COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSjTE 
 
 HEALTH SCIENCES STANpARD 
 
 HX64096777 
 R1 54.M69 T79 1 91 4 S. Weir Mitchell; a 
 
 RECAP 
 
 'The Little Biographies 
 
 . OTeir iWiitcfjea 
 
 Peberlep E. %wktx 
 
h ^ 
 
 mvo^.V(\<5"^ T7^ 
 
 
 Sffprfttr? SItbrarg 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 Open Knowledge Commons 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/sweirmitchellbriOOtuck 
 
S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 A brief sketch of his life 
 with personal recollections 
 
 BY 
 
 BEVERLEY R. TUCKER 
 
 BOSTON: RICHARD G. BADGER 
 
 THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED, TORONTO 
 
Copyright, 1914, by Richard G. Badger 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 1^ 154- 
 
 The Gorham Press, Boston^ U. S. A- 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 S. Weir Mitchell 7 
 
 The Physician 1 1 
 
 As a Scientist 21 
 
 As a Novelist 25 
 
 As a Poet 35 
 
 As a Citizen 40 
 
 Personal Recollections 42 
 
S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 IF one were required to write a description 
 of the wonderful rose window of Notre 
 Dame, many difficulties would beset his 
 effort. Every change in the light of the 
 day would bring out new colors and shadows, 
 every inspection would reveal new wonders of 
 technique, every attempted description, while 
 possibly adequate in one particular, would fall 
 short in others of this many colored marvel. All 
 who view it, critic or casual observer, are, how- 
 ever, brought to the one general conclusion that 
 it is a majestic work of art, and all leave with 
 a sense of intense and personal admiration. How 
 much harder is it to depict this many-gifted 
 man; this physician, this scientist, this novelist, 
 this poet, this humanitarian, this friend! Still, 
 I am tempted to lay before you an imperfect 
 sketch of Dr. Mitchell, believing that as you 
 learn more and more of him you will not be so 
 
 7 
 
8 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 much appalled by his genius as drawn and ele- 
 vated by a feeling of personal admiration for 
 this truly great and learned man, 
 
 Silas Weir Mitchell was born in Philadel- 
 phia, February 15th, 1829, and died in the 
 same city at his home, 1524 Walnut Street, Jan- 
 uary 4th, 19 14. He was the son of John Kears- 
 ley Mitchell and Sarah Matilda, nee Henry, 
 daughter of Alexander Henry. His grand- 
 father, Alexander Mitchell, emigrated from 
 Scotland and settled near Alexandria, Va., and 
 later moved to near Charles Town, then Vir- 
 ginia, now in Jefferson County, West Virginia, 
 where his father was born. His father moved 
 to Philadelphia and was an eminent physician 
 who for years, until his death in 1858, was pro- 
 fessor of practice of medicine in Jefferson Med- 
 ical College, Philadelphia. His father also had 
 decided literary taste and published several vol- 
 umes of tales and poems. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell was twice married. His first 
 wife was Mary Middleton, a daughter of Al- 
 
S. WEIR MITCHELL 9 
 
 fred Langdon Elwyn, and his second was Mary, 
 daughter of Dr. Thomas Cadwallader. A son, 
 Langdon Elwyn Mitchell, by the first marriage, 
 inherits his father's literary taste, and is well 
 known as a playwright, and his other son by this 
 marriage, Dr. John K. Mitchell, has followed 
 his father's profession and became a noted neu- 
 rologist. A daughter by the second marriage 
 died some years ago, I understand, of diphtheria 
 contracted while visiting the poor. 
 
 In his youth Dr. Mitchell was educated in 
 the grammar schools of Philadelphia and also 
 in the John F. Ferris Academy, one of the old 
 preparatory schools of Philadelphia. He then 
 took academic and medical classes at the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, but was prevented from 
 graduating by reason of ill health in his senior 
 year. Later, when his health improved, he en- 
 tered the Jefferson Medical College, from 
 which he was graduated in 1850. 
 
 Here the writer thinks It is wise to get a 
 clearer view of his career, to divide this paper 
 
10 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 into remarks on his life as a physician, as a 
 scientist, as a literary man and poet, as a pub- 
 lic citizen, and then to give some personal recol- 
 lections. 
 
THE PHYSICIAN 
 
 GRADUATING in 1850, Dr. Mitch- 
 ell entered the practice of medicine as 
 a general practitioner, and by the time 
 of the war was well known and had 
 built up an extensive practice. In 1862 he was 
 appointed army surgeon in the United States 
 army and served until 1865. During this time 
 he was active in the organization of the Chris- 
 tian Street Hospital for Nervous Diseases, and 
 was later the Acting Assistant Surgeon of Tur- 
 ner's Lane Hospital with Dr. George Moore- 
 house and Dr. W. W. Keen. 
 
 Some years after the war, in speaking of his 
 connection with Dr. Moorehouse and Dr. Keen, 
 Dr. Mitchell said : "It was agreed that each of 
 us should profit by the notes of all of us and that 
 the name of the writer of each essay should 
 stand first on the title page." 
 
 Dr. Mitchell's first paper from the volumin- 
 
 II 
 
12 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 ous notes of this hospital was on the subject of 
 sudden palsy, the result of gunshot wounds in 
 remote regions of the body. Then came a pa- 
 per on malingering and the stimulation of pa- 
 ralyses and epilepsies. These studies were 
 especially interesting because of the observa- 
 tions of the staff upon their own efforts to stim- 
 ulate diseases. In 1866 he published an im- 
 portant paper on paralysis from peripheral irri- 
 tation. With these papers began his wonderful 
 career as a specialist in nervous diseases. 
 
 With Drs. Moorehouse and Keen he wrote on 
 reflex paralysis, gunshot wounds and other in- 
 juries of nerves. The publication of these pa- 
 pers made him the greatest authority on gun- 
 shot wounds in the world at that time. 
 
 Dr. Guy Hinsdale says of Dr. Mitchell's Tur- 
 ner's Lane Hospital experience: 
 
 "The Turner's Lane Hospital received a 
 multitude of cases representing almost every 
 conceivable type of obscure nervous disease. 
 The Medical inspectors forwarded from vari- 
 
THE PHYSICIAN 13 
 
 ous fields and hospitals a vast number of cases 
 of wounds and contusions, including rare forms 
 of nerve lesion of almost every great nerve in 
 the body. 
 
 "Few persons have ever at any time had such 
 an opportunity for study, and the mass of ma- 
 terial presented was not neglected from any 
 standpoint. 
 
 "At that time ( 1 864-65 ) hypodermic medica- 
 tion was somewhat novel, and in the terrible 
 burning pain following injuries to nerves, which 
 Dr. Mitchell described under the name of 
 'causalgia,' ample use was made of hypodermic 
 injections. It was found that the sub-cutane- 
 ous administration of morphine in that affection 
 was more rapid and useful if made near the 
 site of the pain. The combined use of atropine 
 and morphine was here first suggested, and has 
 since been unanimously adopted in daily prac- 
 tice. The effects of each drug used alone were 
 studied, then of the two toegther, their antag- 
 onisms made clear, and also their agreements 
 
14 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 In action and in a common tendency to enfeeble 
 the bladder. The narcosis of morphine is les- 
 sened by the presence of atropine, but Its anal- 
 gesic power Is unaltered. 
 
