With Compliments 
— OF — 
Robert 
BIOGRAPHY 
— OP — 
Andrew 1VJ. D. Biography 
of 
Andrew Nebinger, M. D. 
by 
J. H. Grove, M. D. 
Read before the Philadelphia County 
Medical Society, May II, 1887. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
Burk Sc McFetkidgr. Printers, 306-309 Chestnut Stkkkt, 
1887. Biography. 
In obedience to the request of the Philadelphia County 
Medical Society to furnish it with a biographical notice 
of our late honored associate, Dr. Andrew Nebinger, 
that the same may become a matter of record in its 
archives, I have the honor to submit the following 
sketch :— 
Dr. Andrew Nebinger was born in the old district of 
Southwark, Philadelphia, December 12, 1819. His 
father was Andrew Nebinger, of York County, Penn- 
sylvania, a descendant from German and English 
parents, and a soldier in the war of 1812. In the 
battle of Yorktown he received a wound, the scar from 
which he carried to his grave. A sister of Dr. Nebin- 
ger’s father was married to Dr. Webster Lewis, a brother 
of Judge Ellis Lewis. 
His mother was Honora St. Leger, a native of Dublin, 
Ireland, his filial love for whose memory was the pre- 
dominant feeling of his heart, ever bursting forth when 
her name or the place of her birth was mentioned. Who 
that was present can forget his impassioned words at the 4 
reception of General Corcoran, in 1862: “Oh! Erin, 
green isle of the ocean, I love and adore you, not alone 
because of your martyrs, heroes, statesmen, poets and 
matchless orators, but I love you because of her from 
whose loins I sprang.” 
Dr. Nebinger pursued his studies in the private 
schools of the day, and laid the foundation for a prac- 
tical and scientific education, which he afterwards per- 
fected in the Medical Department of the University of 
Pennsylvania, graduating with the highest honors, April 
6, 1850. The subject of his graduating essay was, 
“ Cholera Infantum,” in the preparation of which he 
gave evidence of a matured judgment, not often to be 
met with in an essay from the pen of a young physician. 
He studied medicine with Drs. John Neill and J. J. 
Reese, of Philadelphia; but for ten years prior to his 
entering into full practice as a physician, he was engaged 
in the apothecary business in the vicinity of his late 
residence on South Second street. 
The drug business, an important and essential factor 
in the training of a young physician, was relinquished 
after Dr. Nebinger had completed his medical studies at 
the University of Pennsylvania, in 1850. 
The Doctor began the practice of medicine in the 
locality of his birth, and remained there steadfastly 
devoted to his profession, and assiduously applying 5 
himself to his work. He was wedded to his profession, 
and was careful, in pursuing its practice, to do everything 
in his power to elevate it, and render it useful in relieving 
the ills of poor suffering humanity. 
His obstetrical practice was remarkably large, and his 
success as an obstetrician soon placed him in the fore- 
most ranks of the accoucheurs of the day. He built up 
a large and lucrative practice, at the same time paying 
close attention to the affairs of medical societies. Though 
always actively engaged as the medical adviser of wealthy 
patients, he never allowed the poor to suffer, and many 
are the unfortunate families who are indebted to Dr. 
Nebinger for kindly attentions. 
A bachelor, with no personal family cares, he always 
found time, apart from his regular duties, to aid the poor 
and lowly, finding recreation in the noble work of a 
humanitarian. 
Dr. Nebinger was one of the incorporators of the 
County Medical Society of Philadelphia, and was made 
one of the Directors of the Association immediately after 
its incorporation in 1877. The Doctor, at various times, 
prepared and read a number of original and instructive 
papers before the County Medical Society. These papers 
always received marked attention from his auditors, and 
at the close of his reading he would receive the cordial 
congratulations of the members upon his pleasing and 
instructive efforts. 6 
Among the numerous papers thus presented to the 
County Medical Society, of which he was the author, 
we may mention, The Pathology of Cholera Infantum, 
Scarlatina, Diphtheria, Variola (presented as part of the 
transactions of the American Medical Association, 1865). 
