mm"^ 
 
 ■\]mm, 
 
 
 tmwiov^ 
 
 A,.0f-CA[!FO%. 
 
 '"lavaeiii^ 
 
 
 
 JVAiSGtl 
 
 OiMb'yan.iv 
 
 :r7Tjnw\/.^m
 
 y^: 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 I. ' I-' 1'. !-• ;■ ■ ,K I K 1 A . 
 
 ;U RUSH MEl.lCAI
 
 HISTORY 
 
 AMERICAN 
 
 MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 
 
 ORGANIZATION UP TO JANUARY, 1855. 
 
 BY 
 
 N. S. DAVIS, M.D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND CUNICAl MEDICINE IN RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE ; 
 
 MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; PHYSICIAN TO THE MERCY HOSPITAL, CHICAGO; 
 
 PER^LANENT MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OP THE STATE OF NEW YORK ; FELLOW OF 
 
 THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF NEW YORK ; CORRESPONDING 
 
 MEMBER OF' THE NEW YORK MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ; MEMBER OF THE 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY, ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 TO WHICH IS APPENDED 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, WITH PORTRAITS OF THE PRESIDENTS 
 OF THE ASSOCIATION, AND OP THE AUTHOR. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 S. W. BUTLER, M.D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 LIPPINCOTT, GRAM BO AND CO. 
 
 1855.
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
 
 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO AND CO., I 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern ' 
 
 District of Pennsjlvania. 
 
 Am 55 
 855d
 
 WB 
 \ 
 
 A5D 
 \%6: 
 
 EDITOR^S PREFACE. 
 
 This work had its origin in a desire to interest the mass of the 
 profession in one of the most important social organizations that 
 exist in our land. On the part of the author, it has been a 
 labor of love, having been undertaken at the earnest request of 
 the undersigned, solely with the desire of aiding the cause of 
 medical progress. 
 
 The profession owes Dr. Davis a debt of gratitude for his dis- 
 interested and arduous labors in compiling this important history, 
 and it is to be hoped that he will be amply repaid, in the con- 
 tinued prosperity and success of a movement, of which he is both 
 the originator and historiographer. 
 
 Most of the illustrations of the work were engraved expressly 
 for the undersigned, at the establishment of John M. Butler, of 
 Philadelphia. The biographical sketches, with the exception of 
 that of the late Dr. Chapman, were prepared by intimate friends 
 of the individuals of whom they are the subject. 
 
 The whole work was brought out under the editorial super- 
 vision of the undersigned, who would unite with the author in 
 expressing the hope that it may serve some useful purpose in the 
 profession, 
 
 S. W. BUTLER. 
 
 Burlington, N. J., May 1, 1855.
 
 AUTHOH^S PREFACE. 
 
 Nearly two years since, the author of the following pages 
 was solicited by the editor and publisher of the New Jersey 
 Medical Eeporter, to contribute a series of articles for his 
 periodical, on the History of the American Medical Association. 
 The request Avas acceded to on condition that the articles should 
 appear anonymously. The reason assigned for this condition 
 was, that I had so frequently furnished communications in rela- 
 tion to the Association and its objects, that I might be charged 
 with making it too much a " hohbyy I had then no idea that th'e 
 articles would appear in any other form than on the pages of the 
 journal for which they were written. The publisher of that 
 journal having determined, however, to republish them in book 
 form, I had no other alternative than to let the book appear as a 
 literary orphan, or place my name on the title page. I hope this 
 explanation will afford a sufficient apology for the freedom with 
 which my own name is used throughout the work. The whole 
 of it has been written in the midst of the most arduous and press- 
 ing professional duties, and without the possibility of command- 
 ing time for a careful revision. But if the work serves any 
 useful purpose in the profession, I shall be satisfied. 
 
 N. S. DAVIS. 
 
 Chicago, 111., 1855.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 1846. 
 
 Associated action, 17. Importance of the American Medical Association, 
 18. Increase, Power, and Influence of Medical Colleges, 19. Efforts to 
 remedy the evil, 20. New York State Medical Society — first movement to- 
 wards a National Convention, 20. College terms too short, 21. Resolutions 
 calling a National Convention, 23. Correspondence on the subject, 24. Dr. 
 Ticknor's proposition, 20. Dr. Davis' propositions on Medical Education, 27. 
 Prof. Martyn Paine's Valedictory Address, 29. Influence of that Address, 
 30. Meeting of Delegates for the proposed Convention, 31. Organization, 
 32. Dr. Gunning S. Bedford's effort to dissolve the Convention, 33. Its 
 effect, 34. Propositions of Committee on Medical Education, 34. Dr. Davis' 
 Resolution on the union of the teaching and licensing power, 35. Convention 
 adjourned, 36. States represented, 36. Reasons of absence, 37. Committee 
 to report a plan of organization for an Association, 38. 
 
 1847. 
 
 Meeting at Philadelphia, 40. Opinions of the Profession in reference to 
 the proposed Convention, 40. Meeting of the Delegates in Philadelphia, 40. 
 Reports received, 41. Report of Committee on " Preliminary Education," 
 42. Report of Committee on Uniform Standard of Requirements for Degree 
 of M. D., 43. Union of teaching and licensing power, 45. Organization of 
 National Association, 47. Constitution and principle of representation, 47. 
 Standing Committees, 48. Dr. Hays' principles of organization, 48. Appoint- 
 ing of officers, 49. Adjournment, 50. Different principles advocated as the 
 basis of organization, 50. The selection of Dr. Chapman as President, 51. 
 
 1848. 
 
 First Annual Meeting at Baltimore, 53. Notices of the second Na- 
 tional Convention by Medical periodicals, 53. New State Societies, 55. 
 Opinion of Medical Schools, 55. First regular annual meeting of the 
 Association, 56. Dr. Chapman's Address, 56. New officers, 59. Reports,
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 59, GO. Report on Medical Education, GO. Dr. Ilolmes' report on Medical 
 Literature, 61. Dr. T. 0. Edwards on Adulterated Drugs, Gl. Dr. Davis' 
 report on Indigenous Medical Botany, G2. 
 
 1849. 
 
 Second Annual Meetung at Boston, 64. OflBcers chosen, 65. Report on 
 Obstetrics by Dr. C. R. Oilman, 65. Report and resolution on Medical 
 Literature, 66. Resolution on an International Copy-Right Law, 67. Re- 
 port on Medical Education and resolutions, 67. New York Academy of 
 Medicine on the business of teaching and licensing, 60. Harvard University 
 against extending the College terms, 70. Remarks on the meeting in Boston 
 72. Educational demands of the Profession, 72. Failure in meeting these 
 demands, 73. Action of the Association, 74. 
 
 1850. 
 
 Third Annual Meeting at Cincinnati, 77. Convention of Delegates from 
 Colleges, 77. Meeting of the Association at Cincinnati, 78. Appointment 
 of officers, 79. Report and resolutions on Medical Education, 80. Resolu- 
 tions on Medical Education reaffirmed, 81 ; Dr. Still^'s resolutions on Medical 
 Literature, 81. Prizes recommended to be offered for Essays, 82 ; Interna- 
 tional Copy-Right Law, 84. 
 
 1851. 
 
 Fourth Annual Meeting at Charleston, 88. Voyage from New York to 
 Charleston, 88. Pleasant company, 89. A storm at sea, 89. Clinical In- 
 struction, 90. Pleasant weather and clear sailing, 91. Arrive at Cincinnati, 
 91. Election of officers, 92. Prize Essay, 93. Report on Obstetrics, 93. Dr. 
 Ramsey's Statistics, 93. Report on Medical Literature, 95. Society ybr the 
 reception and discussion of scientific 2'>apers, 95. Demonstrative IMidwifery, 96. 
 Other reports, 97. Standing Committees discontinued, 98. Special Commit- 
 tees appointed, 99. Excursion up Ashley and Cooper Rivers, 100. 
 
 1852. 
 
 Fifth Annual Meeting at Richmond, 101. Election of officers, 101. At- 
 tempt of Dr. Drake to prevent reports being referred to Committee on Pub- 
 lication without being read, 102. Abstracts of reports to be read, 103. Prize 
 Essay, 103. Surgeons on board passenger ships, 104. Reports, 105. Stand- 
 ing Committees on Medical Literature and Medical Education reappointed, 
 106. Committee on Epidemics, 106. "Washington Monument, 107. Colleges 
 of Dentistry and Pharmacy, 108. Philadelphia Co. Medical Society on dele- 
 gation, 108. Report of Committee on the subject, 109. Dr. Flint's proposi- 
 tion for a quarterly journal. 111. Lengthened College terms. 112.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 1853. 
 
 Sixth Annual Meeting at New York. Constitutional amendments, 113. 
 Members by invitation, 114. Drs. Hays and Yardley on representation, 115. 
 Dr. Davis on the ratio of representation for the past six years, IIG. Organi- 
 zation in New York, 120. Dr. Wellford's Address, 121. Election of oiEcers, 
 121. Why Dr. Knight was elected President, 122. Reports, 123. Reports 
 on Medical Education and Medical Literature, 124. Statistics of Medical 
 periodicals, 125. Prize Essay, 125. Visit to public institutions of New 
 York, 126. 
 
 1854. 
 
 Seventh Annual Meeting at St. Louis, 127. The disaster at Norwalk, 
 Conn., 127. Medical Education, 128. Effect of the meeting at St. Louis, 
 on the Profession in the West, 128. Organization, 129. Costly entertain- 
 ments dispensed with, 129. Election of officers, 130. Design for stone for 
 Washington Monument, 130. Committees appointed, 131. Prize Essay, 131. 
 Selection of Publishing Committee, 132. Resignation of Dr. Condie, 132. 
 Dr. Breckenridge's resolutions on Organization and Medical Literature, 133. 
 
 Concluding Remarks, 135. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix A. — Biographical Sketch of Jonathan Knight, M. D., President of 
 Preliminary Convention, and seventh President of the Ame- 
 rican Medical Association, 145. 
 
 B. — Biographical Sketch of the late Nathaniel Chapman, M. D., 147. 
 
 C. — Biographical Sketch of Alexander H. Stevens, M. D., LL. D., 
 second President of the American Medical Association, 156. 
 
 D. — Biographical Sketch of John C. Warren, M. D., third Presi- 
 dent of the American Medical Association, 158. 
 
 E. — Biographical Sketch of R. D. Mussey, M. D., fourth President 
 of the American Medical Association, 161. 
 
 F. — Biographical Sketch of James Moultrie, M.D., fifth President 
 of the American Medical Association, 171. 
 
 G. — Biographical Sketch of B. P. Wellford, M. D., sixth President 
 of the American Medical Association, 178. 
 
 H. — Biographical Sketch of Charles A. Pope, M. D., eighth Presi- 
 dent of the American Medical Association, 180. 
 
 I. — Biographical Sketch of Nathan S. Davis, M. D., 184.
 
 HISTOEY 
 
 AMEllICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 1846. 
 
 PRIMARY ACTION IN THE NEW YORK STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY — 
 PRELIMINARY CONVENTION IN NEW YORK, 
 
 It has been said by some one, that associated action constitutes 
 the main-spring — the controlling motive power — of modern society. 
 And whoever surveys, with the eye of intelligence, the present 
 aspect and tendencies of civilization, will readily acknowledge the 
 truth of the remark. 
 
 It is by the association of capital, that those great enterprises 
 for facilitating commerce and intercourse among States and na- 
 tions, are being prosecuted with an energy and success, which 
 threaten to break through the strongest barriers of nature, and 
 make neighbors of nations on the opposite sides of our globe. It 
 is by the association of mind with mind, in the Church, the Con- 
 ference, the Presbytery, the Diocese, and the General Convoca- 
 tions, that the moral force of Christendom is stirred up, concen- 
 trated, and brought to act with mighty power in disseminating 
 the sublime truths of a glorious religion. So, too, by the associa- 
 tion of mind with mind, in the rapidly recurring anniversary 
 meetings of the learned, not only is thought made to elicit 
 2
 
 18 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 thought, and the generous ambition of one made to kindle a 
 kindred impulse in another, but the rich and varied fruits of 
 many intellects are brought to a common storehouse, and made 
 the common property of all. For intellectual treasures, unlike 
 those of a material nature, neither become monopolized by con- 
 centration, lost by use, nor diminished by diffusion, or communi- 
 cation to others. If it is true, that associated action constitutes so 
 prominent an element in the progressive tendencies of modern 
 society as a whole, it is no less so in reference to the several 
 classes of which the whole is composed. And of these individual 
 classes, none hold a more important or influential relation to all 
 the rest, than that which is made up of the active practitioners 
 of the healing art. Forced, by the very nature of their calling, to 
 become pre-eminently cultivators of the whole field of natural 
 science and philosophy, while they have the freest possible access 
 to the homes and hearts of all classes, they are daily exerting an 
 influence over the physical and intellectual elements of society, 
 second to no class in Christendom. Ileuce, whatever is calculated 
 materially to influence the character of the medical profession, is 
 worthy of one page, at least, in the historical records of our race. 
 "Who, that has studied carefully the history of the past, but has 
 found mention of many institutions and movements, which have 
 left an impression on man's social and intellectual progress, and 
 yet their founders, and the motives by which they were actuated, 
 have both alike been lost in the darkness of the past ? And yet, 
 a knowledge of these is not only necessary to a full comprehen- 
 sion of historical truth, but it presents in itself the most inte- 
 resting element of history. 
 
 Of all the voluntary social organizations in our country, none 
 are at this time in a position to exert a wider, or more permanent 
 influence over the temporal interests of our country, than the 
 American Medical Association. This assertion may startle the 
 mind of the professional reader, and call forth a smile of incre-
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION". 19 
 
 dulitj, nay of contempt, from the non-professional ; but let both 
 patiently follow me to the end, and then judge. I am aware that 
 the details, upon which I am about to enter, may appear to some 
 unimportant, to others tedious, and, to all of the present genera- 
 tion, wanting in novelty and interest; but they will appear far 
 otherwise to those who shall come after us, and live when time 
 shall have thrown his dimming veil over all the doings of our 
 day. The American Medical Association completed its organi- 
 zation, and commenced its actual existence in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, during the first week in May, 1847. But a correct 
 knowledge of its origin, and a just appreciation of the motives of 
 those to whom the profession is indebted for its existence, re- 
 quire a knowledge of the doings of certain individuals and socie- 
 ties during several years previous to the date just mentioned. If 
 the reader will turn to the Statistics of Medical Colleges, compiled 
 by Dr. T. E. Beck, of Albany, and published in the Transactions 
 of the New York State Medical Society ; or to the little volume en- 
 titled, History of Medical Education, d-c, by Dr. N. S. Davis, he 
 will learn that, during the fifteen years intervening between 1830 
 and 1845, the number of medical colleges in the United States 
 more than doubled, leading to a most active rivalry, and a com- 
 petition unrestrained by any mutual intercourse with each other, 
 or social connection with the profession at large. Such institu- 
 tions, having full power to confer degrees, which were wery gene- 
 rally recognized as sufficient to entitle the holder to membership 
 in the profession, would be strongly tempted, under the circum- 
 stances mentioned, to add, to the more important and legitimate 
 inducements, short courses of instruction, and easy terms of gra- 
 duation. Hence, sixteen weeks was very generally adopted as the 
 length of the college term, and in some of the schools it was re- 
 duced to tliirteen. The marked inadequacy of so short a term, 
 and the evils resulting from a want of concert among the col- 
 leges, early attracted attention in New-England; and led to some
 
 20 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 unsuccessful attempts to remedy both. In 1835, the Faculty of 
 the Medical College of Georgia, formally proposed the holding of 
 A convention of delegates from all the medical colleges of the 
 Union, and advocated the same through the columns of the 
 Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. 
 
 The proposition seemed to meet the approbation of those con- 
 nected with many of the colleges, but failed of being carried into 
 effect through the indifference of some of the older, and more 
 influential schools in the Atlantic cities. The first movement, 
 of which we have any record, which contemplated a convention 
 of delegates, not only from all the medical colleges, but also 
 from the regularly organized medical societies throughout the 
 whole country, was made in the Medical Society of the State of 
 New York, at its annual session in February, 1839. During the 
 same session, the subject of medical education had been a promi- 
 nent topic of discussion, and a resolution, declaring that the 
 business of teaching should be separated as far as possible from 
 the privilege of granting diplomas, had been adopted by a large 
 majority. It was in view of this discussion that Dr. John McCall, 
 of Utica, offered the following preamble and resolution, viz: — 
 
 "Whereas, a National Medical Convention would advance, 
 in the apprehension of this Society, the cause of the medical pro- 
 fession throughout our land, in thus affording an interchange of 
 views and sentiments on the most interesting of all subjects — 
 that involving men's health, and the means of securing, or re- 
 covering the same: therefore. 
 
 Resolved^ That, in our opinion, such convention is deemed ad- 
 visable and important ; and we would hence recommend that it 
 be held in the year 1840, on the first Tuesday in May of that 
 year, in the city of Philadelphia — and that it consist of three 
 delegates from each State Medical Society, and one from each 
 regularly constituted medical school in the United States, and 
 that the president and secretary of this Society be, and they are 
 hereby instructed and required to transmit, as soon as may be, a
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 21 
 
 circular to that effect to eacli State Medical Society and the medi- 
 cal schools in said United States." 
 
 This proposition was adopted, and all the necessary steps 
 taken by the Society of the State of New York, for carrying it 
 into effect. But neither the societies, nor the schools of other 
 States, not even those of Philadelphia, where the proposed con- 
 vention was to be held, responded to the invitation, and conse- 
 quently no meeting took place. 
 
 The subject of medical education, however, continued to be a 
 prominent topic of discussion in many of the medical societies 
 throughout the Union ; and especially the evils supposed to re- 
 sult from the union of the power to teach^ and to confer degrees, 
 or licenses to practise, in the same hands. And at the annual 
 meeting of the New York State Society, in 1844, attention was 
 again strongly directed to the whole subject of medical educa- 
 tion, and the necessity of a higher standard of qualifications, 
 both preliminary and medical, by two series of resolutions. The 
 one was offered by Dr. Alexander Thompson, of Cayuga Co., and 
 the other by Dr. N. S. Davis, then a new delegate from Broome 
 Co., N. Y. 
 
 These resolutions declared a four months college terra too 
 short for an adequate course of lectures on all the branches of 
 medical science, and the standard of education, both preliminary 
 and medical, required by the schools previous to the granting of 
 their diplomas, altogether too low; while the union of the teach- 
 ing and licensing power in the college faculties, was represented 
 as impolitic, and constantly liable to abuse. These resolutions 
 elicited some discussion, and were referred to the standing Cor- 
 responding Committee, of which Dr. Davis was made chairman. 
 Through his agency, the subjects embraced in the resolution 
 were urged upon the attention of most of the county societies 
 in that State, and in many of them elicited action acknowledging 
 their importance, and sanctioning the principles they embraced.
 
 22 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 This gave the subject a more general interest, and at the next 
 annual meeting of the State Society, held in February, 184-5, two 
 reports were presented by the Corresponding Committee ; one 
 from the chairman, embodying the action of the county so- 
 cieties, and recommending the principles involved in the original 
 resolutions; the other, from Dr. M. H. Cash, of Orange County, 
 taking a different view of the subject. These reports led to a 
 protracted discussion of the whole subject of medical education; 
 more especially in reference to the standard of attainments that 
 should be required, before admission into -the ranks of the pro- 
 fession. On the one hand it was claimed that the standard of 
 attainments, both preliminary and medical, exacted by the several 
 medical colleges, was too low, or too limited, to be consistent 
 with either the honor of the profession, or the well-being of the 
 community ; and further, that the union of the power to teach 
 and grant diplomas in the several college faculties, co-operated 
 with the active rivalry among the schools to depress the stand- 
 ard still lower. On the other hand, while some of these allega- 
 tions were promptly admitted to be true, it was claimed that the 
 standard of qualifications exacted by the colleges of Kew York 
 State was as high as that required by the colleges in any of the 
 surrounding States ; and consequently, the adoption of measures 
 calculated to compel the schools of one State to adopt a higher 
 standard, would have no other effect than to induce the students 
 to abandon such schools for those of other States, where less 
 extensive attainments were required. The latter view was more 
 especially urged by the friends of such colleges as were repre- 
 sented in the Society ; while the advocates of a more liberal pro- 
 fessional education, claimed that such position precluded all 
 progress. For the institutions of each State would claim that 
 their standard of qualifications, required before conferring the 
 degree of M. D., was as high as that exacted by the schools of
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 23 
 
 other States, and consequently no one would venture to advance 
 a step beyond its rivals. 
 
 It was at the close of this debate, when the whole subject was 
 about to be postponed until the next annual meeting of the Society, 
 that Dr. Alden March, of Albany, privately suggested to Dr. Davis, 
 who had taken an active part in the discussion, that the objection 
 might be obviated by calling a convention of delegates from all 
 the colleges, and thereby inducing the institutions of the several 
 States to act in concert. The last named gentleman, not knowing 
 that any previous attempts to assemble a National Medical Con- 
 vention had been made, immediately rose, and submitted the 
 following preamble and resolutions, viz : — 
 
 " Whereas, it is believed that a National Convention would be 
 conducive to the elevation of the standard of medical education 
 in the United States ; and whereas, there is no mode of accom- 
 plishing so desirable an object without concert of action on the 
 part of the medical colleges, societies, and institutions of all the 
 States, therefore, 
 
 " Resolved^ That the New York State Medical Society earnestly 
 recommends a National Convention of delegates from medical 
 societies and colleges in the whole Union, to convene in the city 
 of New York, on the first Tuesday in May, in the year 1846, for 
 the purpose of adopting some concerted action on the subject set 
 forth in the foregoing preamble. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to carry 
 the foregoing resolution into effect." 
 
 This proposition led to a brief conversational discussion, in 
 which some of the older members of the society related the former 
 unsuccessful attempts to assemble a National Convention of med- 
 ical men, which elicited a very general expression that the project 
 was impracticable, if not positively Utopian. The resolutions, 
 however, being strongly urged by the mover, who contended that 
 if the object to be accomplished was one of acknowledged im- 
 portance, its friends should persevere, although a dozen failures
 
 24 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 should be encountered before their efforts met with entire success, 
 were adopted, and Drs, N. S. Davis, of Binghampton, Broome Co., 
 James McNaughton, of Albany, and Peter Van Burcn, the Secre- 
 tary of the State Society, were named as the Committee to carry 
 them into effect. The chairman of this Committee, soon after his 
 return to Binghampton, issued a circular, containing the preamble 
 and resolutions quoted above, and sent a copy to each of the col- 
 leges and societies known to exist throughout the United States, 
 and to many prominent members of the profession in sections of 
 the country where no social organizations had been formed. The 
 correspondence thus begun was actively continued throughout 
 the whole year. An examination of this correspondence shows 
 that the proposition to hold a National Convention met with 
 a favorable response from societies, colleges, and individuals, 
 throughout the whole Union, except those colleges located in 
 Philadelphia and Boston. To the circulars and letters addressed 
 to the Medical College in Boston, and the two oldest colleges in 
 Philadelphia, answers were returned, respectfully declining to take 
 any part in the proposed Convention. The then recently organized 
 Pennsylvania College, located in the latter city, returned a more 
 favorable answer, with a promise that delegates from that school 
 should be appointed to attend the Convention. The extent to 
 which the correspondence had been carried, and the degree of 
 favor with which the proposition for a Convention had been en- 
 tertained by the profession, may be inferred from the following 
 extract from the report of the chairman of the Special Committee* 
 made to the annual meeting of the New York State Society, in 
 February, 1846, viz : — 
 
 " Replies to these circulars and letters have been received from 
 the following officers of medical societies and colleges, and private 
 members of the profession, viz : Drs. "W. W. Morris, of Dover, 
 Delaware ; A. H. Buchanan, of Tennessee ; W. P. Johnston, of 
 Washington City ; T. T. Ilewson, E. M. Huston, and W.E. Thorne,
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 2o 
 
 of Philadelphia ; Luther Ticknor, of Connecticiit ; TV. H. McKee, 
 of North Carolina ; E. H. Peaslee, of N. Hampshire; Paul F. Eve, 
 of Georgia; J. H. Thompson, of N. Jersey; J. W. Davis, of Indi- 
 ana ; A. Twitchell, of New Hampshire ; John W. Draper, A. H. 
 Stevens, Willard Parker, and C. A. Lee, of New York ; D. Drake, 
 of Ohio ; Lawson, of Kentucky ; and Carpenter, of Louisiana. 
 And delegates have been freely pledged from medical societies 
 and colleges in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, 
 Delaware, District of Columbia, South Carolina, Georgia, Missis- 
 sippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and New 
 York. Nearly every Medical Journal, throughout the whole 
 Union, has not only fiivorably noticed, but warmly commended 
 the holding of such a Convention. ****** 
 It will thus be seen that, in far the larger part of our Union, the 
 invitation of this society has met with a prompt and hearty re- 
 sponse from the profession; and it is with much regret that we 
 find even a few institutions declining to take any part in so im- 
 portant a movement. But when we consider the wide extent of 
 our territory, and the great number of our institutions, all engaged, 
 we should hope, in a generous rivalry with each other, the ex- 
 pression in favor of a Convention is certainly more unanimous, 
 and more promising of good, than could have been anticipated. 
 Indeed, the leading and influential members of the profession 
 have long felt the necessity of some national action ; some central 
 point of influence, around which the active and choice spirits of 
 the whole profession can rally, and from which may be made to 
 radiate an elevating, healthful, and nationalizing influence over 
 the whole country." 
 
 In accordance with the recommendations of this report, the 
 State Society appointed sixteen delegates to attend the proposed 
 Convention, and accepted the invitation of the Faculty of the 
 New York University, to hold the Convention in their college
 
 26 HISTORY or THE 
 
 edifice; coraraencing at 10 o'clock, A. M., on the first Tuesday in 
 May following. 
 
 Besides the editorial notices, commending, in general terms, the 
 proposition to hold a National Convention, which appeared in 
 nearly all the medical journals of the country, during the year 
 1845, and which aided very much in rendering the movement 
 successful, the Kew York Journal of Medicine and the Collateral 
 Sciences published several communications from the author of the 
 proposition, Dr. N. S. Davis, and also one from Dr. L. Ticknor, 
 then President of the Medical Society of the State of Connecticut. 
 These may be found in the numbers of the Journal for November, 
 1840, and January and March, 1846. The communication of Dr. 
 Ticknor contains the first distinct proposition to perpetuate the 
 action and influence of the contemplated National Convention, 
 by organizing out of it a permanent " National Medical Society." 
 lie says : " Considering our extent of territory, and the number 
 of States into which the Union is divided, it is by no means 
 strange that the medical schools in the several States should 
 gradually yield to other motives than a desire to promote the 
 best interests of society by a thoroughly educated and properly 
 disciplined medical faculty. It is fairly enough implied, if not 
 perfectly obvious, that there exists no small degree of rivalship 
 among our medical institutions and leading medical men; not, I 
 fear, who shall furnish the most valuable and best wrought article, 
 but who shall furnish the greatest quantity. To furnish some an- 
 tagonism to this tendency of our profession, which is from year to year 
 gaining strength, influence and^wpularity, the writer knows of no one 
 effort the j^rofessioji can make that promises so much as to organize a 
 National Medical Society, to meet annually, biennially, or trienmally, 
 having, if you please, a Vice-President and Committee of Correspond- 
 ence in each State, &c.^^ 
 
 The communications of Dr. Davis contain a more extended 
 consideration of the whole subject of medical education. Its then
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 27 
 
 existing condition, througboLit the country, is clearly set forth, 
 and its defects severely criticized by the writer, while he earnestly 
 recommends such action as is calculated to accomplish the follow- 
 ing definite objects, viz: — 
 
 " First, The standard of preliminary or preparatory education 
 should be greatly elevated, or, rather, a standard should be fixed, 
 for there is none now, either in theory or in practice. 
 
 " Secondly. "We should elevate the business of private teaching 
 to that position which its intrinsic importance demands, 
 
 " Thirdly, A more uniform standard of qualifications should be 
 required of the candidates for medical honors. 
 
 " Fourthly, We should devise some mode to stimulate the am- 
 bition, and arouse the energies of the profession to a higher state 
 of intellectual activity and scientific inquiry." 
 
 The importance of these propositions he illustrates at consider- 
 able length, and prominent among the means he urges for their 
 practical accomplishment, is the organization of " a i^srmanent 
 National Medical Society^ hy whose annual discussions, an exciting, 
 vivifying, and healthful influence shall be exerted over the length and 
 hreadth of the country, until a correct and nolle sentiment is en- 
 gendered in the bosom of every member of the professions''^ 
 
 In the same number of the New York Journal from which I 
 have just quoted, the editor. Dr. C. A. Lee, in earnestly appealing 
 to the profession to make the proposed Convention truly national, 
 by the attendance of delegates from every section of the country, 
 makes the following allusion to a more permanent organization, 
 viz: "But there are various other subjects, which would naturally 
 come before such a Convention, of scarcely less interest and im- 
 portance; and we should hope, as already intimated, that o. per- 
 manent National Society would grow out of it, which would, like 
 the "British Association," meet annually, and at which essays 
 
 ' See New York Journal of Medicine, &c., March, 1846, page 290.
 
