John Redman Coxe (September 16, 1773 – March 22, 1864) was a physician and professor of medicine at 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 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784. He was educated under the care of his European-educated grandfather, Dr. John Redman, 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

." Coxe, John Redman, ''American Medical Biographies'' (1920), p. 254-55. University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, "A Biographical Sketch of John Redman Coxe, M.D., and John Redman, M.D.", ''University of Pennsylvania Medical Bulletin, Volume 20'' (1908), p. 294-299. Redman seems to have liked English methods best, for he sent his grandson to English schools and on to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

when Coxe was sixteen to begin classical studies under a chosen teacher. There the surgeon with whom he boarded induced him to attend the hospital lectures. In his autobiography Coxe wrote: "After fifteen months in Edinburgh I returned to London in 1789 and attended two courses of anatomy and chemistry at the London Hospital and in 1790 left England to more directly study medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush, and stayed with him until I obtained my degree in the University of Pennsylvania of doctor of medicine in 1794". During the

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

in 1793 in Philadelphia so great was the number of patients that he fought the plague side by side with Dr. Rush and seldom saw fewer than thirty to fifty a day. For "his skill, fortitude, patience and perseverance, and humanity" during that hard time, Dr. Rush gave him a "Commentary on Boerhaave". In 1794 he returned to Europe, spending two years studying in the hospitals of London, Edinburgh and Paris. He then returned to Philadelphia in 1796 or 1797, to enter into practice.

Career

In 1798, Coxe filled the position of Port Physician. He was a physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and for five years Physician of the Philadelphia Dispensary. Coxe was an early enthusiastic advocate of

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

, and was reportedly "the first to use it in Philadelphia". In 1801 he vaccinated himself and his baby son Edward Jenner Coxe, "thus doing much to establish confidence in the new preventive". In 1802, he published his ''Practical Observations on Vaccination or Inoculation for the Cow-Pock''. The child was named after Edward Jenner, the inventor of

, and was vaccinated at twenty-three days old. Coxe has so much faith in vaccination that he placed his son in the arms of a man dying of smallpox. The disease did not prove contagious. He was professor of chemistry at the

from 1809 to 1818, and professor of materia medica and pharmacy from 1818 to 1835. The success of the ''New York Medical Repository'', then seven years old (1804), made Coxe think of publishing a quarterly, ''The Medical Museum'', with a section called "The Medical and Philosophical Register". ''The Medical Museum'' debuted well, with papers contributed by well-regarded doctors, and existed until 1811, "paving the way for similar journals, while being itself the first uniformly issued periodical in Philadelphia". During this time, Coxe was also an editor of ''The American Dispensary'', and a medical dictionary. One source described Coxe as being "under the influence of earlier systems and became the most notable illustrator of the conservative teaching of an older time, though this in no way affected the good he did as the inaugurator of medical journalism". Another declared him "one of the first great medical writers in this country". He invented "Coxe's Hive Syrup," Syrupus Scillae Compositus U.S.P., which "had a great vogue for half a century", and lectured to druggists and apothecaries until a sufficient number had been educated to form the

Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 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. Since 1 ...

. In 1829 he succeeded in cultivating the true

jalap Jalap is a cathartic drug, largely obsolete in Western medicine, consisting of the tuberous roots of ''Ipomoea purga'', a convolvulaceous plant growing on the eastern declivities of the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico at an elevation of above se ...

plant, so that its real character and position might be determined. Jalap, a

cathartic In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that ''accelerates'' defecation. This is similar to a laxative, which is a substance that ''eases'' defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathart ...

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

derived from the tuberous roots of ''

Ipomoea purga ''Ipomoea purga'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Ipomoea''. It is commonly referred to as jalap and is probably also the source of the John the Conqueror root. Description ''Ipomoea purga'' is described as a vine that can reach h ...

'', had been known in Europe since the beginning of the 17th century, but its botanical source was not accurately determined until Coxe published his description. Despite his lengthy tenure as a professor, the University of Pennsylvania medical faculty "found the subject of materia medica and pharmacy to be of secondary interest" and "had little respect for Coxe's abilities as a teacher", leading to the termination of his teaching position in 1835. Coxe was also among the first American scientists attracted to the study of electrical phenomena, and it has been claimed that " s familiarity with the science of electricity led him to anticipate the alleged discoveries of

Morse Morse may refer to: People * Morse (surname) * Morse Goodman (1917-1993), Anglican Bishop of Calgary, Canada * Morse Robb (1902–1992), Canadian inventor and entrepreneur Geography Antarctica * Cape Morse, Wilkes Land * Mount Morse, Churchi ...

many years afterward". In a letter written to an English friend, published in Thomas Thompson's ''Annate of Philosophy'', Coxe wrote:

Publications

His writings included: * "Inaugural Essay on Inflammation" (1794). * "An inquiry into the comparative effects of the Opium officianarum extracted from the Papaver somniferum, a White Poppy of Linnarus, and of that procured from the Lactuca Sativa, a common Cultivated lettuce of America", read before the American Philosophical Society (November 24, 1797). * "Pamphlet giving a short view of the importance and respectability of the science of Medicine. Observations on Combustion and Acidification, with a Theory of These Processes founded on the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Doctrines" (1801). * ''Practical Observations on Vaccination'', Philadelphia (1802). * ''Medical Museum'' (eight volumes; 1804-1812). * ''American Dispensatory'' (1806, '10, '14, '18, '30, '31). * ''Philadelphia Medical Dictionary'' (1808-1817). * ''Emporium of Arts and Sciences'' (five volumes; 1812). * "Refutation of Harvey's claims to the discovery of the circulation of the blood" (1827). * "Origin of the Circulation of the Blood", Philadelphia (1834). * "An appeal to the Medical Public from the Proceedings of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania vacating the Chair of Materia Medica and Pharmacy", (1835). * "Cato", ''Bost. Med. & Surg. Jour.'' (1849), vol. xli, p. 156–159.

Personal life

He married Sarah Cox, daughter of Colonel John Cox, and they had six children. His son Edward Jenner Coxe, born December 8, 1801, at Philadelphia, also went on to become a medical doctor, receiving his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1823. Edward married Mary Louisa, daughter of Louis Clapier, of Marseilles, France, and died in New Orleans, September 21, 1862. Coxe had one of the largest private libraries in the country—about 15,000 volumes. In addition to his medical writings, he also wrote extensively on theological questions, and he reportedly spoke and read nine languages, including

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He was 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 ...

held at

(elected in 1799), the Batavian Society of Sciences at Harlem, the Royal Medical Society of London, the Royal Society of Sciences of Copenhagen. He took great interest in both St. Andrew's and St. Luke's Episcopal Churches, having been one of the early founders and vestrymen in each: in St. Andrew's, when living at the corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets; in St. Luke's, when residing in the house he built, surrounded by a large garden, at Broad and Pine Streets. It was in this house that Dr. Coxe died at the age of 90, "never having been sick in his life; never having had a headache; never going to the dentist". He was buried in Woodlands Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxe, John Redman 1773 births 1864 deaths University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Edinburgh Medical School alumni Physicians from Philadelphia