 "The remote after history of the soldier pa- 
 tients suffering from nerve wounds has been an 
 interesting and untouched study, attended by all 
 sorts of difficulties. Dr. John K. Mitchell, his 
 son, has succeeded In securing the history of 
 many of these Civil War cases and recorded 
 them in a volume, published in 1895, entitled 
 "Remote Consequences of Injuries of Nerves 
 and Their Treatment." This record is of sin- 
 gular value and Is not confined to a study of the 
 Turner's Lane Hospital patients." 
 
 In 1872 Dr. Mitchell was appointed physician 
 to the Presbyterian Hospital of Philadelphia, 
 and in the same year he was appointed physician 
 to the Orthopaedic Hospital, Seventeenth and 
 Summer Streets. The name was afterward 
 changed to The Orthopaedic Hospital and In- 
 firmary for Nervous Diseases. At this hospital, 
 
THE PHYSICIAN 15 
 
 which at the time was small, he confined his 
 practice to nervous diseases and it was not long 
 before "the tail wagged the dog" and at his 
 death this hospital had grown to be one of the 
 largest special hospitals in the country. It was 
 here that Dr. Mitchell treated many of his rest 
 cases and performed with this treatment and 
 other measures many of the miraculous cures 
 for which he was famed. In 1884 he was made 
 visiting physician to the Insane Department of 
 the Philadelphia Hospital. Beside these hos- 
 pital appointments, he was connected with many 
 rest houses. Most of these houses were man- 
 aged by ladies who had been trained under him 
 in nervous work, even before the days of the 
 regular trained nurse. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell had one of the most enormous 
 consulting practices In the United States, and It 
 has been said that his Income from practice 
 has at times reached $100,000.00 a year. 
 
 Based on these hospital experiences and his 
 enormous private practice, Dr. Mitchell wrote 
 
1 6 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 as many as 150 important papers and made 
 many medical and scientific discoveries. He 
 also wrote short books, among them "Wear and 
 Tear," "Hints for the Overworked," "Doctor 
 and Patient," "Clinical Lectures on Nervous 
 Diseases" and "Fat and Blood." The latter 
 has been translated into the French, German, 
 Spanish, Italian and Russian languages. Dr. 
 Mitchell never wrote a text book on nervous dis- 
 eases. 
 
 I asked him once if he had ever been a pro- 
 fessor and he said, "Yes, for five minutes. At a 
 board meeting of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania I was asked to retire and while out I 
 was elected professor of physiology. When I 
 returned in a few minutes I resigned." Dr. 
 Mitchell was one of the greatest teachers of 
 medicine this country has even seen, but he con- 
 sistently refused to accept a professorship. 
 Many of the most prominent neurologists In this 
 country and some who died before himself were 
 his disciples and received their training while 
 
THE PHYSICIAN 17 
 
 they were his assistants or associates. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell left a profound impression upon 
 the medical fraternity. He was par excellence 
 the best type of physician. He was an untiring 
 worker himself and not only required prodig- 
 ious work of those associated with him but stim- 
 ulated their interest to such an extent that it 
 was a pleasure to make any sacrifice to work 
 under his direction. 
 
 The rest treatment was elaborated by him 
 at the bedside of a patient, an apparently hope- 
 less case. The patient was put to bed, she was 
 not allowed to see her family or receive com- 
 pany or letters, or to read or write. A special 
 nurse was obtained. Full feeding was given to 
 keep up her nutrition. Massage was inaugu- 
 rated to give her strength and aid in assimila- 
 tion. Electricity was added later. As she im- 
 proved she was allowed more and more liberty 
 until convalescence was firmly established. For 
 neuraesthenia, certain cases of hysteria and the 
 anxiety of psychoses this treatment has stood the 
 
1 8 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 test of fifty years and has been far more bene- 
 ficial than all the other treatments yet Intro- 
 duced. It must be remembered that the meas- 
 ures mentioned do not constitute the whole of 
 the rest treatment, that the treatment Is varied 
 to suit Individual cases, that the personality of 
 the physician and his comprehension of the rea- 
 sons for the treatment add both psychotherapy 
 and common sense to It. 
 
 The story Is told of a Philadelphia gentle- 
 man consulting a famous Italian physician. The 
 Italian specialist asked: "But you are from 
 America?" "Yes." "Why, then, not take the 
 VermlchelH treatment?" "What's that?" asked 
 the curious American. "What, you don't know 
 the treatment of the famous Dr. Vier Mitchell, 
 of Philadelphia?" And the American came 
 home to be cured. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell's achievements In medicine 
 would be hard to enumerate. Among them, be- 
 side the introduction of the "Rest treatment" 
 might be mentioned that he was the first to 
 
THE PHYSICIAN 19 
 
 point out that ankle colonus was due to myotonic 
 contraction of the soleus muscle. He first point- 
 ed out that nerve injuries gave remote symp- 
 toms and made other valuable observations 
 upon these injuries. He discovered the rela- 
 tion of eye strain to nervous disorders. He in- 
 troduced the physiological rest treatment for the 
 cure of sciatica. He suggested laboratory re- 
 search in insane institutions. He introduced the 
 Weir Mitchell system of massage. He added 
 much to the knowledge of tremors and reflexes 
 and made original observations upon the toxi- 
 cology of morphine and snake poisons. He did 
 valuable original work upon the physiology of 
 the cerebellum. He has been called the father 
 of neurology as a specialty in America. He was 
 one of the first to introduce the card index for 
 case records. He drew attention to the value 
 of good nutrition for nervous cases and did 
 much to advance physiology not only of the ner- 
 vous system, but also of digestion. He first 
 described the disease erythromelalgia which is 
 
20 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 known as Weir Mitchell's Disease. 
 
 He drew attention to the fact that many or- 
 ganic nervous conditions well known among the 
 white races are almost unknown in the negro 
 race. 
 
 As long as the history of medicine lasts, S. 
 Weir Mitchell's name will be known through 
 the centuries as one of the world's greatest 
 physicians. His wonderful versatility, his sane 
 mental grasp and his investigative and thera- 
 peutic ingenuity and resourcefulness were such 
 as to stamp upon the records of medical history 
 an indelible page. 
 
AS A SCIENTIST 
 
 POSSIBLY least widely known of the 
 accomplishments of this many-sided 
 man are his achievements in science. Dr. 
 Mitchell was a born physiologist and 
 psychologist and an original investigator. He 
 elaborated a system of massage which is un- 
 surpassed, after having studied the methods of 
 massage and remedial movements in many for- 
 eign countries. Much of his work in toxicology 
 is a standard to-day. He was an authority on 
 poisons, especially snake poisons. Among his 
 papers are "Experimental Researches Relative 
 to Corroval and Vao, the South American Ar- 
 row Poison," published in 1859. In this series 
 of experiments Dr. Mitchell was assited by Dr. 
 William A. Hammond. To the Smithsonian 
 contributions to knowledge Dr. Mitchell gave, 
 in i860, a paper on "Researches Upon the Ven- 
 om of the Rattlesnake." In 1869 he published 
 
 21 
 
22 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 another work on toxiocolgy. This was "On the 
 Insusceptibility of Pigeons to the Toxic Action 
 of Opium." Ten years later, he wrote another 
 paper along the same lines. This was entitled 
 "On the Effect of Opium and Its Derivative 
 Alkaloids." 
 
 In the field of toxicology he made studies also 
 on the effect of chloral, chloroform and ether 
 hypodermically and otherwise administered, and 
 as many as eight times had himself anesthetized 
 to note the effect. 
 
 He investigated the effect of atmospheric 
 pressure on nerves. He invented apparatus for 
 testing reflexes, measuring the time of tremors 
 and making other observations which were orig- 
 inal and unique. There is a room in the Ortho- 
 paedic Hospital which is nearly full of this ap- 
 paratus, now out of date, but which has served 
 its purpose well. They were private instru- 
 ments of precision used for research long be- 
 fore the commercial instruments of precision 
 were put upon the market or possibly even 
 
AS A SCIENTIST 23 
 
 dreamed of. 
 
 As a result of all of this work many honors 
 were heaped upon the physician and scientist. 
 He was trustee of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania and of the Carnegie Institute. The de- 
 gree of law was bestowed upon him by Harvard 
 University in 1886. Two years later the Uni- 
 versity of Bologna, France, gave him an hon- 
 orary degree in medicine. In 1896 Princeton 
 added the degree of law and the University of 
 Edinburgh bestowed upon him the same honor. 
 In 1906 the University of Toronto bestowed an 
 honorary degree in medicine, and in 19 10 the 
 Jefferson College presented him with a like de- 
 gree. He was also an honorary member of the 
 French Academy of Medicine, of the British 
 Medical Society and a fellow in the Royal Med- 
 Ical-Chirurgical Society. He was an active mem- 
 ber of the National Academy of the United 
 States. He was twice president of the College 
 of Physicians. The S. Weir Mitchell Hall of 
 the new College of Physicians, in Philadelphia, 
 
24 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 which he was instrumental in having built, was 
 named in his honor. Besides these, Dr. Mitch- 
 ell held membership in societies all over the 
 world. These included among others, the Na- 
 tional Academy of Science, British Medical As- 
 sociation, American Neurological Association 
 (Pres. 1 908- 1 909), American Philosophical So- 
 ciety, London Medical Society, Academy of Sci- 
 ence, Sweden, American Academy of Arts and 
 Sciences, Royal Society of Great Britain, Royal 
 Medical Society, Royal Society of Literature, 
 foreign correspondent of Association of the 
 French Academy of Medicine, correspondent 
 member of the Academy of Science of Bologna, 
 Gesselschaft Deutscher Nervenarztc, and the 
 Roayl Medical Society, Norway. 
 
AS A NOVELIST 
 
 DR. MITCHELL wrote, "The Chil- 
 dren's Hour" during the Civil War 
 and in 1868 'The Wonderful Stor- 
 ies of Fuz-Buz, the Fly, and Mother 
 Grabem, the Spider," two delightful children's 
 books. This statement is made to contradict 
 the rather widespread impression that he did 
 not begin to write fiction until he was fifty 
 years of age. From this time until 1880 we 
 see little or nothing of literary moment except 
 some stories in the Atlantic Monthly. The rea- 
 son for this, it has been stated, is because of ad- 
 vice given him, when he submitted some poems 
 for criticism, by Oliver Wendel Holmes, to de- 
 vote himself ten years to medicine exclusively. 
 This advice he appears to have taken, and of 
 the poems submitted only one was afterward 
 published. 
 
 In 1880 he published a volume of fiction con- 
 
 25 
 
26 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 sisting of three stories, "Hepzibah Guinness," 
 "Thee and You," and "A Draft on the Bank of 
 Spain." From now on almost every year brought 
 forth one or more volumes of novels or poems. 
 A list of his principal writing is appended. 
 
 It is not my purpose to review these works 
 in detail or to put upon them their proper liter- 
 ary value. That Weir Mitchell was a great 
 novelist cannot be successfully disputed. His 
 greatness as a novelist would be a fact even if 
 his high, correct literary style was not backed 
 by his deep comprehension of human nature and 
 human thought. The powers of the great phy- 
 sician and great psychologist are fully drawn 
 upon in depicting and orienting his characters. 
 His versatility is astounding. Think of the same 
 man writing "Fuz-Buz," the child's story, and 
 "Hugh Wynne," America's greatest historical 
 novel, or "Constance Trescott," the psycholog- 
 ical tragedy, and "The Adventures of Fran- 
 cois," the comico-realistical tale of the French 
 revolution, or "When All the Woods Are 
 
AS A NOVELIST 27 
 
 Green," and the "Autibiography of a Quack!" 
 Further, he indirectly Invaded the field of 
 drama and "The Masque" was dramatized by 
 Wilson Barrett, the great English actor, while 
 "The Adventures of Francois" was dramatized 
 by his son, Langdon Mitchell. 
 
 In speaking of his medical knowledge as a 
 basis for his fiction. Dr. Mitchell once said: 
 "Yes, in nearly everything I have written there 
 has been some case traced out, excepting in my 
 book called 'Circumstance.' " The author-phy- 
 sician once said at the University Club of Phila- 
 delphia, where a reception was held in his hon- 
 or, that if he were to choose between abandon- 
 ment of literary work or the practice of medi- 
 cine, he would quit the former. "If I could be 
 remembered by but one thing," he said, "I 
 would rather It would be for the work I have 
 been able to do for my fellow-men In the pro- 
 fession of medicine." 
 
 To a physician his books present a peculiar 
 charm and the hysterical illness of Anne Pen- 
 
28 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 hallow and the gunshot injury of the head in 
 her husband, in "Westways," are certainly two 
 of the best descriptions of illnesses to be found 
 in novels. When one thinks that this book was 
 written when Dr. Mitchell was eighty-four years 
 old, one can but marvel at the brain, untouched 
 by the ravages of age, w^hich produced it. I do 
 not believe there is in all literature another pro- 
 duction by a man of this age which can even 
 remotely compare with "Westways." 
 
 It has been said: "Dr. Mitchell's style of 
 writing had a peculiar charm which endeared 
 him to his readers. His characters seemed to be 
 living, breathing beings, human in every aspect, 
 and his historical romances teemed with re- 
 freshing vigor and realism. This was all the 
 more remarkable coming from the pen of a man 
 whose life had virtually been spent in the clinic 
 rooms of hospitals and in the sober atmosphere 
 of the medical world." 
 
 "Dr. Mitchell used almost every known form 
 of literary expression. The novel, the short 
 
AS A NOVELIST 29 
 
 story, the essay, the drama, verse, all were at 
 the command of his masterly intellect. He al- 
 ternated humorous short stones with those of 
 the tragic type. Lyric, romantic and dramatic 
 poetry are also equally represented in his writ- 
 ings." 
 
 Anyone who has not read the "Youth of 
 Washington" has missed a great deal. In this 
 delightful book you see the foundation upon 
 which was built that great human structure, 
 George Washington, and learn much of the 
 events leading up to the revolution. A charm- 
 ingly drawn picture is the character of the moth- 
 er of Washington. 
 
