362 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 349. 



pendium of the Course of Chemical Instruc- 

 tion in the Medical Department of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, by E-obert 

 Hare, M.D. For the use of his Pupils.' 

 There were four editions of this. The last 

 appeared in 1840-43. In the preface of this 

 book I find this curious passage, which 

 reads as if it might have been written 

 yesterday : "A chemical class in a medical 

 school usually consists of individuals who 

 differ widely with respect to their taste for 

 chemistry, and in opinion as to the extent 

 to which it may be practicable or expedient 

 for them to learn it," etc. 



With this idea of the difficulty of the 

 subject and of the slight inclination on the 

 part of many medical students to master it. 

 Hare prepared a work in simple style con- 

 taining an unusually large number of ex- 

 perimental illustrations and practical sug- 

 gestions for the pupil. How successful he 

 was with students it is now impossible to 

 say, but that he impressed himself as a 

 powerful teacher I have been assured by 

 one who remembered him in his later years. 

 He remained with the University until 1847, 

 and died in 1858. He continued actively 

 engaged in scientific work to the time of 

 his death, and contributed numerous articles 

 to the journals. No less than 150 were pub- 

 lished in Silliman's Journal. That his work 

 was respected abroad as well as at home is 

 shown by the fact that he maintained an 

 active correspondence with Faraday, Liebig 

 and other great men of the day, and that 

 we find frequent reference to his articles in 

 contemporary writers and in the earlier 

 volumes of the Jahresbericht. 



While Hare was prominent in Philadel- 

 phia, Silliman, Gorham and Mitchill were 

 developing the departments of medical chem- 

 istry in Yale, Harvard Medical School and 

 Columbia. In the last two medical schools 

 chemistry was taught almost as early as 

 in Philadelphia, but apparently with less 

 vigor, while at Yale it was taken up later. 



In 1802 Benjamin Silliman, then a young 

 man, was appointed to the chair of chemis- 

 try at Yale, and before beginning work he 

 visited other schools in search of ideas. 

 Prior to 1800 there seems to have been but 

 a single chair of chemistry in the country 

 outside of the medical schools, and this was 

 held by Dr. John MacLean at Princeton. 

 Silliman went there first and profited by 

 what he saw. Later he went to Philadel- 

 phia, where he met Woodhouse, Priestley, 

 Hare and others. Hare seems to have made 

 the greatest impression on him, and they 

 worked often together. In the next few 

 years Silliman visited Europe, and on his 

 return to New Haven aroused much enthu- 

 siasm among the scientific and medical 

 men. It was largely through his influence 

 that a medical school was established at 

 Yale, and of this he became the first pro- 

 fessor of chemistry and pharmacy. The 

 Medical Institution of Yale College, as it 

 was called, was chartered October, 1810, 

 and four professorships were provided for, 

 ' the first of chemistry and pharmacy ; the 

 second of the theory and practice of medi- 

 cine ; the third of anatomy, surgery and 

 midwifery ; the fourth of materia medica 

 and botany.' It will be noticed that the 

 chair of chemistry is here mentioned first, 

 doubtless a tribute to Silliman's reputation 

 and influence. He continued to give in- 

 struction to medical as well as to general 

 students for many years, and through his 

 writings and the journal he established he 

 became the best known scientific man of 

 the day in America. Silliman's interests, 

 however, were in lines remote from medi- 

 cine, and he therefore failed to exert here 

 the influence enjoyed by his friend Hare. 

 The Medical School of Harvard College 

 was established in 1782, and in 1783 Dr. 

 Aaron Dexter was made the professor of 

 chemistry and materia medica, his time be- 

 ing devoted to teaching general and medical 

 chemistry. It does not appear that he 