 28 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and reports on different branches of medicine -would be read, and 
 discussions held." In alluding to the call for the National Con- 
 vention, the editor of the Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal^ 
 in the number for October, 1845, says: "None can doubt the 
 propriety, nay, the urgent necessity for the adoption of some 
 means to elevate the standard of medical education, and advance 
 the dignity and usefulness of the profession. •jfr * * 
 
 "We fervently hope that this movement will meet with general 
 concurrence and cordial co-operation." 
 
 The editors of the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Jourruilj 
 and indeed of almost all the other journals, were equally ex- 
 plicit in commending the general object. Thus far, though the 
 faculties connected with the colleges in Philadelphia and Boston 
 had declined to co-operate in the general movement, no open op- 
 position had been manifested from any quarter. 
 
 Like all other great movements, affecting more or less the in- 
 terests of a large number of persons, the effort to convene a 
 National Convention of the members of the medical profession 
 was not to be crowned with success, without encountering de- 
 cided and strong opposition. The movement having originated 
 in a State society, and during a discussion in which some of the 
 practices and privileges of the medical colleges were severely 
 criticized, it is not surprising that it excited such a feeling of dis- 
 trust in the minds of many of those connected with the colleges, 
 as to deter them from cordially uniting in it. And this distrust 
 was doubtless increased in certain quarters by the strong lan- 
 guage, and, perhaps, too sweeping assertions, contained in one of 
 the communications of Dr. N. S. Davis, in the Xew York Journal 
 of Medicine, already referred to. 
 
 The latter were made the pretext for a very severe attack on 
 the writer, the State Medical Society of New York, and all con- 
 cerned in the movement for a National Meeting, by Prof. Martyn 
 Paine, of the medical department of the New York University,
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 29 
 
 in the form of a valedictory address to tbe graduating class of 
 that institution, delivered March 11, 1846. This address was 
 styled " A Defence of the Medical Profession of the United 
 States ;" and was based on the assumption that the active mem- 
 bers of the !Medical Society of the State of New York generally, 
 and the chairman of their Committee (Dr. Davis), in particular, 
 had been slandering and defaming the profession to which they 
 belonged. An assumption, however, so fully refuted by the whole 
 history and conduct of that Society and the individuals concerned, 
 as to require no comments or explanation at the present time. — 
 As a very large edition of this address was published, and widely 
 circulated throughout the Union, it may not be amiss to quote a 
 paragraph or two, for the purpose of enabling the reader to ap- 
 preciate its spirit and design. On page 20, Dr. Paine says : — 
 " Nor shall I have discharged the office which I had assigned to 
 myself, till I also place on record who they are that malign the 
 great mass of American physicians, who are rendering more ser- 
 vice to the cause of humanity than any equal proportion of the 
 same profession in the most favored states of Europe. It is not 
 the man who has officially promulgated the views of the State 
 Medical Society, nor the journals through which the contumelious 
 representation of the profession is circulated, that should be held 
 responsible, any farther than as they, also, hold an influence over 
 the public mind, and according, also, to the am'mns, and the ex- 
 tent in which that influence may be exerted. "We must rather go 
 to the fountain from which it emanates, and with acids and caus- 
 tics try its purity. We must go to the State Medical Society 
 itself, interrogate the general character of those who annually con- 
 vene at Albany, during the very opportune session of the legis- 
 lature, inquire how far, and in what ways they contribute to the 
 dignity of the profession, and advance the interests of medical 
 science. Nor would I invite an investigation of this nature for 
 the same reasons that I have quoted from Percival's Medical
 
 30 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Ethics, tccre Omt members of the Slate Medical Society tvho annually 
 convene at Albany, and do the mining operatiojis, more than a bare 
 handful of the outs, and were they not so erroneously supposed to 
 represent the voice of the profession:' Again, he says : " And now, 
 perhaps we shall have no difficulty in understanding why it is so 
 earnestly desired to extend the term of instruction in our medical 
 colleges, and also as a preliminary requisite to admission into 
 these institutions. There is an aristocratic fcaiure in this movement 
 of Ui€ icorst omen, however the spirit, by which it is prompted, 
 may belong to the agrarian policy. It is oppression ioicards the 
 poor, for the sake of crippling tJie medical colkgesj' 
 
 The foregoing are among the least exceptionable paragraphs of 
 this address; and yet they plainly indicate a feeling of bitter op- 
 position, if not contempt, towards those who are laboring to unite 
 the profession of the whole Union in one general convention. — 
 The actual influence of this address, exhibiting, as it did, a curious 
 mixture of egotism, disgusting flattery of the class to which it 
 was addressed, and bitter opposition to the movement for a 
 National Convention, was very important, though widely diflfer- 
 ent from what was designed by its author. It has already been 
 stated that the medical department of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, the Jefferson Medical College, and the local societies of 
 Philadelphia, had declined to appoint delegates to the proposed 
 Convention, and the chief apprehension felt by the Committee 
 having charge of the subject, was that the absence of any repre- 
 sentation from so important a locality, would seriously lessen the 
 influence and success of the movement. But scarcely had the 
 address of Prof. Paine reached the remoter sections of the coun- 
 try, before the chairman of the Committee of the New York 
 State Society received a second letter from Prof. Huston, of Phila- 
 delphia, stating briefly that they had heretofore declined to ap- 
 point delegates to the proposed Convention, because, it having 
 been called to meet in the city of New York, and in the colleo-e
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIO]!^. 31 
 
 edifice of tlie New York University, they had thought it calcu- 
 lated to attract undue attention directly towards the medical 
 schools of that city. But, on reading '■^ the very singular address 
 of Prof. Paine,''^ they were satisfied that whatever had been the 
 motives of those who called the Convention, it was not designed 
 particularly to benefit the medical schools in the city of New 
 York ; and hence he would immediately convene the Society 
 over which he presided, to take into consideration the propriety 
 of appointing delegates. This was done, and twelve eminent and 
 active members of the profession, in that city, were appointed to 
 attend the meeting in New York ; thereby greatly adding to the 
 success of the movement. We have in these details a most strik- 
 ing illustration of that jealousy and mutual distrust which is en- 
 gendered by rival interests, unmodified by free and frequent per- 
 sonal intercourse. We find the Faculty of the medical depart- 
 ment of the New York University violently opposing the move- 
 ment for a National Convention^ and stigmatizing its authors as 
 "7?i«?ers" and "owfe " (even after they had consented to have the 
 meeting held in their own college-hall), because it originated in a 
 State society whose meetings they had entirely neglected, and of 
 whose influence they were jealous ; while other most influential 
 schools were withholding their aid and co-operation, because they 
 suspected the whole movement calculated, if not designed, to favor 
 in a special degree that same school in New York. It would be 
 difficult to illustrate more strikingly, that sleepless jealousy which 
 pervaded more or less all our medical schools, springing into ex- 
 istence in rapid succession, as they had done ; or the necessity of 
 some general organization, by which the representatives of all 
 should be brought into personal contact and intercourse, until 
 mutual distrust should give place to mutual respect and a com- 
 mon object. 
 
 On Tuesday, May 5, 1846, the delegates and members of the 
 profession from different parts of the United States, who de-
 
 32 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 signed attending the proposed National Convention, assembled, 
 in accordance with the invitation of the New York State Society, 
 in the hall of the medical department of the New York Uni- 
 versity. They were called to order by Dr. Edward Delafield, of 
 New York, on wliose motion Dr. John Bell, of Philadelphia, was 
 appointed chairman, and Dr. William P. Buel, of New York, 
 secretary, until permanent officers should be duly chosen. A com- 
 mittee was then appointed to receive the credentials of delegates, 
 consisting of Drs. IE. W. Baxley, of Maryland, N. S. Davis, of N. 
 York, and Richard D. Arnold, of Georgia. This Committee soon 
 reported the reception of credentials, containing the names of one 
 hundred and nineteen delegates, eighty of whom were present at 
 the opening of the Convention. 
 
 The latter number was subsequently increased to near one 
 hundred, representing societies and colleges in sixteen different 
 States, viz: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
 Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, ^Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Indiana, 
 Illinois, and Tennessee. 
 
 A committee of one from each State represented, reported the 
 names of the following gentlemen for permanent officers of the 
 Convention, and they were unanimously elected, viz : — 
 
 For President^ 
 Dr. Jonathan Knight,' of New Haven, Connecticut. 
 
 For Vice Presidents^ 
 
 Dr. John Bell, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Dr. Edward 
 
 Delafield, of New York City. 
 
 For Secretaries^ 
 Dr. Richard D. Arnold, of Savannah, Georgia ; Dr. Alfred 
 Stille, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 Thus was completed, in the midst of the most perfect har- 
 
 ' For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Knight, see Appendix A.
 
 ^"^^ .• N 
 
 J®katha:k' IKkiomi", 
 
 PROFESSOR OF .-^■^R(;ERT IV TALE COt.LEUE 
 
 (r^^''■-l---\-^'(--JS,J^L^f~^
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 33 
 
 mony and. good feeling, tlie organization of the first National 
 Convention of members of the medical profession ever convened 
 in the United States. And when we remember that the number 
 in attendance was at least respectable ; that among them were 
 many of the most eminent in the profession ; that they were 
 gathered from all sections of the Union, from the hills of New 
 England, the broad prairies of the West, and the sunny planta- 
 tions of the South; not, however, for purposes of political 
 preferment or pecuniary gain, but to give each other the warm 
 hand of friendship, and unite in the adoption of measures for the 
 elevation and advancement of the noblest of temporal pursuits, 
 we are constrained to regard it as one of the most interesting 
 assemblages ever convened, since the organization of the benign 
 government under which we live. 
 
 As soon, however, as the of&cers elect had been conducted to 
 their respective places. Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, a colleague of 
 Prof. Martyn Paine, and a delegate from the Faculty of the medi- 
 cal department of the New York University, arose, and after 
 some general remarks in reference to the benefits of a general 
 convention of medical men, moved the following preamble and 
 resolution, viz: — 
 
 "Whereas, the call of the State Medical Society of New 
 York, for a National Medical Convention, to be held in the city 
 of New York, on the first Tuesday in May, has failed in a repre- 
 sentation from one-half of the United States, and from a majoritv 
 of the medical colleges ; and whereas^ the State Medical Society 
 has emphatically stated that there is no mode of accomplishing 
 the object of the Convention, without concert of action on the 
 part of medical societies, colleges, and institutions of all the 
 States, therefore, 
 
 '"'•Resolved^ That this Convention adjourn sine dieP 
 
 This proposition was immediately seconded by Dr. G. S. Pat- 
 tison, a colleague of Professor Bedford, and delegate from the 
 same Faculty. This proposition, coming at such a time, and 
 3
 
 34 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 directly from the representatives of the school in whose college 
 building the Convention had assembled, took every member by 
 surprise. But after one or two minutes of entire silence, the 
 question was very generally called for, and being taken by yeas 
 and nays, resulted as follows, viz : — 
 
 Yeas, 2, Drs. Bedford and Pattison. Nays, 7-i. 
 
 The result of the vote having been announced, considerable 
 warmth of feeling was manifested by many members, who re- 
 garded the motion of Dr. Bedford as a deliberate attempt to 
 break up the Convention, and as little less than an insult to all 
 its members. 
 
 Several motions were made, having for their object an imme- 
 diate withdrawal from the college edifice of the New York 
 University, but after explanations and apologies from both Drs. 
 Bedford and Pattison, the subject was laid on the table. A com- 
 mittee of nine was then appointed " to bring the subject of 
 medical education before the Convention, in the form of distinct 
 propositions, suitable for discussion and action." This Committee 
 readily agreed upon the following propositions, viz : — 
 
 First. That it is expedient for the medical profession of the 
 United States to institute a National Medical Association. 
 
 Secondly. That it is desirable that a uniform and elevated 
 standard of requirements for the degree of M. D., should be 
 adopted by all the medical schools in the United States. 
 
 Thirdly. That it is desirable that young men, before being re- 
 ceived as students of medicine, should have acquired a suitable 
 preliminary education. 
 
 Fourthly. That it is expedient that the medical profession in 
 the United States should be governed by the same code of medi- 
 cal ethics. 
 
 These were reported to the Convention, with the recommenda- 
 tion that a committee of seven be appointed on each subject, 
 whose duty it should be to report at a meeting to be held in the
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 35 
 
 city of Philadelphia, on the first Wednesday in May, 1847. The 
 same Committee also recommended the appointment of a com- 
 mittee of seven, " to prepare and issue an address to the different 
 regularly organized medical societies, and chartered medical 
 schools in the United States, setting forth the objects of the 
 National Medical Association, and inviting them to send dele- 
 gates to the Convention to be held in Philadelphia, in May, 
 1847." 
 
 These propositions were all adopted by the Convention, and 
 the required committees appointed. Dr. N. S. Davis, who was 
 chairman of the Business Committee, urged the following resolu- 
 tion as one suitable to be recommended, as an additional subject 
 for the consideration of the Convention. It was opposed by Dr. 
 Hays, and other members of the Committee, on the ground that 
 it would be likely to excite discord, and was rejected by the 
 Committee. 
 
 " Resolved^ That the union of the business of teaching and 
 licensiyig in the same hands is wrong in principle, and liable to 
 great abuse in practice. Instead of conferring the right to licetise 
 on medical colleges, and State and County medical societies, it 
 should be restricted to one board in each State, composed in fair 
 proportion of representatives from its medical colleges, and the 
 profession at large, and the pay for whose services as examiners, 
 should in no degrfee depend on the number licensed by them." 
 
 The same resolution was subsequently handed to Dr. 0. S. Bar- 
 ties, and by him presented to the Convention. An interesting 
 and spirited discussion followed, which was participated in by 
 Drs. Sumner, F. Campbell Stewart, Meredith Clymer, Isaac Par- 
 rish, H. A¥. Baxley, J. E. Manley, S. Hasbrouck, and N. S. Davis. 
 Motions were made by those opposed to entertaining the resolu- 
 tion, to lay it on the table, and to refer it to some one of the com- 
 mittees already appointed. These motions were either with- 
 drawn, or severally voted down, and the resolution was finally 
 referred to a special committee of seven, with instructions to re-
 
 36 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 port on the same, at the meeting proposed to be hold in Phila- 
 delphia, in May, 1847. On motion of Dr. John H. Griscom, com- 
 mittees were appointed to report at the same time and place, on 
 the most efficient measures for effecting a registration of births, 
 marriages, and deaths, throughout all the States of the Union ; 
 and also on a nomenclature of diseases adapted to the United 
 States, having reference to a general registration of deaths. 
 After passing the usual resolutions, complimenting the officers of 
 the Convention, and thanking the medical colleges of the city, 
 for freely tendering the use of their rooms for its meetings, the 
 session was adjourned sine die, on the evening of May 6th, 1846. 
 All the business of the Convention was conducted with decorum 
 and the most cordial friendship, except that relating to the pre- 
 amble and resolution introduced by Dr. Bedford, and even this 
 gave rise to only a momentary feeling of excitement or rather 
 indignation, which was quickly lost in the universal determina- 
 tion to act solely for the elevation and advancement of the whole 
 profession. The Convention was fortunate in the selection of its 
 officers. Dr. Knight not only presided with dignity, but dis- 
 played a familiarity with parliamentary usages, and a promptness 
 and pleasing urbanity rarely united in the same individual. In 
 looking over the list of delegates in attendance, the reader will 
 be surprised at the disparity of representation from States located 
 equally contiguous to the place of meeting. 
 
 Thus, of the New England States, Connecticut had five dele- 
 gates; Massachusetts, one; Rhode Island, one; Vermont, three; 
 New Ilampshire, two; and Maine none. Of the Middle States, 
 Pennsylvania had fourteen, two of whom represented the medical 
 department of Pennsylvania College, while all the rest were dele- 
 gates from the Philadelphia Medical Society; Delaware had five, 
 all of whom represented medical societies ; and New Jersey had 
 only tico, who were made members by invitation. Of the Southern 
 States, Maryland had one; Virginia, three; Georgia, one; MisJf
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION'. 37 
 
 sippi, one ; and Tennessee, one. Of the Western States, Indiana 
 had one ; and Illinois, one. This leaves little more than half of 
 the entire number present to represent the State of New York, 
 while Maine, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, 
 Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, and Texas, were entirely 
 unrepresented. Eleven medical colleges were represented, con- 
 stituting only about one-third of the whole number in the United 
 States. The absence of a representation from so large a number 
 of States and colleges, was owing to various causes. In some 
 States, neither medical societies nor colleges existed, and indi- 
 vidual members of the profession did not feel free to take upon 
 themselves the office of delegates. This was the case in North 
 Carolina, and virtually so in most of the unrepresented States in 
 the South and West. For, though State and district medical 
 societies had been previously organized in most of them, yet 
 they had ceased to maintain an active existence. Another cause 
 was a want of confidence in the success of the movement. 
 
 Many, who ardently desired a full Convention, and were 
 friendly to any measures calculated to elevate the standard of 
 medical education, were deterred from attending, by the belief 
 that a sufficient number of others would not attend, to warrant 
 the transaction of any business of importance. But still another 
 cause, which affected more particularly the medical colleges, was 
 a feeling of distrust in regard to the motives of those who issued 
 the call for the Convention. There was a feeling of apprehension, 
 increased to some extent doubtless by the address of Professor 
 Paine, that the whole movement originated in a spirit of radical- 
 ism and enmity to the schools; and though such a feeling was 
 without the shadow of a foundation in fact, yet it was evidently 
 the chief cause of preventing the attendance of delegates from a 
 majority of the medical colleges in the Union, Another feature 
 which will strike the mind, in looking over the list of delegates in 
 attendance, is the absence of those to whom the profession had
 
 88 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 long been accustomed to look as leaders in all important profes- 
 sional matters. We look over the list in vain for the names of 
 Warren, Mussey, Stevens, Chapman, Drake, and other veteran 
 teachers in medicine. Almost the only ones present belonging 
 to this class, were Drs. Knight, Manley, Stearns, and Delafield. 
 Hence, it may be said with propriety that the Convention was 
 composed of the younger, more active, and, perhaps, more am- 
 bitious members of the profession. 
 
 And yet, both the discussions and action of the Convention 
 were characterized by that moderation, coupled with a spirit of 
 determined perseverance, which was well calculated to inspire 
 confidence alike in the motives of its members and the final suc- 
 cess of the enterprise in which they had engaged. It will be 
 noticed, that all the proceedings of this meeting were made to 
 assume the character strictly of preliminary action. Instead of 
 hastily declaring their sentiments by formal resolutions, or at 
 once recommendinsj measures about which there mitrht be differ- 
 ences of opinion, they simply selected the most important topics 
 connected with the education of the profession, and referred them 
 to able committees, with instructions to report, after ample time 
 for deliberation. 
 
 They also declared the necessity and feasibility of establishing 
 a National Medical Association, and appointed a judicious com- 
 mittee, consisting of Drs. John Watson, John Stearns, F. Camp- 
 bell Stewart, A. Still<?, N. S. Davis, W. 11. Cogswell, and E. D. 
 Fenncr, to report a definite plan of organization for such an Assb- 
 ciation, at a subsequent meeting to be held in Philadelphia. 
 
 There was consequently no manifestation of that " agrarian" 
 spirit, or enmity towards existing institutions, which Dr. Paine, 
 and perhaps others, had attributed to the active members of the 
 New York State Medical Society, and especially to Dr. Davis, the 
 originator of the movement. 
 
 From all the foregoing details, it will be apparent that the great
 
 AMEEICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 39 
 
 leading object of tliose who originated and carried into effect the 
 Convention of Maj, 1846, was the improvement of our system of 
 medical education. 
 
 That it was very defective in many important particulars, had 
 long been acknowledged by the most experienced teachers in the 
 country. This will be manifest to any one who will take the 
 trouble to read the essays and addresses of Drake, Moultrie, Dick- 
 son, Beck, and others. It was the hope of devising measures to 
 remove these defects, and to render more useful, more learned, 
 and more honorable, the great mass of American practitioners, 
 coupled with the consciousness that no mere local action or influ- 
 ence would prove efficient, which gave birth to the movement. 
 And it was a very general conviction of its paramount importance 
 that led to such a response on the part of the profession as insured 
 its success. How far this great leading object has been kept in 
 view, and with what practical results, will appear as we progress 
 with the subsequent history of the Association.
 
 4.0 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 1847. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 After tlie signal failure of the delegates from the New York 
 University to interrupt the progress of the Convention which 
 assembled in New York, no further open opposition to the move- 
 ment which had been commenced was manifested previous to the 
 next meeting. On the contrary, the President, Dr. Knight, shortly 
 after the first meeting, issued an address to the profession on be- 
 half of the Committee appointed for that purpose, in which he set 
 forth briefly and clearly the objects aimed at, and urged npon the 
 profession the importance of a more full representation at the 
 adjourned meeting to be held in Philadelphia. The medical peri- 
 odicals of the country, very generally, published the proceedings 
 of the Convention in New York, and thereby aided much to 
 bring the subject to the notice of a larger number of members of 
 the profession. In the mean time, valedictory and anniversary 
 addresses were written and widely circulated, discussing, more or 
 less, the subject of medical education, by Drs. John W. Francis, 
 John Watson, and F. Campbell Stewart, of New York; Drs. 
 Samuel Jackson and Alfred Stillu, of Philadelphia ; Dr. S. H. 
 Dickson, of Charleston ; and many others. The combined influ- 
 ence of all these agencies, with the continued exertions of those 
 who first put the ball in motion, served to awaken an almost 
 universal interest in the subject. On the 5th of May, 1847, the 
 delegates appointed by the societies, colleges, and other medical 
 institutions throughout the several States, assembled in the hall
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-. 41 
 
 of the "Academy of Natural Sciences," in Philadelphia, and 
 were cordially welcomed by Dr. Isaac Hays, chairman of the 
 Committee of Arrangements, who called the Convention to order, 
 and nominated Dr. Jonathan Knight, of New Haven, as temporary 
 Chairman. 
 
 This nomination was "unanimously confirmed, and Drs. Arnold, 
 of Georgia, and Stillc, of Philadelphia, were appointed Secretaries. 
 A committee for the reception of credentials of delegates was 
 appointed, and another, consisting of one member from each State 
 represented, to report the names of suitable candidates for election 
 as permanent officers of the Convention. The first Committee 
 reported, as present, the names of near tivo hundred and fifty dele- 
 gates, representing more ihan forty medical societies, and twenty- 
 eight colleges, embracing medical institutions in twenty-two States 
 and the District of Columbia. The Committee on Nominations 
 recommended for President, Dr. Jonathan Knight, of Connecticut ; 
 for Vice-Presidents, Drs. Alexander H. Stevens, of New York, 
 George B. Wood, of Pennsylvania, A. H. Buchanan, of Tennessee, 
 John Harrison, of Louisiana ; and for Secretaries, Drs. E. D. Arnold, 
 of Georgia, Alfred Stille, of Pennsylvania, and F. Campbell Stewart, 
 of New York. These were all unanimously elected by the Con- 
 vention. The first business of importance which engaged the 
 attention of the Convention, was the reports of the committees 
 appointed at the previous meeting in New York. Eeports were 
 received during the first day, from Dr. John Watson, of New 
 York, chairman of the Committee appointed " to prepare a plan 
 of organization for a National Medical Association; from Dr. John 
 H. Griscom, of New York, chairman of the Committee appointed 
 to consider the subject of procuring from the State governments, 
 uniform and efficient laws for the registration of births, marriages, 
 and deaths; also from the same on a general Nomenclature ol Dis- 
 eases ; from Dr. James Couper, of Delaware, chairman of the 
 Committee "on Preliminary Education;" and from Dr. Isaac Hays,
 
 42 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 on the subject of Medical Ethics. These several reports, except 
 the last, were received, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. 
 During the following morning session, additional reports were 
 received from Dr. John Bell, chairman of the Committee appointed 
 to prepare a Code of Medical Ethics; from Dr. James McNaughton, 
 of Albany, chairman of the Committee appointed to consider the 
 subject of the Union of Teaching and Licensing in the same hands, 
 signed by a minority of the Committee ; and another report on 
 the same subject, from Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia, signed 
 by a majority of the Committee. These reports were also received 
 and ordered to be printed. The report of Dr. Couper, from the 
 Committee on the subject of " Preliminary Education," was first 
 taken up for consideration; and, after a free interchange of opin- 
 ions, the report, with the resolutions appended thereto, was adopted, 
 and ordered to be published as a part of the proceedings of the 
 Convention. The resolutions as adopted were as follows, viz : — 
 
 "i?65o?re(7. That this Convention earnestly recommends to the 
 members of the medical profession throughout the United States, 
 to satisfy themselves, either by personal inquiry or \vritten certi- 
 ficate of competent persons, before receiving young men into 
 their offices as students, that they are of good moral character, 
 and that they have acquired a good English education, a know- 
 ledge of natural philosophy and the elementary mathematical 
 sciences, including geometry and algebra, and such an acquaint- 
 ance, at least, with the Latin and Greek languages as will enable 
 them to appreciate the technical language of medicine, and read 
 and write prescriptions. 
 
 " Resolved, That this Convention also recommends to the mem- 
 bers of the medical profession of the United States, when they 
 have satisfied themselves that a young man possesses the qualifi- 
 cations specified in the preceding resolution, to give him a written 
 certificate stating that fact, and recording also the date of his ad- 
 mission as a medical student, to be carried with him as a warrant 
 for his reception into the medical college in which he may intend 
 to pursue his studies.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION". 43 
 
 " Resolved^ That all tlie medical colleges in the United States 
 be, and they are hereby recommended and requested to require 
 such a certificate of every student of medicine applying for ma- 
 triculation ; and when publishing their annual lists of graduates, 
 to accompany the name of the graduate with the name and resi- 
 dence of his preceptor, the name of the latter being clearly and 
 distinctly presented as certifying to the qualification of preliminary 
 education." 
 
 Moderate as is the standard of preliminary attainments required 
 by these resolutions, there were some in the Convention who spoke 
 in opposition to its adoption, on the ground that it would prevent 
 many young men of limited means from entering the profession, 
 whose natural endowments would carry them to the highest rank, 
 notwithstanding their inadequate preliminary preparation. 
 
 On the other hand, it was admitted that there had been coun- 
 tries and periods in the world's history, when the obstacles, pe- 
 cuniary and otherwise, in the way of gaining a knowledge of the 
 ordinary branches of science, were so numerous as to preclude 
 all but the favored few from its enjoyment. In such places, and 
 at such times, the objection to the resolutions might have some 
 force. But in our country of school-houses and almost unlimited 
 facilities for acquiring a knowledge of, at least, the ordinary 
 branches of learning, that young man who had not mental energy 
 and perseverance enough to comply with the standard proposed in the 
 resolutions^ certainly had not enough to enable him to do justice to a 
 profession as extensive^ intricate^ and arduous as ours. 
 
 The latter view was urged with much force by Dr. N. S. Davis, 
 then a delegate from the New York State Medical Society. The 
 resolutions were adopted by nearly a unanimous vote; and the 
 recommendations they contain have been reaffirmed by almost 
 every meeting of the American Medical Association since. 
 
 The Convention next took up the report of Dr. E. TV. Ilaxall, 
 of Ya., chairman of the Committee appointed to recommend a 
 uniform standard of requirements for the degree of M. D, The
 
 44: HISTORY OF THE 
 
 several resolutions appended to the report were considered seri- 
 atim^ and after receiving various amendments, were adopted as 
 follows, viz: — 
 
 " Resolved, 1st, That it be recommended to all the colleges to 
 extend the period employed in lecturing from four to six months. 
 
 2d, That no student shall become a candidate for the degree of 
 'SI. D., unless he shall have devoted three entire years to the study 
 of medicine, including the time allotted to attendance upon the 
 lectures. 
 
 3d, That the candidate shall have attended two full courses of 
 lectures; that he shall be twenty-one years of age, and in all 
 cases shall produce the certificate of his preceptor, to prove when 
 he commenced his studies. 
 
 4th, Tliat the certificate of no preceptor shall be received, who 
 is avowedly and notoriously an irregular practitioner, whether he 
 shall possess the degree of M. D. or not. 
 
 oth, That the several branches of medical education already 
 named in this report (viz : Theory and Practice of Medicine, 
 Principles and Practice of Surgery, General and Special Anatomy, 
 Physiology and Pathology, Materia Medica, Therapeutics, and 
 Pharmacy, Midwifery, and Diseases of Women and Children, Che- 
 mistry and Medical Jurisprudence), be taught in all the colleges, 
 and that the number of professors be increased to seven. 
 
 6th, That it is required of candidates that they shall have 
 steadily devoted three months to dissections. 
 
 7th, That it is incumbent upon preceptors to avail themselves 
 of every opportunity to impart clinical instruction to their pupils, 
 and upon medical colleges to require candidates for graduation 
 to show that they have attended on hosjntal practice for one ses- 
 sion, whenever it can be accomplished, for the advancement of 
 the same end. 
 
