[Reprinted from Transactions of the Connecticut Medical Society, Vol. Ill, p. 135, 1887.] 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 i 
 
 OF 
 
 ELISHA NORTH, 
 
 M.D. 
 
 By His Grandson, 
 
 H. CARRINGTON BOLTON, Ph. I). 
 
 Read before the New London County Medical Association. April 7, 1SS7. 
 
 *' In Connecticut medical science has been cultivated with great diligence and 
 
 the happiest results.” 
 
 James Thacher, M. D. 
 
 AUTHOR’S EDITION. 
 
 1887 . 
 
■ 
 
 vj ^ u ^ 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/lifewritingsofelOObolt 
 
12 FI3 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 A 1 
 
 By H. Carrington Bolton, Ph.D. 
 
 IRead before the New London County Medical Society, April 7, 1887.] 
 
 Elisha North was born in Goshen, Conn., January 8, 1771, of 
 
 Connecticut ancestry. He was a lineal descendant of John North 
 
 (born 1615) who is believed to be the progenitor of all bearing the 
 
 family name in the United States. John left England at the age 
 
 of twenty, sailing in the “ Susan and Ellen,” and landing in Boston, 
 
 he soon made his way with other emigrants to Hartford, where he 
 
 • _ 
 did not linger, but settled in the beautiful valley of Farmington. 
 
 This was in 1635. He purchased a house and lot on the mam 
 street of the village, and five years later married; six sons and 
 three daughters w^ere born to him between 1641 and 1659. In 
 1653 land was entered to him in Farmington, and when the unoc¬ 
 cupied lands in the ancient town were divided according to their 
 lists, John, with his two elder sons, John and Samuel, were among 
 the eighty-four proprietors. He was “made free before the court ,J 
 at Hartford, on May 21, 1657 (Trumbull’s Public Records of the 
 Colony of Connecticut, Hartford, 1850, p. 297). He died in 1691, 
 o aged seventy-six. 
 
 John North’s fourth son, Thomas (born 1649), was one of the 
 pioneers in the settlement of Northington (now Avon), Conn. He 
 was a soldier in the Indian wars, and had a soldier's grant of land. 
 In 1708 (?) he married Hannah Newell, and they had five sons and 
 five daughters; his sixth child, Joseph (born 1693), moved from 
 Northington to Goshen, Litchfield County, where he continued to 
 follow the business of his ancestors — farming. Joseph married 
 at the age of forty-one widow Martha Smith (being her third hus- 
 
 
 
 
 37411 
 
 l 
 
o 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 band), and they had five children. The eldest, Joseph Jr., born 
 1736, was the father of the subject of this sketch. Joseph, Jr., 
 developed a talent for surgery and medicine, and though he had 
 no regular medical education, he acquired a considerable medical 
 practice. An old chronicle says: “He borrowed books and got 
 ideas from Dr. Meigs,’’ and considering the fact that there was no 
 medical school in the United States in his youth.* this was the best 
 substitute for systematic instruction which could be secured. In 
 1 770 Joseph, Jr. married Lucy Cowles of Farmington, and they 
 had nine children. It is interesting to note that the three eldest 
 sons. Elisha, Joseph, and Ethel, inherited the tastes of this self- 
 made physician, and followed their father’s profession. Elisha, the 
 eldest, was born in Goshen January 8, 1771; he entered upon 
 the labors and responsibilities of an active medical man at the age 
 of sixteen, when he took charge of a broken limb, which he suc¬ 
 ceeded in setting and healing without assistance. He studied with 
 his father, accompanying him in his long drives over the bleak hills 
 of Litchfield County, and gained a practical experience which after¬ 
 wards served him well. But he felt the need of more systematic 
 training and larger insight into the art of the physician, and made 
 his way to Hartford to pursue studies under the celebrated Dr. 
 Lemuel Hopkins (born 1750, practiced in Hartford from 1784 
 until his death in 1801). Returning to his native place he prac¬ 
 ticed until he had accumulated the necessary means to defray his 
 expenses in another and more extended search for higher instruc¬ 
 tion; at that time his choice of medical schools in the United 
 States was limited to three, the medical college of the University 
 of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, founded in 176.5; the medical school 
 of Columbia College, New York, founded in 1768; and the medi¬ 
 cal department of Harvard College, founded in 1782. Exactly 
 what determined him to prefer the Philadelphia school we do not 
 know, unless by reason of its being the longest established, and on 
 account of the celebrity of its teachers. The schools at Cambridge 
 and New York city were much nearer, but he made the then con¬ 
 siderable journey to Philadelphia. He matriculated at the Uni¬ 
 versity in the fall of 1793, and pursued his studies under the dis- 
 
 •The first Medical College in the United States was established in Philadelphia in 
 1765, when Joseph was.twenty-nine years of age. This college first conferred the degree 
 of M.D. in 1771. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 3 
 
 tinguished Dr. Benjamin Rush and his able colleagues.* He did 
 not remain long enough to obtain a diploma; indeed, but a small 
 part of those who studied at the medical schools in the last century 
 secured diplomas; in the first fifteen years of the Medical School 
 of Philadelphia, the number of graduates averaged about five and 
 one-half a year, while as many as seventy students were in attend¬ 
 ance at one time. In the latter half of the eighteen century at¬ 
 tendance at a medical school was resorted to but by few of those 
 who took upon themselves the responsibilities of practitioners of 
 medicine, and Dr. North’s enterprise is an indication of the earn¬ 
 estness of purpose which characterized him throughout life. 
 
 Meanwhile, the physicians of Connecticut had succeeded in ob¬ 
 taining a charter for a State Medical Association; this was in Octo¬ 
 ber, 1792. at Middletown. At the adjourned meeting of the 
 convention held May 15, 1793, at Hartford, Elisha North was ad¬ 
 mitted to membership in the society. He was at this time only 
 twenty-two years old, yet was regarded as worthy of honor. 
 
 On leaving the Philadelphia Medical College, he resumed his 
 practice in Goshen, and immediately took a high rank in his profes¬ 
 sion. Zealous and indefatigable as a student, he was foremost to 
 adopt improvements in medicine; not blindly, but after careful 
 trial of their value; he endeavored not merely to keep up with the 
 current thought and novel usages but to contribute to the art 
 reforms and inventions of his own busy brain. 
 
 «y 
 
 Soon after settling in Goshen, at the age of twenty-five, he mar¬ 
 ried Hannah (December 22, 1797), the daughter of Frederick 
 Beach, his fellow townsman, of an ancient and honorable Connecti¬ 
 cut family. Of his happiness in domestic life we shall speak at a 
 later period. We may anticipate, however, to remark that his wife 
 was a true helpmeet in the highest degree. 
 
 Always eager to seize upon novelties in the healing art which 
 
 *In 1793 the Faculty of the Medical School of 
 follows: 
 
 Surgery and Anatomy, 
 
 Surgery and Anatomy, 
 
 Practice of Physics, . 
 
 Institutes and Clinical Medicine, 
 
 Chemistry,. 
 
 Materia Medica, .... 
 Botany and Natural History, 
 
 the University was constituted as 
 
 Dr. William Shippen, Jr. 
 
 Dr. Casper Wistar (adjunct;. 
 
 Dr. Adam Kuhn. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Rush. 
 
 Dr. James Woodhouse. 
 
 Dr. Samuel P. Griffiths. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin S. Barton. 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 
 Early History of Medicine in Philadelphia, by George W. Norris, M.D. 
 1886. 4to. Privately distributed. 
 
4 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 promised to benefit the human race Dr. North hailed with delight 
 the announcement by Dr. Jenner of the results of his experiments 
 in vaccination. Dr. Jenner’s work: “Enquiry into the Causes and 
 Effects of the Varioke Yaccinoe,” published in 1798, did not meet 
 in England with unqualified acceptance, yet but a few months later 
 the young, practitioner of Goshen is found experimenting with the 
 new process in a scientific spirit which challenges our admiration. 
 
