exi)resses himself " at a loss for the Reasons, Avhy Inoculation liitherto is not much used in our Mother Country, Great Britain; considering that it has with good Success been practised in our Colonies or Planta- tions."' During three cpuirtcrs of a century the pi'actice was continued, until it was superseded l.)y the givat discovery of Jenner. It is worthy of note that the introduction here of variolous inoculation was hardly two months after it had been successfully tried in England, though Dr. Boylston and his coadjutors had no knowledge of the fact. Small-pox spread with such fury and fatality during the summer of 1721, that the Massachusetts Legislature passed a re- solve — ap])licable, however, only to the town of Boston — that no bell should be t "lied for the burial of persons who had died of the disease, except such as the selectmen of the town should dii'eet. And, pursuant to this resolve, it was ordered Sep- tember 21, 1721, " That one Bell only be made use of for a Funeral and that to be Tolled but Twice, each Tolling not to exceed the space of Six Minutes." The following clause also was added, as a snapi)er, showing that the race prejudices of a century and a half ago pursued the innocent vic- tims even after life had left the body: "Further that there be but one Tolling of a Bell for the CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 69 al )t IX Burial of any Indian, Nepro oi* Malatto, aiul that they be carried the nearest way to their Graves." The next excitement in the medical history of Massachusetts WaS an epidemic that raged in Boston and its neighborhood, and excited great consternation. This was described at the time by ])r. Douglass, a close observer in such cases, who Avrote a good account of it. The title of this pamphlet, which has already been mentioned in page 8, is: "The Practical HISTORY of A ~^(i\\ Epidemical Eruptive Miliary Fever, with an Angina Ulcusculosa which Prevailed in Boston ]^ew England in the Years 1735 and 1736."— (Boston, 1730.) The diagnosis was rather ob- scure, and the disease battled the skill of the physicians. "It was vulgarly called the Throat Illness, or a Plague in the Throat, and alarmed the Provinces of N^ew-England very much." Dr. Thacher, in his account of Douglass in the "American 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 considei'cd also to be scarlatina; but the description leaves little doubt in my mind that the diagnosis at the present time would be diphtheria. Dr. Douglass's essay was republished in " The ^ew-England Journal of Medicine and Surgery" (Boston, 1825), with an editorial note that "it has been pronounced by competent judges 10 •I 1 ^' tii'( I 70 CENTETiTNIAL ADDRESS. one of the best woi'ks extant npon the sul)ject of whieh it treats" (XIY. l-lli). The disease Avas so malignant and tlie pnbHc so much ahirmed, that the town of Boston, in its cor- porate capacity, took action in the matter; and the following circular in " The Boston AVeekly News- Letter," April 29, 173G, will explain itself:— THE Select- Men of the Town of Bunion, in order to inform tlie Tratling Part of our n('iton Street, near the Old South Meeting- house, lie had a lare |)ractice. He died Deceml)i'r 2, 17.">7, leaviu<>" a son, Thomas, Jr., who followed in the footsteps of his father as a successful practitioner. The Hrst inoculating hospitals in the neighbor- hood of Boston — one at Point Shii'ley and the other at Castle W^illiam, now Fort Inde])endence — were opened in the winter of 17G4, during an epidemic of small-pox. The Point Shirley hospital was established by the Governor of the Province, with the advice of the Conncil, and placed under the charge of several physicians. A notice in " The Boston Post-Boy & Advertiser," March 19, 1704:, sets foi-th that — " Those Pliysiciaiis of tlie Town of Bodon who are engaged in carrying on thtMiiocnlating Hospital at Point- Shirley, being pre- vented giving their constant, Atten(hince tliere dnring tiie con- tinnance of tlie Small- I'ux'xw Town, lierei)y notify the I'nblie, tiiat they are join'd i)y Doctor linrni'li of N(iW-JerHe>j, who will con- stantly attend at said Hospital with one or other of said I'hysicians whose Unsiness will permit, and employ the ntinost Diligence and Attention for the relief of those that pnt themselves nnder their care. They further notify, that Puinl- Shirley contains as many comfortable and decent Ihuises as will be sntlicient to accommo- date as many I'ersons as will probably ever offer for Inoculation at one Time, from this or the neighbouring Governments and CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 75 iir is well t'liriiislicd with (jvcry riniuinite ('(invciiiciicc liotli for Sick- iii'^.s and ilciillii." Dr. AV^illiain HariR'tt lived at Elizalu'tlitown, New Jersey, and had ae(iuii'ed eonsiderable re])ii- tation in I*iiiladel|)hia as a |)r()m()ter ol" varicilous iiioeulalion. The Castle AVilliain hospital was opened — to ([uote Iroin " The JJoston l*ost-Jioy tt Advertiser,'' Febiiiarv 27, 17()1— " III Didci' to iiil!iriroiis of uiidi'ijroiiiif that Operation iiiav iiavc! iiii (Jp- ])ortiiiiity of doing it. witliout endangering tlie Spreading tlio l)i>steinper, and lliat litis 'I'own may he, as soon as possible, frec^l from thi! api)reliension of (lie Sinall-l'ox ; the (iovernor lias con- aeiitod that the Harracks of GnxtU'.-Wilbnm. shall ho improved for tin; I'urpose of Inoculation, from this Time into the iMiddh- of ]\lini next. And the said l>arraek are now openi'd to ALL I'llV.SiC lANS having I'atients to Inoculate, inah^r such Rules us shall lie thought proper to he made for that purpose. "There are in the liarracks 18 Rooms, each of which will con- tain ten Patients conveniently." The Ibilowing advertisement in the same nows- j^aper, of March 5, Yli'A, furnishes the principal details of its administration: — DR. SAMUEL GELSTOxX Gives this Puhliek Notice to his Patients in Boston and the asion of his Excel- ioncy the (ioveriK)i') all coinfortalile Accoinmoilations for them at the Hurnicks at Cantle-Witliuin, in order to their being inocu- lated for the Small-Pox under his immediate Care. N. n. His Rooms are in that Part of the IJarracks where the Patients of Dr. Nathaniel J'erkins, Dr. Whilworth and Dr. Lloyd's are received. ^^ Dr. GeUton and Dr. Warren reside at Castle-William Day and Night. ALL Persons inclined to go to the Barracks at Gastle-WUliam to he inoculated where Dr. Gi;i,st(,)\ resides, may apjily to Dr. Llovd at his House near the King's Chapel, who will provide them a Passage to the Castle. tl^ ■ 11 7G CENTEXXIAL ADDRESS. :i; tfi l>r. (Ji'lston was a idiyslcian of Nanliickcl, and had previously managed a Hiuall-[)()X liospilal at JSIai'lha's N'incyard, wlicru hv liad succi'ssriilly inociilalcd oi^ht y-oiu' persons. I'lu'i'c wcih' at this tinici several private estahlislnnents in the town at which inoeulation was earried on. It is said that nniny came to Boston from all ])arts oC Hie Pi'ovinee, and IVoin other colonies, to be lieated in these h()S])itaN. Dui'ing a period of live weeks after tluy were lirst o[)ened, it is esti- mated that nioiH! than I),C)0() i)ersons received tlic disease; and not a fatal case anion<^' them. "The Boston Tost-lloy & Advertiser," April 10, 1704, is my authority for the statement. It was during this e])ideniic that the library of Harvard C/ollege was burned on the night of Jan- uary 24, 1701. Till' lire occurred in vacation time, and while the building was used by the General ( 'ourt, which was then sitting temporarily in Cam- bridge, on account of the small-pox in Boston. Among the losses a contemporaneous account mentions — " A Cdlloction of the most approved niodical Authors, chioHy presented by Mr. .Innics, of tlio ishiiid of .lamaiea; to whieh I3r. iVIead and other (iciitlcmcu Iiave made very ('oiisi(K'ral)le aihlitioiis: AJso aiia((iiiiie;d ciitts and two eonipleat skeh'tons of ditferent sexes. Tliis Colt etiou woidd liave been very serviceal)lo to a Professor of I'liysie and Anatomy, when th(! revenues of the College sIiouM liave been sullicient to subsist a gentleman in this chai'acter." — (" The lioston I'ost-lioy & Advertiser," January 30, 17G4.) The allusion conttiined in the last paragraph seems to indicate that the question of a medical pi'ofessorship in the college had been broached CENTENNIAL ADDKKSS. 