![J D Fisher](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/J_D_Fisher.jpg)
John Dix Fisher (March 27, 1797 – March 3, 1850) was a physician and founder of
Perkins Institution for the Blind
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.
Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Early life
He was born in
Needham, Massachusetts
Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College.
History
Early settlement
Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...
, the youngest of the six sons of Aaron and Lucy (Stedman) Fisher. The Fisher family was descended from
Anthony Fisher
Anthony Colin Fisher (born 10 March 1960) is an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and a friar of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Since 12 November 2014, he has been the ninth Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. He served as the ...
, one of the signers of the
Dedham Covenant
The Dedham Covenant was a covenant that governed the early settlement of Dedham, Massachusetts. It mandated that only those with similar, Puritan, community values could live in the town and set about a method for mediating disputes. It also requi ...
in 1636. All six sons were self-made men who became successful merchants, traders and professional men in
Dedham and Boston, Massachusetts.
Career
With the support of his older brothers, John Dix Fisher entered
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, graduating in 1820. After receiving his
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 ...
degree in 1825 from what was then called
Massachusetts Medical College of Harvard University, he immediately accompanied his brother, the artist
Alvan Fisher
Alvan Fisher (August 9, 1792February 13, 1863) was one of the United States's pioneers in landscape painting and genre works.
Early years
He was born in Needham, Massachusetts, the fourth of Aaron and Lucy (Stedman) Fisher's six sons.
He mov ...
, on a trip to Europe. In Paris, he pursued his professional studies with such eminent physicians of the period as
René Laennec
René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (; 17 February 1781 – 13 August 1826) was a French physician and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker ...
, inventor of the stethoscope;
Gabriel Andral
Gabriel Andral (6 November 1797 – 13 February 1876) was a distinguished French pathologist and a professor at the University of Paris.
In 1828 Andral was appointed professor of hygiene, and in 1839 succeeded François-Joseph-Victor Broussais (17 ...
, distinguished pathologist; and
Alfred Velpeau, renowned for his knowledge of surgical anatomy. In medical school, Dr. Fisher had studied with Dr. James Jackson, Harvard's first professor of
clinical medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...
and one of the "fathers" of
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
. Dr. Jackson had touched on the difficulties of distinguishing
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
from other eruptive diseases and the need for a series of colored pictures which would illustrate the progress of the disease. Dr. Fisher undertook such a project while in Paris and wrote ''Description of the Distinct, Confluent, and Inoculated Small Pox, Varioloid Disease, Cow Pox, and Chicken Pox'' (1829) which included thirteen colored plates. The paintings from which the plates were made were executed under Dr. Fisher's direction by a French artist working at the bedside of the patients during 1825 and 1826 when smallpox was an epidemic in Paris.
Dr. Fisher also observed the methods of instructing the blind that were being practiced in Paris. He visited the world's first school for blind children, L'Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles, founded by
Valentin Haüy
Valentin Haüy (pronounced ; 13 November 1745 – 19 March 1822) was the founder, in 1785, of the first school for the blind, the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris (now Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, or the ''National Institute for th ...
in 1784. He was impressed with the manner in which students were taught to read from
raised-type books, to write, and to learn mathematics, geography, languages, music and manual arts. Inspired, he returned to Boston and spent the next three years persuading family and friends who had both the means and the conscience to help fund an American version of the Paris school. The Massachusetts legislature eventually signed an act incorporating the New England Asylum for the Blind on March 2, 1829, and soon after provided $6,000 of funding. The trustees searched for two years for a superintendent for the new school until, in 1831, Dr. Fisher recruited his friend, Dr.
Samuel Gridley Howe
Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824 he had gone to Greece to ...
. The two men had studied together at Brown University and at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Howe opened the school in the summer of 1832 using an approach that gave students both the ability to think and the skills to support themselves with the goal of turning out independent, productive, well-educated members of society. Dr. Fisher continued as the school's doctor and vice president. The school's name was eventually changed to
Perkins School for the Blind
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.
Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...
and is now located in
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Watertown ...
.
Dr. Fisher was a pioneer for medical reform in Boston. He is credited with introducing the
stethoscope
The stethoscope is a medical device for auscultation, or listening to internal sounds of an animal or human body. It typically has a small disc-shaped resonator that is placed against the skin, and one or two tubes connected to two earpieces. ...
into the United States and was an early advocate for the practice of mediate
auscultation
Auscultation (based on the Latin verb ''auscultare'' "to listen") is listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. Auscultation is performed for the purposes of examining the circulatory and respiratory systems (hea ...
—listening to the body through a stethoscope—using the techniques that he had learned during his studies in Paris with Laënnec. In July 1832, while using auscultation to examine a child affected with chronic
hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain. This typically causes increased intracranial pressure, pressure inside the skull. Older people may have headaches, double vision, poor ...
