Harris, Robert P. (Robert Patterson), 1822-1899

Robert Patterson Harris (1822-1899), born in Chester Valley, Pennsylvania, received his A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1841, and A.M. and M.D. in 1844; and then worked at the Demilt Dispensary in New York. Following clinical study in Paris, he established himself with his father, also an M.D., in Philadelphia where he practiced for 35 years. He was particularly interested in gynecological surgery and was considered the most prominent medical statistician in the U.S. Dr. Harris published several papers including those on cow-horn delivery living children in 1887 and in 1892. One of his final articles concerned the congenital absence of the penis with the urethra making its exit into and below the rectum which was published in 1893.