W EI R M I T C H ELL
A b ri ef sketc h o f h is life
w ith p erso nal rec o l l ec tio ns
BEV E R LE Y R
.
TUC ! ER
BOST ON ! RI CHAR D G BADGE R
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TH E
C OP P
C LA R !
CC
.,
L I MI TE D,
T OR ONTO
i
C o p y r g h t,
x9“ ,
by R
i
c h ar d
G
.
Ba d g er
i
A l l R gh t s R e s e r v ed
TH E
G ORH A M P anes , B OS TON , U
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S
.
A
,
C ONTENTS
S
.
Wi
e r
Th e
M itc h ell
Physician
As
a
Sc ientist
As
a
N o vel ist
As
a
Poet
Pe rsonal Recoll e ctions
s
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WE I R
M I T CH ELL
S
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W EI R M I T C H E L L
one were required to write a description
o f the wonderful rose window of N o tre
Dame many di ffi culties would beset h is
e ffort Every change in the light of the
day would bring o ut n ew c o lors a nd shadows
every inspecti o n w o uld reveal new w o nders o f
technique e very attempt ed descri p ti o n whil e
possibly adequa te in one particular would fall
short in o thers o f this many c o l o red m a rvel All
who V iew it critic or c a sual o bserver a r e h ow
ever brought to the o n e gen e ral conclusi o n th a t
it is a m a j estic work of art and all l ea v e with
a sense o f int en se and p e rs o nal admiration How
much hard e r is it t o depict this m a ny gifted
man ; this physici a n this scie n tist this novelist
this poet this hum a nitari an this fri e nd ! Still
I am tempted to lay be fo r e y o u an imp e rfe c t
sketch o f Dr Mitchell believing that as you
learn more and m o re o f him yo u will n o t b e s o
F
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S W EI R M IT C H ELL
8m
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much app a ll e d by his genius a s dr a w n an d e l e
v ated by a fe e ling o f p e rs o n a l a dmir a ti o n f o r
this truly grea t and l e arned man
Silas We ir Mitch e ll w a s b o rn i n Ph il adel
phi a Feb ru a ry l gth 1 8 2 9 an d di e d i n th e
s ame ci ty at his h o me I 5 2 4 W alnut Str ee t J a n
u a ry 4 th 1 9 1 4 H e w as the son o f Joh n K ea rs
ley Mitch e ll a nd S a r a h M a tild a n ee H en ry
d a ughter o f Al ex a n d e r He n ry His gr an d
f a ther Al exa nde r Mitch e ll e migr a t e d fr o m
Scotl a nd an d s ettl e d n ea r Al exa ndri a V a a nd
l a t e r moved t o ne a r Ch a rl e s T o w n th e n Vir
gi n i a n o w in J e ff e rs o n C o unty Wes t Virgi n i a
Wh e re his fath e r w a s b o rn
H is f a th e r m o v e d
t o Phil a delphi a a nd w a s a n e mi ne nt phys ici a n
Wh o for ye a rs u n til hi s de a th in 1 8 5 8 w as pr o
f esso r o f pr a ctic e o f m e dici ne in J e ff e r son M e d
ical C o ll e g e P hilad e lphi a Hi s f a th e r als o had
decid e d lit e r a ry t a st e a n d publ i sh e d s e v e r a l vo l
um e s o f ta l e s a nd p oe m s
Dr Mitch e ll w as twic e m a rri e d H is fir s t
Wi f e w as Ma ry Middl e t on a d a ughte r o f Al
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WE I R MIT CH E LL
s
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9
fred Langdon Elwyn and his s e co nd w a s M a ry
daughter o f Dr Th o mas Cadwallade r A so n
Langdon Elwyn Mitchell by the first marri a g e
’
inherits his father s lite rary tast e and is we ll
known as a playwright a n d his other so n by this
marriage D r John K Mitchell has foll o wed
’
his f ather s pro f essi on and became a noted n eu
ro l o gist
A daughter by the seco nd ma rri a ge
died som e years ago I understand o f diphtheria
con tracted whil e V isiting the p o o r
I n his youth Dr Mitchell was educated in
the grammar sch oo ls o f Philadelphi a an d a lso
in th e John F Fe rris Acad e my one of th e old
prepar a tory sch o ols o f Phil a d e lphia H e th e n
to ok a c a demic a nd medical class e s a t the Uni
versity o f P e nnsylvania but was prev en t e d fr o m
graduating by reason o f ill health in his senior
year Later when his h e alth impr o v e d h e en
t ered the J e fferson Medic a l C o llege
fr om
which h e was graduated i n 1 8 5 0 3
H e r e the writer thi nk s it is wis e t o get a
cle a rer view o f hi s car ee r to divid e this p a p e r
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S WE I R MITCHELL
10
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int o remarks on his life as a physici a n as a
scientist as a literary m an and p o et as a pub
lic citizen and th e n t o give s o me pers o n a l rec o l
lections
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THE PHYSI C I AN
RA DUA T I N G
in 1 8 5 0 Dr Mitch
e ll entered the practice o f m e dicine as
a general practiti o ner and by the time
o f the war was well kn o w n a nd h a d
built up an extensive pr a ctic e I n 1 8 6 2 he w a s
appointed army surgeon in the United St ates
a rmy and served until 1 8 6 5 During this time
he was active i n the organi z atio n o f the Chris
ti an S treet Hospital f o r N e rvo us Diseases and
was later the Acting Assist a nt Surgeon of Tur
’
ner s Lane H o spital with Dr G eo rge M o ore
house and Dr W W K ee n
S ome years a ft e r th e w a r in sp e a k ing o f his
connection with Dr M oo r e h ouse and Dr Keen
“
Dr Mitchell said !
