\oo W168Z7? • Hi",' "I :* \ .1 ^ OF THE HON. SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHELL, M. D. DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OF THE NEW-YORK CITY AND COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT ROOM, CITY HALL, October 15th, 1S31. BY FELIX PASCALIS, M. D. Permanent member of the new-york state medical society; member op the new- york city and county med. soc. j mem. med. soo. op connecticut, philadelphia, charleston, new-orleans, mexico j of paris, bourdeaux, marseilles : official correspondent of med. fac. of paris j mem. linn. soc. paris j mem. agricultural soo. new-york, cincinnati, havana, &c. &c. &c. &c. OYTOE EKEINOE!—Luciani Sonmium. NEW-YORK: FROM THE AMERICAN ARGUS PRESS. 1831. Viz 1831 Extract from the Minutes of a Stated Meeting of the Medical Society, held September 12th, 1831. " Resolved, That Dr. Felix Pascalis be appointed to deliver a His- torical Eulogium on the life and character of our late distinguished fel- low-member, Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchill." FRANCIS W. WALSH, M, D. Secretary. Extract from the Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Medical Society, held October 22d, 1831. " Resolved, unanimously, That a Committee of three members be ap- pointed to solicit from Dr. Pascalis, a copy of his Eulogium on the late Dr. Mitchill. for publication :" Whereupon, the following gentlemen were appointed such Commit- tee :—Philip E. Milledoler, M. D. Samuel Akerly, M. D. Stephen Ave- ry, M. D. FRANCIS W. WALSH, M. D. Secretary. EULOGY. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Medical Society : Called, by the unanimous resolution of your Faculty, to ren- der a tribute of respect to the memory of our departed fellow- member, the Hon. Samuel Latham Mitchill, as the homage of gratitude for his continued and valuable services in the cause of medical science and natural philosophy,—I ought, perhaps, Gen- tlemen, to have recoiled from the task, and pleaded my insufficien- cy, my inadequacy for the occasion. And I might have remon- strated with you on the inutility of any such encomiastic display ; for where, Mr. President, had not the name of our illustrious col- league already become familiar 1 In what part of the learned world have not his scientific writings found readers, admirers, or disciples 1 Or, if we look among ourselves, what bosom is there that has not been used to throb with delight, or sympathetic emu- lation, at his cordial, his indefatigable philanthropy 1 No: the orator of an assembly like this, convened in solemn re- collection, can offer to such auditors nothing novel, nothing unan- ticipated ; it is a theme of praise, in which the feelings of the Amer- ican and the stranger must be already alike enlisted. And you, my fellow-citizens, who, in the ordinary intercourse of society, have received true impressions, and formed a just estimate of the merits and usefulness exhibited by our deceased brother, so long as he was sustained by the vigor of his prime ; you might, whatever the fidelity of my statements, still secretly reproach me with fall- ing far short of the original in my feeble outlines of his portraiture. Such, indeed, is the acknowledged axiom, that encomium can but poorly satisfy the sense of our loss for the worthy and the ven- 6 erated ; and that when the sage and the genius are stricken from among us, the praise of the orator seems idle. It is their own acts, their own lives, stamped on the memory, that form the fitting eulogy.* But, Mr. President, these considerations, maturely weighed, seem to be of no avail against my obedient acceptance of the honor of your appointment. I have some claims, also, to strew a few flowers on the grave of Mitchill, to encircle the cy- press of his sepulchre with a votive garland: or to add a few stones to the heap over his tumulus. For thirty-four years had we been connected by literary and friendly intercourse ; I had been admitted to his confidence, and had enjoyed the honor of being chosen as his coadjutor ; and in the many branches of medical or natural philosophy to which we turned our attention together, he was always my companion or my preceptor. My name has been blended with his, for many years, on various occasions, and has been covered with the aegis of his fame and reputation. Let us omit all speculation on the unquestionable splendor of these latter, while I place before you, as food for contemplation, the causes and means by which he attained his enviable station in the love, the esteem, and the admiration of his contemporaries. 1. Let us look at Mitchill in the article of natural talent and progress of education, as a candidate for honors, uncommonly gifted by nature, and well prepared by study. 2. As conferring great lustre on his country by his scientific la- bors. 3. As exemplary in promoting the public good ; and as a mo- del in his moral, social, and domestic relations. For any professed judge, it must have been difficult to compre- hend how Dr. Mitchill no matter how highly endued with intel- lectual powers, could have obtained his perfect classical tuition, and have mastered so thoroughly both ancient and modern languages. He was born in the year 1764, in Queens county, Long Island, not * Vid Bossuet, Proverbs xxxi. 31 1 far from New-York. His childhood was therefore contemporary with the horrors and distresses of the revolutionary war, which were seriously felt in the vicinity of the city, and must have been still more severe upon the family in which he was born and rear- ed, the members of which were Quakers. His father was a res- pectable farmer, with six sons and two daughters. Samuel, the fourth child, was apparently intended by nature for a higher des- tination ; but it would have