Morton, Samuel George, , Pennsylvania 1799 1851 Male Naturalist Physician physician and naturalist, son of George and Jane (Cummings) Morton, was born in Philadelphia, Pa. , the youngest of nine children.
His mother died when he was but seventeen.
His father, who had emigrated from Ireland in his youth, died when the boy was but six months of age, and his mother then took her family to Westchester, N. Y. His early education was obtained at various boarding schools conducted by the Society of Friends.
In 1812, his mother having married Thomas Rogers, the family returned to Philadelphia, and Morton attended the Quaker school in Westtown.
During his period of study under Parrish, Morton attended lectures at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania and in 1820 was awarded the degree of M. D.
It was at this time that he became a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, an institution which he served for the period of his life, holding the office of president at the time of his death.
His education was broadened by study in Europe where he attended the medical college of Edinburgh University (M. D. , 1823).
In 1817 he began his medical education in the office of Dr. Joseph Parrish, and among his associates in this period was the brilliant naturalist, Richard Harlan [q. v. ], who exerted a marked influence upon him in turning his thoughts toward science.
James St. Clair Morton [q. v. ] was their son.
Morton's first paper, "An Analysis of Tabular Spar from Bucks County, Pennsylvania" (Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol.
In 1834 he published a "Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group of the United States, " in which were described the fossils brought back by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
This work gave its author a deserved scientific reputation, and according to Marcou, it is the starting point of all paleontological and systematic work on American fossils.
In 1830 he published a "Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Ferruginous Sand Formation of the United States" in the American Journal of Science and Arts (vols.
XVII and XVIII, 1830).
This contribution dealt with many interesting fossil forms including plesiosaurus, crocodiles, horses, elephants, and mastodons found near the Raritan River in New Jersey.
His zo"logical papers included his description of a new species of hippopotamus, determined from a skull received from Dr. Goheen of Liberia.
In the field of medicine he published an essay, "Observations on Cornine, " in 1825 (Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences, vol.
XI, 1825).
In 1834 appeared his "Illustrations of Pulmonary Consumption" in which he followed Parrish in recommending the open-air treatment of the disease.
In 1836 he published in two volumes Principles of Pathology and Practice of Physics, an American edition of the work of John Mackintosh.
He at first lectured under Parrish and then in 1839 he was elected to the professorship of anatomy in Pennsylvania College, holding this position until his resignation in 1843.
In 1849 he published a substantial work, Human Anatomy, considered a volume of permanent value and one upon which much of his lasting reputation rests.
This material is estimated to have cost Morton somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand dollars to assemble, in spite of the fact that most of the specimens were contributed by about one hundred of his friends.
Louis Agassiz declared that this collection alone was worth a journey to America.
In 1847 he published an essay on hybridity in the American Journal of Science and Arts (January, March 1847).
Agassiz accepted in the main Morton's views on this subject.
According to Marcou, Morton was second only to Cuvier in his influence upon Agassiz's mind and scientific opinion.
[G. B. Wood, memoir of Morton in Quart.
Summary of the Trans.
of the Coll.
of Physicians of Phila. , n. s. vol.
I, no. 9 (1853); C. D. Meigs, A Memoir of Samuel Geo.
Morton (1851); H. S. Patterson, Memoir of the Life and Scientific Labors of Samuel Geo.
Morton, M. D. (1854); Jules Marcou, Life, Letters and Works of Louis Agassiz (1895), II, 28-29; H. A. Kelly and W. L. Burrage, Am.
Biogs.
(1920); Pa.
Inquirer, May 16, 1851. ]
