Page:A History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania.djvu/179

 to dissection, his quiet demeanor, his steadiness of character, the neatness and elegance of his preparations, had attracted the notice of Prof. Wistar, and gained his friendship, confidence, and esteem.” In the spring of 1816 an arrangement was made with Dr. Wistar, by which Dr. Horner became his assistant in the anatomical course, preparing the subject for demonstration. By this association “the demonstrations of the anatomical course were fuller and more complete than they had been previously, and the Anatomical Museum was rapidly increased by numerous specimens and preparations, particularly of fine injections, as well as important pathological illustrations. He worked most assiduously, for it was a work of love.”

Upon the death of Dr. Wistar in 1818, he engaged with Dr. Dorsey as his assistant, and when that Professor was stricken down, at the very opening of his course, the engagement was renewed with Dr. Physick, who undertook the labor of delivering the anatomical lectures in addition to his own on Surgery. “The course of 1818-19 was completed in a manner highly satisfactory to Dr. Physick and the class. The assiduity and zeal of Dr. Horner, and the excellence of his demonstrations, by lightening the labor of the course, and facilitating its progress, contributed in no small degree to the result.” In 1820, Dr. Horner was elected, as has been stated, Adjunct Professor of Anatomy, and upon the resignation of Dr. Physick, in 1831, became the Professor.

“As a lecturer, Dr. Horner was not fluent or copious in language, nor had any pretensions to elocution. His plan, to a certain extent, was novel. He composed a text-book, his ‘Special Anatomy,’ which was a complete but concise treatise on Anatomy. It was written in strict reference to the course of study in the University of Pennsylvania, and was kept in as compendious a state as possible, so that there should be no unnecessary loss of time in reading it. This book was, in fact,