Silas Weir Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Silas Weir Mitchell was an American
physician
and writer
.
He was son of a physician, John Kearsley Mitchell
(1798–1858), and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania
in that city, and received the degree of M.D.
at Jefferson Medical College
in 1850. During the Civil War
he had charge of nervous injuries and maladies at Turners Lane Hospital, Philadelphia, and at the close of the war became a specialist in neurology
. In this field Weir Mitchell's name became prominently associated with his introduction of the rest cure, subsequently taken up by the medical world, for nervous diseases, particularly hysteria
; the treatment consisting primarily in isolation, confinement to bed, dieting
and massage
. His medical texts include Injuries of Nerves and Their Consequences (1872) and Fat and Blood (1877). Mitchell's disease (erythromelalgia
) is named after him.
In 1863 he wrote a clever short story, combining physiological and psychological problems, entitled "The Case of George Dedlow", in the Atlantic Monthly. Thenceforward, Mitchell, as a writer, divided his attention between professional and literary pursuits. In the former field, he produced monographs on rattlesnake
poison, on intellectual hygiene
, on injuries to the nerve
s, on neurasthenia
, on nervous diseases of women, on the effects of gunshot wounds upon the nervous system, and on the relations between nurse, physician, and patient; while in the latter, he wrote juvenile stories, several volumes of respectable verse, and prose fiction of varying merit, which, however, gave him a leading place among the American authors of the close of the 19th century. His historical novels, Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker (1897), The Adventures of François (1898) and The Red City (1909), take high rank in this branch of fiction.
He was also Charlotte Perkins Gilman
's doctor and his use of a rest cure on her provided the idea for "The Yellow Wallpaper
", a short story in which the narrator is driven insane by her rest cure.
-eakins.jpg)
He was a friend and patron of the artist Thomas Eakins
. Following Eakins's 1886 firing from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
, he may have suggested the artist's trip to the Badlands
of North Dakota
. The Philadelphia Chippendale chair seen in several Eakins paintings—such as William Rush Carving his Allegorical Figure of Schuylkill River
(1877) and the bas-relief Knitting (1883) -- was owned by Mitchell.
The artist John Singer Sargent
painted two portraits of Mitchell, one is in the collection of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the other, commissioned by the Mutual Assurance Company of Philadelphia in 1902, was recently sold (see External Links, below).
In memory of his daughter Maria, Mitchell commissioned a monument from the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens
, The Angel of Purity (a white marble version of Amor Caritas), now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art
. In addition to commissioning August Saint-Gaudens works, he was commemorated in two identical brass reliefs sculpted by Saint-Gaudens himself.
and in 1908–09 president of the American Neurological Association
. New International Encyclopedia
The American Academy of Neurology award for young researchers is named for Dr. Mitchell.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
He was son of a physician, John Kearsley Mitchell
John Kearsley Mitchell
John Kearsley Mitchell was an American physician and writer, born in Shepherdstown, Virginia . He graduated from the Medical College of the University of Pennsylvania in 1819. Before he went to Philadelphia to practice his profession, he made three voyages to the Far East as ship's surgeon...
(1798–1858), and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in that city, and received the degree of M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
at Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University is a private health sciences university in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The university consists of six constituent colleges and schools, Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Jefferson School of Health...
in 1850. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he had charge of nervous injuries and maladies at Turners Lane Hospital, Philadelphia, and at the close of the war became a specialist in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
. In this field Weir Mitchell's name became prominently associated with his introduction of the rest cure, subsequently taken up by the medical world, for nervous diseases, particularly hysteria
Hysteria
Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear that may be caused by multiple events in one's past that involved some sort of severe conflict; the fear can be centered on a body part, or,...
; the treatment consisting primarily in isolation, confinement to bed, dieting
Dieting
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...
and massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
. His medical texts include Injuries of Nerves and Their Consequences (1872) and Fat and Blood (1877). Mitchell's disease (erythromelalgia
Erythromelalgia
Erythromelalgia, also known as Mitchell's disease , acromelalgia, red neuralgia, or erythermalgia, is a rare neurovascular peripheral pain disorder in which blood vessels, usually in the lower extremities , are episodically blocked , then become hyperemic and inflamed...
) is named after him.
In 1863 he wrote a clever short story, combining physiological and psychological problems, entitled "The Case of George Dedlow", in the Atlantic Monthly. Thenceforward, Mitchell, as a writer, divided his attention between professional and literary pursuits. In the former field, he produced monographs on rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
poison, on intellectual hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
, on injuries to the nerve
Nerve
A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...
s, on neurasthenia
Neurasthenia
Neurasthenia is a psycho-pathological term first used by George Miller Beard in 1869 to denote a condition with symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, headache, neuralgia and depressed mood...
, on nervous diseases of women, on the effects of gunshot wounds upon the nervous system, and on the relations between nurse, physician, and patient; while in the latter, he wrote juvenile stories, several volumes of respectable verse, and prose fiction of varying merit, which, however, gave him a leading place among the American authors of the close of the 19th century. His historical novels, Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker (1897), The Adventures of François (1898) and The Red City (1909), take high rank in this branch of fiction.
