Dr. Ernest A. Farrington was born on January 1, 1847, in Williamsburg, Long Island, New York. He received his education in Philadelphia. He was praised as a brilliant student by his teachers and professors throughout his student life. Under the guidance of his brother H. W. Farrington, M. D., in the year 1866, he completed his degree in medicine at the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania.
He became the second matriculate of the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, in March 1868. He started his medical practice immediately after his graduation. On the 13th of September, 1871, he married Miss Elizabeth Aitkin of Philadelphia, this couple was blessed with four children.
Dr. Farrington was an eminent teacher. In 1869 he was appointed as a teacher of Forensic Medicine in the spring course of the Hahnemann Medical College. During the academic year 1869-70, he became the Professor of Forensic Medicine. Within two years, he became a professor of Pathology and Diagnosis and in 1874, he became the Professor of Materia Medica.
The law, dosage, and potency questions were subjects of much interest to him, but above all, the study of the Materia Medica was the favorite. He had a close association with Hering. In the year 1884, he developed hoarseness and aphonia which made lecturing impossible. This problem later was diagnosed as severe bronchitis and he died in Philadelphia on December 17, 1885.
Ernest Albert Farrington (1847-1885) Contributions
1. His work “Studies in Materia Medica,” is one example of his ability to present the Family and class relationship of drugs with the deepest interest. He had many books on materia medica to his credit.
2. His works in Materia Medica published in the Hahnemannian Monthly, aggregates about two hundred pages.
3. Between the years 1873 to 1875, he contributed about 150 pages of work to the American Journal of Homeopathic Materia Medica.
4. He was also a member of the State Society and of the American Institute of Homeopathy from 1872.
5. For many years, he was a member of the “Committee on Drug Provings,” and the Bureau of Materia Medica.
6. In 1884 the Institute appointed him a member of its Editorial Consulting Committee on the new “Cyclopedia of Drug Pathogenesy’’.
7. In December 1879, he was selected as the Contributing Editor of the journal the Hahnemannian Monthly, in this position he remained until the time of his death.