Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1092

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SMITH 1070 SMITH Jackson," 1832; "Natural History of the Fishes of Massachusetts," 1833; "Pilgrimage to Palestine," 1851; "Pilgrimage to Egypt," 1852; "Turkey and the Turks," 1854; "The Mother's Medical Guide" ; "The Physical In- dications of Longevity," 1869. Besides these he published anonymously "A History of the American Indians" and "A Practical Treatise on the Honey Bee"; edited six volumes of scientific tracts and contributed materially to the American Medical Almanac. During his early professional years he resided much on a small island in Boston Harbor, where, in addition to his duties as port physician, he found time for his abundant literary activities and studies in natural history. In Dr. Smith appeared the characteristic versatility of the New England type which he represented. In college he was champion drummer of his class. In manhood besides his professional activities as a physician he was simultaneously historian, naturalist, poli- tician, author, editor, and orator. He was a successful modeler in clay and produced creditable busts of several prominent Bos- tonians. Though his career was not one of extraordinary distinction, his life was replete with a multitude of useful and effective activities. He died at Richmond, Mass., August 20, 1879. Robert M. Green. Boston Med. and Surg. Jour. Appleton's Cyclop, of Amer. Biog., N. Y., 1888. Dictny. of Amer. Biog., F. S. Drake, 1872. Catalogue of Boston Public Library. Histor. Cat. of Brown Univ., 1914, 586. Smith, Job Lewis (1827-1897) J. Lewis Smith, pioneer pediatrician and author, was born in Spafford, Onondaga County, New York, on October 15, 1827, and died at his residence, in the City of New York, on June 9, 1897. He descended from a family distinguished in revolutionary annals, tracing his lineage back to John Smith, who was one of the founders of the New Haven Colony. His grandfather. Job Smith, was an officer in the army of the American Revolu- tion. Dr. Smith himself was the youngest of five children, one of his brothers being the surgeon, Stephen Smith, still living in New York, in 1919, at the age of 96. His father was prominent in local politics in Onondaga County, having served in the Legislature in 1829. His boyhood was passed on the farm which his father had left his mother, and there he toiled, helping in her support. Even in those daj'S the energy and earnestness of character which so strongly developed as he attained maturity were marked characteristics. His kindness of heart is still spoken of amongst the residents of the village where he passed his boyhood. His early education was such as the village school of those days offered. He was graduated in arts at Yale University in 1849, in the same class as the famous President Dwight. The study of Medicine was begun under the tutorship of Dr. Caleb Green ; he attended a course of lectures at the Buffalo Medical College, and through the influence of Dr. Austin Flint, Sr., served for one year in the chief hospital of that city. In 1853 he received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, and at once be- gan the practice of medicine there, a practice extending over forty-four years. Dr. Smith was married in 1858, and had seven children, four of whom — daughters — survived him. In 1889 he lost a very prom- ising son, who had but just begun the practice of medicine. During Dr. Smith's busy life in the City of New York he held the following official posi- tions : physician to the New York Foundling Asylum, physician to the New York Infant Asylum, consulting physician to the City (late Charity) Hospital, to the French Hospital, to the Department for the Diseases of Children at the Bellevue Outdoor Poor Department, to the Nursery and Child's Hospital, to the In- fant's Hospital on Randall's Island. On the death of Dr. George T. Elliot (q. v.), he was appointed clinical professor of the diseases of children, and he held the position up to within a year of his death. Dr. Smith was a voluminous writer. A list of his chief contributions will be found in the "In Memoriam by E. H. Grandin, M. D." From an early stage in his career he devoted himself chiefly to the diseases of children, fitting himself for the pursuit by intelligent study, not alone at the bedside, but also in the post-mortem room. Added to this his love of children, his patience with them, his in- tuitive sense of their needs, and it is not surprising that we find that his classical work on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood (1869) passed through eight very large edi- tions during twenty-seven years, was trans- lated into the Spanish, and in its accurate ' portrayal of symptom, in its deep knowledge of therapeutics, was the favorite with student and the mainstay of general practitioner. Dr. Smith was one of the founders and the second president of the American Pediatric Society, was president of the Pediatric Sec-