been difficult or dangerous to have placed him at a distance for the sake of better schools and masters than those of his village. The problem of his early advantages begins to be solved only when we are informed that Mitchill had been blessed with the observant eye and affectionate guidance of a maternal uncle, Doctor Samuel Latham, of Hempstead, who, ca- pable of appreciating the latent powers of his nephew, determined to cherish and foster them, by regulating and directing his educa- tion. With this aim, having no family, he adopted him as a son, and appropriated a liberal legacy to the exclusive purpose of young Mitchill's education. In accordance with these plans, dictated by the purest and finest feelings, Samuel Latham Mitchill was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Cutting, and others, from whom he could derive the best classical scholarship, to be found in the district undisturbed by the war. Ye parents, here present, blessed with the means of advancing the education of your children ; and you who are members of a rising and active generation, with the command of your time, and still able to correct the errors, if such there be, of the education you have received, permit me to warn you to beware of an opinion, now too common and gaining ground, against classical studies pre- paratory to employments in life that seem not to demand or require intimacy with the ancient languages. This error has found en- couragement in a population, which, in its origin, was by the force of circumstances, necessarily devoted unsparingly to agricultural, commercial, and mechanical pursuits. But within half a century, that population has become a great nation, wanting and calling for 2 8 a high degree of pubiic instruction, and squiring professional men, trained studiously and severely, for the researches of natural philoso- phy ; for diplomatic and legislative services ; for the pulpit and the bench; for medicine and the bar. How then can classical tuition appear to you a matter of indifference; or how, without it, shall you keep on a level with other nations 1 But, say you, the dead languages are no longer now, as they formerly were, of prime importance: all the extant records and books which they contained have been translated into the living tongues. In reply, I will admit the alleged inutility of the Greek and Latin idioms; but be assured, that the study of either, or of both, is of positive and immense benefit, surpassing, in the mental discipline it gives, the study of treatises of logic. It imparts an acuteness and elasticity to the perceptions ; exercises the faculty of comparison, and increases the powers of the memory. Having this opinion of its efficacy, Dr. Latham, with a fatherly authority over his adopted child, placed the young Mitchill under private classical tutors, until a regular seminary could be provided for him. The impatient mind of the scholar embraced these studies with instinctive taste and ardor; and so intense was his eagerness for improvement, that during the long winter nights, when candle- light was not allowed him according to his wishes, it was his cus- tom to make a preparation of brushwood and other light fuel, by the flame of which he continued his studies long into the night, to the great injury, however, of his eyes, which never entirely re- covered their previous strength of vision. After the return of peace and the victorious achievement of American independence, and before the completion of the 20th year of his age, Mitchill was directed to repair to Europe, to at- tend at the courses of one of the most celebrated schools of medicine. This second period in his education was destined to be as re- markable, as the first had been fortunate ; for in this he became the pupil of some of the greatest physicians and philosophers that the university of Edinburgh, in its palmy day, could boast of; the 9 celebrated John Brown, of whom it was said in Parliament, that he deserved a statue of gold for the new and philosophical charac- ter he had given to the study of medicine ; the venerable Cullen, who is ranked among the first European masters of the healing art; a Home, a Monro, a Gregory, a Nesbitt, and an Alexander Hunter, whose works constitute such important text-books, and the great John Black, one of the fathers of the science of chemistry. Young Mitchill diligently attended to the lectures of these, and of several others, and the courses of natural history, for three years, not only as a matriculated student, but as a mace-bearer of the Uni- versity. This appointment of Macer was no small honor, confer- red on an American citizen, after the late struggle which had re- sulted in the separation of the two nations. Mr. Mitchill was received in this new circle with a consideration beyond even the claims of his personal recommendations and suavity of manners. A recent traveller in France, and a visitor of the capital, of which he had drawn a lively description, and where he had been gratified by his introduction to the great and to the learned—he was treated in Scotland as a distinguished stranger. Already, too, his talents were confessed ; and he completed his courses in Edinburgh with every credential and testimonial of his diligence, capacity, and devotion to the study of medical and natural sciences; of the an- cient and modern languages; and even of the elegant arts. One of the extraordinary occurrences of his stay at Edinburgh, was his initiation into the unique and famous Latin Masonic Lodge of the Roman Eagle, of which Johannes Bruno was the Grand Mas- ter—ut fierem, said he himself, magister edificatorius. This sin- gular fraternity, erected by Doct. Brown, to endear to each other his disciples in medicine, and the proceedings of which