of poor respectable married women. Singular as it may appear, it was founded by the gallant and patriotic young gentlemen of Philadelphia, who formed the “First Troop of City Cavalry.” Their pay for services due them by the Government at the end of the Revolutionary war was generously donated for this especial purpose. The interest of the sum thus appropriated amounted annually to between five and six hundred dollars.[1] At the time of opening these wards, Dr. James was elected Accoucheur of the Hospital, and continued in office until 1832.
Dr. James did little as a writer; he read papers occasionally upon obstetrical cases, or kindred subjects, before the College of Physicians, of which he was elected the fourth President in 1835. As one of the editors of the “Eclectic Repertory,” he contributed to its success by his industry in selecting materials for publication, as well as by his pen as a journalist;[2] but no elaborate work upon his especial branch was attempted by him, and he contented himself most modestly with editing “Burns’ Principles of Midwifery,” and “Merriman’s Synopsis,” which were published as text-books for the students attending his lectures. He died in 1835.[3]
In 1835 the Chair of Materia Medica and Pharmacy became vacant by resolution of the Board of Trustees. From the year 1819 this professorship had been held by Dr. Coxe.
Dr. John Redman Coxe was born in New Jersey, in 1773, and was educated in Philadelphia under the charge of his grandfather, Dr. Redman, until his tenth year, when he went to England and remained until his seventeenth year. In Edinburgh he completed his classical education, and attended a course of medical lectures at the University of that city. In 1790 he returned to America, and after studying medicine
- ↑ The first intention of the Trustees of this fund was to establish a Foundling Institution. From this they were diverted by the arguments of the Managers of the Hospital, and determined, in the application of the money, to found an Obstetrical Ward. (See Records of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, and Minutes of Pennsylvania Hospital.)
- ↑ The “Eclectic Repertory,” conducted by an Association of Physicians, was begun in 1811, and terminated in 1820.
- ↑ In the “Lives of Eminent American Physicians and Surgeons,” is one of Dr. James, by Caspar Morris; M. D.