It was agreed th a t e ach o f
us should pr o fit by the notes o f a ll o f us a nd that
the nam e o f the writ e r o f ea ch es sa y sh o uld
”
stand first o n th e titl e p age
’
Dr Mitc he ll s first p a per fro m th e vo lu m in
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S WEI R MITCH E LL
12
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n o tes of this h o spital was o n the subj ect o f
sudd e n pals y the result o f gunsh o t w o unds i n
remote r e gi o ns o f th e b o dy Th en c a me a p a
r
o
n
m
aling
e
ring
a
nd
the
stimulati
on
o
f
a
e
p
p
r aly s es
a nd e pilepsi e s
Th e s e s tudi es w e r e
especi ally int e resting becaus e o f th e ob se rv a
ti ons o f the s ta ff up o n their o wn e ffo rts to stim
u l ate dis e ase s
In 1 8 6 6 he p ublish e d a n im
p o rtant p ap e r o n paralysis fro m periph e r a l irri
t atio n
With thes e papers b e ga n hi s w on d e rful
care er as a sp e ci ali s t in nervo us di se a ses
With Drs M oo r e h o us e a nd K een h e wr o t e o n
r e fl ex p aralysis gunsh o t w o und s a nd o th e r in
juri es o f n e rves Th e public a ti on o f these p a
pers made him th e gr ea te s t auth o ri ty o n gu n
sh o t wounds in th e w o rld a t th at ti me
’
Dr Guy Hinsdal e s a ys o f Dr Mitch e ll s Tur
’
n er s Lane H os pit a l ex p e ri en c e
“
’
Th e Tur ne r s L a n e H o spit a l r e c e i v e d a
multi tu d e o f c a s es r e pr e s e nting alm os t e v e ry
c o nc e ivabl e typ e o f o b s cure n e rv o us dis e a s e
Th e M e dic a l i ns p e cto r s f o rw a rd e d fr om v a ri
ou s
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THE P H YSI CIAN
13
ous fi e lds and hospitals a v a st numb e r o f cases
o f wounds an d con tusions including rare forms
o f nerve l e si o n of almo s t eve ry gr ea t ne rv e i n
the b o dy
“
F e w p e rs o ns have ev e r a t a ny tim e had such
an o pportunity for study and th e m a ss of ma
t erial pr e s e nt e d was no t n e gl e cted fr o m a ny
st a ndp o i nt
“
At th a t t i me ( 1 8 6 4 6 5 ) hyp o d ermic m e dic a
tion was s omewh a t n o v e l and i n th e t e rribl e
burn ing pain f oll owi n g i njuri e s to ne rv e s which
Dr Mitchell describ e d und e r th e nam e o f
’
‘
caus a lgi a ample us e w a s m a d e o f hyp o d e rmic
inj ectio n s It was f ou n d that th e sub cu tane
o us admi n is trati o n o f m o rphin e in that a ff e cti on
was more rapid a nd us e ful if made near th e
site o f th e pai n Th e combi ne d us e o f atropi ne
and m o rphine was h e re first sugg e st e d and h as
s i n ce b e e n u nan im o u s ly a d o pted in daily pra e
tic e The e ffects o f each drug us e d a lone w e re
studi e d then o f th e two to egth er their a ntag
o nism s m a d e cl ea r
a nd a l so th e ir a gr e em en t s
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S WEI R MITCH E LL
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in acti o n and in a c o mm o n tend en cy t o enf eebl e
the bl adder The narc o sis o f m o rphin e is le s
sened by th e presence o f a tropine but its anal
e
power
is
unaltered
s
i
c
g
“
Th e r e mote a fter hist o ry o f the s o ldi e r p a
ti ents su ffering from nerve wounds h a s bee n an
interesting and unt o uched study attended by all
sorts o f di ffi culties Dr John K Mitch e ll his
son has succeede d in securing the histo ry o f
ma n y o f these Civil War cas e s a nd r e c o rded
them i n a volume published in 1 8 9 5 e n titled
“
Remote C onsequ e nces o f Injuries of Nerves
”
and Their Tre atment
This r e cord is o f sin
gular value and is not c o nfin e d t o a s tudy o f th e
’
”
Turner s Lane H o spital pati e nts
I n 1 8 7 2 Dr Mitchell was app o inted physician
to the Presbyterian Hospital o f Philade l phia
and in the s ame ye ar he was app o int e d physici a n
t o th e Orthop aedic Hospital Seventeenth an d
S ummer Streets
Th e name was a fterward
changed to The Orth o paedic H o spital and In
firm ary f o r Nerv o us Dis ea s e s At thi s h os pit a l
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TH E P HYSI CIAN
I
5
which at the time w a s small he c o nfined his
practice to nervo us diseases and it was n o t l o ng
”
“
be fore the tail wagg e d the dog and at his
death this h o spital had grown to b e o ne o f the
largest special hospitals in the country It w a s
here that Dr Mitchell tre a t ed many o f hi s rest
cases and performed with this tre atm e nt and
other measures many o f the miraculous cur e s
for which he was famed In 1 8 8 4 he w a s made
V isiting physici an t o the Insane Dep a rtment of
the Philadelphi a Hospita l B eside th e se h os
pital appointmen ts he was connected with m a ny
r est h o uses M o st o f these h o uses w e re m a n
aged by ladies who had been tr a in e d un d e r him
in nervous work even b e f o r e th e day s o f th e
regular tra i ned nurse
Dr Mitchell had o n e o f the m o st e no rm o u s
consulting practices in th e United St a t es an d it
has been s aid that his inc om e from pr a ctice
has at times reached
a ye ar
B ased on thes e hosp i t a l experiences and his
enormous private pr a ctice Dr Mitch e ll wr o te
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S WEI R MITC H ELL
6
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a s ma ny a s I 5 0 imp o rt an t p a p e rs and m a d e
m a ny medi c al an d sci entific disc o veries H e
“
We a r an d
al so wr o t e short bo o ks am on g th em
” “
” “
T ear
Hin ts for the Overworke d
D o ct o r
”
“
Clinic a l L ectur e s o n N e rv o us
and P ati ent
”
“
”
The latt er
Dise ase s and F a t and Blood
h as b een t ran sl ated int o the Fr e nch G e rma n
Sp an ish Itali an and Rus s ia n lan guag es Dr
Mitch ell never wr o t e a t ext b o ok o n n e rvous di s
e as e s
I ask e d him on ce i f he h a d e v e r be en a p ro
“
f esso r an d h e said Yes f o r fiv e minut es At a
b o ard me e ti n g o f th e Univer s ity o f P ennsyl
va nia I was a sked to retire a nd whil e o ut I
was elected pro fes s or of physiolo gy Wh en I
r e turned in a few minutes I r esigne d
Dr
Mitch ell w as o n e o f the gr e ate s t teach ers of
m e dicin e thi s country ha s ev e n seen but h e c o n
re fused t o accept a pr o fess o r s hip
sist ently
M a ny o f the most prominent neur o logi s ts in this
c ou n try and s o me who died be fore himself w e re
hi s dis c ipl es and r eceiv e d their traini ng while
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S WE I R M I T C HE LL
8
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t e st o f fi fty years and has been far more bene
fic i al than all the other treatments yet intro
I t must be remembered that th e meas
du c ed
ures mentioned do not constitute the w hole of
the rest treatment that the tre a tment is varied
to suit individual cases that the personality of
the physici an and his comprehension o f the re a
sons for the treatment add b o th psychotherapy
and common sense to it
The sto ry is told of a Philadelphi a gentle
man consulting a famous I talian physician The
“
I talian speci alist asked !
But y ou are from
”
”
“
“
America !
Y es
Why then no t take th e
” “
’
”
!
What s that ! asked
V erm ic h el l i t r e atment
’
the c urious American
What you don t know
the tre atment o f th e famous Dr Vier Mitchell
”
o f Philadelphi a !
And the America n came
home to b e cured
’
Dr Mitchell s achievements in medicine
would be hard to e numerate Am o ng them b e
”
“
side the introduction o f the Rest tre atment
might b e menti one d th a t h e w a s th e fir s t t o
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TH E PH YSI CIAN
1
9
point o ut that ankle col o nus was due t o myo t on ic
contraction o f the s o leus muscl e H e first p o int
ed out that nerve inj uries gave remot e sym p
t oms and made o th e r v a luable observations
upon these injuries He disc o vered the rela
tion o f eye strain to nervous disorders He in
tro du c ed the physiological rest treatm e nt f o r the
cure o f sci a tica He suggested l ab oratory re
se arch in ins ane insti tu tions He introduced the
Weir Mitchell system o f ma s s age H e add e d
much to the knowledge o f tremors and refl ex es
and made or i gi nal observati o ns up o n the toxi
c o l o gy o f morphin e and sn a k e poisons
He did
valuable original work upon the physi o l o gy o f
the cerebellum He has been called the fath e r
o f neurology as a s p eci alty in Am e ric a
He w a s
one of th e first t o introduce the c a rd index for
case records He drew atte n ti o n t o the v a lue
o f g o od nutriti o n for nerv o us c ases and did
much t o advance physiology not o nly o f th e n e r
vo us system but als o o f dig e sti on
He first
des crib e d th e dis e as e e rythro m el a lgi a which i s
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S WE I R MITC H ELL
20
.
