MEDICAL NEWS.
Proceedings of the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia, in reference
to the Death of Dr. Chapman.
Chamber of the College of Physicians,
Stated Meeting, August 3, 1853.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, through its Committee,
Drs. Bell, Ruschenberger, and West, appointed for the purpose, makes
the following record of its sentiments on the occasion of the death of Dr.
Nathaniel Chapman, Senior Fellow of the College :
The fulness of years and failing health of Dr. Chapman, and his con-
sequent withdrawal from the active discharge of his professional and
social duties, gave, like the twilight that precedes the gloom of night,
unmistakable notice of his approaching departure. The melancholy
event thus anticipated has occurred; and this College now mourns the
loss of its venerated and oldest member—of him, in whom was blended
the skilful physician with the kind friend, the instructive writer, and
the lucid and emphatic teacher, with the paternal adviser.
The great and distinctive merits of Dr. Chapman, as Professor in that
Institution with which his name was so honorably connected during
nearly half a century, and in which his ascendency was so conspicuous,
will doubtless be delineated in due season. They are fully appreciated
by numbers in this College, who, in common with thousands from all
parts of the United States, listened to his attractive prelections, and
formed their medical opinions under his tuition and guidance.
Farther manifestations of his untiring zeal in fostering medical in-
struction were afforded by his lecture-laburs, for a period of twenty
years, in the Philadelphia Medical Institute, a summer school, of which
he was the founder, and, from first to last, President.
As editor and journalist, intent on disseminating medical knowledge,
Dr. Chapman has strong claims on the esteem of the entire profession
in the United States. The periodical created, and for several years con-
ducted by him, still flourishes, the vehicle for a vast number of highly
valuable facts, and for the advocacy of sound ethics.
Long will the name of Chapman be associated in the memory of the
members of this College, and of the community in which he lived, with
the amenities that give a charm and refinement to social intercourse, and
with the radiant yet genial wit which illuminated and quickened into
gladness all whom he approached.
How many can bear willing and grateful testimony to his generous
heart and freely-given hand, ever responsive to the calls of friendship
and of charity, to the timid request of the youthful student for a tempo-
rary loan, and the faltering plea of old age for permanent support.
In commemoration of so much worth, and as an incitement to the
members of this College and of the profession at large to follow in the
path of their distinguished associate,
Resolved, That a bust and portrait of Dr. Chapman be procured, and
placed in the chamber of the College.
The sincere and respectful condolence of the College is at the same
time offered to the widow and family of the deceased under their be-
reavement. Also, Resolved, That a copy of the preceding record be
communicated to Mrs. Chapman, by the present Committee.
John Bell,
W. S. W. Ruschenberger,
Francis West.
On motion, the foregoing report was approved, and the resolutions
contained therein adopted, and the whole directed to be published in the
American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medical Examiner.
From the minutes.
D. Francis Condie,
Secretary of the College.
Tribute to the Memory of Drs. Chapman and Horner.—The
graduates of the Medical Department of U. P., residing at Mobile, Ala.,
adopted the following resolutions in reference to the recent deaths of
Prof. Chapman and Horner :
Whereas, It hath pleased Divine Providence to remove from the
sphere of their usefulness our much respected and honored instructors,
Drs. Nathaniel Chapman and Wm. E. Horner; and, whereas, in
our opinion such services as they have rendered the cause of Medical
Sciences and our “Alma Mater,” deserve some especial and lasting
tribute ; and, whereas, it was our peculiar privilege to receive instruction
from their lips, and to have held up before us their bright examples of
zeal and devotion to their profession, and high and honorable conduct in
their private life—feelings of respect and esteem for them, and pride for
the Science which they have so honored, have prompted us to meet
together to give form and expression to the sentiments that fill our hearts
in view of the bereavement that their deaths have occasioned. Be it
therefore
Resolved, That in the death of Professors Nathaniel Chapman and
Wm. E. Horner, our time-honored Alma Mater has lost two of its
most indefatigable teachers, the city of Philadelphia two of its most
respected and esteemed citizens, and the Profession of Medicine two of
the most zealous contributors to the facts upon which that science has
erected an enduring foundation.
