Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/396

NAME EWELL 374 PAGET tion, two feet of the jejunum of a dog which had fasted for two days, and placed within it one ounce of gastric juice, obtained from the pig, saturated with "well boiled meat in a temperature of 110°"; the intestine was then returned into the abdomen. At the end of three hours the dog was killed and he found "one-third of the mixture was absorbed and the mesenteric glands associated with the iso- lated portion of the intestine contained chyle ; there was also a small quantity in the thoracic duct." He suggests the administration of gastric juice where digestion is impaired, and in case the patient refuses to swallow it, to use injections per anum of nutritious sub- stances mixed with the gastric juice of healthy animals. In the second part of his essay he deals with the secretions in general. Much that he has to say is tinged with the physiology of his day. He says : "We are led to look upon the body as a laboratory in which the most important operations are performed." After discussing the artificial production of bile, he continues, "this leads us to expect, that from the progress of knowledge, all the secretions will, at some future day, be formed by art." Tn 1819 Dr. Ewell collected all of his papers into a single volume of 168 pages and published it at Philadelphia. Although he was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he did not hesitate to criticise the professional conduct of some of its professors in receiving fees from private pupils, and in the production of text-books "to be sold at rates greatly exceed- ing the fair value." He seems to have had a special animosity toward Dr. Chapman (q. v.), whom he accuses of double dealing. Dr. Ewell apparently entered the service of the United States Navy immediately after graduation, for the above mentioned compila- tion contains a letter addressed to Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, dated from the United States Navy Yard, New York, June l.S, 1806, in which he supports the miasmatic origin of yellow fever advocated by Rush. In 1808 he was sta- tioned at the navy yard, Washington, where he remained until he resigned. May 5, 1813, to practise at Capitol Hill, and later at George- town. In 1820 Dr. Ewell tried to interest the Corporations of 'iashington and Georgetown in 'uniting to establish a general hospital; but "beyond securing the hearty approval of the National Intelligencer, and the promise of one thousand dollars by a benevolent citizen," nothing came of the attempt. Busey gives the outlines of the hospital proposed by Dr. Ewell, and it is evident that he held views far in advance of his contemporaries. Dr. Ewell married Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. Benjamin Stoddert, of Maryland, secretary of the navy. He died on his farm, in Blairs, Virginia, May, 182h. William Snow Miller. Statement of Improvements in the Theory and l^ractice of the Science of Medicine," Thomas Ewell, Philadelphia, 1819. Personal Reminiscences and Recollections. S. C. liusey, W'ashington, 1895. Paget, Jean Charles (1818-1884). The discovery of a definite, prai.ticable pathognomonic sign of yellow fever by Dr. Paget in 1858 was as invaluable to the sea- coast of North America and South America between north latitude 38'/!; degrees to south latitude 36 degrees as that of .Tenner on cow vaccine, or of Pasteur in serum therapy. It allowed an earlier diagnosis and stopped at once the long disputes regarding the con- fusion with malaria and the pernicious horror of many types of that disease. Jean Charles Paget was born in New Or- leans, June 26, 1818, of Prench parentage. After a most solid and careful education under the Jesuit Fathers he went to Paris. There he was a student in the College Rolin from 1830 to 1837. After undergoing a rigid examination he became an interne in the hospitals of Paris, and on finishing his studies graduated M. D. in 1844. His thesis, which received magna cum laiide, was on "Quelques faits anatomiqucs en faveur de la cystotomie sus-pubienne chez les tres jeunes enfants." On his arrival in New Orleans, where he settled in 184,S after graduation, he quickly cn- • tered into active practice. He did not find the field of the profession barren of men with ability. There was then in the city a gala.xy of distinguished men, most of then graduates of "La Paculte de Paris"; men who alter their splendid preparation in the hospitals and laboratories of Paris soon became brilliant practitioners in America, among them Drs. Charles Delery, Lambert, Labatut. Henri Ranee, Beaugnot and many others. Dr. Paget, though modest and retiring, was soon at the fore. Of course it was impossible for men of such ability and forcefulness to get along in perfect harmony and peace. Is it due to the newness of the country, or the greater free- dom or liberty of e-xpression? Whatever it inay be, our earlier masters were very prone to argumentation and to most active polemi- ques, a fact not to be regretted if kept within proper bounds, as great truths flashed from these very arguments and discussions. The