Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

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Short Sketch of Er. 3. llb. fllbettauer, flb. El., fllb. ED., TLTL. EJ. Tbonorarg llbember of the lmeoical Societies of Jsaltimore, 'JLeri11gto11 :mo llbbilaoclvlaiap 'lprofceaor of nbrinciplee mio lpracticc of Surgery in 'llU185lJlllQf0ll llbeoicnl College, JBz1Itin1orc, 18273 llbrofcssor of llbrinciplcs mio llbractice of Imcoicine uno of the Scicncc ano Brt of Surgery in llbeoical Departnicnt of TRHIWOIDIDSIIDHCOII College, at IDNIICC 1Eowaro Gourtlaouee, virginia. li. METTAUER was for more than halt' 11 century the inost pro1ninent niedieul 1112111 of tl1e COH11llLll1ify uround Hinnpden-Sidney, and one of the most ll1l'llUl1S ot its Aluinni. Shortly after the surrender of Cornwallis to tl1e allied tort-es at Yorktown, IL French regiment was stationed 011 the C'UlltiSC'lli'Ql,l c-liurch lunds of St. Patriekis Parish, near Prince Edw11rd Courthouse. It is of interest to note here that the French king paid his troops i11 this portion of Virginia with copper louis d'ors, gold plated. O11 the witlidrawal of tl1e French troops OIIC ot' their regiinentul surgeons was per- suaded by General Lawson, the Riindolphs, and tl1e Henrys to Telllalll here and practice medicine. This surgeon was Dr. John Peter Mettauer, the elder, 21 native of Basel. He shortly D1Hl'1'ylllg, became tl1e thther of the subject of this l1HP61'il?CtSli6lCl1. Young Mettuuer. after being taught by his fatlier, who seems to have been il 1111111 of studious habits, was El student at Hz1n1pden-Sidiiey College during the presidency of Dr. Addison Alexander, the founder of Princeton Seininary, taking his M. A. here. He shortly went, to Philadelphia to study under the noted Dr. Rush. In 1808, having received l1is medical degree fI'O1'll the 07 1

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J. P. METTAUER, M. A., M. D

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Vniversity ot' l'ennsylvania, and having attended a course at the Philadelphia Dispeusary, Dr. Mettauer returned to Virginia because of the feeble health of his tather. Innnediately after graduation, llr. Mettauer had arranged to enter into a partnership with Dr. Stewart. ot' Philadellvliia, but was prevented as stated above. Had he done so there would have heen no need tor this sketch tin' his tame would have been noised abroad. However, like Dr. Lang, ot' Georgia, the discoverer of ether anesthesia, having no large medical environment ot' hospitals and colleges, and though he published his discoveries, as did Dr. Lang, he has not received the credit that was his due. Though a prolific writer, the army and navy medical libraries have hut three titles ot' his works on their index, though they have no doubt many articles of his. The tirst work Dr. Mettauer was called upon to do on his return to Virginia was a cataract operation, and tin- the next twenty years he was an ardent worker both in surgery and medicine, an expert hoth in hotany and ornithology. Living in the depths of the country he invented and made his own instruments, and was a laborious and constant student, the possessor of a large and well-selected library of English and tbreign works. It is ot' interest to know that at that time the general surgeon here did the work ot' the dental surgeon ot' today, and a charge can he thund on Dr. Mettaueris books tbl' filling two teeth. In 1827, Dr. Mettauer went to Baltimore as professor of the principles and practice of surgery in the YVashington Medical College, and the same year tinding that city lite impaired the health of his children, he returned to Prince l'ldward Courthouse and started a private medical school. This, in 1838, became the medical department of Randolph-Macon College. In 1827, the 1'niversity of Virginia. was the only other school of medicine in the State. All ot' Dr. BIettauer's lectures in this school were most 'carct'ully written, and he ever impressed on the students. and those with whom he came in contact, the dignity and worth of the 28