History and reminiscences of the Philadelphia almshouse and Philadelphia hospital ... / Reprinted from Philadelphia hospital reports.

Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History and reminiscences of the Philadelphia almshouse and Philadelphia hospital ... / Reprinted from Philadelphia hospital reports. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    )£ THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE PHILADELPHIA ALMSHOUSE. By D. HAYES AGNEW, M.D.: Gentlemen:—I am before you to-day by appointment of the medical board, to discharge a service preliminary to the opening of the annual course of clinical lectures in the hospital. For some time I have been engaged in gathering material from a great variety of sources, written and unwritten, to secure the history of the Philadelphia Almshouse from oblivion, if not utter loss. The field is extensive and interesting, though its paths have been much obscured by the decay of time. So interwoven is it with the secularities of Philadelphia, that no history of this city, civil. political or professional, would be complete with' ut it. The medical history of the Philadelphia Almshouse covers a period of one hundred and twenty years, during which time it has been located in three different positions. First, on the square between Spruce and Pine and Third and Fourth streets, at that time called the Green Meadows: next on the square between Spruce and Pine and Eleventh and Twelfth streets, long known P Dr. Agnew was a member from 1858 to 1865 of the surgical staff of the Philadelphia Hospital. He was also curator of the museum from 1861 to 1867. This •History' was a lecture delivered at the opening of the clinical lectures at the hospital, October 15, 1862, and records the most important medical facts connected with the institution to that date. It was published by request of the board of guardians, and was printed by Holland & Edgar. 54 North Eighth street, Philadelphia; but it has long been practically out of print. Dr. Agnew has kindly given his consent to its re-publication in this volume of Reports to which it forms a fitting introduction- A few notes have been added and a few corrections made, but it is repro- duced nearly as originally published. The notes added are placed in brackets. In the his- torical and miscellaneous memoranda, to be given later, will be found some addenda, relating to facts occurring within the period covered by Dr. Agnew, but not mentioned by him.] The following prefatory acknowledment is made by the author: I am indebted to the board of guardians for free access to the records of the house : to Drs. Gin-in and Benton, resi- dent physicians of the Philadelphia Hospital, for valuable assistance in searching these records; to Mr. Samuel Hazzard. secretary of the Philadelphia Historical Society, for information which the works of that library supplied : to Mr. Mickley, whose rare collection of old works is unsurpassed: to Professors Jackson and Hodge, and Drs. Gerhard and Stille. whose acquaintance with matters pertaining to the subjects treated on, proved of much consequence in enabling me to ascertain facts connected with subjects on which written documents were silent, and to Mr. Cavender, whose industry in arranging the records is most praiseworthy.