 8th, That it be suggested to the faculties of the various medi- 
 cal institutions of the country, to adopt some efficient means for 
 ascertaining that their students are actually in attendance on their 
 lectures. 
 
 9th, That it is incumbent on all schools and colleges granting 
 diplomas, fully to carry out the above requisitions. 
 
 10th, That it be considered the dutij of preceptors to advise
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-. 45 
 
 their students to attend only such institutions as shall rigidly 
 adhere to the recommendations herein contained." 
 
 Much opposition was manifested by some of those connected 
 with the colleges, to the adoption of the first of the foregoino- 
 resolutions. It was alleged that the great majority of medical 
 students could not be kept in attendance on the colleges contin- 
 uously for six months ; there being many in all the colleges who 
 practically cut short even a four months course, by coming late, 
 or leaving before the close. This, together with all the other 
 resolutions, was adopted, however, by large majorities ; and it is 
 worthy of remark, that very few, if any, were found to claim 
 that less than six months was really sufficient to present the vari- 
 ous branches of medical science with that fulness which ought to 
 be enforced in a college course. 
 
 The report on Medical Ethics, made by Drs. Bell and Hays, 
 was very full and explicit, and was unanimously adopted by the 
 Convention. The same was true of the reports of Dr. Griscom, 
 on "a Eegistration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths," and on " a 
 Nomenclature of Diseases adapted to the United States, having 
 reference to a general registration of deaths." These were all 
 adopted, and may be found in the first volume of Transactions of 
 the American Medical Association, Another subject which elicit- 
 ed discussion and much attention, was that embodied in the fol- 
 lowing resolution, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved^ That the union of the business of teaching and 
 licensing in the same hands, is wrong in principle, and liable to 
 great abuse in practice. Instead of conferring the right to license 
 on medical colleges, and State and .County medical societies, it 
 should be restricted to one board in each State, composed in fair 
 proportion of the representatives from its medical colleges and 
 the profession at large, and the pay for whose services, as ex- 
 aminers, should, in no degree, depend on the number licensed by 
 them." 
 
 It was stated on a preceding page, that this resolution was pre-
 
 46 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sented to the Convention in New York, bj Dr. 0. S. Bartles, and 
 was referred to a special committee of seven, with directions to 
 report at the meeting in Philadelphia. This Committee consisted 
 of Drs. James McNaughton, of Albany, N. Y., and professor in 
 the Albany Medical College ; J. R. Manley, J. W. Francis, and 
 Thomas Cock, of New York ; Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia ; R. 
 Blakeman, of Conn.; and J. Cullen, of Va. The chairman. Dr. 
 McNaughton, made a report adverse to the general sentiment of 
 the resolution, but which did not meet the views of a majority of 
 the Committee. 
 
 His report closed with the following resolutions, viz : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That inasmuch as an opinion prevails to a consider- 
 able extent in the profession, that certain abuses have crept into 
 some of the colleges — namely, that they confer degrees upon per- 
 sons who have not fully complied with their own requirements 
 or on those who do not possess the requisite amount of knowledge 
 to entitle them to such distinction, it is deemed expedient by this 
 Convention, in order to satisfy the just wishes of the profession^ 
 and to remove yw5< grounds of complaint, that such colleges as do 
 not already possess mixed boards of examiners, should consent to 
 have associated wiiJi theni, in the examinations for degrees, some mem- 
 bers of the profession not engaged in teaching, or otherwise interested in 
 such institutions. 
 
 " Resolved, That the number of boards for granting licenses in 
 the several States, should be as limited as would comport with 
 the convenience of examiners and candidates in each State." 
 
 Another report was made from the same Committee by Dr. 
 Isaac Parrish, and signed also by Drs. J. R. Manley, J. W. Francis, 
 and Thomas Cock. This report maintained in clear, yet con- 
 ciliatory language, not only the liaUlity to, but the actual existence 
 of abuses in the granting of diplomas which were in themselves 
 licenses to practise, and the right of the profession to apply some 
 appropriate remedy. Without any specific recommendation, how- 
 ever, the report of Dr. Parrish concluded with the following 
 preamble and resolution, viz : —
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 47 
 
 " "Whereas, a general sentiment prevails in the medical profes- 
 sion that the active competition existing among the medical col- 
 leges of the Union has a tendency to lower the standard of profes- 
 sional requirements, and to depreciate the value of the degree ; 
 and whereas^ the facilities with which charters for medical corpo- 
 rations are obtained from our State governments, exposes the 
 medical profession to the continuance and increase of such abuses, 
 inasmuch as these corporations possess alike the power of granting 
 the license to practise ; therefore Resolved^ That in the opinion 
 of this Convention, some additional checks to the exercise of this rigid 
 should he established by the great body of the medical profession." 
 
 After considerable discussion, both the reports, and the resolu- 
 tions appended to them, were disposed of by the adoption of a 
 resolution referring the whole subject to the Committee on Me- 
 dical Education, with instructions to report on the same at the 
 next meeting of the American Medical Association. 
 
 Perhaps the most important subject which engaged the atten- 
 tion of this Convention was the report of the Committee on a 
 Plan for organizing a Permanent National Association. This Com- 
 mittee, consisting of Drs. John Watson, John Stearns, F. Campbell 
 Stewart, and N. S. Davis, of New York ; A. Stilly of Philadel- 
 phia ; W. H. Cogswell, of New London, Conn.; and E. D. Fenner, 
 of New Orleans, La. ; reported, in full, a Constitution designed to 
 effect a permanent national organization. The Committee adopted, 
 as the basis of organization, the principle of representation^ by 
 making the acting members of the Association consist of dele- 
 gates from medical societies and institutions, in accordance with 
 a fixed numerical ratio. In the preamble attached to the Con- 
 stitution, the purposes for which the Association is organized are 
 declared to be, "for cultivating and advancing medical know- 
 ledge; for elevating the standard of medical education; for pro- 
 moting the usefulness, honor, and interests of the medical pro- 
 fession ; for enlightening and directing public opinion in regard 
 to the duties, responsibilities, and requirements of medical men ;
 
 4S HISTORY OF THE 
 
 for exciting and encouraging emulation and concert of action in 
 the profession ; and for facilitating and fostering friendly inter- 
 course between those engaged in it. 
 
 To more certainly efiect these objects, the Committee deemed it 
 important to hold out the strongest inducements for the formation 
 of State and local Associations, which should be auxiliary to the 
 national one. Ilence, they so framed the Constitution as to make 
 the great majority of the members of the National Association 
 consist of delegates from permanently organized State and county 
 medical societies throughout the Union. 
 
 To insure, also, a due share of the attention of the Association 
 to the cultivation of medical science and literature, the Constitu- 
 tion provided for the annual appointment of standing committees, 
 each consisting of seven members, on the following subjects, viz : — 
 
 A Committee on Ikledical Sciences ; on Practical Medicine ; on 
 Surgery ; on Obstetrics ; on Medical Education ; on Medical Lite- 
 rature; and on Publication. The articles of the Constitution were 
 considered separately, and also various amendments, only one of 
 which, however, proposed to alter essentially the basis or prin- 
 ciple of organization. This was presented by Dr. Isaac Ilays, of 
 Philadelphia, and was as follows, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That the report be referred back to the Committee, 
 with instructions to report a plan of organization in accordance 
 with the following sketch : — 
 
 " 1st. The Society to consist of members to be elected by the 
 Association directly, or through its council. 
 
 "2d. Members, before admission into the Association, to sign 
 a promise to conform to the laws of the Association. 
 
 "3d. Members who violate this pledge, to be liable to expul- 
 sion, and to be deprived of the rights of brotherhood. 
 
 "4th. For the appointment of a council, to consist of the officers 
 
 of the Society, and of councillors, to be elected annually, 
 
 or all the former, and a portion at least of the latter, to be elected 
 annually. The councillors to have the general superintendence
 
 Jr .Oi 
 
 A^ y 
 
 'fn. a.-^ 
 
 lATE E!£ERITUS PROFESSOR OF THE THEORTAND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 
 IN THE UNrVERSITT OF PENNSTLVANIA.
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 49 
 
 of the concerns and publications of the Association, and to report 
 the proceedings of the Association at its annual meeting." 
 
 After considerable discussion, the proposition of Dr. Hays was 
 lost, and the Constitution, as reported by the Committee, without 
 any important amendments, was adopted by a large majority. 
 
 The Convention then resolved itself into the " American Me- 
 dical Association ;" and a committee, consisting of one from each 
 State represented, was appointed to nominate officers of the As- 
 sociation for the ensuing year. The Committee soon reported 
 the names of the following gentlemen, who were unanimously 
 
 elected: — 
 
 * 
 
 President. 
 
 Dr. Nathaniel Chapman,* of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Vice-Presidents. 
 
 Drs. Jonathan Knight, of Conn. ; Alexander H. Stevens, of 
 
 N. Y.; James Moultrie, of S. C. ; A. H. Buchanan, of Tenn. 
 
 Secretaries. 
 Drs. Alfred Stille', of Phila.; J. R. W. Dunbar, of Baltimore. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Dr. Isaac Hays, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. Chapman, on being escorted to the President's chair, ad- 
 dressed the Association in a few very earnest and appropriate 
 remarks. Provision was made for appointing the several stand- 
 ing committees required by the Constitution, and also a com- 
 mittee of one from each State, to act under the following 
 resolution, offered by Dr. N. S. Davis, of N. Y., viz: — 
 
 " Resolved^ That a committee of one from each State represented 
 in this Association be appointed by the President, whose duty it 
 shall be to investigate the Indigenous Medical Botany of our 
 country ; paying particular attention to such plants as are now, 
 or may hereafter, during their time of service, be found to possess 
 
 ' For Biographical Memoir of Dr. Cbapman, see Appendix B. 
 
 4
 
 50 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 valuable medicinal properties, and 'are not already accurately 
 described in the standard works of our country ; and report the 
 same in writing, giving not only the botanical and medical descrip- 
 tion of each, but also the localities where they may be found, to 
 the next annual meeting of the American Medical Association." 
 
 After the adoption of the customary complimentary resolutions 
 to the officers of the Convention, the Committee of Arrangements, 
 &c., the Association adjourned. The session in Philadelphia con- 
 tinued three days, and ended, as it began, with the most cordial 
 friendship among all its members, and a unanimous desire to ele- 
 vate the character and extend the usefulness of the whole profes- 
 sion. In the foregoing brief sketch of the Convention which 
 resulted in the formation of the National Association, I have by 
 no means attempted to notice all its doings, but only such parts 
 as were calculated to exert a general influence over the profes- 
 sion, or to throw light on the organization and objects of the 
 latter. To the former belonged the reports and resolutions 
 adopted concerning a higher and more uniform standard of pre- 
 liminary education; more extensive requirements for the degree 
 of Doctor of Medicine; the separation of the teaching and licens- 
 ing powers, and the adoption of uniform registry laws; while to 
 the latter belonged the formation and adoption of a Constitution. 
 
 The attentive reader will observe that two radically different 
 principles were advocated as the basis of the national organiza- 
 tion. The idea or principle entertained by the Committee, and 
 embodied in the Constitution as adopted by the Convention, was, 
 that the National Association should emanate directly from the 
 local medical organizations and institutions, by making it consist 
 of delegates appointed annually by such bodies, and thereby give 
 it a legitimate claim to the character of a true representative of 
 the whole profession; and to guard still farther against any 
 liability to become sectional or localized in its character, a pro- 
 vision was incorporated in the Constitution, prohibiting the
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 51 
 
 holding of the annual meetings twice in succession in the same 
 place. Two great leading ends were aimed at by the adoption of 
 this principle of organization. The first was, that the recommen- 
 dations of an Association thus constituted of delegates directly 
 from the local societies and institutions of the profession through- 
 out the whole country, would have more influence, both with the 
 profession and the public, than one organized on any other plan. 
 The second was, that it would constantly hold out a strong in- 
 ducement to form and sustain in active operation. State, county, 
 and city associations in every State in the Union. 
 
 The other principle was embodied in the proposition of Dr. 
 Hays, already quoted. It proposed an organization, the members 
 of which should be elected by itself, either directly or through 
 a board of councillors, thereby making it essentially independent 
 of the State and local societies and institutions. It was claimed 
 for this, that it would give the Association greater stability, by 
 rendering its membership more select and permanent, and thereb}' 
 make it more efficient as an Association for the direct cultivation 
 of medical science. The advocates of this plan have never been 
 fully satisfied with the present Constitution of our Kational As- 
 sociation, but have almost annually sought to procure in it 
 essential modifications. Thus far the original principle has been 
 sustained, and the extent to which it has answered the expecta- 
 tions of its advocates will be seen in the sequel. 
 
 Another act illustrating the disposition of the originators of 
 the Association to make it as truly national as possible, and as 
 free from mere individual preferment, was the selection of the 
 first President of the Association. It is almost universally cus- 
 tomary in forming and carrying on social organizations, to elect 
 as officers those who have been most active and efficient in pro- 
 moting the objects sought. But the selection of Dr. Chapman was 
 based on no such principle. He was selected solely because, from 
 his age, his high attainments, and his position as one of the oldest
 
 52 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and most eminent teachers in the Union, he stood appropriately 
 at the head of the whole profession. Ilence, the selection was at 
 once an act of liberality and a just tribute to age and deserved 
 eminence. 
 
 Before adjourning, the Association selected Baltimore as the 
 next place of meeting, and the Constitution fixed the time, on the 
 first Tuesday in May of each year.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 53 
 
 1848. 
 
 FIRST ANNUAL MEETING, AT BALTIMORE. 
 
 The doings of the second National Convention, held in May, 
 1847, were noticed more or less in detail by the medical periodi- 
 cals throughout the country ; and with few exceptions, these 
 notices were couched in terms of decided commendation. Several 
 of the medical periodicals in this country were conducted by pro- 
 fessors in the medical colleges, and a majority of them regarded 
 the action of the Convention in reference to ex4^ending the college 
 term to six months, as unwise and impracticable, but otherwise 
 warmly commended its doings and objects. Dr. Samuel Annan, 
 one of the professors in the Transylvania University, the oldest 
 medical school in the west, carried his objections much further, 
 and reviewed the proceedings of the Convention at considerable 
 length in the Western Lancet, and his views were at least partially 
 indorsed by the editor of that journal. Dr. Annan contended that 
 the Convention was not properly a national one, because some sec- 
 tions of the country were represented very imperfectly, and many 
 of the colleges not at all; and hence its recommendations were not 
 binding either on the profession or the medical schools. He not 
 only opposed the extension of the lecture term in the colleges to 
 six months, as recommended by the Convention, but he opposed 
 still more strenuously the resolutions adopted, setting forth a 
 standard of preliminary education to be required before com- 
 mencing the study of medicine. 
 
 These resolutions will be found on pages forty-two and forty-
 
 54 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 three of this work. The standard requires simply, that the indi- 
 vidual proposing to study medicine, shall have ^^ acquired a good 
 English education, a knowledge of natural philosophy and the 
 elementary mathematical sciences, including geometry and alge- 
 bra; and such an acquaintance, at least, with the Latin and Greek 
 languages, as will enable him to appreciate the technical language 
 of medicine, and read and write prescriptions." 
 
 And yet Dr. Annan, gravely and at considerable length, con- 
 tended that these requirements were too high ; that they impose 
 unnecessary burdens on the student, and, if exacted, would deter 
 many from studying the profession, who would otherwise enter it 
 with profit to themselves, and benefit to the community. This 
 effort of Dr. Annan, like the address of Dr. Martyn Paine, pre- 
 vious to the first Convention, instead of diminishing the confi- 
 dence of the profession in the doings and objects of those who 
 assembled in Philadelphia, only served to call out able replies 
 from several sources, both in the east and the west, and thereby 
 direct the attention of a much larger number to the importance 
 of the whole subject. Perhaps the most important of these replies 
 was that of Dr. Sutton, of Georgetown, Kentucky, published in 
 the Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery. He refuted all the 
 special pleading of Prof. Annan with sound arguments and happy 
 illustrations. But while some of the resolutions adopted by the 
 Philadelphia Convention were objected to by such journals as 
 were connected with the medical colleges, they were almost 
 unanimously approved by the great mass of active practitioners, 
 as represented in the several State and county or district societies. 
 Indeed, one of the earliest and most important results which fol- 
 lowed the organization of a permanent National Association, was 
 the organization of new societies and associations in States where 
 none existed before, and the revival of many old societies which 
 bad ceased to maintain an active existence. 
 
 During the period intervening between the sitting of the Con-
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOlSr. 55 
 
 vention in Philadelphia, and the next annual meeting in Balti- 
 more, new State medical societies were organized in South Caro- 
 lina, Alabama, and Pennsylvania ; and the old ones were greatly 
 invigorated in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, and Wiscon- 
 sin. In all these, and many others in the Middle and New 
 England States, resolutions were adopted, cordially sanctioning 
 the action of the National Convention, particularly in reference 
 to the subject of preliminary and medical education. The follow- 
 ing resolutions, adopted by the Medical Society of the State of 
 Delaware, at its annual meeting in December, 1847, will afford a 
 fair representation of the action of nearly all the State medical 
 societies in the United States, in reference to the same subject. 
 
 ''^ Resolved^ That this Society regard the unanimity which cha- 
 racterized the proceedings of the National Medical Convention, at 
 its annual meeting in May last, and the prospective field of action 
 then unfolded, as sources of gratification, and as calculated to 
 advance the best interests of the medical profession, and of the 
 community at large, by elevating the standard of medical educa- 
 tion and ethics, and by exciting a spirit of scientific investigation 
 throughout the Union. 
 
 ^^Besolved, That this Society coincide in the recommendation of 
 the Convention, as respects preliminary education, the requirement 
 of the medical schools, and registration of births, marriages, and 
 deaths ; and that its eflbrts shall be directed to the advancement 
 of the objects therein contemplated." 
 
 But while the proceedings of the great National Medical Con- 
 gress, at Philadelphia, were thus explicitly ratified and sanctioned 
 by the great body of American practitioners, as represented in 
 the State and local societies, it is evident that most of those 
 directly connected with the medical schools, looked upon the 
 whole movement with distrust, chiefly, however, on account of 
 the proposed extension of the lecture term to six months. That 
 they felt strongly the moral force of the recommendation, was 
 evident both from the comments of such medical journals as re-
 
 56 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 presented particular schools, and from attempts to partially com- 
 ply Willi the requisition. Thus the medical department of the 
 University of Pennsylvania promptly extended its lecture term 
 to six months, thereby complying with the recommendation in 
 full ; the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the oldest and most 
 influential school in New York, extended its term to Jive months; 
 while most of the remaining schools contented themselves with 
 the addition of from two to four weeks of preliminary instruction, 
 on which their classes might attend or not, as they chose. 
 
 Such seems to have been the immediate and obvious influence 
 produced by the organization of the American Medical Associa- 
 tion, and the two National Conventions that preceded it. 
 
 The first regular annual meeting of the Association commenced 
 its session on the 2d day of May, 1848, in the city of Baltimore. 
 At 11 o'clock A.M., the President, the venerable Dr. Nathaniel 
 Chapman, of Philadelphia, took the chair and opened the session 
 with a very brief, but eloquent and appropriate address. In ap- 
 plying the word appropriate^ to the remarks of Dr. Chapman, I do 
 not wish to be understood as indorsing fully, one of the prominent 
 sentiments then uttered by him, and which reads as follows, viz : 
 " The profession to which we belong, once venerated on account 
 of its antiquity — its varied and profound science — its elegant 
 literature — its polite accomplishments — its virtues — has become 
 corrupt and degenerate, to the forfeiture o? its social position, and with 
 it, of the homage it formerly received spontaneously and univer- 
 sally." It would be exceedingly gratifying to know when was that 
 golden period in the history of medicine, characterized by pro- 
 found science and elegant literature, coupled with the 2^olite accom- 
 plishments and exalted virtues of its votaries. 
 
 It could not have been at a very ancient period ; for, with the 
 exception of here and there a brilliant star in the medical firma- 
 ment, we find in all the earlier centuries, instead ofprofound 
 medical science, only a medical literature corrupted by an inter-
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 57 
 
 mixture of all the mythological, alchemistical, and superstitious 
 dogmas of the times. Indeed, Dr. Chapman himself, in the same 
 brief address, tells us that, " with the present century^ the spirit of 
 phihsopliy began to be infused into it (medicine), creative of real 
 and substantial improvements in its theories and modes of prac- 
 tice, raising it from a low and conjectural art, to a place among the 
 legitimate sciences^ The present century commenced with the 
 year 1800 ; and if with that began the first real infusion of the 
 spirit of true philosophy into medical science and literature, re- 
 sulting in their subsequent elevation to a "place among the legiti- 
 mate sciences," then surely, we must search for the golden age 
 alluded to, among the records of the last fifty years ; that is, within 
 a period covered by the professional career of Dr. Chapman him- 
 self. Now the idea that the profession, in any of its aspects, has 
 become more corrupt and degenerate during that brief period, will 
 appear simply ridiculous to all who are familiar with its history. 
 I know it may be said that Dr. Chapman referred more particu- 
 larly to its " social position^^^ than to its progress in science. The 
 time has been, doubtless, when a powdered wig, a golden-headed 
 cane, and a pompous display of the mythological jargon of past 
 centuries, elicited from the superstitious multitude an admiring 
 deference and blind homage unknown at the present day. But 
 was that a social position to be desired ; or to be remembered 
 with regret by enlightened minds of the nineteenth century? I 
 think not. And I further think, that we shall search the records 
 of the past in vain, to find a period when the profession possessed 
 more profound science — more elegant literature — more varied 
 accomplishments — or more exalted virtues — than at the present 
 time. 
 
 The idea that there has been, during the last century, any period 
 when the profession has become corrupt and degenerate, in an}^ 
 of its aspects, whether scientific, literary, moral, or social, is de- 
 lusive and untrue. False pretenders and quackery have abounded
 
 58 ' HISTORY OF THE 
 
 in every age, from that of Hippocrates to the present. But legi- 
 timate medicine has advanced with every step of progress in 
 general science and philosophy. And during the last half century, 
 especially, has every branch of the healing art become enriched 
 and expanded by an accumulation of facts, and the application of 
 philosophical principles of research, beyond any other period that 
 can be named. It is this very rapid advance in science and 
 literature which has made ignorance in the profession more ap- 
 parent, exposed more fully the tricks and arts of mere pretenders, 
 and brought the whole profession more rigidly to the necessity of 
 resting its claims to public confidence on its actual attainments. 
 The real boundaries of medical science, the sum total of medical 
 knowledge, has also immensely increased, as is easily demon- 
 strated by comparing the text-books and medical literature of 
 1800 with those of 1850. And yet, with all this increase of 
 medical science and literature, including the applications of the 
 microscope, organic chemistry, and physical means of diagno- 
 sis, the nominal term of medical pupilage has remained the 
 same. 
 
 The medical schools attempt to teach the medical science of 
 1850, in the same number of weeks as they did that of 1800. 
 Ilence the real cause of that restlessness of the professional mind, 
 and that demand for reform which resulted in the formation of 
 the American Medical Association, was not corruption and de- 
 generacy, nor a consciousness of social degradation ; but it was 
 the failure on the part of the profession at large to exact, of those 
 proposing to enter its ranks, a general education, corresponding 
 with the extent and intricacy of the medical field before them, 
 and an equal failure of the medical schools to extend and system^, 
 atize their courses of lectures in a ratio with the rapidly extending 
 sciences which they professed to teach. 
 
 The whole number of delegates present at the meeting in Bal- 
 timore was 2G6, representing societies and medical institutions in
 
 ^L.|E5SA|3©EK MoSTEVEl 
 
 ID)
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 59 
 
 twenty-one States, and the District of Columbia. After a variety 
 of motions and some ballotings, a committee of one from each 
 State represented in the Convention, was appointed to recommend 
 suitable candidates for officers of the Association during the com- 
 ing year. Dr. Chapman, in his opening address, had expressly 
 declined being a candidate for re-election, and urged upon the 
 Association the propriety of adopting the principle of rotation in 
 office. On the morning of the second day of the session, the 
 Nominating Committee reported the following list of candidates, 
 who were unanimously elected as the officers of the Association, 
 viz: — 
 
 President. 
 Dr. Alexander H. Stevens,' of New York. 
 Vice-Presidents. 
 Drs. J. C. "Warren, of Mass. ; Samuel Jackson, of Pennsylva- 
 nia ; Paul F. Eve, of Georgia ; W. M. Awl, of Ohio. 
 
 Secretaries. 
 Drs. Alfred Stille, of Philadelphia ; H. I. Bowditch, of Boston. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Dr. Isaac Hays, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. Stevens, on being conducted to the chair, returned his 
 thanks to the Association for the honor conferred, and added some 
 very excellent remarks. The most important subjects which en- 
 grossed the attention of the Association during the session, were 
 embodied in the reports of the standing committees appointed 
 at the meeting in Philadelphia. The report on Medical Sciences, 
 was made by Dr. AY. T. "Wragg, of Charleston, S. C. ; that on 
 Practical Medicine by Dr. Joseph M. Smith, of New York, to 
 which was appended a very interesting paper on CEdematous 
 Laryngitis, by Dr. Gurdon Buck, one of the Surgeons to the New 
 York Hospital ; and that on Obstetrics, by Dr. Harvey Liudsly 
 
 1 For Biography of Dr. Steycns, see Appendix C.
 
 60 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of Washington, D. C. These several reports were well written, 
 and contained a very full resume of the recent improvements made 
 in these important departments of medical science. The report 
 on Surgery was made by Dr. George W. Norris, of Philadelphia, 
 to which was appended three papers on anaesthetic agents in sur- 
 gical practice, namely, one by Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia, 
 one by Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, of Boston, and one by Dr. K. D. 
 Musscy, of Cincinnati. These last named papers led to a some- 
 what protracted and very interesting discussion, during which 
 much valuable information in relation to the use of ether, chlo- 
 roform, and chloric ether, was communicated by Dr. J. C. War- 
 ren, and others. 
 
 The report from the Standing Committee on Medical Literature 
 was made by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, of Boston ; and that 
 on Medical Education, by Dr. A. H. Stevens, of New York. The 
 latter report was accompanied by a series of resolutions, declaring 
 it to be the duty of the trustees of hospitals to open their wards 
 for the purposes of clinical instruction ; that every system of 
 , medical instruction should rest on the basis of practical demon- 
 stration and clinical teaching; and that medical colleges should 
 gain access for their students to the wards of a well-regulated 
 hospital ; that no mere political considerations should influence 
 the appointment of those who are to serve as hospital physicians 
 and surgeons; that the recommendations of the Convention of 
 May, 1847, in relation to preliminary education and the requisites 
 for graduation, be reaffirmed by the Association ; and some other 
 items of less importance. These resolutions were discussed fully 
 in committee of the whole, and finally adopted with one or two 
 amendments. The resolution in relation to preliminary education, 
 &c., as adopted, is as follows, viz : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That this Committee reiterate and strongly recommend 
 to the Association a practical observance of the resolutions ap- 
 pended to the report of the Committee on Preliminary Education,
 
 AMEBIC AN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 61 
 
 and on the requisites for graduation submitted to the Medical 
 Convention which assembled in Philadelphia in May, 1847." 
 
 The foregoing reports from standing committees occupy 240 
 pages of the volume of Transactions^ and are well worthy of the 
 perusal of every member of the profession. The paper of Dr. 
 Buck on CEdematous Laryngitis, and the practicability of scari- 
 fying the glottis, was illustrated by several well-executed colored 
 plates, and is alone worth the cost of the whole volume. 
 
 The report of Dr. Holmes on Medical Literature criticizes, with 
 severity, the proneness of American writers to content them- 
 selves with the position of editors of foreign works ; and, with still 
 greater severity, the character of some departments of our medical 
 periodicals. But he closes his report without any more specific 
 recommendations than the following, viz : " It is by indirect 
 means, rather than by direct contrivances, that this desirable 
 object (the improvement of our medical literature), is to be pro- 
 moted; by elevating the standard of education; by the stern 
 exclusion of unworthy articles from medical journals; by the 
 substitution of original for parasitical authorship ; and by intro- 
 ducing such a tone of general scholarship and scientific cultivation 
 that the finer class of intellects may be drawn towards the ranks 
 of the medical profession." 
 
 During the session of the Association, a communication was 
 received from the medical department of the National Institute in 
 reference to the sanitary condition of the United States, informing 
 the Association that a committee had been appointed on that 
 important subject, and inviting its aid and co-operation. 
 
 This was responded to by the Association, and a committee, 
 consisting of twelve eminent members of the profession, was 
 appointed to report on the subject at the next annual meeting. 
 