 In speaking of one of his first short stories, 
 the following is an interesting anecdote: 
 
 The first contribution of the author-physician 
 to a periodical was based upon a humorous dis- 
 cussion with friends whether or not the loss of 
 any member of the body involved a partial loss 
 of individuality. In explaining the circum- 
 stances, Dr. Mitchell said to an interviewer : 
 
30 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 "I simply wrote out the story of a man whose 
 arms and legs had been amputated and the his- 
 tory of his case. I lent the manuscript, which I 
 did not intend for publication, to the Rev. Dr. 
 Furness, and he in turn gave it to Edward 
 Everett Hale to read. Dr. Hale was at that 
 time connected with the Atlantic Monthly. To 
 my surprise, I received a substantial check and 
 saw my paper. 'The Case of George Dedlaw,' 
 printed as the leading article. Well, my poor 
 man was supposed to be at the Stump Hospital 
 [2i place exclusively for dismembered human- 
 ity) , and subscriptions began to pour in for the 
 fictitious George Dedlaw, while the newspapers 
 took up the 'remarkable' case. It was some 
 time before it was understood that no such arm- 
 less and legless man existed." 
 
 It has been a matter of considerable wonder 
 how Dr. Mitchell had the time to write his 
 books and at the same time keep up his prac- 
 tice and maintain his interest in so many other 
 things. This will always remain a marvel, espe- 
 
^^ 
 
 
AS A NOVELIST 31 
 
 cially when the fact is considered that for years 
 his hand trembled but in spite of it he wrote 
 all of his manuscript with pen. He adopted a 
 general plan of writing at Bar Harbor or in 
 Canada in the summer and devoting himself 
 to medicine in the winter. In the younger days 
 of his life Dr. Mitchell was almost a continuous 
 worker and he told me that at one time he 
 worked twelve years with only three days holi- 
 day. Later, however, he spent considerable 
 time in traveling and fishing but always found 
 time to write. He would go salmon fishing in 
 Canada nearly every summer for several weeks 
 and he would never forget to send the staff at 
 the Orthopaedic Hospital a large salmon. In 
 fact, he was ever thoughtful of those who 
 worked under him. 
 
 An idea of his indefatigability as a worker 
 may be obtained from a discussion he once made 
 of his book, ''Constance Trescott." 
 
 ''The main facts of that story are true," he 
 said. "It is based on a woman's vendetta that 
 
32 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 actually came under my observation. It was 
 written first as a comparatively short story, 
 about a hundred pages, and when that was fin- 
 ished the larger possibilities were seen in it. The 
 book has been almost completely rewritten three 
 times in three successive years. 
 
 "I have everything set in type and study ef- 
 fects from galley proofs. Then I insist upon 
 a complete printed copy, page for page, of the 
 entire work, and when I get that in hand I be- 
 gin to see my mistakes and get a general effect 
 of the work." 
 
 It is unnecessary to go farther into a discus- 
 sion of his familiar writings. The following list 
 embraces his main literary output since 1880. 
 
 There have appeared a collection of short 
 stories entitled, "Hepzibah Guinness," which 
 showed that a new figure had entered Ameri- 
 can literature. This volume was followed by 
 the first book of verse, "The Hill of Stones and 
 Other Poems," in 1882; "In War Times," a 
 novel, 1885, the first of a long series, the plot 
 
AS A NOVELIST 33 
 
 of which was laid In Philadelphia. 
 
 Novels and books of verse appeared almost 
 annually afterward, each one increasing the 
 popularity their author had won. In the order 
 named have been published, ''Roland Blake," a 
 novel, 1886; "A Masque and Other Poems," 
 1887; "Prince Littleboy, and Other Tales out 
 of Fairyland," 1888; "Far in the Forest," a 
 story, 1889; "The Cup of Youth," drama in 
 verse, 1889; "Francois Villon," dramatic poem, 
 1890; "The Psalm of Death," 1891; "Char- 
 acteristics," 1892; "Francis Drake," dramatic 
 poem, 1893; "When All the Woods Are 
 Green," descriptive of forest life, 1894; "Phil- 
 ip Vernon," dramatic poem, 1895; "Collected 
 Poems," 1896; "Mr. Kriss Kringle," 1896; 
 "Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker," 1897; "The 
 Adventures of Francois," 1899; "Dr North 
 and His Friends," 1900; "The Wager," 1900; 
 "Circumstance," a novel, 1901 ; "Pearl," 1901 ; 
 "Comedy of Conscience," 1902; "Little Stor- 
 ies," 1903; "Youth of Washington," 1904; 
 
34 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 "Constance Trescott," 1905; "A Diplomatic 
 Adventure," 1905; "The Mind Reader," 
 1907; "A Christmas Venture," 1907; "The 
 Red City," 1907 ; "The Comfort of the Hills," 
 1909; "John Sherwood, Ironmaster," 1911; 
 and "Westways, A Village Chronicle," 19 13. 
 
AS A POET 
 
 ONLY a few prose writers have been 
 poets of note, but It has been said 
 that Dr. Mitchell's poetry will al- 
 ways live and that his reputa- 
 tion as a poet will grow. His poems range 
 from little Christmas verses sent to friends, to 
 "Francis Drake, a Tragedy of the Sea," the 
 fine, vivid, forceful poem which has been 
 classed with the best dramatic poetry in Eng- 
 lish literature. His beautiful lyrics "To A 
 Magnolia Flower," and the songs "Good- 
 Night" and "Evening" are well worth one's 
 while. As for Dr. Mitchell's supreme effort in 
 verse, critics like Charles Eliot Norton and 
 Thomas Bailey Aldrich agreed at the time of its 
 publication that the "Ode on a Lycian Tomb" 
 was one of the four or five great elegiac poems 
 In English. 
 
 It may be of Interest to quote a few of his 
 
 35 
 
36 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 verses, especially with a view of keeping his ver- 
 satility as a poet in mind. In a little poem sent 
 to his friends one Christmas, called "King 
 Christmas and Master New Year," he writes: 
 
 King Christmas from his house of ice 
 Looked out across the snow. 
 
 "Hallo, my little man!" he cried, 
 "Now whither dost thou go?" 
 
 "I go, my lord, along the way 
 
 That all my kin have gone. 
 Where you, my lord, shall follow me 
 
 Before another dawn." 
 
 And closes with : 
 
 "Now bid thy gallant company 
 Ride onward without fear; 
 For I, the King of Christmas, 
 Have blessed the glad New Year." 
 
 Two verses of "The Song of the Flags," 
 upon the return of battle flags to various states 
 of the Confederacy, are particularly musical and 
 vigorous : 
 
AS A POET 37 
 
 We loved the wild clamor of battle, 
 The crash of the musketry's rattle, 
 
 The bugle and drum. 
 We have drooped in the dust, long and lonely; 
 The blades that flashed joy are rust only, 
 
 The far-rolling war music dumb. 
 
 Blow forth on the south wind to greet us 
 O star flag! once eager to meet us 
 
 When war lines were set. 
 Go carry to far fields of glory 
 The soul-stirring thrill of the story, 
 
 Of days when in anger we met. 
 
 Listen for a moment to the music of "Gui- 
 darello Guidarelli:" 
 
 Still one hears our women singing, 
 For a love-charm, so 'tis said, — 
 
 "Guidarello Guidarelli!" 
 
 Like a love-mass for the dead. 
 
