Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 2.djvu/399

 SELDEN

355

SEMMES

Selden, WilHam (180S-18S7).

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, August 15, ISOS, he was the son of Dr. WiUiam B. Selden, a noted physician of that city. He attended lectures and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1830, after which he spent two years in London and Paris, then, returning to this country, he settled in his native city, and soon built up a large practice.

He was a member of the Medical Soci- ety of Virginia, of which he was twice elected vice-president.

In May, 1863, he was commissioned surgeon in the Confederate Army, and served to the end of the war in army hospitals. The rest of his professional life was spent in his native city, where he accomplished much good through his great ability and valuable counsel. He was one of that band of heroic physicians who stood steadfast at the post of duty during the terrible epidemic of yellow fever which visited Norfolk and Ports- mouth in 1855, being chairman of a com- mittee appointed by the city council to investigate the cause and origin of the epidemic. This committee, which con- sisted of six physicians, submitted a full and valuable report, with the correct conclusion that the disease was introduced by the steamer Ben FrankUn. This report is from his joen, and few more valuable contributions to medical literature have been given the profession.

It is said of him that his abilities were so diversified and various that it is difficult to say in what branch of the profession he most excelled, and still harder to determine in which, if any, he was deficient.

He married Lucinda Wilson, the daughter of Dr. Daniel Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky, and died at his home in Norfolk, Virginia, November 7, 1887.

An able writer, he made some very valuable contributions to medical litera- ture; the titles of some are:

" Report on the Origin of Yellow Fever in Norfolk in 1855." (" Virginia Medical Journal," vol. iv.)

"Gunshot Wound of the Axillary Artery." ("Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal," vol. i.)

"Opium Poisoning Relieved by Scald- ing Water." (" Virginia Medical Jour- nal," vol. v.)

" Bony Union of Fracture of the Neck of the Femur, with Report of Cases and Comments Thereon." ("Transactions of the Medical Society of Virginia," 1877.)

"Autopsy of a Case of Bony Union of an Intra-capsular Fracture of the Neck of the Femur." ("Transactions of the Medical Society of Virginia," 1879.)

R. M. S.

Trans. Med. Soc. of Va., 18S8.

Med. and Surg. Reporter, Phila., 1887, vol.

Ivii.

Sellman, John (1764-1828).

John Sellman was born in the city of Annapolis, Maryland, in 1764, and belonged to an old family of that state; he received a good preparatory education and entered the army as surgeon's mate, reaching Cincinnati with Gen. Wayne in the spring of 1793. The war being over, he resigned his commission in 1794, and lived on Front Street, Cincinnati, where he practised until his death.

On November 1, 1799, Drs. Sellman and Hall formed a partnership. They stated in their card to the public that corn, rye, oats, corn-fed pork, and mer- chantable wheat would be taken in payment for services. Early in the nineteenth century the government es- tablished the arsenal and barracks in Newport, Kentucky. Dr. Sellman was employed for many years as citizen surgeon.

He lived in Cincinnati thirty-five years, and was, at the time of his death, the oldest resident physician.

He died Jannary 1, 1828.

A. G. D.

Semmes, Alexander Jenkins (1828-1898).

Alexander Jenkins Semmes was born

December 17, 1828, in the District of

Columbia; graduated A. B., 1850; A. M.,