 Dr. T. O. Edwards, then a member of Congress from Ohio, 
 made a very interesting communication to the Association on the 
 subject of the adulteration of imported drugs, and the necessity of
 
 62 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 a law of Congress requiring the inspection of drugs in all the 
 principal seaport towns. The communication of Dr. Edwards 
 was received with attention, and published in the Transactions 
 of the Association. A formal memorial for such a law as had been 
 proposed was drawn up and presented to Congress. A report, 
 occupying 17 pages of the volume of Transactions, was made by 
 the chairman of the Committee on Indigenous Medical Botany, 
 Dr. N. S. Davis, of New York. This report was chiefly occupied 
 with the discussion of the medicinal properties of the rumex, or 
 water-dock ; the Lycopus virginicus; the Hamamelis virginicus; and 
 the Cimicifuga racemosa. It seems to have been the design of the 
 chairman of this Committee to institute a thorough inquiry into 
 the real medicinal properties of such native plants as had been re- 
 puted to possess valuable medicinal qualities, rather than the col- 
 lection of mere botanical catalogues. And it is to be regretted that 
 his design has not been fully carried out, for there is no subject 
 that more imperiously demands a thorough investigation than this. 
 This report was designed by its author, merely as the beginning 
 of a work that would require years to complete. It was accom- 
 panied by two papers embodying extensive botanical catalogues 
 of medicinal plants, one from Dr. Stephen W. Williams, of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and the other from Dr. F. P. Porcher, of South Caro- 
 lina. These were returned to the Committee with the request 
 that their investigations should be continued another year. On 
 motion of Dr. Corbin, of Virginia, delegates were appointed to 
 visit and exchange friendly intercourse with the British and Pro- 
 vincial Medical and Surgical Associations. Drs. George B. Wood, 
 Jacob Bigelow, and 11. H. McGuire, were appointed for that pur- 
 pose. Various amendments to the Constitution were proposed, 
 but could not be acted upon till the next annual meeting of the 
 Association. 
 
 The several standing committees required by the Constitution 
 were appointed, and the city of Boston selected as the place for
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 63 
 
 tlie next annual meeting. Witli the exception of a few items of 
 discord at the commencement of the session, the proceedings of 
 this meeting were conducted throughout with much harmony 
 and good feeling. The session was continued three days, and 
 evidently contributed much to increase the confidence of the 
 profession in the permanency and value of the Association. It 
 was evident that an active spirit of improvement had been 
 aroused in every department of the profession. 
 
 It was manifest in the rapidly increasing social organization of 
 the profession to which I have already alluded. It was equally 
 manifest in the zeal with which the several committees appointed 
 by the Association, entered upon the literary labors imposed upon 
 them ; and still more by the disposition to communicate valuable 
 private papers, like those of Drs. Buck, Du Bois, and Edwards, 
 which were presented at the present session. 
 
 And as the first regular annual session of the Association 
 closed, I think every member felt willing to unite heartily in the 
 following sentiment, which constituted the closing remark of Dr. 
 Stevens on taking the presidential chair. 
 
 " Our Association stands forth without a parallel in its high 
 purposes, and its means of accomplishing them. May it prove 
 an exemplar of similar organizations in our sister republics of 
 the Western Hemisphere, and exhibit in a new form to our 
 brethren in Europe, the easy adaptation of our institutions to the 
 great end of promoting the happiness of mankind."
 
 g4 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 1849. 
 
 SECOXD ANNUAL MEETING, AT BOSTON. 
 
 Nothing of special interest occurred in relation to the Ameri- 
 can Medical Association, from the close of the annual meeting in 
 Baltimore, until the commencement of the second anniversary 
 in Boston, May 1, 1849. The minutes of the meeting in Balti- 
 more were very generally published in the medical journals of 
 the country, and the work of organizing State and local societies, 
 as mentioned on a preceding page, continued to progress. 
 
 On the first day of May, 1849, the delegates and members as- 
 sembled in the hall of the Lowell Institute, and at 10 o'clock A. 
 M., were called to order by Dr. Alexander H. Stevens, of New 
 York, President of the Association. Dr. J. C. Warren, of Bos- 
 ton, in behalf of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the 
 Committee of Arrangements, welcomed the delegates to their city, 
 and extended to them the cordial greeting of the profession. The 
 President then delivered an address, in which he alluded to the 
 objects for which the Association was organized, and the impor- 
 tant advantages expected to result from its action. More than 
 four hundred members were present during the meeting, repre- 
 senting the profession and institutions of twenty-four States. 
 
 On the recommendation of a committee of one from each State 
 represented, the following gentlemen were elected officers of the 
 Association, viz: —
 
 ENBHMEn STZB-VmLCUiPJllL-^'iKOM^IIAGnERKEOTiTE S7 JOHN A. WHIFELE. BOSTON 
 
 f\\f 
 
 ^^ (/\AyVv^ 
 
 G b 
 
 a-.ri^.x/v^ 
 
 'U/l'iiU^'
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 65 
 
 President. 
 
 Dr. J. C. Warren/ of Boston. 
 
 Vice-Presidents. 
 
 Drs. J. P. Harrison, of Cincinnati ; A. Flint, of Buffalo ; H. H. 
 
 Maguire, of Eichmond ; R. S. Stewart, of Baltimore. 
 
 Secretaries. 
 
 Drs. a. Stilli:, of Philadelphia ; H. I. Bowditch, of Boston. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Dr. Isaac Hays, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. "Warren, on being conducted to the chair, returned his 
 thanks to the Association for the honor conferred; after which the 
 reports of the Standing Committees were called for, and presented 
 in order. Dr. D. F. Condie, chairman of the Committee on 
 Practical Medicine, presented a lengthy report; only a part of 
 which was read, when, on motion of Dr. A. H. Stevens, it was 
 referred to the Committee of Publication. This was the besrin- 
 ning of a policy, which has resulted in the establishment of the 
 practice of receiving and referring papers to the Publishing 
 Committee, not only without being read to the Association, but 
 without having been completed by their authors. 
 
 Dr. N. R. Smith, of Baltimore, chairman of the Standing 
 Committee on Surgery, read the annual report on that subject. 
 
 The consideration of anaesthetic agents, the treatment of frac- 
 tures, and the operations for vesical calculi, occupied much the 
 larger share of the report. The Committee fully justified the use 
 of anaesthetics in all important surgical operations, and gave 
 preference to chloroform, over ether. 
 
 The report of the Committee on Obstetrics was presented and 
 read by Dr. C. R. Gilman, of New York, acting chairman. This 
 report was also occupied chiefly with the consideration of 
 
 ' For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Warren, see Appendix, D. 
 
 5
 
 66 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 anaesthetics, and their application in Obstetric practice. It was 
 claimed by the author of this report, that the use of these agents 
 was not only justifiable for the purpose of alleviating the pains 
 of labor but also that, in all difficult and instrumental labors, their 
 application ^^ could not be rigUfully withheld" This report also 
 gave the preference to chloroform over all other anaesthetic 
 agents. This, like the report on Surgery, was referred to the 
 Committee on Publication, without discussion. They were pub- 
 lished in the second volume of Transactions of the Association, 
 and may be usefully consulted, both by students and practitioners 
 of the healing art. 
 
 Dr. J. P. Harrison, of Cincinnati, chairman of the Committee 
 on Medical Literature, presented and read a full and well written 
 report ; which was referred to the Committee on Publication. 
 
 The Committee claimed that much valuable literary material 
 existed in the profession of our country, which was unknown to 
 the public, on account of the inability of the authors to procure 
 its publication. And they recommended the establishment of a 
 Board of Publication, to whom such materials might be pre- 
 sented for examination and publication, if approved by them. 
 The following resolution, appended to the report on Medical 
 Literature, was adopted by the Association, and Drs. "W". E. 
 Horner, D. F. Condie, and Isaac Hays, of Philadelphia, appointed 
 the Committee, viz; — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, to take 
 into consideration the measures recommended in this report, for 
 the promotion of our national medical literature, with instruc- 
 tions to report at the next annual meeting." 
 
 On motion of Dr. G. B. Wood, the same Special Committee 
 was instructed to report on an international copy-right law. 
 
 At a subsequent part of the session. Dr. Horner, in behalf of 
 the Committee, reported the following resolution : —
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION". 67 
 
 " Resolved^ That a committee of three be appointed to memo- 
 rialize Congress in favor of an international copy-right law." 
 
 The resolution was adopted, and Drs. G. B. Wood, T. E. Bond, 
 and Isaac Hays, appointed the Committee, with instructions to 
 prepare a memorial, and submit it to the next annual meeting of 
 the Association. At this, as at all the preceding meetings of the 
 Association, the subject of Medical Education occupied a large 
 share of time and attention. Dr. F. Campbell Stewart, of New 
 York, chairman of the Standing Committee on Medical Educa- 
 tion, presented a full report, embracing an account of the medical 
 institutions, requirements for graduation, number of students and 
 professors, &c. &c., both in this country and Europe; also, an 
 account of the legal requirements exacted of medical practitioners 
 in the several States, and the rules and requirements of the Army 
 and Navy Boards of Examiners. 
 
 The report urged strongly the adoption of a higher standard 
 of preliminary education, to be exacted before allowing the 
 student to enter upon the study of medicine, as the basis of all 
 real improvement in the education of the profession. To secure 
 this, all State and local societies were recommended to establish 
 primary boards of examiners, whose duty it should be to ex- 
 amine all who proposed to study medicine within their respective 
 districts, except such as were graduates of some literary institu- 
 tion, and grant to those qualified, certificates of such qualifications. 
 A series of resolutions were appended to the report, designed to 
 elicit direct action on the part of the Association. 
 
 They were as follows, viz : — 
 
 1. " Resolved, That the attention of medical colleges be again 
 directed to the resolutions of the Committee on Preliminary 
 Education, adopted by the Medical Convention of 1847, and that 
 they be advised to require from students that they shall, in all 
 cases, produce certificates of preliminary education. 
 
 2. " Resolved, That the several State and county societies, as 
 well as all voluntary medical associations throughout the country,
 
 68 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 be advised and requested to adopt the plan proposed by tbe Medi- 
 cal Society of the State of New York, at its last annual meeting, 
 for insuring due attention to the subject of preliminary education. 
 
 3. " Resolved, That this Association does not sanction or recog- 
 nize 'Colleo-e Clinics' as substitutes for hospital clinical instruction, 
 and that the medical colleges be again advised to insist, in all in- 
 stances where it is practicable, on the regular attendance of their 
 pupils during a period of at least six months, upon the treatment 
 of patients in a well conducted hospital, or other suitable institu- 
 tion, devoted to the reception and care of the sick. 
 
 " 4. Resolved, That it would conduce both to the convenience 
 and advantage of students, if the subjects taught in the colleges 
 were divided into two series ; the one of which should be studied 
 during the first year's attendance on lectures, and the other during 
 the second session. And that examinations should be instituted 
 at the close of the first course of lectures on the subjects taught 
 during that course ; certificates of which should be required prior 
 to the final examination. 
 
 " 5. Resolved, That it is the deliberate opinion of this Associa- 
 tion, that the plan of examining students for medical degrees in 
 private, and before one professor only at a time, is highly defective, 
 and should be at once discontinued. 
 
 " 6. Resolved, That examinations for medical degrees should be 
 practical, and that it is desirable, as far as practicable, that they 
 should be conducted in writing as well as viva voce. 
 
 " 7. Resolved, That in view of the importance of a due know- 
 ledge of practical pharmacy, the medical schools be advised to 
 require from candidates for degrees, that they should produce 
 satisfactory evidence of having been engaged in compounding 
 medicines and putting up prescriptions, either under the directions 
 of their private preceptors, or in the shop of a recognized and 
 qualified apothecary. 
 
 " 8. Resolved, That the interests, both of the public and the 
 medical profession, would be promoted by the establishment of 
 boards of examiners in each" of the States of the Union, to examine 
 candidates for licenses to engage in the active practice of medicine 
 and surgery. 
 
 "9. Resolved^ That the standard of requirements established by
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 69 
 
 the examining boards of the several States, should be uniform, and 
 that the examinations should, as far as practicable, be conducted 
 in a similar manner. 
 
 " 10. Resolved, That the examiners should, in all instances, 
 satisfy themselves, that candidates are familiar with the element- 
 ary branches of general knowledge. 
 
 " 11. Resolved, That for the purpose of carrying out the objects 
 contemplated in the foregoing resolutions, a special committee of 
 seven members be appointed to prepare a memorial and form of 
 law in reference to the subject of the establishment of Boards of 
 Medical Examiners, to be submitted to the Association at its next 
 annual meeting." 
 
 The report of the Committee on Medical Education was ac- 
 cepted, and referred to the Committee on Publication, and the 
 resolutions taken up for action thereon. 
 
 In this connection a communication was received from the New 
 York Academy of Medicine, in the form of a series of resolutions, 
 which had been adopted by that body. The resolutions advocated 
 a higher standard of preliminary education, and a separation of 
 the business of teaching and liceyismg, hitherto united in the college 
 faculties. This communication, together with a letter from Dr. 
 John Watson, of New York, was received and laid on the table. 
 
 The resolutions of the Committee on Medical Education were dis- 
 cussed at considerable length, in committee of the whole, and those 
 numbered 1 and 3 adopted, and the rest either amended, rejected, 
 or laid on the table. The Committee then rose and reported, when, 
 on motion of Dr. Alexander H. Stevens, the whole subject of 
 medical education, together with the resolutions just acted upon 
 in committee, were referred to a special committee of three, with 
 instructions to report the next morning. The President appointed 
 Drs. A. H. Stevens, G. B, Wood, and J. Knight, the Committee. 
 The communication from the Academy of Medicine, and the letter 
 of Dr. Watson, were taken from the table and referred to the same 
 Committee.
 
 70 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Dr. Stevens, in behalf of the Committee, reported back the 1st 
 and 3d resolutions, already quoted, without alteration, and in ad- 
 dition the following: — 
 
 '■'■Resolved, That the Association reiterate their approval of the 
 resolutions in reference to medical education, adopted by the Con- 
 vention, which met in Philadelphia, in May, 1847, and contained 
 in pages 73 and 7-1 of the published proceedings of that Convention, 
 
 " Resolved, That physicians generally, throughout the Union, 
 be advised and requested to require of those wishing to become 
 their pupils, evidence of a proper general education, before admis- 
 sion into their offices. 
 
 " Resolved, That in accordance with a resolution of the American 
 Medical Association, adopted May 4, 1847, it is earnestly recom- 
 mended to the physicians of those States in which State medical 
 societies do not exist, that they take measures to organize them 
 before the next meeting of this Association. 
 
 '■'■ Resolved, That the State societies be recommended, after they 
 shall have been organized, to recognize as regular practitioners 
 none who have not obtained a degree in medicine, or a license 
 from some regular medical body, obtained after due examination. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That the Association recommend to the various 
 schools of medicine, to meet at Cincinnati before the next annual 
 meeting of this Association." 
 
 After much discussion, these resolutions were all adopted, to- 
 gether with the following, which was offered by Dr. T. E. Bond, 
 of Baltimore, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That this Association recommend the encourage- 
 ment of private medical institutions, strongly advising that dis- 
 pensary practice be made, as far as possible, a part of the means 
 of instruction." 
 
 In connection with the report of the Committee on Medical 
 Education, Dr. Ware, of Boston, presented a paper from the 
 Faculty of Harvard University, against the proposition to extend 
 the annual college terras to six months. This communication 
 having been received and referred to the Committee on Publica-
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 71 
 
 tion, on motion of Dr. G. B. Wood, a committee of three was 
 appointed to write and present to tlie Committee on Publication, a 
 paper, setting forth the views of the Association in favor of a 
 lengthened term. The President appointed Dr. Samuel Jackson, 
 of Pennsylvania University, Dr. J. L. Atlee, and Dr. A. Stilld, of 
 Philadelphia, the Committee. 
 
 This Committee discharged the duty assigned to it, and both 
 papers may be found in the volume of Transactions for 184:9. 
 
 Besides the reports of standing committees already noticed. 
 Dr. L. P. Yandell, of Kentucky, chairman of the Committee on 
 Medical Sciences, forwarded his report, which, in his absence, was 
 referred to the Publishing Committee without being read. 
 
 The annual report of the Committee on Hygiene was pre- 
 sented and read by Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia. It em- 
 bodied much valuable information in relation to the sanitary 
 statistics and condition of the more important cities of our coun- 
 try; and had appended a very lengthy and important report on 
 the sanitary condition of Massachusetts, by Dr. Josiah Curtis, of 
 Boston. 
 
 The annual report of the Committee on our Indigenous Medi- 
 cal Botany, &c., was presented by the chairman. Dr. N. S. Davis, 
 with two papers appended, in the form of botanical catalogues of 
 medicinal plants, one by Dr. S. "W. Williams, of Massachusetts, 
 and the other by Dr. F. P. Porcher, of South Carolina. All 
 these, together with an interesting paper from Dr. Samuel Jack- 
 son, of Philadelphia, on the effects of tea and coffee on children 
 and the laboring classes, were referred to the Committee on Pub- 
 lications, and may be found in the Transactions of that year. 
 
 On motion of Dr. A. H. Stevens, of New York, three addi- 
 tional committees were instituted, viz: A Committee of seven, on 
 Forensic Medicine ; one of like number on Indigenous Botany 
 and Materia Medica; and another on Public Hygiene.
 
 72 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 These, together with the former standing committees, were filled 
 for the coming year by the Committee on Nominations. 
 
 It will be seen, both from the number of States represented, 
 and the whole number of delegates in attendance, that the meet- 
 ing of the Association in Boston, presented a very full repre- 
 sentation of the medical profession of this country, not only as a 
 whole, but also in its several departments and special interests. 
 Ilence, its action may be justly claimed as a fair expression of 
 the sentiments of the great body of the profession. It was in 
 view of this fact, that I quoted in detail the resolutions pre- 
 sented and adopted, concerning the all-engrossing subject of 
 medical education and improvement. In a former part of this 
 history, I have shown that this subject was the leading one 
 which called forth the movement that resulted in the forma- 
 tion of the Association itself. And further, that in direct con- 
 nection with the act of organization, the most decided stand 
 was taken in favor of elevating the standard of attainments, both 
 preliminary and medical; of extending the lecture terms in the 
 several colleges; of making practical anatomy and clinical in- 
 struction essential elements in a course of medical study; and of 
 extending and completing the social organization of the profes- 
 sion throughout the Union. It will be seen by the resolutions 
 adopted and quoted above, that the meeting at Boston fully sanc- 
 tioned and confirmed the action of the primary Conventions in 
 New York and Philadelphia, in reference to all these topics. That 
 the profession demands a higher standard of general education on 
 the part of students of medicine, a more systematic and complete 
 course of instruction on the part of the medical colleges, and a 
 more rigid and disinterested examination of candidates for gradua- 
 tion, there can be no doubt. 
 
 The resolutions adopted at Boston and elsewhere abundantly 
 indicate this. And yet, five years have passed away without the 
 full accomplishment of any one of these objects. There are two
 
 AMEKICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 73 
 
 prominent reasons for this failure. The first consists in a dispo- 
 sition to look to the medical colleges for too large a share of the 
 action necessary for the accomplishment of the objects desired. 
 
 Instead of regarding these institutions as mere schools for me- 
 dical instruction, and demanding of them such action only as was 
 calculated to render their courses of instruction more systematic 
 and complete, they have been looked to for the practical execu- 
 tion of almost every specific recommendation which has been 
 made by the Association on the subject of education. Thus, of 
 the seven resolutions adopted at Boston, as reported by the Spe- 
 cial Committee, of which Dr. Stevens was chairman, four related 
 directly to the action of the medical colleges, two to the further 
 organization and action of State medical societies, and one, 
 couched in very general terms, was addressed to the individual 
 members of the profession generally. The disposition to which 
 I refer is well illustrated by the action taken in reference to pre- 
 liminary education. The Convention at Philadelphia had de- 
 clared the necessity of a more elevated standard of preliminary 
 acquirements, but had pointed out no special mode for securing its 
 adoption in practice. To supply this defect, one of the county me- 
 dical societies of New York (I think the Erie County Society, as- 
 sembled at Buffalo), appointed a Board of Censors, and made it the 
 duty of all members to require of young men applying for admis- 
 sion into their ofiices as students of medicine, to bring a certificate 
 from said Board, that they possessed the requisite preliminary edu- 
 cation. The same measure was brought before the New York State 
 Medical Society, at its next annual meeting, and resolutions were 
 adopted, requiring all its members to demand of students, before 
 admission into their ofiices, either a regular diploma from some 
 established literary institution, or a certificate from a Board of 
 Censors, that they possessed at least the amount of general know- 
 ledge set forth in the standard of preliminary attainments, adopted 
 by the National Convention of 1847; and also recommending all
 
 7-i HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the county societies in that State, to appoint Boards of Censors 
 for that purpose. It will be seen that the Standing Committee 
 on Medical Education, which reported to the meeting of the 
 Association in Boston, fully indorsed this plan, and in their 
 second resolution, already quoted, recommended it for adoption by 
 all the State, county, and voluntary medical associations through- 
 out the whole country. This was a specific plan, fully within 
 the control of the local profession everywhere, eminently prac- 
 tical in its nature, and well calculated to secure the end proposed ; 
 and yet, the Association, after adopting a resolution strongly 
 advising the medical colleges "to require from students that they 
 shall, in all cases, produce certificates of preliminary education," 
 rejected this plan, and in its place adopted the very general and 
 vague recommendation, " that physicians generally, throughout 
 the Union, be advised and requested to require of those wishing 
 to become their pupils, evidence of a ^noper general education, be- 
 fore admission itito their offices." By such action, the Associa- 
 tion directly refused to provide or recommend any regular mode 
 by which the student was to procure the very certificate which 
 the medical colleges were advised to require of him. Of course, 
 the latter have paid no heed to the advice, and the subject of pre- 
 liminary education remains very nearly where it was before the 
 Association was organized; at least so far as regards the adoption 
 of any general or uniform standard. If it was the general prac- 
 tice for students to commence their studies by enrolling their 
 names on the matriculation book of some medical collcs^e, and 
 attending a course of lectures on the more elementary branches, 
 such as anatomy, chemistry, physiology, &c., then there would 
 be propriety in requesting the colleges to require, in all cases, a 
 certificate of proper preliminary education. But it is well known 
 that nine-tenths of all the students first enter the office of some 
 practitioner, and there pursue their studies from six months to two 
 years, before they attend any medical college. When they come
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 75 
 
 to the college, thej bring to the Faculty letters of introduction 
 from their preceptors, setting forth that they have studied a cer- 
 tain length of time, and possess good moral characters. Suppose 
 it is soon ascertained that one-half of them are sadly deficient in 
 their general education ; a second look at their letters of intro- 
 duction and certificates of study will show that their preceptors 
 are members of the State Medical Society^ in good standing, and 
 not unfrequently, even members of the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation. Kow, is it reasonable to suppose, that the colleges will 
 ever go back of the private preceptors, and take the responsi- 
 bility of shutting such students out of their halls ? Certainly 
 not. But they will continue, as they have done, to claim that 
 the responsibility of exacting proper preliminary education is 
 with the profession at large, and that the place to demand evi- 
 dence of it, is at the door of the ofiice in which the pupil pro- 
 poses to commence his studies. In this, the colleges are right, 
 and the sooner the members of the profession can be made to feel 
 their individual responsibility in the matter, the better for all 
 parties. And this leads directly to what we deem the second 
 great cause of failure in our efforts to improve the education and 
 usefulness of the profession, viz : the absence of a due sense of 
 individual responsibility, and of a willingness to act up thereto, 
 on the part of the great mass of medical practitioners. 
 
 It is a very easy matter for men to assemble in conventions 
 and societies, and declare abstract truths in formal resolutions. 
 
 For instance, nothing is more easy than for anti-slavery men 
 to meet and resolve that slavery is a great moral, social, and 
 political evil. But to devise a practicable mode of doing it away, 
 which shall he just to all parties, is a task defying the profoundest 
 intellect, and the purest philanthropy. 
 
 So too, it is very easy for medical men to meet and declare in 
 formal resolves, that the standard of education, both preliminary 
 and medical, is too low — that the colleges ought to require this
 
 76 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and that. But so long as thej not only feel no individual respon- 
 sibility in the matter, but return to their homes and send directly 
 from their own offices, young men to the colleges, who are grossly 
 deficient in almost all the elementary branches of knowledge, 
 they must not only expect to see their resolves unheeded, but 
 they need feel no surprise if some wanton critic should liken them 
 to the laicjjers of old, who were accused of " binding heavy burdens 
 and placing them on other men^s shoulders, while they, themselves^ 
 ivould not so much as touch them, vnth one of their fingers.^'' We have 
 no apologies to offer for the many delinquencies of the colleges ; 
 but all the defects of the profession are, by no means, attributable 
 to them. Neither can they be all removed by any action of these 
 institutions. To effect this, the profession at large, and in their 
 individual capacity, must not only resolve, but act; and that, too, 
 under a proper sense of personal responsibility and influence.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-. 77 
 
 1850. 
 
 THIRD ANNUAL MEETING, AT CINCINNATI. 
 
 In our history of the annual meeting of the Association, in 
 Boston, we noticed the following resolution, which was reported 
 by a special committee, to whom had been referred all the propo- 
 sitions previously made on the subject of medical education, viz : — 
 
 '■'■Resolved^ That the Association recommend to the various 
 schools of medicine, to meet at Cincinnati before the next annual 
 meeting of the Association." 
 
 The Special Committee who reported this resolution, consisted 
 of Drs. Alexander H. Stevens, of New York; George B. Wood, 
 of Philadelphia ; and Jonathan Knight, of New Haven — three of 
 the ablest and most experienced professors in the country. 
 
 The recommendations of the Association, in relation to the 
 terms of college instruction, had not been received and acted on 
 by the great majority of medical schools, and the foregoing reso- 
 lution was evidently intended as a direct invitation, on the part 
 of the Association, to the several colleges to hold a convention of 
 their own, and by mutual action devise some measures for ren- 
 dering their courses of instruction more perfect, and the general 
 standard of medical attainments more elevated. Soon after the 
 adjournment of the Association, in Boston, a few of the medical 
 periodicals alluded to the proposition for a convention of dele- 
 gates from the colleges exclusively, and in terms of decided com- 
 mendation. But the colleges, generally, gave no response to the 
 invitation, and consequently no separate convention was held
 
 78 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 durino- the year. This direct refusal either to meet and devise 
 measures of their own, or to adopt those already recommended by 
 the Association, naturally led to the general belief that the great 
 majority of those connected with the medical colleges were obsti- 
 nately averse to any attempts to improve the present system of 
 medical instruction. 
 
 The selection of Cincinnati, as the place for holding the annual 
 meeting of the Association for 1850, gave a new and strong im- 
 pulse to the work of social organization throughout the profession 
 in the Western States. In several of them, State and county 
 societies had been organized several years previous, but, in most 
 instances, they had ceased to maintain an active existence. As 
 the proposed meeting of the Association at Cincinnati was the 
 first to be held in the West, the profession in that section of the 
 Union naturally felt a strong desire to make it equal in numbers 
 and interest to those which had been held in the Atlantic cities. 
 A sufficient number of delegates to secure this, could only be 
 obtained by reviving the old organizations, or establishing new 
 ones, both in States and counties. 
 
 The delegates to the third anniversary meeting of the Associa- 
 tion, assembled in " College Hall," Cincinnati, May 7, 1850, and 
 were called to order at 10 i o'clock A. M., by the President, Dr. 
 J. C. AVarren, of Boston. Dr. Strader, of Cincinnati, chairman 
 of the Committee of Arrangements, presented and read a list of 
 the delegates who had registered their names. The number 
 actually present during the session was about three hundred. 
 
 The proper business of the Association was commenced by a 
 formal and interesting address from the President, Dr. AVarren ; 
 after which a committee of one from each State represented, was 
 appointed to recommend candidates for officers of the Association 
 during the succeeding year. During the afternoon session, the 
 reports of the Treasurer and Committee of Publication were pre- 
 sented and appropriately referred. The reports on Medical Educa-
 
 z 
 
 K^ 
 
 rf /-y oi^/^f ^y 
 
 r^^r^ ^^//^^/^c^ 
 
 ve^t
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-. 79 
 
 tion and Hygiene were also received. The latter was read in part 
 by the Secretary, and referred to the Committee on Publication. 
 The former was made the special order for consideration at the 
 commencement of the next morning session. The Committee 
 appointed to nominate officers, reported the following, viz : — 
 
 President. 
 Eeuben D. Mussey,* of Ohio. 
 
 Vice- Presiden is. 
 J. B. Johnson, of Missouri. Daniel Brainard, of Illinois. 
 A. Lopez, of Alabama. George W. Norris, of Penn. 
 
 Secretaries. 
 Alfred Stille, of Penn, H. W. De Saussuee, of S. C. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Isaac Hays, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 This report, so far as it related to the President, was not satis- 
 factory to a large portion of the Association, and it elicited some 
 discussion, in which Drs. Storer, of Boston; "White, of Buffalo; 
 Watson, of N. York ; McNally, of Ohio ; and Yandell, of Ken- 
 tucky, participated. Many claimed that the office belonged to 
 the late Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati. But under a call for the 
 previous question, the report of the Committee was adopted, and 
 the Association adjourned until 9 o'clock A. M. 
 
 On reassembling in the morning, Dr. Bowditch, of Boston, 
 called the attention of the Association to the death of the late 
 Professor J. P. Harrison, of Cincinnati, previously one of the 
 Vice-Presidents, and offered a series of appropriate resolutions, 
 which were unanimously adopted. Dr. Mussey, on being con- 
 ducted to the chair, with the rest of the newly elected officers, 
 rendered his acknowledgments for the honor conferred, in a brief 
 and sensible address. After some other unimportant business, 
 
 ' For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Mussey, see Appendix, E.
 
