Vienna, London, Paris and other medical centres.
In 1883 he settled in Cleveland where he began a surgical career, which ultimately brought him to the front of his profession. He was early appointed to the department of surgery in the Western Reserve University, where in time he became professor of surgery and clinical surgery. He also joined the surgical staffs of a number of hospitals, but he served for the longest period at the Lakeside Hospital where ultimately he became surgeon-in-chief. His professional practice rapidly grew to large proportions, and he was frequently called for operations or consultations to distant parts of the state and even beyond it. During all this time he was a frequent contributor to medical literature, and an active supporter and a patron of the Cleveland Medical Library,—an institution which owes much to his able and generous support.
He held many honorary positions during his life. At one time he was president of the Ohio State Medical Society, and for a number of years was secretary, and finally president (1906–1907), of the American Surgical Association. About this time he was elected an honorary fellow of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, and later was awarded the degree of LL. D. from his own College (Oberlin). In 1910 he resigned all his medical positions, and with his wife (who before marriage was Miss Elizabeth S. Severance, of Cleveland) made a tour around the world.
During his busy professional life he had found time to interest himself in the fine arts, and when he was free to travel he indulged his ever increasing desire to see more of the world and he made valuable collections of paintings and engravings, and especially of old Chinese porcelains, in the knowledge of which he was a recognized expert. His comprehensive interest also included architecture, horticulture and music, and his knowledge and judgment in these specialties were astonishing in one whose life-work lay in other directions. Dr. Allen died suddenly in New York City on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 1915.
Allen, Harrison (1841–1897)
Harrison Allen, born in Philadelphia, April 17, 1841, was the son of Samuel Allen and of Elizabeth Justice Thomas. On his father's side he was descended from Samuel Allen, who came over here from England with William Penn. He had his early education in the public grammar schools and at the Central High School of Phialdelphia, and as a boy was greatly interested in natural history, and though afterwards he would have preferred pure science, financial considerations led him to study medicine, including dentistry
It became necessary for Allen to leave school during his high school course and seek work. He tried two or three things and finally studied dentistry under Dr. J. Foster Flagg (q.v.), devoting his spare moments to reading medical books, and taking the regular courses in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1861. Upon graduation he became a resident physician in the Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia.
He was for the greater part of the war stationed in hospitals in and near Washington where a large part of his limited leisure was spent at the Smithsonian Institution, and there he came under the influence of Professors Joseph Henry and Spencer F. Baird.
Upon his resignation from the army Allen entered upon the practice of medicine in Philadelphia. Partly owing to his dental education he was led to develop the special surgery of the air passages, and among his fifty-odd papers on medical and surgical subjects, many relate more or less closely to this field of work.
At the time Harrison Allen began the practice of medicine there was little opportunity for a man to earn his living by entire devotion to science and teaching. While he was forced into practice for a livelihood, his deeper interests were in natural science, and these led him to welcome the ill-paid teaching positions offered.
Meanwhile, in the midst of practice and teaching he was actively engaged in scientific investigation, much influenced at first by his teacher, Joseph Leidy (q.v.). He joined the group of investigators which worked in the building occupied by the well known Philadelphia School of Anatomy and became an active member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
The subject of his thesis at graduation was "Entozoa Hominis." This title suggests the guiding hand of Joseph Leidy, who did so much in this field. Allen's first published scientific paper, entitled "A Description of New Pteropine Bats from Africa," appeared in the "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences" in July, 1861. This was the beginning of a series of some thirty-odd papers relating to bats. Of these the most important was his "Monograph on the Bats of North America" published by the Smithsonian In-
