Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/836

NAME MOREHOUSE 814 MOREHOUSE sylvania ; and in Louisiana acquired an entire parish, the territorial equivalent of our county. It still bears his name. After his death these possessions were lost owing to non-payment of taxes. His only child, Doctor Morehouse's father, was finally left in comparative pov- erty. He became in time the rector of the Protestant Episcopal church of St. Andrew's, Mount Holly, New Jersey, and retained this charge for forty-six years. Dr. Morehouse's mother was Martha Read, a granddaughter of Joseph Read, sometime attorney for the crown of the Province of New Jersey. Our Fellow entered cum laudc as a junior at Princeton College and was graduated in July, 1848, with high honors. In September of that year he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania. He left it at the close of one term for the Jefferson Medical College and there was graduated March, 18S0, and in the following year became M. A. of Princeton. In 1875, desiring to compete for the chair of physiology in the Universitj' of Pennsyl- vania, he obtained from that institution the degree of M. D., but later withdrew from the canvass, fearing that want of laboratory train- ing would unfit him for the position. In 1892 he received from Princeton the degree of Ph. D. honoris causa. From his first settlement in practice in Philadelphia he had an unusually large and growing success as a general practitioner; and later as a val- ued consultant. It was well deserved. I have known few men who by reason of natural endowments were as well fitted to succeed in our difficult profession. E.xcept in mercan- tile life it is unusual to find a man capable of original thought and research who has no enjoyment in pursuits outside of his busi- ness ; but such being the case with Dr. More- house, he gave all there was of a very able intellect to the practical work of life. He cared little for travel or art. was merely a general reader, and found no joy in sport, exercise, or the life of the woods. Thus limited in the range of his tastes he found his largest source of happiness in the exer- cise of his powers as a physician, and to this work he gave himself with undistracted attention. In practice he was industrious, attentive, full of resources and capable of novel views. A sanguine temperament, and remarkable power of explaining cases to the satisfaction of the patient made him always acceptable ; while his gracious manner and certain kindli- ness added to the sense of confidence his presence inspired, the charm of genial social companionship. While he was in social life a very gay and agreeable comrade, he had that form of shyness which made him avoid public speaking, and thus he was rarely heard in our debates or felt in the general life of the profession. His medical papers, few and practical, were principally a case of laryngotracheotomy, and a case of use of atropia in prolapse of the iris. A paper on ether tests for true epilepsy I have been unable to find. All of Dr. Morehouse's more important work was done in conjunction with other physicians, and divides itself into two classes : laboratory and hospital researches. We had long been on terms of close friendship, when in 1860, having discovered certain facts of novel interest in reptilian physiology, I offered him the chance of working out with me the problems pre- sented. It seemed to me a pity that a mind so well equipped for original research should not be thus used. He hesitated long, but when at last he committed himself to the work, I soon realized how right I had been. Together we completed my former researches. I may say in justice to my friend that this research on the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory organs of chelonia is now in some sense a classical essay. It corrected the erroneous views on the physiology of those reptiles, and set forth the discovery of the only nerve chiasm outside of the cranium. The work was most laborious and occupied during one long summer, the late afternoon and night hours of two busy physicians. I myself wrote the physiologj' and to Dr. Morehouse was assigned the respiratory anat- omy of chelonia. At this time was first felt the difficulty which was in future to embarrass his co-workers. My own part of this long paper was rapidly completed. His part was in some ways more difficult, and the subject less familiar, as he had not been a student of comparative anatomy. Whether because of this, or that he found some singular obstacle in writing, he was eighteen months at work on his share of the essay. When completed it was a piece of original descrip- tive anatomy which was so admirable as to be praised very warmly by Leidy (q. v.), and by Jeffries Wyman (q. v.) as a faultless speci- men of comparative anatomical statement. Af- ter reading it Professor Agassiz ("q. v.) asked me who was this remarkable young naturalist, and why had he never heard of him.