were held exclusively in Latin, would of course engage the faithful observance of a Doctoris Medicince Universitatis Edinensis, who was himself so fair a specimen of classical erudition. Aware of his renown abroad, the venerable Seminary of his native state, Columbia College, prepared a gratifying reception for 10 him on his return, by investing him with the degree of blaster of Arts. He shortly after, with the promptness which he always evinced in his devotion to the public good, and equally to the inter- ests of his own State, undertook an analysis of the Saratoga Springs, amidst the primeval forests still standing around them, by which analysis he imparted the more general confidence in their efficacy, which first threw open a way for the influx of wealth an- nually poured into this State, by travellers to those sources. He was then, in succession, called to a seat in the Legislature of New- York in 1792, and appointed Professor of Chemistry, Natural His- tory and Agriculture in Columbia College. I pause here, Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Medical Society, to forewarn you, that I may not and cannot enumerate, in full series, the deeds of the young patriot and sage. It would be an endless task to follow him closely through every path of learn- ing and economics which he pursued, and to which he came pre- pared with a capacious and active memory, and an industry and punctuality by which each day was marked with a new acquisi- tion. Besides, the works of Mitchill now belong to the domain of history ; and his biographer will doubtless do ample justice to the details of a life of public services; and to the pre-eminent mind which entitled its possessor to rank in the American constellation of worthies, with a Franklin, a Jefferson, a Ramsay, a Rittenhouse, a Muhlenberg and a Rush. For my own part I can only present you a few of his more striking claims to celebrity by his aids to the Sciences, and in the first place to Chemistry. Mitchill commenced his career precisely at the juncture when that science was undergoing a thorough change and reform, the successes of which he pioneered in this country, by promulgating, ex-cathedra, from the chair of Columbia College, the Lavoisierian nomenclature. This was the more meritorious, because having been the pupil of Black of Edinburgh, he might have consulted his prejudices, and have been pertinacious in maintaining the phlo- gistic theory of his master. And indeed he might well have 11 been deemed excusable. Had it not been for the impulse of advance, given by the experiments in pneumatics of Black and Priestley, the French school might have been long delayed and diverted from that decomposition of atmospheric air, of water, and of the oxydes of metals, which laid the foundations of their memora- ble discoveries. It was somewhat remarkable that the Birmingham philosopher and Mitchill should have met at this conjuncture in thenew world. The venerable Wurmser of science, (as he styled himself in a pub- lished letter,) made strenuous efforts to re-inlist the revolted disci- ple, whom he found an obstinate and indomitable opponent, not- withstanding the eleven epistles, in defence of the old and crumbling doctrine of Phlogiston, which he addressed to him, and to all of which Mitchill replied with address and perspicuity, and without the aid of any experimenter. * The letters of Priestley brought other converts to his cause, which, however was destined soon to sink to insignificance. But the adherence of the American champion to the French school was based on those wide and far-seeing prin- ciples of philosophy which often exercise a prophetic grasp. Thus although remote from their laboratories, and without, at the time, connection or correspondence with the French Chemists, yet he, in America, foretold and pointed out one of their principal discove- ries. I allude to that of the chlorine, of which, under the name of Septon f he gave, in the manner of Darwin, an animated and ele- gant description, in the year 1797. "Gnomes ! ye beheld with pity and with pain, Organic relics strew the fertile plain ; Ye saw, with wondering eyes and rare-drawn breath, Infused the peccant principle of death, Grim Septon! armed with power to intervene, And disconnect the animal machine, Within the great disorganizer lurks, And plans, unseen, his undermining works." t This Septon is the Chlore of Scheele, of Halle, of Vauquelin, of * Vid. Medical Repository, passim. Vide p. 34 Medic. Repos. O. S. Vol. I. p. 267. ibid, t Med. Repos. Vol, 4. p. 179 12 Fourcroy and of Guyton de Morveau; the element of the boasted chlorides, so abundantly spread throughout the earth, from bases of calcium, potassium, sodium, &c. " My native acid of Septon," said Dr. Mitchill "is a combination of this base with oxygen.*' (Med. Repos. Vol. 3. p. 16.) It is the same which is the base of the oxygenated muriatic acid, and which is proved by modern chesr- istry, to be an element of extraordinary nature, and most disor- ganizing properties. Merat and Delans* inform us that Chlorine abounds in nature, especially in unison with hydrogen and soda. From its strong affini- ties with many other elements, it is, in the language of Mitchill, the universal decomposer. It is named from its yellowish-green hue ; pure and concentrated, it is deleterious to every thing animated, but united with alkaline earths, it separates and neutralizes putrid com- pounds ; and through the alcalescent medium, dissolves, modifies or consumes the unsound matters of contagion and pestilence, or the virus of diseases. So too the Septon of Mitchill was to be disarmed of its formida- ble virulence by the anti-septic virtues of lime, potash, soda, saltpe- tre and salt. He represented it as a fiend to