Dr. William Shippen, the younger, who first filled the anatomical chair in the College of Philadelphia, (afterwards, the University of Pennsylvania,) and which he continued to occupy for almost forty-three years with great respectability, may be justly considered as the founder of the medical department of that institution. The establishment of a medical school in his native city, had long been contemplated by this distinguished lecturer, as a most desirable object: but, in the execution of such a plan, serious difficulties were to be encountered at the commencement. In the language of-his anonymous eulogist,[261a] “the enterprize, arduous in itself, was rendered abundantly more so, in consideration of its novelty: for, as yet, the voice of a public lecturer in medicine had never been heard in the western world. In order, therefore, to test the practicability of the measure, and to pave the way for a more regular and extensive establishment, he determined to embark in the undertaking himself, by delivering, in a private capacity, a course of lectures on anatomy and surgery: this he did in the winter of 1762-3, being the first winter after his return from his studies and travels in Europe.” Dr. Shippen’s success, as a private lecturer, demonstrated the expediency of engrafting a medical school on the College; and, in consequence, he was unanimously elected the professor of anatomy and surgery, on the 17th of September, 1765. This able teacher held that chair until his death,[261b] which occurred the 11th of July, 1808, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. Footnote 261a: Said to be Dr. Caldwell, of Philadelphia. See the _Port Folio_. Footnote 261b: Casper Wister, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, was, for some years before the death of Dr. Shippen, his adjunct professor in the same chair; to which station, this eminent teacher in those branches of medicine was appointed by the trustees of the university, at the request of his late colleague. Footnote 262: