chair of Jefferson’s Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence. . . . for him: Ibid.
It would be a position he would hold for over a third of a century: Ibid.
“still a fine-looking old lady, dressed in the old style, wearing a turban”: Ibid.
“This, it need not be said, was a great disappointment . . . best boy that ever was”: Ibid.
Aglae, passed away in 1835. Bache, “faithful to her memory,” never remarried: George B. Wood, M.D., Biographical Memoir of Franklin Bache, M.D.: Prepared at the Request of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and Read Before the College, May 3d and June 7th, 1865 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1865)
Bache had a full head of hair, thick bushy eyebrows . . . calm sweetness: Bauer, Doctors
Meigs was thin, with sallow visage, and a large balding head: Ibid.
considered themselves austere, honest, and forthright: Ibid.
not easily lend themselves to any compromise that might lie between right and wrong: Ibid.
“If I were to describe Franklin Bache, I would speak of him . . . intermediate shades”: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
“If it should be deemed unfair . . . opposite their record”: Meigs, Memoir
“If as a lecturer [Bache] was dull . . . he was earnest and faithful . . . examination”: Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross
Mütter’s gifts as a lecturer had been amply demonstrated . . . now firmly established: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
prominent in both arenas: L. Riordan, biography, April 1970, from Jefferson Medical College Library (Vertical File)
“a very fine needle, turned near the point into a sort of hook . . . inch behind the cornea”: “Joseph Pancoast” in William B. Atkinson, MD, ed., Physicians and Surgeons of the United States (Philadelphia: Charles Robson, 1878)
The invention of the plough and groove, or plastic suture . . . the flaps, come together: Ibid.
“good-looking substitute” for a destroyed eyebrow (“made by . . . cut for it up to the brow)”: Ibid.
And a surgical technique (involving “an abdominal tourniquet . . . excessive blood loss: Ibid.
of decided convictions, professional, moral, and political . . . an upright citizen: Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross
to help free medicine from an inherited body of superstition: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
As a professor, Pancoast was respected by his peers: Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross
“He possessed all the attributes of a great operator . . . and his eye never winced”: Ibid.
Dr. Jacob Randolph, the son-in-law of Philip Syng Physick: J. Chalmers Da Costa, MD, LLD: “Osteitis Deformans (Paget’s Disease of the Bones),” The Mütter Lecture for 1920, Transactions of the College of Physicians, ser. 3, vol. 42 (1920): 455–458 (Philadelphia: College of Physicians, 1920)
But Randolph was utterly unsupportive of splitting the chair of surgery . . . weakened position: Jefferson Medical College Minutes
And they voted to give that chair . . . Thomas Dent Mütter: Ibid.
Schuylkill River overflowed, flooding into the city . . . on each side: Weigley, Philadelphia
——CHAPTER EIGHT——
“The Physician Must Be an Industrious Man . . . prevents us from determining”: Mütter, Charge to the Graduates, 1851
“JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE. Session Of 1841–42. . . . Dean of the Faculty”: The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal XXV, ed. V. C. Smith, M.D. (Boston: D. Clapp Jr. Proprietor and Publisher, 1842)
The New Jefferson Medical College: Frederick P. Henry, A. M., M.D., ed., Standard History of the Medical Profession of Philadelphia (Chicago: Goodspeed Brothers, 1897)
strength of Jefferson had always lain in the personal power . . . scholarly Dunglison hoped: Ibid.
evenly split between old and new, Northerners and Southerners: Ibid.
the Ely Building, the main lecture hall of the college . . . ever-growing population of students: Julie S. Berkowitz, Adorn the Halls: History of the Art Collection at Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia: Thomas Jefferson University, 1999)
two “capacious” lecture rooms . . . two additional large halls in the rear of the building: Ibid.
The first hall would be . . . used exclusively for dissecting: Ibid.
The second hall would be used as an “anatomical museum” . . . used in their lectures: Ibid.
models of human faces or body parts made of wood . . . as seen in both paint and pen: Ibid.
Over the years, Mütter had amassed an ambitious collection . . . extraordinary material: “Catalogue of the Specimens Belonging to the College of Physicians” (Curator’s Report for 1862, presented January 7, 1863)
intestines pulled from cholera victims . . . a wax cast of a hermaphrodite: Ibid.
“He surrounded himself richly with materials of illustrations . . . and [inspire] wonder”: Pancoast, A Discourse Commemorative
For six long hours each day . . . overcrowded lecture rooms: John Kearsley Mitchell, Charge to the Graduates of Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, delivered March 9, 1850 (Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1850)
“task to the utmost [his] powers of memory and analysis”: Ibid.
“trim [their] lamps for a toilsome study”: Ibid.
“Many a time, in the midnight rambles of my medical duty . . . instincts of his nature”: Ibid.
The students hailed from all over the newly formed country . . . and South Carolina: Wagner and Savacool, eds., Jefferson Medical College: Legend and Lore
small in stature and delicately framed, with a clear blue eye . . . thick black hair: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
a wonderfully musical voice, which, even in its lowest notes: Ibid.
His gestures were relaxed and comfortable, and his speech was smart and sharply prepared: Ibid.
the great charm of his enthusiasm: Ibid.
Mütter was the first professor to introduce this informal style . . . the United States: Thomas Jefferson Department of Surgery (Undated)
“I can well remember him . . . exertion invariably brought him”: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
diagrams, models, and specimens collected from around the world: Ibid.
“so as to impress yet not confuse”: Ibid.
“kindness and enthusiastic devotion . . . and ornate developments”: Levis, “Memoir of Thomas Dent Mütter”
——CHAPTER NINE——
The clinic . . . was a prominent feature in the weekly curriculum: Henry, Standard History of the Medical Profession
referred to as the right arm of the college: Ibid.
“Brilliant as Dr. Mütter was in his didactic teachings . . . he surpassed himself in the clinical arena”: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
“considerable emphasis” on the care and attention he paid to patients: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
“accustomed to manipulation,” by massaging each by hand and . . . prior to the operation: Ibid.
“If his orders are not immediately obeyed . . . describe his disease”: McCullough, The Greater Journey
patients underwent operations . . . sent immediately home in a carriage: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
He shared his idea with his colleague, Dr. John Kearsley Mitchell . . . shared a Scottish ancestry: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
a handsome man, tall and portly, with a gentle, polished bearing: Bauer, Doctors
He wore his brown hair severely combed from left to right . . . about this ring”: Ibid.
bound to Calcutta and Canton: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
Philadelphia as a practitioner: Ibid.
“In sickness and trouble, they turned to him . . . and
none the wiser”: Henry, Standard History of the Medical Profession
among the first advocates of the germ theory of disease: Ibid.
to find a building with grounds close to the college . . . at minimal cost: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
that the Jefferson Medical College board move forward with the plan as soon as possible: Henry, Standard History of the Medical Profession
But the petition was summarily rejected: Ibid.
could not hide his frustration with the decision: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
“Mütter, he of the musical voice and charming personality . . . the gods fight in vain . . .”: Ibid.
“But that didn’t diminish his love of Jefferson . . . the potential . . . entering a great era”: Ibid.
“This disorderly transportation . . . and boyish sharp-shooting”: Henry, Standard History of the Medical Profession
even formal portraits of him often show his tie and clothing askew: Berkowitz, Adorn the Halls
“He made anatomy so plain, that the dullest pupil . . . not fail to be enlightened”: Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross
“Pancoast, the dexterous, the dramatic . . . quick as a flashing sunbeam”: The Papers and Speeches of J. Chalmers Da Costa (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1931)
“You have but just now listened . . . the honor to address to you”: Joseph Pancoast, M.D., Introductory Lecture to the Course of Anatomy, Delivered in Jefferson Medical College, October 19, 1849 (Philadelphia: C. Sherman, Printer, 1849)
“work in seemingly perfect harmony”: Thomas Jefferson Department of Surgery (Undated)
“Mütter and Pancoast, Pancoast and Mütter . . . each striving . . . Medical College”: Brinton, “Alumni Address: The Faculty of 1841”
instruction should be denounced and “sneered at”: John H. Gibbon, M.D., “Thomas Dent Mütter, Professor of Surgery, Jefferson Medical College, 1841–1856,” Annals of Medical History 25 (1925): 237–241
They accused it of being imperfect, insufficient: Ibid.
mislead rather than instruct: Ibid.
not the best surgeon, nor the best teacher: Ibid.
“his personal attractions, features, voice and bearing”: Ibid.
accused him of “playing for popularity” in his lectures: Ibid.
“In no period in our medical history was rivalry so marked . . . we have in America”: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
“a Varginny student”: Meigs, Memoir
this appointment gave him the first opportunity of showing fully what was in him: Ibid.
was horrified by some of the brutal scenes that were commonplace in slave states: Ibid.
threw himself into being a Jefferson Medical College professor with the greatest ardor: Ibid.
“He took great pleasure in his lectures during the first years . . . routine work among the sick: Ibid.
“Being thoroughly versed in all his subjects, and having . . . what latent powers he had”: Ibid.
shouldn’t “bother too much” when it came to patients’ comfort: Bauer, Doctors
avoid “fussing about,” . . . when their female patients were in labor: Ibid.
“read and write in another room until the delivery [is] ready.”: Ibid.
antisepsis was not a term or concept used at the time, Mütter . . . “clean” in his technique: Thomas Jefferson Department of Surgery (Undated)
worked under “as near an aseptic technique as was possible at the time”: Bauer, Doctors
Mütter spoke out against this “filthy abomination”: Thomas D. Mütter, M.D., On Recent Improvements in Surgery: An Introductory Lecture to the Course on the Principles and Practice of Surgery in Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Delivered November 3, 1842 (Published by the Class) (Philadelphia: Merrihew & Thompson, Printers, 1842)
“mild, clean, and simple warm water dressing”: Ibid.
“doctors were not gentlemen” because “all gentlemen were clean men”: Richard W. Wertz and Dorothy C. Wertz, Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989)
receive a silver pitcher of recognition from the city council for the “heroic role of the medical profession in battling the infection”: Weigley, Philadelphia
so unrecognized that the appearance of pus in an infected . . . “a successful surgical outcome”: Ibid.
“the most illustrious faculties in the history of American medical education.”: Jefferson Medical College: Legend and Lore by Wagner, Frederick B., Jr. and J. Woodrow Savacool (eds.) (Philadelphia: William T. Cooke Publishing Company, 1996)
a period of remarkable prosperity and growth: Henry, Standard History of the Medical Profession
period of the true rise and healthy growth of the school: Ibid.
“the golden age of the second great School of Medicine in Philadelphia”: Ibid.
such decadent meals as oyster pies made with . . . paid for a half a week’s work: Weigley, Philadelphia
“The mere acquisition of great wealth did not guarantee admission . . . it is in Philadelphia”: Ibid.
brown coat with high stiff white collar, black bengaline cravat . . . pleated jabot: Berkowitz, Adorn the Halls
——CHAPTER TEN——
“The Physician Should Have a Reverence for His Art. . . . almost necessarily attended”: Mütter, Charge to the Graduates, 1851
“Philadelphia, Nov 10, 1842. To Professor Mutter. . . . most grateful remembrances”: Mütter, On Recent Improvements in Surgery
“We have the honor to subscribe ourselves, Your most obedient servants”: Ibid.
“No one who attended his lectures . . . by no means inconsiderable”: Pancoast, A Discourse Commemorative
“Philadelphia, Nov 12, 1842. Gentlemen—Your note requesting . . . yours, Thos. D. Mütter”: Mütter, On Recent Improvements in Surgery
“a retrospective view of surgery for the last few years”: Ibid.
His first, The Salt Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, Va., had been a disaster: Slatten, “Thomas Dent Mütter”
That first publication was inspired by Mütter’s 1834 visit to the Virginia spa: Ibid.
agreeable temperature and dry atmosphere: Ibid.
the waters themselves did not have any curative properties: Ibid.
and especially did not cure cases of consumption (now called tuberculosis): Ibid.
regarded as heresy by defenders of the springs: Ibid.
the therapeutic merits of such springs: Ibid.
well patronized, they were massively profitable: Ibid.
so the proprietors had a vested interest in maintaining the illusion that mineral springs: Ibid.
earned him the displeasure of one specific spring owner by the name of William Burke: Ibid.
less than enthusiastic about Mütter’s comments on the efficacy of springs. . . . with scorn: Ibid.
Since Mütter had [chosen] to introduce . . . Diseases to Which They Are Applicable: Ibid.
“It is well known” . . . “that an excess of oxygen in the air . . . and other internal remedies”: Ibid.
“ignored the fact that many owner-proprietors bottled . . . those unable to come to springs”: Ibid.
“One need look no further for confirmation . . . that of azote [i.e., nitrogen] great”: Ibid.
the “overwhelming evidence” Burke provided: Ibid.
“I have said to many, as I would say to you . . . well-wisher, Thos. D. Mutter”: Ibid.
Whether Burke ever realized Mütter’s sneaky double entendre . . . book on the subject: Ibid.
“The renown of an art, the noblest of all . . . alleviation of human suffering”: Mütter, On Recent Improvements in Surgery
“This has been called the age of progression . . . dictates of our predecessors: Ibid.
“A contrary disposition, indeed, seems to prevail . . . crowded into the science”: Ibid.
“But it is a surprising as well as humiliating reflection . . . disgraceful to all concerned: Ibid.
“And why does this obscurity arise? . . . of which they are to be constructed”: Ibid.
“the numerous operations to be discussed . . . hastily condemned”: Ibid.
“patient and unprejudiced investigation, aided by experience and reason . . . in their true light”: Ibid.
(“a new field of investigation . . . hitherto the most obscure”): Ibid.
(“I fear much remains to be done ere we arrive at its true origin and proper treatment”): Ibid.
“most ingenious operation in certain varieties . . . rectum distended with feces”: Ibid.
“No operation of modern times is more deserving . . . under similar circumstances”: Ibid.
“It is the boast of modern surgeons . . . cured by constitutional treatment alone”: Ibid.
“incurable deformity, permanent maiming . . . was the inevitable fate”: Ibid.
“Allow not then the temptings of the demon . . . no comfort, no satisfaction”: Ibid.
“The dark clouds of ignorance, and error . . . these great men are before us”: Ibid.
“It must have been obvious to you that American . . . our country to the other”: Ibid.
“most daring courage, intrepid coolness . . . and practical experience”: Ibid.
“Shall [this progress] be permitted to subside? . . . let pass this golden era?”: Ibid.
“Will you not rather ‘gird up your loins’ . . . also boast of her medical sciences”: Ibid.
“There are many among you who are discouraged . . . reap an abundant reward”: Ibid.
“Dwell not then upon what has been done . . . but what remains to do”: Ibid.
——CHAPTER ELEVEN——
One neighborhood . . . earned the nickname the Infected District: Weigley, Philadelphia
“4,000–5,000 people”: Ibid.
Dr. Mutter's Marvels Page 30