77 bdori) tills timo. Even in tho oarHost days of the institution u certain amount of instruction had been given in medicine. Small tiiough it was, it is not for us to despise its Intluence. Johnson, in his " Wonder- AVoriving Providence" (London, 1054), — written about the year 1050, — describes the College at a period near that time, and says that " s(mieliel|) hath been had from hence in the study of rhyslck."— (l»age lO.!) It is very likely that Cambridge was the place where Giles Firmin taught aiuitomy, as mentioned in page 31 of this Address. An inoculating hospital was opened on Cat Island, near Marblchead, about the middle of October, 1773. It was known as the Essex IIos- ])ital, and had accommodations for eighty patients. It was a private affaii', owned by proprietors, though it was " approved l)y the Gentlemen Select- Men of Salem and Marblchead." An excellent code of regulations, which were to govern it, is found in " The Essex Gazette," October 5, 1773. It was not destined to last long, however, as it was burned by some ruffians on the night of January 20, 1774. There, had been a strong feeling against the hospital on the part of the Inhabitants; and a few days before the burning, foiu' men suspected of carrying the infection were tarred and feathered, and drummed out of town. It was estimated that there were one thousand pei'sons in the procession escorting the victims. The mob marched to Salem, four miles distant, and then paraded through the U n: fl^l^lr V 78 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. principal streets of this town, A Sfileni newspaper of that time heartlessly remarks that — " the excjuisitcly droll and grotesfjue appearance of the four tarred and feathered Objects of Derision, exhibited a very laugh- able aud truly comic Scene." Two of the ringleaders of the mob which de- stroyed the hospital were arrested on February 25, and confined in the jail at Salem, whence they were rescued l^y another mol?, and tal:en I ack to Marblehead. The popular Ibeling was with the rioters, and it was found impossible to bring the ruffit IS to justice; and so the matter ended. As early as March, 17(31, Dr. Sy wester Gardiner had made a pro])osition to the town of Boston to build at his own cost an inoculating hospital on a pie^e of land, northward from the building which he had previously put np during the French war, for sick and wounded sailors; but it does not appear that the oft'er was accepted. In the account, as printed in the " Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society," for June, 1859, it is stated that — '' No person in to-ivn is to pay more than four dollars for inoc- ulation, njcdiciues, and attendance, and three dollars per week for diet, nursing, and lodging, during his or her illness." It was during the Revolution that dentistry, a kindred art to medicine, began to be })ractised. It sprang from a humble beginning, but it has growi to large proportions. With its advanced schools, as a twin sister of the medical jn'ofession it chal- lenges our attention and respect. Some of its teachers, by their thorc iigh work and patient in- CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 79 a [t vestigatioTis, have written their names on the roll of science, and placed the present generation un- der lasting obligations. Many of its number are graduates of medicine; and I have not forgotten the fact that two of tlic principal founders, as well as professors, of th^ Harvard Dental School, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep and Dr. Thomas Barnes Hitchcock, who are now no longer living, received their professional degrees at the Ilai'vard Medical School, and both were members of this distin- guished Society. The following advertisements, taken from two Boston newspapers, printed a century ago, will give an insight of dentistry at that tune : — Gentlemen and Ladies that may want Artificial Tooth, may have them made and fixed in the noatost niann(!r, without the least pain by ISAAC GIIKENWOOI), Ivory-Turner, at his house in the Alain Street, between the Old South and Seven-Star Lane, at the South-End of Boston ; they help the Speech as be- coming as the natural ones. j^" Ladies, wax rots your Teeth and Gums, throio it away. Come and have your Teeth cleansed, and if done in time, saves them from rotting and parting from the Gums. N. B. Said GREENWOOD continues to make Artificial Leggs and Hands: Turns in Ivory, Bone, Silver and Wood:. Makes Fifes, German-Flutes, Hautboys, &c. &c. i^ ' Ladies please to send your Unibrilloes to tie mended and cover'd — ("The ('ontincntal Journal and Weekly Advertiser," April 20, 1780.) Isaac Greenwood was the father of John Green- wood, a dentist of repute in New York who made a set of teeth for General Washington about the time Stuart painted his portrait. In miiuy of the engravings of Washington it is conmion to see a fulness about the mouth, which is due to the u r W 'F 1' ik !' '} 1 ' M> 80 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. artificial set. At that period, false teetli were kept in position either by springs oi' clasps; and the jirinciple of holding them in place by atmospheric pressure was not understood. MR. TEMPLEMAN, SuuGKON Dentist, Incouraged by the success of his practice in different parts of Europe and America, liegs leave to acquaint the i)ul)lic, That he is furnished with materials with which, and a dexterity peculiar to the art, lie preserves the Teeth, Cures the scurvy in the Gums, Extracts and transplants Teeth, Scales Teeth, Substitutes artificial Teeth, Gives the Teeth proper vacancies, Regulates childrens Teeth, And plumbs concave Teeth, which prevents their colluting or being offensive, besides many other operations too tedious to mention, as without the least pain (except that of extracting) since scaling the Teeth is carefully to take from them an infectious tartar which destroys the animal [enamel?], eats the gums, renders them spungy t;lcf,uatki), and incapable of affording any su[)p()rt. Its being removed, which is not in the jiower of composition to effect, renders the gums firm, and leaves the teeth in their natural purity. I\Iany people blame the climate, &c. for the loss of Teeth, — lint it is too often the case, as I've observ'd in the course of my practice on tiie Continent, that but few people take care of their Teeth, till they become de- fective. The Eurt)peans are remarkable (particularly the French) for tlieir good and I)eautiful Teeth, owing to their own care, and knowledge of the art. N. IJ. Mr. TEMPLEMAN will, with pleasure, attend those Ladies or Gentlemen who cannot conveniently wait on him at INIrs. Frazier's, near the Town-House, Hoston. — ("The Boston Gazette and The Country Journal," October 8, 1781.) During the generation immediately preceding the lievolution, tlie science of medicine in Massa- chusetts was making progress by slow but steady •ips. The bond of union with the clerical pro- mm mmmm CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 81 fession, existing from the earliest days of eolonial life, had been eut; and there was no longer any praetieal conneetion between the two eallings. Medicine had passed throngh the creeping stage, and was now beginning to walk alone. It was a long stride in advance when men began to turn their studies in one direction, and to make a special- ty of general practice. The opportunities, how- ever, were few for the successful prosecution of this object. There Avere neither medical schools nor hospitals; and the young men were obliged to j)ur- sue their studies under the guidance of practising physicians. Freciuently they were bound out, like apprentices, to their instructors, and were com- pelled to do all sorts of chores around the house and barn, as well as the professional drudgery. In those days the physicians used to buy their own drugs and prepare their own medicines; and it was the province of the students to pound the bark and spread the plasters, as well as to mix the oint- ments and make the pills. Iii short they Avere to be useful to their emi)lo3'ers, as best they might in any way. Avhether in bleeding patients, pulling teeth, or attending to other cases of minor sur- gery. Sometimes they boai'ded with their mastei's, being inmates of theii' families; nd occasionally they formed alliances and attachments which lasti'd beyond the period of their studies. Instances might be "iven where the instructor Avatched the development of a Hedgling doctoi- Avith all the in- terest of a i'ather-in-laAV. It Avas customary for physicians in their daily rounds of practice to be 1' . 