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Waterhouse, Benjamin, 1754-1846. Place book of Benjamin Waterhouse, circa 1790-1803 (inclusive). H MS b16.4, Countway Library of Medicine.

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Contains autobiographical information and copies of correspondence written by Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846) from the 1790s to the early 1800s. Passages include notes on Waterhouse’s tenure as Professor of Natural History at Harvard, and notes on botany, in addition to correspondence regarding smallpox vaccination. The final page of writing includes a quotation from Waterhouse, of which there is a typed transcription tipped into the volume: "I consider myself the father of natural history in general, and mineralogy and botany in particular in Harvard College. If I was not who was?"

Biographical Notes

Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846) was the first Hersey Professor of Theory and Practice of Physic at Harvard Medical School. He introduced vaccination against smallpox using cowpox matter in the United States in 1800. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was the head physician at the United States Marine Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts from 1807 to 1809. 1775, Waterhouse traveled to Europe, where under the guidance of his mother's cousin, physician John Fothergill, he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, studying medicine with professors such as William Cullen, and then at the University of Leyden in the Netherlands, from which he earned an M.D. in 1780. While attending Leyden, Waterhouse stayed in the home of John Adams, then American minister to the Netherlands. After returning to the United States, he became the first professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (1782) and was one of the three original members of the Harvard Medical School faculty, alongside John Warren (1753-1815) and Aaron Dexter (1750-1829). In addition to his position as professor of medicine, Waterhouse was a lecturer in natural history from 1788 until 1809, when his course was abolished by Harvard.

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(seq. 16)
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(seq. 16)

ther, and these conjoined to chemistry, to read distinctly.

Then I gave a general description of the Terraqueous globe, with the elements, so called, fire, air and water, which penetrate and surround it; & containing the three kingdoms of nature, 1st. the fossil, which constitutes the crust of the earth; 2dly., the vegetable, which adorns the face of it; and then the animal kingdom, which is sustained by the vegetable.

Then I endeavored to enforce the doctrine that these three kingdoms, which cover, adorn and vary the surface of the earth, were all made out of one matter, one simple primary matter, which was constantly changing out of and into all the various substances perceived by our senses. That as nothing is, strictly speaking lost, but the sum total of matter in the universe remained

Last edit almost 3 years ago by blackletterkate
(seq. 17)
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(seq. 17)

the same. That as it was the work of omnipotence to create something out of nothing so the same omnipotent was required to reduce any thing back to nothing. That as we could not possibly suppose, that every birth, every recent production, that daily happens in the universe was an absosolute fresh creation, an evocation of something out of nothing, but a change, or mutation out of something, which was before.†

I then discussed the doctrine of firewater, air, and gravitation; and then then added the chemical affinities.

illegible

I then gave a sketch of some of the most celebrated theories of the earth, beginning with with Burnet's and ending with Buffon's. After passing some encomiums on the learn–––––––––– See Harris' Philosophical arrangements.

Last edit almost 3 years ago by blackletterkate
(seq. 18)
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(seq. 18)

ing and ingenuity of these world builders, I reminded my young friends that man was not placed here to feign how the earth was made, but to cultivate it. Here we descanted on Mineralogy, and reminded them of the riches, that lie under our feet, the particulars of which you have already received.

Before I entered on the subject of the Vegetable Kingdom, I solicited these young men, ("patriae spes, cura et amor noster") to survey with me that grand apparatus, which nature employs for the support and continuation of every organical being. This was found to be composed of the whole terraqueous globe, the sea, as well as land, together with the whole region of the Atmosphere; and that although the ascent of vapors from the ocean, their suspension in the air, the formation of clouds and the descent of rain constituted a never ceasing process; yet a full explanation, or an entire and connected chain of causes was still a desideratum in phi-

Last edit almost 3 years ago by blackletterkate
(seq. 19)
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(seq. 19)

losophy. Seeing the Earth annually covered with a rich and beautiful carpet of vegetables, and these wonderfully variegated, and gradually develloping from a seed time to harvest time," must have led those of ancient days to recognize the proximate causes, the warmth of the sun, and the moisture from the clouds, and these again to the never ceasing circulation between the Ocean and the mountains through the instrumentality of the atmosphere, & by the medium of the rivers to the Ocean again. But the full explanation of this vivifying phenomenon is spoken of in the sacred & other ancient writing, as inscrutable and past finding out. I then pointed out the connection between some parts of the creation, which appear at first view to have no relation to each other; as between the ocean and the mountain, between the sea and vegetation. Here I endeavored to show them the dependencies, relations and the reciprocal

Last edit almost 3 years ago by blackletterkate
(seq. 20)
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(seq. 20)

uses of the remote parts of the great system of nature; demonstrating an unity of design througout the vast fabric of the world.

After this general view of things, we decended to the consideration of matter, so artfully arranged, as to obtain the name of organization. From this state to a vegetating body was an easy transition. Here we tried to discover the first glow of life, but found it obscured in such a shade of ambiguity, that we could not name the body, which constituted the last link in the chain of vitality, or the place where nature, in regard to life, has marked her degree of naught.† Thus prepared as it regarded these young gentlemen the doctrine of life, or the motive principle in an organical body, I thought these young gentleman were fitted to contemplate the curious organization of a vegetable, together with the vegetative ---------------------------- †Dr. Brown

Last edit almost 3 years ago by blackletterkate
Displaying pages 16 - 20 of 62 in total