The Washington herald., 1907-06-04
FAMOUS PHYSICIANS
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

Among the surgeons and physicians o
America there has been a high percent
age Of men who have become famou:
through important discoveries made 10y
research and experimentation. While tn,
ancients who probed into the fascinating
mysteries Of life and death in stonC
towers under 1aring torch and flicker
ing lamp. were justly looked upon as wise
men by the laymen Of their time, the
seer Of bygone centuries would be a child
to-day IN comparison with the twentieth
century physician or surgeon, with his
inherited wisdom and knowledge-of pres
ent-day discoveries,
OF the Americans OF 100 years ago. few
were keener students than Samuel George
Morton. a Philadelphia Quaker. whose
parents intended thar he should be a
merchant, but who turned to medicine
when his distaste for mercantile life made
him rebel az the prospect Of st0rekeeping
1t was not as a practitioner. but as a
philosopher. that Morton won the widest
recognition. He fixed his attention upon
ethnology and began collecting skulls
He wrote two notable works. "Crania
Americana and "Crania Egypticana.
descriptive Of the characteristics Of the
skulls Of the two races.
DR.. Morton evolved the theory that race
supremacy depended upon the cubic
inches Of brain space. rather than upon
education. climate. or warlike character.
He set about forming the greatest collec-
tiOn Of skulls that had ever been gotten
together. In America lie secured skulls
Of ll5 Toltecan Indians. and l6l Indians
Of other tribes. To get skulls Of the five
great races he visited various countries,
rifing the Pyramids and Phoenician
tombs. as well as the temples Of the
InCas. He collected altogether 1000 human
skulls, as well as 700 Of mammals, fish,
and reptiles. He became so familiar with
skulls Of the various races that when an
acquaintance seeking 10 test his knOwl-
edge. sent him a skull anonymously, he
promptly labeled it Phoenician." After
ward he learned that he was right Il
had been eXhumed from tomb at Malta.
DR.. Morton found that the Teutonic race.
including German English, and Anglo
Americans had a skull space of % cubic
inches, and HottentOts only 70 cubic
inches. Between the highest and lowest
were Celtic, s. cubic inches: Malay. IS.
Chinese, S2: African negro. Sc. North
American Indian, 81, and Toltecan Indian.
=. Tracing the history of the races, he
proved to his satisfaction that cranial
capacity had always meant race dOmi-
nance. An example was the retreat Of the
TolteCans before the barbarous Indians.
despite the superior civilization Of the
former. Another was the fusion Of the
swarthy Caucasians in Central and South
American countries with Indians Of the
same brain space. and their resultant de-
generation. The Anglo-Saxons. with the
largest brain space, declined 10 amalga-
mate with the North American Indians
and drove them from the soil
A busy practiCing physician of this cen
turv. who is no less a student than DR..
Morton was In his day. is s Weir Mitch
ell. Of Philadelphia. now seventy-eight
years old. DR.. Mitchell. aside from hav-
ing won international fame as a specialist
in nervous diseases. has been an author Of
note for many years. He wrote Hugh
Wyune.' one Of the most popular Ameri-
can novels. Dr. Mitchell practices his
speciality most Of the year. His vacations
are spent i'm the woods. and he rests by
writing I'm the open air. After having
written voluminously upon medical sub
jects. Dr. Mitchell turned to fiction, and
during the civil war wrote such fancifUl
literature as THE ChIdren's Hour. The
Wonderful Stories Of FuZ Buz. the Fly,
and Mother Grabom, the Spider Prince
Littleboy and Other Tales from Fairy
land" as well as poems and novels. Dr,
Mitchell is more than six feet tall, wears
a full beard and is considered very much
like the poet Browning in appearance.
His patients have come from all parts Of
America and foreign countries
The late Bill Nye once said that every
one who ever amounted to anything in
America was once a poor boy. with the
exception Of DR.. Mary Walker. There
have been. however. not few American
and surgeons Of note who have
come from the higher walks of life. Dr.
Jerome X Bauduy. of St Louis. who was
born I'm Cuba, in 1S40, is a grandson Of
Pierre. the only brother Of Alexander
Bauduv. who bore the title Of Baron de
Bauduv, serving under Napoleon | and
dying q genera in the service Of France.
DT Bauduy was educated in Georgetown
College, Washington, and the University
IF Louvain. Belgium. When the civil war
was declared. he Joined the Army of the
Potomac and was In the battle Of Bull
Run. He was afterward transferred to
the Army Of the Cumberland and at
-ached 10 the personal staff Of Maj. Gen.
ROseCraus. He is a member Of many
medical societies, and has occupied many
important positions as a lecturer upon
nervous and mental diseases. He is also
the author OF many important contribu-
tons 10 medical literature.
Or Edward Dram Shakespeare, Of Rose
mont. Pa. is descended from Edmund
a brother Of William Shake
speare. while through his grandmother
he is descended from The Lords of the
Isles and the Thames Of Argyle and
Kintyre. Through his mother, who was
Catherine Haman, he inherits the blood
Of the ancient barons Of Chevequer and
Gotham. DR.. Shakespeare was the ply
siciau who discovered, during the ty-
ohoid fever epidemic a few years ago at
Wyoming Valley. near Wilkesbarre. that
the disease came from the pollution OF
the supply Of mountain water through
the careless handling of one patient the
preceding winter. He was afterward
sent by the United States government to
Spain to study cholera and make a re-
port to Congress.
DR. Miles Standish Of Boston. is another
American physician Of distinguished lin
cage. He IS a descendant Of the Pilgrim
.aptain who came over in the Mayf1ower in
$50 blooded Irishman who won fame
IS an American physician was William
lanes Macneven. a nephew of Baron
Iacueven. He was born in County Gal
yr-qc r,~ar,1fuaur in Irish fairs