'i I It I 82 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. ^yi' p ' ^n Mt accompanied by their scholars, in order to sliow them the diflereiit forms of disease, and to teach them the rules of diagnosis. On tlieir return liome the young men woidd sometimes undergo a form of questioning, which was considered an examina- tion. In this way, with a certain amount of med- ical reading, the main supply of doctors was kept up. The few exceptions were persons who went abroad to study, where of course they had the best o]:)portunities that science could then give. On coming back to their native bind, such students brought with them the freshest ideas and the Litest expression of medicine, which they were not slow to impart to others. Aside from these advantages they returned with a diploma and had the right to afHx M.D. to their names, an honor beyond the reach of those who had remained, at home. Among the ])hysicians of this period who had not the benefit of a foreign education, but who ac- quired a high professional skill and a wide local reputation, — and who withal we)*e early members of this Society, — may be mentioned: — Samuel Adams, of Boston; Israel Atherton, of Lancaster; Joshua Bai'ker, of Hingham; Timothy Childs, of Pittsfield; John Cuming, of Concord; John Flagg, of Lynn; JS^athaniel Freeman, of Sandwich; Lemuel Ilayward, of Boston; Samuel liolten, of Danvers; Ebenezer Hunt, of North- ampton; Thomas Ivittredge, of Andover; Oliver Prescott, of Groton; Xathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill; Micajuh Sawyer, of Newburyport; CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 83 Marshall Spring', of Watertown; John "Barnard Swett, of Marblehcad; the brothers Simon and Cotton Tufts, of Medford, and AVeymoiith, i-e- spectively. These were all marked men in their day and generation. They were in aetive practiee one hun- dred years ago, and at that time were sustaining a part in the daily affairs of New England life, which was not surpassed in responsibility and usefulness by that of the same number of i)ersons in any walk or profession. They were in every sense of the word general practitionei's, as spe- cialties in medicine were then unknown. Most of them lived at some distance from other physicians, and in cases of emergency they Avere obliged to rely on themselves alone. This experience made them symmetrical men; they were developed in all branches of medicine and on all sides of prac- tical questions, as far as science had then gone. The physicians of this period who had studied their profession in Europe were few in number. Notably among them were Charles Jai-vis, John JefiVies, and James Lloyd, all of Boston, and mem- bers of this Society. Jarvis was a Boston Latin School boy, and a gi-aduate of Harvard College in the class of 17(3(3. After linishing his medical studies in Boston, he went to England, and took practical courses in medicine and surgery. On his return he established himself in Boston, where he enjoyed a large and successful practice. Dr. Jarvis gave but little medicine, and to-day would be considered a good representative of the " expectant school " ill '1'; 'i I 84 CENTENXIAI. ADDRESS. * ' .'■ 1 I i mP \ 111 ' HP of tlic ])rofossion. IIo took a proiniiiont part in public ulVairs, and was a "^ JuU'ersonian" in politics. lie died November 15, 1807, aged fit'ty-niiie years. Jolin Jetiries was the son of David Jeflt'ries, for thirty-one years the town treasurer of Boston. The son graduated at Ilarvai'd College in the year 1759, with the higliest honors of his class, and be- gan at once his medical studies under Dr. Lloyd. Subsequently he studied in England, and took his degree of M.D. at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. During the Revolution he served on the liritish side, and it was not until the year 1790 that he returned to his native toAvn to practise his pro- fession. He died September 1(3, 1819, deeply lamented by his friends. James Lloyd was a native of Oyster Bay, Long Island, where he was born March 14, 1728. He began his professional studies in Boston, under the guidance of Dr. William Clark, with whom he remained nearly five years. At the end of this time he went to England, where he enjoyed the most favorable opportunities of seeing the practice of the best physicians and surgeons of that time. He came back to Boston in the year 1752, and at once entered u])on the; duties of his chosen pro- fession, in wdiich he soon became eminent. He has the n.'ime of being the first educated obstet- rician in the country, as well as the credit of in- troducing the practice of amputation by the flap operation, or double incision, as it was then called. Dr. Lloyd was a man of many accomplishments, and durini*: the last half of the last century the CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 85 ip d. lie prominent fi;^iii'c of tlio pi'ofessioii. lie died March 14, 1810, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Dr. Lloyd had studied niidwii'eiy under the dis- tinguished Snielhe, of London; and after his return home he was considered througliout the province the best authority in this branch of medicine. Before this period midwifery had been practised ahnost exclusively by women, and physicians were summoned only in diflicult cases. At the time of the incorporation of this Society, the practice of obstetrics among physicians had become quite general in the larger towns of the State. The following advertisement, in " The Boston Evening Post and The General Advertisei*," No- vember 10, 1781, announces that after that date the terms of the 13o8ton doctors would be — to use a current expression of the shop — cash on delivery : — Tllf: PIIYvSICIANS of the Town of BOSTON, HEREiiY inform the Public, that, in Consideration of the great Fatigue and inevitable Injury to tlio Constitution, in the Practice of MIDWlFEliY^, as well as tlie necessary Interruption of the otlier Branches of their Profession, they shall, for the future, expect, that in Calls of this Kind, the FJ^Ii^ bo immediately dis- charged. BOSTON, Nov. G, 1781. A work on Obstetrics — probably the first one pi'inted in the coinitry — was published at Boston in the year 1786. It was profusely illustrated with engravings ; and the title-page reads as follows : — "An Abridgement of the Practice of Midwifery: and a set of Anatomical Tables with explanations. Collected from the AV^orks of the Celebrated W. Sniellie, M.D. A new Edition. Boston: Printed & sold by J. Norman at his office near th(3 Boston-Stone." 12 80 CEXTEXXIAL ADDRESR. n. Thus far in these pages I have tried to sketcli tlie rise and progress of medicine in Massaeluisetts during the colonial and provincial ])criods; and this imperfect outline of its history may give some idea of the antecedents and traditions of the Med- ical Society. The corner-stone was laid on such a ground- work; the structure Avas built on such a foundation. It was so planned that additions and changes might be made to meet the wants of ad- vancing time, and not weaken the unity or sym- metry of the whole. The workmen were earnest and honest, and the residt proves their faithful labor. They have erected an edifice wliich has stood the test of a century, and seemingly bids fair to last for ages to come. I now purpose to trace in some detail the de- veh)pment of the Society from its beginning one hundred years ago, to the present time. Civil commotion stirs up thought and quickens mental activity. When the first steps were taken to establish this Society, the surrender of York- town had not occurred, and it was a matter of grave doubt when the lievolution would come to an end; but a six years' war had drilled the i)opular mind in great things. The uncertainty of public ail'airs tended rather to excite eit'ort than to re[)ress it. In such a time and under such conditions the ^'1 CENTEKNIAL ADDRESS. 