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Rush notes that his pupil is better, and that he is using profuse sweating as part of his treatment for the fever. A later note was appended to the letter stating that Mrs. Rush allowed the signature to be cut away for an autograph.

Rush comments on commerce and the work of physicians, and on Philadelphia physicians opposed to use of mercury and bloodletting.

The diary records Rush's travel, accompanied by a servant and via horses, between the outskirts of Philadelphia and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for an initial meeting with the trustees of Dickinson College. During the meeting the Trustees selected Dr. Charles Nisbet to serve as the College's first president. Rush described the taverns and other travel lodges at which he stopped, along with Tavern staff and other patrons, the quality of the food and drink, along with conversations he witnessed or took part in. Discussion often centered on the topics of the Constitution, paper money, as well as Dickinson College. Rush also described the results of a rapid Spring thaw on the Susquehanna River, the unusually cold weather, the scenery, and the presence whiskey stills in Irish settlements and their impact on their communities.