 In caressing Iteration 
 
 With his name their voices play — 
 "EllI, Nelll, Guidarelli," 
 
 Through some busy market-day. 
 
 And to one verse of "To A Magnolia Flow- 
 
 er:^' 
 
38 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 Set wide the glory of thy perfect bloom! 
 
 Call every wind to share thy scented breaths! 
 No life is brief that doth perfection win. 
 
 To-day is thine — to-morrow thou art death's. 
 
 In the ''Ode on a Lycian Tomb" the poet 
 took his inspiration, said Richard Watson 
 Gilder, from the monument which is now in 
 the Museum of Constantinople, and has on its 
 four sides eighteen compartments in which the 
 same woman appears carved in many attitudes 
 of grief. 
 
 What gracious nunnery of grief is here! 
 One woman garbed in sorrow's every mood ; 
 Each sad presentiment celled apart, in fear 
 Lest that herself upon herself intrude 
 And break some tender dream of sorrow's day, 
 Here cloistered lonely, set in marble gray. 
 
 O pale procession of immortal love, 
 Forever married to immortal grief! 
 All of life's child-like sorrow far above. 
 Past help of time's compassionate relief: 
 These changeless stones are treasuries of regret 
 And mock the term by time for sorrow set. 
 
AS A POET 39 
 
 Cold mourners — set in stone so long ago, 
 Too much my thoughts have dwelt with thee apart. 
 Again my grief is young; full well I know 
 The pang reborn, that mocked my feeble art 
 With that too human wail in pain expressed, 
 The parent cry above the empty nest. 
 
 This is certainly one of the most beautiful of 
 poems. * 
 
AS A CITIZEN 
 
 DR. MITCHELL was a man of 
 large views and one much intersted 
 in public affairs. He was in demand 
 for lectures and after-dinner 
 speeches. As a member of the Carnegie Foun- 
 dation, he had to do with the promotion of 
 various educational institutions and at times 
 took great interest in certain reform movements 
 and in local politics, and he always used his 
 influence for the betterment of municipal condi- 
 tions. 
 
 His advice was sought about various and 
 sundry movements for the betterment of hu- 
 manity and he was consulted by at least two 
 presidents of the United States upon public 
 questions. He did much to preserve the local 
 history of Philadelphia and was also instru- 
 mental in having many of the historical places 
 
 in Virginia properly preserved. He lent books 
 
 40 
 
AS A CITIZEN 41 
 
 and gave other assistance to anyone seeking his 
 help, and many physicians, socialists, authors 
 and philanthropists owe to him the Inspiration 
 and direction of their work. He did more than 
 anyone else to organize, build and equip the new 
 College of Physicians In Philadelphia and to ob- 
 tain for them their wonderful library. The 
 Weir Mitchell Hall In this building was named 
 in his honor. 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 DR. MITCHELL was known to the 
 writer through generations of family 
 friendship, his grandfather living in 
 Jefferson County, now West Vir- 
 ginia, but then a portion of Virginia, and his 
 father were friends of the writer's ancestors, 
 and during Dr. Mitchell's childhood he spent 
 a good part of several years at the plantation 
 home of Henry St. George Tucker, and thus be- 
 came a childhood friend of his sons, Beverley, 
 John Randolph, St. George and David Tucker. 
 I have heard my grandparent say that at this 
 time Dr. Mitchell was not a particularly robust 
 youth, that he was fond of fishing and of going 
 out under the trees, lying on his back and med- 
 itating hours at a time. Dr. Mitchell never for- 
 got these days and often spoke to me of the 
 family prayers which were held, when my great- 
 grandmother, a very pious lady, kept a green 
 
 42 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 43 
 
 umbrella by her side with which to poke the 
 boys or servants who became inattentive or 
 drowsy during this daily religious function. He 
 would also recall the days in which, as a boy, 
 he and the others would play circus on the plan- 
 tation, and it was here that he learned to ride 
 and shoot. With St. George Tucker he went 
 hunting and shot his first squirrel. He said he 
 was proud of his marksmanship until he went to 
 pick the squirrel up, and it bit him through the 
 thumb when he was told he must always shoot 
 a squirrel through the eye ! The evenings were 
 spent in reading and conversation. 
 
 Several years ago, in going through some of 
 his old papers he found and sent me the auto- 
 graph of my great-grandfather. Judge H. St. 
 George Tucker, which he had asked for and 
 which Judge Tucker had given him accom- 
 panied by the following verse: 
 
 "The time has passed, my friend, when youthful pride 
 A neat fac simile could have supplied. 
 By time the vigor of the arm's unmanned 
 
44 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 And trembling palsy shakes the aged hand. 
 In second childhood, as in life's first stage, 
 The veriest pot-hooks mar the blotted page." 
 
 At the age of seventy-seven, Dr. Mitchell 
 sent me this verse and autograph, with a kindly 
 note in his own trembling hand. 
 
 This childhood friendship continued and 
 when my father, a son of Beverley Tucker, was 
 taken extremely ill with an obscure disease, in 
 the seventies, Dr. Mitchell treated him and it 
 was largely through his advice that the patient 
 recovered, dying unfortunately several years 
 afterward of typhoid fever. So when I went to 
 him to ask his advice about obtaining post-grad- 
 uate work in nervous diseases, I found a ready 
 and responsive friend and adviser. 
 
 I shall never forget my first impression of 
 that visit. I was ushered into the waiting room 
 of his office and residence at 1524 Walnut Street 
 by a door man in knickerbockers with a red vest 
 and brass buttons and a swallow-tail coat. It 
 was after office hours. The room was much 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 45 
 
 like and still different from the waiting rooms 
 of prominent physicians everywhere. In the 
 corner by a window sat before a typewriter his 
 secretary, a middle-aged lady who had served 
 in that capacity for many years. The room was 
 furnished chiefly in old walnut of several vint- 
 ages, the book shelves were filled with used 
 books, on the walls hung various engravings 
 and a water color of a huge rattle-snake, while 
 pictures of his medical friends and patients 
 perched on the book shelves, the mantel and 
 everywhere. In the center of the room, which 
 was carpeted, I remember, with a deep red rug 
 giving a sense of warmth and comfort on this 
 cold December day, was a large, oblong walnut 
 table piled with books and magazines. About 
 this time the folding door opened and an oldish 
 gentleman in a brown velvet smoking jacket, a 
 red tie and checked waiscoat and trousers step- 
 ped alertly into the room. I also noticed that 
 he had a white, rather scraggly beard, that his 
 white hair was parted in the middle, that he 
 
46 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 looked at me kindly with clear blue eyes, and 
 that his feet were exceedingly well groomed and 
 rather small for his size. He was six feet, his 
 head was splendidly developed, he stooped a lit- 
 tle at the shoulders and the hand he extended 
 trembled. 
 
