TOUATRE
454
TOUATRE
mansion now stands in ^\h;^l he knew as
a pasture or a wild wood. The city was
but a hamlet when he first knew it, and
as late as 1831, in the notice of his father's
death, the friends are informed that
"carriages will be in waiting at St.
Paul's church until half-past four o'clock"
to take them to 402 Hudson Street to
attend the funeral at 5 o'clock.
John Torrey himself died at his house in the grounds of Columbia College on March 10, 1873.
He married a daughter of William Shaw, who came from Dublin, Ireland, bj' whom he had several children. The first knowledge we have of the Torrey family is that it was known in Spain under the name of Torre. From thence there was an emigration to England. Religious troubles brought a branch to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the way to New York was found out by a de- scendant.
From the Med. Reg. of the State of N. York, 1873-4, vol. xi.
Touatre, Just Charles (1838-1901).
Just Charles Touatre, born at Puycas- quier, department of Gers, France, on September 2, 1838, received his early education and his degrees of bachelier es lettres and bachelier 6s sciences, at the Lyceima of Auch, graduating in medicine from La faculty de Paris, March, 1868. Prior to receiving his diploma, he served as auxiliary surgeon and later as surgeon- major on the fregate "Admiral Belloc" and the transport "Polikart."
Soon after graduation, he decided to seek his fortunes in America, which he had visited while serving as marine surgeon. He was attracted naturally to Louisiana by the large element of French speaking people there and though reach- ing New Orleans while that unfortunate city was still in the throes of the Recon- struction Era, following the war of Secession, he built himself a most pros- perous clientele among the Franco- Louisianan element.
A thoroughly educated man, a physi- cian of ability, he was also a splendid
diagnostician. Besides being an excel-
lent physician, he was a delightful
raconteur and a most pleasant companion
at table, or at a medical meeting. When
he came to Louisiana, he brought the
first clinical thermometer ever used in
our state. This was a French naval
centigrade thermometer and it became
of great use in 1869 when the next
j^ellow fever epidemic appeared. It was
by the use of this that his colleague and
contemporary, Dr. Charles Faget was
able to establish as proven, an observa-
tion, which he had made some years
previous on the loss of correlation of pulse
with temperature in cases of yellow fever.
Later in the severe epidemic of 1878 he rendered such signal services to his compatriots of French birth and origin, that the French Repubhc recognized these services, by decorating him as an Ofiicer de la Legion d'Honneur. He remained many years after this in Louisiana and it was the pleasure and great advantage of the writer of these notes, to consult with him in 1897 during a small epidemic of yellow fever, which broke out in New Orleans.
His literary work, which is very exten- sive, was published for many years in different journals. In 1898 Dr. Charles Chassaignac, the editor of the " New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal," compiled and translated from his articles, a most complete work or monograph on "Yellow Fever," which was published in book form and has remained to this day, a most valuable clinical report. It is specially useful in diagnosis and in treat- ment, for it proves the theory of absolute rest and horizontal position with no food on the stomach, except flushing the kidneys with water, and that, principally by Vichy water. This book he dedicated to the profession in New Orleans, and was his last serious work.
Feeling the fatigue of practice and having saved an ample competence, in 1898 he left the land of his adoption "la seconde mere," as he loved to call Louisiana, to go and finish his days in la belle France.