 One of the first men in America to proclaim his confidence in 
 the statements of Dr. Jenner was Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, Pro¬ 
 fessor of Medicine in Harvard College. In July, 1800, he procured 
 vaccine matter from England, and boldly tested “the experiment 
 in the persons of four of his own children, the eldest being seven 
 years of age, who. thus became the first subjects of vaccination in 
 the United States; 5 ' * and being afterwards exposed to small-pox in¬ 
 fection in the hospital of Dr. Aspinwall they proved to be unsus¬ 
 ceptible of its influence."—(Dr. James Thacher’s Am. Med. Biog¬ 
 raphy, Boston, 1828.) 
 
 In September of the same year, Dr. James Jackson of Boston, 
 returning from London, where he had studied under Dr. Wood- 
 ville, practiced vaccination in Boston and vicinity. Before the 
 close of the year, Elisha North was pursuing his own investi¬ 
 gations. He himself describes the first steps as follows: 
 
 “ A few weeks only before vaccination was begun in Goshen, Dr. Water- 
 house of Boston, had received vaccine matter from England. I took my 
 first vaccine fluid warm and fresh from a person in New Haven, who was 
 visited for such a purpose. The distance was nearly fifty miles. This pa¬ 
 tient had been vaccinated six or seven days before. There was a complete 
 failure very soon afterwards in the business of vaccination in New Haven. 
 As soon as I arrived home I vaccinated three patients, two of whom were 
 children. The children went through the regular process of vaccination, 
 but the virus failed to infect the adult. Those children were immediately 
 put to the usual test of variolous inoculation. The variolous infection 
 occasioned very small effects which soon disappeared.” 
 
 * According to Mr. Sidney E. Morse, the first four persons vaccinated in America were 
 a member of the family of Dr. Waterhouse, the Rev. Dr. Jedidiah Morse, Richard C. 
 Morse his son. and Sidney E. Morse, himself. Life of Jedidiah Morse, D.D., by Wm. B. 
 Sprague. New York, 1S74, pp. 272-273. It is peculiar that Mr. Morse says Dr. Whitehouse 
 vaccinated “ one member of his family ” ; Dr. Thrasher says: '•'four of his children Dr. 
 North says: “si .x of his children.” 
 
 Vaccine was introduced into Philadelphia in the Autumn of 1801. Dr. John Redman 
 Cose relates experimenting on his son, December 29, 1801, in Phil. Med. Museum, (V. 
 224, 1805). 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 5 
 
 And then he adds with great candor and modesty: 
 
 “I was undoubtedly more indebted to chance than to skill for my 
 good fortune in those experiments; for as was afterwards learned, nothing 
 was known on this side the Atlantic with regard to the proper time for 
 taking vaccine virus.” 
 
 Some months later he addressed a letter to Dr. Waterhouse, 
 stating the difficulties which had attended vaccination in his vicini¬ 
 ty, and the Boston physician replied he had experienced similar 
 perplexity. But a few days later he wrote that he had just re¬ 
 ceived a letter from Dr. Jenner communicating the following 
 golden rule in vaccination: “Take the fluid for vaccination on or 
 before the expiration of the eighth day.” Of this rule Dr. North, 
 thirty years later, remarks: “ This is now known to every tyro in 
 the medical profession, but none can realize its value but those 
 who have experienced the evils occasioned bv the w T ant of such 
 information.” And it was with this in remembrance that he at¬ 
 tributed his first success to chance rather than skill. 
 
 The “business of vaccination” as Dr. North calls it, was ex¬ 
 tensively carried on in Goshen in the winter of 1800—01, by him¬ 
 self, and by Dr. Jesse Carrington, of whom he candidly says: 
 “ He was my rival in business.” Dr. Carrington was, however, 
 not so fortunate, and met with a calamity at the outset; he had 
 procured some virus from a traveling person (designated in Dr. 
 North’s blunt language as a kine pock pecldler ) with which he vac¬ 
 cinated his wife, and others. After Mrs. Carrington got through 
 with what her husband supposed was the kine pock, he persuaded 
 her to have variolous infection put into her arm. The unfortu¬ 
 nate and believing wife was easily made to understand the object 
 in view, namely, to convince an incredulous public of the utility 
 of the new practice; but to the great disappointment and chagrin 
 of Dr. Carrington his wife broke out with the genuine small pox, 
 and she had to be removed in accordance with the law to a hos¬ 
 pital in Cornwall, ten miles distant. Of this incident, Dr. North, 
 says: “This calamity and the two experiments I had previously 
 made, were very beneficial to all within their knowledge.” 
 
 Both these Goshen physicians made a vast number of experi¬ 
 ments, some with genuine vaccine lymph, and some with such as 
 proved to be spurious, and also with variolous infection, but no 
 disaster similar to that related again occurred. By degrees they 
 
6 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 acquired knowledge for the discrimination of genuine and spurious 
 matters. During the winter many persons were vaccinated half 
 a dozen times before the desired effect would be produced. A 
 trouble and vexation arose which, says Dr. North, was much 
 greater than in future will probably ever again occur.” 
 
 Besides the perplexity occasioned by ignorance, these early in¬ 
 vestigators had to encounter a host of other vexations occasioned 
 by the prejudices of those around both in and out of the medical 
 profession. 
 
 We again quote Dr. North at length: 
 
 “In the spring of the year 1801 there was no genuine vaccine matter this 
 side of the Atlantic, except in Goshen, and in the hands of Dr. Water- 
 house or others in his vicinity. During the winter of 1800-01 there was a 
 complete failure in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, in obtaining 
 genuine vaccine virus. This circumstance enabled me to introduce the 
 kinepock for the first time into the City of New York. This was done in 
 April, 1801, by the agency of a Mr. Hunt. Mr. Hunt visited New York 
 on his own business while he had the kine pock in his arm, and that, too, 
 in the right stage for taking matter. Mr. Hunt at my request called on 
 Dr. Edward Miller, who vaccinated others from his arm. I vaccinated 
 Mr. Hunt from the arm of a little girl. This girl was vaccinated by virus 
 taken in a fluid state from the hand of a Mr. Ives; the pustule on his hand 
 had been derived directly from the udder of a cow, by milking. Thus 
 the first genuine kine pock that was ever introduced into the City of New 
 York originated from an American source.” 
 
 So far Dr. North’s own words. The writer of this sketch has 
 in his possession the original letter of Dr. Edward Miller thank¬ 
 ing Dr. North for sending him vaccine matter ; the following is a 
 transcription of the letter: 
 
 (Copy.) 
 
 New York, 30tli April, 1801. 
 
 Sir, — I have received by the favor of Mr. Lyman, the letter and 
 enclosures which you have obligingly transmitted to me. Your opinions 
 and practice in respect to cow-pox seem to have been formed in the most 
 judicious and accurate manner; and I cannot but congratulate the district 
 of country which makes up the sphere of your professional labors, on the 
 discernment and ability you display in the introduction and encourage¬ 
 ment of such a means (for it scarcely deserves to be called a disease) of 
 preventing and exterminating one of the most terrific distempers when 
 not mitigated by inoculation that ever afflicted the human race. 
 
 The discovery of cow-pox must undoubtedly be considered by all intel¬ 
 ligent and reflecting persons as one of the most interesting discoveries 
 which distinguish the present inquisitive and enlightened period. 
 
MEMOIR OF 1)R. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 7 
 
 Our failure in the propagation of cow-pox in this city was solely owing 
 to the spuriousness of the matter employed — a disappointment which 
 seems often to have happened in different parts of Britain till physicians 
 became experimentally well versed in the peculiar appearances of the 
 genuine disease. Such occurrences, however, will probably become less 
 frequent as soon as the community and especially medical persons are 
 thoroughly apprized of the sources of fallacy and of the necessity of giv¬ 
 ing strict attention to all the circumstances of discrimination. I think 
 your publications very properly adapted to guard against the mistakes in¬ 
 cidental to this new practice. 
 
 I am greatly obliged to you for the kindness of sending some of the 
 vaccine matter. I shall employ it without delay, and if it should fail to 
 communicate the disease, shall take the liberty of requesting a further 
 supply with a view to another trial. 
 
 Wishing you every degree of success in your meritorious exertions to 
 extend the usefulness of this discovery, and to improve the condition of 
 the science of medicine, I request you to accept my assurances of the 
 most perfect respect and esteem. 
 
 EDWARD MILLER. 
 
 Dr. Elisha North, Goshen, Conn. 
 
 Dr. Edward Miller was one of the prominent physicians of New 
 York city, an editor (with Dr. S. L. Mitchell) of the Medical 
 Repository , and a man of large practice. 
 
 In the above letter Dr. Miller refers to the “failure” in New 
 York city to introduce vaccination. Dr. James Thacher, the 
 biographer, says in this connection: 
 
 “ Dr. Miller of New York received vaccine matter from Dr. Pearson of 
 London, which failed however to produce the genuine disease, nor was 
 another supply sent on from Boston attended with better success.” {Am. 
 Med. Biogr., I, 29.*) 
 
 Dr. Thacher says nothing of Dr. North’s participation in the 
 matter, probably because the facts had not yet been published at 
 the time he (Dr. Thacher) wrote: In January, 1802, a “Cow-pox 
 Institution ” was established in New York city. The circum¬ 
 stances connected with the man Ives are too important to be 
 passed by. Dr. North thus narrates them: 
 
 “ In May, 1801, a young man by the name of Ives came to consult me 
 as a physician. He said he had chills, headache, and fever; also a swel¬ 
 ling under his arm and a sore on his hand; this sore upon examination I 
 found to be the cow-pox pustule. Upon inquiry I became completely 
 satisfied that this pustule was produced from infection derived directly 
 from the udder of a cow, by milking. Being pleased with this discovery 
 
 * See also: Med. JlcpoMory, Vol. IV, pp. 79, 2(14, and 321 (1801.) 
 
8 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 (considering it to be the first of the kind which had been made in Amer¬ 
 ica), I prosecuted my inquiries still further. The result of these inquiries 
 amounted to this, that this cow did not get her disease from the human 
 subject nor from the horse. . . . Infection taken from Ives’ hand (for 
 
 I saw him at the right stage for taking infection) produced the genuine 
 disease in others.” 
 
 In the same year, almost the very month that Dr. North was 
 making these observations, Dr. Edward Miller wrote in the Medi¬ 
 cal Repository: 
 
 “ We hope our readers in the United States will endeavor to ascertain 
 whether the vaccine disease is to be found among the cows of this country, 
 and if so they will employ infection derived from a domestic, in prefer¬ 
 ence to a foreign source.” (Med. Reposit., IV, 322, 1801.) 
 
 How Dr. North anticipated this suggestion has been stated. 
 
 Nearly forty years after Dr. North had thus established the 
 identity of cow-pox and sinall-pox, the discovery was claimed for 
 Dr. Ceeley of Aylesbury, England. In an article which appeared 
 in the Medico- Chirurgical Review , the following passage occurs: 
 
 “ What many gentlemen in this country failed to accomplish, we are 
 happ} r to say has been at length achieved by one of the members of our 
 association, Mr. Ceeley of Aylesbury. He resolved to attempt to ascer¬ 
 tain whether he could by inoculation impregnate the cow with human 
 small pox Twice he has succeeded in accomplishing this important 
 object after many previous fruitless trials. His experiments were con¬ 
 ducted in the presence of live medical men and one veterinary surgeon. 
 He produced five vesicles on the cows, from which source several hundred 
 patients have been vaccinated, who have exhibited all the phenomena of 
 vaccination in the most perfect form and complete degree.” 
 
 The publication of this caused a contributor to the New London 
 Advocate and Republican (February 3, 1841), to take up the cud¬ 
 gels in behalf of ‘‘our venerable and respected fellow-citizen, Dr. 
 Elisha North,” which he did by republishing the account of Mr. 
 Ives’ case just quoted. 
 
 I have before me, as I write, a small piece of paper, yellow with 
 age, on which is written in Dr. North’s peculiar yet legible hand: 
 
 “ An extract from a discussion had in the Cheraw Gazette (S. C.), and 
 in the Peoples' Advocate , New London: ‘Dr. Jeuner discovered the utility 
 of vaccination, while it must in future be unquestionably admitted that 
 the combined investigations of Drs. North and Ceeley in England have 
 established the identity of the vaccine prophylactic with the small pox.’ ” 
 
 The old manuscript ends here. Obviously Dr. North had 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 9 
 
 copied the extract so flattering to his amour propre, with d view to 
 preservation. 
 
 The great opposition wfliich the introduction of vaccination met 
 at the hands of common people is a familiar topic, yet we believe 
 new light may be thrown upon its extravagant character by quot¬ 
 ing a few passages of Dr. North’s narrative: He says: 
 
 “ The excitement or opposition ran so high and was so very unreasona¬ 
 ble that to get rid of the convincing evidence .... I was myself, 
 in particular, actually accused of using on design bad small pox matter. 
 To silence such slander, I begged as a favor that five of my vaccinated 
 patients would visit with me a small pox hospital at Winchester, eight 
 miles distant, and there be inoculated with warm variolous infection, and 
 likewise see the small pox for themselves; for some, among other objec¬ 
 tions, maintained that the kine pock was a worse malady than the small¬ 
 pox. This last experiment was actually tried and succeeded, and it was 
 acknowledged to be a fair one.” 
 
 “ Another trouble arose in the progress of this business. After we had 
 succeeded with much labor and expense in establishing the utility of vac¬ 
 cination, too many thought that they could vaccinate themselves after they 
 had learned how from us; and such persons doubtless thought it was per¬ 
 fectly a fair game to defraud their teachers of the pitiful fees which were 
 expected.” 
 
 Dr. North states that he succeeded in driving the small-pox from 
 the adjoining town of Cornwall, but neither he nor Dr. Carrington 
 ‘•made the business of vaccination profitable notwithstanding their 
 great attention.” An interesting advertisement of Dr. North in 
 the Connecticut Courant of 1811, will be found in the appen¬ 
 dix (D). 
 
 Dr.-North published his comments on the researches of Dr. 
 Waterhouse as set forth in the latter’s pamphlet printed in 1802. 
 Dr. North remarks that he thought it his “duty to exhibit much 
 demonstrative evidence with respect to the utility of vaccination,” 
 and contrasts his own method of investigation with that of Dr. 
 Waterhouse to the prejudice of the latter. Dr. North admits (in 
 1829), the imperfection of physicians’ knowledge of the manage¬ 
 ment of vaccination, and makes the pertinent inquiry: “ Is it not 
 expedient in the present state of' our knowledge to have recourse 
 to the cow for vaccine virus as often as may be practicable ? ” 
 
 A question obviously prophetic of these days when “ vaccine 
 farms ” are recognized institutions auxiliary to the practice of vac¬ 
 cination. 
 