’
kno wn a s We ir Mitch e ll s D i s ea se
H e d r e w a tt e nti on t o th e f a ct tha t m a ny o r
a
n
i
c
nervous
co
n
ditions
well
kno
wn
a
mong
the
g
white rac es ar e almost unkn own in th e ne gr o
.
race
.
long as the hist o ry o f m e dici n e l a sts S
’
Weir Mitch e ll s nam e will be kno wn through
’
the centuries as o ne o f th e world s gre a t es t
physici a n s His won d e rful v e rs a tility his sane
m e n tal grasp a n d his inv estigativ e an d t h e r a
peuti e i n genui ty an d res o urc e fulnes s w e r e such
as to stamp up o n the rec o rds of me d ic a l h is tory
an indelible p a ge
AS
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AS A SCIENTIST
OSSI BLY l eas t wid e ly known o f
the
a ccomplishm en ts o f thi s m a ny s id e d
man are his a chi e v e m e nts in scie n c e Dr
Mitch e ll was a b o rn physiolo gist a nd
psych o l o gist and an o rigi na l investigato r He
e l a bor a t e d a system o f m assa g e which i s u n
surpassed a fter having s tu di e d th e m e th o ds o f
m a ssag e a nd r e m e di a l m ov e m ent s in m any f o r
eign countri e s
Much o f his w o rk i n t ox ic ol o gy
is a s t a nd a rd to d a y H e w as a n a uth o ri ty on
p o is ons es peci a lly s n ak e p o i so n s Am on g hi s
“
papers a re Exp e ri m ent a l R esea rch es Re l a tiv e
to C o rro y al an d Va o the S o uth A rneric an Ar
”
r o w P ois on publi s he d in 1 8 5 9 I n thi s se ri e s
o f experim e nts Dr Mitch e ll w a s assited b y Dr
Willi a m A H a mm on d T o th e Smi th son i a n
c o ntributi o n s t o kn owl e dg e Dr Mitch e ll g a v e
“
in 1 8 60 a p a p e r o n R e s ea rch es Up on th e V en
”
om o f th e R a ttl esnake
I n 1 8 6 9 h e p ub li s h e d
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S WE I R MITC H E LL
22
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a noth e r w o rk o n to x io c o l gy This w as O n the
Insu s c e ptibility o f P ig eon s t o the To xi c Acti on
o f Opium
T e n y e ars lat e r h e wro t e a no ther
a
per
along
the
s
ame
lines
This
was
e
ntitl
e
d
p
On the E ffect o f Opium and Its Deriv a tiv e
Alka l o ids
In the field o f t oxic o l o gy h e m a d e s tudi es a ls o
on the e ffect o f chl o r a l chlor o form a nd ether
h yp o dermically and otherwise a dminister e d and
as m a ny as e ight tim e s h a d him s elf an e sthetized
to n o t e th e e ffect
He investigated th e e ffe ct o f a tm o spheric
pr e s sur e o n n erves H e i nv e nted a ppar a tus f o r
t e sti n g refl exe s m ea suring the tim e o f tr e m o rs
and m a k ing o th e r o bs e rv a ti o ns which w e r e orig
i n al and unique Th e r e is a r oo m i n the Orth o
e
H
o
spital
which
is
n
e
arly
full
o
f
this
a
a
i
c
d
p
p
p a ratu s n o w o ut o f dat e but which has s e rv e d
its purp os e well
They w e r e priv a t e instru
m en ts o f precisi o n us e d f o r r e se a rch l on g b e
f o r e the comm e rci al i ns trum e nts o f pr e ci s i on
w e r e put up on th e m a rket o r p oss ibly ev e n
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A S A SCIENTIST
23
dre a med o f
A s a result o f all o f this w o rk many h o nors
were heaped upon the physician and scientist
He was trustee o f the Universi ty o f P ennsy l
vani a and o f the Carnegie Institute The de
gree o f law w as bestow e d upon him by Harv ard
Universi ty in 1 8 8 6 Tw o years later the Uni
versity of B o logna Fr a nce gave him an hon
orary degree in medicine I n 1 8 9 6 Princeton
a d ded the degree of law and the University of
E d inburgh b e stowed up o n him the same h o nor
I n 1 9 0 6 the Univ e rsity o f T o ronto besto wed an
h o norary degr e e in medicin e and in 1 9 1 0 the
Je fferson Co llege presented him with a like de
gre e He w as als o an hon o rary member o f the
Fr en ch Academy o f M e dicine o f the British
Medical Society and a fellow in the R o y a l M ed
ical Chirurgical S o ciety He w a s an active mem
b e r o f the N atio n al Acad e my of the Unit e d
S tates He w as twice pr e sident o f the Coll e g e
o f Physicians The S Weir Mitchell Hall o f
the n ew C o ll e g e o f P hysici ans in Philad e lphi a
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S WE I R M ITC H E LL
24
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which he was instrum e ntal in h a ving built w as
n a m ed i n his h o n o r B esid es th es e Dr Mitch
e ll h e ld memb e rsh i p in s o ci e ti es al l over the
w o rld The se included a m o ng oth e r s th e N a
tio nal Ac a d e my o f Sc i ence B ritish Medic a l A s
so ci a t i o n Am e ri c an N eu rologic a l Ass o ci a ti on
o
P
re
s
Am
e
ric
an
P
hil
o
s
o
phic
a
l
1
S
8
0
(
9
c iety Lon d o n M e dical Soci ety Ac a d e my o f Sci
enc e Swed en Am e ric a n Ac a demy o f Art s an d
Sci e nc e s R o y a l S o ci e ty of Gr ea t B rit a in R o y a l
M e dic a l S o ci e ty Roy a l S o ci ety of Liter a tur e
fo r e ign corr e s p o nde n t o f Ass o ciati o n o f the
Frenc h A c a d e my o f M e dicin e c o rr es p on d en t
m e mb e r o f the Acad e my o f Sci en c e o f B o l o gna
Gess el sc h a f t D e utsch e r N ervena rz te a nd th e
Ro ayl M e d i c a l S o ci e ty N o rw a y
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S WE I R M ITC H E LL
26
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sisting o f three stories H e pzib a h G uin ne ss
“
”
“
Th e e and You and A Dra ft o n the B a nk o f
”
S p a in From now on a lmost every y e ar br o ught
forth one or mor e volumes o f n o vels or po e ms
A list of his principal writing is appended
I t is n o t my p urpo s e t o revi e w these works
in detail or to put up o n them their proper liter
ary value That Weir Mitchell w as a great
novelist cannot be successfully disputed His
greatn ess as a n o v e list would b e a fact e v e n if
h is high correct lit e rary style was n o t b ack e d
by his deep c o mprehension o f human nature and
human thought The p o w e rs o f the gr e at phy
si c i a n and great psych o l o gist are fully drawn
up o n in depicting and o ri e nting hi s charact e rs
H is v e r sa tility is astounding Think o f the s ame
’
”
man writi n g Fuz Bu z the child s story and
“
”
’
Hugh Wynne Americ a s gr e at e st historical
“
”
n o vel o r Constance Trescott th e p sy c h o lo g
“
ical tragedy and The Adventur e s o f Fr a n
”
c o is the c o mic o real istic al t a l e o f th e Fr e nch
“
r e vo luti on o r Wh en All th e Woo d s Ar e
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A S A NO VE LI ST
-
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Green and the A u tibio gr ap h y o f a ! u a ck !
Further he indirectly invaded the field o f
“
”
drama and The Masque was dr amatized by
Wilson B arrett the gre at English actor while
“
”
The Adventures of Francois was dramatized
by h is so n Langdon Mitchell
I n speaking of h is medical kno w ledge as a
basis for h is fiction Dr Mitchell once sai d
Y es in nearly everything I have written there
has been som e case traced out excepting in my
‘
’
book called Circu m st a nce
Th e author ph y
s ic i an once said at the University Club o f Phila
delphia where a reception w as held in h is hon
or tha t if he were to choose between abandon
ment of literary work or the practice o f medi
“
cine he would quit the former
I f I could be
remembered by but one thing he said
I
w ould rather I t would be for the work I have
been able to do for my fellow men in the pro
”
f es sio n o f medicine
To a physician his books pre sent a peculiar
charm and the hysterical illness o f An ne Pen
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28
S WE I R MITCH E LL
I
.
h all b w
and the gunsh o t injury o f the he a d in
“
”
her husband in Westw ay s are certainly two
of the b e st descriptions o f illnesses to be f ound
in novels When o ne think s that this bo o k was
w ritten when D rf M itc h el l w a s eighty four years
old one can but m arvel at the brain untouched
by the ravages o f age w hich produced it I do
not believe there is in all literatu re another pro
duction by a m an o f this age which can even
“
remotely c o mp are with Westw ay s
’
I t h as been s aid !
