# Thomas Dwight

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For the congressman from Boston from 1803 to 1805, see [Thomas Dwight (politician)](/source/Thomas_Dwight_(politician)).

**Thomas Dwight** (1843–1911) was an American physician, [anatomist](/source/Anatomist) and [teacher](/source/Teacher).

## Early life

Thomas Dwight was born on October 13, 1843, in [Boston](/source/Boston), [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts).[1] His father was also named Thomas Dwight (born September 27, 1807 – 1876 [2]), part of the [New England Dwight family](/source/New_England_Dwight_family). His mother was Mary Collins Warren (b. Jan 19, 1816-Oct 22. 1900 [3]), whose father [John Collins Warren](/source/John_Collins_Warren_(surgeon,_born_1778)) (1778 –1856), and grandfather [John Warren](/source/John_Warren_(surgeon,_born_1753)) (1753–1815) were both surgeons.[4]

Dwight joined the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) in 1856, and graduated from the [Harvard Medical School](/source/Harvard_Medical_School) in 1867. He then studied abroad.

## Career

Dwight was instructor in [comparative anatomy](/source/Comparative_anatomy) at [Harvard College](/source/Harvard_College), from 1872 to 1873. Hee also lectured at [Bowdoin College](/source/Bowdoin_College). He succeeded [Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.](/source/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes_Sr.) as Parkman [professor](/source/Professor) of [anatomy](/source/Anatomy) at Harvard Medical School in 1883.

In the Warren Museum of Anatomy at Harvard, Dwight arranged a section of [osteology](/source/Osteology), considered one of the best in existence, and he had an international reputation as an anatomist.[5]

He served as the third president of the [Association of American Anatomists](/source/American_Association_for_Anatomy) from 1894-1895.

Among his writings are: "*Frozen Sections of a Child*" (1872); "*Clinical Atlas of Variations of the Bones of the Hands and Feet*" (1907); "*Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist*" (1911),[6] a valuable work of [Christian](/source/Christianity) [apologetics](/source/Apologetics).[7]

## Personal life

Dwight died September 8, 1911, in [Nahant](/source/Nahant), [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts), at age 68.[8][9]

## Selected works

- [*The Anatomy of the Head*](https://archive.org/stream/anatomyofhead00dwig#page/n5/mode/2up). Boston: H.O. Houghton & Company, 1876.
- [*Frozen Sections of a Child*](https://archive.org/stream/frozensectionsof00dwigrich#page/n7/mode/2up). New York: William Wood & Company, 1881.
- *Commonplaces of History.* Boston: Review Pub. Co., 1900.
- [*A Clinical Atlas, Variations of the Bones of the Hands and Feet.*](https://archive.org/stream/clinicalatlasvar00dwig#page/n5/mode/2up) Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1907.
- *The Church and Science.* Boston: Review Pub. Co., 1908.
- [*Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist.*](https://archive.org/details/thoughtsofcathol00thom) London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911.
- [*Human Anatomy.*](https://archive.org/stream/humananatomyincl00dwig#page/n7/mode/2up) Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1923.

### Articles

- ["Remarks on the Brain, Illustrated by the Description of the Brain of a Distinguished Man,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25138491) *Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences*, Vol. 13, 1877–1878.
- ["The Significance of Anatomical Anomalies,"](http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021078566;seq=403;view=1up;num=385) *The American Catholic Quarterly Review*, Vol. XI, 1886.
- ["Science or Bumblepuppy,"](https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic12philuoft#page/636/mode/2up) *The American Catholic Quarterly Review*, Vol. XII, 1887.
- ["The Range of Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2451224) *The American Naturalist*, Vol. 21, No. 7, Jul., 1887.
- "Anatomy of the Contortionist," *[Scribner's](/source/Scribner's_Magazine)*, April 1889.
- "What Is Right-Handedness?," *Scribner's*, April 1891.
- ["Observations on the Psoas Parvus and Pyramidalis. A Study of Variation,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/983108) *Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society*, Vol. 31, No. 140, 1893.
- ["Sir Richard Owen,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/20020544) *Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences*, Vol. 28, 1892–1893.
- "Reminiscences of Dr. Holmes, as Professor of Anatomy," *Scribner's*, January 1895.
- ["The Significance of Anomalies,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2452536) *The American Naturalist*, Vol. 29, No. 338, 1895.
- ["The Teaching of Anatomy,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1624639) *Science*, New Series, Vol. 4, No. 83, 1896.
- "Anatomy Laws versus Body Snatching," *The Forum*, December 1896.
- ["Mutations,"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1630343) *Science*, New Series, Vol. 21, No. 536, 1905.

## References

1. [Death date Cataloge of the Officers of Harvard Class of 1827 pub 1905](https://books.google.com/books?id=byFOAAAAMAAJ&q=Thomas%20Dwight)

1. Death date Authority of James Archer O'Reilly III, author "Memorials of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati" pub 2004 Boston

1. Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight (1874). [*The History of the Descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ghcfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA893). Vol. 2. J.F. Trow & Son, printers and bookbinders. p. 893.

1. Windle, Bertram (1912). ["Thomas Dwight."](https://archive.org/stream/twelvecatholicme00windrich#page/n259/mode/2up) In: *Twelve Catholic Men of Science.* London: Catholic Truth Society, pp. 225–247.

1. ["A Catholic Anatomist,"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/08/27/100501538.pdf) *The New York Times*, August 27, 1911.

1. ["Thomas Dwight"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120924135829/http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd02902.htm). *New Catholic Dictionary*. 1910. Archived from [the original](http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd02902.htm) on September 24, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.

1. "Thomas Dwight, M.D., LL.D". *The Anatomical Record*. **5** (11): 531–539. 1911. [doi:10.1002/ar.1090051104](https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.1090051104). [S2CID 221399971](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:221399971)

1. ["Dr. Dwight Thomas Dead,"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/09/09/104836655.pdf) *The New York Times*, September 9, 1911.

## External links

- [Works by Thomas Dwight](http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Dwight,%20Thomas,%201843-1911.%22&type=author&inst=), at [HathiTrust](/source/HathiTrust)

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