Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Cutbush, James

CUTBUSH, James, chemist, b. in Pennsylvania; d. at West Point, N. Y., 15 Dec., 1823. Concerning his early history, very little is known, except that he taught chemistry. He was appointed to the army with the rank of assistant apothecary-general in 1814, served first in Philadelphia, was afterward attached to the northern division of the army, and was chief medical officer of the U. S. military academy and the post at West Point from June, 1820, till November, 1821. On the reorganization of the army he became assistant surgeon and acting professor of chemistry and mineralogy at West Point, in which capacity he continued until his death. He was president of the Columbian chemical society in Philadelphia, wrote several papers in the earlier volumes of Silliman's “American Journal of Sciences,” and was the author of “Useful Cabinet” (1808); “Philosophy of Experimental Chemistry” (1813); and “Treatise on Pyrotechnics” (Philadelphia, 1825).