 80 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the special order of the day was called for, and Dr. T. W. Blatck- 
 ford, of Troy, N. Y., presented the report on Medical Education, 
 which was read by the Secretary, the chairman of the Committee 
 being absent. The chairman of the Committee on Medical Edu- 
 cation, and author of the report under consideration, was Dr. 
 Joseph Koby, of Baltimore. The report was very brief, contain- 
 ing little else than a summary statement of what had been done 
 by previous committees, and what had been advised by the Asso- 
 ciation in reference to the education of the profession. 
 
 It contained no new propositions, and recommended no addi- 
 tional action on the part of the Association. After some discus- 
 sion, and the correction of one or two errors in relation to Col- 
 leges of Pharmacy, the report was referred to the Committee on 
 Publication. Dr. T. W. Blatchford, of Troy, N. Y., then offered 
 the following preamble and resolutions, at the same time express- 
 ing his decided disapprobation of the report last referred to : — 
 
 " "Whereas, this Association has learned through its several 
 committees appointed from year to year to examine into the state 
 of medical education in our country, that many of the medical 
 colleges invested by law with the power of granting degrees, still 
 continue a system of instruction which we cannot but regard as 
 defective, both in the time allotted to the delivery of lectures, in 
 the attention paid to practical anatomy, in the facilities afforded 
 for clinical instruction, and in the low standard of the require- 
 ments for a degree, therefore, 
 
 '■^Resolved, That this Association reiterates its former recom- 
 mendations upon these points, and would urge upon the medical 
 colleges to continue their efforts to elevate the standard of medi- 
 cal education, by adopting such changes in their courses of in- 
 struction as shall satisfy the reasonable and just desires of the 
 profession. 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of the American Medical Associa- 
 tion are due to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, and 
 of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, and all 
 other institutions which may have conformed to our recommenda-
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 81 
 
 tions, for tlieir prompt response to the recommendations of the 
 Association for the improvement of Medical Education." 
 
 These resolutions gave rise to a discussion which occupied the 
 whole of the afternoon session. Early in the morning session 
 the subject was again taken up, and on motion of Dr. J. R. 
 Wood, of New York, the Association resolved itself into a com- 
 mittee of the whole, with Dr. Knight of Connecticut, in the chair. 
 Another lengthy discussion took place, during which amendments 
 were offered by Drs. Lawson and Drake, of Ohio ; Dr. Gross, of 
 Kentucky ; and Dr. Theobald, of Maryland. Many members took 
 part in the discussion, among whom were Drs. Annan, Miller and 
 Gross, of Kentucky ; Dr. McPheeters, of Mo. ; Drs. Drake and 
 Lawson, of Oliio ; Drs. Parrish, Stilld and Morris, of Pa. ; Dr. J. 
 E. Wood, of New York ; Dr. Lopez, of Alabama ; and Dr. N. 
 S. Davis, of Illinois. It all ended in the adoption of the follow- 
 ing resolution, offered by Dr. Casper Morris, of Pa., as a substitute 
 for all those previously offered by Drs. Blatchford and others, 
 viz : — 
 
 " Resolved^ That the recommendations of this Association at 
 its former meetings, in regard to Medical Education^ be reaffirmed, 
 and that private preceptors be still urged to receive into their 
 offices only those duly qualified by previous education to engage 
 in the study of medicine." 
 
 The Committee of the Whole rose, reported this resolution to 
 the Association, and it was adopted. 
 
 Closely allied to the s-ubject of medical education, is that of 
 medical literature. Dr. A. Stills, of Philadelphia, chairman of the 
 Standing Committee on that subject, presented and read a length}- 
 and very interesting report, which closed with the following re- 
 solutions, viz : — 
 
 '■'■Resolved^ That the Association regards the cultivation of me- 
 dical literature as essential to professional improvement, and as 
 6
 
 82 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 adapted to form one of the broadest lines of distinction between 
 physicians and all pretenders to the name. 
 
 " Besolved, That in the opinion of this Association it is equally 
 the duty and the interest of the profession to sustain its periodical 
 literature, both by literary contributions and subscriptions. 
 
 " Besolred, That since literary excellence is best developed by 
 literary studies, the formation of Medical Reading Clubs, after the 
 plan set forth in this report, is urged especially upon physicians 
 in places where the periodical and other medical publications of 
 the day are not readily accessible upon other terms. 
 
 " Resolved, That the Standing Committee on Medical Literature 
 be instructed to report to the Association, at its next meeting, 
 what American medical work, published during the year of their 
 service, in their judgment is the most valuable, and that with the 
 consent of the Association such work shall be formally proclaimed 
 by the President. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That State and local societies are hereby recom- 
 mended to offer pecuniary rewards, or other distinction, for the 
 best memoirs founded on original observations. 
 
 " Resolved, That medical colleges are hereby recommended to 
 distinguish the best inaugural thesis of every year, by a public 
 announcement of its subject and the name of its author, and by 
 such other means as they may deem appropriate. 
 
 ^'■Resolved, That the sum of one hundred dollars, raised by vo- 
 luntary contribution, be offered, in the name of the Association, 
 for the best experimental essay on a subject connected either 
 with Physiology or Medical Chemistry, and that a committee of 
 seven be appointed to carry out the objects of this resolution ; 
 said Committee to receive the competing memoirs until the first 
 day of March, 1851, the authors' names to be concealed from the 
 Committee, and the name of the successful competitor alone to be 
 announced after the publication of the decision." 
 
 These resolutions were considered and adopted, and a com- 
 mittee appointed to receive and examine such essays as should 
 be presented for the prize. 
 
 The measure recommended in the last resolution quoted above, 
 has been carried out from year to year, and has proved of great
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 83 
 
 value to the profession, and the cause of several most important 
 additions to our medical literature. 
 
 Besides the usual Standing Committee on Medical Literature, 
 the Association, at its annual meeting in Boston, appointed a spe- 
 cial committee, consisting of Drs. Horner, Condie, and Hajs, of 
 Philadelphia, " to consider the measure suggested in the report 
 on Medical Literature for 1849." This Committee made a brief 
 report, to which was appended the following resolution, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved^ That, in the opinion of this Association, the only 
 legitimate means within our reach for the encouragement and 
 maintenance of a National Medical Literature, is to increase the 
 standard of preliminary and professional education required of 
 those who would enter the medical profession; to promote the 
 circulation among the members of the profession of the medical 
 journals of the day ; to induce every practitioner to cultivate with 
 care the fields of observation and research that are within his 
 reach," 
 
 This resolution, together with the following oiBfered by Dr. 
 Gross, of Kentucky, was adopted by the Association without 
 opposition : — 
 
 "Whereas, the interests and the dignity of the medical profes- 
 sion of the United States, as well as the true spirit of patriotism 
 and a love of independence, demand that we should use all proper 
 and honorable means for the establishment of a National Medical 
 Literature, and whereas, we have hitherto paid too blind and in- 
 discriminate a deference and devotion to European authorities, 
 and not suf&ciently patronized and protected our own : therefore, 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That this Association earnestly and respectfully re- 
 commend to the medical profession generally, and to the various 
 medical schools in particular, the employment of native works as 
 text-books for their pupils, instead of the productions of foreign 
 writers, 
 
 '■^Resolved, That the editing of English works by American 
 physicians has a tendency to repress native literary and scientific 
 authorship, and ought, therefore, to be discouraged by all who 
 have at heart the objects contemplated in this preamble.
 
 84 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 " Resolved, That this Association will always hail with satis- 
 faction the reprint, in their original and unmutilated form, of any 
 meritorious works that may emanate from the British press." 
 
 The reader will perceive that the subject of medical literature 
 occupied a prominent place among the topics considered at this 
 meeting of the Association ; and the unanimous vote by which 
 the resolutions offered by Dr. Gross were adopted, has had a 
 visible influence on American writers and publishers; so much 
 so, indeed, that most of the English works recently republished 
 in this country have appeared without the name of an American 
 editor on the title-page. 
 
 As a farther measure intended to encourage and sustain our 
 national literature, the meeting at Boston appointed a special 
 committee to prepare a memorial to Congress in favor of an inter- 
 national co2Jy-right Jaw. At the present meeting. Dr. G. B. Wood, 
 of Philadelphia, chairman of said special committee, reported a 
 memorial, which was adopted by the Association, ordered to be 
 signed by its officers, and transmitted to Congress. This me- 
 morial contains the following elegant and truthful paragraph in 
 relation to the nature and influence of a national literature of our 
 own. 
 
 "There is another consideration of importance connected with 
 this subject. Our institutions are peculiar, and, in order to be 
 legitimately carried out, should not only be well understood by 
 all concerned, but should be supported by habits of thinking and 
 feeling in the community in full accordance with them. 
 
 " But how can this object be accomplished when the great mass 
 of our literature is of foreign origin ; wken, of the books which 
 tend to form the character and mould the opinions and mental 
 habits of the reading classes, perhaps nine-tenths are the produc- 
 tion of authors born and educated under a different political sys- 
 tem, with predilections for manners adapted to other forms of 
 society, and altogether unsuitable guides for the young minds of
 
 AMERICAN 5IEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 85 
 
 this country. By allowing equal opportunities for the literary 
 tendencies and genius of our population, considering the much 
 larger proportion among us than in almost any other country, of 
 those who are so far educated as to come within the capacity of 
 literary effort, there can scarcely be a doubt that we shall soon 
 exhibit the same relative progress, in the various branches of 
 authorship, as in all other departments of human action and 
 industry, 
 
 " Our literature will start forward at a rate that will probably 
 astonish the world as much as our progress in the arts, in wealth, 
 and in all the physical comforts of life. It will have the ad- 
 vantage, moreover, of conformity with our institutions. It will 
 intertwine itself with the popular feelings, convictions, and habits, 
 imparting to them consistency, strength, and durability, growing 
 • with their growth, at once giving and receiving support, and, 
 above all other means, adorning, ennobling, and strengthening 
 the national character.'" 
 
 These are just sentiments, and such as should be strongly im- 
 pressed on the minds of the reading portion of the public. If the 
 literature irrodmed by a nation constitutes a true exponent of the 
 national mind and character, so the literature actually read by a 
 nation exerts an irresistible influence in moulding the national 
 mind and shaping the national destiny. What is thus true of the 
 nation as a whole, is equally true when applied to any one class 
 or profession belonging thereto. 
 
 Besides the action of the Association in reference to medical 
 education and literature, there were presented at this meeting 
 interesting and detailed reports from the standing committees 
 "On Medical Sciences," by Usher Parsons, M.D., of R. I.; "On 
 Practical Medicine and Epidemics," by J. K. Mitchell, M. D., of 
 Philadelphia ; " On Surgery," by B. D. Mussey, M. D., of Cincin- 
 
 ' See Transactions of American Medical Association, vol. iii. p. 215.
 
 86 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 nati ; " On Public Hygiene," by J. M. Smith, M.D., of New York; 
 and several special reports on Yarious topics of interest. All 
 these are to be found in the volume of published Transactions for 
 that year. The only paper read to the meeting of the Association 
 in Cincinnati, founded on original physiological investigations, 
 was a short one, by N. S. Davis, M. D., of Chicago, Illinois. It 
 contained matter of sufficient importance to attract attention both 
 in this country and in Europe. John Evans, M. D., of Chicago, 
 also exhibited a new instrument designed as a substitute for the 
 midwifery forceps, called the Obstetrical Extractor. He read a 
 rei">ort of several cases illustrating its application and advantages. 
 
 These papers, together with one of greater length from Stephen 
 "W. Williams, M. D., formerly of Deerfield, Massachusetts, con- 
 taining brief biographical sketches of a considerable number of 
 American physicians who had died within the last few years, were 
 published in the volume of Transactions in the form of an appendix. 
 
 Among the most important papers read at this meeting and 
 published in the Transactions^ are three from the Committee on 
 Hygiene. One is from the chairman. Dr. Joseph M. Smith, of 
 New York, " On the Sources of Typlnis Fevei-^ and the means 
 suited to their extinction." He attempts to show that the fever 
 arises, not from a specific contagion, but from human excretions, 
 and enters into some elaborate examinations and estimates for 
 determining the kinds and quantities of such as are specially con- 
 cerned in its production. 
 
 The second paper is " On the Sanitary Condition of Massachu- 
 setts and New England," by Edward Jarvis,-M. D., of Dorchester, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The third is " On the Hygienic Characteristics of New Orleans," 
 by J. C. Simonds, M. D. 
 
 With one trifling exception, the business of the meeting at 
 Cincinnati was conducted with propriety and good feeling. The 
 exception to which I allude was an attempt, on the part of one of
 
 AMERICAlSr MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 87 
 
 the delegates from Cincinnati, to bring before the Association a 
 mere local and personal feud, for which he was speedily called to 
 order. The unusual reluctance which was manifested by a por- 
 tion of the members, to confirm the report of the Nominating 
 Committee, making Dr. E. D. Mussey President of the Associa- 
 tion, arose from no personal dislike to, or want of respect for Dr. 
 M., but from their strong attachment to Dr. Drake. It was not 
 because they loved Caesar less, but they loved Eome more. 
 
 The example first presented at the meeting of the Association 
 in Boston, of setting apart one evening for a general entertain- 
 ment provided by the local profession, was followed at Cincinnati, 
 and was made the occasion of much social and intellectual enjoy- 
 ment. The material bounties were provided in great abundance 
 and variety, but without the prodigality of expenditure, and pro- 
 fusion of strong drink, which have since brought these social 
 occasions into much discredit. This meeting was the. occasion of 
 bringing many eminent members of the profession from the At- 
 lantic cities into the great Valley of the Mississippi for the first 
 time in their lives. Many of them saw, for the first time, the 
 almost boundless fields, and the broad green prairies of the West. 
 To such it was a season of unusual interest and pleasure ; afibrd- 
 ing a bright page in the brief records of human existence.
 
 88 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 1851. 
 
 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING, AT CHARLESTON. 
 
 During the year following the meeting of the Association in 
 Cincinnati, no events occurred in connection with it worthy of 
 special notice. The next annual meeting convened in Charleston, 
 South Carolina, on the first Tuesday in May, 1851. The dele- 
 gates assembled in St. Andrew's Hall, at 11 o'clock A. M., and 
 the President, Dr. K. D. Mussey, of Cincinnati, took the chair. 
 
 Dr. Sim»ns, chairman of a committee appointed by the South 
 Carolina Medical Association, tendered to the delegates a cordial 
 welcome to the hospitalities of their professional brethren, both 
 in the city and State. Dr. Frost, chairman of the Committee of 
 Arrangements, read the list of delegates who had registered their 
 names. About two hundred and twenty were present during the 
 meeting. The meeting at Charleston gave rise to one incident, 
 not connected with any of those which had preceded it. The 
 location was such, that a large proportion of the delegates from 
 the Eastern, Middle, and Northwestern States, first collected 
 together in New York and Philadelphia, and proceeded from 
 thence to Charleston, by way of the Atlantic. To much the 
 larger number, this was their first trip on the wide ocean, and 
 long will they remember it. In the harbor of New York, be- 
 tween fifty and sixty delegates, from the North and East, met on 
 board the steamer " Southerner," on Saturday afternoon, bound 
 direct for Charleston. The afternoon had been pleasant, and as 
 we dropped down quietly out of the bay, with its islands and
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 89 
 
 thousand ships, all on board was life, animation, and gayety. But 
 before we were fairly out upon the ocean, the shades of evening 
 had gathered around, and the signal for supper called our com- 
 pany to its first general meeting in the spacious dining saloon. 
 On looking around the long table, I observed every seat full, and 
 here too all was animation and enjoyment. In the company were 
 mingled the old and the young, the grave and the gay. Con- 
 spicuous among the former were the venerable Drs. Tilden, of 
 Ohio, Adams, of Boston, Goodyear and M'Intyre, of the interior 
 of New York, whose whitened locks and unsteady steps betokened 
 the influence and weight of years. Some of these had not only 
 toiled for half a century in the profession, and seen the wilderness 
 literally converted into cities around them, but they had followed 
 the camp of our armies, on the northern frontier, during the war 
 with Great Britain, and spent their best days in mitigating the 
 evils of human slaughter. Among the latter, were the middle- 
 aged, and younger members of the profession, once fairly re- 
 leased from the cares of the sick chamber, and beyond the reach 
 of new calls for a week, at least. Nor was the company made 
 up of sage doctors alone. For Dr. Mauran, of Providence, had in 
 company his two daughters, and several others their fair com- 
 panions, all of whom contributed to the social enjoyment of the 
 occasion. As the evening stole away, one after another retired 
 to their state-rooms and berths, apparently as quiet and secure as in 
 their private dwellings among their own native hills. In the mean 
 time, the good steamer had been urging its way out upon the 
 bosom of the broad ocean. Soon, nearly all on board, except the 
 ever toiling mariners, were wrapt in the embrace of sleep. But 
 midnight comes, and what a change! The rain pours in torrents 
 on the decks, the wind rattles every movable thing on board, 
 the sailor treads heavily and hurriedly to and fro, while wave 
 after wave breaks in torrents of spray around the ship, giving a 
 mingling of sounds heard nowhere else, but on a lone ship tossed
 
 90 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 upon the wild and boisterous waters. In the mean time, the 
 swa3nng of the ship rocks the sleepers in their berths like the 
 child in his cradle. But, alas! that rocking soon awakens a 
 large proportion of our doctors, with feelings very much as though 
 they had swallowed half of the ipecac in a respectable drug-shop. 
 Long before the morning dawned, the heaving and groans of the 
 sick were heard on every hand, mingling with the wild tumultuous 
 elements around us; but the dawn of the morning brought no 
 change. A storm had begun, which continued with little or 
 no abatement until the following Monday night. During the 
 whole of Sunday and ^londay, the saloons and decks were 
 alike lonely; the bountifully spread dining-table found few pa- 
 trons; while the old and the young, the mothers and daughters, 
 alike found abundant employment in the struggle to keep their 
 stomachs in the place where nature designed them. Few, very 
 few, of all our professional company escaped the dreaded seasick- 
 ness during: that storm. But amono: that favored few was the 
 writer himself. Though never before fairly in sight of the broad 
 ocean, and though feeling a cordial sympathy for the sick, yet 
 being entirely exempt himself, it was a season of peculiar enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 In the brief intervals when the falling rain would cease, to take 
 a station on the upper deck, partially sheltered from the spray, 
 behind the upper part of the wheel-house, and then gaze above on 
 the broad heavens, curtained with dark floating clouds, below on 
 the boundless, rolling, roaring billows, crested with foam, and, 
 every now and then, not only dashing their spray full over the 
 top of the wheel-house, but high up on the smoke-pipes; the good 
 ship, now pointing its bowsprit heavenward, and now sinking it 
 even beneath the waves, while the steady stroke of the engine, 
 guided by a single human hand, and urging its way hour after 
 hour over the mighty mass of tumultuous waters; was to have the 
 mind filled with conceptions of the sublime, the boundless, the
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 91 
 
 mighty, mingled with ideas of human progress and mechanical 
 triumphs, which no language can express. 
 
 At length Tuesday morning came, and with it a new scene. At 
 midnight the storm had ceased, and the winds lulled to a gentle 
 breeze. The sun rose clear and brilliant as a meteor, dartingr his 
 silvery rays over the surface of the wide waters, now moved only 
 in ripples. To the quickened stroke of the engine had been 
 added a broad sheet of canvas, to catch the force of the breeze, 
 and our good ship was speeding like a bird over the waters; and 
 one after another of the timid and sea-sick passengers came from 
 their berths and state-rooms, to inhale once more the free, fresh 
 air, and feast the eye on the beauty of a clear blue sky and a 
 glowing sun. 
 
 In a very brief time the whole ship was as full of life, gayety, 
 and social enjoyment as when she moved out of the harbor of 
 New York, on the Saturday previous. But now the hour had 
 come and gone, when we should have been landed in the capital 
 of the Palmetto State, and been mingling with our professional 
 brethren from the South. We had been so much retarded by the 
 storm that we did not reach Charleston until six o'clock on Tues- 
 day evening. Just before we entered the harbor, we passed the 
 propeller from Philadelphia, on board of which was also a large 
 number of delegates, who had been subjected to the same peril 
 and delay as ourselves. All, however, arrived in safety, and 
 though a little too late to participate in the business of organiz- 
 ing and choosing officers for the ensuing year, yet I trust all of 
 us wiser and better for our voyage. Some reader may wish to 
 know what all this has to do with a history of the American 
 Medical Association ? I answer, much, very much ! For no one 
 incident better illustrates the wisdom of that constitutional pro- 
 vision which requires the Association to meet successively in dif- 
 ferent sections of our widely extended Union. Impelled by the 
 strong desire to attend each anniversary meeting, hundreds are
 
 92 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 annually drawn from the narrow circle of home, with its sectional 
 prejudices, and made to pass over geographical lines, through 
 novel scenes, and amidst social relations, which break our preju- 
 dices, enlarge the field of mental vision, impress on the tablet of 
 memory a thousand green spots, and weave continually new cords 
 with which to strengthen the bonds of our great social and politi- 
 cal union. 
 
 Immediately after the Association had been called to order in 
 the morning, and the chairman of the Committee of Arrange- 
 ments had presented the list of delegates, the President read a 
 letter from Dr. Alfred Stilld, of Philadelphia, resigning the office 
 of Secretary to the Association, which he had held ever since its 
 first organization. Dr. Stille had labored assiduously to advance 
 the interests of the national organization, and was constrained to 
 resign his post of active duty, only on account of feeble health, 
 and a desire to spend some time abroad. 
 
 An election of officers then took place, in the usual manner, 
 and resulted as follows, viz: — 
 
 President. 
 James Moultrie,' South Carolina. 
 
 Vice- P res iden ts. 
 George Hayward, Mass.; B. E. Wellford, Virginia; 
 E. D. Arnold, Georgia; G. B. Flixt, Kentucky. 
 
 Secretaries. 
 H. W. De Saussure, S. C. ; P. C. Gooch, Virginia. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Isaac Hays, Pennsylvania. 
 
 At the previous annual meeting of the Association, Dr. Daniel 
 Drake, of Ohio, had proposed an amendment to the Constitution, 
 in such a manner as to allow permanent members, who were not 
 
 • For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Moultrie, see Appendix F.
 
 '^^^. .^ 6^^7^^^ /^^ 
 
 = HOFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY IN THE MRDICAI. 
 OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 Engraved expressV'" t'^v
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOTn. 93 
 
 delegates, the right to vote, and also to require members by invi- 
 tation to be proposed in writing, signed by five members. On 
 motion of Dr. Gaillard, of South Carolina, the proposition was 
 taken up for consideration. It elicited considerable discussion, 
 but was finally lost by a decided vote. 
 
 During the morning session of the second day, Dr. Isaac Hays, 
 of Pennsylvania, presented the report of. the Treasurer, and the 
 chairman of the Committee on Publication, which was accepted, 
 and the resolutions accompanying it adopted. 
 
 The report of the Standing Committee on Surgery was pre- 
 sented, and read by the chairman of the Committee, Dr. Paul F. 
 Eve, of Georgia, and referred to the Committee on Publication. 
 
 Dr. A. Flint, of Buffalo, New York, sent his report from the 
 Standing Committee on Practical Medicine, in printed form ; and 
 it was referred to the Committee on Publication, without having 
 been read. 
 
 During the afternoon session, the Committee on Prize Essays 
 presented their report, awarding the prize to Dr. John C. Dalton, 
 Jr., of Boston, for the essay "On the Corpus liUteum of Men- 
 struation and Pregnancy." 
 
 The report was accepted, and the essay referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Publication. 
 
 Dr. Storer, of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Obstet- 
 rics, read his report, which contained some statistics furnished by 
 Dr. Eamsey, of Georgia. Some member or members from the 
 latter State expressed doubts in reference to the correctness of 
 these statistics. In consequence of this. Dr. Robertson, of South 
 Carolina, moved that the report be recommitted to the Com- 
 mittee, with the privilege of altering the same, which motion was 
 adopted. After consulting some of those members who were 
 presumed to know something of the probable reliability of the 
 author of the statistics. Dr. Storer thought best to erase them 
 from the report. This being done, he re-presented the report,
 
 94 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 which was accepted and referred to the Committee on Publication, 
 in the same manner as all the other reports. This is the simple 
 history of a transaction which subsequently called down upon the 
 Association a great amount of scandal and reproach. It was 
 immediately alleged, in certain quarters, that the objections to 
 Dr. Ramsey's statistics were made to gratify personal malice; and 
 that the Association had lent itself to a scheme devised for the 
 purpose of destroying individual character. 
 
 The N'orthem Lancet^ a monthly periodical published at Ogdens- 
 burg, New York, took the lead in denouncing the whole Associa- 
 tion, in no measured terms. There was a reason for this, how- 
 ever. The Professor (»f Obstetrics in the New York University, 
 whose clinics so frequently occupy the pages of the Lancet, was 
 the man who, immediately after the organization of the first 
 National Medical Convention, in New York City, moved that it 
 adjourn sine die, without the transaction of any business. Hence, 
 in making war on the Association, the Northern Lancet was only 
 endeavoring to gratify his special friend in New York. Some of 
 those conducting journals of respectability, however, also com- 
 mented on this act of the Association, as one calculated to do an 
 individual injustice. 
 
 But it is not easy to conceive how the Association, as a public 
 assembly, could have acted more cautiously or more honorably. 
 A report is made by a standing committee, containing a number 
 of alleged facts, furnished by an absent individual, personally 
 entirely unknown to nine-tenths of the members present. One 
 or more, who are presumed to have some knowledge of the mat- 
 ter, object to their authenticity. What shall be done? It is im- 
 possible for the meeting, as a body, to institute an inquiry into 
 the facts of the case, and hence no action can be taken directly 
 on the part of the report which has been called in question. 
 Hence there was but one proper course to be pursued, viz: to re- 
 commit the whole report to the Committee from which it emanated,
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 95 
 
 with permission to make additional inquiries, and alter or amend 
 it as should be deemed proper. In doing this, the Association 
 certainly in nowise impeached the character of Dr. Eamsey, or 
 decided on the merits of the matter he had furnished to the Com- 
 mittee. If any injustice was done him, it was the act of the Com- 
 mittee, and not of the Association. And there can be no doubt 
 but that if Dr. Ramsey had spent half as much time in collecting 
 such collateral evidence as would have fully sustained the correct- 
 ness of his statements to the Committee, and re-presented them 
 to the next succeeding meeting, as he did in maintaining a bitter 
 personal controversy concerning the matter, he would have re- 
 ceived full justice from the Association, and saved no little scandal 
 to the Drofession. A similar remark is still more applicable to 
 those who, like the editor of the Northern Lancet^ seized greedily 
 on the present occasion to denounce the Association, and impugn 
 the motives of its members. Had they spent the same amount 
 of time in attending the annual meetings, making the personal 
 acquaintance of its members, and in honestly striving to increase 
 its usefulness, they would have increased, in an equal ratio, their 
 own enjoyment and the welfare of the profession. 
 
 During the third day of the session, the report from the Stand- 
 ing Committee on Medical Literature was presented and read by 
 Dr. T. Eeyburn, of Missouri, chairman of the Committee. The 
 only resolution appended to the report was the following, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That a special committee be appointed, to take into 
 consideration that portion of this report which refers to the organi- 
 zation of a society for the reception and discussion of original scien- 
 tific papers; and that said Committee be, and is hereby instructed 
 to present the details of a plan, if deemed by them expedient, for 
 such a society or section, at the next annual meeting." 
 
 Many members of the Association had felt at each annual 
 meeting that too much time was taken up in discussing miscella- 
 neous resolutions, chiefly relating to the education and ethics of
 
 96 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the profession, and in having lengthy reports from standing com- 
 mittees, thereby leaving no time for reading original papers, and 
 discussing questions strictly scientific in their nature. The object 
 of the resolution quoted, was to remedy this defect, by establish- 
 ing a distinct section of the Association for that special purpose. 
 The subject was referred, however, to a special committee, 
 previously appointed, on the organization of the Association, 
 consisting of Drs. Hays, of Pennsylvania, Stevens, of New York, 
 Yardley, of Pennsylvania, Storer, of Massachusetts, and Jones, of 
 North Carolina. 
 
 The Committee, in their report, recommended no action on the 
 subject, in consequence of other important changes which were 
 made in reference to the organization of committees. 
 
 At the meeting of the Association in Cincinnati, the subject of 
 Demonstrative Midwifery was referred to the Standing Committee 
 on Medical Education, 
 
 Dr. Worthington Hooker, of Connecticut, chairman of that 
 Committee, read a report on that subject, which was not onl}' re- 
 ferred to the Committee on Publication, but its sentiments were 
 approved by a unanimous vote of the Association. 
 
