DAVIDGE 287 DAVIDGE theory and practice of medicine and retained this post until 1880, when he became emeritus professor. He was one of the orig'nal mem- bers of the Canadian Medical Association and in 1869 was elected its general secretary. Among the entire profession he was be- loved and respected as a man of the most sterling honor. To the young iren of the pro- fession he was ever exceedingly kind and al- though a fiery medico-politician, those he fought most bitterly loved him best. The many honor- able positions which he held show the estima- tion in which he was held by is confreres. He was life member of the Natural History Society, member, by diploma, 1833, Medical Society of Montreal; licentiate Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Scotland; extraordi- nary member Medical Society of Edinburgh; graduate University Lying-in Hospital of James VI. College, Edinburgh ; M. D. of same college; commissioned to practise as a physician, surgeon and man-midwife, signed by Earl of Gosford, Governor General of Can- ada ; corresponding member Gynecological So- ciety of Boston, Mass. ; honorary member of the American Medical Association of the Unit- ed States, 1880, and many others. Dr. David died November 5, 1882. His fu- neial took place November 8, and was one of the largest Montreal had ever seen. He wrote much for the medical journals, one of his last efforts being a paper read be- fore the Medico-Chirurgical Society, October 5, 1882, entitled "Reminiscences Connected with the Medical Profession in Montreal Dur- ing the Last Fifty Years," in which he sketched in an entertaining fashion the lives of many of the leaders of medicine in his professional exnerience. Can. Med. Eec, 1882, vol. xii, 44-46. Davidge, John Beale (1768-1829). This surgeon, founder of the University of Maryland, was born in Annapolis in 1768, his father an ex-captain in the British Army, his mother Honor Howard of Anne Arundel County. At an early age he was deprived of his father, and his mother wanted to appren- tice him to a cabinet-maker. But, resolved to have an education and obtaining aid from friends and coming into possession of some slaves through the death of a relative, he entered St. John's College and there took his A. M. in 1789, beginning to study medicine with Drs. James and William Murray, of An- napolis, and spent several years in Edinburgh, where he devoted himself especially to the study of anatomy. His voyage to Scotland was made in a sailing vessel, and among his shipmates were Drs. Hosack, Brockenbrough, and Troup ; and they, encountering very rough weather, were compelled to work hard at the pumps to keep the vessel from sinking. From motives of economy, like many students of the time, he took his degree (April 22, 1793) at Glasgow rather than Edinburgh. About this time he married Wilhelmina Stuart of the Firth of Solway, a lady several years his senior. After practising for a short time in Birmingham, England, he returned to Mary- land, and finally selected Baltimore as his permanent home. In 1797 a severe epidemic of yellow fever raged in the city and there Was a public discussion of the disease by the physi- cians in the newspapers. Davidge bore a prom- inent part, and early in the following year republished his views in a volume which was freely quoted in later works upon the subject. He was one of the first attending physicians to the Baltimore General Dispensary on its foundation in 1801. In 1802 we first note his advertisement of private courses of medical lectures, and these courses were continued an- nually until 1807, when, being joined by Drs. James Cocke and John Shaw his school was chartered as the College of Medicine of Mary- land. In 1813 a charter for a University was ob- tained, and this institution became the depart- ment of medicine, Dr. Davidge holding the chair of anatomy and surgery from 1807 to his death, and for a number of years he was also dean. In person. Prof. Davidge is represented as being short and stout, with blue eyes, florid complexion and homely, rugged features, small hands and feet and a graceful carriage. He walked with a slight limp after 1818, in con- sequence of a fracture of the thigh bone. His lectures were described by Prof. Lunsford P. Yandell as being "models of simple elegance," but "he seemed to forget the English idiom the moment he took pen in hand." His style of writing was stiff, affected and obscure, and marked by obsolete modes of spelling and ex- pression. He had very positive views on med- ical subjects and believed menstruation to be a secretion of the uterus excited by ovarian irritation. He opposed the support of the per- ineum on the ground that nature is sufficient for her own processes. He also declared him- self against the speculum vaginse because it smacked of immoral curiosity. His first wife dying. Dr. Davidge married Mrs. Rebecca Troup Polk, widow of Josiah Polk, of Harford County, Maryland, who sur- vived him with four of his children, a son by his first wife and three daughters by his second.