Dr Mitchell s style o f
w riting h a d a peculi ar charm which endeared
him to h is r e aders H is characte r s seemed to be
living breathing beings human in every aspect
and h is hist orical r omances teemed w ith re
freshing V igor and realism This w a s all the
more remarkable coming from the pen o f a man
whos e life had V irtually been sp ent in the clinic
rooms of hospitals and in the sober atmosphere
”
o f the medical w orld
“
Dr Mitchell used alm ost every known form
o f literary ex p ressi o n Th e n ov e l th e short
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AS A
NOVELI ST
29
sto ry th e e s s ay the drama v e rs e all w e re at
the c o m mand o f hi s masterly intell e ct He al
tern ated hum o r o u s sh o rt stories with those of
the tragic type Lyric r omantic and dramatic
p oe try are als o e qu a lly represented in hi s writ
”
ing s
Anyon e wh o h as n o t read the Y o uth of
”
Washingt on h as missed a gr ea t de a l I n this
delightful b o ok yo u s e e the foundation up o n
which was built that gre at human s tructure
Ge o rg e Wa s hington and l e arn much o f the
events le a d ing up to th e revo lutio n A charm
ingly drawn picture is the char act er o f the moth
er o f Washingt o n
I n sp ea king of o ne o f his firs t short stories
the fo llowing is an interesting a n ecdo te
The first contribution o f the auth o r physici a n
t o a p e ri o di c a l was bas e d up o n a hum o rous dis
c u ssio n with friends wh e ther or not the l o ss o f
any memb e r of the b o dy i nv o lved a parti al loss
of individuality
I n ex plaining the circum
sta n c es D r Mitch e ll s aid to an inte rvi e w e r
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S WE I R MITCHELL
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I simply wr o te out the story of a man whos e
arms and legs had been amputated and the h is
tory of his case I lent the manuscript which I
did not intend for p u b lication t o the Rev Dr
Fu r ness and he in turn gave it to E dward
Everett H ale to read Dr Ha le was at that
ti m e connected w ith the Atlanti c Monthly To
my surprise I received a substantial check and
‘
’
The Case of George D edl aw
s aw my p aper
printed a s the leading article We l l my poor
man w a s supposed to b e at the S tum p Hospital
a
place
exclusively
for
dismemb
ered
hu
an
m
(
ity ) and subsc riptions began to pour in for th e
fictitious George D edl aw while the newspapers
‘
’
took up the re m arkable case I t was s o me
t i me be f o r e it w as understood that no such arm
”
less and legless man existed
I t h a s been a matter o f considerable w onder
ho w Dr Mitchell had the time to write his
books and at the s ame time keep up h is pra e
tice and maintain h is i n te r est in so many other
thi ngs This will always remain a marvel es p e
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S WE I R MITCHELL
2
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actually came under my obs e rv a ti on It w a s
writt e n first as a comp a ratively sh o rt s t o ry
about a hundred p ages and wh e n that w a s fin
i sh ed the larg e r p o ssibiliti e s w e re seen in it Th e
book has been almost c o mpl e tely r e writt e n thr e e
t i mes in thr ee successive ye ars
“
I have everything set in typ e a n d study ef
feets fr o m gall ey proo fs Th e n I insi s t up o n
a complete printed c o py p a ge f o r p age o f the
entire w o rk and when I get th a t in hand I b e
gin t o see my mistakes a n d g e t a g ene r a l efi ec t
o f th e w o rk
I t is u n n e c e ss a ry to g o f a rther i n t o a di s cu s
si on o f h is familiar writings Th e foll o wi n g list
embrac e s his main liter a ry ou tput sinc e 1 8 8 0
Th e re hav e appe a red a c o llectio n o f short
“
”
sto ries e ntitled
Hepzibah Guinne s s which
showed that a n ew fi gur e had e nt e r e d Am e ri
ca n lit e ratur e This vo lume w a s f o ll o w e d by
“
th e first bo ok o f v e rs e The Hill o f Sto n e s and
”
“
”
O th e r P o em s in 1 8 8 2 ; I n War Tim e s a
no v e l 1 8 8 5 th e fir s t o f a l on g se ri es th e pl o t
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N OVELIST
AS A
33
of which was laid in Phil adelphi a
Novels a nd book s o f verse appeared almo s t
annually a fterward e ach one increasing the
popularity their author had won I n the o rder
“
named have bee n publish e d Roland Blak e a
“
”
n o vel 1 8 8 6 ; A M a sque and Other P o ems
“
1 8 87 ;
Prince Littl eb o y and Other Tales out
”
”
o f Fairyland 1 8 8 8 ; Far in th e Forest a
st o ry 1 8 8 9 ; The C up o f Y o uth dr a ma in
”
verse 1 8 8 9 ; Franco is Vill o n dramatic p o em
“
”
Th e Ps a lm o f Death 1 8 9 1 ; Ch a r
1 890 ;
”
“
”
acteristics 1 8 9 2 ; Fra n cis Dr ak e dr a m a tic
“
poem 1 8 9 3 ; Wh en All th e W oo ds Ar e
“
Green descriptiv e o f f o rest li fe 1 8 9 4 ; Phil
“
”
1p Vern o n
dramatic po e m 1 8 9 5 ; C o llect e d
”
“
”
1 896 ;
Po ems
Mr Kriss Kringle
1 896 ;
“
”
“
1 897 ;
Hugh Wyn n e Free ! uaker
Th e
“
”
1 899 ;
Adventures of Fra n c o is
Dr N o rth
”
”
and His Fri en ds 1 9 00 ; Th e Wager 1 90 0 ;
“
“
”
Circumsta n c e a n o vel 1 9 0 1 ; Pe arl 1 9 0 1 ;
“
”
C o medy of C on sci e nce 1 9 0 2 ; Lit tl e Stor
”
”
“
ies
1 9 03 ;
Y o uth o f W as hi n gton
1 904 ;
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S WE I R M I T C HELL
3 4
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1 905 ;
C o nstance Tr e scott
A Diplomatic
”
”
1 905 ;
Adventure
The Mind Reader
”
“
“
1 907 ;
A C hristmas Venture
The
1 9 07 ;
”
Red C ity 1 9 0 7 ; The Comfort o f the Hills
”
“
John S herwood I ronmaster
191 1 ;
1 909 ;
”
“
and Westw ay s A Village C hronicle 1 9 1 3
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A S A POET
N LY
a few prose writers hav e been
poets o f note but it has been said
’
that D r Mitchell s poetry will al
ways live and that his reputa
tion as a poet will g row H is poems rang e
f rom little C hristmas verses sent to friends to
“
Fr ancis Drake a Tragedy o f the S ea the
fine V ivid f orce ful poem which has been
classed with the best d r amatic p o etry in Eng
“
lish literature H is beauti ful lyrics T o A
”
“
M agnolia Flower
and the songs G o od
“
”
’
”
Night and Evening are well w o rth on e s
’
while A s for Dr Mitchell s supreme e ffort in
ve rse critics like C harles Eli o t Nort o n and
Tho m as B ailey Aldrich agreed at the time o f its
“
”
publication that the Ode on a Lycian Tomb
w as one o f the f our or fiv e gre a t elegiac poems
in English
I t may be o f interest to qu o t e a f e w o f his
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3 5
S WEI R
6
3
MITCH ELL
.
verses e specially with a view of keeping his ver
s a til it y a s a poet in mind
I n a little poem sent
“
to h is f riends one C hristmas called King
”
C hristmas and M ast e r New Year he writes
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i ng
Chri stm
fro m h is h o u se o f ic e
Lo o k ed o u t acro ss th e sno w
”
H all o m y li ttl e m an ! h e cri ed
N o w Whith er d o st th o u go
as
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,
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“
g th e w ay
Th at al l m y kin h ave go ne
Wh ere y o u m y l o rd sh all f o llow
”
B ef o re ano th er d awn
I
go ,
m
y
l o rd
,
l
a on
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m e
.
And closes with
bid thy gall an t co m pany
Rid e o nward w ith o u t f ear ;
F o r I th e ! i ng o f Chri stm as
H ave bl essed th e gl ad N ew Y ea r
N ow
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“
Two verses of The S o ng o f the Flags
upon the re turn o f battle fl ags to vari o us states
o f the C o nfeder a cy a re p a rticularly musical and
vigo r o u s !