The latter paper, in consequence of the very positive and 
original treatment recommended by Doctor Nebinger, 
and the highly satisfactory and decided results obtained 
by him in carrying out his “Compensative Nutritive 
Treatment,” attracted no small degree of attention 
elsewhere as well as here. 
The Doctor was a true follower of Hippocrates, believ- 
ing “that medicine was an aggregation of facts, discovered 
or made manifest by experiment, observation and experi- 
ence, confirmed by repeated tests and trials, and that the 
only true and safe practice was that which was based 
upon such aggregation of facts ; or, in other words, upon 
‘ rational experience.’ ” 
Hence, when he was able to state, in his argument in de- 
fense of his system of treatment of Variola, that his statis- 
tics exhibited a mortality of but four in seventy-nine cases, 
about five per cent., or one in nineteen and seventy-five 
one-hundredths, during the epidemic of small-pox in 1861 
and 1862, he was giving evidence that the teaching of 
Hippocrates was a living principle for his guidance. 
Listen for a moment to the Doctor’s words, when dis- 
cussing this subject:— 7 
“ The necessities of the system are great, and can only 
be met by the introduction of the highest order of ali- 
ment, and that in large quantities. He had heard but 
recently of a case of confluent small-pox; the patient 
was an adult male, who was restricted to three glasses of 
milk-punch per day, the doctor in attendance declaring 
that a greater quantity would be injurious. 
“ For one moment reflect upon that. Three glasses of 
milk-punch in twenty-four hours, for a man covered from 
head to foot with pustules, the whole surface of his body 
being destroyed, and the necessity existing for its repro- 
duction; and yet those pustules were to be perfected and 
the whole surface of the body to be reproduced out of 
three glasses of milk-punch per diem ! 
“ Need he say that sloughing of the skin and cellular 
tissue took place, and that the patient died ? No, he 
need not. You must know that under such treatment 
no other result could follow. ‘ Three glasses of milk- 
punch, and three only; more would be damaging.’ 
Why, if a well man was permitted to take, as his only 
food, but three glasses of milk-punch every twenty-four 
hours, he would, in a short time, starve to death on it. 
Yet, gentlemen, this is the treatment given to confluent 
small-pox patients. Is it wonderful that the great 
majority die? ” 
In 1870 Dr. Nebinger, as the retiring president, read a 
paper before the Philadelphia County Medical Society 8 
upon the subject of “Criminal Abortion: Its Extent and 
Prevention.” It is not necessary to say to you who were 
then members of the Society that the masterly presenta- 
tion of this subject, as made by Dr. Nebinger, excited dis- 
cussion and animadversion in circles outside of the ranks 
of our profession. 
The Doctor was a brave man, and he struck with no 
uncertain hand at a crime that still remains a blot upon 
our civilization. Would that there were more men of 
his stamp among us, ready to brave everything for the 
truth, then might we hope for the consummation looked 
forward to by Dr. Nebinger, when the prevention and 
cure of this terrible moral evil, with all its entailment of 
physical suffering, shall be fully accomplished! 
In 1867 Dr. Nebinger prepared a sketch of the life of 
Dr. William Darrach, and read the same before the 
County Medical Society, January 23d of that year. 
We quote from it the Doctor’s tribute to the excellence 
of American teachers and colleges in our day:— 
“ The era has rolled by when the necessity existed for 
the American student of medicine to quit this country 
for foreign climes, to there perfect himself in, or to give 
an elegant finish to his studies. Our colleges and teach- 
ers, public and private, are now so numerous and so well 
qualified to impart medical knowledge; our hospitals so 
extensive, the mass of disease, medical and surgical, so 9 
vast, and the clinical instruction so thorough, that after 
the student shall have learned all that may be here 
acquired, there will be but little else, perhaps, worthy of 
the expenditure of time, labor and means, for him to 
acquire abroad.” 
