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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
ii: the chair of ancient languages, his choice
being Gessner Harrison, then barely twenty-
one years of age, and he held the appoint-
ment for one year, but during that time he
gave such abundant evidence of his talent
and unusual attainments in scholarship, that
in the following year his installation was
made permanent, and his service was
destined to cover the long period of thirty-
one years, only ending then at his own voli-
tion. He was probably the first in the
United States to employ the methods of
comparative grammar in teaching Latin and
Greek. He was insistent upon an ample
knowledge of history and geography in
studying the classics, and, for want of text-
books, himself prepared a pamphlet to meet
the needs of his students. For seven years
Professor Harrison occupied the position
of chairman of the faculty, finally declinbig
reelection. In 1859, overburdened by the
pressure of work, he resigned and removed
t(/ Albemarle county, where he opened a
classical school for boys, which was subse-
quently removed to Xelson county, and was
an institution of greatest influence through-
out the South. Professor Harrison was the
author of two works of approved merit:
- 'Greek Prepositions," Philadelphia, 1848,
and ** Exposition of Some of the Laws of Latin Grammar," New York, 1852. He also wrote for Duyckinck's "Cyclopedia of Amer- ican Literature," a historical sketch of the University of Virginia.
Emmet, John Patten, M. D., born at Dub- lin, Ireland, April 8, 1796, son of Thomas Addis Emmet, the distinguished Irish pa- triot, who emigrated to this country in 1804, settling in New York City, where he be- came a lawyer of note, and was elected
attorney -general of the state in 1812. John
P. Emmet accompanied his father to the
United States, and attended a private school
in Flatbush. Long Island, New York. In
1814 he entered the United States Military
Academy at West Point, and after gradua-
tion was detailed as acting assistant pro-
fessor of mathematics, which position he
held until his resignation early in 1817,
owing to ill health. In 1819, upon his re-
turn to New York from Naples, whither he
had gone in order to recuperate, he began
the study of medicine under the preceptor-
ship of Dr. William J. Macneven, after
which he matriculated in the New York
College of Physicians and Surgeons, from
which he received his medical degree in
1822. He at once located for active practice
in Charleston, South Carolina, remaining
until 1825, and while so engaged gained a
reputation as a popular lecturer on Chem-
istry, his lectures attracting the attention of
the founders of the University of Vifginia,
and when the first professors of that insti-
tution were appointed, in 1825, Dr. Emmet
was called to the chair of chemistry, and his
warrant, written and signed by Thomas
Jefferson, is yet preserved. Dr. Emmet
served in that capacity until 1842, a period
of seventeen years, and during a portion of
that time delivered a regular course of lec-
tures upon materia medica as well as on
chemistry. In addition to his capability as
a lecturer, he was a skilled draughtsman, a
sculptor of no mean ability, a musician, a
composer, skillful in the composition of
English verse, and was a careful writer,
chiefly upon chemical and kindred topics.
The more notable of his papers are con-
tained in "Silliman's Journal ;'* these include
- • Iodide of Potassium as a Test for Arsenic,"
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