Notes from medical lectures by Dr. William Shippen, Jr.

This volume of lecture notes was taken by an unidentified student who attended a series of lectures on anatomy, blood, and midwifery, given by Dr. William Shippen, Jr. in Philadelphia, possibly in 1762. It also includes a list of medical books.

The first section of the volume covers Shippen's lectures on human anatomy. Shippen spent much of the lecture discussing the religious and philosophical aspects of anatomy, pointing out "wisdom of the great creator in the mechanism of the human frame." He also discussed the history of the science of anatomy, documenting the transfer of knowledge from the ancient Greeks and Romans, to the Arabs, then to Medieval Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. Shippen then went on to explain the basic functions of the human body as he understood it, describing the body as a perfect, circular system.

The second section of the volume contains notes on Shippen's lectures on the nature of blood. During these lectures he described the function and structure of blood and discussed "red globules" seen through microscopes that carry "vital spirits" throughout the body. He also describes the structure, function, and path of arteries and veins in the human body. This section also covers Shippen's lectures on bloodletting. He believed that bloodletting in the diseased allowed the blood to travel throughout the body with greater celerity and that bleeding at specific points on the body could be used to treat specific diseases. The "Lymphalick" or Lymphatic system and the "five secretions" were discussed in the final lectures on blood.

The last section of the volume covers Shippen's lectures on midwifery and child birth. He discussed the ways in which mother and child are anatomically linked, physical process of childbirth, proper technique for assisting childbirth, as well as the qualities necessary in a midwife. He believed that a midwife needed sympathy, patience, as well as "the utmost delicacy in words and behavior." Shippen also brought up the issue of women being reluctant to admit a man into the room during childbirth and to allow a male to serve as the midwife. He noted that in his own experience, the pain of childbirth and fear of death usually overcame fear of immodesty or shame.

The final two pages of the volume consist of a list of medical books titled "Catalogue of Books." Each book title, such as "Hamilton's Midwifery" and "Cheyne on the Body and Mind," is accompanied by a price. The collection as a whole provides a detailed look at eighteenth-century understanding of human anatomy and medical practice.

This volume has a paper cover with a leather spine and missing its back cover. Six separate lecture notes were bound together into a single volume. The notes are written in ink and some pages are discolored and stained.