American Medical Biographies/Dixon, Samuel Gibson
Dixon, Samuel Gibson (1851–1918).
Samuel Gibson Dixon, lawyer and sanitarian,
was born in Philadelphia, March 23, 1851. He
was descended from a long line of Quakers.
His father was Isaac Dixon and his mother
Ann Gibson. As a boy, he attended the
Friends' School at 15th and Race streets, and
later received instruction from private tutors
with the idea of preparing for Harvard University. Failure in health, however, necessitated a trip abroad, and upon his return home
he decided to devote himself to the, study of
law. He attended the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, and was admitted to
the bar in 1877. He practised law for six years,
but the necessary confinement and strain proved
too much for his constitution and once more
he was forced to seek rest. Realizing the necessity for a permanent change of occupation, he decided to devote himself to the scientific side of medicine. He received his medical
degree from the University of Pennsylvania in
1886, then studied in the department of bacteriology in King's College, London, in the
State College of Medicine, London, and
in Pettenkoffer's Laboratory of Hygiene,
Munich. In 1888 he was appointed professor of hygiene in his alma mater, and
soon after became dean of the auxiliary
department of medicine. His duties at
the University became irksome to him, however, and he longed for more opportunity for
original research. In 1889 he discovered the
branched form of the tubercle bacillus and
attempted experimental immunity in a guinea
pig. In order to further these researches, he
withdrew from the university and went to the
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences,
where, in 1890, he became a member of the
microscopical and biological section, and later
was elected professor of microscopic technology. In 1891 he was made curator, and in
1893, executive curator; in 1895, president of
the Academy. He retained the two latter offices until the time of his death. In 1898 Dr.
Dixon was appointed on the Board of Public
Education in Philadelphia, and took an active
part in improving the hygienic conditions in
the city schools. In June, 1905, he was appointed commissioner of health of the State of
Pennsylvania, an office he held up to the time
of his death. In 1909 the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the degree of
Doctor of Laws, and in 1916 Lafayette College
honored him with the degree of Doctor of
Science. He was vice-president of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, a director
of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy, trustee of
the University of Pennsylvania, Fellow of the
College of Physicians, in 1917 president of the
Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania,
and a member of numerous medical and scientific organizations.
Dr. Dixon made his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was married in 1881 to Miss. Fannie Gilbert, and she and a daughter, Catherine H. Dixon, survived him.
Dr. Dixon died in Philadelphia, February 26, 1918, after a prolonged illness.
He was a prolific writer on bacteriologic and hygienic subjects. He wrote: "Physiological Notes," 1886; also many articles for the medical journals and for the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences. While he was commissioner of health there were collected complete birth and death records, the morbidity statistics were compiled, rural quarantine details were properly classified, a state laboratory and a division of sanitary engineering were organized, and three large tuberculosis sanitoria opened, and a state-wide system of dispensaries for tuberculosis inauguarated.