The object of this work is to describe the evolution of medicine in Philadelphia, from the time of Jan Peterson, the earliest practitioner on record, to the present day. It is, as all history must necessarily be, a description of events and of institutions, and incidentally, a biographical record of those who have been most prominent in both. Estimates of the character of the distinguished men whose names appear on almost every page, and comparisons of institutions, have been sedulously avoided. The facts are left to speak for themselves, the true office of themselves . . . and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of every man’s judgment.” In dealing with such a multiplicity of names, dates and events, mistakes may have crept in, in spite of the most careful supervision; but if this be so, it is a consolation to know that many errors of previous writers have been corrected. A work of this sort has never before been attempted. The nearest approach to it is the admirable Early History of Medicine in Philadelphia, by the late Prof. George W. Norris, M. D., but this was, “for the most part, written in 1845,” and was finished at the time of the distinguished author’s death, in 1875. Chapters of the medical history of Philadelphia have been written by others, notably by the late Drs. Joseph Carson and W. S. W. Ruschenberger, but the work of the former is limited to the University of Pennsylvania, and that of the latter to the College of Physicians. Keywords: History of the Medical Profession in Philadelphia, Frederick P. Henry, Jan Petterson, Physican, George W. Norris, M.D, Medical Care, Medicine,

Book Details