 Dr. White, Professor of Obstetrics in the medical department 
 of the University of Buffalo, had on one occasion introduced a 
 female in hhor before the graduating class in that institution, and 
 so far exposed her, as to enable them to witness the termination 
 of the labor. This was called demonstrative midwifery, and its 
 propriety was much discussed both in and out of the profession. 
 It was on this subject that the Committee on Medical Education 
 was required to report. The general character of that report, 
 which was so fully sanctioned by the Association, may be gathered 
 from the following brief extract : — 
 
 "Granting all that can be claimed with any plausibility for the 
 advantages mentioned, they are not of sufficient value to make it 
 proper that woman in the hour of her extremity should be made
 
 AMERICAN IffiDICAL ASSOCIATION. 97 
 
 the subject of a public exhibition. But we not only object to 
 the mode of instruction, adopted in the plan at Buffalo, as unneces- 
 sary, but we object to it, also, as being utterly incompetent to give 
 the student that knowledge v:kich he needs in the practice of obstetrics. 
 It cannot take the place at all of what may properly be termed 
 clinical instruction in midwifery. A single hasty examination 
 by the touch in the course of the labor, and a view of the conclu- 
 sion of the process, can supply the student with but a very small 
 part of that practical knowledge which he needs when he comes 
 to take charge of patients upon his own responsibility alone. 
 This knowledge he can obtain effectually only by taking care of 
 ckses of midwifery during his pupilage under the supervision of 
 his preceptor. A single case, thus managed, will teach him more 
 than a multitude of such exposures as that which was made in 
 the Buffalo Medical College, possibly could do." 
 
 At a subsequent stage of the session, Dr. W. Ilooker presented 
 the report of the Standing Committee on Medical Education. 
 
 The report was well written, and embraced much valuable know- 
 ledge, and, after having been read, it was accepted and referred to 
 the Committee on Publication. The resolutions appended were 
 also adopted, but they simply reafHrmed the action taken by the 
 Association at its former meetings. 
 
 Dr. Bennet Dowler, of New Orleans, chairman of the Committee 
 on Medical Sciences, presented the annual report through Dr. E. 
 D. Fenner, and it was accepted, and referred to the usual com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Dr. Gaillard, of South Carolina, chairman of the Committee on 
 Hygiene, presented a report which received the usual reference. 
 
 The report of the Standing Committee on Surgery was pre- 
 sented by Dr. Paul F. Eve, of Georgia, and was referred to the 
 Committee on Publication. All these reports of standing com- 
 mittees, together with the Prize Essay of Dr. Dalton, may be 
 7
 
 98 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 found in the fourth volume of the Transactions of the Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 The last named paper is accompanied by well executed plates, 
 and the whole makes a volume of six hundred and seventy-seven 
 pages, well worthy of perusal by every member of the profession. 
 
 On the last day of the session, a paper styled "An Experimental 
 Inquiry concerning some points connected with the Processes of 
 Assimilation and Nutrition," was presented and read by Dr. N. 
 S. Davis, of Illinois. This paper was read only a little before the 
 hour of final adjournment, and seemed to attract but little atten- 
 tion, although it contained some analyses and experiments of 
 value. It not being referred to the Committee on Publication, 
 soon after the adjournment it made its appearance in the columns 
 of the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal, published at 
 Chicago, Illinois. Some of the experiments it contains have an 
 important bearing on the commonly received doctrines in relation 
 to the uses of i\iQ fibrin of the blood. 
 
 One of the most important acts of the present session was the 
 adoption of an amendment to the Constitution of the Association, 
 offered by Dr. Isaac Hays, at the annual meeting in 1849. The 
 amendment reads as follows, viz : — 
 
 '■^Resolved, To strike out all that relates to Standing Committees 
 on ^ledical Science, on Practical Medicine, on Surgery, on Ob- 
 stetrics, on Medical Education, and on Medical Literature." 
 
 By this, all the standing committees provided for by the As- 
 sociation were abolished, except the Committees of Arrangements, 
 and of Publication. The Association had evidently become some- 
 what wearied with the lengthened abstracts which had been annu- 
 ally presented by the Standing Committee in the form of reports. 
 It was alleged that a copy of Braithwaite's Retrospect or of Ran- 
 king'' s Abstract would answer as well as these annual reports; and 
 that such action should be taken as would efficiently encourage 
 original investigations in relation to special topics of interest.
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 99 
 
 To accomplish this, Dr. G. B. Wood, of Pennsylvania, offered 
 the following resolution, which was adopted, viz :— 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed, to take 
 into consideration the arrangement of committees for future ac- 
 tion, and to report as soon as possible." 
 
 The Committee consisted of Drs. G. B. Wood, of Pennsylvania, 
 D. Drake, of Ohio, A. H. Stevens, of New York, W. Hooker, of 
 Connecticut, Horatio Adams, of Massachusetts, B. R. Wellford, of 
 Virginia, and S. H. Dickson, of South Carolina. 
 
 At a subsequent period of the session, Dr. Wood, the chair- 
 man of this Committee, presented a report, the chief recommenda- 
 tions of which are contained in the following extract, viz : — 
 
 "It appears to them that the most feasible plan of accomplish- 
 ing the objects of the Association is, to select certain subjects, 
 which may be considered as suitable for investigation, and to re- 
 fer these subjects to special committees, to be appointed before 
 the close of the present session, and to report to the next." 
 
 This report also recommended the appointment of a Committee 
 on Volunteer Communications, which should be authorized to 
 award a prize of fifty dollars for each of the essays approved by 
 it; not, however, exceeding five in number in one year. The 
 report of the Committee was accepted, and its recommendations 
 adopted by the Association. 
 
 This led to the appointment of twenty-seven special committees. 
 Eight of these were instructed to report on the epidemics of 
 different parts of the United States ; and to each of the remaining 
 nineteen was referred some special subject of importance on which 
 they were to report at the next annual meeting. The Committee 
 appointed to receive and examine Volunteer Communications, 
 consisted of Drs. George Hay ward, J. B. S. Jackson, D. H. Storer, 
 and Jacob Bigelow, of Boston, and Dr. Usher Parsons, of Ehode 
 Island. 
 
 This annual meeting was continued until the afternoon of
 
 100 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the fourth day. Besides the items of business, tQ which I 
 have alluded in this brief sketch, many others of a miscellaneous 
 character were introduced and acted upon. But throughout the 
 entire session, the utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed 
 among the members. The delegates were received, both by the 
 profession and the citizens of Charleston, with the most cordial 
 hospitality. Besides the generous hospitalities of individual 
 members and citizens, the Medical Association of South Carolina 
 provided, on the evening of the third day of the session, a splendid 
 banquet, which afforded a pleasant season for social intercourse 
 and festive enjoyment. The banqueting hall and tables were 
 richly ornamented, and the latter loaded with every delicacy 
 which the season and climate could afford. There, too, for the 
 first time in the history of the Association, wines and strong drink 
 were freely furnished as a part of the entertainment. Thus, a 
 practice which commenced in Boston as a very simple and unos- 
 tentatious collation, serving only as the occasion of a great and 
 delightful social entertainment, became in Cincinnttti a much 
 more bountiful and costly public dinner, and, in Charleston, one 
 still more elegant and costly, with the addition of those drinks 
 which beguile the unwary, and " intoxicate the brain." In addi- 
 tion to all the other means of entertainment, an invitation was 
 given, to make a steamboat excursion up the Ashley and Cooper 
 Rivers, far enough to reach the rice plantations on their banks. 
 This trip was peculiarly pleasant and instructive to the delegates 
 from the Northern and Eastern States, and long will their me- 
 mory of Charleston be associated with feelings of the liveliest 
 pleasure. The Association formally adjourned on the afternoon 
 of the fourth day; having previously fixed upon the city of 
 Richmond, Va., as the place for the next annual meeting. Many 
 delegates returned northward by the same steam-vessels that had 
 brought them from New York and Philadelphia ; and their home- 
 ward voyage was as pleasant and tranquil as the former one had 
 been boisterous.
 
 /irzA^ -oc/ 
 
 /^UX/ttz ea:> 
 
 FROFESSOB. OFM-U'EWA ;.'. !•:].. L /•. x- i ii r..wvj jiUTICS 
 IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF vrRGmiA.RICHMOND . 
 
 Kiugra-vei expressly for the Mew Jerse;.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 101 
 
 1852. 
 
 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING, AT RICHMOND. 
 
 In accordance witli the action of the Association at Charleston, 
 S. C, the delegates to the fifth annual meeting of the American 
 Medical Association convened in Richmond, Virginia, on the 4th 
 day of May, 1852,^ the President, Dr. James Moultrie, of S. C, 
 called the Assembly to order at 11 o'clock A. M. 
 
 The members in attendance were cordially welcomed to the 
 hospitalities of the city and State, by Dr. James Beale, President 
 of the Medical Society of Virginia ; and after the usual prelimi- 
 nary proceedings, such as reading the list of delegates, whose 
 names had been registered, the selection of one from each State to 
 constitute a nominating committee, &c., the President delivered 
 his annual address, and the following gentlemen were duly elected 
 officers for the ensuing year, viz : — 
 
 President. 
 
 Dr. Beverley R. Wellford,^ of Virginia. 
 
 Vice-Presiden fs. 
 
 Drs. Jonathan Knight, of Conn. ; Thomas Y. Simons, of S. C, 
 
 James W. Thompson, of Delaware ; C. A. Pope, of Missouri. 
 
 jSecretaries. 
 Drs. p. Clairborne Gooch, of Va. ; Edward L. Beadle, of N. Y. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 Dr. D. Francis Condie, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 • In the volume of Transactions for the year 1852, the date of the meeting is 
 erroneously stated to be the 26th of May. 
 
 * For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wellford, see Appendix G.
 
 102 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Delegates were in attendance from the medical societies and in- 
 stitutions of twenty-four States ; the whole number differing but 
 little from the preceding meetings at Charleston and Cincinnati. 
 
 Two delegates, Drs. A. J. Semmes, and W. H. Berry, duly ac- 
 credited as representatives from the American Medical Society in 
 Paris, were admitted to membership by a vote of the Association. 
 Early in the history of the Association, it was found that the 
 reading of lengthy reports from all the standing committees en- 
 grossed so much time as to be wearisome to many of the members. 
 Hence it soon came to be the practice, that a large portion of the 
 reports and papers presented at the annual meetings were referred 
 to the Committee on Publication, without being read or their con- 
 tents known. At the commencement of the present annual 
 meeting, the late Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati, made a strong 
 effort to arrest this mode of proceeding. For this purpose he 
 presented the following resolutions, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That every report on- a medical or other scientific 
 subject shall be referred to a select committee, to be read, 
 analyzed, and reported on to the Association ; said select com- 
 mittee indicating its general character and worthiness of publica- 
 tion, provided the authors of every report shall have the right of 
 appealing to the Association. 
 
 " Resolved, That no report shall be read before the Association 
 until it has been examined and reported on by the Committee to 
 which it may be referred, nor then, excepting under an order of 
 the Association. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That no report shall be published in the Transactions 
 of the Association but in virtue of its order. 
 
 " Resolved, That all professional and other scientific communi- 
 cations made to the Association, shall be referred and treated like 
 reports of committees. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That the President, Yice-Presidents, and Secretaries 
 of the Association shall be charged with the appointment of the 
 aforesaid committees, being themselves eligible to such appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 " Resolved, That the authors of all reports and papers aforesaid,
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION". 103 
 
 shall have the privilege of reading and explaining the same before 
 the Committee." 
 
 These resolutions elicited considerable discussion, when, on 
 motion of Dr. A. Lopez, of Alabama, their further consideration 
 was indefinitely postponed. Though the plan here proposed by 
 Dr. Drake may not be the best that could be devised, yet we 
 fully agree with him that the present mode of receiving and re- 
 ferring papers and reports to the Committee on Publication, with- 
 out any definite knowledge of their contents, is very unsatisfac- 
 tory to all parties. This became so generally apparent, that, at 
 a subsequent period of this annual meeting, the following resolu- 
 tion, offered by Dr. H. Green, of N. Y., was adopted without 
 opposition, viz : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That at the future meetings of this Association, all 
 reports of committees, and all contributions on scientific subjects 
 occupying more than ten pages of quarto-post manuscript, be 
 accompanied each by an abstract or synopsis embracing the prin- 
 cipal points of such report on paper, which abstract or synopsis 
 shall be read before the Association." 
 
 On the afternoon of the first day of the session, Dr. Isaac Hays, 
 read the reports of the Treasurer and the Committee on Publication, 
 which were accepted and the resolutions appended thereto adopted. 
 The report of the Committee on Prize Essays was also presented 
 and read by Dr. Geo. Hayward, of Boston. The report states that 
 sixteen communications had been received by the Committee, but 
 that the award of one premium only had been recommended. 
 
 The essay which was deemed worthy of this distinction was 
 entitled, On the Variations of Pitch in Percussion and Respiratory 
 Sounds, and their Application to Physical Diagnosis, and the author 
 was Dr. Austin Flint, of Buffalo, N. Y. 
 
 Dr. A. Clapp, of Indiana, chairman of the Committee on In- 
 digenous Medical Botany, presented a lengthy report on the 
 Medical Botany of the United States, which was accepted without 
 reading, and referred to the Committee on Publication.
 
 10-i HISTORY OF TUE 
 
 This, with the essay of Dr. Flint, may be found in the published 
 volume of Transactions for 1852. 
 
 On the morning of the second day, the Secretary stated that 
 copies of the resolutions adopted at a previous annual meeting, 
 relative to an assimilated rank of the Medical Staff of the Army 
 and Navy, had been forwarded to the proper departments, and 
 its reception acknowledged by Dr. Harris, the chief of the 
 Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Ninian Pinckney, of the 
 U. S. Navy, read a memorial, which he had prepared to present 
 to Congress, on the same subject. The memorial was approved 
 by the Association, and the Secretary directed to communicate 
 the fact to the Secretary of the Navy and the presiding officers 
 of both Houses of Congress. Dr. Simons, of S. C, called the at- 
 tention of the Association to the very important subject of 
 emigration and the sickness on board of emigrant ships, resulting 
 from crowding and uncleanliness, and also to the fatal results 
 which sometimes follow the introduction of the passengers of 
 such ships into our cities and towns. He concluded by offering 
 the following resolutions, which were adopted by the Association, 
 viz : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That the American Medical Association do me- 
 morialize Congress to require all vessels carrying steerage pas- 
 sengers on the sea to have a surgeon on board. 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee of this Association be appointed 
 to draw up a memorial to Congress, making such suggestions as 
 it may deem fit, as regards the importance of this measure." 
 
 A communication was received from the New York Academy 
 of Medicine, very decidedly condemning the practice of holding 
 what are called Climes, in the Medical Colleges. The communi- 
 cation was referred to the Committee on Publication, with directions 
 to have it printed in the Transactions. An interesting paper on 
 The Action of Water on Lead Pipes, and the Diseases resulting from 
 it, by Dr. Horatio Adams, of Mass., was presented by Dr. Hay- 
 ward, of Boston, and referred to the Committee on Publication.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 105 
 
 A report on the Blmdmg and Conversion of the Tiji^es of Fever^ 
 by S. H. Dickson, M. D., of S. C, was read to the Association 
 and referred to the Committee on Publication. A report on 
 The Permanent Cure of ReduciUe Hernia, by Dr. Hay ward, of 
 Mass., was also read and referred to the same Committee. Dr. C. 
 A. Pope, of Mo., read a report from the Committee on The Uses 
 of Water hi Surgery, which was referred to the Committee on 
 Publication. 
 
 The following reports were then presented, and with the ex- 
 ception of the first, read only by their titles, and referred to the 
 Publishing Committee, viz : — 
 
 Eeport on the Epidemics of New England. By Dr. W. Hooker, 
 of Conn. 
 
 On the Toxicological and Medicinal Properties of our Crypto- 
 gamic Plants. By F. P. Porcher, M. D., of S. C. 
 
 On the Epidemics of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
 and Maryland. By Dr. J. L. Atlee, of Pa. 
 
 On the Epidemics of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and 
 Alabama. By Dr. W. M. Doling, of Ala. ; to which was appended 
 a paper by Dr. D. J, Cain, of S. 0. 
 
 On the Epidemics of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Ar- 
 kansas. By Dr. Ed. H. Barton, of La. 
 
 On the Epidemics of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. By Dr. 
 Geo. Mendenhall, of Ohio. 
 
 On the Epidemics of Tennessee and Kentucky. By Dr. "W". 
 L. Sutton, of Ky. 
 
 All these reports and papers, except that "On the Toxicological 
 and Medicinal Properties of our Cryptogamic Plants," may be 
 found in the volume of Transactions for the year 1852 ; extending 
 its size to 939 pages, and embodying a great amount of most 
 valuable facts and observations, which should be in the possession 
 of every practitioner in our country. The report on cryptogamio
 
 106 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 plants was withdrawn bj the author for the purpose of pursuing 
 further investigations on the subject. 
 
 It will be recollected that the several " standing committees," 
 originally provided for by the Constitution of the Association, 
 were abolished at the annual meeting, in May, 1851, except those 
 on Publication and Arrangements. At the present meeting, this 
 action was so far reversed as to provide again Committees on 
 Ikledical Literature and on Medical Education. The Committee 
 appointed on the first subject consisted of Dr. Eend La Eoche, 
 of Pa, chairman; and of Drs. W. De Saussure, of S. C; N. S. 
 Davis, of 111.; Jacob Bigelow, of Mass.; and Ed. II. Barton, of 
 La. That on Medical Education consisted of Dr. Zina Pitcher, of 
 Mich., chairman; and of Drs. Austin Flint, of N. Y.; J. R. W. 
 Dunbar, of Md.; James McKeen, of Maine; and D. W. Yandell, 
 of Ky. At the meeting of the Association in Charleston, when 
 the standing committees were abolished, the whole Union was 
 divided into districts, and a Committee on Epidemics appointed 
 in each, with instructions to report at the present meeting. Only 
 a small number of them reported, however; and some even of 
 those were only partial communications. To give time for more 
 complete investigations on this important subject, the following 
 resolutions were proposed and adopted, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved^ That the Committees on Epidemics be constituted, 
 in relation to the division into districts, as they were last year, 
 and that they be continued in service during a period of five 
 years. 
 
 " Resolved, That the chairman appointed for each district shall 
 have power to select associates, not exceeding four in number, 
 to assist him in his labors. 
 
 " Resolved, That the several State Medical Societies be requested 
 to use their influence to procure the appointment of sanitary com- 
 missions by the legislatures." 
 
 Dr. Daniel Drake, of Ohio, prepared and presented to the As- 
 sociation a paper "On the Influence of Climatic Changes on
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 107 
 
 Consumption," whicli was referred to a special committee for 
 examination, without being read before the Association. 
 
 This Committee failed to meet; and although he was requested, 
 by a vote of the Association, to furnish a copy of the paper for 
 publication in the Transactions, yet so strong was his opposition 
 to the mode of receiving papers and essays, and referring them 
 for publication without reading or examination, that he refused 
 to comply with the request. 
 
 Dr. J. L. Atlee, of Pennsylvania, offered the following preamble 
 and resolution, which were unanimously adopted : — 
 
 " Whereas, it is the duty of patriotism to do homage to those 
 who have been benefactors to their country ; and whereas, the 
 medical profession in the United States, heretofore not wanting 
 in patriotic feeling or action, desire to co-operate with the other 
 public bodies and institutions of the country in rendering their 
 profound reverence to the memory of him who was " first in 
 peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen : 
 
 "^e it therefore resolved, That a committee of five be appointed, 
 whose duty it shall be to solicit subscriptions from members of 
 the American Medical Association, for the purpose of procuring 
 a suitable stone, with an appropriate inscription, for insertion, in 
 the name of this Association, into the national monument to the 
 memory of Washington, now in progress of erection at Washing- 
 ton city." 
 
 The Committee appointed under this resolution consisted of 
 Drs. J. L. Atlee, W. P. Johnston, E. W. Haxall, Alfred Stilld, 
 and Gouverneur Emerson. The Committee so faithfully per- 
 formed the duties assigned them, that a beautiful block of marble 
 -was obtained, and with a suitable inscription there was placed on 
 it a device, representing Hippocrates, the father of medicine, 
 refusing the rich bribes offered by the Persian king, Artaxerxes, 
 to induce him to bestow his services on the enemies of his 
 country. 
 
 The Committee on Nominations reported the names of chair-
 
 108 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 men for tiventy-seven committees on special subjects, whicli were 
 to report at the next annual meeting. The report was accepted 
 and adopted by the Association. 
 
 The subject which seemed to engross a large amount of atten- 
 tion at this meeting, and elicited more discussion than any other, 
 was that of amending the Constitution. The question was first 
 raised at the annual meeting in 1851, whether colleges of dentistry 
 and pharmacy were entitled to a representation in the Associa- 
 tion? and it was referred to a special committee, of which Dr. 
 Isaac Hays was chairman, with directions to report at the next 
 annual meeting. The Committee reported in favor of the follow- 
 ing resolution, which was adopted: — 
 
 " Resolved^ That colleges exclusively of dentistry and pharmacy 
 are 720^ recognized by this Association as among the bodies author- 
 ized to send delegates to its meetings." 
 
 To the same special committee had been referred a communi- 
 cation from the Philadelphia County Medical Society, asking for 
 certain amendments to the Constitution of the Association ; and 
 also a resolution, offered by Dr. Atlee, asking for the adoption of 
 a more equable plan of representation than the one at present 
 existing. On these topics. Dr. Hays, chairman of the Committee, 
 reported in favor of so altering that section of the Constitution 
 relating to members, as to restrict each State society, in States 
 where county and district societies also exist, to four delegates 
 for the whole society, instead of one for every ten of its members ; 
 and each medical college to one delegate instead of two. But 
 the ratio of representation from the county and district societies, 
 and such State societies as exist in States containing no county 
 or district organizations, was to remain unaltered. 
 
 Dr. Yardley, a member of the same Committee, also made a 
 report, recommending essentially the same changes in the ratio 
 of representation, and in addition proposing to make "all the 
 members of the medical profession who are attached to properly
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 109 
 
 organized county or district and State medical societies, through- 
 out the United States," also members of the American Medical 
 Association. On motion of Dr. F. Campbell Stewart, of N. Y., both 
 these reports were referred to a committee of three, appointed by 
 the President, with instructions to report, in definite and proper 
 form, such amendments to the Constitution as will embrace the 
 views set forth in said reports, and such other views as may 
 appear to the Committee advisable. 
 
 On the third day of the session. Dr. Stewart, in behalf of this 
 Committee, reported in favor of striking out so much of the 
 present Constitution as is contained under Articles I. and II. and 
 inserting in their stead the following, viz : — 
 
 Article I. — Title of the Association, 
 
 This institution shall be known and distinguished by the 
 name and title of " the American Medical Association." It shall 
 he comjiosed of all the members of the medical profession of the United 
 Slates, of good standing, who acknowledge fealty and adhere to 
 the code of ethics adopted by the Association ; and its business 
 shall be conducted by their delegates or representatives, who 
 shall be appointed annually in the manner prescribed by this 
 Constitution. 
 
 Article II. — Of Delegates. 
 
 § 1. The delegates to the meetings of the Association shall 
 collectively represent and have cognizance of the common 
 interests of the medical profession in every part of the United 
 States, and shall hold their appointment from county, State and 
 regularly chartered medical societies; from chartered medical 
 colleges, hospitals, and permanent voluntary medical associations 
 in good standing with the profession. Delegates may also be 
 received from the medical staffs of the United States Army and 
 Navy. 
 
 § 2. Each delegate shall hold his appointment for one year, 
 and until another is appointed to succeed him, and he shall be
 
 110 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 entitled to participate in all the business affairs of the Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 § 3. The county, district, chartered and voluntary medical 
 societies shall have the privilege of sending to the Association 
 one delegate for every ten of its resident members, and one more 
 for every additional fraction of more than one-half of this num- 
 ber. 
 
 § 4. Every State society shall have the privilege of sending 
 four delegates ; and in those States in which county and district 
 societies are not generally organized, in lieu of the privilege of 
 sending four delegates, it shall be entitled to send one delegate 
 for every ten of its regular members, and one more for every 
 additional fraction of more than one-half of this number. 
 
 § 5. No medical society shall have the privilege of representa- 
 tion, which does not require of its members an observance of the 
 code of ethics of this Association. 
 
 § 6. The faculty of every chartered medical college acknow- 
 ledging its fealty to the code of ethics of this Association, shall 
 have the privilege of sending one delegate to represent it in the 
 Association : Provided^ That the said faculty shall comprise six 
 professors, and give one course of instruction annually, of not 
 less than sixteen weeks, on Anatomy, Materia Medica, Theory 
 and Practice of Medicine, Theory and Practice of Surgery, 
 Midwifery and Chemistry: And provided^ also, That the said faculty 
 requires of its candidates for graduation, 1st, that they shall be 
 twenty -one years of age ; 2d, that they shall have studied three 
 entire years, two of which must have been with some respectable 
 practitioner; 3d, that they shall have attended two full courses 
 of lectures (not, however, to be embraced in the same year), and 
 one of which must have been in the institution granting the 
 diploma, and also where students are required to continue their 
 attendance on the lectures to the close of the session ; and 4:th, 
 that they shall show by examination that they are qualified to 
 practice medicine. 
 
 § 7. The medical faculty of the University of Virginia shall 
 be entitled to representation in the Association, notwithstanding 
 that it has not six professors, and that it does not require three years 
 of study for its pupils, but only so long as the present peculiar
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. HI 
 
 system of instruction and examination practised bj that institu- 
 tion shall continue in force. 
 
 § 8. All hospitals, the medical officers of which are in good 
 standing with the profession, and which have accommodations 
 for one hundred patients, shall be entitled to send one delegate 
 to the Association. 
 
 § 9. Delegates representing the medical staffs of the United 
 States Army and Navy, shall be appointed by the Army and 
 Navy Medical Bureaux. The number of delegates so appointed 
 shall be four from the army medical of&cers, and an equal 
 number from the navy medical officers. 
 
 § 10. No delegate shall be registered on the books of the 
 Association, as representing more than one constituency. 
 
 § 11. Every delegate elect, prior to the permanent organization 
 of the annual meeting, and before voting on any question after 
 the meeting has been organized, shall sign the Constitution and 
 inscribe his name and address in full, with the title of the insti- 
 tution which he represents. 
 
 These propositions were discussed at considerable length by 
 many members of the Association. The discussion took a wide 
 range, including the whole subject of medical education, and was 
 participated in by Drs. Mitchell and Huston, of the Jefferson 
 Medical College, Dr. Horner, of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 Drs. Davis and Eogers, of the University of Virginia, Dr. Frost, 
 of the Medical College of S. C, Dr. Lopez, of Alabama, Drs. 
 Stewart and Watson, of N. Y., Dr. W. Hooker, of Conn,, and 
 others. 
 
 The whole subject was finally disposed of by a vote 'accepting 
 the several propositions, ordering them published in the Transac- 
 tions^ and recommending them to the Association, at its next ses- 
 sion, as amendments to the Constitution. 
 
 Dr. J. B. Flint, of Ky., gave notice of a proposition to amend 
 the fifth article of the Constitution, "so as to provide that, instead 
 of the annual volume of Transactions, the Association may estab- 
 lish and maintain a quarterly journal, to be a medium for the
 
 112 niSTORY OF THE 
 
 publication of its proceedings, and of the most valuable contribu- 
 tions of its members; an organ of resolute and impartial criticism, 
 and an official exponent and advocate of the views of the Asso- 
 ciation on medical science, education, and ethics." 
 
 In accordance with a constitutional rule, the proposition was 
 laid on the table until the next annual meeting. 
 
 On motion of Dr. J. L. Atlee, of Pa., the following resolution 
 was adopted, viz : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That this Association still recommends to the medi- 
 cal colleges the propriety of lengthening their terms of instruc- 
 tion." 
 
 After adopting the proposition of the Nominating Committee 
 to hold the next annual meeting of the Association in the city 
 of New York, and the usual complimentary resolutions to the 
 officers, the Committee of Arrangements, &c. &c., the Associa- 
 tion adjourned sine die, on the afternoon of the fourth day of the 
 session. 
 
 This meeting of the Association, like those which had preceded 
 it, afforded occasions for much social enjoyment. The members 
 of the profession in Kichmond, and the State generally, fully 
 sustained the reputation of "old Virginia," for a most generous 
 and noble hospitality. In addition to the numerous and elegant 
 private entertainments, one evening was occupied with a sump- 
 tuous public dinner, and every effort was made by the local pro- 
 fession to render the meeting an exceedingly pleasant, as well as 
 profitable one, to all who took part in it.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 113 
 
 1853. 
 
 SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING, IN NEW YORK. 
 
 The prominence given to the subject of constitutional amend- 
 ments, in the meeting of the Association at Eichmond, Ya., was 
 the means of attracting to it much attention on the part of the 
 profession generally. Hence, we find it a frequent topic of dis- 
 cussion during the succeeding year, both in the medical periodi- 
 cals and local societies. That the reader may understand more 
 fully the merits of the subject, it is necessarj'- to state that the 
 Constitution of the Association provides for the admission of 
 permanent members, of delegates from medical societies, colleges, 
 and hospitals, and of members by invitation. The permanent 
 members, however, consist of those who have served as delegates 
 or who have been elected by a unanimous vote, and Lave not the 
 privilege of voting in the meetings of the Association. 
 
