The first American laboratory of experimental medicine was… an attic.

>[…] in the 1870s, after he [**S. Weir Mitchell**] had already developed an international reputation, after he had begun experiments with snake venom that would lead directly to a basic understanding of the immune system and the development of antitoxins, he was denied positions teaching physiology at both the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College; neither had any interest in research, nor a laboratory for either teaching or researching purposes. In 1871 Harvard did create the first laboratory of experimental medicine at any American university, but that laboratory was relegated to an attic and paid for by the professor’s father. >Also in 1871 Harvard’s professor of pathologic anatomy confessed he did not know how to use a microscope. _________________________ **Source:** Barry, John M. “The Warriors.” *The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History*. Penguin Books, 2009. 32. Print. _________________________ **Further Reading:** Silas Weir Mitchell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silas_Weir_Mitchell_(physician) _________________________ **If you enjoy this type of content, please consider donating to my [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/HistoryLockeBox)!**