10 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 In the spring of 1806 a malignant disease broke out in Massa¬ 
 chusetts, which baffled the physicians, soon became epidemic, and 
 proved a terrible scourge. It was first noticed by Drs. Danielson 
 and Mann of Medfield, Mass., in March. The fever was accom¬ 
 panied by a characteristic maculated eruption which caused it to 
 receive the popular name “ Spotted Fever.” Dr. Miner called it 
 typhus syncopcilis. Dr. North called it typhus petechialis. This dis¬ 
 ease ravaged New England at various periods from 1806 till 1816. 
 It first appeared in Connecticut in April’10, 1807, at Winchester, 
 Litchfield County, about eight miles from Dr. North's home. 
 Writing of the disease he says: “ A disorder has come among us 
 like a flood of mighty waters bringing along with it all the horrors 
 of a most dreadful plague.” The history of typhus and its symp¬ 
 toms, as well as the methods of treatment are well known; for a 
 non-medical man to venture on this ground would be a dangerous 
 experiment, all we desire to do is to show the part wTiich Dr. Elisha 
 North took in checking this malady, and informing the public of 
 his experiences and successes. When the disease broke out in 
 Winchester, sweating and bleeding of patients was resorted to; 
 Dr. North at the very outset came to the conclusion that “ Death 
 was not occasioned by violence of fever, inflammation, or putrefac¬ 
 tion of the system, but by an unaccountable, sudden, and violent 
 prostration of the energy of the brain and nervous system ” 
 (Spotted Fever, p. 99). Accordingly, he adopted a method of 
 treatment opposite to that in vogue, “stimulating to the fullest 
 extent,” and using “ wine, brandy, opium, camphor, Peruvian bark, 
 serpentaria, oil of peppermint, castor, elixir vitriol, blisters, and 
 sinapisms.” In his treatise on spotted fever Dr. North devotes an 
 entire chapter to the “Quantity of stimulants to be used,” admit¬ 
 ting that in some of the cases reported the quantity given was 
 “enormous.” Elsewhere he writes: 
 
 “lam decidedly of the opinion this disease requires stimulating reme¬ 
 dies; but by this I do not mean that in every case patients must take 
 brandy by quarts, or wine by gallons, for I believe that it requires as much 
 judgment in using stimulants as it does in reducing the system ” (Letter to 
 Dr. Elijah Munson.— Phil. Med. Museum. 
 
 During the winter of 1807-8 Dr. North prescribed for sixty-five 
 patients suffering with this disease, of these he lost but one, the 
 second patient to whom he was called (Spotted Fever, p. 99). In 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 11 
 
 Winchester when the disease first appeared about one-third died 
 (page 127). 
 
 Many physicians adopted the plan of using stimulants, some in¬ 
 dependently, and others in consequence of the publication of Dr. 
 North. Between 1807 and 1810 spotted fever prevailed to an 
 alarming extent in Hartford, Farmington, AYethersfield, Berlin, 
 Bristol, Burlington, Canton, Simsbury, Torringford, Winchester, 
 New Hartford, and Goshen, and the popular excitement concern¬ 
 ing it found utterances in the columns of the newspapers of the 
 day. Mr. Babcock, editor of the American Mercury (Hartford), 
 was very emphatic in his complaint of physicians with respect to 
 this plague. 
 
 The Reverend Dr. Ebenezer Fitch, President of Williams Col¬ 
 lege, was bereaved of his eldest son, “ a promising and hopefully 
 pious youth ” on the morning of Commencement Day, 1807. This 
 affliction stimulated Dr. Fitch to publish in the Berkshire Reporter , 
 of Pittsfield, a letter with two communications, one from Dr. Elisha 
 North of Goshen, and one from Dr. Elijah Lyman of Torrington, 
 “two very respectable physicians” whom he had addressed with 
 inquiries. This, in the earliest publication of Dr. North on spotted 
 fever, bears the date February 12, 1808. It is reprinted in Dr. 
 North’s treatise (pages 97 to 102), and has been quoted above. A 
 year later Dr. North published in the Philadelphia Medical Museum 
 another letter addressed to Dr. Elijah Munson, a prominent physi¬ 
 cian of New Haven, it is worthy of remark that both these pub¬ 
 lications were in answer to inquiries made by persons addressed 
 and by request, facts bearing testimony to the unobtrusive and 
 rather retiring character of their author. 
 
 In the second letter named, dated February 12, 1809, Dr. North 
 calls the disease “Typhus petechialis or the malignant Petechial 
 or Spotted Fever,” describes the symptoms and his method of treat¬ 
 ment, which is substantially as given. One year later Dr. Timothy 
 Hall of East Hartford read a paper (April 10, 1810) before the 
 Connecticut Medical Society on spotted fever, in which, after de¬ 
 tailing his experience, he adopts the views of Dr. North, and says: 
 
 “Dr. North’s method of practice coincides more with my own ideas of 
 the proper method of treating this disease than anything I have seen writ¬ 
 ten on the subject.” (Reprint of the proceedings of the Connecticut Medi¬ 
 cal Society from 1792 to 1829 inclusive [Hartford, 1884]). 
 
 The disease continued to spread and to cause great mortality. 
 
 3 
 
12 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 At a meeting of the Councillors of the Massachusetts Medical 
 Society held February 7, 1810, it was 
 
 Voted, That a committee be appointed to collect information respecting 
 the histor}' and treatment of a malignant disease commonly called spotted 
 fever, which is now prevailing in the county of Worcester, and has pre¬ 
 vailed, within five years past, in Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R. I., 
 and report at the next meeting of the society or councillors.” 
 
 The interest of medical men in this epidemic is further shown 
 by frequent contributions to both the secular press and to medical 
 journals. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Woodward of Torringford, the Rev. Festus Foster, 
 Dr. Bestor, Dr. Fiske, Dr. Williamson, besides those previously 
 named, took prominent parts in this public discussion. These divers 
 contributions Dr. North collected, and together with his own clini¬ 
 cal observations and views, published in a duodecimo volume to 
 which we have already alluded. It bears the date 1811, and was 
 printed in New York by T. and F. Swords, printers to the Faculty 
 of Columbia College (for full title see Appendix). In the preface 
 the author states that he has undertaken “ to preserve and bring 
 into one view those things which have already been published,” in 
 hopes of aiding the medical fraternity; and he adds: “ This work 
 was not written for amusement but for utility; the author had a 
 double purpose to accomplish, not only to exhibit the truth respect¬ 
 ing the nature and treatment of this disease, but also to produce 
 evidence of this truth.” Accordingly, he appends descriptions of 
 many cases. 
 
 Dr. North's writings are characterized by great candor, some 
 might say bluntness; he did not shrink from calling a spade a 
 spade, and some persons evidently felt aggrieved, as the following 
 shows. Thirty-five or forty years after the treatise on spotted 
 fever was published, Dr. North planned a second edition; the well 
 worn copy which he used for the purpose is now in my hands; it 
 bears his MS. notes on many pages, and contains more than sixty 
 slips of paper on which are written the proposed changes and addi¬ 
 tions for the second edition w 7 hich never saw the light. On one of 
 these slips, in connection with the preface just quoted, we read: 
 “ A bigoted person has told me that this preface was extremely 
 faulty; if it be so my brain is so organized that I cannot perceive 
 it.” 
 
 We shall not undertake to give an analysis of Dr. North's work, 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 13 
 
 which, though rare, can be found in certain medical libraries. 
 Another quotation from his unpublished notes may be given, since 
 it shows again his dry and candid expression of opinion. In the 
 chapter eight “Of Submurias Hydrargyri,” he speaks strongly 
 against the use of mercury, and dwells on its pernicious effects on 
 the constitution. The second edition, had it been published, would 
 have contained the following addition to this chapter. 
 
 “ A physician said to me years ago that I ought to be ashamed of what 
 I published in the first edition of this work in regard to mercury. With 
 the permission of persons whose heads may be organized somewhat like 
 that person alluded to, I will now state that during more than forty years 
 practice I have known the organization of so many persons so permanently 
 injured by the abuse of that highly fashionable medicine that I think now, 
 as I did then, that cautions in regard to it are highly proper.” 
 
 In this chapter he also says: “ I have myself treated not less 
 than two hundred patients with this disease (spotted fever); of 
 these I have lost two. I have never given calomel except to three 
 of the whole number” (Spotted Fever, p. 67). 
 
 Dr. North’s treatise was favorably received by the medical 
 fraternity. The editors of the Medical Repository highly approved 
 the work, as did the editors of the New York Medical Journal. 
 
 The editors of the American Medical and Philosophical Register 
 (New York), in reviewing the treatise say : 
 
 “This is a very respectable work, and by far the largest that has yet 
 been published on the spotted fever. The author appears to have been 
 very diligent in collecting his materials, has evinced considerable discrim¬ 
 ination in the selection, and has put together a body of information which, 
 independent of its present usefulness, well deserves a place as a perma- 
 nant book of reference. But to the merits of a judicious compiler, Dr. 
 North justly lays claim to the character of an original observer, and the 
 facts and observations which he himself has related of this disease, which 
 still prevails in different parts of the Eastern States, are among the most 
 valuable portions of his interesting book.” (American Medical and Philo¬ 
 sophical Review, Vol. II, page 440. See Adv. in Connecticut Gazette, Aug. 
 26, 1812.) 
 