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,
AS A POET
W l
3 7
d th e wild cl am o r o f b attl e
’
T h e crash o f th e m u sk et ry s rat t l e
T h e b u gl e and dru m
We h ave dro op ed in th e d u st l o ng and lo nely ;
T h e bl ad es th a t fl ash ed ! o y are r u st o nly
T h e far ro lli ng w ar m u sic d u m b
e
o ve
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Bl o w
fo rth o n th e so u th W i nd to greet
0 star fl ag ! o nce eager to m ee t u s
Wh en w ar li nes were set
G o c arry to far field s o f gl o ry
T h e so u l stirri n g thrill o f th e sto ry
Of d ays wh en in anger w e m et
us
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.
Listen for a m o ment to
th e
music o f
darell o Gu idarell i
Still
h ears o u r wo m en si ngi ng
’
l o ve ch arm so tis said
o ne
For
a
-
,
,
G u idarel lo G u idarel l i !
Li k e
a
,
l o ve m ass
-
”
fo r th e
d ead
.
caressi ng i terati o n
Wi th h is nam e th eir vo ices pl ay
Elli N elli G u idarel li
Thro u gh so m e b u sy m arket day
In
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An d to o ne v e rse o f To A M a gno li a
Gui
S
8
3
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WEI R M ITCH E LL
wid e th e gl o ry o f thy p er fect bloo m !
C all every wi n d to sh ar e thy scen ted breaths !
N 0 life is bri ef th at do t h p erf ect i o n w in
’
T o day is thi ne to m o rro w th o u art d eath s
Set
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!
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I n th e Ode on a Lycian T o mb the p oe t
took his inspir a ti o n said Richard W a t so n
Gilder from the m o num e nt which is now in
the Mus e um o f Co nstantin o pl e an d h a s on its
four sid e s eighteen comp artments in which th e
s ame woman a ppe a rs carv e d in m a ny atti tu d e s
,
,
,
o f grief
.
Wh at gr ci
gri ef is h er e !
’
One w o m an g arb ed in so rro w s every m o o d ;
E ach sad pr esen ti m en t cell ed ap art in f ear
Lest th at h erself u p o n h erself i n t r u d e
’
A nd brea k so m e t en d er dream o f so rro w s day
H ere cl o i st ered l o nely set in m arbl e gray
a
ry
o u s nu nne
of
,
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,
p al e pro cessi o n o f i m m o r tal l ove
F o rever m arri ed to i m m o rtal gri ef !
’
All o f life s child li k e so rr o w f ar ab ove
’
P ast h elp o f t i m e s co m p assi o nat e reli ef
Th ese ch angel ess sto nes are t reasu ri es o f r egret
A nd m o c k th e t erm by tim e fo r so rro w set
O
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AS A CITI ! EN
R M I TCHELL was a m a n o f
large vi ews and one much intersted
in public a ff airs He was in demand
fo r
lectur e s
a nd
a fter di n n e r
sp e ech e s As a m e mber o f the C a rn e gi e Fo un
d a ti o n h e h a d t o d o with th e pro moti o n o f
vari o us educati o nal instituti o ns and a t tim es
to o k gre a t interest in certain re form movem e nts
and in l o ca l p o litics and h e always us e d his
i n fluence f o r th e b e tterment o f mu n icip a l c o ndi
ti o ns
His a dvice was s o ught a b o ut v a ri o u s a nd
sundry m o vements for the b e tt e rm e nt o f h u
manity an d he was consult e d by a t l ea st two
presid e nts o f th e United St a t e s up on p ublic
questions He did much to pr e serve th e l o cal
hist o ry o f Philadelphi a and was a ls o instru
mental ih h a vi n g many of th e hi s to ric a l pl a c es
in Virgi n i a pro p e rly pr e s e rv e d H e l ent bo ok s
.
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0
4
AS A CITI ! EN
1
4
and gave other assist an ce t o anyon e s eeking his
help and m any physici a ns s o cialists authors
and philanthropists owe t o him the inspiration
and direction o f their work He did more than
anyone else to organize build and equip the new
C ollege o f Physicians in Philadelphia and to o h
tain f o r them their wonder ful library
The
Wei r Mitchell Hall in this building w as n amed
in his hon o r
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PE RSONAL RE C OLLE CT I ON S
R M I T C HELL was known to the
writer through generations of family
friendship h is g r and f ather living in
Je ffe r son C ounty now West Vir
ginia but then a portion o f Virginia a n d h is
’
father were friends o f the writer s ancestors
’
and during Dr Mitchell s childh oo d he spent
a good part of sever a l years at the plantation
home o f Henry St George Tucker and thus b e
came a childho o d friend o f h is sons B everley
John Randolph S t Ge o rge and D avid Tucker
I have he ard my grandp arent say that at this
time Dr Mitchell w as not a pa rti c ularly robust
youth that he w as fond of fishing and of going
out under the trees lying on h is b ack and med
it ating hours at a time Dr Mitchell never f o r
got these days and o ften sp o ke to me o f the
fa m ily pray e rs which were held when my great
gr andm o ther a very pious lady kept a gr e en
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PERSONAL RE C OLLE C T I ONS
43
u m brella by her side w ith which to poke the
boys o r servants w ho became inattentive or
d ro w sy d u ring this dai ly religious f u nction He
w ould also recall the days i n which as a boy
he a nd the others would play circus on the plan
t a tio n and it w a s here that he learned to ride
and shoot With S t George Tucker he went
hunting and shot h is first squirrel He S aid he
w as proud of h is marksmanship until he went to
pick the squ irrel up and it bit him through the
thumb w hen he w a s told he must always S hoot
a squi rr e l through the eye ! The evenings w ere
spent in reading and conversation
S everal years ago in going thr o ugh some o f
his old papers he f ou n d and sent me the auto
graph o f my great grandfather Judg e H St
George Tucker which he had asked for and
which Judge Tucker had given him a ecom
by
the
following
verse
a
n
i
e
d
p
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t im e h as p as sed m y fri end wh en yo u thfu l prid e
A neat fac Si m il e co u ld h ave su ppli ed
’
By ti m e th e vigo r o f th e arm s u nm anned
The
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WE I R M ITCH E LL
S
44
.
tr em bling p alsy sh akes th e aged h an d
’
I n seco n d childh o o d as in lif e s fi rst stage
Th e veri es t p o t h oo ks m ar th e bl o t t ed p age
An d
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At th e age of seventy sev e n Dr Mitchell
sent me this vers e and auto gr a ph with a kindl y
note in his o wn trembling hand
This chil dh oo d friendship co ntinu e d a nd
whe n my father a s on o f B e v e rl e y Tucker w as
taken extremely ill with an obscure disease in
the sev e nti e s Dr Mitch e ll tr e ated him and it
w a s largely thr o ugh his advice th a t th e p a ti e nt
r e co v e red dying unf o rtunately sev e r a l y ea rs
a fterw a rd o f typhoid fev e r So wh en I w e nt t o
him to ask his advic e ab o ut o btaini n g p o st grad
u at e work in nervous diseas es I found a r ea dy
and r e sponsive friend and a dviser
I shall ne v e r forget my first impr e s s ion o f
that visit I was ush e r e d int o th e w a itin g r oo m
o f his o ffi c e and resid e nce at 1 5 2 4 Walnut Stre e t
by a d oo r m a n in kn i cke rb o cke rs with a r e d v e st
and br ass butt o ns a nd a sw a ll o w tail c oa t It
w as a fte r o ffi c e h o ur s Th e r oo m w as much
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PERSONAL RE COLLE CTION S
45
li k e and still di ffere n t fr o m th e waiting ro o ms
of pro mi nent physici a n s eve ryw here
In the
corner by a windo w sat before a typewriter his
secretary a middle aged lady who had served
in that capacity for many y e ars The r o om was
furnish e d chiefly in old wal nut of several vint
ages the b o ok S helves w e re filled with us e d
b o ok s on the w a lls hung vari o us en gr a vings
and a water color o f a huge rattl e s n ake while
pictures o f his m e di c al frie n ds and p atients
perched o n th e b ook sh e lv es the m a ntel and
everywh e r e In th e cent e r o f th e r oom which
was carpeted I r e memb e r with a d e ep r ed rug
gi ving a sens e o f warmth a n d comfort on thi s
cold Dec e mb e r day was a large obl o ng walnut
table pil e d with b ook s and mag a zines Ab o ut
this time the f o lding d oo r o p en ed and an o ldish
gentl e man in a br o wn velv e t sm ok i n g j acket a
red ti e and check e d w aisc o at a n d tro u s ers step
ped al e rtly i n t o the r oom I also no ticed that
h e had a whit e rather scr a ggly b ea rd that his
w hi te h a ir wa s p a rt e d i n th e mi d dl e th a t h e
.