animal and vegetable life, and such is the Chlorine, which has a suffocating odor, dis- solves n water, combines by preference with hydrogen and soda, and deprives all substances of color. This latter property makes it an invaluable assistant in bleaching, for which Berthollet recom- mended it in combinations which he termed oxygenated muriates or oxygenated muriatic acids. And just so positively as Mitchill insist- ed on lime, potash, soda and soap, in more than a hundred instan- ces, as apt and all-sufficient sanitary applications to arrest and ren- der harmless the destructive principle of Septon, so do we now hear applauded the various chlorides of lime, potash, soda and salt, to stay the ravages of the pest-house ; to purify from filth, and to rank in the Materia Medica as anti-septics, relieving or curing maladies. The same salutary and beneficial precautions, now * Merat and Delans* Univ. Diet. This work is very recent, 1830. 13 proclaimed in Europe, in their new and efficient arrangement, with so much pride, were understood and advised by Mitchill, and adopted on his recommendation by his countrymen, more than thirty years ago. The sole difference consists in the names of the elements; and that of Septon is the more judicious, because indicative of the na- ture instead merely of the color of the article. With the same intu- itive penetration, Mitchill anticipated all those so famous results of the experiments made by Sir Humphrey Davy, with the galvanic battery, upon alkaline earths. Before the subject had engaged the attention of Davy, Mitchill had already supported in a pub- lished essay, the supposition that metals might exist in three states,— viz : of ductility, when compounded with hydrogen ; calciform, of a base united with oxygen ; and the third an intermediate condi- tion, deprived of both hydrogen and oxygen; and that it was infera- ble that they might be found existing, without possessing any attri- bute usually considered as metallic. Next to Chemistry, the science of Mineralogy claimed his attention, receiving at his hands a lustre and improvement, which, for our Northern Continent equalled the accessions of Humboldt in the Southern Hemisphere. His memorable mineralogical report in the year 1796, to the Agri- cultural Society, and which may be found entire in the Medical Repository, was such a production as placed its author on a level with Werner, Bergman, Berzelius and Haiiy. It comprised a sta- tistic view of the boundaries, divisions, mountains, rivers, and levels, and the soils and minerals of his native state, which might be con- verted into imperishable sources of wealth and industry. It traces geologically the granitic, schistic, limestone and sandstone tracts of the mainland; and in the islands and alluvions, the primitive and secondary formations, the marshes, beaches, overslaughs and low- lands. This Report is a brief in Mineralogy of universal knowl- edge ; all is explored and described from the highest mountain ridge, or the craters of extinct volcanoes, to the beds of rivers ; from homogeneous earths and soils, to precious metals, crystalliza- 14 tions, gems and every combination that has sprung from the ope- rations of fire, water, and of specific gravity. During his excursions and travels, and out of his intercourse witli the learned of every nation, it could not but happen that an im- mense number of specimens in the mineral kingdom, on which he disserted so profoundly, accumulated under his hands. To this large and precious collection, other natural curiosities of a durable nature, and singular fabrications were added, until it formed a rich cabinet of organic remains, of fossil plants, of shells, ofmolus- cas, madrepores and marine productions, of gems, jaspers, agates crystals, and all remarkable relics. The Mitchillian Cabinet, will no doubt contribute much to the instruction of future genera- tions, and to the pleasures of the friends and lovers of Natural History. Of Natural History, Mitchill was the patriarch ; and every branch of it had captivated his taste and his genius. And it is singular to reflect how much this province of learning has been the theme of such votaries as have been an honor to their country and their era: without more than naming Pythagoras, Theo- phrastes, and Aristotle, among the Grecians, and Pliny among the Romans,—what industry and eloquence can vie with those of the indefatigable, the gifted Buffon ; what labors are more worthy of admiration than those of Linnaeus ; what lights of reason and ta- lent were Haller, Jussieu, Broussonet, Foster, Spearman, and Rob- ert Smith; how splendid in intellect were Barton, Muhlenberg, and Mitchill ! To the delights and charms of botany, Mitchill was peculiarly susceptible. He was a zealous and active furtherer of the horticul- tural art: and whenever, by example or endeavor, he could pro- pagate the love of these pursuits, he omitted in the cause neither effort nor expense. Not only did he discourse on them learnedly from the three professorial chairs which he filled in this city, but he was ever ready, among his fellow-citizens, accurately to name or describe every plant referred to his notice ; or to disseminate rare 15 pr useful seeds which he had imported from abroad, or to teach the art of gardening by his own example :—a great disciple, on whom had descended the mantle of Linnaeus, yet making his wisdom amiable even ty a child; with a happiness of spirit, as if horticul- ture were the Eden of the earth. Although he was a general ora- cle in botany, yet the science was to him but a graceful exercise of memory and an elegant relaxation from severer studies. He has left, among other memorials of the enthusiastic zest and devotion with which he attended to the history of the