Rush Medical College - Pulse Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Society in America and was its hrst secretaryg he was a member of the famous Continental Congress of 1776. and not only strongly advocated, but signed the glorious Declaration of Independence. In 1777 Dr. Rush was Surgeon and Physician-General of the Revolutionary Army, and was the trusted friend of the immortal George VVashingtong but being unable to stop the frauds that were being perpetrated upon the soldiers in the hospital stores, he resigned his post. His duties were not so arduous but that the Constitution of Pennsylvania was materially changed, owing to a series of letters he wrote at this time. Dr. Rush was a member of the convention which drafted the Federal Con- stitution, and after the political crisis of 1787 he gave up his public life entirely and turned his energies to the practice of his profession. During this time Dr. Rush's pen had not been idle, and he became a pro- lific contributor to medical literature, his writings being on a great variety of subjects, including, Language, Study of Latin, The Moral Faculty, Capital Punishment, Medicine among the Indians, Maple Sugar, The Blackness of the Negro, Tobacco Smoking, Cause of Animal Life, Spirit Drinking, and a greater list of more strictly professional topics. His last work was an elaborate work on The Diseases of the Mind. Epidemics, and particularly yellow fever, occupied a great deal of his thoughts, and his best work is thought to have been done in regard to these subjects. In 1793, during the terrible epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia, Dr. Rush's energy was tremendous, visiting, it is said, 120 patients daily, and by his bold method of blood-letting, is said to have saved the lives of over 6,000 patients. As might be supposed, Dr. Rush's fame became as great as his energy was untiring, and his house was continually crowded with clients from all parts of the country. Dr. Rush was above the middle stature, slender and well formed, his mouth and chin good, his nose aquiline, his eyes blue, and his forehead high and prominent. His powerful intellect and high thoughts were indicated by his commanding and prepossessing features. His character was pure, his heart overiiowing with kindness. It is said he often gave to charity more than his income. His habits were temperate, his dress neat, his manner courteous and modest, his conversation entertaining. I2

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care and education of her son. For three years she taught him herself, but his abilities demanding more than his mother could give, young Benjamin at nine years of age was sent to his uncle in Maryland, and for five years his education was superintended with great care, and he showed far more than an ordinary bright intellect. At the age of fourteen, Rush entered upon a two years' course of study in Princeton College, where he graduated with the degree of B. A. He then commenced the study of medicine, having as a pre- ceptor Dr. Redman, of Philadelphia, and here Rush studied so hard and con- stantly that he is said to have taken only fwo tiqvs' vacation during the six years he was studying the works of I-lippocrates, Sydenham and Boerhaave. At this time Dr. Shippen began the first course of lectures on medicine ever delivered in the colonies, and young Rush attended these lectures in addition to his other work. At length, having completed his apprenticeship, and in fact having acquired all his teachers were able to impart, and thirsting for more knowl- edge, like the true student he was, Rush went to Scotland and entered the Medical College of Edinburgh, which was then the most celebrated school in all Europe, having among its professors such famous men as Cullen, Black, Gregory and Munro, all of whom were Rush's teachers. In two years he obtained his degree of M. D., his thesis, De coctione ciborum, written in the most elegant Latin, arousing widespread and very favorable comment. Still not satisfied, the young doctor studied in the hospitals of London and Paris something over a year before he turned homeward. Back in Philadelphia, he found his fame as a student had been before him, and honors came thick and fast. His former teacher, Dr. Shippen, with Drs. Bond, Kuhn and Morgan, were just starting a medical college, and Dr. Rush, at 26 years of age, was at once elected Professor of Chemistry. In 1789 he was elected Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine, and in 1791 Professor of Institutes of Medicine and of Clinical Practice. In ISO6 these chairs were combined, and Dr. Rush ably discharged the increased duties until his death. Almost as soon as Rush landed on his return from Europe, he took prom- inent part in politics, and became a warm friend of Benj. Franklin. In 1774, with james Pemberton, Dr. Rush started the first Anti-Slavery II

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Dr. Rush was married in january, 1776, to a daughter of judge Stockton, of New Jersey, by whom he had thirteen children, one of whom became Sec- retary of the Treasury. Dr. Rush was taken sick with typhus fever, and after an illness of five days' duration, he died on April 19, 1813, in the 68th year of his age. The announcement of his death created great sorrow. Funeral services were preached in all parts of the country and multitudes followed him to his grave. In the service of his country and in. the practice of his profession, Dr. Rush reaped the full measure of glory. 1he was a man whose liberal minb 'llillisheb general gooh to all manhinh, who when his frienh, by fortunes wounh, :lfell tumbling heahlong to the grounb, Goulh meet him with a warm embrace, Zlno wipe the tears from off his face. EZRA READ LARNED. 13