 I had been considerably awed at the prospects 
 of this interview but I began to feel a little more 
 at ease when he said, "Well, Tucker, I am glad 
 to see you," in a voice which combined kindness 
 and power in a way no other voice has that I 
 have ever heard. He led me into his office and 
 motioned me to a seat, and probably seeing that 
 I was a little embarrassed, instead of taking his 
 office chair at his large, double, handsomely 
 carved, flat top desk, took an ordinary chair, 
 rested his elbow on the corner of his desk, and, 
 as I afterward found his habit was, rested his 
 head upon his hand with two of the fingers 
 slightly back of his ear. I imagined he must 
 be a little deaf, and he really was. He knew 
 that I had come to ask him about getting post- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 47 
 
 graduate and hospital work In nervous diseases, 
 for I had written him, and he opened the con- 
 versation by asking me about various connec- 
 tions and friends he had In Virginia. He asked 
 me was the old brick wall still around the Archer 
 yard at Sixth and Franklin Streets In Richmond, 
 and If the old sycamore tree was still In the cen- 
 ter of the sidewalk by the wall. I told him 
 neither had been disturbed, and he told me that 
 as a boy he had walked along the top of the 
 wall many a time and watched the birds and 
 tame squirrels In the old sycamore. This all 
 made me feel perfectly at home and then he 
 quizzed me about myself — not only my medical 
 preparation, but asked my views on various top- 
 ics, made me tell him about my life and rela- 
 tives and told me many little reminiscences of 
 my grandfather and great uncles. During this 
 conversation he offered me a cigar and we 
 smoked. Once he used a slang expression and 
 I found an opportunity a little later and used 
 one also. Toward the end he rang, and when 
 
48 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 the man appeared, ordered some brandy and 
 water which he offered me and I took. When 
 Dr. Mitchell took his brandy he looked at me 
 quizically and said, "I am glad to see you have 
 some petty vices. I hope you have no great 
 ones. I am usually afraid of a man who has no 
 petty vices." He then stood up and leaned his 
 elbow on the mantal where a wood fire was 
 burning on brass andirons and told me he would 
 obtain for me the hospital appointment I want- 
 ed. I told him I had some fear as to the wis- 
 dom of my attempting nervous diseases as I did 
 not know whether I would be equal to the op- 
 portunities he was offering me. He then said 
 something which has helped me in many de- 
 cisions. "Never fail," he said, "to accept any 
 opportunity which will broaden your horizon." 
 I left shortly afterward feeling that I had a 
 friend and adviser indeed. I was too taken up 
 with the man to notice much about his office at 
 this time. As I walked out on Walnut Street 
 that winter afternoon, I knew that I had been 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 49 
 
 in the presence of a great man, but some things 
 about him struck me oddly. His legs and feet 
 were youthful, his hands and hearing aged, his 
 body and mind middle-aged, and his personality 
 adaptable to any age. Fleeting impressions paint 
 true pictures at times though lacking in detail. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell once told me that many of the 
 scenes in his novels he drew from real life; for 
 instance, the scene in "Constance Trescott" of 
 old Mrs. Avaril picking roses in her garden was 
 a reproduction of Mrs. Cynthia Coleman, of 
 Williamsburg, Va., culling roses in her garden 
 one summer's day when he chanced to be visit- 
 ing that historic old town and stopped at the 
 garden fence to watch her. 
 
 When he wrote his poem on the return of the 
 battle flags of the Confederacy, he showed the 
 manuscript to a Southern lady patient and was 
 much amused when she told him that she 
 thought the poetry very fine but that the "Yan- 
 kees" should never have taken the battle flags 
 and that she was an unreconstructed rebel still. 
 
50 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 He was fond of champagne and when at a 
 dinner-party one night the lady next to him 
 asked, "Why, Doctor, you do not drink cham- 
 pagne, do you?" he replied, with a twinkle in his 
 eye, "Yes, Madam, for breakfast, dinner and 
 supper." 
 
 A prominent minister was among the guests, 
 and after dinner when he refused a cigar. Dr. 
 Mitchell told him that a preacher should have 
 some "innocent vice" and teased him, saying 
 that if he had known how good he was he 
 would have opposed his being called to Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 The story of the Northerner learning to shoot 
 and shooting so many people, as described in 
 "Characteristics," was told to him by a former 
 assistant from Arkansas, as true. Dr. Mitch- 
 ell was fond of telling anecdotes about this as- 
 sistant who was with him just preceding the 
 war. He "read medicine" in Dr. Mitchell's of- 
 fice. When he came to Dr. Mitchell, the Doc- 
 tor asked him what accomplishments he had, 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 51 
 
 and the Arkansan said he had only one, where- 
 upon he pulled a bowie knife from his boot and 
 threw it across the room so that it stuck in the 
 panel of Dr. Mitchell's mahogany office door. 
 The Doctor told him that was fine, but that it 
 was a method of surgery which had not yet 
 reached Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. Mitchel believed in spending money lib- 
 erally, and once told me that it was a pity for 
 a man not to spend most of his income, and that 
 he believed it was wrong for a physician to 
 charge exorbitantly. He told me of a wealthy 
 patient from Chicago whom he cured of some 
 simple malady and charged him $100.00. The 
 wealthy patient was astonished at the small fee 
 and told Dr. Mitchell that if he had charged 
 him $1,000.00 he would have gladly paid it. 
 Dr. Mitchell told him that even if he had he 
 would have gone back to Chicago and never 
 ceased to tell people how exorbitant he was. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell seemed to be able to accomplish 
 more, do it more thoroughly and without appar- 
 
52 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 ent hurry than anyone I have ever seen. I 
 heard him say that no detail of examination or 
 treatment, however laborious, should ever be 
 overlooked. A patient of his at the Orthopaedic 
 Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases 
 thanked him one day for taking so much trouble 
 with her case, and he replied, *'Madam, you 
 need not flatter yourself. I take just as much 
 trouble with any patient who consults me.'' As 
 an illustration of his ability to pick out a clue 
 to a case which had been overlooked by others, 
 it is of interest to say that this patient had been 
 brought to Dr. Mitchell by two prominent nerve 
 specialists. I happened to be present at this 
 first consultation. The two doctors referred to 
 had a history of the case consisting of six pages 
 of foolscap, closely written. Dr. Mitchell care- 
 fully read this whole history and then turning 
 to the physicians said: "You have no note of 
 the condition of her heart." "No," they said, 
 "we have omitted that." Whereupon Dr^ 
 Mitchell listened to the patient's heart and im- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 53 
 
 mediately detected a leaking valve. This heart 
 trouble accounted for her symptoms. 
 
 In the summer of 1905 a prominent Canadian 
 official talked very freely to Dr. Mitchell about 
 government affairs and then asked him not to 
 divulge anything that was told him, and re- 
 peated this request. Whereupon Dr. Mitchell 
 replied that during his life-time he had kept 
 more secrets than any Hve British viceroys ever 
 heard I 
 
 He had a remarkable memory and his secre- 
 tary once told me when I remarked upon this 
 to her, that a few months before a man came 
 into his office and said: "Doctor, I don't ex- 
 pect you can remember anything about me, for 
 it has been 32 years since I consulted you." Dr. 
 Mitchell told him that he would not attempt 
 to remember his name, but asked him for what 
 malady he had consulted him, and as soon as 
 the man told him, he remembered the whole 
 case and described It accurately, to the great 
 astonishment of the former patient. 
 
