SKETCH OF SAMUEL LATHAM MIT CHILL. ' 691 



SKETCH OF SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL. 



THE name and fame of Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill have, in the 

 absence of a complete biography, become to a considerable 

 * extent a tradition, known to few except students ; yet, during the 

 first quarter of this century, he was one of the most conspicuous 

 figures in the literary and scientific life of the United States. He 

 is called by Dr. J. W. Francis " the Nestor of American science," 

 and " the pioneer philosopher in the promotion of natural science 

 and medicine in America." He was a man of various attainments, 

 and proved himself at home in many fields in medicine, science, 

 letters, politics, and social life. 



Samuel Latham Mitchill was born in Hempstead, Long 

 Island, August 20, 17G9, and died in the city of New York, Sep- 

 tember 7, 1831. He was the third son of Robert Mitchill, an in- 

 dustrious farmer and member of the Society of Friends, and was 

 remarkable for his habits of observation and reflection. His 

 father seems to have taken less interest in his early instruction 

 than his maternal uncle, Dr. Samuel Latham, of North Hemp- 

 stead, who assisted him to obtain a good classical education. 

 He afterward studied medicine with Dr. Latham ; then with Dr. 

 Samuel Bard, of New York ; and in 1783 went to complete his 

 studies in the University of Edinburgh, whence he was graduated 

 in 1786. He enjoyed here rare advantages of intellectual society, 

 and had among his contemporaries at the university such illus- 

 trious men as Sir James Mackintosh and Thomas Addis Emmet, 

 Dr. Caspar Wistar, Richard S. Kissam, the surgeon ; and William 

 Hammersley, afterward a professor in Columbia College. After 

 graduation, and before returning home, he made a pedestrian tour 

 through a part of England. In 1787, after his return to America, 

 he visited Saratoga Springs while it was surrounded by the forest, 

 and ascertained experimentally that the gas extricated from the 

 water was " fixed air, with the power to extinguish flame, destroy 

 the life of breathing animals, etc." He is found in 1788 recording 

 his walking with congenial companions " in the very grand pro- 

 cession for celebrating the adoption of the Constitution of the 

 United States." He began the study of law with the Hon. Robert 

 Yates, Chief Justice of the State of New York, and was shortly 

 afterward appointed one of the commissioners to treat with the 

 Five Nations for the cession of the " Great Western District " to 

 the State of New York. He attended the council at Fort Stan- 

 wix, witnessed the deed, and received names from the Oneidas 

 and Onondagas. 



In 1790 Dr. Mitchill was chosen a representative from Queens 

 County in the New York Legislature. In the next year he exerted 



