Harrison Allen

The Smithsonian Institution published a Monograph on the Bats of North America in 1864, authored by a physician who divided his time between surgical practice in Philadelphia and deep scientific inquiry. Harrison Allen spent his career navigating the intersection of human anatomy, comparative zoology, and the specialized clinical care of air passages during the late nineteenth century.

Military Service and Formative Years

Born in Philadelphia on April 17, 1841, to Elizabeth Justice Thomas and Samuel Allen, he attended local schools before entering the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from the medical department in 1861, he worked as a resident physician at Blockley Hospital. During the American Civil War, he joined the United States Army in 1862. His deployment to Washington D.C. hospitals provided access to the Smithsonian Institution, where he developed professional connections with Joseph Henry and Spencer Fullerton Baird. He resigned in December 1865 with the rank of brevet major.

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Academic and Surgical Appointments

His medical practice in Philadelphia emphasized surgery of the air passages, utilizing knowledge gained from his dentistry training and the influence of instructor Joseph Leidy. He held several institutional roles, including professor of comparative anatomy and zoology at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of anatomy and surgery at Philadelphia Dental College between 1866 and 1878. Additional clinical work included periods as an assistant surgeon at Wills Eye Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital, followed by a tenure as a visiting surgeon at Philadelphia Hospital.

Scientific Research and Professional Leadership

Allen produced extensive literature ranging from human craniology to chiropterology, including nearly 30 papers on bats. He introduced the term pedomorphism to describe the retention of childish features in adults and conducted studies on Hawaiian skulls and Florida mounds to investigate correlations between race and skull morphology. His leadership extended to professional organizations; 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. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society and a founder of the American Anthropometric Society.

Final Years

In 1869, he married Julia A. Colton, with whom he had two children. Suffering from angina, he died on November 14, 1897, and was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Following his death, his brain was donated to the American Anthropometric Society for analysis, and his private collection of specimens was bequeathed to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.