, he discovered what was called "cephalic bellows-sound" or "
cerebral murmur", a phenomenon related to
cerebral circulation
Cerebral circulation is the movement of blood through a network of cerebral arteries and veins supplying the brain. The rate of cerebral blood flow in an adult human is typically 750 milliliters per minute, or about 15% of cardiac output. Arterie ...
which was thought to be a physical symptom of diseases of the brain. His findings were circulated in medical journals throughout the world. However, the phenomenon was dismissed in 1880 as being without
pathological
Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
significance. He was among those present in the
Ether Dome
The Ether Dome is a surgical operating amphitheater in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It served as the hospital's operating room from its opening in 1821 until 1867. It was the site of the first public demonstr ...
at Massachusetts General Hospital when
ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...
was first used in public for a surgical operation, described by many as the most significant event in American medical history. He was one of the first to use ether during childbirth. Although Antoine Jean Desormeaux, a French surgeon, first introduced the endoscope to a patient and is considered the ''Father of
Endoscopy
An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...
'', Dr. Fisher had several years earlier described an endoscope initially to inspect the vagina, but later modified it to examine the bladder and urethra. As one of a group of young American doctors influenced by the teachings of another French physician, Pierre Louis, Dr. Fisher was an advocate of the "numerical method" in the United States, where the emphasis on the collection of observable, detailed data and their statistical analysis became a guideline for
medical research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...
and the foundation for
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
. He was present along with
William Cogswell
William Cogswell (August 23, 1838 – May 22, 1895) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War who was appointed to the grade of brevet brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers.
Biogr ...
, Richard Fletcher, Oliver Peabody and Lemuel Shattuck at a meeting held on November 17, 1839, in which the
American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...
(ASA) was formed. These men were graduates of Brown,
Dartmouth, and Harvard and were trained in law, medicine, theology, literature and education. The constitution of the Society set out as its aims: "...to collect, preserve, and diffuse statistical information in the different departments of human knowledge." It was particularly instrumental in improving
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
and encouraging advances in
preventive medicine
Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...
. He was also a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization th ...
which, in concert with the ASA in 1842, led the effort to establish the first statewide system to collect and publish
vital statistics in the United States. In 1846, Dr. Fisher was elected
attending physician
In the United States and Canada, an attending physician (also known as a staff physician or supervising physician) is a physician (usually an M.D. or D.O.) who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic or hospital, in the speci ...
at Massachusetts General Hospital, a position he held until his death on March 3, 1850, at his home in Hayward Place, Boston. On March 17, 1850, the hospital's Board of Trustees expressed its deep regret for "...the loss of an officer who, to high scientific attainments, united amiable and unassuming manners and the greatest kindness of heart; one who has uniformly discharged in a most zealous, faithful, and acceptable manner his duties toward this institution." A white marble monument in his memory stands in
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
Trivia
According to an extract from ''Flashes of Light from the Spirit-Land'' compiled by Allen Putnam and published in 1872 by William White & Co., Boston, Mrs. J. H Conant was an American medium who, through the generosity of Luther Colby, editor of ''
The Banner of Light'', (a weekly subtitled "An Exponent of the Spiritual Philosophy of the Nineteenth Century," which had the largest circulation of any
spiritualist
Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century
The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...
paper in the world) gave, for the last 17 years of her life, free public
séance
A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...
s in Boston. Her trance messages, characterized by the impersonation of the departed, were published weekly in ''The Banner''. Mrs. Conant was known in spiritualist circles as both an inspirational speaker and a platform healer. For her medical diagnosis, the medium relied on the spirit of Dr. John Dix Fisher, a famous old Boston physician.
[Day, John W., ''Biography of Mrs. J. H. Conant, the World's Medium of the Nineteenth Century'', William White and Company, Boston (1873)]
References
Further reading
* Fisher, Philip A.: ''Fisher Genealogy'' (1878) pp. 275–277
* French, Kimberly: ''Perkins School for the Blind'' (2004) pp. 9–11
* French, Kimberly: "The Man Who Would Change Everything", ''Brown Alumni Magazine'', May–June 2007
* Gitter, Elizabeth: ''The Imprisoned Guest:Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl'' (2004) pp. 23–26
* Kelly, Howard A., M.D.:''A Cyclopedia of American Medical Biography from 1610 to 1910'', vol. 1 (1912) pp. 305–306
* ''The North American Medical and Surgical Journal'', by Kappa Lambda Association of the United States (1829) pp. 175–177, Article XV
External links
Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1571Perkins School for the Blind HistoryPerkins School for the Blind HistoryAmerican Statistical Associationwww.samuelgridleyhowe.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, John Dix
1797 births
1850 deaths
Harvard Medical School alumni
Brown University alumni
19th-century American physicians
Smallpox