 Dr. North had now reached the age of forty-two, and his repu¬ 
 tation for skill in surgery and judgment in medical art extended 
 over the whole State of Connecticut. Simple and unostentatious 
 in his manners and habits, he never sought selfishly his own 
 aggrandizement; but his worth was appreciated and caused him 
 to be widely resorted to for surgical practice. 
 
14 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 Early in the year 1812 there came to him an invitation to re¬ 
 move to the city of New London, then an important port and a 
 center of the whale fishery. The temptation to exchange the vig¬ 
 orous climate of Litchfield County for the more congenial one of 
 the coast, to exchange the hardships of a country physician’s life 
 for the amenities of city practice, as well as the opportunities of 
 more frequent and quicker communication with the outside world, 
 and the advantages which would accrue to his growing family 
 now comprising six members, were some of the weighty reasons 
 which decided him to seek a new home. 
 
 He moved with his family to New London, May 8, 1812, and 
 soon secured the esteem of his new circle of acquaintances. A 
 contemporary writer, speaking of his career as a physician in New 
 London, says: 
 
 “In the practice of his profession, Dr. North exhibited a remarkable 
 degree of caution, deliberation, and careful reflection. When concerned 
 with the health and comfort, and we may add, the moral welfare of his 
 patients or friends, he exercised a conscientious care and thoughtfulness 
 that preserved him from unsafe enthusiasm or dangerous and extreme 
 views. As a counseling physician he enjoyed the confidence and friend¬ 
 ship of his brethren, and was much valued for his philosophical habits of 
 mind in cases of difficulty and uncertainty.” 
 
 Soon after his settlement in New London, the second war with 
 Great Britain broke out, seriously disturbing the prosperity of the 
 seaboard city. A British fleet controlled the entrance to the Sound, 
 and a petty warfare on the water and on the coast kept the inhab¬ 
 itants on the alert and fearful of disaster. Yet “during the 
 whole war not a man was killed by the enemy in Connecticut, and 
 only one in its waters upon the ccast.” (Miss Caulkins’ History of 
 New London, p. 634.) During this bloodless war the garrisons of 
 Forts Trumbull and Griswold required the attentions of a medical 
 man and Dr. North was called into this service.* 
 
 At the early period of which we write, medical etiquette allowed 
 much greater freedom in advertisements in the local press than 
 the present vigorous usage. In examining an imperfect hie of the 
 Connecticut Gazette , preserved in the rooms of the New London 
 County Historical Society, we have found several interesting 
 
 ♦Probably in the volunteer service only, for the Adjutant-General of the army informs 
 me under date of March 4, 1887, that “ the name Elisha North does not appear on the 
 records of the U. S. A., War of 1812, as a commissioned officer or enlisted man.” 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 15 
 
 advertisements showing their prevalence. These we relegate to 
 the Appendix. In the long advertisement of April, 1819, Dr. 
 North offers his services as a surgeon in certain special cases 
 named, and then followed this endorsement : 
 
 “ We the subscribers being personal friends and medical brethren, resid¬ 
 ing in the same town with Dr. North, believe the publication of the above 
 will probably benefit society.” 
 
 [Signed] Thos. Coit, M. D., 
 Archibald Mercer, 
 
 D. T. Brajnard, 
 
 N. S. Perkins. 
 
 When one physician can thus secure the public endorsement of 
 his four rivals, it indicates a state of harmony hardly credible in 
 these degenerate days. 
 
 At the first meeting of the New London County Medical Society, 
 held after Dr. North’s removal to the city, he was admitted to 
 membership (September 22, 1812) : and he appears to have taken 
 an active part in the work of the society during many years, lie 
 served as clerk in 1815, as chairman in 1823 and in 1831. He 
 was frequently elected as delegate to the State Association, and 
 was thrice appointed to read papers before the County Society 
 (1814, 1829, 1834). For the last twelve years of his connection 
 with the society the honor of being “over sixty years” exempted 
 him from dues, in accordance with the rules. 
 
 Dr. North had joined the Medical Society of Litchfield County 
 in 1811 (September 24th). 
 
 Up to the date of his leaving Goshen, Elisha North, though 
 doubtless styled ‘'Doctor” by his friends and acquaintances, had 
 not received the medical degree. On the title page of his work 
 on spotted fever he does not affix any title to his name. Of his 
 medical education we have written, of his qualifications for a 
 diploma there could be no question, and therefore it is not surpris¬ 
 ing to find that the State Medical Association, at the meeting held 
 in New Haven, October 20, 1813, voted to confer on him the 
 honorary degree of M.D. Dr. North’s name appears in this same 
 year as a member of the Examining Committee of New London 
 County. Between the years 1813 and 1821 he was almost con¬ 
 tinuously sent as a delegate to the annual meetings of the State 
 society; in 1816 he was appointed on the committee to recom- 
 
16 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 mend suitable candidates for a degree of M.D. He apparently- 
 held no other office in the State society. 
 
 Dr. North's reputation as a successful practitioner rests on his 
 skill as a surgeon as well as in the art of healing. In New Lon¬ 
 don he paid especial attention to diseases of the eye and met with 
 great success, exhibiting good judgment, courage, and delicacy of 
 operation. Writing of himself he says: 
 
 “ I have had the pleasure to prevent total blindness and restore sight to 
 twelve or thirteen persons during the last three years. These would now 
 probably be moping about in total darkness and be a burden to society 
 and to themselves, had it not been for my individual exertions.” (See 
 advertisement in Appendix.) 
 
 His success as an oculist led him in the spring of 1817 to open 
 an eye infirmary in New London, which was without question the 
 first institution exclusively devoted to eye surgery in the United 
 States. Of this he writes: 
 
 “We had attended to eye patients before that time, but it occurred to 
 us then, that we might multiply our number of cases of that description, 
 and thereby increase our knowledge, by advertising the public in regard 
 to an eye institution. This was done; and we succeeded, although not 
 to our wishes in a pecuniary view of the case. Our success or exertions 
 probably hastened in this country the establishment of larger and better 
 eye infirmaries.” (Science of Life, pp. 88-90.) 
 
 Dr. North’s allusion to his ill success pecuniarily reminds us of 
 another passage in which he writes: 
 
 “Judging from the lowness of medical fees in Connecticut, one would 
 suppose that property regarded as a means of health, was held by the 
 community in higher estimation than health itself.” 
 
 We may here mention that his skill in delicate operations was 
 perhaps augmented by his lefthandedness, which was marked and 
 persistent. The lack of discrimination in treatment of ophthalmia 
 at this period is illustrated by an anecdote related at the expense 
 of one of his contemporaries. A man came to Dr. North’s 
 infirmary suffering with an inflamed eye; after careful examination 
 the Doctor removed some foreign substance like a bit of charcoal, 
 which had caused the irritation, and prescribing a soothing lotion 
 dismissed him. But before the man left the Doctor casually 
 inquired “ what have you been doing for your eye ? ” The man 
 said he had been to Dr. Blank. “Ah!” said Dr. North, “and 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 17 
 
 what did he do for you ? ” u He gave me,” said the unfortunate 
 man, “ thirteen doses of calomel! ” 
 
 Few persons are now living who were contemporary with Dr. 
 North; many of those still surviving testify with sincerity to his 
 skill as a surgeon. Proofs of this in individual cases are wanting, 
 but he has left in print descriptions of some of his ingenious im¬ 
 provements in methods of operating. He devised a novel metlu d 
 of performing the operation of lithotomy which need not here be 
 detailed. (See Bibliography in Appendix.) He invented an im¬ 
 proved trephine and a speculum oculi, both of which he exhibited 
 at a meeting of the State Medical Association in Hartford, in 
 1821 (May 9th). He also invented a trocar and a new form of 
 catheter, which latter is publicly endorsed by his contemporaries 
 and fellow citizens, Drs. Coit, Mercer, Brainard, and Perkins. 
 This was in 1829. (Science of Life , page 201.) 
 