vegetable kingdom, a discourse, delivered at the anniversary of the N.Y. Historical Socie- ty in 1813, which gives an account of every work and writer that has illustrated the botany of North and South America. This admirable explanatory list of records presses irresistibly a singular conclusion upon the mind; which is, that the population planted in this country, including Canada, has not been, as is sometimes allowed, formed by the refuse and superfluous inhabitants of two great European powers. Not so : the ancestry of the American people can be more justly traced to the best, as well as most adventurous spirits of civilized Europe ; to the philosophic travellers, navigators, na- turalists, astronomers, and eminent characters, who since the six- teenth century (1526) down to the middle of the eighteenth, have, during 250 years, crowded to these shores, exploring their territo- rial extent, the rivers, forests, mountains, and wonderful produc- tions of the soil. The most learned of the Dutch, the English, the French, Danes, Swedes, Portuguese, Spaniards, Germans, and Italians, have made this land their bourne. Some of them and their companions have taken up their abode in it; some have even ventured to sojourn among the Indian tribes; or, from North to South, spent years of exploration, at the expense of their govern- ments, carrying home a museum of specimens of the mineral, animal, or vegetable kind. Many such have sought it as an asy- lum, and their labours and observations have not been lost. The discourse of Mitchill numbers no less than 150 such contributors on the subject of botany alone. How plausibly then may we not 3 16 trace to such a select origin the primitive derivation of the nation 1 We have mentioned, that in acknowledgment and reward of the attention he spent on this branch of natural history, Mitchill had been appointed President of the N. Y. Agricultural Society in 1792, and Professor of Natural History in Columbia College the ensuing year. He also received the honors of membership and presidency of agricultural or botanic institutions in Virginia and Pennsylvania ; of the Royal Museum, the Linnaean Society, and the Royal Agricultural Societies, of Paris, Prussia, Vienna, and Switzerland; and of the Agricultural Societies of Delaware, Con- necticut, Massachusetts, and Montreal; and of the Horticultural Society of this city. Passing by, wholly, the merits of Mitchill as a zoologist, ichthy- ologist, and comparative anatomist, it is time, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Medical Society, in the present solemnity, to take up that part of the task imposed upon mr. by your honorable faculty, which more particularly relates to the services rendered to medicine by our departed friend, who was an eminent physician ; a fellow-member of the State and County Medical Societies ; a distinguished Professor in our College and University ; for years a favorite instructor in Materia Medica and patron of tyros in the art; the promoter of the legal privileges of our profession; the indefatigable adviser, trustee, or attending physician, of our City Hospital, and of a large number of our charitable institutions ; in fine, a most voluminous writer in matters of medical science, and a critical compiler of its records; accurate in observation, and nice in appreciating experimental and practical resources for al- laying diseases; and inspiring universally a generous and noble emulation, which has not been without its use in extending the ben- efits of the healing art and elevating the general character of the profession. Mitchill had long ago declared that all ancient, medical sys- tems, which the course of centuries had given birth to, merited the reproach of collision and absurdity. That recent hypotheses had 17 been less preposterous; yet all alike had only established more fully the fundamental truth, that conjecture may precede exper- iment, but facts are the only basis of theory. In short, that a long time must elapse, devoted to the collection of these medical facts and observations, before any sole, complete, and final system of medicine can be erected, in accordance with the laws of phy- sics and physiology, still so mysterious and obscure in so many phenomena of organic or animated matter.* Mitchill, there- fore, could neither be an exclusive supporter of Cullen or Broxon, his former tutors. He could be neither humorist nor solidist; he could not dogmatize as an animist, or explain the principles of life by the modes of mechanics. Thus fenced with a wise reserve, and unincumbered by the shackles of hypotheses, or bewildered by the illusions of fancy, he entered into his professional career, well resolved to incur no responsibility, beyond what the close study and experience of na- ture in all her mysteries, had prepared him to meet. He was so fortunate as not to be obliged, by the pressure of exigencies, to rush from the seat of academic honors, at once into the field of practice, where it is happy for the young beginner if his talents, quick memory, and moral probity are sufficient to withstand the shock of the heavy responsibility which devolves upon him. He placed himself for a time under the friendly guidance of the cele- brated Bard, until invited to the chair of chemistry in Columbia college, and to the clinical attendance of the Great Hospital. It was not until more than ten years after his return from Edinburgh, that he undertook such professional duty as fitted his great scope, and was best calculated to extend or confirm the beneficent influ- ences of his knowledge of the art. This course in Mitchill can- not be too highly applauded. He employed his time to profit and to good purpose ; and, by observation, recruited a vast amount of