54 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 Having heard the story of his consulting 
 some nerve specialist abroad and of this special- 
 ist recommending him to consult Dr. Weir 
 Mitchell, of Philadelphia, I asked him on one 
 occasion to tell me the true story. He replied 
 that he was in Paris and had been overworked 
 and felt much run-down, so he decided to con- 
 sult the great nerve specialist. Dr. Charcot. 
 Wishing an independent opinion, he did not 
 give his name. Dr. Charcot examined him and 
 gave a few simple directions, and then turning 
 to him asked him where he was from. Dr. 
 Mitchell told him he was from Philadelphia. 
 Then Dr. Charcot said: "You have a man in 
 Philadelphia who knows more about run-down 
 nervous conditions than anyone else I know of, 
 and I will give you a letter to Dr. S. Weir 
 Mitchell, whom you must consult." Dr. Char- 
 cot started the letter. The situation was so 
 ludicrous that Dr. Mitchell laughed, and when 
 Charcot asked him what he was laughing about. 
 Dr. Mitchell handed him his card. Dr. Char- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 55 
 
 cot then jumped up, all attention, and spent 
 another half hour going over the case. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell was simple in his manners and 
 disliked anyone's cringing to greatness. He 
 said that he had frequently gone into stores and 
 had clerks to wait upon him indifferently, but 
 when he gave his name and address for the pur- 
 chase to be sent, they changed their demeanor 
 entirely and wished to show him everything in 
 the place. He said he always felt like kicking 
 a man who did things of this sort. I suspect 
 many a clerk has received a good lesson from 
 him. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell lived well and was always fond 
 of a good meal. He told me about being in 
 Richmond on one occasion, and staying at the 
 old Exchange Hotel after its better days were 
 over. His wife was with him and they simply 
 could not eat the fare. They were invited to 
 dinner by Dr. Hunter McGuire and he and Mrs. 
 Mitchell ate very heartily. On several occa- 
 sions I have heard him speak of this meal as 
 
S6 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 one of the most enjoyable of which he had ever 
 partaken. 
 
 He took a great interest in things in Virginia 
 and not infrequently visited Richmond. He 
 once visited Westmoreland County on a yacht- 
 ing trip and took occasion to look up the homes 
 of the Washingtons and Lees. Upon his re- 
 turn he took up the matter of the condition of 
 the graves of these families with the proper au- 
 thorities and had them put in much better re- 
 pair. There was hardly a place which he vis- 
 ited which did not profit in one respect or anoth- 
 er by some suggestion or at times even by more 
 substantial aid. 
 
 The instance related in "Westways" of John 
 Penhallow chasing in a skirmish a disarmed 
 Confederate Colonel to capture him, being too 
 honorable to shoot a disarmed man, and of the 
 Colonel after a hard ride turning as he entered 
 some woods and telling Pennhallow to stop, and 
 calling to him that it was useless for him to 
 follow as there were 10,000 Confederates a few 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 57 
 
 hundred yards on the other side of the woods, 
 thus saving each other's lives, was a true story 
 and happened to one of Dr. Mitchell's broth- 
 ers. The Confederate thanked him for spar- 
 ing his life and Col. Mitchell thanked the Con- 
 federate for keeping him from death or capture. 
 They waved their hats to each other and went 
 their separate ways. These two colonels met 
 years afterwards at a dinner in Chicago. Dr. 
 Mitchell finished this anecdote by saying that 
 many such instances of gallantry occurred dur- 
 ing the war and that they shed happy rays of 
 light upon that terrible and gloomy conflict. 
 
 Apropos of Dr. Mitchell's study of snake 
 venoms, a friend of his told me the following. 
 Someone once sent him a large rattler from 
 Arizona in a wooden box. This was shipped to 
 his office instead of to the laboratory, and Dr. 
 Mitchell let it stay in his office over night to be 
 taken out to the laboratory in the morning. The 
 rattler was six feet long and that night while 
 Dr. Mitchell was reading it got out of "the box 
 
58 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 without his notice, and climbed up the back of 
 his chair and put its head over Dr. Mitchell's 
 shoulder. The Doctor then noticed it and with 
 rare presence of mind sat still while the snake 
 moved its head back and forth, fascinated by 
 the light of the lamp. The snake touched the 
 lamp globe and this being hot made it mad, 
 and it drew up further and turned its head to 
 Dr. Mitchell's face. They watched each other. 
 Dr. Mitchell slowly and cautiously reached out 
 his hand for a large metal paper-cutter which 
 was on his desk, watching the snake all the time. 
 When he reached it, with a sudden twist of this 
 improvised weapon he struck the snake on the 
 neck, knocking it to the floor, and he escaped 
 from the room. Afterwards the snake was re- 
 captured with a net. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell once said to me that he regretted 
 the impression had gotten out in some circles 
 that he was more interested in literature and 
 novel writing than in medicine. He said that lit- 
 erary pursuits were interesting, of course, but 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 59 
 
 unimportant when compared with medicine, and 
 that he was much more interested in his profes- 
 sion than in anything else. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell seemed to have the faculty of a 
 double mental grasp. He could read between 
 the lines and still comprehend the lines. This 
 made him readily understand both what people 
 appeared to be and what they really were. He 
 was hard to deceive. 
 
 It was a revelation and a source of constant 
 information to make rounds with him. He had 
 a way of imparting his knowledge succinctly and 
 vividly so that even his minor comments were 
 impressed upon one's mind. Patients consulted 
 him not only from all over the United States, 
 but many from abroad. His observation was 
 acute and he had the knack of arriving at the 
 main clue to a case very quickly. This faculty, 
 however, never precluded a thorough and com- 
 plete examination. A patient had an attack 
 while waiting on one of the clinic benches one 
 afternoon. A clinical assistant saw her and laid 
 
6o S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 her out on the bench and made a cursory ex- 
 amination. The attack was thought to be an 
 ordinary hysterical seizure. About this time 
 Dr. Mitchell came in and asked what was the 
 matter with the girl. He was told that she sim- 
 ply had an hysterical attack. He went over to 
 her, rapidly examined her reflexes, asked a few 
 questions of her companion and sent for the su- 
 perintendent to take her up-stairs and admit her 
 to a bed, and turning to the assistant, said: 
 "You are entirely wrong. This woman is in the 
 last stages of brain tumor, and will die before 
 morning." The various assistants around could 
 hardly believe such a grave prognosis. After 
 the patient was put to bed, she was thoroughly 
 examined and the diagnosis confirmed, and she 
 died during the night. 
 
 Everything physiological was of special in- 
 terest to Dr. Mitchell and he contributed accu- 
 rate and valuable knowledge to such subjects as 
 the origin of cat and other animal phobias, blood 
 corpuscle conformation in various animals, and 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 6i 
 
 to the hereditary results of Intermarriage with 
 relations. I have heard him say, and I think 
 he has published somewhere, that In his obser- 
 vation the marrying of first cousins rarely pro- 
 duced harmful results If the man resembled one 
 branch of the family and the girl the other, but 
 that the children showed more marked defects 
 when such was not the case. 
 
 At a dinner party at Dr. John Mitchell's one 
 night. Dr. Weir Mitchell and Dr. Chatham, 
 Professor of Physiology at the University of 
 Pennsylvania, began to discuss the character 
 of blood corpuscles of different animals. All 
 other conversation was suspended while these 
 two learned men discussed this subject and 
 showed themselves equally familiar with the 
 blood of rabbits, chickens, lions, tigers, etc., as 
 with human blood. 
 
