Page:Early History of Medicine in Philadelphia - George W Norris.djvu/53

 person, polished manners, with a voice singularly sweet and conciliating. He was remarkable for judgment in selecting what was applicable to elucidating the principles of his subject, plainness in the mode of communicating his thoughts, and a fruitful vein of humor, which he occasionally employed, to awaken the attention of his audience to the subject matter in discussion. His descriptive powers and his fascinating eloquence riveted the attention of his pupils, and impressed with indelible force the lessons he inculcated. Many of his students, after graduation, visited Europe, and all such, says Wistar, "without a single exception, agreed in declaring that they saw no man who was superior to Shippen as a teacher of anatomy, and very few indeed that were equal to him."

deservedly styled the Founder of American Medicine, was born in Philadelphia in the year 1735. His father, Evan Morgan, was a native of Wales, who emigrated early to this Province, where, till his death in 1763, he was a well known and excellent citizen, engaged in mercantile pursuits. Dr. Morgan was his eldest son, and was placed at an early age at Nottingham School, Chester County, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Finley, a seminary which at that period had a higher reputation than any other in the