ADAM KUHN 73 



" He was by far the most highly and minutely 

 furnished specimen of old-school medical pro- 

 duction I have ever beheld. He wore a fashion- 

 able curled and powdered wig; his breeches were 

 black, a long skirted buff or white waistcoat, his 

 coat snuff-colored. He carried a gold-headed 

 cane and a gold snuff-box; his knee and shoe 

 buckles of the same metal. His footsteps were 

 sternly and stubbornly regular; he entered the 

 sick-room at a given minute and stayed a given 

 time, and never suffered deviation from his 

 directions. ' Doctor, if the patient should desire 

 toast, water or lemonade may he have it? ' asked 

 the nurse sometimes. He would turn and reply 

 with oracular solemnity, ' I have directed weak 

 sage tea. Good morning madam.' His lectures, 

 not instructive, were mere commonplace. So far 

 from containing an original thought, no portion 

 of them appeared to be the professor's own." 



This was pretty strong, yet he adds, without 

 commendation, that Kuhn came to see him 

 (Caldwell) three times a day when he was ill. 



Linnaeus, following a pretty fancy, named an 

 American plant Kuhnia {Kuhnia Eupatorioi- 

 des) after Adam, and when the latter returned to 

 Philadelphia wrote very intimate and graceful 

 letters to him in fine Latin. One has this injunc- 

 tion in it: "I pray and entreat thee send some 

 seeds and plants, among which I ardently desire 