 About the year 1824 Dr. North, convinced of the advantages of 
 life on a farm, purchased a small property in East Lyme and 
 removed there with his family, driving into the city for his medical 
 practice. On this farm he found a deposit of peat and he made 
 many experiments with it as a fuel. One of Dr. North’s marked 
 characteristics was his habit of seizing upon neglected phenomena, 
 or novel views, adjusting them to existing circumstances, discussing 
 them in a philosophical manner, and then endeavoring to adapt 
 them to philanthropic uses ; in short, he rode his hobbies and 
 sought to induce his friends to make them their own. Accord 
 ingly peat became for the time being his hobby; he had it dug, 
 dried, and sent into town for sale, but probably never gained much 
 pecuniary advantage from his illy-appreciated enterprise. The 
 results of his philosophic study he embodied in an article on 
 11 Fuel,” which was published in the American Journal of Science. 
 Prof. Silliman, in a note to this article, says that while he cannot 
 regard Dr. North’s views as tenable, “ all will agree that he is per¬ 
 forming an important service by attempting to excite the attention 
 of his countrymen to this neglected but valuable resource, the 
 more valuable because it is so extensively diffused and so easily 
 accessible.” 
 
 Those desirous of learning more of Dr. North’s claims and 
 hopes for peat as fuel are referred to the original article, which 
 will well repay perusal. (See Bibliography). A few years later 
 
18 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 he withdrew from the farm and took up his residence in Hunting- 
 ton street, New London. 
 
 In 1829 Dr. North published in the Connecticut Gazette and in 
 other papers seven*! essays under the title: “The Rights of 
 Anatomists vindicated,” and signed Vesalius. These letters were 
 instigated by a law passed by the Connecticut Legislature in 1824, 
 relative to the exhumation of bodies for the purpose of dissection, 
 “ which law converted the slight offense of trespass into the 
 heinous one of felony,” and placed anatomists in a very difficult 
 position. These letters are written in an argumentative, lively 
 style, abounding in historical allusions, and with great freedom in 
 expressing the author’s views; who sought to induce statesmen to 
 modify the law, and at the same time to lessen in the public mind 
 the horror excited by the surgeon’s experiments. His remarks on 
 the status of the State Medical Society and its relations to Yale 
 College are of especial interest to the historian of medical progress 
 in Connecticut. 
 
 In the same year Dr. North published a volume of 200 pages 
 entitled: “Outlines of the Science of Life; which treats physio¬ 
 logically of both Body and Mind.” . . . “To which are 
 
 added Essays on other subjects.” This work gives an interesting 
 insight into the philosophical mind of its author, and in the sub¬ 
 joined essays furnishes incidentally many items which have been 
 already used in preparing this memoir. Dr. North attempts to 
 show that there is in both animals and plants a “ sentient spirit ” 
 formed by caloric, either from the blood or from the sap, “that 
 every sort of life is dependent upon such a spirit either in an 
 active or a torpid state; that mind as well as the other functions 
 of life is dependent upon this spirit when it is animal, and that no 
 unknown spirit or immaterial nonentity is needed to account for 
 any of the phenomena of vitality.” This somewhat materialistic 
 conception is, however, modified by his admitting the immortality 
 of this sentient spirit. He maintains that this spirit originates 
 directly from the blood, and that it is the halitus of the blood, or 
 its elements. And while he regards animals and man alike in 
 respect to this general animal spirit, yet he does not deny the 
 powder of God to “ make the human soul immortal agreeably to 
 the Christian’s faith and hope ” (p. 27). He is conscious of the 
 novelty of his views, and before publishing secured from nine 
 physicians (out of ten who examined his MS.) written certificates 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 19 
 
 favoring the publication. He prints in the belief that “ more 
 good than evil will result 1 ’ from it, and says “little emolument is 
 expected from it; the writing has increased our power as a practi¬ 
 cal physician, whether it will benefit readers, time must decide.” 
 
 His work shows a wide acquaintance with the current English 
 literature on physiology, with a predilection for the writings of 
 Darwin; it abounds in illustrations from experience and the testi¬ 
 mony of others; its philosophical spirit cannot be questioned, 
 although in the light of modern discovery his conclusions seem 
 untenable. His style is rather repetitious and amusingly discur¬ 
 sive, quotations being often introduced from Pope, his favorite 
 poet. His style is also marked by short pithy sentences, which 
 are epigrammatic, and a quaint humor runs throughout the work. 
 A few quotations may well be made, as the book is decidedly 
 scarce. 
 
 He speaks of metaphysicians as “curious men who sit at their 
 ease in elbow chairs, for want of something better to do, contem¬ 
 plating and arranging the movements of their own brains only into 
 systems of mental philosophy, without interrogating nature abroad 
 as much as they should do ” (p. 68). 
 
 Referring to social relations, he writes: “ Among mankind, the 
 men in private life pretend to govern the women and children, 
 but both the latter often rule the former, and often to the injury 
 of society ” (p. 91). 
 
 Speaking of the appetites, he says: “The stomach, like a wife, 
 has more power at home than any other organ in the whole 
 family ” (p. 52). 
 
 The “ Science of Life ” is followed by six essays reprinted in 
 part from the originals, which we have noticed elsewhere. The 
 most interesting is a “History of Vaccination as practiced in 
 Goshen, Connecticut,” a subject we have fully discussed. 
 
 Dr. North was fond of recondite studies, and at times made 
 them hobbies. The visit of Dr. Spurzheim to the United States 
 in 1832 awakened an interest throughout the county in phrenology, 
 and Dr. North did not escape the epidemic. He had read and 
 absorbed, though even before this event, the theories of Gall and 
 Spurzheim, and became quite fascinated with them. He published 
 several essays in the local paper (Connecticut Gazette ), and a small 
 volume bearing the peculiar title: •• Pilgrim’s Progress in Phrenol¬ 
 ogy by Uncle Toby.” In this work “ good instruction is given 
 4 
 
20 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 in the mode of a pleasant conversation in a mixed company of 
 gentlemen and ladies, or to pilgrims in the science.” The scene is 
 laid in the town of “Christian Charity,” and the conversation is 
 carried on between “Mr. Judicious Discretion, Mr. Phrenologist, 
 Mr. Jealousy, Miss Talkativeness, and Mr. Objector.” He claims 
 that phrenology by no means implies materialism and fatalism, 
 and that it is charitable towards all religions. His system of 
 classifying the mental organs differs somewhat from that of Gall 
 and Spurzheim. His dry humor again appears in his writings; 
 he savs: 
 
 J 
 
 “ Mankind are fond of wonderfulness ; it is not, however, always neces¬ 
 sary to have a big head to command public attention, as some untenably 
 teach; not that I myself have a small head.” (p. 68.) 
 
 Although Dr. North read and wrote much on topics not im¬ 
 mediately connected with his profession, he never neglected his 
 duty towards his fellowmen when called to their aid. He 
 seemed to find recreation in mental exercise unconnected with his 
 business. When Asiatic cholera raged in New London in 1832, 
 he made himself conspicuous by skillfully resisting the destroyer. 
 
 Besides the articles cited, Dr. North contributed to the current 
 medical periodicals a number of essays on a variety of topics. So 
 far as w T e have been able to discover them, they are catalogued in 
 the accompanying bibliography. 
 