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S W E I R MITCHELL
46
.
looked at me kindly with clear bl u e eyes and
that h is feet w ere exceedingly well gro omed and
r ather small f o r h is S ize He w a s s ix feet his
head w as splendidly d e veloped he stooped a lit
tle at the S houlders and the hand he extended
trembled
I had been c o nsiderably awed at the pros p e ct s
o f this interview but I b egan to feel a little mor e
“
at ease w hen he said Well Tuck e r I a m glad
”
to s ee you in a voice which co mbined kindness
and power in a w ay no other voice has that I
have ever heard He led me into his o ffi ce and
motioned me to a seat and prob ably seeing that
I w as a little embarrassed instead of taking his
o flilc e chair at his large
double handsom e ly
carv e d fl at top desk t o ok an ordina ry chair
rested h is elbow on the c o rner o f his desk and
a s I a fterward found h is habit w as
rested his
head upon h is hand with two o f the fing e rs
slightly b ack of his e ar I imagin ed he must
be a little de a f a nd he really w as He knew
that I had come to as k him ab o ut getting p o st
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S WEI R M I T C HELL
8
4
.
the man appeared ordered some brandy and
w ater which he o ff ered me and I t o ok When
Dr Mitchell took h is brandy h e lo o ked at me
“
i
z
i
c
a
ll
u
and
said
I
am
glad
to
ee
you
have
s
q
y
some petty vices I hope you have no great
ones I am usually a fraid o f a man who has no
petty vices
He then st oo d up and lean ed his
elb o w on the mantal where a wood fir e was
burning on brass andir on s and told m e he w o uld
obt a in for me the h o spital app o intment I want
ed
I told him I had some fear as to the wis
dom of my attempting nervous diseases as I did
n o t kn ow whether I w o uld be equal to the o p
r
i
i
ff
o
n
e
he
was
o
e
ring
me
e
then
said
t
u
t
s
H
p
som e thing which h a s helped m e in many d e
“
c i s io ns
Never fail he said t o a ccept a ny
”
opportunity which will bro aden your horiz o n
I l e ft sh o rtly afte rward feeling that I had a
friend and advis er indeed I wa s too taken up
with the man to notice much about his o ffice at
this tim e A S I wa lk ed out o n Walnut Street
that wint e r a ft e rn oo n I kn ew that I h a d been
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PERSONAL RE COLLE C T I ON S
49
in the prese n ce o f a gr e at man but some things
about him struck me oddly His legs and feet
were youthful his hands and he a ring aged h is
body and mind middle aged and his pers o nality
adaptable to any age Fleeting impressions p a int
t rue pictures at times though lacking in detail
Dr Mitchell once told me that m a ny of the
scenes in his novels he drew from real life ; for
“
instance the scene in C o n sta n c e Trescott o f
old Mrs A v aril picking roses in h e r gard e n was
a reproducti o n o f Mrs Cynthia C o leman o f
Williamsburg V a culling roses in her g a rden
’
one summer s day whe n he chanced to b e visit
ing that historic old town and stopp e d at the
garden fence to wat ch her
When he wrote his poem on the return of the
battle fl ags of the C o n federacy he showed the
manuscript to a Southern lady pati e nt and was
much amused wh e n sh e told h im that Sh e
“
thought the poetry very fine but that the Yan
kees should never have taken the b attle fl ags
and that sh e was an unr e c o nstructed r e b e l s till
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WE I R MITCHELL
S
9
5
.
He was fond o f champagne and when at a
dinner party one night the lady next to him
“
asked Why Doctor you do not drink cham
pagne d o yo u he r e plied w ith a twi nk le in his
“
eye Y es M adam for bre akfast dinner and
”
supper
A prominent minister w as among the guests
and a fter dinner w hen he refused a cigar Dr
Mitchell told him that a pre acher should have
”
“
some inn o cent vice and te ased him s aying
that i f he had known h ow g o o d he was he
would have opposed his being called to Ph il adel
phia
The story o f the Northerner learning to shoot
and S h o oting so many p eople as described in
”
“
C haracteristics w as told to him by a former
assistant from Arkansas as true Dr Mitch
ell w as f o nd o f telling anecdotes about this as
s ist ant w ho w as with him j ust preceding the
“
’
”
war He re a d medicine in Dr Mitchell s o f
fic e When he came t o Dr Mitchell the Doc
t o r asked him what a cc o mplishments h e had
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PER S ON AL RE COLLE CTIO NS
‘
5
1
and the Arkansan said he had only one where
upon he pulled a bowie kni fe from h is boot and
threw it across the room so that it stuck in the
’
panel o f Dr Mitchell s mahogany o ffi ce door
The Doctor told him that was fine but that it
w a s a meth o d of surg e ry which h a d not yet
re ached Philadelphia
Dr Mitchel believed in S pending mon e y lib
er a lly and onc e told me that it w a s a pity for
a m a n not to spend most o f h is income and th a t
h e believed it was wro ng for a physician t o
charge exorbitantly He told me of a wealthy
patient from C hicago whom he cur e d of s ome
simpl e m a lady and c h arged him
The
wealthy patient w as astonished at th e small fee
and told Dr Mitchell that if h e had charg e d
him
he w o uld hav e gladly p a id it
Dr Mitchell told him that ev en if he had h e
would have gone back to Chicag o and n e ver
ceased to tell people how exorbitant he was
Dr Mitchell seemed t o be able to acc o mplish
more d o it m o r e th o roughly an d without a pp a r
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5
MITCHEL L
S WEI R
2
.
ent hurry than anyo n e I hav e ev e r s e e n I
h e ard him s ay that no detail o f e xa min a ti on o r
treatm e nt however lab o ri o us should e ve r b e
overl o oked A p atient o f his a t th e Orthopaedic
Hospital and Infirmary for Nerv o us Dise a s e s
tha nk ed him one d a y f o r taking so much trouble
“
with her case and he repli e d M a d a m yo u
need not fl atter yo urself I take j ust as much
”
tr o uble with any pati e nt who c o nsults me
As
a n illustration o f his abili ty t o pick out a clue
t o a case which had b e en o verlo o k e d by o th e rs
it is of interest to say th a t this p atient had been
b ro ught t o Dr Mitchell by tw o prominent nerve
speci alists I h a ppened to be present a t thi s
first consultati on The tw o do ct o rs referr e d t o
had a hist o ry o f the cas e c o nsisting o f si x p ag es
o f f o olscap closely written Dr Mitchell care
fully re ad this wh o le hist o ry and then turning
“
to the physici ans said
Y o u h a ve n o n o te o f
“
”
”
the condition o f her he art
N o they s a id
“
w e h a ve omitted that
Wh e r e up o n Dr
’
Mitchell list e ned to th e p a ti e nt s h ea rt a nd im
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PERSON AL RE COLLE CTIONS
53
medi ately dete ct e d a le a king v a lve This he a rt
tr o uble accounted for h e r symptoms
I n the summer o f 1 9 0 5 a pr o mi ne nt C a na dian
o ffi cial talked very fr ee ly t o Dr Mitch e ll ab o ut
government a ffairs and th e n ask e d him n o t t o
divulge anything that was t o ld him a n d re
this
request
Wher
e
up
on
Dr
Mitch
e
ll
ea
t
e
d
p
r e plied that during his life time he h a d k e pt
m o re s e crets than any fiv e British vic e ro y s e v e r
h e ard !
