MSS 2/0087-01								Acc. 1989-007

BRAINARD, DYAR T.
(1790-1863)

 Addresses,
 1813-1823

1. Description of three cases of an unknown 

disease : 
     address before an unnamed audience :
	holograph, [ca. 1813?]			
	(1 item, 15 p.).						  [ca. 1813?]

2. 	Hygiene : 
     address before an unnamed audience :
	holograph, [ca. 1821?]
	(1 item, 31 p.).						  [ca. 1821?]

3.  A dissertation on phthisis pulmonalis : 
	address [before Connecticut State Medical 
	Society, New Haven, Conn.?] :
	holograph, [ca. 1823?]	
	(1 item, 29 p.).						  [ca. 1823?]


1813-1823
3 items


4/20/1990
jde

MSS 2/0087-01								Acc. 1989-007

BRAINARD, DYAR T.
(1790-1863)

Addresses,
1813-1823

Biographical


Dyar Throop Brainard, Connecticut physician and botanist, was 
born on 10 June 1790 in New London, Connecticut.  He was the 
son of Jeremiah G. Brainard, a judge, and Sarah (Gardiner) Brainard 
and an elder brother of poet John G. C. Brainard.  Brainard 
never married and died on 6 February 1863.


Brainard received his B.A. from Yale College in 1810.  He studied 
medicine for two years and then settled in New London.  In 1812, 
he was appointed military surgeon of the 3rd Regiment, Connecticut 
Militia, and was the military surgeon at New London during the 
War of 1812.  


During the winter of 1819-1820, Brainard studied medicine 
in New York.  He became health officer for the port of New London 
circa 1822 and was also U.S. Marine Hospital Surgeon there. 
 In 1823, he delivered the annual dissertation before the Connecticut 
State Medical Society, and, in 1826, the Society voted to confer 
an honorary M.D. on Brainard.  This degree was granted by Yale 
University in 1826 or 1827.


Brainard became a member of the New London County Medical Association 
in 1813 and was its clerk in 1816 and 1817.  He often represented 
the Association at meetings of the Connecticut State Medical 
Society and was vice president of the Society in 1846.

Scope and contents


The collection consists of three holograph addresses of Dyar 
T. Brainard.  Although all three are undated, approximate dates, 
1813, 1821, and 1823, can be derived from the contents of each 
address.  The third address, circa 1823, may have been the annual 
dissertation delivered to the Connecticut State Medical Society; 
the other two addresses may have been given before the New London 
County Medical Association.


The first address, circa 1813, describes an unknown disease treated 
by Brainard in 1813 and, possibly, 1814.  The address contains 
detailed patient histories of the three cases, descriptions 
of the symptoms, Brainard's treatment, and his assessment.

The second address, circa 1821, concerns hygiene.  Brainard argues 
for sudden and rapid change of habit as a cause of disease and 
uses many examples from yellow fever epidemics, including the 
1820 outbreak in Savannah, Georgia.


The third address, "A dissertation on phthisis pulmonalis", circa 
1823, describes the disease and Brainard's assessment of current 
medical views on tuberculosis.  He then describes the symptoms, 
prevalence, and proximate and remote causes of the disease.

Provenance


The three Brainard manuscripts were purchased by the Historical 
Collections of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia from 
Trotting Hill Park Books, P.O. Box 1324, Springfield, MA 01101, 
on 26 January 1989.

The third address, "A dissertation on phthisis pulmonalis" appears 
to have been in the possession of physician Charles B. Graves, 
circa 1920, as he mentions it in his article, "Medicine in New 
London one hundred years ago", printed in The heritage of 
Connecticut medicine, Herbert Thomas, editor, (New Haven, 
1942).


1813-1823
1 folder (3 items)


4/20/1990
jde