Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1855-06-13
VOL. 2. NO. 35.


reputation for his accurate scientific acquire
ments- The London Lancet on the first ap-
! pearance of the Scdlpel. claimed the credit of
originating q this glorious Journal, in seven
/ pages of extracts, alleging g that if there had
been no Lancet in Europe, there wonld have
been no Scalpel in America y the London
Nears and the Times followed, and declared
that the Journal had all the charms of ro-
nance, with the highest moral and scientific
tone Several other works, on practical sub
jects, have originated from DIR. Dixon's pen,
and have proved his varied capacity for severe
! investigation of the more abstract principles
of his profession His practice, however is
almost exclusively confined to surgery. and
consultations on the more difficult and obscure
diseases Of woman His celebrated work on
| the latter subject, has won him the peculiar
confidence of the sex, In all questions more
Immediately connected with the preservation
of their health whilst the high moral tone of
all his writing removes all embarrassment
that might originate from his viyacious man
ner, for he has himself remarked in some Of
his humorous scalpellings," - have much
more the appearance of an opera singer or .
pirate than of the gravity of physician or
surgeon"
DR.. Dixon's social habits are most acreea-
Bile no man can be in his company without
catching the mirthfai coutagion of his warm
impulsiVeness- The social reunions at his
house are rendered peculiarly delightful by
the refined yet genial receptions of q wife and
daughter, whose charming naturalness Of mAa-
ner render them universally beloved and adj
mired amongst the intellectual circle by ghich
they are surrounded He requires and takes
much exercise on foet until of late years,
twenty or thirty mile walks in the cosntry.
were of semi-weekiy occurrence; at present
he may be seen stridiRg through the streets.
and rushing into shops and printing effces.
like some wiry and high-strung race-herse
He has 3 powerful muscular system, and not
pound of fat On his body, ner ever viii he
have; he is too active
] A pecaliarity of DIR. Dixon's is the extra
ordinary retentipesess of his memory, especi-
ally for the more classic productions Of the
poets. We have heard it related of him,
that on occasion of a long ride to one of the
watering places, m company with the Honor
able Robt J. Walker, and st. George Camp
| bell, of Philadelphia, the conversation was
| chiefly ON Poetry, when the Doctor quoted so
| freely from Chaucer down to our living poets.
that a wager was made the next evening that
! he would repeat extemporaneously hundred
| verses from various authors 1t was forthwith
taken; the Doctor being forcibiy seized, was
carried to the parlor. and compelled to begin.
before the whole company piece after piece
| followed, and he got into the spirit Of his au-
thors occasionally he woald stop and beg to
be released, but the ladies carried 1t by accla-
! nation, that he must proceed Peculiar
| pleasure was derived from his extraordinary
fire and pathos, and inimitable quaiBtpess as
the quotations we're poured forth like water
fall. The interest was greatly heightened by
| the absence of all announcement of trzes to
the pieces quoted, the listener being ealiged
to gather the sentiment as the piece was reci-
ted, or to draw upon his own memory and
reading for the titles Our informant remarks,
that he never saw the feelings of an audience
! so played upon by any dramatist on the pub
lie stage. Several hundred verses were re-
peated, amid tears and shouts of laughter of
the audience, and it was voted neps con- that
the Doctor was entitled to the thanks of the
house fer his inimitable entertainRent
On several occasions DIR. Dixon has address
sed the young men of this city ON physical
and intellectual culture, and given ample
proof by his masterly control of the audience.
that he might have taken the highest rank as
legal orator or a statesmen. He takes, how
ever, no part IN politics, and the writer has
heard him say, he never In sH his life was
present at political meeting. There is not an
4 actor of any note who has appeared upon our
boards for twenty years preceding the last ten,
\ of whom the Doctor cannot give graphic
impersonation in voice and saanner; but his
extensive professional duties aud journal now
absorb his entire attention, SO that he is rarely
seen at places of amusement.
i The doctor narses with peculiar gusto some
antipathies and takes grcat pleasure in direc-
/ ting against them his satirical mssves. To-
| bacco in every form, waking sticks, rocking
I chairs. jewelry. receive at his pen unmerciful
ridicule, whilst he greatly admires elegance
of attire, artistically furnished apartments. and
all manly and athletic exercises. We have
often been enchanted with the eloquent srti-
cles on the subject of physical developement
as essential to a healthy mind, in the pages of
his journal The articles on the Cultivation
of the Life Power, as he is fond of calling
health, arc equal in eloquence TO any we have
ever read, and will do more to elevate the
condition of our young men than the abstract
inculcation of all the ethical and moral codes
ever promulgated. There is vitality about
that is soullinspiring: YOU feel the writer's
;. heart beat in every line His love of humor
; is uncomfortable, neither the gravity of his
profession, nor the overhowing synpathies of
his nature, can overcome It, When you open
his journal you feel that it could have been
written by no other than--Dixon. Tears at
, his scenes in practice, shouts of laughter at
his satirical sketches and anecdotes, and in
| dignation at his audacious charges upon your
E | self and your vices, are sure to follow the
: pcrsual of his uneqnaled pages. The reader
i, will throw il down With indignation. when
: some quaint line viii meet his eye. and he will
be surprised at an exquisitely satirical sketch
o of the editor on some of his follies. written by
! 4 Ano, 81 -~--.->