Yet with this high opinion of our schools and their 
teaching, he was not content that they should remain 
stationary, but was ever urging them forward in the line 
of higher requirements on the part of matriculates, and 
a longer term of study, and was partly instrumental in 
accomplishing changes in both these directions, in the 
curriculum of his Alma Mater. As evidence of his strong 
feeling on these subjects, we quote from his address as 
President, delivered before the Medical Society of the 
State of Pennsylvania, at Altoona, May, 1880:— 
I he advance in the art of medicine, the great increase 
in the sum of medical knowledge, the vast increase in 
the number of the instrumentalities, for the cure and 
relief of disease, whether medical, surgical, gynecologi- 
cal, ophthalmological, etc., etc., are such that the amount 
of time which was devoted by our fathers to the learning 
and teaching of medicine, is now ridiculously inadequate 
to meet the requirements of the day. The advance in 
medicine demands a longer period of pupilage, certainly 
not less than four years, more extended and thorough 
teaching, and a better quality, or higher preliminary 
education, before matriculation.” 10 
The Doctor wrote a biography of William Mayburry, 
M. D., which appeared in the transactions of the Ameri- 
can Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania for 
1875. This biography, as well as that of Dr. Darrach, 
gives evidence of the fine literary ability of the author, 
and causes us to regret that he did not more frequently 
place his thoughts before the public. 
To those who have never heard the Doctor deliver an 
address, it may be proper to state that to the attractive 
and instructive subject matter of his essays, he added 
the grace and ability of a finished elocutionist. No one 
who has ever listened to him when warmed with an 
important theme, can ever forget the fire and flow of his 
eloquence. The Doctor’s eloquent words, in memory of 
William Mayburry, M. D., and in honor of the medical 
profession, apply with equal force to him who penned 
them :— 
“ Having finished his academical studies, he felt that it 
was important that he should determine upon some pro- 
fession or business to which he should devote the years 
of his manhood, for the double purpose of his own hap- 
piness and the public weal. Feeling, doubtless, that he, 
who, in the great hive of human industry, is a drone, 
consuming the honey, the products of the skill, labor 
and enterprise of others, without producing himself all 
that he may be able to produce, and thus contributing 11 
his pro quantum to the common stock of human happiness 
and human utilitarianism, is unworthy of the existence 
which has been given to him. 
“ His choice fell upon the profession of medicine, a 
profession as old as it is honorable, as useful and humane 
as it is honorable and old. A profession which the gods 
might deem it an honor and a privilege to worthily pursue, 
inasmuch as its chief aims are to make the maimed whole, 
to deprive pain of its agony, to raise up and restore to 
health those struck prostrate with disease, to cause the 
deaf to hear, the blind to see, and to give women in travail 
a safe deliverance of a living offspring. Upon such a 
profession his choice fell, and wisely, as the deep interest 
which he took in his profession, and his positive ability 
and great usefulness as a member of it, at the bedside, 
over and over again demonstrated.” 
The Doctor, besides his connection with the Philadelphia 
County Medical Society in which he held, in turn, all the 
leading offices, was a member of the State Medical Society, 
of which he was, at different times, President and Vice- 
President, a member of the College of Physicians, of the 
American Medical Association of the United States, a life- 
member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, the P'ranklin 
Institute and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
As Medical Director of St. Mary’s Hospital he brought 
to bear in its direction all his rare executive ability, great 12 
intelligence and consummate medical skill. To this labor 
of love he devoted the latest energies of his life, and fol- 
lowed its fortunes in the future by the bestowal upon it 
of a large share of his estate by will. The new St. 
Agnes’ Hospital will ever remain an enduring monu- 
ment to the memory of its benefactor. 
