THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 109 



In 1780 Benjamin, with one of his brothers, was placed 

 in an academy at York, Pa., where he remained nearly two 

 years, pursuing a classical course. His elder brother, who 

 was living in Philadelphia, took him into his family when 

 he was sixteen years of age, where he remained about four 

 years. During this time he attended, for a short period, the 

 College of Philadelphia, and afterward took up the study of 

 medicine under Dr. William Shippen. 



In the summer of 1785 he accompanied the commission, 

 of which his uncle, Mr. Rittenhouse, was a member, in 

 marking the western boundary line of Pennsylvania. 

 Young Barton was absent from Philadelphia five months, 

 and it was on this expedition that he made acquaintance 

 with the Indians, and began his study of their medicines 

 and pathology, their customs and history, which interested 

 him for the rest of his life. 



Young Barton, in order to obtain a thorough medical 

 training, went to Edinburgh in the autumn of 1786, where 

 he studied for two years, with the exception of a few months 

 spent in London. Having become a member of the Royal 

 Medical Society at Edinburgh, he was given the Harveian 

 prize of that association for a thesis on the Hyoscyamus 

 niger of Linnaeus. Barton's first book was published in 1787. 

 It was a booklet entitled, " Observations on some Parts of 

 Natural History : to which is prefixed an Account of some 

 Considerable Vestiges of an Ancient Date, which have been 

 discovered in Different Parts of North America." 



Later he left Edinburgh, and took his degree at Got- 

 tingen, returning to America toward the close of the year 

 1789. He began to practice in Philadelphia, where his 

 knowledge of medical science soon caused him to be looked 

 upon as one of the rising young men of the day. 