He h a d a r em a rk a bl e m e m o ry an d h is se c r e
tary o n ce t o ld me wh en I r e m a rke d up on thi s
t o her that a f ew m o nth s b e f o r e a m an c a m e
“
’
into his o ffi c e a nd s a id !
D o cto r I d on t ex
pe et you can r e memb e r anythi n g ab out m e f o r
”
it has b e en 3 2 ye a rs sinc e I c on sult e d y ou Dr
Mitchell to ld him that h e w o uld no t a ttempt
to rem e mber his n a me but a sk e d him f o r wh a t
malady h e h a d co nsult e d him an d as soon as
the man told him he r e memb e r e d th e wh ol e
case a nd describ e d it a ccur a t e ly to th e gr ea t
a s to ni s hm ent o f th e f o rm e r p a ti ent
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S WE I R
54
.
M ITCH E LL
H avin g heard the st o ry of hi s consulting
some nerve specialist abro a d and o f this sp e cial
ist reco mmending him to consult Dr W e ir
Mitchell o f Philadelphi a I asked him on o ne
occasion to tell me the tru e sto ry He repli e d
that he was in Paris and had been overworked
and felt much ru n do wn s o h e decid e d t o con
sult the great nerve sp e ci a list Dr Charcot
Wi s hing an indep en dent o pini o n he did n o t
give his n a m e Dr Ch a rc o t examined him a nd
gave a few S imple directi o ns and then tu rning
t o him asked him where he was from Dr
Mitch e ll to ld him he w a s fro m Philad e lphi a
“
Then Dr Ch a rco t sa id
You have a m a n in
Phil a delphi a wh o k n o ws m o r e ab o ut run d o wn
ne rvous c o nditi o n s th a n anyo ne e lse I kn ow o f
and I will giv e yo u a lett e r to Dr S W e ir
Mitchell whom yo u must c o n s ult
Dr Char
cot st a rt e d th e l e tter The situati o n was so
ludicrous that Dr Mitch e ll l a ughed and whe n
Ch a rc o t asked him wh a t he was laughing a bout
Dr Mitch e ll h an d e d him hi s c ar d Dr Ch a r
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S
6
5
.
WEI R M ITCH E LL
one of the m o st e nj oy a ble o f which he h ad e ver
partaken
H e to o k a gre a t int e r e st in things i n Virgini a
and n o t in f requ e ntly visited Richm on d
He
onc e visit e d Westrno rel and C o unty o n a yacht
ing trip and to o k o cc as i o n to l o ok up th e home s
o f the W a shi n gtons and Le e s Upon hi s re
t urn he to o k u p th e matt e r o f th e c o nditi o n o f
the gr a v e s o f th e s e famili e s with th e pr o p e r au
th o rities an d h a d th e m put in much b e tt e r t e
pair Th e re w as h a rdly a pl a c e whi c h he vi s
ited which did n o t p r o fit i n o n e resp e ct o r a n o th
er by som e s uggesti o n o r a t tim e s e v en by mor e
substa nti a l a id
The i n st a nc e r e l a t e d in Westw ay s o f J o hn
P enh all o w ch as i n g in a skirmish a dis a rm e d
Confed e r a te C o l one l t o c a ptur e him b e i n g t o o
h o norabl e to sh oo t a disarm e d man a nd o f th e
Colon e l a fter a hard rid e turn i n g a s h e en t e r e d
s o me w oo ds and t e lling P ennh allo w to st o p a nd
c a lling to him th a t it w as u se less f o r him to
f oll o w as ther e w e r e
C on f e d e r a t es a f ew
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PERSON A L RE C OLLE CTIONS
57
hundred yards on the other side o f the woods
’
thus saving each o ther s lives w a s a tru e story
’
and happened to one of Dr Mitchell s broth
ers
The Confederate thanked him f o r spar
ing h is li f e and C01 Mitchell th a nked the C o n
federate for keeping him fr om death or capture
They waved their hats to each o ther and went
their separate ways These two c o l o nels met
years a fterwards at a dinner in Chicago Dr
Mitchell finished this a n ecd o t e by s a ying th a t
m any such insta n ces o f g a ll a ntry o ccurred dur
ing the war and that they sh e d happy rays o f
light upon that terrible and gl oo my con flict
’
Aprop o s o f Dr Mitchell s study o f s nake
venoms a friend o f his t o ld me the fo ll owing
S ome o ne once se nt him a l a rge rattl e r fr o m
Arizona in a wo o de n box This w a s shipped t o
his Offic e instead o f t o the l a b o r a to ry and Dr
Mitchell let it stay in his o ffic e o ver night to be
taken out to the lab o rato ry i n th e m o rn ing The
rattl e r was six f ee t long and that night whil e
Dr Mitchell w as reading it g o t o ut o f th e b ox
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s WE I R
8
5
MITCHELL
.
without his n o tice and climb e d up the b ack o f
’
h is chair and put its head over Dr Mitch e ll s
S houlder The Doctor then noticed it and with
rare presence o f mind s at still while the snake
moved its head b ack and forth f ascinated by
the light o f the lamp The snake touched th e
lamp globe and this being hot made it m ad
and it drew up fu rther and turned its head to
’
Dr Mitchell s face They w a tch e d each oth e r
Dr Mitchell slowly and cautiously r e ach e d out
his h a nd f o r a large metal p a per cutter which
was on his desk watching the snake all the time
Wh e n he reached it with a sudden twist o f this
improvised weapon he struck the snake on th e
neck knocking it to the floor and he escaped
from the room Afterwards the snake was re
cap tured with a n et
Dr Mitch e ll once s aid to me that he r e gretted
the impression had g o tten out in some circles
that he w as more interested in literature and
novel writing than in medicine He said that lit
of cour se but
c r a ry pu rsuits were inter e sting
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PERS ONAL RE C OLLE C T I ON S
59
unimp o rtant w hen compared w ith medicine and
that he w as much more interested in h is p ro f es
sion than in anything else
Dr Mitchell seemed to have the faculty o f a
double mental grasp He co u ld read between
the lines and still comprehend the lines This
made him re adily u nderstand both what people
appeared to be and what they really w ere He
w as hard to deceive
I t w as a revelation and a source o f constant
inform ation to make rounds w ith him He had
a w ay o f imparting h is knowledge succinctly and
vividly so that even his minor comments were
’
impressed upon one s mind Patients consulted
h im not only f r om all over the United States
but many from abroad H is observation w as
acute and he had the knack of arriving at the
main clue to a case very qu ickly This faculty
ho w ever never precluded a thorough and co m
l
m
e
e
exa
ination
A
patient
had
an
attack
t
p
while waiting on one o f the clinic benches one
a fterno o n A clinical assistant s aw her and laid
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S WEI R M I TCHELL
60
.
her out o n t h e b e nch and made a cursory ex
amination The attack w as thought to be an
ordina ry hysterical seizure About this time
Dr Mitchell came in and as k ed what w a s the
m atter with the girl He was told that she Sim
ply had an hysterical attack He w e nt over to
her rapidly examin e d her refl ex e s asked a few
questi o ns o f her companion and sent for the su
er
e
n
i
n
t
e
n
t
t
o
take
her
stairs
and
admit
her
d
u
p
p
to a bed and turning t o the assistant s aid
“
You are entirely w rong This woman is in the
last st a ges o f b rain tumo r and will di e b e fo re
morning
The various assistants a round c o uld
hardly believe such a grave prognosis A f te r
the patient was put to bed S he was thoroughly
exami n ed and the diagn osis confirmed and sh e
died during the night
Everything physiological w as o f special in
terest to Dr Mitchell and b e contributed accu
rate and valuable kn owledge to such subj e cts as
the origin of cat and o th e r animal ph o bias blood
corp uscl e conf o rmati o n in v a ri o us a nim a ls and
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PERSONAL RECOLLE CTI ONS
61
to the heredit ary results o f interm arriage with
relations I have heard him s ay and I think
he h as published some w here that in his o b ser
vation the marrying o f first cousins rarely pro
du c ed harm ful results i f the man resembled one
branch of the family and the girl the other but
that the children showed more ma rked defects
when such was not the case
’
At a dinner party at Dr John Mitchell s one
night Dr Weir Mitchell and Dr Chath a m
Pro f essor o f Physiology at the Univ e r s ity o f
Pennsylva n i a began t o discuss the character
of blo o d corpuscles of di ff erent animals All
other conversation was suspended while these
two learn ed men discussed this subj ect and
sh ow ed themselves equally familiar with the
blood o f rabbits chicke n s lions tigers etc as
w ith huma n bl o od
An interesting story in this c o nn e ct i on is told
of Dr Mitchell I t s e ems that years ago a
’
certain gentleman phoned for the police and
said that he was att a cke d by r obb e rs a nd that
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S WE I R MIT C HELL
62
.
