Page:Early History of Medicine in Philadelphia - George W Norris.djvu/38

 both surgery and midwifery, and as an accoucheur is stated to have possessed great skill, but he soon declined these branches, and confined himself to the practice of physic. In this he early rose to eminence, but about the fortieth year of his age he was afflicted with an abscess of the liver, the contents of which were discharged through his lungs, and in consequence of subsequent delicate health, he withdrew in a measure from extensive business at a comparatively early age. Upon the foundation of the College of Physicians in 1786, he was elected president of that body, and for a long period was one of the physicians of the hospital. From these institutions, in both of which he ever manifested the deepest interest, he only retired in consequence of the infirmities of age. His sole publication, besides an elegant and learned thesis, "De Abortu," was a defence of inoculation, published in 1759, in which he urges the use of mercury, in order to prepare the system for the reception of smallpox. Dr. Redman was a strong advocate for a bold practice, and considered a more energetic treatment necessary in the cure of diseases in this climate than in Europe. He bled largely in the yellow fever of 1762, and gave his influence in support of that practice in 1793. He wrote an account of the yellow fever, as it