Resolved, That as former pupils of these distinguished Professors, wc
especially know how to appreciate the loss that our profession has sus-
tained—and though we know that the rich treasures of knowledge that
they have left us as a legacy to Medical Science will perpetuate their
names as long as the truths of that science last—still we, the Alumni
of the school, with whose glory their names arg'so inseparably entwined,
would do something more to place their services and their virtues as a
shining mark by which to direct the steps of future aspirants for the
honors and the fame which reward the Zealous, the Industrious and the
Faithful in our Noble Science.
Resolved, That in furtherance of the above resolution, we dp hereby
call upon the Alumni of the Medical Department of the University of
Pennsylvania, throughout the world, to contribute the sum of one
dollar each, on or before the 25th of December next, to defray the ex-
pense of erecting a suitable monument to their memories, in the Uni-
versity yard in Philadelphia—that such contribution be sent to the Dean
or any member of the present Faculty, to be used by them for that
purpose so soon as, in their judgment, a sufficient sum shall have been
received.
Resolved, That all medical journals and all papers which may approve
of this object, be requested to give the action of this meeting pub-
licity, and to further the objects of these resolutions as much as may be
in their power.
Medical Department of Iowa University.—Dr. McGugin has
been transferred to the Chair of Pathology, and E. R. Ford, M. D., of
Keokuk, has been appointed to the Chair of Obstetrics, thus vacated by
Dr. McGr. Edward A. Arnold, M. D., of Baltimore, has been appoint-
ed to the Chair of Anatomy, vacated by the transfer of Dr. J. C. Hughes
to the Chair of Surgery.
Army Medical Board.—An order from the War Department con-
stitutes an Army Medical Board for the examination of Assistant Sur-
geons for promotion, and of candidates for appointment in the medical
staff of the army. The Board will convene in the city of New York on
the first day of December next, and will probably continue in session
three or four weeks. Applications must be addressed to the Secretary
of War; must state the age and residence of the applicant, and must be
accompanied by respectable testimonials of his possessing the moral and
physical qualifications requisite for filling creditably, and for performing
ably, the arduous and active duties of an officer of the medical staff.
Yale Medical College'—Drs. Henry Bronson and Benjamin Silli-
rnan, Jr., have been appointed successors of Professors E. Ives and Ben-
jamin Silliman, in the Medical Department of Yale College; the former
in the Department of Materia Medica, and the latter iu that of
Chemistry.
Prospectus of the Georgia Journal of the Medical Sci-
ences.—Under the above title, a new Journal is projected, to be pub-
lished monthly, at Savannah, Ga., under the editorship of George F.
Cooper, M. D. It has our best wishes for its success.
The Peninsular Journal of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences,
is the title of a new and well conducted Monthly, published at Ann Ar-
bir, Michigan, under the editorial control of E. Andrews, M. D.
Professors Cobb and Baxley have resigned their respective chairs
of Anatomy and Surgery, in the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, and
are to be succeeded by Drs. G. W. Bayless and Asbury Evans, the former
as Anatomist and the latter as Surgeon. Dr. Samuel G. Armor has also
been appointed Professor of Physiology and Pathology in the same in-
stitution.
Dr. R. J. Breckenridge has been elected to the chair of Materia.
Medica, in the Kentucky school of Medicine at Louisville, vice Dr. E. D.
Force, resigned.
Prof. A. Litton.—This gentleman has been appointed Chemist to the
Geological Survey of the State of Missouri. He still retains, however,
the chair of Chemistry in the St. Louis Medical College, which he has filled
with such distinguished ability for eight or ten years past.
Buffalo Medical Journal.—Dr. S. B. Hunt has become associate
editor of this excellent journal, to the pages of which he has heretofore
contributed.
Dr. Austin Flint.—This gentleman has resigned the chair of Theory
and Practice in the Buffalo Medical College, and Dr. Thomas F. Ro-
chester, of New York, has been appointed his successor. Dr. F. still re-
tains his professorship at Louisville.
