Harrison Allen

Harrison Allen (April 17, 1841 – November 14, 1897) was an American surgeon, anatomist, zoologist, and educator. He served as a surgeon in the United States Army during the American Civil War and at several Philadelphia hospitals including Wills Eye Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and Philadelphia General Hospital.

He held multiple academic positions at the University of Pennsylvania including professor of comparative anatomy and zoology; chair of the institute of medicine; emeritus professor of the institute of medicine; and chair of comparative anatomy and zoology. He was professor of anatomy and surgery at Philadelphia Dental College. He published almost 30 papers related to bats and many other papers on human anatomy and craniology. He served as president of the American Laryngological Association in 1886; the American Society of Naturalists from 1887 to 1888; and the Association of American Anatomists from 1891 to 1893

Early life and education Allen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 17, 1841 to Elizabeth Justice Thomas and Samuel Allen. He was educated at local grammar schools and Central High School in Philadelphia. He studied dentistry and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1861. After graduation he worked as a resident physician at Blockley Hospital in Philadelphia. He resigned from the United States Army on December 8, 1865, at the rank of brevet major.

Career He began the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, and due to his dentistry background, he focused on surgery of the air passages. He was greatly influenced by his instructor Joseph Leidy and joined other scientists at the Philadelphia School of Anatomy and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. from 1866 to 1878.

Allen served as president of the American Laryngological Association in 1886 He was a founding member of the American Anthropometric Society. and died on November 14, 1897. After his death, his brain was donated to the American Anthropometric Society. In 1907, Edward Anthony Spitzka published a paper of his analysis of six brains at the American Anthropometric Society, including Allen's.

His personal collection of bats and other specimens was donated to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

Personal life In December 29, 1869, he married Julia A. Colton and together they had two children.

Publications Outlines of Comparative Anatomy and Medical Zoology, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1869 Studies in the Facial Region, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1875 An Analysis of the Life Form in Art, Philadelphia: McCalla & Stavely, Printers, 1875 A System of Human Anatomy Including Its Medical and Surgical Relations, Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea's Son & Co., 1884 On A New Method of Recording The Motions of the Soft Palate, Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co., 1884 A Clinical Study of the Skull, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1890 Description of Two New Species of Bats Nyctinomous Europs and N. Orthotis, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1890 On a New Subfamily of Phyllostome Bats, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1892 A Monograph of the Bats of North America, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1893 Two Scientific Worthies, Popular Science Monthly, Volume 50, November 1896