87 Miissacliusc'lts Modieal Society was org-anizcd. It was no small airair to bring togetliei- from all parts of tlie Connnonwoalth the representatives of the medical profession, and to liarmonize their conflict- ing views. Berkshire connty was two days dis- tant fi-om Boston, and relatively as flu- off as Chicago and St. Lonis are to-day; while that large northeast territoiy, called the District of Maine, was as little known as the farthest northwest region is known to ns now. Between the different sec- tions of the State there were then small conveni- ences for general travel, and few postal facilities, by means of which an interchange of visits and ideas, so condncive to unification of action, could be brought about. The formation of this Society at once mcreased ]jrofessional intercourse, m spite of these difliculties, and accomplished excellent results. ^ The Act of Incorporation, under which this Society first met one hundred years ago, is found in the first volume of its " Comnumications " (pages viii-xi), and is as follows: — COMMONWEALTH of MASSACHUSETTS. In the Year of our Lord, 1781. An ACT to incori)orate certain Physicians, by the JS^ame of The Massachusetts Medical Society. As health is cssentialh/ necessary to (he happiness of society ; and as its preservation or recovery is closely connected with the knmvledye of iJie animal economy, and of the properties and ejects of medicines ; and as the benejil of medical institutions, m I ll \ l! w 1 88 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. formed on liberal principles, and encouraged by the patronage of the law, is iinive.rsalbj acknowledged : lie it therefore enacted tig the Senate and House of Ilepre- sentatives in General Court assembled, and by the authorilg of the same, That, Nathaniel ]Valker Appleton, William Baylies, Benjamin Curtis, Samuel Danforth, Aaron Dexter, Shirley Erving, John Frink, Joseph Gardner, Samuel ITollcn, Edward Augustus Holyoke, Ebenezer Jfunt, Charles Jarvis, Ihonias Kast, Giles Crouch Kellogg, John Lynn, Ja^nes Lloyd, Joseph Orne, James Pecker, Oliver Prescott, Charles Pynchon, Isaac Hand, Isaac Band, jun. Micaijah Sawyer, John Sprague, Charles Slockbridge, Juhn Barnard Swelt, Cotton. Tufts, John Warren, Thomas Welsh, Joseph Whipple, William Whiling, be, and they hereby are formed hito, eniistituted and made a body politic and corporate, by tlie name of The Massachusetts Medical Society ; and that tlusy and thc^ir successors, and such other per- sons as shall be elected in the manner hereafter mentioned, shall bo and continue a body politic and corj)orate by the same name forever. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the fellows of said society may from time to time ehM^t a president, vice presi- dent and secretary, with other ollieers as they shall jndge neces- sary and convenient; and tluiy the fellows of said society, sliall have full power and authority, from time to time, to determine and establish the names, number and duty of t)\eir several ollicers, and the tenure or estate they shall respectively have in their otlices; and also to authorize and empower their president or some other ofHcer to administer such oaths to such ollieers as they, the fellows of said society, shall appoint and determine lor the well ordering and good goverimient of said society, provided the same be not repugnant to the laws of this commonwealth. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the fellows of said society shall have one common seal, and power to break, change and renew the same at their pleasure. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That they, the fellows of said society, may sue and be sued in all acLions, real, personal or mixed, and prosecute and defend the sani(! unto final judgment and execution, by the name of The Massachusetts Medical Society. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the fellows of said society may from time to time elect such persons to bo fellows thereof, as they shall judge proper; and that they, the fellows of said society, shall havi' power to suspend, expel or disfranchise any fellows of said society. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the fellows of said society shall have full jtower and authority to make and enact such rules and bye laws for the better government of said *i ..-•-M^»«,' B W'^ ' il * ' *"»^ \r^t m CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 89 society, as aro not rcpii^^imnt \i> Uw laws of this rommoiiwciiUli; niid to annex rcasoiKiMc lini's and iicnaltics to tin; Itrcadi of tlicni, Hot cxcccdin;! llw sum of hrt'nlij pounds, to \n'. mkmI for and fc- covcrt'd liy said society, and to tlieir (»\vn iisci, in any court of rooord witliin tins ('omnionwealtli proper to try tin; same; and also to estulilisli tin' time and manner of convening the fellows of said society; and also to determine! the nnndier of fellows that, shall he prcsscnt to constitute a meeting; of said society; and alx), that tiio nuniher of said socaety, who are inhai)itants of this eom- 11 'iiweiilth, shall not at any one time lie mort; than se\-eiity, nor le.^s than ten; ;tiid that their meelinu^ shall he held in the town of JjuhI(jii, oi' sncli other place witiiin this coininonwealtii, an a majority of tht; nn^miiers pi'esenl in a leifal meeting, shall jndgu most tit and (;onveni(Mit. And whereas it in clearhjof importance, that a jiis^t discrimi- tialion tihuuld he made lielween fiiich as are dubj eduvn/ed (lud. pruperhj (jtiatijied for tlie dtitien of their projesaioii, and tlivse xvho viaij ignorantiij and luickedlij administer Medicine, wherehij the health and lives of inani/ valua/de indiriduals may be endangered, or perhaps lost to the commtarili/ : J]e it therefore enacted bij tin- authurili/ aforesaid, That the president and fellows of said society, or other such )f their ollicers or fellows as they shall appoint, shall have full powe- and anthoiity to examine all candidates for the jjractice of physic and surgery, (whf) shall olfer thi^msehes for (sxaminalion. respecting their skill in their profession) and if upon such examination, the said (;andi- dates shall he found skilled in their profession, .and fitted for the ])ractise of it, they shall receive the approhation of the society in letters testimonial of sncli examination, under the seal of the said society, signed iiy the president, or sin:h other jjersou or persons as shall be appointed I'm- that purpose. And be it farther enacted bij the autliority aforesaid, That if the said president, and such other person or jjcrsons, so elected and appointi^d for the purpose of exanuidng candiilatcs as afore- said, shall olistinately refusi^ to examine any (candidate so olVering himself for exanuiialion as aforc'said. <'ach and every such jjcrsou so electc'd and appointed as aforesaid, shall Ik; suhjc<'t to a. line of one liundred pounds, to ho recovered by the said candidate, and to his r)wn use, in any court within this ccnnnninwealth proper to try the same. And be it further enacted by die authority aforesaid, That the fellows of said society may, and >hall forever I)e deenn/d capabh; in law. of having, holding and taking in fee simi)le or any less estati; by gift, grant or devise or otherwise, any land, tenement or other estate, rc^al or j)ersonal ; piovidt'd that the amnial income of the whole real estate that may be given, granted or devised to, or jair- J! IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I •^ IiM IIIIIZ2 2.0 ^ 1^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1,6 ^ 6" ► V] o ^l o>, ';> / S Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 V v ^^ ^^ i\ \ 6^ I'^V,^,*^- % ^^ "^ 6^ I 90 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. di;i-t(l by flic said society, sliall not exceed the sum of (wo hundred puuivlA, iiiiil tlie .'inmiiil itiooiuo or interest of said personal estate, «liail not exceed the sum of six hundred pounds; all the sums mt-ntioiied in this act to be valued in silver at six shillings and eiijhf pence per uuiice : and the annual income or interest of the »!iid real and personal estate, together with the fines and penalties paid to saitl society, or recovered by them, shall be appropriated to such pnr|)ose8 us are consistent with the end and design of the institution of said society, and as the fellows thereof shall de- termint*. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the said Medical .So(;iety shall be held in some conv«'nient place in the town of Boston ; and that Edward Augustus Hvhjoke, Esq; be, and ho hereby is authorised and directed to fix the time for holding the said meeting, and to notify the same to the fellows of said Medical .Society. I't tlu^ House of IIkimsesextatives, October 30, 1781. This bill liaving had three several readings, passed to be enacted. NATHANIEL GORIIAM, Speaker. In Senate, November 1, 1781. This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted. SAMUEL ADAMS, President. JOHN HANCOCK. .\ true copy. Approved, Attest, JOHN AVEIlY,JHn. Secretary. Tn accordance with the last clause of this Act, Dr. Ilolyoke |)ii})lishcd a notice in " The Boston (iazctte and The Country Journal," November 12, 17h1, calling' a meeting ol' the members whose names are mentioned in the charter. It was called "at the County Court-llouse, in Boston, on AVcd- nesday the 28th ])ay of this Instant N^ovember, at T( n (/Clock, A. M. for the Purpose of chusing Ollicers of the Society, and transtieting any other Matter (which by this Act they are empowered to CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 91 do) as they shall think proper." The charter mem- bers were thirty-one in niuuber and represented different sections of the State : fourteen of them lived m Boston; two in ^N^ewburyport; two in Salem; and one in each of the followinf^ towns : — Cambridge, Danvers, Dedham, Dighton, Great Barrington, Groton, Iladley, Northampton, Port- land, liiithmd, Scituate, Springtield, and AV^ey- mouth. By counties, as constituted at that time, Suffolk had sixteen members; Essex had five; Hampshire, three; Middlesex, two; Berkshire, Bristol, Plymouth, Worcester, and Cumberland, in the District of Maine, one each.* The first meeting of the coi'poration was duly held in the County court-house, on November 28 1781, at which time there were present nineteen of the thirty-one persons whose uames are given in the Act of Incorporation. The court-house of that period stood on the site of the present one in Coiu't Street. The first vote passed was that the ollicers at this meeting should be chosen yro tempore; and subsequently "Edward Augustus Ilolyoke Esq:" was elected president, "Doct!" Isaac Hand junr" seci'etary, and " Doctf Thomas AVelsh," treas- 1 A curious iucidcut liappened in counccHon with the foniiiitiou of thu Mt'dical Society. The uiiiiu' of John Spnijjnt' iippi/iirs anion;,' tliosc men- tioned in the Aet of Incorporation ; and aeeordinnly Dr. .lohn Spraf,'ue, of Uedhani, was present at the early iiieetiii;;s and took part in the proceed- infjs. This continued until July 18, 17S'2, when Dr. John Sprajjuo, of Newlniryport, was chosen n member. At the nieetiiii; of the Coiincillors, held October 1, 1782, a reply to the notification of his election was read, wherein he stated that he was the senior physician of the name in tlie State, and that he considered himself already a member by the charter. Dr. Spra;,'ue, of Dedhani, who was present at the tiiiU', (piietly resii;iu(l his supjiosed membership ; but ho was chosen ajjain u member ut the same niectiuir. 92 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. urcr. The rocoi'ds follow the preeetlent of the Act in withholding the medical title from Dr. Holyoke's name. Perhaps it was because Dr. Holyokc held a commission as Justice of the Peace ; and the title of Esquire at that time carried a great deal of dignity with it. The second meeting was held in the court-house, on April 17, 1782, and Dr. Samuel Ilolten chosen president p^'o tempore. A committee, consisting of Drs. Tufts, Warren, and Appleton, was appointed to consider the form of letters testimonial to be given to those candidates who were approved by the censors of the Society ; and to invent a device and motto for a seal. This was an important committee, and they appear to have reported at the next meeting, — though I do not find any record of the details, — when they asked for further time in regard to the seal. One of the prime objects of the Society was to draw a line between the intel- ligent and the ignorant practitioners of medicine; and it was the function of this committee to devise some method to reach that end. Even the matter of the seal was considered sufficiently important to be mentioned in a separate clause of the original Act. The third meeting was held on June 5, 1782, and Dr. James Lloyd chosen president ^^ pro Jiac vice." At this meeting permanent officers were elected for the ensuing year; and as the jiioneers of a long line of eminent physicians who have held office in this disthiguishcd organization, I give the names of all, as taken from the records: — CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 93 Edward Augustus Holyoke Esq. President Doct' James Pecker Vice President Docf. Samuel Danforth Doctf Joseph Gardner Hon: Sam. Holten Esq. James Lloyd Esq. >■ Counsellors Doctf Isaac Rand junf Doctf John Sprague Hon: Cotton Tufts Esq Doctr John-Barnard Swett Corresponding Seer? Doctf Nath.-Walker Appleton Recording Secr^ Doct.'. Thomas Welsh Treasurer Doctr Aaron Dexter Vice Treasurer & Librarii.a Docf. Sam' Danforth Doct'. Charles Jarvis Docf. Joseph Orne V Censors Hon : Cotton Tufts Esq. Docf. John Warren At this meeting it was voted " That a Coniittee be appointed to publish a List of the Officers this day elected, to announce to the Public that the Massachusetts JVIediail Society is organized, also to invite the Correspondence of the Faculty and others as they shall think proper." By the Act of Incorporation, Dr. Holyoke was empowered to name the time and place for holding the first meeting of the Society; and it was a fit- ting snpplement to the previous arrangements that he should be chosen its first president. He is so well known by reputation, that it seems needless to give many details about him. Born in Salem, August 1, 1728, he graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1746, and began the study of med- icine under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Beriy, of Ipswich. After its completion he entered upon the practice in his native town, where he met with great success. At the time of his election, he had just passed what is called the middle age of life, and 13 ii »• 94 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. il Ii:| Dljl !::b; was engaged in a large and increasing Inisiness. Eminent as a surgeon, he was widely known not only in this province, but in Maine and New Hamp- shire, and was occupying a social and professional position that rarely falls to the lot of any man. Dr. Ilolyoke continued to practise medicine in Salem for seventy-nine years; and it was said of him that there was not a dwelling-house in the town at which he had not visited professionally. During a long life he enjoyed almost uninter- rupted health, which may be ascribed in part to his cheerful disjiosition and his continued exercise out-of-doors. He died March 31, 1829, having reached the advanced age of more than one hun- dred years. On the centennial anniversary of his birth, about fifty physicians of Boston and Salem gave him a public dinner, at which he appeared in remarkable spirits and vigor. He smoked his pipe at the table, and gave an appropriate toast to the Medical Society and its members. It sometimes happens that a great discovery is nearly made, but the final step is not taken to ac- complish it. Often there is a faint glimmer of a new truth, but yet not clear enough for distinct assertion. Such was the experience of Dr. Ilo- lyoke who almost anticipated the great discovery of Laennec. The following report of a case made by him was printed in the year 1793, though it was written probably long before that time: — " A man about fifty-three or fifty-four years old, of a thin habit of body, lal)0uring under a very bad eough, attended witli a liec- tick fever, profuse sweats, &c. had ahirge tumour formed upon tiie upper part of the thorax on the left side, extending from the CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 95 shmildor all along the lower crlgo of tlie clavicle, to the sternum, about the breadth ol" u man's huml. This