Call no.
10a/28
Acc. 51405, 51416
(Hirsch
160)
03/23/1910
Mitchell, John Kearsley, 1793-1858.
Notes taken from the lectures of Dr. Chapman on the practice of
medicine, in 8
volumes, 1816-1817, [i.e., 1817].
2 v. (v.2 and 8 of 8 v. set).
Biography
John Kearsley Mitchell, physician and chemist, was born on 12 May 1793 in
Shepherdstown, Va., the son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Kearsley) Mitchell.
Mitchell was sent by his Scottish father to be educated in Scotland, where he
received an A.B. from the University in Edinburgh. When he returned to the
United States he began to study medicine under Dr. Kramer of Jefferson County,
Va. He enrolled in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania,
graduating in 1819 with an M.D.
From 1820-1821, Mitchell served as ship’s surgeon on 3 voyages to China and
the East Indies. In 1822 he settled in Philadelphia and became professor of
medicine and physiology at the Medical Institute of Philadelphia in 1824. He
also lectured in chemistry from 1833-1838 at the Franklin Institute and was
professor of medicine at the Jefferson Medical College from 1841-1858.
Mitchell wrote on a variety of topics including mesmerism, osmosis and
liquefaction of carbonic acid gas, and the ligature of limbs in spastic
conditions. He was the first to describe spinal arthropathies in 1831. His other
notable works include a book of poetry, Indecision, a Tale of the Far West
and other poems (1839) and a medical treatise, On the Crytogamous Origin
of Malarious and Epidemical Fevers (1849).
In 1822 Mitchell married Sarah Matilda Henry, a union that produced 9 children
including the eminent physician, S. Weir Mitchell. He was elected a Fellow of
the College of Physicians in 1827. On 14 Apr. 1858, Mitchell died in
Philadelphia.
Nathaniel Chapman was an 1801 graduate of the Medical School of the University
of Pennsylvania, furthering his medical studies in Edinburgh before settling in
Philadelphia in 1804. Chapman is best known as a medical teacher, editor, and
professional advocate. He became editor of the Philadelphia Journal of the
Medical and Physical Sciences in 1820. From 1810 on he taught at the
University of Pennsylvania, serving as professor of materia medica and professor
of the theory and practice of medicine and clinical medicine. In 1817 Chapman
founded the Medical Institute of Philadelphia, considered the first medical
post-graduate school in the United States. The principle publications of Chapman’s
career are based on his lectures, such as his A Compendium of Lectures on the
Theory and Practice of Medicine (1846). Among his other accomplishments,
Chapman was elected the first president of the American Medical Association in
1847. Chapman was also a Fellow of the College of Physicians, elected in 1807.
Scope and Contents
Two volumes of notes on Chapman’s lectures on the practice of medicine, taken
by Mitchell when he was a student of Chapman. Vol. 2 (217, [3] pages) contains
lectures dated 22 Jan. 1817 (Of yellow fever) through 27 Jan. 1817 (Gastritis
from poisons) and one undated (De dyspepsia), with [3] pages of recipes at the
end. Vol. 8 (128 pages) contains an index and abstract of vols. 1-7. Inscription
on front flyleaf says volumes were "lost by being loaned."
Provenance
Bears autograph of J.K. Mitchell, Sr. Given to the College on 31 Dec. 1888 by
his son, S. Weir Mitchell.
Call no.
10a/28
Acc. 51405, 51416
(Hirsch
160)
03/23/1910
Mitchell, John Kearsley, 1793-1858.
Notes taken from the lectures of Dr. Chapman on the practice of
medicine, in 8
volumes, 1816-1817, [i.e., 1817].
2 v. (v.2 and 8 of 8 v. set).
Vol.
2
Lectures dated 17-23 Jan. 1817 on the topics of yellow fever, plague, and
gastritis, plus one undated lecture on dyspepsia.
8
Index and abstract of volumes 1-7. Bears inscription on front flyleaf that
volumes 1-7 were “lost by being loaned.”
1816-1817 [i.e., 1817]
2 v. (v.2 and 8 of 8 v. set)
06/20/2000
lg