Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/981

NAME RAVENEL 959 RAY his second, eight children, one of whom, Ed- mund, studied medicine. Many of his writings are to be found in the Proceedings of the ElHott Society of Natural History, and in the Proceedings of the Acad- emy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Dr. Ravenel was Vice-president of the El- liott Society of Natural History, Charleston, South Carolina, from its organization in No- vember, 1853, to his death. Robert Wilson, Jr. Ravenel, St. JuHen (1819-1882). St. Julien Ravenel, chemist, was born at Charleston, South Carolina, December 15, 1819. Through his father, John Ravenel, he was descended from Rene Ravenel, of Bretagne, who emigrated to South Carolina after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and through his mother, Elizabeth Ford, of Morristown, New Jersey, he traced descent from the old Gualdo family of Vicenza, Italy. His boyish education was had in Charles- ton, South Carolina, and at Morristown, New Jersey, and he began the study of medicine with Dr. J. E. Holbrook (q. v.), graduating from the Medical College of the State of South Carolina in 1840, and for two years following, he studied at Philadelphia and at Paris. Upon his return in 1812, he was elected dem- onstrator of anatomy in the Medical College of the State of South Carolina. When the w'ar between the States broke out, he entered the Confederate service and was appointed surgeon of the Twenty-fifth South Carolina Regiment. Subsequently he was appointed chemist in charge of the laboratory at Colum- bia, South Carolina, for the preparation of medical supplies. Dr. Ravenel began the practice of medicine at Charleston, South Carolina, upon his return from Europe and soon gained an enviable reputation as a skilful diagnostician. But yielding to his fondness for purely scientific work — inspired by Holbrook and Agassiz, un- der whom he studied — he abandoned purely medical practice in 1852 in order to devote himself to chemistry. His diagnostic acumen, however, was called into requisition from time to time throughout his life; and he rendered his profession further service by overthrowing the old calomel treatment of yellow fever. In the field of agricultural chemistry he mani- fested an extraordinary fertility, and his dis- coveries exercised an immense influence in the rehabilitation of South Carolina after the war. In 1856 he ascertained that lime could be manufactured from marl, and established the lime works at Stoney Landing, near Charles- ton, which furnished most of the lime used in the Confederate States. Much of his life was spent in the study of agricultural chemistry in the effort to improve agricultural conditions in his state. He approached the subject from the point of view of the physiologists, and drew his conclusions from experiments in the field. "In doubt, ask the plant," he said, "it alone knows all about it." The principles which he advocated, as a result of his investigations, resulted in increasing in one section, the yield of long staple lint cotton, per acre, from 100- 150 pounds to 300-400 pounds. In 1866, having resumed investigations begun before the war, he discovered the value of the phosphate deposits near Charleston, and founded the Wando Phosphate Company for the manufac- ture of fertilizers. This was the beginning of the industry which figured so prominently in the commercial salvation of South Carolina. At the time of his death he was engaged upon investigations looking to the improvement of rice culture. During the war his inventive genius pro- duced tlie famous torpedo boat, Litllc David, which was built in 1863. Dr. Ravenel was a man of unassuming man- ners and great modesty. It is related that his own father did not know the ability of his son, until one day, at a dinner party, when a question pertaining to physiology was asked the young doctor, and his reply manifested an extent of learning, originality of thought, and power of exposition that astonished every- body. His chief fault was that he allowed himself to be too busy to leave a written rec- ord of his work. He married Harriet Horry Rutledge in 1851, and had five daughters and four sons, none of whom studied medicine. He died of cirrhosis of the liver, March IS, 1882. Robert Wilson, Jr. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., Boston, 1881-2, vol. xvii, p. 437. Ray, Isaac (1807-1881). Isaac Ray, alienist, was born at Beverly, Massachusetts, January 16, 1807, and died in Philadelphia, March 31, 1881. His literary education was received at Phillips Academy and Bowdoin College, where he defrayed his expenses by teaching school during the vaca- tions. He began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Shattuck of Boston, and graduated from Bowdoin College, A. M. 1846, M. D. 1827, and he had also from Brown an LL. D. in 1879. He entered upon the