Page:A History of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania.djvu/201



inquiry will naturally arise with respect to the nature of the accommodations possessed by the Medical Faculty, from the earliest period, for conducting their courses of instruction; and, in connection with this inquiry, the precise locality of such accommodations is not without interest.

When Dr. Shippen commenced his labors as an instructor in Anatomy, he occupied apartments in the rear of his father’s residence in Fourth Street above Market, which had been prepared for this especial purpose. There the lectures on Anatomy, Surgery, and Midwifery, were delivered even some years after he was installed Professor of the College. Access to these apartments was by an alley-way from Market Street above Fourth. In speaking of these arrangements, Dr. Wistar remarks: “He had apartments of his own construction every way adequate to the accommodation of his class, with proper arrangements also for teaching practical anatomy.”

The probability is that the other lectures were delivered in the old Academy Building in Fourth Street, near to Arch. This building had been erected for religious purposes at the time of Whitfield’s popularity in America, to accommodate those who were attracted by his preaching, and for free religious services. In 1749, upon the establishment of the Academy, it was conveyed to the Trustees, upon the assumption of a debt that existed, and with the condition that it should be used by such ministers as were approved by the Trustees. An attraction which it possessed was a hall, which, at the time, was regarded as spacious, and adapted for public gatherings. From the Minutes of the Board of Trustees we are informed that subsequent improvements and alterations were