Medical Department of tiie University of Vermont.—.This
Institution has been organized by the appointment of the following Gen-
tlemen : Dr. W. S. Thayer, of Northfield; Dr. W. Carpenter, of East
Randolph ; Dr. 0. Smith, of Montpelier; Dr. E. S. Carr, of Castleton,
Vermont; Dr. II. Nelson, of Plattsburgh, New York; and Dr. L. W.
Bliss, of Bradford, Vermont.
American Association for tiie Advancement of Science.—
The proceedings of the scientific convention held at Cleveland on the
28th of July, furnish gratifying evidence of the increased interest felt
in science, and of the conviction, among its cultivators, of the necessity
of associated efforts. Men of science are evidently realizing, in a highly
appropriate manner, the dignity and utility of enrolling themselves as
members of this body, which already includes so many who have earned
an honorable celebrity. Nearly two hundred new members were elected
at the recent meeting.
A full review of the proceedings of the association would be out of
place in a journal devoted to strictly medical subjects; we may simply
notice that after electing B. Pierce, the Cambridge astronomical profes-
sor, to the office of president, and Dr. Baird, of the Smithsonian Insti-
tute, and Professor St. John, to the offices of perpetual and annual
secretary, the association proceeded to divide itself into sections, and to
appoint standing and special committees.
Section A embraces mathematicsand physics; Section B is devoted to
natural history, geology, chemistry, geography and ethnology. Twc-
tbirds of the papers presented were on subjects connected with math-
ematics and natural philosophy. Dr. Waldo J. Burnett contributed a
paper on blood-corpuscle-holding cells, and their relation to the spleen;
and a second paper upon the formation and mode of development of the
renal organs in vertebrata. Professor Horsford, of Cambridge, presented
an essay on the fatal effects of chloroform.
The officers of these two sections are as follows :
Standing Committee of Section A.—Professor Lovering, Chairman;
Professor W. M. Chauvenet, Secretary; Professors E. Loomis, H. L.
Eustis, J. Winlock.
Standing Committee of Section B.—Professor S. St. John, Chair,
man; Professor H. L. Smith, Secretary; Drs. J. L. Riddle, W. J-
Burnett, Jos. Leidy.
We regret to observe that a resolution was passed prohibiting the sale
of the “Transactions” of the association. It appears that the annual
assessment of one dollar each from six hundred members suffices to de-
fray the expenses of publication, and it has accordingly been determined
that the edition of the Transactions shall be limited to a number of
copies sufficient to supply the individual members, and foreign learned
societies.
The next meeting of the association will beheld in Washington on the
last Wednesday in May 1854.— Virginia Med. and Surg. Jour.
Obituary.—The profession in Richmond deplores the loss of Dr.
William J. Clarke, who expired on the 20th of August, in the twenty-
ninth year of his age.
Dr. Clarke possessed excellent capacities, and very considerable attain-
ments in medicine. He was the eldest son of the late Micajah Clarke,
who enjoyed for many years a wide and well earned reputation as a
practitioner of truly wonderful sagacity. In consequence of the immense
success of the father, the career of the son has been observed with more
than ordinary interest, and his untimely end has elicited the warmest re-
grets.
Doubtless, had time been given him, had he reached the maturity of
his powers, he would have gained enviable distinction, and have worthily
succeeded to the great place in public estimation which his father occu-
pied. Such at least were the hopes which his talents and mental culti-
vation permitted his friends to entertain, notwithstanding the excessive
modesty and reserve which impeded his professional advancement.
Therefore their grief is the more poignant, that in his early manhood,
his work all unfinished, Death has come and cut him down.— Virginia
Med. and Surg. Jour.
Obituary.—Dr. John M. F. Trudeau, long a resident and respectable
practitioner of St. Louis, died suddenly on the 22nd of August, of dis-
ease of the heart.
Obituary.—The following physicians fell victims to the late epidemic
at New Orleans :—
Dr. A. R. Nye, aged about 26 years, a native of New York.
Dr. Jacobson, aged 40 years, late of St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. A. C. Robertson, aged 23 years, a native of Nashville, Tenn.
Dr. Friend, aged — years, a native of Petersburg, Va.
