SKETCH OF BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON. 839 



ber of pernicious insects of the United States. Prof. E. A. W. 

 Zimmerman, of Brunswick, translated into German and published 

 the memoir on the fascinating faculty of serpents and that on the 

 bite of the rattlesnake. 



In 1797 Dr. Barton married a daughter of Mr. Edward Pen- 

 nington, of Philadelphia, who, with their only children, a son 

 and a daughter, survived him. He named his son after Mr. 

 Thomas Pennant, an English naturalist and author of Arctic Zool- 

 ogy, with whom he became acquainted while a medical student. 



Dr. Barton was extremely cautious about accepting human 

 testimony in matters of science, and in one of his publications 

 he declares that " credulity is the most injurious feature in the 

 character of the naturalist as well as that of the historian. Its 

 influence in one individual is often felt and propagated through 

 many ages. Unfortunately, too, it has been the vice of natural- 

 ists, or those who have touched on questions relative to natural 

 history." 



In a general description of Prof. Barton his nephew says : " As 

 a medical teacher he was eloquent, instructive, and when occasion 

 called for it quite pathetic. His voice was good, though attenu- 

 ated, penetrating, and sometimes rather sharp his enunciation 

 clear and distinct his pronunciation constrained, and his empha- 

 sis, owing to his remarkable kind of punctuation, and a desire to 

 be perspicuously understood, was studied, forced, and often inap- 

 propriate. In his lectures his diction was cacophonous and un- 

 pleasant. 



" As a writer he is ingenious, rich in facts, profound in re- 

 search, and always abounding in useful information. He wanted, 

 however, in a great degree, a talent for generalizing. Hence his 

 various works are characterized by an egregious want of method 

 or perspicuous arrangement. His style, it must be confessed, is 

 always diffuse, inelegant, and frequently tautological. As he 

 never corrected what he once wrote, or at least but rarely, these 

 defects in his composition were the natural consequences of his 

 vehemence in writing. His punctuation is truly remarkable, and, 

 for a man of his discernment and extensive reading, singularly 

 incorrect. 



" As a physician, he discovered a mind quick in discriminating 

 disease, skillful in the application of appropriate remedies, though 

 he certainly was a very cautious if not timid practitioner. No 

 man read more extensively on the subject of diseases in fact, he 

 was deeply versed in pathological knowledge derived from books. 

 As, however, his medical practice was never very extensive, his 

 practical observations delivered in his lectures were strikingly 

 marked with the evidences of overweening caution. Hence he 

 recommended to his pupils, and always employed himself, unu- 



