Account book of Thomas Worthington, a doctor of Harford County, Md., covering the years 1841-1849. The accounts, recorded chronologically in the ledger, pertain solely to Worthington's practice of medicine and his interaction with patients. Some of the patients' names that recur frequently are those of Herman, Cassandra, and Priscilla Stump; Isaac, Ruth, and Rachel Wilson; Ann and Nancy Lee; Gideon Smith; Joseph Wallis; and many more. Every time the doctor saw a patient a new entry was recorded, unless two or more visits occurred on the same day, in which case only one entry was filed. Each entry, in spite of being very brief and mostly consisting of Latin abbreviations, contained a wide range of information, including whether the patient was a free man or a slave; whether the patient went to see the doctor or whether he received a house call; the time of the day when the visit occurred (morning, afternoon, or evening, or, for more serious cases twice or three times a day); how much time the doctor spent with the patient (for example, in case of women who went into labour, he spent the night at the patient's house); whether he sold, prescribed, or administered medication or vaccines; a diagnosis or suspect diagnosis; the cost of the visit, including medication; and whether the patient paid the bill in full, and what method of payment was used (predominantly cash, but payments in kind were also not uncommon). At the end of each year, the ledger contains a short passage, written by a judge of the peace of Harford County in his own hand, declaring that, after he inspected the volume, he deemed the entries correctly kept and that debts and credits recorded therein were to be considered legally binding.
