1918.] NATUKAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 121 



and I must confine myself to a consideration of his services to this 

 Academy. 



Dr. Dixon was born on March 23, 1851, in the old Gibson home- 

 stead on the Schuylkill River below Bartram's Garden, where his 

 family had resided since 1721. His father, Isaac Dixon, a respected 

 merchant of Philadelphia, and his mother, Ann Gibson, were mem- 

 bers of the Society of Friends, and it was under the influence 

 of the quiet Quaker environment so characteristic of our city thafc 

 his early life was spent. 



As a boy he attended the Friends' School at Fifteenth and Race 

 streets and the Mantua Academy in Philadelphia, then in charge of 

 Prof. Hastings. He later received instruction from private tutors 

 with the idea of preparing for Harvard University. Failure in health, 

 however, necessitated a rest from his studies, which was followed 

 by a trip abroad. Upon his return home all thought of a college 

 course was abandoned and he decided to devote himself to business 

 and the study of law. He took a course in the Mercantile College 

 of. Philadelphia and then entered the law offices of his brother, 

 Edwin Saunders Dixon, and attended the Law School of the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania, being admitted to the Bar in 1877. He con- 

 tinued his law practice for six years, but the necessary confinement 

 and constant strain of office work proved too much for his constitution. 

 and once more he was forced to seek rest. 



Realizing the necessity for a permanent change of occupation, 

 he now conceived the idea of devoting himself to the scientific side 

 of medicine — a subject which in spite of his choice of the law as a 

 profession had always possessed a deep attraction for him. With 

 this object in view he entered the Medical School of the University 

 of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1883 and received his degree of 

 M.D. in 1886. He won distinction in his studies and while still an 

 undergraduate was appointed an assistant demonstrator in physi- 

 ology under the late Harrison Allen. 



An attack of typhoid fever during the closing part of his course 

 nearly forced him to abandon his studies, but with characteristic 

 determination he continued his work and passed his examinations. 

 Almost immediately afterward he sailed for Europe, in an effort 

 to regain his health in rest and change of scene. Returning in 1888 

 he was appointed Professor of Hygiene at the University and soon 

 after became Dean of the Auxiliary Department of Medicine. 



In 1889 he again spent several months in Europe, this time in. 

 various medical schools in special lines of study connected with. 



