Benjamin Smith Barton

Benjamin Smith Barton (Lancaster, February 10, 1766-New York, December 19, 1815) was an American physician, botanist and zoologist.

Biography

He studied medicine in Philadelphia until 1786, when he moved to the University of Edinburgh and the University of Göttingen. He graduated in 1789, returning to the University of Philadelphia where he taught Botany and Natural History. In 1803 he published Elements of botany, or Outlines of the natural history of vegetables, the first American paperback book on botany. From 1798 to 1804, he published a work on plants with use in medical therapeutics.

He was also interested in Anatomy and Zoology, and published Memoir Concerning the Fascinating Faculty Which Has been Ascribed to the Rattle-Snake. In 1803 he published a comparative study of linguistics, Etymology of Certain English Words and one Their Affinity to Words in the Languages of Different European, Asiatic and American (Indian) Nations and a proof on the origin of Native Americans, New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America (1798). He was the editor of the newspaper 'Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal'. (1804-1809), one of the oldest scientific publications in the United States. At the same time, he continued to practice as a physician at the Pennsylvania hospital. He died of tuberculosis in New York City.

Work

• "Fragments of the natural history of Pennsylvania", 1799
• "Elements of botany, or Outlines of the natural history of vegetables", Barton. 1803
• "Memoir Concerning the Fascinating Faculty Which Has been Ascribed to the Rattle-Snake", Barton. 1803
• "Elements of botany...", 1804, 2.a ed. 1812–1814, 3.a ed. 1827
• "Collections for an essay towards a materia medica of the United States", Barton. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1804
• "Etymology of Certain English Words and one Their Affinity to Words in the Languages of Different European, Asiatic and American (Indian) Nations", Barton

Eponyms

Gender

• (Gentianaceae) Bartonia Muhl. ex Willd.