Aljaiuar*yPi898m-}    Dr.  Peter  Smith  and  His  Dispensatory.  5 
on  the  line  of  his  march  through  the  wilderness,  the  States  and  the 
Territories."  He  finally  settled  on  a  small,  poor  farm  on  Donnel's 
Creek,  in  the  midst  of  rich  ones,  where  he  died  December  31,  1816. 
It  seems  from  his  book  (p.  14),  published  while  he  resided  at  his 
last  home,  that  he  did  not  personally  cease  his  wanderings  and  search 
for  medical  knowledge,  as  he  states  that  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  July 
4,  181 1,  where  he  made  observations  as  to  the  effect  of  hot  and  of 
cold  air  tipon  the  human  system.  It  is  certain  that  he  not  only 
taught  to  the  end  in  the  pulpit,  but  ministered  as  a  physician  to 
his  neighbors  and  friends,  often  going  long  distances  from  home  for 
the  purpose.  He  concluded,  near  the  end  of  his  long  and  varied 
experiences,  that :  "  Men  have  contrived  to  break  all  God's  ap- 
pointments but  this :  '  It  is  appointed  for  all  men  once  to  die!  " 
Peter  Smith,  preacher,  farmer,  physician,  pioneer,  aggressive  abo- 
litionist .before  Wendell  Phillips  or  William  Lloyd  Garrison  were 
born,  is  buried  in  a  neglected  graveyard  near  Donnelsville,  Clark 
County,  O.  No  photograph  or  other  likeness  remains  to  revive  the 
features  of  this  picturesque  personage. 
Such  is  the  life-record  of  this  man,  who,  so  far  as  the  writer  can 
determine,  published  the  first  western  Work  on  materia  medica. 
On  the  following  page  is  a  fac-simile  title-page  of  this  unique 
book. 
Next  follows  the  rare  and  lengthy  copyright,  not  of  the  United 
States,  but  of  the  "  District  of  Ohio."  Succeeding  the  copyright, 
which  covers  an  entire  page,  follows  the  "  Advertisement,"  in  which 
Dr.  Smith  states  that  "  he  puts  the  price  of  one  dollar  on  this  book 
of  advice,  well  knowing  that  seventy- five  cents  would  be  enough;" 
but  he  adds  that  "  those  who  do  not  choose  to  allow  him  twenty-five 
cents  for  his  advice  may  desist  from  the  purchase."  In  the  preface 
that  follows,  words  are  used  in  true  Oliver  Cromwell  style,  no 
equivocating,  no  evasion.  An  axe  is  an  axe  and  a  spade  is  a  spade. 
He  placed  himself  directly  in  the  path  of  the  medical  profession,  an 
extract  from  the  preface  being  illustrative  of  how  he  censured  him- 
self for  following  the  advice  of  the  learned  Dr.  Rush  : 
"  While  I  lived  in  Georgia,  a  very  great  attention  was  paid  by  almost  every- 
body thereto  calomel  and  jalap,  for  after  Dr.  Rush's  publications  relative  to  the 
yellow  fever,  there  was  calomel  and  jalap  prescribed  for  everything,  so  that  the 
poor  old  tartar-emetic  lay  dead  in  the  shops,  and  I,  like  other  fools,  gave  it  lib- 
erally." 
After  the  eight-page  preface  comes  the  "  Introduction,"  in  which, 