tumour had all the ap- pearance of a large abscess; it was accordingly treated as 8''"h, and suppuration seeuierl to be coming on as usual ; but on removing the dressings one day, I found the tumour (though the skin re- mained whole) less i)rominent to the eye, flabby to the touch, and the pain and inflammation abated. I was now at a loss what to make of the case, as the abscess seemed too far advanced to expect discussion. While I was thinking of the matter, the patient asked me ' what could occasion that blubbering noise (as he expressed liimself) in the sore.' Upon which, ai)plying my ear near the ]iart where he perceived the noise, I plainly heard a whizzing, and as he termed it, a blubbering noise at every breat!i, exactly re- sembling such as arises from the rushing of air through a small orifice. This oritice appeared to be just under the left clavicle, but nearer to the shoulder than the sternum. Upon viewing the jiart attentively, a small dilation and contraction was perceptible upon expiration and insi)iration ; and the part was evidently puffy and flatulent to the touch. At this time the cough was urgent, and the expectoration very copious. From this time, the tumour, inflammation, and hardness, sub- sided; the noise in breathing gradually lessened, till it ceased; and by the assistance of pectoral medicines, the bark, &c. the hectick and cough after a while loft him; and with them the sweats, (fee. his appetite returned, and he recovered his strength, though slowly; and is at this time in tolerable health." — (*' Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences," vol. ii. part i. 18'J, 190.) It was Dr. Ilolyoke's opinion that the abscess formed originally in the thoracic parietes, and after- ward penetrated to the lung, which had become adherent to the walls of the chest at this part, — discharging itself through the bronchial tubes. The abscess having a comnmnication with a cavity in the lung, the air would pass to and fro, during the act of breathing; "and this passing and re- passing of the air," continues Dr. Ilolyoke, " will fully account for the noise which the patient com- plained of." From the accompanying symptoms, such as emaciation, cough, and hectic fever, it seems prob- 96 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 1 • f- ' able that this case was one of empyema, arising^ from pleuritic inflammation, in which the matter pointed outwardly, but before breaking through the skin burst into the lung, and was thereby dis- charged. The pathology of thoracic disease was not then understood as well as now; and it is not surprising that Dr. Holyoke should have thought that the abscess formed externally to the chest, and afterwards made its way into the lung. The re- port of this case contains more than a hint of the great fact which has rendered the name of a French physician illustrious in the annals of med- icine. The fourth meeting of the Society was held on July 18, 1783, when " The Com : appointed to agree "upon a Device and Motto for a Seal, laid several Devices before the Society, particularly a Figure of ^sculapius in his proper habit pointing to a wounded Hart nipping the Herb jiroper for his Cure with this motto, Wivere natura.' " The design was adopted, though the motto was changed to natura duce; and the same committee was author- ized to procure a seal made after this device. The fifth meeting was held on September 4, when it was voted, " That the Fellows of this Society be requested to transmit to the Recording Secretary an Account of those Diseases that have from one stated Meeting to another been most prevalent in the Circle of their practise, that the same may be laid before the Council for their Inspection and such communicated to the Society as the Council shall direct." Many such papers were then sent centek:nial address. 97 re- l to in, whicli arc now carefully preserved on the 8oeiety'.s liles. The sixth ineering wan held on October 10, but no quorum was present. The seventh nieetin<^ was held on April 9, 1783, when the connnlttee on the Seal reported that they had procured one, which was laid belbre the Society and unanimously accepted. It was also voted that candidates for practice, who had passed a satis- factory examination by the Censors, should pay the sum of eight Spanish milled dollars. A cir- cular letter was adopted to be sent to those mem- bers mentioned in the Act of Incorj)oration, who had not been present at any of the meetings. IJy the records i t appears that thei'e wei'e eight such jjersons. The letter is as follows: — Sir, Tlie Fellows of tli(^ Mass: Mi'dica! Society, wlio have met from time to time for the purposes of their Appointment, have conceived themselves happy in yonr havinij l)een appointeil one of its Fellows, and iteg I^-ave to assure; you. that your C'omuni- catious will at all times he hi<,'lily acceptahle; and that tliey arc siucerely desirous of your Assistance in earryiuij on the IWisiness of fiu^ Society, which in its ISeginniiiji calls for uioie particular Exertions, aiul re(piires tin; joint Fll'orts of all its uiemhers. The Sticiety has been so unfortunate as not in any way to he informed of the Deti'rmination of several (leiitlenu'ii. a])pointed l»y an Act of tlu> (ieneral Court Fellows thereof, relative to their Ac- ceptance of the Trust, for want of which information, the .Society in the pro.secution of its IJusiness, has found itself endiarrass'd and unahle to make such Arranjremenls ;is miirht more fidly tend ti) promote th(! Ends and Designs of the Institution, for which Reason we have addnjss'd you on tins Subject; not ilnnliting of your he- uevolent Intentions ifc I?ea;lines.s to proinciteau Indertaking. con- ducive .as we hope to the li' nelit of Maidvind in i;eiieral and the JNIedical Faculty in particular. We priisume that your an>wer of acceptance will be forwarded by the first opi)". With bcutimeuts of Kes|)ect A: Esteem, We aie «Stc 98 CENTENI'TIAL ADDRESS. At the same meeting a Tli'solvc Avas road, passed by tlic (Ji'iu'ial Court March 20, on the petition of (/otton Tuft-s, ;»i-anting tlie use ol' a room in the Ma II u factory House to tlie Massachusetts Medical Society, in connection with tlie American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Manufactory House was a noted public buildinj^ of that time, belong- ing to the State, and situated in Tremont Street, nearly opposite to the site of the Pai'k Street Meet- ing-house. The room was fitted up conjointly by tile two associations, and first nsed by the Med- ical Society on October ir*, 1781}. It was occupied by them for tlu; staled meetings held on October 30, and April 14, 1784, and probably for other minor ]mri)oses. The meeting on June 2, as well as the one on July 21, took place in tin. County court-house, where all (he former ones had been held, before the I'oom in the Manufactory House was occujiied. The meeting of Ajiril 13, 1785, was held in "the Stockholders' room in the Bank." The Massachusetts Bank, then the only bank in the State, was organized in the year 1784, at which time it bought the Manufactory House, sold by order of the General Court. The stockholders' room in this building was the apaitinent ])revionsly used by the Society. The meeting of May 4, 1785, took place in the Senate Chamber of the Old State House, and the one of October 19, 1785, was held in "Mr. Furnass's ])ainting room in Court St.;" while that of October 18, 178l), was "in the hired room in Court Street," — wiiich may have been the same as Mr. I^uiiass's room. The meet- CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 99 ings of October 20, 1790, and April 13, 1791, wore held in Concert Hail, a noted tavern at tlie soutlierly cornei* of Court and Hanover streets. I have l)een particular in giving some of the minor details of tlie Society's early history, in order to show its small beginnings and the changing places of its nieetings. It is well sometimes to compare present opportunities with the narrow means of past generations. The birth of the present Medical School in the year 1783 formed an epoch in the medical history of the State, though the Massachusetts Medical Society, as a corporate body, did not oiticiate on the occasion. At first the School was looked upon by the fellows with some jealousy, as they feared that the existence of two institutions would lead to serious embarrassments. The matter was consid- ered of sufHcient importance to be referred to a special committee of the Society, which, however, did not report for nearly three years. At the meeting held on October 15, 1783, it is recorded that — " Upon a RecoivieiKlation of Council, to consider Whitlior tho Doings of any of tlie literary Societies in this Coivion wealth, inter- fere with the Charter Rights of the Medical Society ; " Voted, That a Coiii: of three be appointed to take into Con- sideration the above Recoinendation. and to confer with any such Societies (upon t'le Subject, as they may think proptsr) and report : " Voled That D'. Cotton Tufts, D'. Kneehuid & D'. Appleton be this Committee. Nothing further relating to this subject appears to have been done, until the meeting on June 7, 1786, when— ii 100 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. I Ii.