 The members by invitation are, by the Constitution, composed 
 only of such members of the profession as should attend the annual 
 meetings from sections of the country " not otherwise represented 
 at the meeting," and who should be recommended by one or more 
 of the regular members of the Association, and their connection 
 with the Association ceased with the adjournment of the annual 
 meeting at which they were present. The plain and unmistak- 
 able intent of this clause of the Constitution, was simply to pro- 
 vide a way by which such members of the profession as should 
 choose to attend the annual meetings from remote districts of 
 country, from which no regular delegates had been appointed, 
 8
 
 114 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 could be introduced, and permitted to take part in the proceed- 
 ings of the Association. 
 
 At several of the meetings, however, it was made to cover the 
 admission of members by invitation directly from the vicinity of 
 the place of meeting, and from districts otherwise fully represented 
 by delegates from medical societies, &c. These plain violations 
 of the true intent of the constitutional provision, created much 
 prejudice against the rule itself, and led to several attempts to 
 amend, or expunge it altogether. Hence, in the propositions 
 which were recommended for adoption, as amendments to the 
 Constitution, at the meeting in Eichmond, this provision was to 
 be wholly omitted. If we remember, however, that there are 
 still extensive regions of country, especially in the more recently 
 settled States and territories, in which neither medical societies 
 nor colleges exist, and yet from which a few reputable yiembers 
 of the profession might come to the annual meetings, we shall 
 see good reasons why a provision should exist by which they 
 could be made temporary members, and allowed to participate in 
 the proceedings. The fault hitherto has not been in the rule, 
 but in the practice under the rule. The great body of active 
 members of the American Medical Association was designed by 
 the Constitution to come under the second class named, i. e., dele- 
 gates from medical societies, colleges, and hospitals. 
 
 Each State, district, or county medical society, possessing a 
 regular and permanent organization, was allowed to send one 
 delegate for every ten of its resident members, and an additional 
 delegate for a fraction of more than five members. Each regu- 
 larly organized medical college was permitted to send two dele- 
 gates, and each hospital containing one hundred beds for the sick 
 was allowed two. 
 
 Such were, and still are, the constitutional provisions in rela- 
 tion to membership in the Association, It was manifest, in the 
 meeting at Richmond, that two distinct parties sought to alter
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATIOX. 115 
 
 these provisions. The first, represented bj Dr. Hays, as chair- 
 man of the Special Committee appointed at the annual meeting in 
 Charleston, simply objected to the inequality in the ratio of re- 
 presentation, and proposed to remedy it by restricting the num- 
 ber of delegates from each college and hospital to one annually, 
 and from each State medical society, in States containing district 
 and county societies, to four annually, while the ratio from local 
 societies and associations should be unchanged. The second 
 party, represented by Dr. Yardley, of Pa., who was a member of 
 the same committee with Dr. Hays, not only objected to the pre- 
 sent 7-atio of representation, but objected to any representation, 
 except from county, district, and State societies. It was claimed, 
 by this party, that the admission of delegates from colleges and 
 hospitals not only led to an inequality in the ratio of representa- 
 tion, but recognized and perpetuated the unnecessary distinction 
 between professors and laymen in the profession. Hence, they 
 proposed, on the one hand, to strike out all provisions for the 
 reception of delegates, except from county, district, and State 
 medical societies; and, on the other, to make "all the members 
 of the medical profession who are attached to properly organized 
 county, or district, and State medical societies throughout the 
 United States," nominally members of the Association. It will 
 be remembered that, at the meeting in Eichmond, the whole 
 subject was again referred to a special committee, of which Dr. 
 F. Campbell Stewart, of N. Y., was chairman. This Committee, 
 in attempting to unite the views of both the parties named, re- 
 ported the propositions which have already been quoted at length, 
 and which were recommended for adoption at the annual meeting 
 to be held in New York. 
 
 The objection urged against allowing each medical college 
 with a faculty of only six or seven members, to send two dele- 
 gates, while it requires twenty members of the profession, incor- 
 porated in a medical society to send an equal number, was so
 
 116 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 plausible in itself that the whole series of proposed amendments 
 seemed to meet with general favor. They were commended by 
 some of the medical journals, and discussed and approved by 
 several local societies in different sections of the Union. On the 
 other hand, a few made decided opposition to their adoption. 
 By such it was claimed that the adoption of the proposition to 
 make all who are, or might become members of the local 
 medical societies, members of the American Medical Association, 
 would not only greatly lessen the importance and value of such 
 membership, but would also "enable every brazen-faced pre- 
 tender in medicine to arrogate to himself the title of Member of 
 the Amer. Med. Association." It was justly claimed that one of 
 the important advantages derived from all social organizations in 
 the profession, was the stimulus they afford to individual ambi- 
 tion or emulation. The desire to occupy an honorable position 
 in the estimation of our fellows, is one of the most powerful in- 
 centives to individual industry and good conduct. If, to gain a 
 membership in the great national organization, it is necessary to 
 have local societies ; and necessary that individuals should not 
 only become members thereof, but members in such standing as 
 to command the suffrages of their fellows, it constitutes a very 
 strong inducement both to social organization and individual im- 
 provement. It was also claimed, that though the present ratio of 
 representation was apparently unequal, yet practically no evils 
 had resulted from such inequality, while there were many reasons 
 against the proposed change. One of the leading articles which 
 appeared during the year in opposition to the proposed amend- 
 ments, was from the pen of Dr. N. S. Davis, of Chicago, and 
 contained in the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal^ for 
 March, 1853. 
 
 In reference to the ratio of representation, Dr. Davis says : — 
 "At the organization of the Association, it was very generally 
 thought to be an object of great importance to secure the active
 
 AlIEEICAX MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 117 
 
 and hearty co-operation of the medical colleges. The free inter- 
 mingling annually of delegates from those institutions with others 
 from the great mass of the profession, by which each would be- 
 come more familiar with the wishes, embarrassrhents, and advan- 
 tages of the other, was thought to be the most desirable and 
 certain method of securing this important end. The framers of 
 the Constitution, having much more reference to the accomplish- 
 ment of a great object than to the attainment of a nice numerical 
 equality in the ratio of representation, provided for the admission 
 of tiijo delegates from each college and hospital. Has anything 
 occurred in the practical working of the provision that calls for 
 a change? In casting a hasty glance over the list of delegates in 
 attendance at each meeting of the Association since its formation, 
 I find the ratio of representation to be substantially as follows, 
 viz : — 
 
 Members enrolled as Delegates ia ] 847. 
 
 From Societies 178 
 
 From Medical Colleges . . 59 
 From Hospitals 2 
 
 1848. 1849. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 208 375 
 
 208 
 
 182 
 
 22(3 
 
 45 51 
 
 34 
 
 30 
 
 39 
 
 24 20 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 during six 
 
 years 
 
 . 
 
 230 
 
 (( (( 
 
 u 
 
 . 
 
 42 
 
 , U t( 
 
 a 
 
 
 13 
 
 " » " Colleges 
 
 " " " Hospitals 
 
 " Certainly these figures furnish no evidence that medical schools 
 have hitherto been too largely represented, the actual average 
 number in attendance having scarcely exceeded one for each 
 school in the Union. Hence, if they are allowed any representa- 
 tion, the benefits to result from reducing their ratio are not very 
 apparent." 
 
 Nothing could demonstrate more clearly the practical inutility 
 of making any reduction in the ratio of representation from the 
 colleges than the above figures. In regard to the proposition to 
 impose certain conditions on the colleges, to be complied with
 
 118 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 before being entitled to any representation, the same writer re- 
 marks as follows, viz : — 
 
 " These conditions are all right enough in themselves, but 
 entirely out of place in the Constitution of a great national asso- 
 ciation. They constitute unnecessary details that almost in- 
 evitably involve the Association in the most glaring inconsist- 
 encies. Indeed, the very next section of this same proposed 
 amendment affords a striking instance of such inconsistency. 
 In this, to avoid the awkward necessity of excluding the Uni- 
 versity of Virginia, the Association is constrained, by the terms 
 of the amendment, to acknowledge that, under some circum- 
 stances, neither six professors, nor three years' study, nor two 
 courses of lectures, are necessary; and that, too, after the an- 
 nually reiterated recommendation of longer college terms, longer 
 periods of study, a greater number of courses of lectures, and 
 seven professors. It seems to me that all this talk and hair-split- 
 ting nicety about constitutional provisions, for an association 
 organized for the purpose of elevating and advancing the condi- 
 tion of one of the most learned and beneficent professions that 
 exist in human society, involves an unnecessary waste of most 
 valuable time ; and is far better calculated to engender jealousies 
 and divisions than to foster that spirit of liberal friendship and 
 noble zeal for the advancement of our science, which should 
 extend their genial influences to the remotest corners of our 
 country 
 
 "While I admit that the present constitutional ratio of repre- 
 sentation is theoretically unequal, yet it certainly has not, thus far, 
 developed in practice any important abuses; and hence, instead 
 of risking the harmony of diverse interests and feelings by con- 
 stant attempts at more nice constitutional adjustments, every 
 effort should be made to cultivate a broader liberality, a freer 
 communion of those representing all legitimate interests, and a 
 more patient, diffusive, and energetic spirit of scientific research.
 
 AMERICAK MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 119 
 
 And I am fully convinced that these important objects would be 
 more speedily and certainly accomplished, if the Association 
 would appoint fewer committees, exact more prompt and care- 
 fully digested reports, and induce all its members to come up to 
 the annual meetings, prepared, in the true spirit of candor and 
 liberality, to examine every report and paper presented, for the 
 purpose of adding whatever of interest their own experience and 
 observation had furnished in relation thereto. Such a course, 
 pursued in such a spirit, would not only carry the Association 
 onward through a long career of prosperity and usefulness, but 
 would give to all its general recommendations, in relation to 
 medical education and literature, greatly increased effect." 
 
 It is evident, from the discussions which took place during the 
 meeting of the Association at Eichmond and subsequently, that 
 many members had failed to perceive clearly the true relations 
 of the Association to the profession, or the objects of its Consti- 
 tution. They seemed to look upon the national organization in 
 the same light as a representative civil government, whose acts 
 were laws of binding import, and whose basis of representation 
 must consequently be adjusted with the same nice care to the 
 equality of diverse or separate interests. It seemed to be for- 
 gotten that the Association was entirely a voluntary organization, 
 the acts of which carried with them no other force than the in- 
 herent justice of the acts themselves, coupled with the moral 
 weight of the body from which they emanated; and that this 
 moral weight would bear a close relation to the fulness of repre- 
 sentation from those institutions whose interests were most 
 involved in the movements proposed. Previous to the organi- 
 zation of the Association, there was no common ground on which 
 the various interests of the profession could meet and devise 
 measures in concert. Medical colleges had multiplied with great 
 rapidity; State and district societies existed in only a small 
 number of States; the standard of education, both preliminary
 
 120 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and medical, was almost universally acknowledged to be too low, 
 and yet the institutions of each State claimed to be equal Avith 
 those of every other, and deemed it imprudent to take a step in 
 advance. The great leading object of those who originated the 
 movement for a national organization, and of those who framed 
 the Constitution, was to bring the representatives of all the legi- 
 timate interests of the profession together, to establish a point of 
 contact where mind should act directly on mind, and concentrate 
 a power sufficient to counteract the repelling influences of sec- 
 tional prejudices and the rivalry of individual institutions. 
 Hence, instead of aiming at a close equalittj in the ratio of repre- 
 sentation, they sought carefully for such provisions as would 
 produce, on the one hand, the most full and free intermingling of 
 representatives from all the regularly organized social and edu- 
 cational institutions in the profession ; and on the other, foster in 
 the highest degree the spirit of scientific and professional im- 
 provement. How far they were successful the sequel will show. 
 
 The delegates to the sixth annual meeting of the Association 
 assembled in the Presbyterian Church, in Bleecker Street, New 
 York city, at llj o'clock A. M., of May 3, 1853. They were 
 welcomed in a very appropriate congratulatory address by Dr. F. 
 Campbell Stewart, chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. 
 The Secretary read the list of delegates, so far as the names had 
 been reported and registered, after which a committee of one 
 from each State represented, Avas appointed to nominate officers 
 for the ensuing year. 
 
 The number of delegates in attendance was unusually large. 
 "While the Committee for nominating officers were deliberating 
 on their choice. Dr. Condie, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the 
 Committee on Publications, submitted his annual report, together 
 with that of the Treasurer. They were accepted, and the Com- 
 mittee authorized to furnish the chairmen of Committees on 
 Epidemics with extra copies of their reports, at the expense of
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 121 
 
 tlie Association ; and also to send a full set of the Transactions of 
 tlie Association to the American Medical Society in Paris. Dr. 
 Marshall Hall, of London, being present, he was invited to take 
 a seat on the platform with the officers. The annual address was 
 now delivered by the President, Dr. Beverley P. Wellford, of 
 Virginia, 
 
 The address reviewed fully and ably the origin, progress, and 
 benefits of the Association, with the objects which should still 
 engage its attention. On motion of Dr. Hays, of Pennsylvania, 
 the thanks of the Association were tendered to the President, and 
 a copy of his address requested for publication in the Transactions. 
 Dr. Joseph M. Smith, chairman of the Committee on Nominations, 
 reported the following as suitable candidates for the several offices 
 named: — 
 
 For President. 
 Dr. Jonathan Knight,' of New Haven, Conn. 
 
 For Vice-Presidents. 
 Dr. Usher Parsons, of E. I. ; Dr. Lewis Condict, of N. J. 
 Dr. Henry R. Frost, of S. C. ; Dr. R. L. Howard, of Ohio. 
 
 For Secretaries. 
 
 Drs. Edward L. Beadle, of N. Y. City; and Edwin L. 
 
 Lemoine, of Mo. 
 
 For Treasurer. 
 Dr. D. Francis Condie, of Penn. 
 
 The Committee also reported in favor of holding the next 
 annual meeting at St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 The report of the Committee was adopted by the Association, 
 and Dr. Knight, on being conducted to the chair, returned his 
 thanks, in a short but very appropriate address. 
 
 The attentive reader will have noticed that, with only one 
 exception, the selection of president of the Association had been 
 
 > For Biographical Sketch of Dr. Knight, see Appendix A.
 
 122 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 made from the profession in the city in which the annual meet- 
 ing was being held. This practice had been so long followed 
 that it came to be regarded almost as an established law ; and 
 hence a large portion of the profession were confidently expecting 
 the election of Dr. Valentine Mott. 
 
 The New York delegation in the Association, however, had 
 presented to the Nominating Committee the name of Dr. John 
 AV. Francis. 
 
 There were some members of the Committee who denied both 
 the justice and binding nature of the rule, which had been esta- 
 blished merely by precedent. They claimed that its continuance 
 would necessarily limit the highest honors of the Association to 
 a favored few, who might chance to occupy a favorable place 
 for an annual meeting, while all others would be excluded. The 
 injustice of the rule and the absurdity of the principle on which 
 it was established were illustrated by the circumstances then 
 before the Committee. There were then in the meeting of the 
 Association, men whose heads were silvered over with age, who 
 were revered at home and abroad, and who had labored assi- 
 duously to promote the interests of the Association, travelling 
 hundreds of miles to attend its annual meetings ; and yet their 
 residence was such that they must be excluded from all chance 
 of promotion. On the other hand, neither of the gentlemen 
 whose names were before the Committee, had ever taken a pro- 
 minent or even active part in promoting the interests of the 
 Association. While it was cheerfully conceded that they were 
 both among the first and most deservedly eminent members of 
 the profession in the whole Union, it was claimed that they had 
 not only failed to manifest an active interest in the doings of the 
 Association, but that Dr. Mott belonged to a college^ whose 
 faculty had sought, at the very outset, to defeat entirely the 
 formation of a national organization. These circumstances, 
 
 ' The Medical Department of the Uniyersity of New York.
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 123 
 
 together with the fact that New York had already furnished one 
 president of the Association, in the person of Dr. Alexander H. 
 Stevens, who was elected at the meeting in Baltimore, induced 
 the Committee to regard the present as a very favorable oppor- 
 tunity for repudiating the rule which precedent had thus far 
 established. Hence the Committee united in the recommendation 
 of Dr. Jonathan Knight, of New Haven, who had taken a most 
 active and efficient part in organizing and sustaining the Asso- 
 ciation, with all its legitimate interests ; and to whose age and 
 high standing in the profession were added all the qualities of a 
 most efficient presiding officer. During the progress of the 
 annual session, a variety of resolutions were offered, some of 
 which were discussed and adopted, but none of them possessed 
 sufficient importance or general interest to require mention. 
 
 Interesting reports were presented from special committees, on 
 the following subjects, viz: — 
 
 " On Acute and Chronic Diseases of the Neck of the Uterus," 
 by Dr. C. D. Meigs, of Philadelphia. 
 
 " On the Agency of the Refrigeration produced through Radia- 
 tion of Heat as an Exciting Cause of Disease," by Dr. C Emerson, 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 " On the Causes and Pathology of Typhoid Fever," by Dr. H. 
 r. Campbell, of Georgia. 
 
 " On the Epidemics of Tennessee and Kentucky," by Dr. Sutton, 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 " On Diseases of the Hip-joint," by Dr. Alden March, of Albany. 
 
 Dr. Gurdon Buck, of New York, read a paper on morbid 
 growths within the larynx, and exhibited specimens to the 
 Association. A report was also received from Dr. S. D. Gross, 
 of Kentucky, on the results of surgical operations for the relief 
 of malignant diseases. All these reports and papers were 
 received and referred to the Committee on Publications, without 
 being read in full before the Association. They may be found
 
 124 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 in the volume of Transactions for 1853 ; and contain a great 
 amount of matter of scientific interest and practical value. 
 
 The report of the Committee on Medical Education was pre- 
 sented and read at length, by the chairman, Dr. Z. Pitcher, of 
 Detroit, Michigan. This report, like those which had been pre- 
 sented to the preceding annual meetings on the same subject, 
 recommended a higher standard of preliminary and professional 
 education, and longer terms of college instruction, and contained 
 many valuable suggestions. It, however, contained two novel 
 features : the first consisted in a detailed statement of the organi- 
 zation and course of instruction adopted by the medical depart- 
 ment of the University of Michigan, thereby making the report 
 a useful advertisement for that particular institution ; and the 
 second, in a labored attempt to depreciate the value of clinical 
 instruction in hospitals. 
 
 To the report was appended the following resolutions, which 
 were adopted by the Association, viz : — 
 
 '■''Resolved, That the Association reaffirms its formerly ex- 
 pressed opinions on the value and importance of general 
 education to the student and practitioner of medicine, and that it 
 would gladly enlarge its rule on this subject, so as to include the 
 humanities of the schools, and the natural sciences, 
 
 " Resolved, That in the opinion of this Association, a familiar 
 knowledge with the elements of medical science should precede 
 clinical instruction. 
 
 " Resolved, That in order to accomplish the latter, the hospitals, 
 when elevated to the rank of schools of practice, and the intelli- 
 gent private preceptor, are the most efficient instrumentalities to 
 be used for that purpose." 
 
 The report from the Committee on Medical Literature was 
 presented and read in full, by Dr. K S. Davis, of Chicago, 111. 
 It contained a full review of the literature of the profession in 
 the United States for the year preceding the first day of March, 
 1853. The writer not only claimed that we possess a national
 
 AMEEICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 125 
 
 medical literature of our own, but pointed out its cliaracteristic 
 features, with valuable suggestions in relation to its cultivation 
 and improvement. 
 
 The whole number of medical periodicals published in the 
 United States was reported to be twenty-eight ; of which, four 
 are issued quarterly; six bi-monthly; fifteen monthly; two semi- 
 monthly; and one weekly. This, together with the report on 
 Medical Education, may be found in Volume YI. of the Transac- 
 tions of the Association. 
 
 Dr. Joseph M. Smith, chairman of the Committee on Volunteer 
 Communications and Prize Essays, reported that fifteen essays 
 had been received and examined by the Committee. Twelve of 
 these were accompanied by sealed packets containing the names 
 of the authors, and three contained the names of the authors in 
 connection with the essays. The Committee awarded two prizes 
 of $100 each, to the authors of the following essays, viz : — 
 
 The Cell: its Physiology, Pathology, and Philosophy, as deduced 
 from original investigations ; to ivhich is added its History and Criti- 
 cism. By Walter J. Burnett, M. D. of Boston, Mass. 
 
 The Surgical Treatment of certain Fibrous Tumors of the Uterus, 
 heretofore considered beyond the resources of art. By Washington 
 L. Atlee, M. D., of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 These essays, with appropriate illustrations, are embodied in 
 Volume VI. of the Transactions and occupy nearly 300 pages. 
 
 The whole volume of Transactions for 1853, contains 869 
 pages, and should certainly be in the library of every physician 
 in the United States. The proposed amendments to the Consti- 
 tution, which had occupied so much time during the meeting at 
 Eichmond, Va., and called forth some discussion in the medical 
 journals, were called up for consideration on the third day of the 
 session. On motion of Dr. A. H. Stevens, of New York, amended 
 by Dr. Atkinson, of Virginia, their further consideration was 
 mdefinitely postponed, except the clause providing for the admis-
 
 126 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sion of delegates from the Medical Staffs of tlie United States 
 Army and Navy, which was adopted. 
 
 The Committee on Nominations reported twenty-five special 
 committees on scientific subjects, to report at the next annual 
 meeting, and also the usual standing committees on Medical Lite- 
 rature, Medical Education, Volunteer and Prize Essays, Publica- 
 tion, and Arrangements. During the year preceding, three emi- 
 nent members of the Association had departed this life, viz : 
 Drs. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati, "Wm. E. Horner and Isaac Par- 
 rish, of Philadelphia. Concerning each of these, appropriate re- 
 solutions were adopted by the Association. During the session, 
 invitations were liberally extended to the Association to visit 
 freely the numerous important public and charitable institutions 
 in New York and its vicinity ; the most generous hospitality was 
 also manifested by the members of the profession residing in the 
 city; and neither time nor money was spared by them in their 
 efforts to render the annual meeting a pleasant and profitable one 
 to all. On the evening of the third day of the session, an enter- 
 tainment was provided in Metropolitan Hall, which, for extent 
 and luxurious magnificence, has probably never been equalled in 
 our country. The number in attendance during the session was 
 larger than on any previous anniversary occasion. "Thirty 
 States and Territories, the District of Columbia, the Army and 
 Navy of the United States, and the American Medical Society in 
 Paris, were represented in the Association. There was one mem- 
 ber, by invitation, from Syria, and one from Canada "West. The 
 whole number of members in attendance was 573, and the whole 
 number of institutions represented, 170." 
 
 All the proper business of the Association was conducted in 
 harmony and with great good feeling.
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 127 
 
 1854. 
 
 SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING, AT ST. LOUIS. 
 
 At the close of the great Anniversary Meeting of the Asso- 
 ciation in New York, May 6th, 1853, a deep feeling of sadness 
 was communicated to the whole profession, by the sudden death 
 of seven members at Norwalk, Connecticut, on their way home 
 from the meeting. The railroad train in which they were pro- 
 ceeding homeward, ran off an open drawbridge, at Norwalk, 
 plunging with all its freight of human lives into deep water, 
 where a large number of passengers immediately perished. 
 Among the latter, were Abel L. Pierson, M. D., of Salem, Massa- 
 chusetts ; Archibald Welsh, M. D., of Hartford, Connecticut ; 
 Josiah Bartlett, M. D., of Strathara, New Hampshire ; Samuel 
 Beach, M. D., of Bridgeport, Connecticut ; James M. Smith, M. 
 D., and James H. Gray, M. D., of Springfield, Massachusetts ; 
 and Wm. C. Dwight, M. D., of Moscow, New York ; all of whom 
 were esteemed members of the Association. Soon .after the facts 
 in relation to this sad catastrophe were known, such members of 
 the Association as yet remained in the city of New York, assem- 
 bled and passed resolutions of respect for the dead, and appointed 
 a committee, consisting of Drs. Joseph M. Smith, F. Campbell 
 Stewart, J. W. G. Clements, Wm. Eockwell, Isaac E. Taylor, 
 Edward L. Beadle, and John Watson, "to devise some suitable 
 method of commemorating the event, and the worth and profes- 
 sional character" of those who had been thus suddenly cut off; and 
 to report the same to the next annual meeting of the Associa-
 
 128 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tion. At the succeeding annual meeting of the Association, this 
 committee recommended that a narrative of the event, together 
 with a brief biographical sketch of each individual, should be 
 prepared and published in the Transactions. This recommenda- 
 tion was approved by the Association, and the Biographical 
 Sketches were prepared, and may be found in the YII. volume of 
 the piihJished Trwiisactions. 
 
 The long pending propositions for amending the Constitution 
 of the Association having been disposed of at the annual meeting 
 in New York, there was no subject particularly affecting the na- 
 tional organization, which was discussed during the year. 
 
 The annual address of the President, Dr. Wellford, had again 
 called the attention of the profession very strongly to the defec- 
 tive character of the preliminary education of those who engage 
 in the study of medicine, and had induced some State and local 
 societies to take action in reference to it. At the meeting of the 
 Medical Society of Virginia, held in April, ISo-i, the following 
 resolution was discussed and unanimously adopted, viz : — 
 
 '^ Hesolved, That the members of the Society now present, do 
 hereby pledge themselves to each other, that they will not receive 
 under their instruction, as students of medicine, any individual 
 who is grossly deficient in either mental or moral endowments, 
 or in that preliminary education which is necessary to fit him 
 for entering a profession requiring high intellectual and moral 
 qualifications; and that we respectfully and earnestly recommend 
 to our brethren throughout the State to adopt a similar rule of 
 action." 
 
 As the next annual meeting of the Association was to be held 
 in St. Louis, Missouri, the profession throughout the Western and 
 Northwestern States was prompted to increase and extend its so- 
 cial organizations, and thereby to advance in an equal ratio all 
 its educational interests. 
 
 The delegates and members of the Association attending the 
 Seventh An^iiversary Meeting at St. Louis, assembled in Yeran-
 
 AMERICAN" MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 129 
 
 dah Hall, at 11 o'clock A. M., and were called to order by the 
 senior Vice-President, Dr. Usher Parsons, of Rhode Island ; the 
 President, Dr. Jonathan Knight, of Connecticut, being absent. 
 The local Secretary, Dr. E. S. Lemoine, of St. Louis, read letters 
 from Dr. Knight, the President, and Dr. Edward L. Beadle, the 
 senior Secretary, explaining their absence and expressing their 
 continued and deep interest in the prosperity of the Association. 
 Dr. J. R. Washington, of St. Louis, chairman of the Committee 
 of Arrangements, in behalf of the profession of the city of St. 
 Louis, and the State of Missouri, very cordially welcomed the 
 delegates and members of the Association ; and read the list of 
 those in attendance so far as they had been registered. 
 
 The Vice-President, Dr. Parsons, responded to the remarks of 
 Dr. Washington, in behalf of the Association, and announced that 
 the meeting was duly organized for the transaction of business. 
 The remainder of the morning session was occupied in the ap- 
 pointment of a Nominating Committee, consisting of one from 
 each State represented ; the hearing of the report of the Treasu- 
 rer and Committee of Publication; and the reception of invitations 
 to hold the next annual meeting in Philadelphia, and Detroit. 
 During the afternoon session, communications were received from 
 Dr. J. G. Adams, of New York, in relation to a presentation of the 
 Transadioiis of the Association to the Imperial Academy of Medi- 
 cine at Paris ; from the New Hampshire Medical Society, in relation 
 to the propriety of admitting delegates to the Association from so- 
 cieties which number among its members persons who adopt and 
 practise some one of the forms of empiricism ; and from Dr. Mcll- 
 vaine, of Ohio, in reference to the organization of the American 
 Medical Society of Paris, and accompanied by a memorial in 
 reference to the system of Medical Education in the United States. 
 On motion of Dr. S. D. Gross, of Ky., the following resolution was 
 adopted by an almost unanimous vote, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That it be recommended to all future Committees 
 9
 
 130 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of Arrangement of this Association, that they dispense with 
 costly and extravagant entertainments." 
 
 Dr. Gross also proposed the following amendment to the Con- 
 stitution, which was laid on the table until the next annual meet- 
 ing of the Association, according to the rule governing constitu- 
 tional amendments. 
 
 " Whereas, It is of great importance to the harmony and good 
 feeling of this Association, that its presiding officer should be 
 fully acquainted with parliamentary usages, and the mode of pre- 
 siding over deliberative assemblies, therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That that part of the Constitution which relates to 
 the election of officers be so amended as that the election shall 
 take place immediately before the adjournment of each meeting, 
 instead of immediately after its commencement." 
 
 Dr. J. P. "White, of Buffiilo, chairman of the Committee on 
 Nominations, reported the following, viz : — 
 
 For President. 
 Charles A. Pope, of Missouri. 
 
 Vice-Presiden ts. 
 E. D. Fenner, of Louisiana ; N. S. Davis, of Illinois ; 
 
 William Wragg, of South Carolina ; John Green, of Mass. 
 
