R U S 
R U S 
452 
in 1790, the latter in 1796,) embodied in an octavo volume, 
entitled Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, and 
published in 1798. 
In 1791, the medical colleges of Philadelphia, which, on 
account of certain legislative proceedings, had existed as 
two distinct establishments since the yearl788, became united 
under the name of the University of Pennsylvania; and 
Dr. Rush was appointed to the chair of the professorship 
of the institutes of medicine and clinical practice. He now 
gave to the public his Lectures upon the Cause of Animal 
Life. The same year he presented to the Philosophical Society 
his Account of the Sugar Maple Tree of the United States, 
which was published in their Transactions, vol. iii.; and in 
1792, Observations, intended to favour a supposition that 
the Black Colour of the Negro is derived from Leprosy; 
published in their Transactions, vol. iv. 
The year 1793 is memorable in the medical annals of the 
United States, on account of the great mortality occasioned 
by the yellow fever, which prevailed in the city of Phila¬ 
delphia ; and the history of that epidemic, which was pub¬ 
lished by Dr. Rush in 1794, cannot be too highly valued, 
both for his minute and accurate description of the disease, 
and the many important facts he has recorded in relation to 
it. It was comprised in one volume octavo, and has under¬ 
gone several editions, and been extensively circulated in the 
Spanish and in the French languages. About this period, 
also, he offered to the medical world his Observations on the 
Symptoms and Cure of Dropsy in general, and on Hydro¬ 
cephalus Internus; an Account of the Influenza, as it ap¬ 
peared in Philadelphia, in 1789, 1730, and 1791; and Ob¬ 
servations on the State of the Body and Mind in Old Age. 
In 1797 came out his Observations on the Nature and Cure 
of Gout, and on Hydrophobia; an Inquiry into the Cause 
and Cure of the Cholera Infantum; Observations on 
Cynanche Trachealis, &c. 
It is proper to state, as connected with the literary labours 
of Dr. Rush, that in 1788, many of his medical papers were 
collected together, and that he offered them to the public 
under the title of Medical Inquiries and Observations, vol. i. 
These he, from time to time, continued, embracing most of 
the writings above enumerated, besides observations on the 
climate of Pennsylvania, and some others, until a fifth volume 
was completed in 1798. In 1801 he added to his character 
as a writer, by the publication of six Introductory Lectures 
to a course of Lectures upon the Institutes and Practice of 
Medicine, delivered in the University of Pennsylvania. In 
1804 a new and corrected edition of his Medical Inquiries, 
&c. was printed in four volumes, octavo. In 1806, he also 
published a second edition of his Essays. In 1809, such 
was the demand for the Medical Inquiries and Observations, 
that he again revised and enlarged the work throughout, and 
enriched the medical profession with a third edition. In this 
edition he continued his several histories of the yellow fever, 
as it prevailed in Philadelphia from 1793 to 1809. It also 
contained a Defence of Blood-letting, as a Remedy for certain 
Diseases; a View of the comparative state of Medicine in 
in Philadelphia between the years 1760 and 1766, and the 
year 1809; an Inquiry into the various Sources of the usual 
forms of Summer and Autumnal Diseases in the United 
States, and the Means of preventing them; and the recan¬ 
tation of his opinion of the Contagious nature of the Yellow 
Fever. 
He now formed the idea of selecting some of the best 
practical works for republication. His editions of Sydenham 
and of Cleghom were published in 1809, and in 1810 
appeared those of Pringle and Hilary. In 1811 appeared a 
volume of Introductory Lectures, containing those he had 
formerly published, with ten others, delivered at different 
years before his class, and also two upon the Pleasures of the 
Senses and of the Mind. His work upon the Diseases of the 
Mind, which had long and ardently been looked for, was 
next added to his writings. It appeared towards the close 
of 1812, in one volume, octavo. The last effort of his pen 
was a Letter on Hydrophobia, containing additional reasons in 
support of the theory he had formerly advanced, as to the 
seat of the disease being chiefly in the blood-vessels. It was 
addressed to Dr. Hosack, and written not many days before 
his fatal illness. 
