Oration Delivered February 4, 1774, before the American Philosophical Society, Held at Philadelphia. Containing, An Enquiry into the Natural History of Medicine among the Indians in North-America, and A Comparative View of Their Diseases and Remedies, with those of Civilized Nations.

RUSH, Benjamin. Oration Delivered February 4, 1774, before the American Philosophical Society, Held at Philadelphia. Containing, An Enquiry into the Natural History of Medicine among the Indians in North-America, and A Comparative View of Their Diseases and Remedies, with those of Civilized Nations. Together with an Appendix, Containing, Proofs and Illustrations. Phila.: Printed by Joseph Crukshank, [1774]. 1st ed. 118pp.

Rare, only one copy has been offered at auction in the last 40 years. A discussion of Native American medicine by Dr. Benjamin Rush, Founding Father and Signer of the Declaration of Independence. "The first treatise on North American Indian medicine published in North America. Rush was particularly interested in American Indian medical practices, about which he learned from travelers and from the occasional Native American visitors to Philadelphia. He described some of these practices in his oration to the American Philosophical Society, approving those, such as bloodletting, that coincided with his own medical theories, and dismissing as useless those that did not. he believed 'fevers' to be the only disease from which Indians suffered"--Norman.

RareBookHub lists only 8 copies at auction.