Professor E. A. W. Zimmerman, of Brunswick, in Germany. ." He has left you, gentlemen. Of the Mandan, I have only 4 or 5 words. With a view still farther to elucidate this point, and to give you, in the fairest way possible, such an history of his improvements in science, as your resolution appointing me to perform this duty, requiresI shall beg your patience for a short time, while I briefly enumerate his various works, their titles, and their extent, by affixing the number of pages in each. Peale was mistaken in supposing that specimens of Swedish birds intended for the Peale Museum had been appropriated by Bartonthe shipment simply had been delayed. I feel much confidence in congratulating you on this choice, for I am persuaded it has fallen on a friend to young men, and one ever ready to lend his aid to the advancement of their interests and their pursuits. Dr. Barton, at the period of his death, had held this professorship for the space of six-and-twenty years. P. C. Barton, to request him to prepare and read before the Society, a Biographical Sketch of the late Professor Barton, previous to the termination of the present Course of Lectures.". The book not only provided geographical information, it was the model that Lewis and Clark were to follow when reporting to President Jefferson. they [prove?].. A Biographical Sketch (of Benjamin Smith Barton) Barton." I can hardly flatter myself that my time, devoted as it must be to other, and to me more important pursuits, will ever permit me to prosecute these archaeological inquiries very far;" and in the preface of the same work he says, "I at one time, indeed, for some years together, flattered myself that I should have found leisure to have devoted a considerable portion of my life to the study of organic geology. Both his parents were eminently qualified to infuse into the minds of their children, the rudiments of knowledge, and the principles of virtue; but, unfortunately, their younger children were too soon deprived of these advantages. 4th of the Philo. Benjamin Smith Barton - Wikiwand Benjamin Smith Barton, a younger son of the late reverend Thomas Barton, a learned episcopal clergyman, long resident at Lancaster in this state, was born in that opulent and comparatively ancient borough, on the 10th day of February, 1766. In familiar conversation he was often elegant, remarkably facetious, but never witty. description ends nos. The American Philosophical Society commissioned Michaux, Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_4904_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_4904_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Having in distinguished fashion nearly completed his studies for the medical degree at Edinburgh, and honored by election as one of the four annual presidents of the Royal Medical Society, he abruptly leftwithout his degree but with funds of the Society that were repeatedly sought but never returned. J. Jefferson Looney. I do not ask, or wish for, copies of the entire vocabularies: but only a good selection of about ten or twelve words, from each of them. It always took quick cognizance of those defects, which other delineators of natural objects, or, in different words, other naturalists who suffer the authenticity of their names to accompany unfaithful or caricatured representations of the works of nature, too frequently allow to escape their observation, and in this way bring into disrepute the real advantages derived from pictured illustrations. Philadelphia: on the 28th of January, 1798, he was appointed to succeed Dr. Kuhn, as one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which he continued to hold till his death. This letter was accompanied by drawings of the Ohio bones. Benjamin Smith Barton | Encyclopedia.com "Flora Americae Septentrionalis, by Frederick Pursh, London, pref. 3.Reworked in Dft from closet, upon the reports of Indians, or the vague facts., 5.Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of it., 6.In Dft Barton here canceled Such inquiries and pursuits are very different from those which occupy the great [persons?] He had constant access to my house, and the benefit of my botanical books. de pauw: Cornelius de Pauw, Recherches philosophiques sur les amricains (Berlin, 176869). Trans. A year after this event, viz. Indeed he frequently, in his lectures on natural history, introduced the name of Dr. Walker, and ever spoke of him in terms of unbounded respect, and even veneration. Genius, gentlemen, is too frequently accompanied by morbid sensibility; and the high-wrought powers of the human mind, rarely shine with unsullied lustre. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. However, the date of retrieval is often important. 5, Phil. In any case, he left Barton, working first in Philadelphia with McMahon, who also had specimens from the Expedition, and then moving to New York. Dr. Barton also extended his assistance to a young English botanist, a Mr. Nuttall, "whose zeal and services," to use the words of Dr. Barton, "have contributed essentially to extend our knowledge of the north-western and western flora of North America; and to whom the work of Frederick Pursh is under finite infinite obligations. Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to And how artfully does it not insinuate, that if Csar had faults, his funeral dirge ought not to be the vehicle of their publicity, but contrived rather as a sacred seal, to preserve them from the eye of malice, or the finger of scorn. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Barton was also an advisor to the Lewis and Clark expedition and a pioneer in exploring the botanical treasures of the western continent. Hints relative to the stimulant effects of camphor upon vegetables. There he continued nearly two years; and, having his studies directed, during that time, by so able a preceptor, the student, aided by his own genius and great application, acquired that critical knowledge of the learned languages, more especially of the Latin, which formed so prominent a feature in his literary attainments. His style, it must be confessed, is always diffuse, inelegant, and frequently tautological. robetson: William Robertson, History of America (London, 1777; Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 195259, 5 vols. "In the latter end of the year 1811, Mr. Nuttall returned to England by the way of New Orleans. The most happy and profitable hours of my life were passed in the society of this virtuous man. He became a member of the Royal Medical Society, received its Harveian Prize for his dissertation on hyosciamus niger (or black henbane), and was chosen one of the Societys four annual presidents for 1787-1788. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he studied medicine in Philadelphia, Edinburgh, and London before becoming a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught botany, materia medica, natural history, and the practice of physic. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). "Barton, Benjamin Smith It may not be amiss to enumerate the foreign academick honours which Dr. Barton received at different periods of his life. He had been eminent as a teacher of those sciences, because he was young and activewhen he became older he was unwilling to detract from his well-earned reputation. 11 pages quarto. His father William Barton, a lawyer, was the designer of the Great Seal of the United States. I am extremely anxious to possess specimens,no matter how small,of the languages which Mr Lewis met with beyond the Missisippi. That date was seven years after Bartons confession to Benjamin Rush that he had no medical degree, but only three months after Bartons letter to a German colleague asking help in procuring it. Saur, 1832. He possessed a memory remarkably, nay extraordinarily tenacious and faithful, particularly with respect to facts and chronological events. In fact he was, if I may be allowed to use such language, religiously conscientious not to suffer any things of this nature to pass with his name, unless they were true and faithful representations. He speaks of it as a plant (herba) about three feet high, whose ' did flower expands only in the evening, suddenly opening after remaining closed during the day, and diffusing a most agreeable odour. Monsieur Roume, of Paris, an intelligent French naturalist. The energy and fervour he had once shown in teaching those branches, he believed himself no longer capable of, neither did he wish to substitute for the necessary perambulatory excursions with his botanical class (which had been always frequent) the tame and uninstructive lectures of an old, and, what is an inevitable consequence, of a closet teacher.He well knew that demonstrative branches, like those of natural history, could neither be faithfully taught nor properly elucidated by a man whose age naturally made him prone to the more inactive pursuits of life. Nature was not equal to the task imposed on her. 30 Jun. He began his education in Philadelphia, but left in 1786 to pursue the study of medicine in Edinburgh and London. Supplement to the account of the dipus Americana, in the 4th vol. Indeed, he soon regretted the 'premature' publication of the work; for he candidly acknowledged its deficiencies, within a few months after its appearance. Hints on the etymology of certain English words, and on their affinity to words in the languages of different European, Asiatic and American (Indian) nations, in a letter to Dr. Thomas Beddoes. In a conversation with me a short time after his accession to the practical chair, in which he stated his intention to keep that of natural history and botany but a year or two longer, he declared his firm determination to direct the concentrated powers of his mind to the fulfilment of the duties of his new professorship; and in his dedication of his Archaeologiae Americanae Telluris, &c., to Mr. John Mason Good, an eminent surgeon of London, with whom he had long been in habits of correspondence, he thus expresses himself: "It is my object to collect materials for a history of these extinct animals and vegetables, the remains or impressions of which are daily discovered in the rapid progress of American population and improvement. Memoir concerning the disease of Goitre, as it prevails in different parts of North America; octavo, 94 pages, 1800. Thus at the age of fourteen was his son Benjamin left an orphan. WebFrom Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Smith Barton, 27 February 1803, Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-39-02-0499. "During this period Professor Barton delivered twenty-five courses of lectures on botany, in which he inculcated a high sense of the real benefits of the pursuit, in a medical point of view, with an enthusiasm that gave unequivocal evidence of his attachment to the interests of the science and the honour of the university. His numerous publications afford, of themselves, sufficient proofs of an uncommon degree of industry: but besides these, he was long engaged in collecting materials for other works, and preparing some for the press; all of which, it is greatly to be regretted, will now probably be lost to the world. In 1815 Barton revisited France and England, then died within two weeks of his return to Philadelphia. See Barton's Memoirs of Rittenhouse, p. 445. The only remuneration Dr. Barton received for these unequivocal demonstrations of his love for science, were the acquisition to Himself and others, of useful and novel information, and the thanks and acknowledgments of those who were the subjects of his liberality.[15]. This page was last edited on 4 July 2021, at 00:05. WebBuy Elements of botany: or, Outlines of the natural history of vegetables. Ditto, with an engraving of the animal. description ends no. Sep 6, 2021. Still, perhaps because of Bartons failure to forward another itema waxworkexplicitly intended for the museum, Peale did not revise his accusation that Barton never scrupled to take the feathers of others to enrich his own plumage.