Quinine in Yellow Fever.—Our experience during the present
epidemic, with the Sulphate of Quinine, has convinced us that large doses
of this salt cannot be relied on in the early stages of the attack.
In the commencement of the epidemic, the advocates of large doses of
quinine soon found that this article, when given in sedative doses, failed
to accomplish a cure, although the febrile symptoms gradually gave way
to its use.
As the epidemic progressed, and its type and characteristic symptoms
became better known, few, as far as we can learn, ventured to give large
and repeated doses of this salt, except in particular instances. In our
previous epidemic of Yellow Fever, the quinine practice succeeded best ;
but it is generally conceded, as far as we could ascertain, that this
season it failed in a majority of cases to sustain its previous high repu-
tation, as a powerful curative agent—hereafter, we shall have more to
say on this subject.—Ar. 0. Med. and Surg. Journ., Sept. 1853.
The Epidemic of Yellow Fever at New Orleans.—About
the 26th of May last, the first case of yellow fever entered the Charity
Hospital, and after death, black vomit was found in the stomach. The
first fever cases originated among the shipping along the Levee, in the
Fourth District, from which point it extended rapidly through the adja-
cent portion of the town. A large population of unacclimated persons,
living in wooden huts, with floors and timbers soaked in water, and half
decayed, were seized with the disease in the most malignant form. For
some time previously rain had fallen almost daily, and this added to a
hot, burning sun, seemed to give strength to the poison, and lent in-
tensity to the disease. The streets in this vicinity, for the most part,
were unpaved, or planked, and the culverts, gutters, etc., were filled with
water, saturated with filth and decaying vegetable and animal matter.
The crowded state of these huts and low wooden tenements, with their
floors steeped in mud and water, is admirably calculated to generate and
propagate the germ of a disease which had already been sown in their
midst.
The habits of these people, (being chiefly Irish and German laborers,)
notoriously negligent and filthy, and utterly indifferent to all those pre-
cautionary measures which a limited knowledge of the laws of hygiene
should suggest, served only to add fuel to the conflagration which was des-
tined to extend its ravages to every portion of our devoted city. Hence,
for some time, the yellow fever confined its work of death within particular
localities,—but by and by gaining strength by what it fed upon, it began
to travel to other and more distant points,—to extend its arms, so to
speak, in every direction, until it grasped the Four Districts within its
deadly embrace. For some time the hope was entertained that those
who paid proper regard to personal comfort and cleanliness—who dwell
in high, airy, and well-ventilated apartments might escape the disease;
but this proved a delusion,—it soon became apparent that, as heretofore,
the epidemic fever was no respecter of persons,—the master was stricken
down with the servant—the mistress with the maid—the proud and
wealthy were brought to a level with the humble and needy. All who
had not passed through some one of our epidemic seasons were exposed
to attacks from the disease. As has been already mentioned, the fever
made its appearance in the latter part of May, at least one month and a
half earlier than usual, and from the first case up to the present, it
steadily increased almost daily, until the mortality per diem exceeded
that produced by any epidemic known in the annals of our sanitary his-
tory. In recording the fearful ravages of the present epidemic we must
not forget that we have remained exempt from any such visitation since
1847, and during this time an immense population of unacclimated per-
sons, both from Europe and the north-western part of our own country,
have been accumulating in our city. The number of unacclimated per-
sons in the city, at the breaking out of the epidemic has been estimated
at 30,000 souls; but many of these, it is fair to suppose, have left the
city to escape the disease.
The type of the epidemic differs but little from that to which we have
been subject in former years; and the belief that persons had died of
the disease in six and eight hours from the moment of seizure, can
readily be explained by a better knowledge of the antecedent history of
the case; for on inquiry it would generally be found that such individu-
als have had slight fever and other symptoms of the epidemic for two or
three days previously to taking their bed and calling in medical aid.
This surmise gains additional strength from the fact that the attack, in
many instances, has been so insidious and destitute of alarming symp-
toms, that it is with difficulty such persons could be persuaded—could
be prevailed upon to submit to the usual restrictive treatment.
