brace every possible point to which the teeth of the animal could have extended. In a very few days the disease appeared.

About an hour after, a man, who had been bitten by the same dog, and in a few minutes after the little girl met with the accident, called upon me. He was bitten on the outside of the leg, a few inches below the knee; so long time having elapsed, I concluded to make use of washing. I took him into the yard, where my pupils, in turn, continued to pump fresh well water upon the bitten part, at least for the space of an hour: he escaped the disease.

VIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR of the late Dr. JOHN COCHRAN : Communicated for the American Medical and Philosophical Register.

With an Engraving, from an Original Painting,

THIS gentleman was born on the first of September, 1730, in Chester county, in the state of Pennsylvania. His father, James Cochran, was a respectable farmer, who had come from the north of Ireland, and the lands which he first purchased still continue in the possession of his descendants. Discovering in his son John the desire of a learn ed profession, he sent him to a grammar school in the vicinity, that was taught by the late Dr. Francis Allison, who was confessedly one of the most correct and faithful grammarians that ever taught in this country. Having finished his preliminary education, Mr. Cochran betook

himself to the study of physic and surgery under the late Dr. Thompson, in Lancaster. Under this gentleman he improved greatly, by his diligence and attention, in the knowledge of his profession. About the time at which he finished his medical studies, the war of 1755 commenced in America between England and France. The army then presented to the mind of Dr. Cochran a scene of usefulness and further improvement. As there were not any great hospitals at that time in the provinces, he readily perceived that the army would be an excellent school for his improvment, especially in surgery, as well as in the treatment of many diseases. He soon obtained the appointment of surgeon's mate in the hospital depart, ment; and continuing with the northern army during the whole of that war, enjoying, as he did, the friendship and advice of Dr. Monro, and other eminent surgeons and physicians, he quitted the service with the character of an able and experienced practitioner.

At the close of the war, he settled in Albany, where he married Mrs. Gertrude Schuyler, the only sister of the late general Schuyler, From that city he removed in a short time to New-Brunswick, in the state of NewJersey, where he continued to practise physic and surgery with great reputation. In discharging the duties of his profession, he bestowed that attention, and exercised that tenderness and humanity, which never fail to solace the feelings of the afflicted.

When the war became serious between Great-Britain and the United States, Dr. Cochran was too zealous a whig, and too much attached to the interests of his nätive country, to remain an idle spectator. Towards the

last of the year 1776, he offered his service as a volunteer in the hospital department. General Washington was too good a judge not to discover the value of a physician who joined great experience to diligence, fidelity, and a sound judgment, and accordingly, in the winter of 1777, he recommended him to congress in the following words: "I would take the liberty of mentioning a gentleman who I think highly deserving of notice, not only on account of his abilities, but for the very great assistance which he has afforded in the course of this winter, merely in the nature of a volunteer. This gentleman is Dr. John Cochran, well known to all the faculty. The place for which he is well fitted, and which would be most agreeable to him, is surgeon general of the middle department; in this line he served all the last war in the British service, and has distinguished himself this winter, particularly in his attention to the small pox patients and the wounded." He was accordingly appointed on the 10th of April, 1777, physician and surgeon general in the middle department. In the month of October, 1781, congress was pleased to give him the appointment of director general of the hospitals of the United States, an appointment that was the more honourable, because it was not solicited by him. It is hardly necessary to observe, that the doctor was much indebted to his observation and experience while he was in the British service, for the great improvements he made in the hospital department, from the time it was put under his care. Nor is it necessary to observe, that while other gentlemen, high in the medical staff, were disgusting the public with mutual charges and criminations, Dr. Cochran always preserved the character of an able physician and an honest

man.