RUSH. 



calculable mifchief. The houle of reprefentatives, cliofen 

 annually by the people, and on which there was no check, 

 was the fole legislative power ; and each Succeeding aflembly 

 often made it their bulinefs to undo all that their predeced'ors 

 had done. This kind of government was juftly-reprobated 

 by Dr. Rufh, and the neceffity and wifdom of a reformation 

 in it were too apparent not to be attempted. Dr. Rufh, and 

 many other diitinguifhed abettors of the caule, had foon 

 after the Satisfaction of feeing a new form of government 

 eftablifhed in Pennfylvania, by a general convention of the 

 people. 



Soon after, he formed the refolution of retiring from 

 political life, and of devoting the remainder of his days, 

 with increafed ardour, to his profeflion. He was it ill 

 further induced to this refolution, from the consideration of 

 the (late of medicine in his native country at that time, 

 which, it is fcarcely neceffary to remark, was in a very low 

 eondition. Happy for medical Science and the interests of 

 humanity, that he fo early formed fuch a refolution, and 

 that he was fo iteady, uniform, and indefatigable in the ac- 

 complishment of it ! 



During the long and brilliant career of Dr. Ruih's life, 

 from this time to its termination, he may be considered as 

 excluiively occupied in duties pertaining to his profeflion, 

 and not unlike another Howard, in " Surveying the man- 

 sions of Sorrow and pain," and in mitigating and removing 

 the diftreSSes of all within his power. His biography, 

 therefore, like that of moil other Scientific men, confilts 

 chiefly in a hiftory of his profeffional labours. How nu- 

 merous and important his Services, as an author, have been, 

 will be readily Seen from a brief detail of his writings, which 

 we Shall attempt to give, as nearly as practicable, in chrono- 

 logical order. 



The rirft fruits of his profeffional labours, as an author, 

 was an account of the effects of the Stramonium, or thorn 

 apple; this appeared in the year 1770, and was published 

 in the Tranfadtions of the American Philofophical Society, 

 vol. i. The Same year he addreffed a letter, on the ufe- 

 fulneSs of Wort in ill-conditioned ulcers, to his friend Dr. 

 Huck, of London, which was published in the Medical 

 Observations and Inquiries of London, vol. iv. In 1774 he 

 read, before the Philofophical Society, his interesting In- 

 quiry into the Natural Hiftory of Medicine among the In- 

 dians of North America, which formed the fubjeft of an 

 anniverfary oration. He this year again addrefled another 

 letter to Dr. Huck, containing Some remarks on Bilious 

 fevers, which was printed in the London Medical Observa- 

 tions and Inquiries, vol. v. To this Succeeded his Account 

 of the Influence of the Military and Political Events of the 

 American Revolution upon the Human Body, and Obferva- 

 tions upon the DiSeaSes of the Military Hofpitals of the 

 United States, which his Situation in the army eminently 

 qualified him to make. In 1785 he offered to the Philo- 

 fophical Society of Philadelphia an Inquiry into the Caufe 

 of the Increafe of Bilious and Intermitting Fevers in Penn- 

 fylvania, published in their Tranfa&ions, vol. ii. ; and Soon 

 after, in quick fucceffion, appeared Obfervations on Te- 

 tanus, an Inquiry into the Influence of Phyfical Caufes 

 upon the Moral Faculty, Remarks on the Effects of Ardent 

 Spirits upon the Body and Mind, and his Inquiry into the 

 CauSes and Cure of the Pulmonary Confumption. About 

 this time, alfo, appeared his paper entitled InSormation to 

 Europeans difpofed to migrate to the United States, in a 

 letter to a friend in Great Britain ; a Subject which had 

 already occupied the attention of Dr. Franklin, but which 

 Dr. Rufh confidered (till further deferving notice, on ac- 

 •:ount of the important changes which the United States had 



lately undergone. To this paper followed his Obfervations 

 on the Population of Pennfylvania, Obfervations on To- 

 bacco, and his ElTay on the Study of the Latin and Greek 

 Languages, which was firft published in the American 

 Mufeum of Philadelphia. This laft mentioned paper, 

 which has been the fertile topic of much animadverSion, was, 

 with Several other eflays of Dr. Rufh, and his Eulogiums 

 on Dr. Cullen and the illuftrious Rittenhoufe, the former 

 delivered in 1790, the latter in 1796, embodied in an oftavo 

 volume, entitled Eflays, Literary, Moral, and Philofo- 

 phical, and published in 1798. 



