president of the New York academy of medicine,
and at the time of his death was president of the
New York inebriate asylum. Shortly after Dr.
Mott's death his museum of anatomical specimens
was destroyed in the fire which consumed the
Medical college on 14th street, and many of his
most valuable surgical plates and preparations were
<3onsumed. His widow succeeded in gathering
some mementoes of his laborious life, and placed
them in a building at 64 Madison avenue, now
known as the Mott memorial, which was incoi--
porated in 1866. and is now under the special care
of his son. Prof. Alexander B. Mott. It contains
3, library of nearly 4,000 volumes, exclusively on
medical and surgical topics, and is free to all
medical students and physicians on application.
Dr. Mott created a trust in his will by virtue of
which one gold, one silver, and one copper medal
are bestowed upon the three graduates of the New
York university medical college for the best dried
anatomical specimens. After returning from Eu-
rope in 1841 he published " Travels in Europe
and the East" (New York, 1842). His published
papers on surgical topics number only twenty-five,
though some of them are of great length and illus-
trated with numerous drawings. Literary compo-
sition was distasteful to him. In 1818, with Drs.
John Watts and Alexander H. Stevens, the other
professional attendants at the New York hospital,
he established the '" New York Medical and Surgi-
cal Register," which was intended to chronicle the
more important cases, on the model of the " Dub-
lin Hospital Reports," but the publication was
continued only for one year. He supervised the
translation by Dr. Peter S. Townsend of Alfred L.
M. Velpeau's " Surgical Anatomy," adding a pref-
ace and copious notes and illustrations from his
published cases and reports, filling several hun-
dred pages. The curvilinear incision in resections
of the bones and operations on the jaws, to which
Prof. Velpeau attached much importance, was
mainly originated by Dr. Mott, though not credited
to him in the French treatise. In 1863 he pre-
pared, at the request of the U. S. sanitary commis-
sion, a paper on the iise of anaesthetics for the use
of army surgeons, and subsequently a tract on the
means of suppressing haemorrhage in gun-shot
wounds, which was intended as a guide for the use
of soldiers on the battle-field. Several of his pro-
fessional papers were published in the '• Transac-
tions " of the New York academy of medicine, and
one was presented to the Royal medical and chi-
rurgical society of London, treating of a rare con-
genital tumor of the skin called pachydermatocele,
first described by him. He published a Sketch
of the Life of Dr. Wright Post." His inaugural
address as president of the New York academy of
medicine was printed ; also an address entitled
" Reminiscences of Medical Teaching and Teachers
in New York " (New York, 1850) ; " Address before
the Trustees of the New York Inebriate Asylum at
Binghamton" ; "Anniversary Discourse before the
Graduates of the University of New York " (1860) ;
and a " Eulogy on John W. Francis, M. D." (1861).
Dr. Samuel W. Francis published "Mott's Clin-
iques," being an abstract of his later clinical lec-
tures (New York, 1860). See " Memoir of the Life
and Character of Mott, Facile Princeps," by Sam-
uel W. Francis (New York, 1865) ; " Eulogy on the
Late Valentine Mott," by Alfred C. Post (1865) ;
and " Memoir of Valentine Mott," by Samuel D.
Gross (Philadelphia, 1868). — His son, "Valentine,
physician, b. in New York city, 22 July, 1822 ; d.
in New Orleans, La., 20 Sept., 1854, was graduated
at the medical department of the University of the
city of New York in 1846 and then became his
father's assistant and prosector. His health be-
coming impaired, he went to Palermo, Sicily, where
he was the first to introduce chloroform and ether
in connection with operations in surgery, and at-
tained to great reputation. Subsequently he was
identified with the rebellion in Sicily and was made
surgeon-general of the insurgent forces. Dr. Mott
was also active in the field as colonel of cavalry,
and at one time, at the head of 900 men, cut his
way through a superior force of the regular troops,
reaching Palermo after losing one third of his soldiers. He opposed the surrender of that city, and when its capitulation was decided upon he escaped by means of an English vessel. On his return to
the United States he was elected professor of surgery in the Medical college of Baltimore, and was the first to establish a public clinic in that city. His health again compelled him to travel, and he sought relief in California. There the news of the
new insurrections in Italy reached him, and he at once started for the field of action, but was stricken with yellow fever while passing through New Orleans and there died. — Another son of Valentine, Alexander Brown, surgeon, b. in New York city,
31 March, 1826; d. near Yonkers, N. Y., 12 Aug., 1889, received a classical education during five years' residence abroad with his family. Visiting Europe again in 1842, he travelled for five years and underwent many adventures. Returning to New York
city, he studied medicine in his father's office and in
the University medical college, and afterward at the
Vermont academy of medicine in Castleton, whei-e
he was graduated in 1850. He began practice in
New York city, and at the same time attended lec-
tures in the New York medical college, from which
he received a diploma in 1851. In 1850 he was ap-
pointed surgeon to the New York dispensary. He
also became in 1853 visiting surgeon to St. Vin-
cent's hospital, which he had assisted in founding
in 1849, was attending surgeon in the Jewish hospi-
tal in 1855-63, and for fourteen years was surgeon
to the Charity hospital. In 1857 he obtained the de-
gree of M. D. from the medical department of the
University of Pennsylvania. In 1859 he was ap-
pointed attending surgeon at Bellevue hospital,
and subsequently consulting surgeon to the Bureau
of medical and surgical relief to the outdoor poor
in New York city. In April, 1861, he undertook
the organization of the medical corps of the mili-
tia regiments that were sent to the seat of war, sub-
sequently acted as medical director in New York,
and founded, with the co-operation of patriotic
ladies, the U. S. army general hospital in New
York, of which he was made surgeon in charge, re-
ceiving on 7 Nov., 1862, the commission of surgeon
of U. S. volunteers, with the rank of major.
Toward the close of 1864 he was made medical in-
spector of the Department of Virginia, and attached
to Gen. EdM'ard 0. C. Ord's staff. He was present
at the conference between Gens. Grant and Lee
where the terms of surrender were arranged. He
was mustered out of the service on 27 July, 1865,
with the brevet rank of colonel. Dr. Mott was one
of the founders of Bellevue medical college, and
was professor of surgical anatomy from its opening
on 31 March, 1861, till 1872, and after that date
he was professor of clinical and operative surgery.
Among the important operations performed by Dr.
Mott were the ligation of the common and internal
carotid, the subclavian, the innominata, the com-
mon, internal, and external iliac, and the femoral
arteries; resection of the femur; two amputations
at the hip-joint ; exsection of the ulna ; removal of
the entire jaw for phosphor-necrosis twice ; and nu-
Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/483
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