Elisha Perkins and His Metallic Tractors

Hocus! pocus! up and down! Draw the white right from the crown! Hocus! pocus! at a loss! Draw the brazen rod across! Hocus! pocus! down and up! Draw them both from foot to top! Wooden nutmegs and counterfeit money are not the only frauds that have had their origin in Connecticut. To the members of the medical profession Perkins' Metallic Tractors are of the most interest. immediately began the practice of medicine in his native town, Norwich, Connecticut. Thacher says: "He possessed brilliant talents, and was distinguished for scientific pursuits, and for undissembled piety, patriotism and benevolence.-He continued to practice extensively till near the close of life, and died in 1794, aged 90 years." He received his medical training under his father, and served for a time as his assistant. He then removed to Plainfield, Connecticut, where he built up an extensive practice. Thacher, in his eulogistic sketch of Elisha Perkins, says: "He possessed by nature uncommon endowments, both bodily and mental. In his person he was six feet high and of remarkable symmetry. His ability to perform active professional business was extraordinary; he frequently rode sixty miles a day, and generally on horseback, and this without the aid of artificial stimulants, never making use of ardent spirits." Evidently he was interested in educational affairs, for he established and contributed generously to an academy at Plainfield which is still in existence. The academy soon attracted pupils from the surrounding towns and, as sufficient boarding accommodations were wanting, he took many into his own home, "so that at times his