Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/456

 GESNER

Among his writings are found:

"Observations on the Cholera in Paris," 1832 (with C. W. Pennock).

"On the Typhus Fever Which Oc- curred in Philadelphia in 1836, Showing the Difference between This .... and Typhoid," Philadelphia, 1837.

"Diagnosis, Pathology and Treat- ment of Diseases of the Chest," Phila- delphia, 1842.

D. W.

Hist, of Med. in Phila., Chicago, 1897.

Influence of Louis on America Med., Wm.

Osier. Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin

No. 77. 1897.

Memoir of W. W. Gerhard. T. Stewardson,

1S74

Gesner, Abraham (1797-1864).

Abraham Gesner, a descendant of that " very famous naturalist and au- thor," Konrad Gesner, of Zurich, Swit- zerland (1516-1565), was born at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, May 3, 1797 and died in Halifax, Nova Scotia. April 29, 1864. His father, Col. Henry Gesner, was a native of New York, and served during the Revolutionary War on the royalist side, subsequently settling in Cornwallis.

Young Gesner had but little opportu- nity of securing a good general educa- tion, but he had that vigor and activity of mind which find a way to intellectual achievement in spite of difficulties. A "self-made man" in general learn- ing, he early took to reading the book of nature at first hand in the rocks and minerals, fauna and flora, of his native land, and throughout life, geology, min- eralogy, and the chemistry connected therewith were his favorite studies. By the time he was twenty he had made considerable advance in these subjects, and eagerly grasped at an opportunity afforded him of visiting the West Indies and part of South America that he might extend his scientific knowledge by an examination of the earth and its products in other countries than Nova Scotia. For some years he continued these studies abroad and at home, and about 1S25 became a student of medicine

336

GESNER

in London, where he studied at both St. Bartholomew's and Guy's. In con- nection with his numerous papers pub- lished in the "Geological Journal" (London) the author's name regularly appeared thus: "Abraham Gesner, M. D., F. G. S." He was also fellow or member of many other learned societies in both America and Europe.

Having practised for a time in Corn- wallis, he removed to Parrsboro, and from the preface to his first published work, " Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia," it is shown that in 1836 he was still there and prac- tising.

This book proved of great public service, both by bringing many of the reading people of Nova Scotia into touch with geological science, and by becoming the guide-book to the great- est geologist of the age, Sir Charles Lyell, who, in 1842, visited the province and made a "careful examination of some of the most difficult features of its geologic structures." He had not only Gesner's book, but also the au- thor himself as guide on part of that survey, and both proved of great as- sistance to him.

Among Gesner's other and separately published works are the following:

"Reports on the Geology of New Brunswick," Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, St. John, 1839-42.

"Report on the Geology of Prince Edward Island," 1846.

"New Brunswick, Early History, Natural History, Etc.," London, 1847.

"Industrial Resources of Nova Sco- tia," Halifax, 1849.

"A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petro- leum, and Other Distilled Oils," New York and London, 1861. Second re- vised edition, 1865.

Dr. Gesner has been frequently re- ferred to as the discoverer of kerosene and the originator of the name, derived from the Greek K^pis, wax. As early as 1846 Dr. Gesner had extracted oil from the "Albertite" of New Bruns- wick, and other bituminous minerals.