 Dr. North was exceedingly happy in his family life; his wife 
 was a woman of much character and had the best influence over 
 him; his eight children grew to manhood and womanhood, exhib¬ 
 iting many of the admirable traits of character inherited from 
 both parents. The very names given to three of his boys shows 
 the peculiar bent of his mind; the eldest was named after Harvey, 
 the illustrious discoverer of the circulation of the blood; two 
 others were named after Erasmus Darwin, and William Heberdean, 
 the distinguished Englishmen of science. Three of his sons had 
 the enterprise to found commercial houses in New Orleans, where 
 by industry and unfailing integrity they speedily secured a com¬ 
 petence; one of his sons studied medicine, but preferred private 
 study and teaching to the cares of professional life. Yale 
 graduates of twenty-five classes (1830-1854) remember “ Lord 
 North ” as the painstaking and successful instructor in elocution 
 in that institution. One of his daughters became the wife of the 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 21 
 
 eminent martyr to science, Dr. Elisha Mitchell, Geologist of 
 North Carolina, and Professor of Chemistry in the University of 
 that State; one married a prominent clergyman of South Carolina, 
 and another daughter married a successful physician of New 
 York city. 
 
 One of his children used to relate an anecdote showing his calm¬ 
 ness and mild paternal government; when quite young she swal¬ 
 lowed a pin, and, greatly alarmed, approached her stern father 
 with the excited cry “I’ve swallowed a pin ! ” Dr. North looked 
 up from his book and quietly said: “Well, does it hurt you ? ” 
 “No, father,” replied the child, “Then don’t be so careless 
 again ! ” And this was the end of the consultation. 
 
 Being rather careless about keeping his books, making and col¬ 
 lecting bills, his good wife used to supervise this important busi¬ 
 ness for family reasons; but in spite of her care, an examination 
 of his ledger after his decease showed this curious entry: 
 
 “Mr. Blank, to doctoring you till you died, $17.50.” 
 
 Interesting proof of his ill success in collecting bills has been 
 kindly placed in my possession by a member of the New London 
 County Medical Society, in the shape of an unreceipted bill for 
 $33.08 against the selectmen of the town of Groton, and dated 
 May 23, 1820. 
 
 It is related of him that on one occasion he was called upon to 
 treat the foot of a young girl who was foolishly delicate about 
 exposing her naked foot to the physician’s gaze. Perceiving her 
 false modesty, as she hesitated to remove her stocking, he said: 
 “Come, Miss Blank, if your foot is clean, let me see it!” Her 
 scruples vanished. 
 
 Dr. North was exceedingly absentminded, and this increased 
 with advancing years; devoted to study he sat reading or writing 
 seemingly oblivious of externals, and not noticing persons entering 
 or leaving the room unless they addressed him, when with native 
 courtesy he gave them his attention. The only infirmity which 
 attacked him in his latter years was deafness, and this naturally 
 increased his concentrativeness. His methodical habits, love of 
 philosophical truth, and his singular absentmindedness are exhibited 
 in an anecdote concerning him. A slight fire having broken out 
 in his house while he was in the street near by, a neighbor called 
 out to him: “Doctor, your house is on fire ! ” He made no reply 
 
22 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 hut quietly walked into the house. Seeing him so cool, a bystander 
 asked his neighbor and intimate friend Judge Lyman: “ What do 
 you suppose the Doctor is going to do ? ” •• Doubtless/’ answered 
 
 the judge, ‘‘lie will consult Count Rumford’s works to ascertain 
 the best means for extinguishing fire ! ” 
 
 Dr. North lived to the good age of seventy-three, his later years 
 being passed in comfort and in complete enjoyment of his activity 
 and usefulness; perfect health rewarded his philosophically tem¬ 
 perate habits of life. The last act of his life before he was 
 deprived by paralysis of speech and locomotion, was to visit an 
 interesting and important case of disease, and the last connected 
 sentence which he succeeded in uttering was addressed to the 
 physician who took his place in attending the patient. 
 
 A memorandum is in possession of the writer bearing the date 
 of his death, December 29, 18 43, giving the following particulars: 
 “ Height five feet nine inches, an oval and intellectual head with 
 a periphery of twenty-two and six-sevenths inches, mesial line 
 fifteen and one-fourth inches, temperament nervo-sanguine. age 
 seventy-three.” 
 
 One who knew him well wrote of him thus: 
 
 “Dr. North was distinguished by zeal for his patients and the highest 
 degree of integrity, frankness, and disinterestedness, in his intercourse 
 with them, and his efforts for their benefit. His interest in his profession, 
 as a branch of science and as a means of benefiting society and individuals 
 was strong and earnest, and whenever circumstances required took the 
 precedence of all other subjects, yet his mind being incessantly active, 
 was generally occupied when at leisure from the cares and toils of a 
 physician’s life with some favorite subject unconnected with the more 
 practical parts of his profession, in expressing his views upon which, he 
 would exhibit an eloquence and an amount of information often astonish¬ 
 ingly beyond the importance of the topic, in the estimation of many. 
 His ever active mind dwelt in a remarkable manner in an unworldly 
 sphere of thought and reflection. He lived the life which we attribute to 
 an ancient philosopher; unsuccessful in accumulating property yet in debt 
 to no one; indifferent to a great extent as to his dress and manners, and to 
 his worldly interests, he was often apparently unconscious of the presence 
 of his fellow beings unless his attention was especially called to them. 
 As might be conjectured from this sketch, his moral views were uncom¬ 
 monly pure and high, and it was impossible to suspect him of craft or 
 duplicity. His manners had the simplicity and modesty of those of a 
 child.” 
 
 The number of individuals vet living who remember the person 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 23 
 
 of Dr. North is rapidly growing small; our hope is that this 
 inadequate sketch may increase the number of those who will 
 respect his memory. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF ELISHA NORTH, M.D. 
 
 “Account of the Typhus Fever and its Treatment.” Phil. Med. Museum ; 
 IV, pp. 16-20 (1808). A letter to Dr. John Redman Coxe, editor, 
 dated Goshen, Conn., Jan. 13, 1807. 
 
 “Letter on Spotted Fever,” dated February 12, 1808, addressed to the 
 Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Fitch. Berkshire Reporter, Pittsfield, 1808. 
 Reprinted in his Treatise, pp 98-102. 
 
 “History of the Typhus Petechialis, or the Malignant Petechial or Spotted 
 Fever, as it appeared in Goshen, Connecticut, during the winter of 
 1807-08; with such Remarks as may tend to elucidate its Nature 
 and to establish the best Method of Cure.” By Elisha North. 
 Phil. {The) Med. Museum, conducted by John Redman Coxe; Phila¬ 
 delphia, 1809. Vol. VI, pp. 280-291. Reprinted in his Treatise, 
 pp. 126-138. [A letter dated Goshen, February 12, 1809, addressed 
 to Dr. Elijah Munson, New Haven.] 
 
 “ Observations on the Hydrocele Capitis Infantum.” Phil. Med. Museum 
 (N. S.) I, 59 (1810). [A letter dated Goshen, January 18, 1810, 
 addressed to Dr. John Redman Coxe, the editor.] 
 
 “ Observations on Cynanche Trachealis.” Phil. Med. Museum (N. S.) I, 
 112 (1810). [A letter dated Goshen, April 20, 1810.] 
 
 “A Treatise on a Malignant Epidemic, commonly called Spotted Fever; 
 interspersed with remarks on the Nature of Fever in General, etc., 
 and an Appendix in which is republished a number of Essays 
 written by different authors on this epidemic, with the addition of 
 Original Notes; containing, also, a few original and selected cases, 
 with clinical remarks.” By Elisha North. New York: Printed 
 and sold by T. & J. Swords, Printers to the Faculty of Physic of 
 Columbia College, No. 160 Pearl street, 1811, 12 mo, pp. 250. 
 
 “ On Extraction of the Stone.” An attempt to demonstrate that the 
 bladder may be opened for the extraction of the stone by a poste¬ 
 rior method of operating more conveniently to the surgeon and 
 with much greater safety to the patient than by any other method 
 hitherto discovered. New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, 
 XI, p. 113. Republished in Phil. J. Med. and Physical Science, 
 August, 1822. 
 
 “On Fuel.” The American Journal of Science and Arts. Conducted by 
 Benjamin Silliman. Yol. XI, pp. 66-78. October, 1826. 
 
 “The Rights of Anatomists Vindicated,” by Vesalius. Three Essays. 
 No. 1 in the Canal of Intelligence, Norwich, January 21, 1829. No. 2 
 
24 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 in the State Palladium, New London, May 12, 1829. No. 8 in the 
 New London Gazette, New London, August 19, 1829. 
 
