Call no.
10a/10
Acc. 51378-81
(Hirsch
48)
03/22/1910
Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815.
Lectures on materia medica, [between 1806 and 1812].
4 v.
Biography
Benjamin Smith Barton, son of Rev. Thomas and Esther (Rittenhouse) Barton, was
born February 10, 1766, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Orphaned as a teenager,
Barton went to live with an elder brother and became a medical student at the
College of Philadelphia under the tutelage of Dr. William Shippen, Jr. In 1786
Barton went to Europe to further his studies at the University of Edinburgh and
in London. Barton returned to Philadelphia without a medical degree in 1789 and
set up private practice. In 1796 he received an honorary M.D. from the
Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.
As a physician and a noted botanist and educator, Barton held prominent
positions in the Philadelphia medical and scientific community. From 1789-1815,
he served as professor of natural history and botany at the College of
Philadelphia, which united with the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. After
the resignation of Dr. Griffith, Barton also became professor of materia medica
and in 1813 succeeded Benjamin Rush as professor of the theory and practice of
medicine.
Barton wrote extensively on the topics of natural history, botany, paleontology,
etymology and medicine. He penned the first basic American textbook on botany, Elements
of Botany, in 1803. In 1805 he founded and edited the Philadelphia
Medical and Physical Journal.
As a professional advocate, Barton was extremely active in the American
Philosophical Society, the Philadelphia Linnean Society, and the Philadelphia
Medical Society, serving as its president (1815). He also was a member of the
Linnean Society of London, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Danish
Royal Society of Sciences, the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, the
Massachusetts Historical Society, the Royal Academy of Science of Sweden, and
the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland. Barton was elected a Fellow of the College
of Physicians in 1790.
In 1797 Barton married Mary Pennington, daughter of Edward Pennington of
Philadelphia. They had 2 children, including a son, Thomas P.
Pulmonary hemorrhages and gout afflicted him throughout his life. In 1815 Barton
took a sea voyage to Europe to bolster his health, but returned to Philadelphia
in December suffering from hydrothorax. On December 19, 1815, Barton died.
Scope and Contents
Four volumes of notes by an unidentified student on the materia medica lectures
of Benjamin Smith Barton, delivered at the University of Pennsylvania. Lecture
topics include astringents, tonics, stimulants, emetics, cathartics, diuretics,
antilithics, anthelmintics, emmenagogues, blisters and their therapeutic use in
the treatment of various diseases. Date range determined by internal references
to the later part of 1805 and the fact that Barton ceased to be professor of
materia medica in 1812.
Provenance
With the bookplate of H. Lenox Hodge, M.D. (1836-1881). Given to the College
of Physicians on 14 May 1896 by Mr. Hugh Lenox Hodge, whose relationship to Dr.
Hodge is unclear.
[between 1806 and 1812].
4 v.
08/09/2000
lg
Call no.
10a/10
Acc. 51378-81
(Hirsch
48)
03/22/1910
Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815.
Lectures on materia medica, [between 1806 and 1812].
4 v.
Vol.
1
(268 leaves) Contains lectures on general medical botany, nutrients, elements,
milk, astringents, lead, tonics,
and their effect on various diseases.
2
(190 leaves) Contains lectures on barks, metallic tonics, opium and their effect
on various diseases.
3
(190 leaves) Contains lectures on opium (continued) and other stimulants and
their effect on various
diseases.
4
(262 leaves) Contains lectures on mercury, emetics, mineral emetics, cathartics,
diuretics, antilithics,
anthelmintics, emmenagogues, blisters, and their effect on various diseases.
[between 1806 and 1812].
4 v.
08/09/2000
lg