- ;^ii: i ': '* Tlin Com: apiiniritod on IT) Orl' ITH,'] to consider wliitlicr tilt' I)(iiiijf> of jiiiy of the literal y .Societies in this C'oinonweaith inlerfere willi tiie Cliaiter liiylits of this Society. A; to confer wilii any snch Societies npoii the Subject as tlu'y nii;u'l't tJiink |>ro|ier, reported. That llu^y had attended tiio i)usiness of tiieir ap- pointnu-nt and ujion examining the Medical Institutions of Harvard Colh';,'c, the Cofii : were of Opinion tliat those Institutions did in- terfere with the Charter- Uiji^ht of tliis Society 'to exuniinu Can- didat(^s for tlie practise of I'iiysic it Siiryery & to j^raiit Letters testimonial of the Kxainination of such as shall lie found skilled in their profession ' in that, those Institutions provided for the Medi- cal professors of that C"olIehed quarterly in Bos- ton. While it was not an ofhcial organ, it was "conducted by a munber of i)hysicians," in the warmest interest of this Society. It was edited with much ability, and contained many original papers. It began in the year 1812, and was kept u]) imtil 1828, when it was followed by " The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," a publica- tion which has continued till the present time. The protective power of vaccination was dis- covered in England by Edward Jennei', near the end of the last century; and the news of its discovery was soon l)rought to this country. Among the first (persons here, and perhaps the lirst whose critical attention was called to its im- i i CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 107 ])ortaiice, uas Dr. Benjamin Watcrhoiisc, of Cani- l)ridgt', an cai'ly I'ellow of tliis Society. Its intro- duction, like that of variolous inoculation, was destined to meet with many difficulties and obst - clcs ; and Di\ Waterhouse was to be the champion. He wrote much as an advocate of the cause; and in spite of popular ridicule and prejudice he suc- ceeded in carrying the day. A communication, signed with his initials and dated at Cambridge, March 12, is found in the " Columbian Centinel " of March 1(5, 1799. It is headed " Soinethinf/ cu- rious in the Medical Line," and is the first account of vaccination that was given to the public in this country. In the ai'ticle Dr. Waterhouse desci'ibes cow-pox, and says that it must not be confounded with another disorder, incident to the human I'ace, which bears a somewhat similar name. He jn-inted the account in a news])aper in order to excite "the attention of our dairy farmers to such a disteni[)er among their cows," and to inform the profession generally of this security against small-pox. In the year 1800 he published a tract entitled "A Prospect of exterminating the Small-pox; be- ing the history of the Variola \"accina or Kine- pox," &c.; and in it he describes the method he used, July 8, 1800, in vaccinating his son, Daniel Oliver AVaterhouse, a lad live years of age, who had this disease in a mild way. From the arm of this boy he vaccinated another son, three years old, who had the customary symptoms in a light form; and subsequently he " inoculated a servant boy of about 12 years of age, with some of the f^m !i i5pn 108 CENTENKJAL ADDRESS. infected thread from England." Tliis expression furni.slies the ekv to the method adopted for ob- taining the vaccine virus, ■which came " l)y a short passage from Bristol," England; though in the autumn of 1802, Dr. Waterhouse speaks of re- ceiving quill-points, or " looth-picks," charged with virus. Before he had iinished the practice in his own family, he had vaccinated four of his children and three of his servants, with no sei'ious symptoms or consequences. The faith he had in the eliicacy of the operation, prompting him to try it on one of his own children, was of that liv- ini>; kind which alwavs commands attention. In this matter we are reminded of Dr. Boylston's bold act in inoculating his son for small-pox. In the year 1802 Dr. Watei-house published a work of one hundred and thirty-foiu* pages, which formed Part II. of the previously mentioned tract; and in it he gives a full account of the new inocu- lation in America. In all his efforts to introduce vaccination, Dr. Waterhousc was warmly seconded by Dr. William Aspinwall, of Brookline, who de- serves no small meed of praise in this matter. Dr. Aspinwall had paid much attention to variolous inoculation; and after the death of Dr. Boylston, the first American inoculator in point of time, he erected small-pox hospitals in Brookline, where he treated a large number of patients for the disease, which had been artificially induced. No man in America, probably, ever inoculated so many per- sons, or enjoyed so wide a reputation for his skill in so doing, as Dr. Aspinwall. CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 109 Massachusetts was the fii'st colonv to introcliiee sniall-jjox inoculation, and she was also the first State to adopt kine-pox vaccination; and her towns have always taken the lead in sanitary mat- ters. During the summer and autumn of 1802 some interesting experiments were conducted un- der the direction of the Boston Board of Health, whose unremitting exertions at that time, to pre- vent contagious disease, entitle them to the highest praise. The Board fitted up a hospital on Nod- dle's Island, now known as East Boston, and in- vited a number of physicians to co-operate with them in an undertaking to diffuse knowledge and dispel prejudice in regard to vaccination. Some bold experiments were tried at this hospital, which fortunately were highly successful. On August 16, 1802, nineteen boys were vaccinated, and all passed through the regular stages of the cow-pox; and on November 9, twelve of these children, to- gether with a son of Dr. Bartlett, who had pre- viously had the cow-pox, were inoculated for the small-pox, with matter taken from a patient in the most infectious state of the disease, and no trouble whatever followed. In order to show the true variolous character of the virus used in this ex- periment, two lads were inoculated at the same time with the same matter; and in due time a severe eruptive fever followed, with a plenteous crop of variolous pustules. AVhen these two cases were in the right stage, matter was taken from 1 hem and inserted, for a second time, in the arms 15 110 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. II of the twelve children Avho had been previously inoculated, and besides in the arms of the other seven boys who were absent at the first inoculation. They had, moreover, been exposed to infection, most of them for twenty days, by being in the same room with the two lads who had the small- pox; and all nineteen escaped. These and other facts arc given in a report which was made and signed by eleven physicians, — James Lloyd and Benjamin Waterhouse appearing at the head of the list. A full and official account of the whole aflair is found in the " Columbian Centinel," De- cember 18, 1802. The town of Milton was the first to act in its corporate capacity, and extend the benefits of vac- cination to its citizens. In the year 1809, three hundred and thirty-seven persons of various ages and conditions among its inhabitants were vacci- nated; twelve of them were afterward tested by inoculation for small-pox, and found fully pro- tected. The test was conducted