 “Outlines of the Science of Life; which treats physiologically of both 
 Body and Mind; designed only for Philosophers and other candid 
 persons. To which are added Essays on other subjects.” By 
 Elisha North, M.D. New York: Collins & Co., 117 Maiden Lane. 
 1829, xx, 202 pp., 12 mo. 
 
 “Five Essays on Phrenology (Anthropology),” in New London Gazette. 
 
 No. 1, January, (?) 1835, signed N-. No. 2, July 1, 1835, signed 
 
 John Gilpin. No. 3, July 22, 1835, signed N. Nos. 4 and 5 
 unsigned. 
 
 “ The Pilgrim’s Progress in Phrenology.” Part I., abridged. By Uncle 
 Toby. New London. Published by Samuel Green. 1836 78 pp. 
 
 8vo. Title on cover: “The Manly yet Charitable Physiologist’s 
 Progress in Anthropology; or a Short Account of the Art of 
 Making Nice and Useful Demarcations with respect to Organical 
 Differences.” It contains a scrap of Part I, the whole of Part III, 
 Essays, five in number, and an Epitome. 
 
 Dr. North also edited “Morrison’s Tract on the Vitality of the Blood.” 
 
 B. Copy of a document in possession of the New London County 
 Historical Society. 
 
 Groton, January 8th, 1782. 
 
 Wee Whose Names are here Under-Wrighten Desiereth that a Town 
 meeting May be Called as Soon as the Authority of Above S d town shall 
 think proper for the purport of procuring a Vote of S d town to carry on 
 the Small pox by Inoculation, as wee are Desierus for Our Selves or Some 
 part of Our Famelies may have that priviledg that our Nabours hath had 
 
 Nath 1 Niles 
 Charles Smith 
 Edward Packer 
 Jasper Latham, Jun. r 
 Dan 1 Parker 
 Solomon Perkins 
 Jesse Brown 
 John Woodman jr 
 James Baley 
 Joseph Turner. 
 
 C. Extract from a letter (date not given) written to the Selectmen of 
 Groton by Eben Ledyard. In possession of the New London County 
 Historical Society: 
 
 “ Dr. Cooley offered to inoculate every person in Groton with kin^-pox 
 at | pence, and give his bond to pay all expenses if any one got the small 
 pox afterwards. 
 
 “[Signed] Eben Ledyard.” 
 
 before us. 
 
 Simeon Smith 
 William Morgan 
 Samuell Adams 
 David Adams 
 Jabez Shaler 
 Obad b Bailey 
 Je d Leeds. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 25 
 
 D. Copy of advertisement in the Connecticut Courant , February 6, 
 1811: 
 
 Vaccination. In justice to Dr. Elisha North, who is acknowledged to 
 be a man of integrity and skill in his profession, and is believed, from his 
 large experience in the kine-pox, to be peculiarly well versed in the prac¬ 
 tice of vaccination, we, the subscribers have been induced to state that 
 Dr. North was one among the first who made a vigorous attempt to intro¬ 
 duce into this State the use of the cow-pox. Ten years have elapsed since 
 his efforts for this purpose were commenced. The cow-pox, like all other 
 new discoveries, met, for a considerable length of time, with the most 
 determined opposition. The time has, however, at length arrived in 
 which almost every one acknowledges its utility. We, as well as Dr. 
 North, highly approve of the generous method adopted by the towns of 
 New London and Hartford to induce the people to avail themselves of 
 this great blessing. 
 
 Samuel Lyman, j 
 
 William Stanley, Jr., I ^ , 
 
 T r selectmen. 
 
 Liiastus Lyman, 
 
 Erastus Griswold, 
 
 Goshen, Jan. 14, 1811. 
 
 The subscriber informs the people in the adjacent towns, that he will 
 with pleasure extend his practice of vaccination to any distance within 
 a convenient day’s ride from his usual place of residence. As he always 
 prefers to use fresh infection, it becomes necessary to communicate the 
 kine-pox to numbers at the same time. This method of management is 
 also peculiarly calculated to reduce the expense to each individual to a 
 very moderate sum. The subscriber will, with promptness and gratitude, 
 attend, at their own places of abode, to all such classes as may apply to 
 him for the purpose of receiving the cow-pox. As vaccination, from its 
 very nature, can never be an object worthy the attention of every physi¬ 
 cian, the subscriber contemplates that those of his medical brethren who 
 may not choose to engage in this practice will not consider this attempt 
 to extend its benefits as any infringement on their medical rights and 
 privileges. 
 
 [Signed] Elisha North. 
 
 Goshen, Jan. 80, 1811. 
 
 The above advertisement was reprinted entire in the Connecticut Gazette , 
 New London, June 14, 1815, with the following addition: 
 
 The subscriber thinks proper to inform the public in this vicinity that 
 he is ready to vaccinate in the manner he has formerly been accustomed 
 to do, which is detailed in the above advertisement. 
 
 [Signed] E. North. 
 
 New London, June 6, 1815. 
 
 Note by H. C. B. In this same number of the Connecticut Gazette arc 
 two other advertisements of “ Kine Pock”: one by Elijah Root of East 
 Iladdam, who offers to Vaccinate with “ genuiue Kine Pock matter less 
 than four years old and one by Sylvester Wooster of Lyme. 
 
26 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. ELISHA NORTH. 
 
 E. Copy of advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette, New London, 
 Wednesday, July 1, 1812: 
 
 The subscriber not long since notified the citizens of New London and 
 its neighborhood that he had removed to New T London, where he offered 
 himself as a practitioner in physic and surgen 7 , and having lately been 
 informed that it was understood he did not intend to practice midwifery, 
 he now takes this opportunity to inform the public that he will as readily 
 attend on calls of that description as any other; also, that he has been 
 much experienced in that part of his profession for twenty 3 T ears past. 
 
 June 30, 1812. Elisha North. 
 
 F. Copy of advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette, New London, 
 Ma3 7 5, 1819: 
 
 To physicians, clerg 3 r men, selectmen, and others, whose duty it is to 
 take the lead in societ 3 7 in cases where sickness is concerned. 
 
 The subscriber wishes to be permitted to give information that he has 
 invented a new mode of performing the operation of lithotomy, or cutting 
 for the stone in the bladder, wEich he is confident will greatly lessen 
 the danger arising from that source. He hereb 3 7 offers his services to any 
 one who may have the misfortune to require a surgeon for that purpose. 
 He also wishes to give information that he has so far improved the instru¬ 
 ments used for drawing off the urine in cases of obstruction of that fluid, 
 that in future no person need necessarily die from that cause alone. 
 He has also now acquired experimental knowledge in the treatment of 
 permanent strictures of the urethra by the Caustic Bougie (a species of 
 knowledge not often acquired in the county), and hereby offers his ser¬ 
 vices to an 3 T one who ma 3 T be afflicted with that distressing complaint. 
 He can also give correct advice and furnish the most improved trusses for 
 ruptured persons. It ma 3 7 not be unuseful to state that, in the manage¬ 
 ment of diseases of the eye I have had the pleasure to prevent total blind¬ 
 ness and restore sight to twelve or thirteen persons during the last three 
 3 r ears. These wmuld now probabl 3 T be moping about in total darkness, 
 and be a burden to societ 3 T and to themselves, had it not been for my indi¬ 
 vidual exertions. Editors of newspapers in and about this region will 
 probably confer a benefit upon society b 3 7 giving this one insertion in their 
 papers. 
 
 [Signed] Elisha North. 
 
 New London, April, 1819. 
 
 We, the subscribers, being personal friends and medical brethren resid¬ 
 ing in the same town with Dr. North, believe the publication of the above 
 will probabty benefit society. 
 
 [Signed] Thos. Coit, M.D., 
 
 Archibald Mercer. 
 D. T. Brainard, 
 
 N. S. Perkins. 
 
 [Signed]