Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/716

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LEIDY
694
LEIDY

him to Europe and render much vahiable aid in the search and selection of desirable speci- mens, a work for which he was especially qualified. They visited the most c°lebrated schools and museums of Europe and spent many thousands of dollars in the purchase of teaching material. It was during this trip that Leidy made the acquaintance of such dis- tinguished anatomists and physiologists as Owen, Magendie, Hyrtl, Milne, Edwards, Jo- hannes Muller, and many others. Leidy went abroad on tw'o subsequent occasions and was accompanied by his wife on the last trip. Un- fortunately she was taken seriously ill and as soon as she recovered sufficiently to travel they returned to America. Dr. Leidy lectured on physiology in the Medical Institute of Philadelphia in 1851 and in 18.S2 and in May, 1853, after the death of Dr. Horner the previous March, Dr. Leidy, at the age of thirty, was elected professor of anatomy. In this capacity he served faithful- ly during the remainder of his life, a period of thirty-eight years, and in addition, a few years before his death, filled the chair of pro- fessor of zoology and comparative anatomy. It was universally conceded that he was the highest authority on the subject of human anatomy in this country. In 1871 he was elected professor of natural history in Swarth- more College, a position which he filled for many years, until failing health forced him to relinquish it. In 1864 Leidy married Anna, a daughter of Robert Harden, of Louisville, Kentucky. They had no children, but some years later adopted Alwinia, the infant daughter of the late Pro- fessor Franks of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Leidy was fond of children and de- rived great pleasure from his daughter and her little playmates. His family life was quiet and unassuming and a deep affection between the three members of the circle was a touching tribute to their unity of thought. Dr. Leidy always was averse to the discus- sion of religious opinions, but stated that through life he had been conscious of having been a devoted worshiper "of an ever-present God, without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground," and he often felt an- noyed at the implied reproach of infidelity by the self-sufficient who consider that they fulfill all religious duty in lip-service to the same Deity. Leidy's own religious views were largely in accord with those of the Unitarian church. In August, 1851, Leidy was elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and he was secretary of the committee on lectures under the Mutter Trust, from Jan- uary, 1864. In November, 1883, the College exempted him from future payment of an- nual contributions "on account of his scien- tific achievements." In 1854 the University of Pennsylvania appointed him its delegate to the meeting of the American Medical Asso- ciation, at St. Louis, and again in 1872, at Phila- delphia. At the St. Louis meeting he was ap- pointed chairman of a committee on diseases of parasitic origin. His war service consist- ed in filling the office of acting assistant sur- geon in the Army from 1862 to its close. He made about sixty autopsies which are report- ed in "The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion." He was appoint- ed a member of the Sanitary Commission As- sociation, April 3, 1862; and on September 11 the state of Pennsylvania appointed him chief surgeon within the old limits of the city of Philadelphia. As early as 1864 he at- tributed the spread of hospital gangrene to flies. Dr. Leidy was elected a member of the National Academy of Science, in 1863, at the time of its organization. In 1885 he was elected president of the Wagner Free Insti- tue of Science in Philadelphia; and in 1889, at the time of its organization, president of the Association of American Anatomists. In 1886 Harvard University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, and the Boston Society of Natural History awarded to him, in 1879, the Walker grand prize of $500, which in this instance Vifas raised to $1,000, as a special recognition of his investigations and discoveries in zoology and paleontology, and in the same year he received a prize from the Royal Microscopical Society. The Geological Society of London gave him, in 1884, the Sir Charles Lycll medal for his paleontological researches ; and in 1888 he re- ceived the Cuvier medal from the Paris Acad- emy of Science for his work in biology. In the period from 1845 to 1887 he was elected honorary member by more than forty of the learned societies of Europe and America. Time has greatly emphasized the impor- tance of some of Leidy's original discoveries. In 18-16 he discovered the Trichinclla spiralis in pork, and in this connection it has been stated that "From a viewpoint of public health, his discovery of Trichinclla spiralis in swine seems to be his most practical contribution to helmintholog}'." In 1849 he demonstrated the existence of bacterial flora in the intestine and in 1851 he originated the method of transplantation of tumors in pathological re- search. He transplanted small fragments of a human cancer imder the skin of a frog and found that thcv maintained themselves for a