experience, before he ventured to sway with his single hand, the wand of JEsculapius: a course than which none more admirable * Vide Circular Med. Repos. Vol. I, p. vii. 13 could be adopted, for insuring the certainty of medicine and exalt- ing the standard of the science. In accordance with his strong sentiment of the necessity of garnering up facts, in place of cultivating nosologies, the American Medical Repository, a periodical repertory of essays, was establish- ed by him in 1797, assisted by our much honored friend, Edward Miller, and by Elihu Smith, a young worthy of great promise, too soon removed from the stage of life. Mitchill was the presiding editor until the close of the 14th volume, when the second editor, in the strength of his age and mental vigor, fell the victim of an epidemic fever. The work was continued under the superinten- dence and name of the veteran and patronal colleague, until six volumes more were added to the collection; which had thus become the registry of twenty years of a professional life, unexampled for the innumerable subjects of instruction it afforded, and the services it rendered. By this work, much applicable knowledge of natural philosophy and medicine was extensively diffused over the country, and the talents drawn forth of unnumbered contributors, through wide re- gions still subject to the wants and difficulties of new settlements, especially to epidemic recurrences from half-cleared grounds, and to diseases from the variable seasons and the want of acclimating. But labors still more important were accomplished by the editors. Doctrines, which materially concerned the interests of commerce and the intercourse of nations, became a prominent topic in which they took the lead, in defence of induction from facts, observed apart from the prejudice of theories. Several foreign journals entered the arena with them, and not a few athletic combatants enlisted under the banner of Mitchill ; such for instance as the celebrated Maclean and Moseley of England, and Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. These were the words of Mitchill in the year 1800 : " We flatter ourselves that something substantial has been gained against unjust and odious restrictions, and that much more is likely to be hereafter gained." (Vol. 10. pref.) The period during 19 which the Medical Repository existed was one remarkable for re- peated prevalences of malignant, fatal epidemics, ravaging our sea- ports, and which severely visited this city. In the discovery of the causes and prevention of these, the editors took an animated part. How far in the present long continuance of the public health, and preservation from the grim invader, they merit the honor of having been judicious, as well as zealous, in their sanitary suggestions, it would not be proper for me, at least, to urge : But with the stream of time attendant sail, Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale. The Medical Repository, from the beginning, forms a body of information and disquisition on every important subject of medicine, and the materials or adjuncts of the science, embracing the wel- fare of the whole human race ; and its interest belongs to all coun- tries, times, and conditions of society. It would be invidious to sin- gle out the more prominent essays emanating from Mitchill or from his most valued friends or disciples. Suffice it to say, that the work, as it is, has obtained a distinguished rank, which it must con- tinue to hold in public and private libaries, domestic and foreign, as an emblematical monument of the merits of its originator and patron, who had to boast also of the concurrence in his labours and design of so many of the philosophic and learned in both hemis- pheres. I do not apprehend that my feelings exaggerate, if I only look back at the honors which were showered at his threshold ; when the two despotic Emperors of Russia and Austria expressed their estimation of our fellow-townsman by their presents; the one by a splendid diamond ring, the other by a most choice collection of the minerals of his empire ; and when, among popular testimo- nials of his abilities, might be counted \m investiture into the learn- ed institutions of every capital of Europe and of this country. The seals of more than a hundred of such diplomas of adoption, at borne and abroad, bore the name of Mitchill ; letters-patent of 20 nobility, which surpass in indisputable value, either knighthood at the hands of kings or the parchments of the herald's office, or titles from hereditary lineage. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Medical Society, I had al- ready remarked to you that there was no part of the world where the name of our great sage had not been heard of, and his wri- tings admired; that my feeble efforts to celebrate his memory might be useless, and even fall far short of the impressions, which you and our fellow-citizens had received, of his merits and nume- rous services, during that intercourse which the grave has just di- vided. But even if it be thus—allow me, before we part, to com- plete his eulogy, by shewing you what a model and example he has been in the discharge of public and civil duties; of those of social urbanity, charity, and philanthropy; and of his moral habits and feelings in his walks with his fellow-men. That the members of a republic have something to do for their compatriots and country, is a self-evident position ; it is a pledge of the liberty enjoyed, and of the justice of the government. Hence the true patriot spontaneously steps forward, to seal with his blood the defence of his native soil; or, in the happier season of securi- ty, devotes a portion of his talents and abilities to the common weal. But this admirable spirit of the