[2]See Lillian B. Miller, ed., The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, 5 vols. By his reputation, too, for attainments in natural science, he acquired literary and academick honours, at a period of life when, in ordinary cases, the conferring of such would be deemed premature; for soon after his return to America,[12] he was chosen a member of the American Philosophical Society in this city, of which he became on the 1st of Jan. 1802, one of the vice-presidents, an office he continued to hold till the day of his death. A. H. Reimarus of Hamburg; octavo, 24 pages1813. Lewis had a basic understanding of plants from his mother, Lucy Meriwether Lewis, and Barton complemented that knowledge with his extensive studies. This site is provided as a public service by theLewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundationwith cooperation and funding from the following organizations: Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. Among the first objects of his attention, when he obtained the means of realizing it, was exploring the extensive wilds of our country, to cull the rich and unknown treasures, particularly among the vegetable productions, which he believed were there; and to obtain information respecting every curious and useful subject of natural history, that invited the attention of the naturalist. Nor have you withdrawn your attentions, notwithstanding the distance by which we are separated from each other.". WebDr. On this occasion he was absent from Philadelphia about five months, having set out with the commissioners in May, 1785, and returned in October following. Rush was appointed to the chair of chymistry, and Dr. Thomas Bond, an ingenious and eminent physician, gave clinical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital. Elliott Coues, as quoted in David Freeman, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee. He whose mental exertions survive such a fate, and who perseveres through it, is not, believe me, a common man!. Benjamin Smith Barton M.D. Benjamin Smith Barton https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/barton-benjamin-smith, "Barton, Benjamin Smith It bears testimony to the early genius and discernment of the writer, and possesses no inconsiderable portion of merit, even in point of style. WebBenjamin Smith Barton papers . There was a continued succession of storms during the homeward voyage, and he soon became so ill that he could not bear the recumbent posture, and therefore did not lie down during almost the whole of the time he was on board the ship. New views of the origin of the tribes and nations of America. : Jefferson was not satisfied. This I did, and at the next meeting of the Philosophical Society, I read this memoir for him. Pursh made no attempt to disguise his indebtedness to the work of the two explorers, but on the other hand made no effort to return the specimens he had carried away. Supplement to a memoir concerning the fascinating faculty which has been ascribed to the rattlesnake and other North American serpents, in a letter to professor Zimmerman of Brunswick, in Germanyoctavo, 38 pages, 1800. [19] Besides them Dr. Barton republished the letter of John Henry Burkhard, to Leibnitz, written in the Latin language. And to those who know more intimately than it would be proper to state in this memoir, the struggles he made in early life through the most discouraging, nay appalling influence of want, added to the direful ravages of disease,his subsequent elevation appears astonishing. His genius prompted him to conceive with celerity all the varied and diverse relations of those subjects, to which the bent of his mind more particularly attached himhe was therefore, a rapid writer. Dr. Kuhn, the elder, was found dead in his chair. Those who have attended the lectures of the late professor on this point of medical science, can bear honourable and powerful testimony in favour of their importance, their learning, their usefulness; and it is no small circumstance in favour of the exertions of his successor in this chair, that we hear nothing of its reputation being in any degree deteriorated, although the present incumbent succeeded to it under circumstances of a very discouraging, nay, almost overwhelming nature. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. While the exit of so ardent a lover of the pursuits of science has given serious occasion to its remaining Votaries to deplore his loss, may we not hope that they will emulate his talents and his worth! His publick lectures, and his various works, the rich harvest of his meritorious exertions, soon relieved him from the pressure of indigence, and the mental uneasiness, nay, sometimes distraction, that supervenes upon it. Such was the success of these efforts, that during the period when the laws of the university rendered it obligatory upon the candidates for its honours, to print their inaugural theses, not one commencement was held without a number of dissertations being published, detailing experiments on the medicinal properties and effects of indigenous vegetables; most of them undertaken at the instance, and prosecuted under the auspices of the Professor. Bartonia superba and Bartonia polypetala.". Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. ." WebBarton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815 Publication date 1797 Topics Indians, Indians of North America, Indians of South America, Indian linguistics, Indian linguistics, Imprint 1797 Publisher Philadelphia : Printed, for the author, by John Bioren Collection jcbindigenous; JohnCarterBrownLibrary; americana Digitizing sponsor John Carter Brown Library Although in this little book the Dr. evinced much ingenuity and a laudable spirit of research in relation to the antiquities of his native country, the work is evidently the performance of a young writer, and, in fact, the author was then only in the twenty-second year of his age: besides, it was written under the pressure of bodily infirmity, occasioned by ill health, and amidst many discouraging circumstances. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Dr. Rittenhouse, who early perceived and acknowledged the talents of his young relative, procured for him this important situationimportant, as it gave the first impulse to that spirit of inquiry and research into the history of our Indians, which has resulted in an accumulation of so many curious materials relative to their origin and the affinities of their language. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Retrieved June 30, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/barton-benjamin-smith.