Chapter 5 Section 5

John West's clinic lasted just over a year. In 1824, he was hired to teach chemistry at Harvard Medical School.Promoted to associate professor two years later.After another year, he was promoted to professor.It should be said that Professor West's knowledge has been quite successful. "West Chemistry" written by him was the designated textbook for chemistry courses at Harvard University, West Point Military Academy and other colleges and universities at that time.He is also an editorial board member of academic journals such as "Boston Philosophy and Art", and an English translator of the famous von Liebig's "Organic Chemistry" in the 19th century.

Colleagues of Professor West described him as "witty and cheerful, fun-loving, knowledgeable, witty and clever", "the soul and life of all parties in Cambridge", and "there is no enemy in this world".Professor West is also good at flute, and he is also an enthusiastic audience of almost every concert in the area.The police later confiscated a large stack of well-preserved program lists of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra's performances over the years in his laboratory. The Wests had five children, and their only son died at a young age.The daughters ranged in age from 16 to 24 at the time of the incident.The eldest daughter, Sarah, was married, and by coincidence, she also married the then American consul in the Azores. The next three sisters were still in their boudoirs.In fact, this old Chinese saying is not accurate enough here, because girls in the West do not stay at home when they reach the age of marriage, but go out frequently to participate in some social activities, such as dances, banquets, parties and so on.Naturally, the girls' attire should not be sloppy, which made it even more difficult for people like West.

The most curious thing about Dr. George Peckman's family is that the first ancestor in the family to settle in Boston was also named George Peckman, and then disappeared inexplicably. The Pikeman family has been in business for generations and also read books.By the generation of doctor's father Samuel Pikeman, the family's real estate business had already done a lot.When George Peckman was born, looking out of the window of his fourth-story building, almost all he could see was their house.By the time the Doctor disappeared, fourteen of Samuel Pikeman's descendants had graduated from Harvard.

George Peckman received a bachelor's degree from Harvard Medical School at the age of 20, and then went to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland to study for a doctorate, and then entered the Sape Chail Hospital in Paris, where he studied under the famous neurologists Philippe Pinell and Etienne Under the door of Isquilo. After returning to Boston, the doctor was ambitious and committed to creating the first mental hospital in the United States.For this reason, he sent many letters, trying to figure out how many doctors with relevant degrees there were in the United States at that time.As a result of the investigation, there were a total of 592 people.Until 1966, someone wrote an article in the American Journal of Neurology, calling Dr. George Peckman "one of the pioneers of American psychiatry."

For a variety of reasons, Dr. Peckman's ideals failed to materialize.A few years later, when the board of directors of Massachusetts General Hospital planned to establish a psychiatric clinic, McLean Hospital, the doctor immediately entered the competition for the post of director.With his application, Dr. Peckman attached two weighty papers (which were not required in the recruitment letter) "Management of Mental Hospitals" and "On Insanity."The former expounded in detail his vision of the future hospital from department arrangement, equipment setting, to rules and regulations, etc.; the latter focused on discussing the neurological pathology of suicides and the impact of marriage on the mental state of the parties involved.Some of these wonderful passages are still cited by researchers today.

Despite Dr. Pikeman's "unique trick", the board of directors hired another "more powerful" candidate, Dr. Rufus Wiman, after careful review and comparison.George Peckman continued his research at Harvard Medical School and continued to be an editor for the Journal of Medicine Acta and the Boston Journal of Surgery and Surgery.Until the death of his father, the great pressure of managing the family property forced him to abandon medicine and go into business.It is also said that he took the opportunity to withdraw and retire because of repeated setbacks in his career.

Like almost all businessmen, Dr. Peckman's actions have been praised and praised in the world, and mixed.Here are some examples. Among George Peckman's inheritances was a marshy area by the Jolls River, just west of Bacon's Hill, where he lived.It coincides with the municipal government's decision to build a new prison to cope with the increasing number of prisoners.By convention, urban planning engineers chose the address of the prison in the southern suburbs of Boston, far away from the downtown area.However, a few days before mayor Josiah Kunsai left office, Pikeman's riverside swamp in the west of Boston won the bid for the project, which gave the new mayor John Biqilu a little embarrassment, because Not only is this land close to the city, it is expensive, and it is submerged underwater for several months of the year.However, according to reliable sources, Dr. Pikeman exchanged only one-third of the salt-alkali swamp under his name, that is, more than 40,000 U.S. dollars. scandalous deal".After many efforts, the city government finally built Boston's famous Joss Street Prison on the remodeled river beach, but that was after Dr. Pikeman's disappearance.

There is such a record in the school journal of Harvard University: On February 22, 1846, "Due to the generous donation of Dr. George Pikeman, the school accepted a 100-foot by 80-foot shallow land in front of the Massachusetts General Hospital, which was planned to be in the The new building of the Faculty of Medicine will be built.” The new building was completed in November of this year.It was later in this building that what was believed to be "the remains of Dr. George Peckman" were discovered.In recognition of Dr.'s contribution, the school established the annual "Pikeman Honorary Professor of Anatomy" title at Harvard Medical School.In 1849, when the case took place, the title was awarded to Professor Oliver Holmes, then Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

In the memory of colleagues and family members, Dr. George Peckman's style is rigorous, especially punctual, almost rigid.He gets up at a certain time every day, eats at a certain time, commutes at a certain time, goes to bed at a certain time, and even the time and number of pages he must read every day is also certain.In addition, he goes to the Bacon Club at the same time on the same day of the week, and the barber at the same time on the same day of the month, and so on.So Mrs Peckman almost always knew where to find her husband.And when the Doctor didn't come home when he was supposed to be, Mrs Peckman felt exactly that something was wrong with her husband.Another habit of Dr. Peckman is that he seldom rides in a car, but always walks wherever he goes, even though he has at home more than one of the most luxurious carriages in Boston at that time.