A Treatise on Human Physiology, (1861, second edition), by John Dalton, M.D., marked “U.S.A. HOSP DEPT” at base of spine.

A copy of this text book is listed in the 1864 Surgeon General’s Office Library Catalogues or the list of medical textbooks which were published during the Civil War by the Army Medical Department.

Professor of physiology and microscopic anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

Additional information on John Dalton

DALTON, JR, J C, MD; Professor of Physiology in the College of Physicians, New York; A TREATISE ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY designed for the use of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. Second edition revised and enlarged with two hundred and seventy one illustrations on wood in one very beautiful octavo volume of 700 pages. Published by Blanchard and Lea., Philadelphia, 1861. Leather hard back book measuring 9.5 x 6.5 inches. Heavily illustrated with two hundred seventy one fine medical engravings on wood.

John Dalton’s 1861 printing of his Treatise on Physiology was one of the text-books issued to the United States Army medical and hospital personnel during the Civil War. According to the National Library of Medicine there were 1,412 copies of Dalton’s Physiology purchased by the Surgeon General for distribution to the Union Army during the war. This was the first major American text on physiology, which became a standard text in medical schools and went through seven editions, the last in 1882. Dalton relied heavily on animal experimentation and the conclusions presented throughout the book reflect a thorough analysis of the experimental results. The book is divided into three sections: Section I. Nutrition; Section II. Nervous System; Section III. Reproductions.