h e had wou nd e d o ne o f them and showed bl oo d
on h is premis es in evidence of th e conflict N o
other trace o f burglars was f o und and the at
tack a ttracted considerable attention in the
ne w sp apers W ithin a year the s ame thing o c
curr ed Again there was conside rable publicity
but the robbers were not fou nd Within another
ye ar a third attack w a s reported and this tim e
’
it w a s said that the bloody print of the robber s
h a nd w a s left on the b ack yard fence The p o
lice were much puzzled and the pap e rs full o f
the story Dr Mitchell o f his o wn initiative
quietly w ent to the premises scraped some o f
the bloody print o ff took it home and examined
it under the microscope He easily recognized
that it w a s chicken blood and not human blood
and notified the police telling them to search
the premises for the chicken This w as done
a nd the mutilated fo w l found in the basement
N o othe r assaults were rep o rted
When I fi rst w ent to Philadelphi a Dr Mitc h
ell told me humorously th a t he wanted t o ex
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W E I R M I TCH ELL
S
64
.
sci entific man In th e grate in du e s eason b l a z e d
an attractive w oo d fir e Th e furnitur e w as
ha n dsom e and fitting and carp e ts h a ngings an d
wa l ls all i n harmony The desk set was o f sil
v e r he a vy a n d ha nds o m e a nd o n th e des k
without t oo much regard o r t oo much disr e g a rd
for ne a tnes s and a rra n gement w e r e l a id ma nu
scripts b ook s p a pers mag a zin es an d o n e o r
tw o instruments f o r sp e ci a l ex amin a ti on o f p a
ti ents
It w a s s om e tim e s o rna m en t e d with a
vas e and a few fl o w e r s O n th e w a ll hu n g a
m a gn ific en t lif e s i z e p o rtrait o f Sir Willi a m
Harvi e a nd p a i nti n gs e tchi n gs e ngr a ving s a nd
fr a m e d l e tters e ach with s o m e p e cul i a r int e r e st
o f its o wn O n a st a nd by th e wind o w in a
glass cover e d case was a death ma sk o f D a nt e
B ooks m a ny o f them mo st r a r e an d v a lu abl e
filled th e b o o k shelves a nd s o uv e nir s a nd cu
ri o s were here and th e r e On e of th ese s truck
me pa rticul a rly It w a s a bra s s bo a t pl a t e with
“
”
the name Lo rd Byr o n on it I as ke d him th e
h i s to ry o f th i s an d h e to ld m e th a t as a yo u n g
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PERSONAL RECOLLE CTIONS
65
man he once went with his father t o Engl a nd
At this time especi ally he was a great admirer
o f Byron and while in England they chanced to
’
V isit some o f Byron s rel a tives I n th e draw
i n g r oom he noticed this brass pl a te and was
told by one o f the young girls o f the house
’
that it was the b o at plate f r o m Byron s gon
dola As they sto od looking at it Dr Mitchell
said to his father that he would rath e r h a ve
that s o uvenir o f Byron than anything he had
seen in E ngland whereupon th e old Docto r
“
said to him !
W e ir yo u m a y achiev e success
and f ame but every man h a s hi s limit a tions
a nd her e is s o m e thi n g a sm a ll thin g in a wa y
which n o m a tter how much you desir e it yo u c a n
never obtain
The incide n t w a s fo rgo tten On
’
Dr Mitchell s seventy fif th birthday th e p a per s
in this country a nd abr o ad published an an
no u nc em ent of it with a sketch o f his care e r
The yo ung girl now an o ld lady who h a pp e n e d
to he ar this c o nvers a ti on b e twe e n Dr Mitch e ll
and his f a th e r rememb e r e d it a nd s en t him the
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S WE I R MITCHELL
66
.
go nd o l a plate with a l e tter s aying that he had
a chi e v e d so m a ny things that she wish e d to
make this p a rt icular desire exp ress e d in his
y o uth compl e t e
N o doubt some o ne will WI l tC a c omplete b i
o grap h y of Dr Mitchell
Th e se littl e reco ll ec
tions h o wev e r are inter e sting as e verything
about a gr eat m a n is o f interest Gather e d
here and there they are told so as to throw
S ide lights upon the man as I kn ew him
We now a ppro ach the cl o se of this bri ef
S ketch Dr Mitchell w as active m e ntally and
physically up t o a week bef o re his d ea th at
tending to his o ffi ce practice paying o utside vis
its and making r ounds in th e h o spit a l
He
caught a cold to which he p aid but little att e n
’
ti o n I nfluenza s et in and a fter a week s ill
ness he died being co nscious to the end o n the
fourth day of Janua ry 1 9 1 4 His funeral was
’
held in St S tephen s Church The services were
marked by their S implici ty M en o f pr o minenc e
from di ff e rent p arts of the co untry w e nt to pay
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PERSONAL R E COLLECTI ONS
67
their last res pects Although the church was
crowded to the doors with eminent physici a ns
auth o rs philanthropists public men and w o
men and nurses who had worked under him a
remark o f his friend Dr William J Taylor
to me during the s e rvices seemed to me an ex
tr em ely fitting comment upon a wonderfully u s e
“
ful li f e He s a id
I n all this v a st congrega
t i on I do not b e lieve I see a person whom in one
way or another Dr Mitchell has n o t p e rsonally
”
aided or encour a ged I n work or amb iti o n
This fitting verse was written by Richard J
B eamish and appe a red i n th e Phil a delphia
P r e ss a f ew days a fter h is d ea th
!
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T H E US E F U L LI F E
l o ng l ean h ands are fo ld ed and th e rest
H e ea rned li es sweet u p o n h im ; al l th e wi se
Sane life th e h elpf u l wo rd th e r eady ! est
D ep ar ted with th e light fro m h is k i nd eyes
Em ancip ated fro m al l need o f car e
H e still to o k c ares u p o n h im fo r th e ! o y
”
Mak e m e u sefu l w as h is prayer
O f d o i ng
The
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S WEI R MITCHELL
68
.
h eart h e to o k th e crippled b o y
H e t aught th e t o rt u red so u l to fin d reli ef
Al l th e well s
I n p eacef u l rel ax atio n
T h e gri ef
O f hi sto ry wer e pl u m b ed by h im
A nd ! o y o f lif e are in th e t al es h e tell s
Phil o so ph er physici an p o et sage
H is wo rk enno bles and u plif ts th e age
T o h is
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With th l S I close exc e pt t o say th a t Dr
Mitchell was a true Christi an H e loved his
fellow men and gave th em his li f e w o rk but in
no whit less degree he l o ved his God a nd r e n
der e d Him servic e
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y
C OLUMBI A UN I V ERSITY
“
LI BRARI ES
T i s b o o k i s d u e o n th e d a e i n d i c a e d b e l o w , o r a t th e
o w i ng ,
ex p i a i o n o f a d efi n i te p e i od a f e r th e d a e o f b o
a n g em e n
u l e s o r b y s p ec i a l a
a s p o v i d e d b y th e l i b a y
th e L i b a i a n i n c a g e
wi
h
r t
r
th
r
r r
D A T E B O R R O WE D
r r r
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