He was also Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...
's doctor and his use of a rest cure on her provided the idea for "The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the nineteenth century toward women's physical...
", a short story in which the narrator is driven insane by her rest cure.
Art Patron
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
. Following Eakins's 1886 firing from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, he may have suggested the artist's trip to the Badlands
Badlands
A badlands is a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. It can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rock. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often...
of North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. The Philadelphia Chippendale chair seen in several Eakins paintings—such as William Rush Carving his Allegorical Figure of Schuylkill River
William Rush and His Model
William Rush and His Model is the name given to several paintings by Thomas Eakins, one set from 1876-77 and the other from 1908. These works depict the American wood sculptor William Rush in 1808, carving his statue Water Nymph and Bittern for a fountain at Philadelphia's first waterworks...
(1877) and the bas-relief Knitting (1883) -- was owned by Mitchell.
The artist John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
painted two portraits of Mitchell, one is in the collection of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the other, commissioned by the Mutual Assurance Company of Philadelphia in 1902, was recently sold (see External Links, below).
In memory of his daughter Maria, Mitchell commissioned a monument from the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
, The Angel of Purity (a white marble version of Amor Caritas), now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
. In addition to commissioning August Saint-Gaudens works, he was commemorated in two identical brass reliefs sculpted by Saint-Gaudens himself.
Honors and recognition
Dr. Mitchell's eminence in science and letters was recognized by honorary degrees conferred upon him by several universities at home and abroad and by membership, honorary or active, in many American and foreign learned societies. In 1887 he was president of the Association of American PhysiciansAssociation of American Physicians
The Association of American Physicians is a medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era, for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine." Election to the AAP is an honor extended to individuals with...
and in 1908–09 president of the American Neurological Association
American Neurological Association
The American Neurological Association, is a professional society with a mission of educating neurologists and physicians as well as increasing knowledge and enhancing treatment of diseases of the nervous system. It was founded in June 1875.-Officers:...
. New International Encyclopedia
New International Encyclopedia
The New International Encyclopedia was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the International Cyclopaedia and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926.-History:...
The American Academy of Neurology award for young researchers is named for Dr. Mitchell.
Terms
- Weir Mitchell skin — a red, glossy, perspiring skin seen in cases of incomplete irritative lesion of a nerve.
- Weir Mitchell treatment — a method of treating neurasthenia, hysteria, etc., by absolute rest in bed, frequent and abundant feeding, and the systematic use of massage and electricity.
- Mitchell's diseaseErythromelalgiaErythromelalgia, also known as Mitchell's disease , acromelalgia, red neuralgia, or erythermalgia, is a rare neurovascular peripheral pain disorder in which blood vessels, usually in the lower extremities , are episodically blocked , then become hyperemic and inflamed...
— erythromelalgia.
- Dorland's Medical Dictionary (1938)
Publications
- Mitchell, S. Weir and Edward T. Reichert. 1886. Researches upon the Venoms of Poisonous Serpents. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Number 647. The Smithsonian Institution. Washington, District of Columbia. 179 pp.
- A Catalogue of the Scientific and Literary Work of S. Weir Mitchell (Philadelphia, 1894)
- Talcott WilliamsTalcott WilliamsTalcott Williams, , was an American journalist and educator, born at Abeih, Turkey, the son of Congregational missionaries. He graduated from Amherst in 1873. Afterwards. he was employed at the New York World, and as a correspondent for the New York Sun and the San Francisco Chronicle...
, " Dr. S. Weir Mitchell'" in the Century MagazineThe Century MagazineThe Century Magazine was first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City as a successor to Scribner's Monthly Magazine...
, volume lvii, (New York, 1898) - Talcott Williams, in several articles in the Book News Monthly, volume xxvi, (Philadelphia, 1907)
- E. P. OberholtzerEllis Paxson OberholtzerEllis Paxson Oberholtzer was an American biographer and historical writer...
, "Personal Memories of Weir Mitchell," in the BookmanThe Bookman (New York)The Bookman was a literary journal established in 1895 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It drew its name from the phrase, "I am a Bookman," by James Russell Lowell; the phrase regularly appeared on the cover and title page of the bound edition. It was purchased in 1918 by the George H. Doran Company. In...
, volume xxxix (New York, 1914) - B. R. TuckerBenjamin TuckerBenjamin Ricketson Tucker was a proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century, and editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty.-Summary:Tucker says that he became an anarchist at the age of 18...
, S. Weir Mitchell (Boston, 1914) - 'Circumstance' By S. Weir Mitchell, MD. LL.D. Harvard and Edinburgh. Copyright, 1901, By The Century Co. Published, 1902, By The Century Co.
- "Rest in the Treatment of Nervous Disease" by S. Weir Mitchell
External links
- Silas Weir Mitchell. Biography at WhoNamedIt
- Works by Silas Weir Mitchell at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) (plain text and HTML) - Portrait of Silas Weir Mitchell by John Singer Sargent
- S. Weir Mitchell Award of the American Academy of Neurology