Alfred Stillé (October 30, 1813 – September 24, 1900) was an American physician.

Biography

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Stillé studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, but was expelled for participating in the

Conic Sections Rebellion The Conic Sections Rebellion, also known as the Conic Section Rebellion, refers primarily to an incident which occurred at Yale University in 1830, as a result of changes in the methods of mathematics education. When a policy change dictated tha ...

. He then transferred to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in the same year, where he received an A.B. degree in 1832. He went on to earn an A.M. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1835 and in 1836 an

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

from the school's department of medicine. Stillé began to practice in his native city, but spent parts of 1841 and 1851 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 1854 to 1859 he was professor of medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College and from 1864 to 1884 at the

, later becoming its Chair. Stillé was one of the first physicians in America to distinguish between

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

and

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

. His observations in this connection he made during a typhus epidemic in Philadelphia in 1836 and reported in 1838. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1852. He acquired a great reputation as a practitioner, teacher, and writer, and was the first secretary, and in 1871–72 the president, of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

. However, as evidenced by his later writings, he was also known for refusing to accept the

germ theory The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...

laboratory medicine A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical Medical labor ...

Works

Among his numerous works are: * ''Medical Education in the United States'' (1846) * ''Elements of General Pathology'' (1848) * ''Therapeutics and Materia Medica'' (1860; fourth edition, 1874) * ''Epidemic Meningitis'' (1867) * ''Cholera'' (1867) He edited with A. Maisch the ''National Dispensary'' (1879).

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stille, Alfred University of Pennsylvania faculty American medical writers American male non-fiction writers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Physicians from Philadelphia 1813 births 1900 deaths University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Presidents of the American Medical Association