The First Published Attack on Perkinism: An Anonymous Eighteenth Century Poetical Satire

Dr. Elisha Perkins' "metallic points to relieve pain"* began their career in Connecticut in 1795. During the following decade they were the subject of intense controversy both here and abroad. In the literature that sprang up about Perkinism there were two long, satirical poems: one lauded the "points," the other derided them. The laudatory poem was published in London in 1803 by Thomas Green Fessenden and was entitled Terrible Tractoration. It was widely read and went into two English and four American editions; it is still well remembered. The other satirical poem, opposing Perkinism, was published anonymously in 1796 in the Connecticut Courant, then a weekly gazette printed at Hartford. Although better written than Fessenden's poem it found only a local audience and passing interest. It has now long been forgotten. This anonymous poem appears to have been the first attack upon Perkinism, and for this reason deserves reprinting. An additional reason for preserving it is that its interest is broader than the subiect it satirizes. Fessenden was not a physician, but the author of this poem unquestionably was; and incidental to his major theme he has given an excellent description of the medical education and practice of the best type of apprentice-trained American physicians of the eighteenth century. The facts of Perkinismt essential to the understanding of this satire, and of Fessenden's as well, are these: Elisha Perkins was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1741, was educated by his father, Dr.