Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/25

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ANATOMY xv

room on a somewhat broader scope than those just mentioned. From this arose a school of anatomy similar in many respects to the Great Windmill Street School in London.

W. W. Keen has given in his "History of the Philadelphia School of Anatomy," 1875, a most interesting account of it. It accomplished a great mission. "Within its walls, earnest, intelligent, laborious men of science taught, experimented and investigated, and published the results of their work in many a book and pamphlet."

At the time of the opening of the school, "the University (then the only medical school in Philadelphia) closed its doors in April and they remained unopened till November. To fill out this long hiatus, Lawrence, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, opened his school and gave a course in anatomy and surgery, which began in March, had a recess in August, and ended in November. He gave six lectures a week. In 1822 he was made assistant to Dr. Horner, then adjunct professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania." "Like most of his followers in the school, not satisfied with teaching, he was also a frequent writer as well as active in original investigations and experiments." In 1822, assisted by Drs. Harlan and Coates, he per- formed over ninety experiments on animals to test the absorbent action of the veins and in the following year over one hundred.

The second head of the school was Dr. John. D. Godman, who pre- viously had been professor in the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Godman retired from practice in 1823, when he began teaching in the school. In 1824 Godman established, in connection with the school, a reading- room and library. Dr. Godman was one of the founders of the " American Journal of Medical Sciences," and published in three volumes a "Natural History of American Quadrupeds" (1826), and among many other works a book on the fasciae ("Anatomical Investigations, " 1824), one on "Physio- logical and Pathological Anatomy" (1825), and a paper on "Arterial and Other Irregularities." Dr. Godman was called to Rutgers College in 1826, and was succeeded by Dr. James Webster, who was subsequently called to the Geneva Medical College.

In 1831 Dr. Joseph Pancoast re-opened the rooms and taught there for seven years. In 1838 he became a professor of anatomy in the Jefferson Medical College. He translated and edited several foreign books and prepared a new edition of "Horner's Anatomy" while at the Philadelphia School. Dr. Pancoast was succeeded by J. Dunott.

In 1839 Dr. James McClintock started a school in the western part of the building occupied by Dunott's school. McClintock called his school the Philadelphia School of Anatomy, the first use of the term. McClintock had large classes. In 1841 he was elected professor of anatomy in the Vermont Academy of Medicine, and afterwards in the

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