During the late Rebellion Dr. Nebinger was surgeon- 
in-charge of the Cooper-Shop Volunteer Hospital, in 
which position he was ably assisted by his brother, 
George W. Nebinger, M. D., and also by his brother, 
Robert Nebinger, who compounded the medicines for 
the hospital and dispensary. 
The kind and skilful attentions received by our soldiers 
on their march to the front, and by those of them who 
were fortunate enough to reach there on their return, 
attentions given by night as well as by day, can never be 
forgotten, and the memory of those days and nights is 
enshrined in the hearts of thousands of our veterans. 
The Doctor was a great student and very fond of 
books. He surrounded himself with a large library 
containing numerous rare and valuable books, all of 
which were for use, none for show. He made notes of 
his reading, and a retentive memory enabled him to com- 
mand stores of information upon even abstruse subjects, 
not apparently in his line of thought. A close and 
logical reasoner, and ready in debate, he was seldom 13 
overmatched, and seldomer still found wanting if a 
reason were demanded for the opinions that he held. 
Doctor Nebinger was an active and zealous member of 
the Church of the Sacred Heart. A Catholic in every 
sense of the word, he was not a bigot; he was of those 
who never did his good works that they might be seen 
of men. 
In educational matters the Doctor took a lively interest. 
He was a member of the Board of Public Education 
from 1868 to the time of his death. During his con- 
nection with the Board of Public Education he took 
quite an active part in promoting the educational 
interests of the pupils of the schools of Philadelphia, 
and made many useful and intelligent suggestions for 
improving and maintaining our public school system. 
Doctor Nebinger retired from the active duties of his 
profession about 1870, and devoted himself to his duties 
as a member of the Board of Public Education, and to 
the management of various charitable institutions, in 
which he always exhibited the greatest interest. During 
the early part of February, 1886, he was not at all well, 
and in March he was seized with nervous prostration 
accompanied with heart failure, and after several weeks 
of painful illness he passed from time to eternity, in the 
hope of a blessed immortality, April 12, 1886, in the 
sixty-seventh year of his age. 14 
In the words of his favorite author, “ Take him for all 
in all, we shall not soon see his like again.” 
At a meeting of the Philadelphia County Medical 
Society, held May n, 1887, a memoir of the late Dr. 
Andrew Nebinger was read by Dr. J. H. Grove, the 
member appointed for that purpose; and upon the conclu- 
sion of the reading, the following minute was unanimously 
adopted:— 
Dr. Andrew Nebinger was one of the incorporators of this 
Society, and among its most honored and active members. He 
occupied, with honor to himself and benefit to the Society, its 
principal offices, including that of President. He was ever zealous 
in its service, wise and influential in its counsels. As its repre- 
sentative he made it respected and powerful in the American Med- 
ical Association, and in the Medical Society of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, and of the latter body was made President, and guided 
the deliberations of an important convention. 
His voice was ever raised, and his efforts exerted in behalf 
of all that would dignify and elevate the profession, which he 
practised with distinction; gaining therein, that greatest meed of 
success, the gratitude and affectionate devotion of the patients, 
to whom he was physician, friend, counsellor, and often benefactor. 
In scientific, religious and charitable organizations he was active 
and prominent. To the close of his career, so full of work and 
honor, he was engaged in the service of the community, and his 
unflagging efforts in the cause of public education will not soon 
be forgotten by his fellow-citizens, whose gratitude and respect 
they earned for him. 15 
It is particularly fitting that this Society should formally testify 
to its appreciation of such valuable services, and pay a tribute of 
respect to the memory of its honored member, the kind physician, 
the ardent patriot, the true citizen, the faithful friend, the good 
man; and it is ordered that the foregoing minute be entered upon 
our records, and a copy thereof, duly attested, be forwarded to the 
brother of our lamented associate. 
From the minutes of the Philadelphia County Medical Society. 
J. SOLIS COHEN, 
President. 
Attest: 
S. SOLIS COHEN, 
Recording Secretary. 
May 12, 1887.