Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/241

BURNETTE instance; a women expects to be delivered on a certain day. A few days before that time the doctor would choose a day when all other affairs could be set aside, call at the woman's house, and not leave her until the baby was born. "That is the best way" he would say, "for both of us."

His prescriptions were odd enough. Despite the prohibitory law, whenever he felt inclined to write for a stimulant for a patient he would use this formula: "Know all men by these presents, that I, Augustus Hannibal Burbank, the doctor, hereby command you or your new drug clerk, to draw out, measure and sell to Mrs. for her dear, but sick husband, one-half pint of your best gin, to cure him of his present terrible malady, I do."

Among the numerous and original medical papers contributed by Dr. Burbank to the Maine Medical Association, mention should be made of one on the "Induction of Delivery," and in 1892 a charming oration "On the Mutual Relations of Medical Men," filled with humor and depth of thought combined. Dr. Burbank was tall and erect, with clean cut features and in his older days wore a short, straight white beard. He was a genuine character in medicine, and everybody who knew him considered him a man of much interest. He should have been known to every medical man who ever lived as a most delightful specimen of humor, combined with excellent judgment and exquisite skill. He died after only a short illness, June 27, 1895. J. A. S.

Burnett, Charles Henry (1842-1902).

Henry Burnett, otologist, was born in Philadelphia on May 28, 1842. After education in the schools of his native city he entered Yale in 1860 and graduated in 1864.

After graduating from Yale he entered the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the M. D. in March, 1867. He was soon after appointed resident physician in the Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia, serving a full term in that capacity. Upon the completion of this service he went abroad, spending ten months in the laboratories and hospitals of Europe during the years 186S-69. Upon returning to Philadelphia he practised medicine for a year.

He had always had his attention strongly attracted to the study of otology, and at length decided to return to Europe and devote himself to a special study of that subject. In the pursuit of this design he gave up his practice in 1870 and went abroad, where he worked for over a year, especially in the laboratories of Helmholtz and Virchow, and in the clinic of Politzer. These three eminent men became greatly attached to the American student, and in subsequent years their friendship was continued. With Helmholtz, in particular, he established most cordial relations, conducting in his laboratory his invaluable series of investigations into the condition of the membrane of the round window during the movements of the auditory ossicles and upon the various effects of changes in intralabyrinthine pressure. This research work of Dr. Burnett placed him at once among the most eminent investigators into the physiology of hearing.

He returned to Philadelphia in April, 1872, and took up practice once more, devoting his work solely to diseases of the ear.

He never enjoyed robust health, and his unflagging industry was often a source of anxiety and wonder to his friends who knew how severe a physical strain it must have been for him to bear.

In spite of the arduous labor involved in his attention to his practice, Dr. Burnett never ceased to pursue his investigations into the scientific side of the specialty of otology.

Of literary work of large scope I mention particularly his "Treatise on Diseases of the Ear," published in 1877; "Hearing, and How to Keep It," one of the American Health Primers published in 1879; "The