Am.  Jour.  Pharm."t 
January,  1904.  / 
John  Morgan. 
Dr.  Morgan  in  his  first  communication  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  also  in  his  discourse,  awards  full 
credit  to  all  previous  lecturers,  and,  in  referring  to  his  plan  of  estab- 
lishing a  school  of  medicine  in  connection  with  the  college,  says : 
"  What  led  me  to  it,  was  the  obvious  utility  that  would  attend  it, 
and  the  desire  I  had  of  presenting,  as  a  tribute  of  gratitude  to  my 
alma  mater,  a  lull  and  enlarged  plan  for  the  institution  of  medicine 
in  all  its  branches  in  this  seminary,  where  I  had  part  of  my  educa- 
tion, being  among  the  first  sons  who  shared  its  public  honors.  I 
was  further  induced  to  it  from  a  consideration  that  private  schemes 
of  propagating  knowledge  are  unstable  in  their  nature,  and  the  culti- 
vation of  useful  learning  can  only  be  effectually  promoted  under 
those  who  are  patrons  of  science,  and  under  the  authority  and  direc- 
tion of  men  incorporated  for  the  improvement  of  literature." 
In  speaking  of  the  necessary  professorship  of  anatomy,  Dr.  Morgan 
says:  "  Dr.  Shippen  having  been  concerned  already  in  teaching  that 
branch  of  medical  science  is  a  circumstance  favorable  to  our  wishes, 
few  here  can  be  ignorant  of  the  great  opportunity  he  has  had  abroad 
for  qualifying  himself  in  anatomy,  and  that  he  has  already  given 
three  courses  in  this  city,  and  designs  to  enter  upon  a  fourth  course 
next  winter." 
Shippen  subsequently  applied  for,  and  was  given,  the  chair  of 
anatomy  and  surgery  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Morgan  was  undoubtedly  the  first  teacher  of  the  theory  and 
practice  of  medicine,  materia  medica,  pharmacy  and  pharmaceutical 
chemistry  in  America.  That  he  taught  all  of  these  branches  appears 
from  the  announcement  of  the  first  course  of  lectures  in  the  College 
of  Philadelphia,  quoted  from  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  for  September 
26,  1765. 
A  course  of  lectures  on  Materia  Medica,  by  John  Morgan,  M.D.,  etc.  Price 
four  pistoles. 
The  course  will  commence  on  the  18th  day  of  November,  and  will  be  given 
three  times  a  week  at  the  college,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  till  fin- 
ished, which  will  last  between  three  and  four  months. 
To  render  these  lectures  as  instructive  as  possible  to  students  of  physic,  the 
Doctor  proposes,  in  the  course  of  them,  to  give  some  useful  observations  in 
general,  and  the  proper  manner  of  conducting  the  study  of  physic. 
The  authors  to  be  read  in  the  materia  medica  will  be  pointed  out.  The  vari- 
ous substances  made  use  of  in  medicine  will  be  reduced  under  classes  suited  to 
the  principal  indications  in  the  cure  of  diseases.  Similar  virtues  in  different 
plants,  and  their  comparative  powers  will  be  treated  of  and  an  inquiry  made 
