BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON. 87 



siderable number of pernicious insects of the United States. 

 Prof. E. A. W. Zimmerman, of Brunswick, translated into Ger- 

 man 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 

 Pennington, 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 Zoology, 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 naturalists, or those who have touched on questions rela- 

 tive 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 attenuated, penetrating, and sometimes 

 rather sharp his enunciation clear and distinct his pro- 

 nunciation constrained, and his emphasis, owing to his 

 remarkable kind of punctuation, and a desire to be perspicu- 

 ously understood, was studied, forced, and often inappropri- 

 ate. 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 punc- 

 tuation is truly remarkable, and, for a man of his discernment 

 and extensive reading, singularly incorrect. 



"As a physician, he discovered a mind quick in discriminat- 

 ing disease, skilful in the application of appropriate remedies, 



