THE EARLY TEACHING OF ECONOMICS IN THE UNITED STATES 293 
The natural sciences to which he especially devoted himself 
were medicine, geology, chemistry and ichthyology. He founded 
a medical Journal, was corresponding member of all the important 
learned societies at home and abroad; and was one of the first 
trustees of the Congressional Library. He took a deep interest in 
the welfare of New York City and in 1807 wrote an account of 
the city, which devoted much attention to social and economic 
statistics. This was The Picture of New York or the Travellers’ 
Guide through the Commercial Metropolis of the United States. 
By a Gentleman, residing in New York. 
One of his principal avocations was agriculture. He was elected 
an honorary member of almost all the agricultural societies 
here and abroad, beginning with the Agricultural Society of the 
Bahama Islands, in 1801, and the Culpepper Agricultural Society 
of Virginia in 1802. He was for some time President of the 
Agricultural Society of Young Men in Lancaster County. He 
was an honorary member of the Philadelphia Society for pro- 
moting Agriculture and became in 1820 vice-president of the 
New York County Agricultural Society. Being also much 
interested in industry he was elected in 1815 an honorary member 
of the Berkshire Society for promoting Agriculture and Manu- 
factures. He was a member of virtually all the learned Euro- 
pean societies of the day. 
The professorship to which he was called at Columbia, in 
1792, was entitled Professor of Chemistry, Natural History, 
Agriculture and Economics. His opening lectures attracted such 
attention that by direction of the Trustees he published in 1794 
“An Outline of the Doctrines in Natural History, Chymistry, and 
Economics which under the patronage of the State, are now 
delivering in the College of New York.” 
A scrutiny of this outline shows that, in 1792 at least, Pro- 
fessor Mitchill understood by Economies what would nowadays 
be described as economic botany in its application to agriculture. 
That, is to say, the lectures dealt with the economy of cultivated 
plants or, at most, with what we would nowadays call agronomy. 
[t is with reference to this discipline that we are told of the 
* Cf. Some of the Memorable Events and Occurrences in the Lafe of 
Samuel L. Mitchill of New York from the year 1786 to 1826. New York 
1826; P. Pascales, Eulogy on the Life and Character of Samuel Latham 
Mitchell, New York, 1831; and John W. Francis, Reminiscences of Samuel 
Latham Mitchill, New York, 1859.