Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 2.djvu/28

 orrlinphy iiu>rp ooinplelf in its iiiinii- tia» an»l w:is row.-inlcci by universal pniiso from liis ooiifri^rrs. Hosack o]i- oratoil twiMity-tliroo liinrs for stoiio; tiftl the two carotids for cncoplialoid tumor ami in one instance cut tlu> portio dura. Ho jravo special atten- tion to tlu> removal of tumors in the urinary passages of tlie female aiul amputated the uretlira witii sijjnal suc- cess and permanent cure. He had also an excellent method for curing popliteal aneurysm hy compressing the femoral artery.

.Vmong iiis contributions of value must be nameil:

"Observations on the uses and Ad- vantages of the Actual Cautery," 1831.

"A Memoir on Staphylorrhaphy," 1S33.

"On Sensitive Tumors of the Female Urethra." lS3il.

"Three Operations for Encepha- loid Tumors of the Antrum and Su- perior Maxillary Bone."

•'Twenty-three Cases of Lithotomy by a Peculiar Operation."

Disting. Living New York Surgeons, S. W.

Franci.s. N. Y., )S66.

Med. and ."^urg. Reporter, vol. xiii., Phila.,

1865.

Hosack, David (1769-1835).

David Hosack was one of those who live for tomorrow, who doggedly ad- vocate and carry out reforms for which they themselves get neither thanks nor profit. He brought the same keen interest to bear on a new town sewer as on a new view of disease or a new plant for his botanical garden.

He was born on August 31, 1769, at number 44 Frankfort Street, New York, the son of Alexander and Jane Arden Hosack and the eldest of seven chil- dren. His father came from Moray, Scotland, and came over as an artillery officer under Gen. Sir Jeffrey Amherst and was at the re-taking of Louisburgh. His mother was of English - French descent.

When about thirteen voung David

12 HOSACK

went to school under the Rev. Alex- ander McWhorter of Newark, New Jersey, then for a short time to Dr. Peter Wilson of Hackensack and finally, in 178t), to Columbia College, New York, beginning to study medicine with Dr. Richard Bayley, a New York surgeon, in 1788, graduating B. A. from Princeton in 1789.

His next important step was his marriage to Miss Catharine Warner, and another, removing to Virginia be- cause he thought it would become the capital of the United States. But the call of a metropolis was too strong and he came back in 1792 and in that same year, seeing the necessity for studying in the European hospitals, he left his wife and baby with his par- ents and spent two years in Edinburgh and London, meeting Robert Burns and all the celebrities of that day, listen- ing to learned divines on Sunday and getting all he could during the w^eek from men like Munro Black, Gregory, Duncan in Edinburgh, and in London consorting mainly with those who, like himself, were genuine botanists.

During his winter in London, by the concurrence of Sir Joseph Banks and other scientists, his " Observations on Vision" was published in the "Trans- actions of the Royal Society" and the author thanked. He took full advan- tage of his stay, doing anatomical dissections under Dr. Andrew Marshall and studying chemistry and mineralogy and visiting the hospitals. A tedious journey of fifty-three days in the Mohawk, varied only by an outbreak of typhus on board, brought him again to New York, where he settled down to practise, helped somewhat by friend- ships made on board. The professor- ship of botany in Columbia College was offered him in 1795, and in the autumn of that year he and the other young doctors had plenty of opportunity to distinguish themselves because yellow fever of a malignant type broke out. Also at this time he took care of Dr. Samuel Bard's patients