 An interesting story in this connection is told 
 of Dr. Mitchell. It seems that years ago a 
 certain gentleman 'phoned for the police and 
 said that he was attacked by robbers and that 
 
62 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 he had wounded one of them, and showed blood 
 on his premises in evidence of the conflict. No 
 other trace of burglars was found and the at- 
 tack attracted considerable attention in the 
 newspapers. Within a year the same thing oc- 
 curred. Again there was considerable publicity 
 but the robbers were not found. Within another 
 year a third attack was reported and this time 
 it was said that the bloody print of the robber's 
 hand was left on the back-yard fence. The po- 
 lice were much puzzled and the papers full of 
 the story. Dr. Mitchell, of his own initiative, 
 quietly went to the premises, scraped some of 
 the bloody print off, took it home and examined 
 it under the microscope. He easily recognized 
 that it was chicken blood and not human blood, 
 and notified the police, telling them to search 
 the premises for the chicken. This was done 
 and the mutilated fowl found in the basement. 
 No other assaults were reported. 
 
 When I first went to Philadelphia, Dr. Mitch- 
 ell told me humorously that he wanted to ex- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 63 
 
 tend to me the greatest courtesy that a Philadel- 
 phian could offer a stranger, and that was a seat 
 in his pew at St. Stephen's Church. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell was fond of entertaining and he 
 and Mrs. Mitchell made as charming host and 
 hostess as I have ever seen. At his table were 
 served the most delicious delicacies and the 
 rarest wines, while good cheer and culture per- 
 vaded the atmosphere. His service was elabor- 
 ate and his butlers always in uniform. The ap- 
 pointments of his dining-room were perfect and 
 the striking portrait of himself by Sargent hung 
 in this room. After dinner it was his custom 
 to take the gentlemen of the party into his pri- 
 vate office, where the conversation would be- 
 come general. 
 
 A few remarks about this office will not be 
 amiss. Every room which we enter creates an 
 impression of its own, and this room created a 
 variety of impressions, culminating in the gen- 
 eral knowledge that here you were in the "sanc- 
 tum sanctotum" of both a great literary and 
 
64 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 scientific man. In the grate in due season blazed 
 an attractive wood fire. The furniture was 
 handsome and fitting, and carpets, hangings and 
 walls all in harmony. The desk set was of sil- 
 ver, heavy and handsome, and on the desk, 
 without too much regard or too much disregard 
 for neatness and arrangement, were laid manu- 
 scripts, books, papers, magazines, and one or 
 two instruments for special examination of pa- 
 tients. It was sometimes ornamented with a 
 vase and a few flowers. On the wall hung a 
 magnificent life-size portrait of Sir William 
 Harvie, and paintings, etchings, engravings and 
 framed letters, each with some peculiar interest 
 of its own. On a stand by the window in a 
 glass-covered case was a death mask of Dante. 
 Books, many of them most rare and valuable, 
 filled the book-shelves, and souvenirs and cu- 
 rios were here and there. One of these struck 
 me particularly. It was a brass boat-plate with 
 the name "Lord Byron" on it. I asked him the 
 history of this and he told me that as a young 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 6s 
 
 man he once went with his father to England. 
 At this time especially he was a great admirer 
 of Byron, and while in England they chanced to 
 visit some of Byron's relatives. In the draw- 
 ing-room he noticed this brass plate and was 
 told by one of the young girls of the house 
 that it was the boat-plate from Byron's gon- 
 dola. As they stood looking at it Dr. Mitchell 
 said to his father that he would rather have 
 that souvenir of Byron than anything he had 
 seen in England, whereupon the old Doctor 
 said to him: "Weir, you may achieve success 
 and fame, but every man has his limitations 
 and here is something, a small thing in a way, 
 which no matter how much you desire it you can 
 never obtain." The incident was forgotten. On 
 Dr. Mitchell's seventy-fifth birthday the papers 
 in this country and abroad published an an- 
 nouncement of it with a sketch of his career. 
 The young girl, now an old lady, who happened 
 to hear this conversation between Dr. Mitchell 
 and his father, remembered it and sent him the 
 
66 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 gondola plate with a letter, saying that he had 
 achieved so many things that she wished to 
 make this particular desire, expressed in his 
 youth, complete. 
 
 No doubt someone will write a complete bi- 
 ography of Dr. Mitchell. These little recollec- 
 tions, however, are interesting as everything 
 about a great man is of interest. Gathered 
 here and there, they are told so as to throw 
 side lights upon the man as I knew him. 
 
 We now approach the close of this brief 
 sketch. Dr. Mitchell was active, mentally and 
 physically, up to a week before his death, at- 
 tending to his office practice, paying outside vis- 
 its and making rounds in the hospital. He 
 caught a cold to which he paid but little atten- 
 tion. Influenza set in and after a week's ill- 
 ness he died, being conscious to the end, on the 
 fourth day of January, 19 14. His funeral was 
 held in St. Stephen's Church. The services were 
 marked by their simplicity. Men of prominence 
 from different parts of the country went to pay 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 67 
 
 their last respects. Although the church was 
 crowded to the doors with eminent physicians, 
 authors, philanthropists, public men and wo- 
 men and nurses who had worked under him, a 
 remark of his friend, Dr. William J. Taylor, 
 to me during the services seemed to me an ex- 
 tremely fitting comment upon a wonderfully use- 
 ful life. He said: "In all this vast congrega- 
 tion, I do not believe I see a person whom in one 
 Way or another Dr. Mitchell has not personally 
 aided or encouraged In work or ambition." 
 
 This fitting verse was written by Richard J. 
 Beamish and appeared in the Philadelphia 
 Press a few days after his death: 
 
 The Useful Life 
 
 The long, lean hands are folded and the rest 
 He earned lies sweet upon him; all the wise 
 
 Sane life, the helpful word, the ready jest 
 Departed with the light from his kind eyes. 
 
 Emancipated from all need of care, 
 
 He still took cares upon him for the joy 
 
 Of doing. "Make me useful," was his prayer. 
 
68 S. WEIR MITCHELL 
 
 To his heart he took the crippled boy. 
 He taught the tortured soul to find relief 
 
 In peaceful relaxation. All the wells 
 Of history were plumbed by him. The grief 
 
 And joy of life are in the tales he tells. 
 Philosopher, physician, poet, sage, 
 
 His work ennobles and uplifts the age. 
 
 With this I close except to say that Dr. 
 Mitchell was a true Christian. He loved his 
 fellow-men and gave them his life-work, but in 
 no whit less degree he loved his God and ren- 
 dered Him service. 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
 This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the 
 expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, 
 as provided by the library rules or by special arrangement 
 with the Librarian in charge. 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 .11 
 
 
 
 
 ilK(^ji'> ■ 
 
 
 
 
 ' / 
 
 
 
 
 ftf?^ ' 
 
 .... >f 
 
 NOJZOOb 
 
 
 DEC 
 
 n I 
 
 i 'SB* 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '"'"-' *> v_. 
 
 
 
 JAH : 
 
 ^■?nn(^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C28 f869> 50M j 
 
 
 

 
 ^^ 
 
 _/-.-A. 
 
 13 
 
 ^- 
 
 / 
 
 /-^ 
 
 'Z' 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
 0041085817 
 

 
 
 v.- ■>,.'"'■ 
 
 ,^:ar