by Dr. Amos Holbrook, a fellow of this Society ; and the twelve persons — eight boys and four girls — were volun- teers for the operation. The town acted during the whole aifair in a most liberal and intelligent spirit, and published a valuable pamphlet, setting forth all the transactions concerning it. It was entitled " A Collection of Papers relative to the Transactions of the Town of Milton, in the State of Massachusetts, to promote a General Inoculation of the Cow Pox, or Kine Pox, as a never failing preventive against Small Pox Infection;" and a !'" ii; CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. Ill copy was sent to the selectmen of each town in the Commonwealth. About this time a similar plan of public vacci- nation was adopted at New Bedford. By an Act of the Genei'al Court, passed March G, 1810, the towns throuj^hout the State were directed to ap- l)oint committees to superi..tend the matter, and authorized to dcfi-ay the expenses of a general system of vaccination. The motive power of all these proceedings was furnished by the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, though it was not always ai)parent. By the Act of Incorporation the membership of the Society was limited to seventy persons; but on March 8, 1803, an additional Act was passed by the General Court, which removed all limita- tion, and made many changes in other respects. Since then the number of fellows has been steadily increasing; and at the present time every town in the State, with the exception of a few small ones, is represented among the members. In the winter of 1811, an effort was made to ob- tain from the General Court a charter for another medical society, to be called the Massachusetts College of Physicians. The movement was stre- nuously opposed, as might have been expected, by the Massachusetts Medical Society; and a long controversy was the result. There had not been so much personal and professional feeling excited among the physicians of the State, since the in- troduction of small-pox inoculation, ninety years before this time. ii [ }\ hi \M P"i:. 112 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. The following petition to the Lcf^islnturc was received by that body on February 12, 1811, and referred by them six days after\vai-d to the next General Court: — To the Honourable the Senate, and the Honourable the House of lieprcsentatives, in Oeneral Court ussevibled, this petition most respectfully shewelh : — That seeing health is a blessing, which sweetens all our enjoy- ments; and long life that which all men naturally desire, so every thing that tendeth to secure the one or lendcth to the other, is an object worthy the attention of this Legisluturc. And considering, moreover, that of the various methods of obtaining and diffusing medical knowledge, not one is found so effectual and desirable as a friendly and liberal int((rcourse and honourable associations of its professors; more especially when their end and aim is mutual improvement and the publicic good ; and experience has proved that two literary and scientific societies produce more than double the advantage of one — Influenced by these sentiments, wo your petitioners humbly pray the Honourable the Legislature to constitute us, and such as may hereafter associate with us, a body politic and corporate, by the name and title of the Massachusetts College of Physicians; with such powers, privileges and immunities, as other medical associations of the like nature and views enjoy, under the same denomination, in several states of the union. And your petitioners shall, as in duty bound, ever pray. Thomas Williams. Samukl Danfouth. SIarsiiall SrniNG. Natii. Amks. William Aspinwall. John Jeffriks. James Mann. Charles Winsiiip. Abijah Draper. James Lovell. .Iacoh Gates. William Ingalls. At the annual meeting of the Medical Societj", held June 5, 1811, a committee, which had been appointed "to prepare a memorial to the General Court respecting a petition for the incorporation of a college of physicians," presented the follow- ing remonstrance. It was adopted almost nnani- mously, one member only out of seventy-two dis- senting. CENTEITNIAL ADDRESS. 113 To the Ho)Wxirahle the Smale and the House of Jirprexenta- tives of the Cotnnionwealtk of Mai^xachiinelltt. Tiir, Massiidiusctts Motliciil Society, in C()iiso(|iiciiro of an ap- plication to the (Jciicral Court in Fcliruary last, for tin- incorpora- tion of a Collect) of I'liysiciaiiH, hcj; Icavo rcHpoctfully to represent, That th»' Haiil ISIiissachusetts INIedical Society was established in November, 17H1, with [jower to elect otIi<'«;rH, examine and licence candidates for practicj, hold estate, and perpetuat(! its ex- istence as a body corporate. In June, 17M2, the society was organized agreeal)ly to the provisions of the statute, and the members directed in every way to extend and increase its use- fulness. IJy an additional act of the (leneral Court in Feltruary, 1781), authority was given to point out and dtiscribe such a inodo of medical instruction as might lie deemed reipiisite for canir roiiiliirt lius Ix-cii a|»|)i'()V('il. It is scjinM'ly iiccu'SHiiry to rtMnark, thftt, from tlio state of tii<l' the Hocicty, its proj^TosM, for several years, was slow, and thai it was less uset'iil than eouM have heeii wished; hut hy the aid and eo-operation of the lloiirish- iii;; medical school at the llniversily, it is at this time in u most prosperous states; and it is the uiiite. G, and I^uke xxi. 11, and tor "plague" (rarely) as in Luke vii. 21, he also uses the verb iV/^osJiau, for " she was sick of a fever," in jNIatt. viii. 14, INIark i. liO. One word more: we had in Connecticut. I tluni. an earlier autopsy than yours of 1()74. In iMaich. HitJj. the CJeii. Court allowed Mr. 15ryan Rossetter — at that date tiie only regularly educated physician and surgeon within many miles of Hartford- payment *" in reference to opening Kellie's cliild." and for other professional services. See Conn. Col. Records, i. .'V.Hi. It is not, I admit, absolutely certain, that Kelley's child died be/ore the opening. Very truly yours, J. H. TRUMBULL. P. S. June 27th. Looking at Bradford's History, this morn- ing, I see that he observes (p. .520) that the Indians were more afraid of the small-pox tlian of the plague. Winslow does 7iot identify the disease prevalent in Massachusetts in 1(522, with the plague of 1G17-1«, — though he says (ou hearsay, of course) thai it was very like it, if not the same. APPENDIX. 131 .Tank Hawkins, who acted ms midwife at the delivery of Mary DyeiV monstrosity, mentioned in paye 27. was "her- self a physician of some notoriety. According to Governor V> inthrop, — "she used to give younof women oil of mandrakes and otlier stiift to cause conception; and slie grew into great suspicion to he a witch, tor it was credihiy reported, that, wlien slie gave anv nuMhenies (tor she practised idiysic.) slie wo.dd ask the partv it- she di(l helieve, she could help her."— (- The History of IXew I'.nghuid," 1. iJlO.) / Thomas Welde, in "A Short Story," etc. (London, 1<)44), says that slie was "notorious for familiarity with the devdi."— (Page 44.) Her reputation in the comnumity was anything hut good. She was looked upon as u witch and for that reason greatly feared by her neighbors. Her case was considere.' at the session of the (leneral Court beguining March 12, 1037-8, when it is recorded that— ' "June Hawkins the wife of Richrd Hawkins had liberty till the beginning of the third m" called May, & the magistrates (if shee did not depart before) to dispose of her, & in the meane tune shee is not to meddle in surgery, or physick, drinks, or oyles nor to (jucstion matters of religion except w'" the elders for satis- taction. — (General Court Kecords, i. 219.) The effect of this order is not known ; but some years later summary steps were taken to get rid of her without much previous notice. At the session of the General Court bcgmnmg June 2, 1041, it was yoted that— "Jane Hawkins is enioyned to depart away tomorrow morning & not to returne againo hither upon paine of severe whinpin-r Tt such other punishment, as the Court shall thinke meete. &'her sonnes stand bound in 20.'. to carry her away according to order." — (General Court Kecords, i. 'M'J.)