republican social system is very liable to suffer perversion from egotism or self-interest, eager for an undue share of importance or authority, honors or rewards. Hence republics, ancient and modern, have been so much exposed to factions and dissensions, and sometimes to a fatal change or des- truction. The only safeguard that can be interposed, is the na- tional character itself, when it is formed and trained to self posses- sion, to ready and universal philanthropy, and to an abhor- rence of the conflicts of passion for usurping upon the rights or tranquility of others. And such is the fortunate and remarkable character of the North American nation, from habits of observa- tion and speculative industry ; even the strangers who daily join her social compact, arrive disgusted with evils at home, or driveL 21 by adversity, or impelled by a projecting mind : and duly prepared for her institutions by the tedious privations and hazards of naviga- tion, and by a suitable, solitary perusal of their past lives. In a nation so much favored, and thus composed of choicer elements, under the blessings of a free government, a virtuous cit- izen like Dr. Mitchill might use to the best advantage the power conferred on him by his talents and patriotism. He was still but young, when, in 1790, he was sent by the citizens of his native county to the Legislative Assembly of the State of New-York, in which he re-appeared at a succeeding term, in 1797, by the suf- frages of the city of New-York, where he had fixed his residence. His growing reputation and worth soon paved the way to greater honors and trusts ; and he took his seat in the 7th, 8th, and 9th Congresses ; thence he was sent to the National Senate ; he was re-elected to the Legislature, and in fine to the 11th Congress ; his civil services, therefore, included a period of 22 years ; beside his many distinguished employments on great occasions, in municipal offices, and in commercial or monied institutions, in which he acted as Commissioner, or Director, or Manager. But let us inquire whether, with the opportunity and enjoyment of so universal a confidence in his talents and capacity, he used his influence and usefulness for his personal interest, to the aggrandizement of his rank, the increase of his estates, or to public favors for himself or his numerous relatives, more than for any fellow-citizen with equal claims to patronage. Instead of such results, instead of his apply- ing his elevated functions in the nation and state to his proper ease and emolument, he remained contented with the moderate, regular accumulation of his paternal property, assisted by his pro- fessional avails, and never betrayed a partizan spirit; and he made himself the means, through eloquent and persevering exertions, of obtaining many sound laws, which go far to increase our present sum of security and happiness. He obtained in this State the sta- tute for a College of Physicians and Surgeons; and, in Congress or the Legislature, was foremost in promoting the steamboat navi- 22 gation of our rivers; of surveying the canal facilities between the Hudson and the Lakes; of shortening the term for the naturali- zation of aliens; of furthering the acquisition of Louisiana; of ex- ploring the regions beyond the Rocky Mountains; of correcting the formerly exposed situation of the port of New-York; of pro- tecting the destitute condition of the merchants and seamen du- ring the last war ; of requring by law the just proportion of hands to tonnage in small navigating craft, and the provision of medicine chests; of disposing the general government to countenance the nascent nations of Spanish America ; of increasing the United States navy; of endeavoring to guard the coast by floating batter- ies ; of correcting, by actual measurement, a mistake in the sup- posed altitude of Navesink Hills, near Sandy Hook, a mistake which was very dangerous to vessels approaching our port. These are a few, and but a few, of the prominent acts of the public life of Mitchill. Let us also consider him in the less conspicuous depart- ment of social and domestic life, and in his own dwelling house, which, for thirty-six years, he changed but once ; and where dig- nity, hospitality, kindness, and comfort, were exemplary in the wel- come extended to the stranger ; in the familiar intercourse of friend and neighbour, and in the relief that so freely, and without parade, was afforded to the afflicted and the distressed. The affability of Mitchill and his simplicity of manners, were proverbial; there naturally were times, indeed, when after long application, he found it difficult abruptly to unbend from deep study, and to counterfeit or assume the easier tone of mind of the occa- sional visitor; he then was apt to be slow of speech and absent in address. Yet it was admirable to see with what equanimity he bore the unreasonable demands upon his time, called on, as he was, as umpire of all merits, in inventions, discoveries, projects, arts, sciences, literary subjects and schemes, new books and publica- tions, professional cases, acts of charity or public spirit; to decide on most multifarious topics, to give advice, or bestow recommenda- tion, as if his very versatile and applicable talents, alike in books or 23 the business of the world, possessed ubiquity of perception. Of this slavery he would sometimes petulantly complain to a friend; but he was never disconcerted by intruders, however ignorant, or idle, or indiscreet,—and managed to send each away contented ; nor was he ever perplexed by the bright and burnished wit of men of parts, seeking his society to measure their faculties with his. No man was ever more universally accessible than he—-holding so high a place in society, yet he condescended