American Medical Biographies/Bell, John
Bell, John (1796–1872)
John Bell, a Philadelphia surgeon, was born in Ireland in 1796, and died on August 19, 1872. He graduated M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1817. There are not many details of his life available, but he was elected to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1827; was a member of the Philadelphia Medical Society; lecturer on the institutes of medicine, Philadelphia Medical Institute; professor of the same in the Medical College of Ohio, and physician to the City Hospital.
He did some good work as a writer and editor, his first book being "A Treatise on Baths and Mineral Waters" (1831); "A History of the Chemical Composition and Medicinal Properties of the Chief Medical Springs of the United States and Canada" (1855); "A Practical Dictionary of Materia Medica"; "Dietetical and Medical Hydrology" and, with Dr. David Francis Condie, "A Report of the College of Physicians to the Board of Health," which contained all the material facts in the history of epidemic cholera. He also edited "Stokes' Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic" and Dr. Andrew Combe's "Treatise on Children."