Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/957

NAME PRATT 935 PRENTISS of the chest; these were the first lectures of the sort given at the university and were well attended. His health now gave way and in 1843 he abandoned work and went to Cuba. In the following year he resumed teaching and in 1845 was appointed lecturer on the theory and practice of medicine, and in 1846, on the resignation of Elisha Bartlett (q v.), he succeeded him as professor of the theory and practice of medicine. He married in 1847. In January, 1852, in a letter full of pathos, he reluctantly resigned his chair, and on the fifteenth of August following, he died in Baltimore, the victim of consumption, in his thirty-ninth year. He was the first to teach in his native city, clearly and impressively, the glorious discov- eries of Laennec, and to imbue the students with his own enthusiastic love of science. His strength was in his clinical teaching, and the University of Maryland has never lost the effect of his thoroughness and system. He was not a large contributor to medical litera- EUGENE F. CORDELL. For list of his writings see Quinan's Medical Annals of Baltimore, 1884; for sketch and portrait see Cordell's Historical Sketch, 1891, and Medical .' naI3 of Maryland, 1903. Pratt, Foster (1823-1898) Foster Pratt was born at Mt. Morris, Liv- ingston County, New York, January 9, 1823. His father, the Rev. Bartholomew Pratt, was of English descent; his mother. Susan (Mc- Nair) Pratt, of Scotch-Irish; their ancestors landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1622. Foster Pratt had his early schooling at Frank- lin Academy, Prattsburg, Steuben County, New York, then, thrown on his own resources at the age of seventeen, he worked as a teacher for seven years. In 1847 he entered the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, taking his M. D. there in 1849. He began practice at Romney, Hamp- shire County, Virginia, and soon secured a large clientele, but removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in September. 1856. In 1858 he was sent to the State Legislature on an independent ticket where, in the face of strong opposition, he secured the appropria- tion of $100,000 for the completion of the Michigan Insane Asylum at Kalamazoo, the first large appropriation ever made. After this no sacrifice of time or convenience was too great for him if the asylum's interests were concerned. At the beginning of the war he assisted in raising the Thirteenth Regiment of Michigan Volunteer Infantry, of which he was appointed surgeon, and remained with it through the war, accompanied Sherman in his march to the sea, and was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, August, 1865, resum- ing practice at Kalamazoo. In 1871, being made president of the Kalamazoo board of health, and knowing the scanty quantity and poor quality of the city water, he made a study of the local geology, finding an inexhaustible supply of the purest water. He also did much for proper drainage. In 1878 he was president of Michigan State Medical Society ; and honorary member of the American Medico- psychological Association. In his presidential address Dr. Pratt pointed out the defects in the educational agencies of the medical pro- fession and insisted that the only remedy was a more perfect medical organization. With- out hope of reward Foster Pratt gave much time to the promoting in Michigan of a better preliminary education of medical students ; a more thorough technical training ; the manage- ment of professional affairs by professional men ; and such organization as was needed to enforce the conditions essential to the best pro- fessional evolution. Dr. Pratt was a striking looking man, tall, well proportioned, hand- some, a born leader. In October, 1849. he married Mary Lisle Gamble, of Moorefield, Hardy County, West Virginia. He died suddenly at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 12, 1898, from heart failure following occasional attacks of angina pectoris. Leartus Connor. The Representative Men of Mich., Cincinnati, O., 1878, vol. iv. Biographical Record, Kalamazoo, Alleghany and Berrien Co. Prentiss, Daniel Webster (1843-1899) Daniel W. Prentiss was born on May 21, 1843. in Washington. District of Columbia, the birthplace of his parents. His father, William Henry Prentiss, was a son of Caleb Prentiss of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The general education of Dr. Prentiss was obtained in the schools of Washington and in Columbian Uni- versity. He married Emilie A. Schmidt, daughter of Frederick' Schmidt, of Rhenish Bavaria, October 12, 1864, and two of his sons became doctors. He held the A. M. of Columbian College, District of Columbia, and the M. D. of Pennsylvania. 1864. After gradu- ation Dr. Prentiss engaged in general practice in Washington and held a prominent posi- tion in the profession. From 1879 he wa~. professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the medical department of Columbian Uni- versity; physician in charge of the eye and ear service of Columbian Dispensary from 1874 to 1878 ; visiting physician to Providence Hospital in 1882; member of the Medical So-