to the lowest without ostentation—descending even to the capacity of a child, to instruct, to encourage the love of study, or to amuse. And notwithstanding the solidity and magnitude of his acquirements, yet he was unequal- led in the cheerful and light operations of the mind, which he used as his defence against antagonists, for enemies he had none. With moral dignity and true goodness of heart he forbore all haughtiness of demeanour, acrimony in censure, or heat in disputation; but when pressed by attack, he was unsurpassed in fine raillery, neat satire and keen sarcasm ; and all the artillery of wit, and mirth, joke and epigram, were ever at his command in repartee. Chaste in mind and conversation, and trained in early habits of guarded speech, he neither permitted nor encouraged the smallest depar- ture from decency and purity of language, nor could he be detected in the utterance of vulgarisms or profane swearing. The morality of his habits was depicted in his household; in his affectionate regard for his excellent and respected consort, who claimed and received his sincere love, and considerate indulgence in her domes- tic arrangements; in his family of young relatives, whom he cher- ished with the tenderness of a father ; in his servants and atten- dants, who after emancipation still stayed with their master, and whom we have seen under his roof to the third generation; in the methodized distribution of the time, and tasks of each individu- al; in the refinement and social entertainment that pervaded the quiet and amiable abode; in the love of order and exercise shown in the precincts of his garden, cultivated and ornamented by his own hand ; and in the weekly rest on the Sabbath, and obser- 4 24 vant attendance on the worship adopted by his family, and which he sustained by his example of respect and punctuality. Our Sage has been accused of infidelity and suspected of scepti- cism ; but let us be permitted to inquire with what degree of justice or reproach. We have seen him conversant with science in gene- ral, frequently invested with professional authority in universities, colleges and other public institutions, where he was responsible for the doctrines he espoused, and philosophical questions he decided ; and that in these positions he never decended to controversy on his opinions or lectures, beyond plain argument inducted from facts; that when his opponent refused his conviction, he made no further effort, but would shake hands with him as a friend, leave the cause of truth to its own progress, and thenceforward only smile at the ridicule or the rancour with which his late adversary would con- vert principles into personalities. By many of our fellow-citizens, occasions of the kind are well recollected, and they justify the reserve, the moderation and the strict limitations, which Mithcill knew how to trace around his expression of opinion in matters of ethics or religion. -Sunt certi denique fines Q,uos ultra citraque nequit consistere nefas.—Hor. Sat. He was perfectly acquainted with the history of every Christian denomination transplanted to America; but, he held the liberty of conscience to be the noblest conquest which his country had won ; and he loved not to wound the weakness of self-love, by dis- cussing the merits of one system or sect, over the excellence or the purity of another. He did not join the meeting of the Quakers, which was that of his parents, nor the worship of his adopted father and preceptors; but he faithfully attended that of his consort, because with her he would be united in life and in death. Diver- sity of opinion between friends on religious tenets too often includes unfavorable estimation of the mind or of the heart of each other ; hence disunion and diffidence and, perhaps, feelings more unworthy, take place even between brethren. The charge of si an 25 scepticism is not deserved by him who cherished an implicit regard for every Christian creed, and for all Christian religious maxims. Besides, Mitchill was constantly exercised in the contemplation of that Supreme Almighty power which has suspended millions of planets in infinite space; of the wonderful animal and vegetable creation, which he was ever minutely exploring ; he knew well, also, by the superiority of human intelligence over that of every other living thing,—susceptible of endowments so vast, and such as himself possessed,—that the human race is capable of perfectibility, while the brute creation remains ever the same ; and, by natural inference, that many and great obligatory laws and commands are imposed upon Man by his Maker. This is a code above cavil and disputation; the same in the sentiments of Mitchill as in the words of Solomon: To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.—Proverbs, xxi. 3. Thus prepared, he calmly designated the spot in which his mortal remains were to be laid at rest, and to which they were consigned in his 68th year. O sacred and revered shade ! we are now parted forever in this mundane scene—but thou shalt still be with us in thy writings, thy virtues, thy services to thy country and thy kind;—still present to us, in the works of Creation, which thou didst labour so earnestly to describe and arrange. O that I who am now allowed to dedi- cate this humble tribute to thy memory,—I who though wishing to tread in thy footsteps, have still ever found myself detained so far behind,—tu autem longe vestigia sequere,—O that I might be permitted to climb by thy visible garments and fly with thee to immortality! Then should my faint and feeble tribute to thy praise be embalmed in thy glory, and might bear to be inscrib- ed :—Exegi monumentum cere perennius!! NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NLH DaS5bMD5 1 NLM025264051