While thus assiduously engaged in enriching medical 
science with the valuable fruits of his long and extensive 
experience, and in the active discharge of the practical duties 
of his profession, he was, on the evening of the 13th of 
April, seized with symptoms of general febrile irritation, 
which were soon accompanied with considerable pain in his 
chest. His constitution was naturally delicate, and he had 
acquired, from previous illness, a predisposition to an affec¬ 
tion of his lungs. He lost a moderate quantity of blood, by 
which he felt himself considerably relieved. But his strength 
was not sufficient to overcome the severity of his complaint; 
the beneficial effects resulting from the most skiful treat¬ 
ment were but of temporary duration. His disease rapidly 
assumed a typhus character, attended with great stupor, and 
a disinclination to conversation. In other respects, however, 
he retained his faculties, and the perfect consciousness of his 
approaching dissolution. On Monday evening ensuing, after 
a short illness of five days, and in the 69th year of his age, 
he ended his truly valuable and exemplary life. His death 
was the subject of universal lamentation, and he was fol¬ 
lowed to the grave by thousands, who assembled to bear 
testimony to his excellence. 
In January, 1776, he married Miss Julia Stockton, 
daughter of the Hon. Judge Stockton, of New Jersey, a 
lady of an excellent understanding, and whose amiable dis¬ 
position and cultivated mind eminently qualified her as the 
companion of Dr. Rush. Thirteen children were the fruits 
of their marriage, nine of whom still survive. Two of 
these are chosen to offices of high respectability in the general 
government of the United States. 
It were no easy task to do adequate justice to the great 
talents, the useful labours, and the exemplary character of 
Dr. Rush. From the preceding sketch, it is presumed, some 
idea may be formed of his incessant devotedness to the im¬ 
provement of that profession of which he was so bright an 
ornament. His merits, as a practitioner, are too well 
known to need particular notice; he was fully aware of the 
great responsibility attached to the medical character, and 
uniformly evinced the deepest solicitude for the recovery of 
his patients. His kindness and liberality in imparting aid to 
those from whom no remuneration was ever to be expected, 
were unbounded, and arose from the generous impulse of his 
nature, the cordial concern he felt in whatever affected the 
interests of his fellow creatures. His mind was of a supe¬ 
rior order: to a perception naturally ready and acute, he 
united a discriminating judgment, a retentive memory, 
which was greatly improved by habits of close attention, a 
brilliant imagination, and a highly cultivated taste. He 
possessed a comprehensive understanding; his knowledge 
was varied and profound, and he eminently excelled in the 
several departments of his profession. In his assiduity and 
perseverance in the acquisition of knowledge he had no 
superior, and few equals. Accustomed to constant and re¬ 
gular exercise, his intellectual powers acquired additional 
vigour from employment. Notwithstanding the great fatigue 
he had to undergo in the discharge of the practical duties of 
a laborious profession, and the constant interruptions to 
which he was exposed, when engaged in his pursuits as an 
author, he never for a moment abated of his ardour in the 
cause of science. His habits of punctuality to every kind 
of business in which he was employed, added to a judicious 
arrangement of time for his multifarious occupations, secured 
to him sufficient leisure for the publication of those works 
which have given such celebrity to his name. Rees's 
Cyclopcedia. 
RUSH; Flowering, or Water Gladiole. See Butomus. 
—Rush, Lesser Flowering. See Scheuchzeria.—Rush, 
Round, Black-headed, Marsh, or Bog. See Sciioenus.— 
Rush, Sweet. See Acorus.—Rush, Grass. See SciR- 
PUS. 
RUSHA, a small island near the west coast of Scotland. 
Lat. 58. N. long. 2. 20. W. 
RUSHALL, 
