Excerpt from Lecture on the Medical History of the Philadelphia Alms House: Delivered at the Opening of the Clinical Lectures, October 15th, 1862In order that such aid might be furnished, Doctors Hutchison and Wilson, were requested to attend and prescribe for those, who, although not inmates of the institution, were yet dependent on its resources for professional aid. From this small beginning, in which two gentlemen were able to meet all the demands of the city, have arrisen eleven districts, requiring twenty-four physicians, who, for a very small compensation, dispense an amount of professional relief truly wonderful. In passing over the records of this depart ment it is pleasant to find, that at one time or another, almost every name of note in the ranks of our profession, is found among those who have labored in this sphere of humble usefulness, and no doubt, not a few of them, laid the foundation of their future reputa tion, while thus engaged in visiting the sick poor in the secluded lanes, and alleys of this metropolis. No man can long labor in such a field, in daily contact with a class, whose sufferings are greatly increased by the absence of so much which serves in the more fortunate to alleviate the presure of disease, without feeling all the sympathies of his heart unlocked, and becoming a wiser and better man.On the 7th of February 1781, Dr. Bond, who it seems had no connexion with the house after the year 1779, being at this time Medical Purveyor of the United States Army, applied to the man agers for the east wing of the building, which had shortly before been occupied by the Board of War, to accommodate a number of British prisoners who were very ill at that time in the jail. This request was granted, by his agreeing in behalf of the government, to pay a monthly rent of one hundred dollars, hard money. For some time after 1781, Doctor Samuel Du¿ield seems to have been the only physician attatched to the institution, giving his attention, under a contract based on his own proposition, to attend all the in mates, and find the necessary medicines, for the sum of two hundred pounds per annum. One of two things is evident, either the Doctor was fond of money, or fond of work.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.