In 1 79 1, the medical colleges oS Philadelphia, which, 

 on account of certain legislative proceedings, had exilted ai 

 two diftinft establishments fmce the year 1788, became 

 united under the name of the UniverSity of Pennfylvania ; 

 and Dr. Rufh was appointed to the chair of the profeffor- 

 Ship of the inftitutes of medicine and clinical practice. He 

 now gave to the public his Lectures upon the Caufe of 

 Animal Life. The fame year he prefented the Philo- 

 fophical Society his Account of the Sugar Maple Tree of 

 the United States, which was published in their Tranfadtions, 

 vol. iii. ; and in 1792, Observations, intended to favour a 

 fuppofition that the Black Colour of the Negro is derived 

 from Leprofy ; publithed in their Tranfaftions, vol. iv. 



The year 1793 is memorable in the medical annals of the 

 United States, on account of the great mortality occafioned 

 by the yellow fever, which prevailed in the city of Phila- 

 delphia ; and the hiftory of that epidemic, which was pub- 

 liihed by Dr. Rufh in 1794, cannot be too highly valued, 

 both for his minute and accurate defcription of the 

 dlfeafe, and the many important fafts he has recorded in re- 

 lation to it. It was comprifed in one volume odtavo, and 

 has undergone Several editions, and been extenSively circu- 

 lated in the Spanifh and in the French languages. About 

 this period, alSo, he offered to the medical world his ob- 

 servations on the Symptoms aad CureoS DropSy in general, 

 and on Hydrocephalus Interims ; an Account of the In- 

 fluenza, as it appeared in Philadelphia in 1789, 1790, and 

 I 791 ; and Obfervations on the State of the Body and Mind 

 in Old Age. In 1797 came out his Obfervations on the 

 Nature and Cure of Goat, and on Hydrophobia ; an In- 

 quiry into the Caufe and Cure of the Cholera Infantum ; 

 Obfervations on Cynanche Trachealis, &c. 



It is proper to itate, as connected with the literary labour* 

 of Dr. Rufh, that in 1788, many oS his medical papers 

 were collected together, and that he offered them to the 

 public under the title of Medical Inquiries and Obferva- 

 tions, vol. i. Thefe he, from time to time, continued, 

 embracing moft of the writings above enumerated, betides 

 obfervations on the climate of Pennfylvania, and fomc 

 others, until a fifth volume was completed in 179S. In 1801 

 he added to his character as a writer, by the publication of 

 fix Introductory Lectures to a courfe of Lectures upon the 

 Inftitutes and Practice of Medicine, delivered in the Uni- 

 verfity of Pennfylvania. In 1804 a new and corrected 

 edition of his Medical Inquiries, &c. was printed in four 

 volumes, oftavo. In 1 806 he alfo publifhed a fecond edition 

 of his Eflays. In 1809, fuch was the demand for the 

 Medical Inquiries and Obfervations, he again revifed and 

 enlarged the work throughout, and enriched the medical 

 profeflion with a third edition. In this edition he continued 

 his Several hiltories of the yellow fever, as it prevailed in 

 Philadelphia from 1793 to 1809. It alio contained a De- 

 fence of Blood-letting, as a Remedy for certain Dileafes ; a 

 view of the comparative State of Medicine in Philadelphia 

 between the years 1760 and 1766, and the year 1809; an 

 Inquiry into the various fources of the ufual forms of Sum- 