It is not strange, therefore, that such cases, which had been neglected
for two or three days, in the early and curable stage of attack, should
terminate in fatal black vomit, in a few hours after the physician is
summoned to the bedside of his patient. So much for the apparent ma-
lignancy of the present epidemic. In making the foregoing explanation,
we aim not to deny the existence of an occasional case of extreme se-
verity • so severe indeed as to terminate in death in a few hours, in spite
of the best efforts of the most skilful physicians and the most careful
nursing.
In some instances the system seems so thoroughly saturated with the
poison of the disease, from the very moment of seizure, that no system
of medication, as yet suggested, seems able to cope with and stay the
fatal tendency of the fever. Every medical man who has had much ex-
perience in the disease, must remember occasional instances of this
kind.
The disease this season, though essentially the same in many of its
most prominent features, exacts, perhaps, on the part of physician and
nurse, more care, diligence and precaution, to terminate favorably, than
usual in our epidemics. The slightest imprudence, either in diet, expo-
sure, or excitement of any kind, is almost certain to superinduce a re-
lapse—from which state it is usually very difficult to extricate the pa-
tient. Hence, the great mortality among those who are not only igno-
rant of the peculiarities of the disease ; but who are also unable, and in
some instances unwilling to pay for the requisite medical aid and at-
tendance.
We refer to our table below, furnished by Dr. Simonds, the active
Secretary of the Board of Health, for a full account of the deaths and
other particulars which have occurred since the epidemic broke out. By
this, it will be seen that yellow fever has done terrible execution among
our unacclimated population; has produced a mortality unparalleled in
the history of our ill-fated city. Even while penning these lines, the
fever is sweeping off over two hundred per diem—and from present ap-
pearances, it is likely to continue its fearful ravages for, perhaps, weeks
to come.
Our quondam associate, Dr. Fenner will, in due time, give us a full
and detailed history of this epidemic, as he did that of 1847, when
the disease shall have run its course and done its work of death.
Below, we give the mortality produced by the epidemic, in the city
of New Orleans, from the 28th May up to the 26th August, inclusive,
for 1853 :
The Epidemic.
Total number of death by yellow fever and other diseases, from May
28 till date :
Week ending. Total. Yellow Fever. Other Dis. Not stated.
May	28	.	.	.	140—110	1—1	139—139
June	4	.	.	.	157—	1	156
“	11	.	.	.	154	4	150
“	18	.	.	.	147	7	140
“	25	.	.	.	167—625	9-21	158—604
July	2 ...	177	25	152
“	9 ...	188	59	139
“	16 . . .	144	204	140
“	23 . . .	617	435	182
“	31 .	.	. 884—2210	704—1427	138—741	42
August 1 . . . 142	106	25	11
“	2	. . . 135	115	14	6
“	3	...	146	124	17	9
«	4	...	166	135	15	10
“	5	...	150	128	9	13
«	6	...	238	194	30	14
«	7 .	.	. 209—1186	165—967	40—150	4—69
«	8	...	219	187	23	9
“	9	...	201	166	21	14
“	10 .	.	. 230	193	33	4
“	11 .	.	. 233	192	13	18
“	12 .	.	. 207	180	25	2
“	13 .	.	. 214	179	22	13
“	14 .	.	. 232—1526	191—1288	26—163	16-75
“	15 .	.	. 217	187	24	6
«	16 .	.	. 193	163	19	11
“	17 .	.	- 219	191	21	7
“	18 .	.	. 219	188	22	9
“	19 .	.	. 234	203	15	16
“	20 .	.	. 224	184	29	11
“	21 ... 269—1575	230—1346	24—151	15—75
“	22 .	.	. 283	239	29	15
“	23 .	.	. 258	220	24	14
“	23 .	.	. 222	188	23	11
“	25 .	.	. 218	186	19	13
“	26 . . . 193—1070 151—884	29—124	13—66
Total............. 8336	5934	2075	327
N. B.—The retnrns from the St. Patrick’s Cemetery since the 31st
July, not having been duly made, cannot bo relied on, except for two
weeks, when the books were resorted to by the Secretary, to enable him
to make a weekly report.—_ZV. 0. Med. and Surg. Journ., Sept., 1853.