 /Secretaries. 
 E. S. Lemoine, of St. Louis, Mo.; Francis West, of Phila., Pa. 
 
 TVeasurer. 
 D. Francis Condie, of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 The report of the Committee was accepted, and the officers pro- 
 posed unanimously elected. The city of Philadelphia was also se- 
 lected as the place for holding the next annual meeting of the Asso- 
 ciation. At a former annual meeting, a committee had been ap- 
 pointed to procure a stone with a suitable inscription for the monu- 
 ment to the memory of Washington. Dr. John L. Atlee, of Pa., 
 chairman of this Committee, reported " that he had adopted, at the
 
 'ROFESSOROF THE PRINCIPLES S. PRACTICE OF SURGERY & C 
 IN THE MEDICAL DEP T, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST LOUIS 
 
 En^ra-ved expressly for the New Jersey Medic a.1 Roporler
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 131 
 
 suggestion of the lamented Dr. Pierson, of Salem, the design for 
 the stone, representing Hippocrates refusing the presents of the 
 ambassadors of King Artaxerxes, who invited him to go to Persia 
 and succor the enemies of Greece. The sculpture, which is upon 
 Vermont marble, was wrought bj Mr. Samuel Beck, a young 
 artist of Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania." Dr. Atlee presented to 
 the Association daguerreotype copies of both the picture and the 
 sculpture, and solicited further contributions from members ; about 
 four hundred dollars more being required to complete the work. 
 On the morning of the second day, the reports of committees be- 
 ing in order, the following were received, and referred to the 
 Committee on Publication, only abstracts of the same being read 
 to the Association. 
 
 On Epidemic Erysipelas. By E. S. Holmes, M. D., of St. Louis. 
 
 On The Epidemics of South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and 
 Alabama. By D. J. Cain, M. D., of Charleston, S. C. 
 
 On The Epidemics of Tennessee and Kentucky. By W. L. 
 Sutton, M. D., of Georgetown, Ky. 
 
 On The Epidemics of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. By George 
 Mendenhall, of Cincinnati. 
 
 On The History of the Yellow Fever in New Orleans, in the 
 summer of 1853, and on Cholera. By E. D. Fenner, M. D., of 
 New Orleans. 
 
 On Medical Education. By J. L. Cabell, of Virginia. 
 
 Dr. C. A. Pope, chairman of the Committee on Prize Essays 
 and Volunteer Communications, reported that nine essays had 
 been submitted to the examination of the Committee ; but they 
 had awarded only one prize. The essay thus honored, was en- 
 titled An Essay on a New Method of Treating Ununited Fractures, 
 and Certain Deformities of the Osseous System, and its author was 
 Daniel Brainard, M. D., of Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 The Committee on Nominations reported the names of thirty- 
 seven committees, on a great variety of subjects, to report at the 
 next annual meeting of the Association ; and also the usual standing
 
 132 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 CommitteesonMedical Literature, Medical Education, PrizeEssays, 
 Arrangements, and Publication. The report was accepted, and 
 unanimously adopted, except that part of it which related to the 
 appointment of a Committee on Publication. Since the first or- 
 ganization of the Association, the majority of the Committee on 
 Publication had been located in Philadelphia, and the printing of 
 the Transactions had been done in that city. 
 
 But the Nominating Committee had, in their report, recom- 
 mended the selection of a chairman with the majority of the 
 members of that Committee, from members of the Association 
 residing in New York. This recommendation was strenuously 
 objected to, on the singular pretence that the change of location 
 would be an implied censure on the former Committee on Publi- 
 cation ; and it consequently led to a protracted and warm discus- 
 sion, during which the action of the Nominating Committee, to- 
 gether with the principle that all the committees of the Associa- 
 tion are subject to the utmost freedom of change annually, was 
 sustained by Drs. Say re, of New York; Eve, of Georgia; Brecken- 
 ridge, of Kentucky ; Davis, of Illinois, and others ; and opposed 
 by Drs. Storer, of Boston ; Keyburn, of Missouri ; and Atlee, of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 After various efforts to amend, the original report, recommend- 
 ing a majority of the Committee on Publication to be selected 
 from New York, was adopted by a large majority. 
 
 The following resolution was then unanimously adopted : — 
 
 " Resolved, That a vote of thanks be returned to the late Pub- 
 lication Committee, for their best endeavors to serve the Ameri- 
 can Medical Association." 
 
 The resignation of Dr. D. F. Condie, of Philadelphia, as Trea- 
 surer of the Association was presented, and Dr. Isaac Wood, of 
 New York, was appointed in his place. 
 
 Among the many resolutions proposed, discussed, and acted
 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 133 
 
 upon during the several daily meetings of the Association, were 
 the following, viz : — 
 
 " Resolved, That, hereafter, the majority of the Committee on 
 Publication shall be selected from the physicians of that city in 
 which this Association may hold its annual session." 
 
 This was offered by Dr. Breckenridge, of Ky., and adopted. 
 
 " Resolved, That, hereafter, every paper received by this Asso- 
 ciation, and ordered to be published, and all plates or other 
 means of illustration, shall be considered the exclusive property 
 of the Association, and shall be published and sold for the exclu- 
 sive benefit of the Association." 
 
 " Resolved, That this Association earnestly recommend to their 
 medical brethren, in those States in which societies do not 
 exist, the immediate organization of State and county medical 
 societies." 
 
 '■^Resolved, That a committee of one be appointed by the Chair, 
 to inquire into the causes which obstruct the formation and es- 
 tablishment of our national medical literature, and to report on 
 the subject at the next annual meeting of this Association, or as 
 soon thereafter as practicable," 
 
 The Chair appointed Dr. S. D. Gross, of Ky., said committee. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by the 
 Chair, to report, at the next meeting of the Association, the best 
 means of preventing the introduction of disease, by emigrants, 
 into our country." 
 
 The Committee appointed, consists of Drs. S. H. Dickson, of 
 Charleston ; J. H. Griscom, of New York ; and E. D. Fenner, of 
 New Orleans. 
 
 The annual meeting at St. Louis, though not attended by as 
 large a number of delegates as the one that preceded it in New 
 York, was nevertheless well attended, and productive of much 
 pleasure and profit. The local profession of St. Louis, spared 
 nothing to render the stay of the members of the Association as 
 pleasant as possible. Besides providing a most elegant and 
 sumptuous general entertainment on the evening of the third
 
 134 niSTORY OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 day of the session, the most pleasant social interviews were held 
 at the private residences of several of the most distinguished 
 physicians each evening, and also at the residences of ex-Mayor 
 Kennett and Col. OTallen. Invitations were extended to visit 
 all the public institutions, colleges, &c., and to make a free ex- 
 cursion on the Pacific Eailroad. The latter invitation was ac- 
 cepted by a part of the members, with their ladies, whose enjoy- 
 ment on the occasion will not soon be forgotten. The annual 
 meeting was closed after adopting the usual complimentary reso- 
 lutions, on the evening of the third day of the session. And 
 here we must close, for the present, our history of an institution, 
 which, in its origin, objects, and general career, has no parallel 
 in Christendom. But we should not feel satisfied with our task, 
 without adding a few pages by way of comment on the facts of 
 the past, and the prospects of the future.
 
 CONCLUDING HEMAUKS. 
 
 To judge correctly of the success or failure of any given enter- 
 prise, requires that we know the real objects to be attained, and 
 the methods proposed for their accomplishment. It requires but 
 a very cursory examination of the subject, to show that the great 
 leading object, the fundamental idea, which impelled the forma- 
 tion of our great national organization, was the improvement of 
 our system of Medical Education^ and consequently, the elevation 
 of the whole profession. Hence the Special Committee appointed 
 in 1849, on the subject of lengthening the college terms, in speak- 
 ing of our professional education, very justly remarks: "That 
 it (the Association) stands in some measure pledged to accom- 
 plish a reform in the Medical Education of the country. Should 
 it pass by, or fail to render effective this leading idea of the pro- 
 fession, it will have neglected a chief object of its instituiioji, and 
 will disappoint the just expectations of its founders." 
 
 With the mind fixed on this leading object, and impatient for 
 its accomplishment, not a few have already declared the Associa- 
 tion a failure. Thus, Dr. D. M. Eeese, editor of the American 
 Medical Gazette, in his April number, holds the following lan- 
 guage : " The near approach of the Annual Convention of the 
 American Medical Association, to be held in Philadelphia in May 
 next, is heralded by the journals of the country, in numerous 
 articles, editorial and otherwise, in relation to the great reforms 
 in medical education, which was ' the original and gra7id finality 
 contemplated in the foundation of the Association.
 
 136 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 "The conviction appears to be general, among writers, that 
 notwithstanding the numerous reforms attempted, recommended, 
 and resolved on, by repeated ' luhereases,^ and reiterated at every 
 successive meeting by high-sounding resolutions, and published 
 in each volume of the Transactions, yet, in effectuating any one of 
 these, after seven years' trial, the efforts of the Association in this re- 
 gard have resulted in signal and utter failure^ 
 
 Dr. Bennett Dowler, of New Orleans, gives utterance, in the 
 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, to sentiments of simi- 
 lar import. After carefully tracing the history of the Associa- 
 tion, I am constrained to regard these announcements of failure 
 as premature, and indicative of but a partial comprehension of 
 the work assigned to the Association, and of the means at its 
 command for accomplishing it. Ilad the Association, at the 
 beginning, been clothed with legislative authority and powers 
 suflBcient to enforce its enactments, so protracted a delay, in 
 accomplishing its avowed purposes, would have furnished reason- 
 able ground for declaring its institution a failure. But it must 
 be borne in mind that our country is made up of more than 
 thirty separate States ; that the Association was, and is, not only 
 destitute of legislative powers itself, but also without access to 
 any one legislative body possessing authority to regulate the 
 education and interests of the profession of the whole country. 
 Hence, to accomplish the great and interesting work assigned to 
 it, there was a necessity — 
 
 First : That the Association should unite the great body of its 
 own members on some definite and feasible plan, for accomplish- 
 ing its avowed work. 
 
 Second : That the means, instruments or agencies, should be 
 provided for carrying the plan into effect. 
 
 It was a very great error to suppose the first step here indi- 
 cated had been accomplished, when the Association had almost 
 unanimously resolved that a certain standard of preliminary educa-
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 137 
 
 tion should be adopted ; that the lecture terms in the colleges should 
 he lengthened; and that a higher standard oi qualifications should 
 be exacted of candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
 These were simply general declarations, important, it is true, and 
 necessary as indicating clearly the objects to be accomplished. 
 But what was the plan devised for their accomplishment ? How 
 was the standard of preliminary education to be enforced ? Who 
 was to examine the student, and furnish him with the certificate 
 of having attained to that standard ? In lengthening the lecture 
 terms of the colleges, was it for the purpose of simply subjecting 
 the classes to a more protracted endurance of six lectures per 
 day, given promiscuously to new beginners and advanced stu- 
 dents, without any reference to the natural and necessary order 
 of the several branches? or was it designed to divide the annual 
 terms into subdivisions, giving fewer lectures per day, and allow- 
 ing the branches to be so grouped that the classes could attend 
 the more elementary, before being forced to hear the practical ? 
 
 And who was to judge of the " higher standard" of qualifica- 
 tions for the degree ? Were there to be independent boards of 
 examiners? and if so, by whom were they to be appointed? 
 
 All these questions are necessarily involved in our first propo- 
 sition. To furnish answers which will meet the cordial and active 
 sanction of an Association whose annual meetings are constituted 
 of from 250 to 500 members, drawn from sections of country 
 from two to three thousand miles apart, is a work requiring both 
 time and patience. 
 
 Various attempts have been made to furnish these answers in 
 a satisfactory form. The most systematic of these is contained in 
 the concluding chapter of a little volume, entitled the Ulstonj of 
 Medical Education, and published by Dr. N. S. Davis, in 1851. 
 To insure proper attention to the subject of preliminary educa- 
 tion, he proposed that each State, county, and town medical 
 society or association should appoint a board of censors, to exa-
 
 138 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 mine such young men as should propose to commence the study 
 of medicine in their respective districts, and to give certificates 
 to such as were found to possess the necessary preliminary quali- 
 fications ; and that no physician should be considered as main- 
 taining a good standing in the profession, who should receive a 
 student into his office without such examination and certificate. 
 A plan essentially the same was adopted by the Erie County 
 Medical Society, subsequently sanctioned by the New York State 
 Society, and recommended to the American Medical Association 
 by the Committee on Medical Education, of which Dr. F. Camp- 
 bell Stewart, of N. Y., was chairman in 1849. lie proposed to 
 lengthen the annual college term to nine or ten months, instead 
 of six, and to divide it into three parts, with four courses of lec- 
 tures assigned to each part, and so grouped together that students 
 in the first year could attend one part of the term, in the second 
 another part^ and in the third year another, thereby completing 
 the series. 
 
 By this arrangement, the student would be required to attend 
 lectures and college instruction no longer in any one year than 
 at present, but he would be compelled to pursue the study of the 
 several branches in their natural consecutive order, with the mind 
 concentrated on a smaller number at any one time, and with 
 ample time to pursue dissections, microscopic examinations, and 
 clinical instruction. To secure the enforcement of a higher 
 standard of professional qualifications, he proposed that all final 
 examinations for actual admission into the ranks of the profes- 
 sion, should be conducted exclusively by independent boards of 
 examiners in each State, appointed chiefly by the State medical 
 societies. "Whoever has supposed that such a vast variety of 
 mind as is annually assembled in the National Association, could 
 be at once made to harmonize on all these details, certainly pos- 
 sessed but little knowledge of human nature. Still, in regard to 
 this, much progress has been made. The leading principles have
 
 CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 139 
 
 been agreed upon, and universally acknowledged. The proper 
 seed has been sown, and it is evident from the annual address 
 of Dr. Wellford to the meeting in New York, the report of Dr. 
 Cabell to the meeting in St. Louis, and still more from the 
 recent comments in the medical periodicals of the country, that 
 it has taken root, and is already springing up and progressing to 
 maturity. 
 
 If the necessary ^?a7is were fully matured, however, and sanc- 
 tioned in all their details, it would still be necessary to take the 
 second step indicated^ viz : to provide the means or agencies by 
 which they could be executed. In the absence of all legislative 
 aid, it is evident that the only instrumentalities on which reliance 
 can be placed, are first, the moral and intellectual power or influ- 
 ence of the National Association ; second, the various State and 
 local societies ; and third, the medical colleges. As instrumental- 
 ities for the accomplishment of the great end in view, the State 
 and local societies stand pre-eminent. They constitute the basis 
 of all our operations, and the only source from which can emanate 
 those censors who are to secure the proper standards of both pre- 
 liminary and professional education. Hence it is easy to per- 
 ceive why the Association did not accomplish its avowed mission 
 at once, or in the early part of its career. The very means or 
 instrumentalities necessary for its accomplishment, were not in 
 existence. 
 
 Time was required, not only for the Association to mature its 
 plans, but also to effect the formation of those State and local or- 
 ganizations on which their execution must depend. And have 
 its efforts in this direction proved a " signal and utter failure ?" 
 Let the facts answer. Previous to the organization of the Na- 
 tional Association, State medical societies had been formed in 
 about one-half of the States composing the Union. But a very 
 large proportion of these had ceased to maintain an active exist- 
 ence. Id examining the records, I find that only seven State
 
 140 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 medical societies, and eleveu local ones, were represented in the 
 first National Convention held in New York in 1846. At Phila- 
 delphia, the succeeding year, the number of State societies repre- 
 sented was only sixteen, which embraced all those represented the 
 previous year, and all that were then known to possess an active 
 existence in the United States. The records of the last two 
 annual meetings of the Association, one in New York and the 
 other in St. Louis, show a representation from twenty-six State 
 societies or associations, from the Society of Minnesota Territory, 
 and the Cherokee Nation Society, and from more than 100 
 county, district, and town societies. Whoever will take the 
 trouble to examine the condition of the profession at this 
 moment, in relation to its social organizations, its literature, its 
 spirit of investigation, and the condition of its schools, in compar- 
 ison with its condition in all these respects at the period when 
 the National Association was formed, will find neither evidences 
 of failure nor discouragement. 
 
 On the contrary, he will see that it has been steadily diffusing 
 its own spirit and principles of action into the whole profession ; 
 that it has not only promulgated its sentiments in repeated 
 ^''Whereases''' and ^'^ wordy resolves,''^ but, like every other great 
 movement based on truth and justice, and affecting large numbers, 
 widely extended and diverse interests, and dependent on no legis- 
 lative or coercive aid, it has steadily advanced in the maturing of 
 its plans, the extension of its basis of operations, and the creation 
 of the means and instrumentalities required for the practical 
 development of its objects. The whole history of the human 
 race shows that all great and true reforms, whether social, moral, 
 or political, proceed slowly. The mushroom may spring up in 
 the night, but it withers in the morning. Eevolutions may take 
 place in a day, but like the whirlwind, they will leave only deso- 
 lation in their paths. It is no less true of the mental than of the 
 organic physical world, that before good fruit can be obtained,
 
 CONCLUDING KEMARKS. 141 
 
 there must be a seed-time, a period of growth, of maturity, and 
 of harvest. In the great work assigned to the American Medical 
 Association, the seed-time is already past, the period of growth 
 is far advanced, and it only requires that its members act the part 
 of wise and faithful husbandmen, by diligently feeding its roots 
 through the organization and perfection of State and local socie- 
 ties, and by training its branches in the right direction, through 
 the development of detailed and practicable plans for carrying 
 into operation the principles it has avowed, and its harvest of 
 fruit will be speedy, perfect, and abundant. In the foregoino- 
 remarks, I have alluded only to the success of the Association in 
 the accomplishment of its great fundamental object, viz : the 
 improvement of the whole system of medical education in our 
 country. In every other respect, it is conceded by all parties, 
 that its success has been great, even beyond the expectations of 
 its most sanguine friends. In this respect, Dr. B. Dowler speaks 
 truly as well as eloquently of the Association, in the following 
 paragraph from the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal for 
 January, 1855. He says: "As a social and professional reunion 
 of kindred spirits and great minds^ its memories afford perennial 
 delight. It has given impetus to the progress of medical polity 
 and science ; it exercises moral suasion, rather than that of autho- 
 rity ; it has brought together a bright constellation of intellect, 
 cemented the bonds of friendship among good men and true, and 
 should it fail to effectuate its original and grand finality— that is, 
 a thorough reform in medical education — it will leave a luminous 
 track of light in the moral firmament of the ^sculapian heavens, 
 throughout the expansions of the Republic."
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JONATHAN KNIGHT, M. D., PRESIDENT OF 
 PRELIMINARY CONVENTION, AND SEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 "We present to our readers the following brief history of Dr. 
 Knight's professional career, and though brief, it is sufficient to 
 mark the way of his life with distinguished usefuluess. The 
 
 'urbanity of his deportment, and the remarkable judgment with 
 which he has directed the councils of the American Medical 
 Association, when acting as its President, have made him one of 
 its most useful and popular members. 
 
 He was born in JSTorwalk, Conn., Sept. 4, 1789. His father. 
 Dr. Jonathan Knight, after serving as surgeon's mate in the army 
 
 . of the Revolution, settled, and practised in that place for nearly 
 fifty years ; his mother was the daughter of Dr. Asahel Fitch, of 
 Reading, Conn. He prepared for college under the tuition of 
 Rev. Matthias Burnett, of Norwalk. Entered Yale College 
 during the last term of Sophomore year, May, 1806 ; graduated 
 Sept. 1808. At the commencement, gave the Latin Salutatory 
 Address — taught school in Norwich and New London for two 
 years after graduation. From Sept. 1810, was tutor in Yale 
 College for one year; attended lectures in the University of 
 Pennsylvania in 1811-12, and 1812-13— two courses. Was 
 licensed to practice by the Connecticut Medical Society, Aug. 
 1811. Received the honorary degree of M. D. from Yale College, 
 Sept. 1818. Commenced practice in New Haven, April, 1813. 
 Was appointed Prof, of Anatomy and Physiology in the Medical 
 10
 
 146 APPENDIX. 
 
 Institution of Yale College the same year — gave the first course 
 of lectures during the winter of 1813-14, and continued them for 
 25 years. In 1838, was transferred to the department of Surgery, 
 and in this continues. For about 20 years has also given a short 
 course of lectures to the senior class of under graduates. 
 
 President of the Convention to form the American Medical 
 Association which met in New York, May, 1846, and of the same 
 in Philadelphia, May, 1847, until the organization of the society. 
 President of the American Medical Association, May, 1853.
 
 APPENDIX. 147 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE NATHANIEL CHAPMAN, M.D. 
 
 [Note.— In preparing the following memoir, the author has taken great pains to 
 obtain reliable facts from authentic sources, and he submits it to the public, confi- 
 dent in its general accuracy, and in the belief, too, that it is the most complete 
 biographical memoir of Dr. Chapman that has ever been published. The facts are 
 drawn principally from the following sources: 1. Memoranda politely furnished the 
 author by different members of Dr. Chapman's immediate family. 2. From bio (gra- 
 phical notices of Dr. Chapman, drawn up by his nephew, John B. Biddle, M. D., 
 from data furnished him by Dr. Chapman in his own handwriting, and published 
 in the Medical Examiner, vol. 1, New Series, p. 322, 1842, and in the same work, 
 vol. 9, New Series, p. 532, 1853. And 8. From "■A Discourse commemuratire of 
 Nathaniel Chapman, 31. D., <Src. t^'c, delivered before the Trustees, the Medical 
 Faculty, and Students of the University of Pennsylvania, by Samuel Jackson, M. D., 
 Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, October 13, 1854."] 
 
 Dr. Nathaniel Chapman was the second son of George Chap- 
 man, Esq., of Virginia, and was born on the 28th of May, 1780," 
 at the family seat. Summer Hill, then in Fairfax County, on the 
 bank of the Potomac Kiver, about midway between the present 
 site of Washington City and Alexandria, Virginia. His family 
 was of an old and respectable English stock, his paternal ancestor, 
 who came to Virginia with the first colony, having been a captain 
 of cavalry in the British army, and the youngest son of a cousin- 
 german of Sir Walter Ealeigh. The family settled on the river 
 Pomonkey, some twenty miles from Eichmond; but the branch 
 from which the subject of our memoir is descended migrated about 
 a century and a half ago to Maryland, and fixed itself on an estate 
 on the banks of the Potomac, nearly opposite Mount Vernon, 
 which is still, we believe, in their possession. His father, how- 
 
 ' This is according to Dr. Chapman's own memoranda, but his brother, S. F. 
 Chapman, Esq., of Washington City, in a letter to the author, dates it two years 
 earlier, May 28th, 1778— which is most probably correct.
 
 148 APPENDIX. 
 
 ever, went to Virginia upon his marriage, where he afterwards 
 remained. Ilis mother, Amelia Macrae, was a daughter of Allan 
 Macrae, of Scotch descent, who early settled in Dumfries, Virginia, 
 and employed his time and capital in mercantile pursuits, and left 
 a large estate to his children. 
 
 Very little is remembered of the earlier years of the doctor's 
 life, except that in his very boyhood he manifested a fondness for 
 books, and a taste for literature, and soon exhibited some decided 
 poetical talents: for when but eight years of age, it was thought 
 by his family that he had successfully imitated some of the early 
 efforts of Pope, and paraphrased some of the odes of Horace. Dr. 
 Chapman was early placed at school, and after receiving a com- 
 mon elementary education in the neighborhood of bis father's 
 residence, he entered the classical academy of Alexandria, founded 
 by Washington, where he passed six years. He subsequently 
 spent a short time in two colleges, though not long enough, as he 
 has remarked, to owe either any obligation. 
 
 "While yet quite young, he became a contributor over the sig- 
 nature "Falkland," to the pages of the Portfolio^ a literary journal 
 of high character, published in Philadelphia, and edited by the 
 late accomplished and learned Joseph Dennie, Esq. 
 
 Dr. Chapman's medical education was commenced in the office 
 of Dr. John Weems, of Georgetown, D. C, with whom he remained 
 a year or more. Dr. Weems was a gentleman of great profes- 
 sional eminence, and a near relation of Dr. Chapman's family. 
 His studies were continued with Dr. Dick, of Alexandria, whose 
 name is not unknown in the annals of medicine. He went to 
 Philadelphia in the autumn of 1797, where he became a private 
 and favorite pupil of the late Dr. Benjamin Push, and went through 
 the regular course of study in the medical department of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1801. The 
 subject of his inaugural essay was The Canine State of Fever. It 
 was written at the request of Dr. Rush, in answer to an attack 
 upon his favorite theory of the pathology of that disease. Dr. 
 Chapman had previously prepared another thesis on the Sympa- 
 thetic Connections of the Stomach with the rest of the Bgdi/, which he 
 afterwards read before the Philadelphia Medical Society. This 
 contained the substance of his peculiar views on fever and other
 
 APPENDIX. 149 
 
 diseases, as well as tlie modus operandi of medicines. Immedi- 
 ately after graduating, Dr. Chapman went to Europe to complete 
 his medical studies. 
 
 He remained about three years abroad. The first year was 
 spent in London, as a private pupil of the celebrated Abernethy. 
 The University at Edinburgh, however, being the most celebrated 
 of the British schools, he went thither, completed his studies, and 
 took a degree. During his sojourn in Edinburgh, he became in- 
 timate with many of the eminent persons of those days, among 
 whom may be mentioned Dugald Stewart, the Earl of Buchan, 
 and Mr. (afterwards Lord Chancellor) Brougham, then a fellow- 
 student. Although Brougham was then quite young, Chapman 
 perceived in him the elements of greatness, and in a biographical 
 sketch of him, published in 1809, he predicted his future emi- 
 nence. 
 
 Before his departure from Edinburgh, Lord Buchan gave him 
 a public breakfast on the birthday of Washington, at which a 
 number of distinguished persons were present, when he took oc- 
 casion to intrust him with an interesting relic, valuable from a 
 double historical association. Lord Buchan had presented to 
 Greneral Washington a box, made of the oak that sheltered Sir 
 William Wallace, after the battle of Falkirk, with a request to 
 "pass it, in the event of his decease, to the man in his country 
 who should appear to merit it best." General Washington, de- 
 clining so invidious a designation, returned it by will to the earl, 
 who committed it to Dr. Chapman, to be delivered to Dr. Eush, 
 with a view to its being ultimately placed in the cabinet of the 
 college at Washington, to which General Washington had be- 
 queathed a large sum. 
 
 It was the intention of Dr. Chapman to have spent a longer 
 time abroad, and to have visited some of the continental seats of 
 medical learning. But the unsettled state of affairs existing in 
 Europe, and the earnest solicitations of a friend who desired his 
 company home, induced him to return earlier than he expected. 
 
 On his return to this country, his former preceptor. Dr. Weems, 
 proposed to him to enter into partnership with him in the practice 
 of medicine at Alexandria; but thinking that Philadelpbia offered 
 the best chances for success, he concluded to settle in that city.
 
 150 APPENDIX. 
 
 It was in 1804 that he began his career as a practitioner in Phila- 
 delphia, nis attractive manners, and reputation for talent, secured 
 his almost immediate success in practice. He became the favorite 
 physician of a large portion of the higher classes in that city, a 
 position he continued to occupy as long as he remained in active 
 practice. 
 
 The same year, he also began his career as a teacher, by giving 
 a private course on obstetrics, which proved to be very popular. 
 
 In 1808, Dr. Chapman formed a matrimonial connection with 
 Eebecca Biddle, daughter of Col. Clement Biddle, one of the most 
 prominent and distinguished citizens in Philadelphia. From this 
 connection, during a period of nearly fifty years, he derived the 
 highest degree of domestic happiness. 
 
 The same year, he became-associated with Dr. Thomas C. James 
 as an instructor in obstetrics, with whom he remained associated 
 until, on the 29th of June, 1810, Dr. James was elected to the 
 newly created chair of Midwifery in the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Dr. Chapman, however, continued his course of lectures 
 successfully, and his connection with Dr. James was not disturbed 
 by the event. 
 
 In 1813, the death of Dr. Rush took place, and Dr. B. S. Barton 
 was transferred from the professorship of ^fateria Medica, in the 
 University, to the vacant professorship of Dr. Rush, that of the 
 Institutes and Practice of Medicine. On the 13th of August of 
 that year, at the age of 35, began Dr. Chapman's first official con- 
 nection Avitli the University as a professor, when he was elected 
 to the chair of Materia Medica, left vacant by the transfer of Dr. 
 Barton. This chair he occupied until, on the death of Dr. Barton, 
 in 1816, he was unanimously elected to the Professorship of the 
 Practice, Institutes, and Clinical Medicine; which position he held 
 till he was removed by death, on the 1st of July, 1853. His last 
 course of lectures was delivered during the winter of 1849-50, and 
 to the writer there is a melancholy pleasure in the thought that he 
 was one of the last students ever examined by him for a diploma. 
 
 Dr. Chapman received many testimonials of the regard and 
 esteem in which he was held by the students to whom he lectured, 
 and by his fellow-citizens. These are treasured by the family as 
 pleasing reminiscences of the past. Among the first of these tes-
 
 APPENDIX. 151 
 
 timonials was a bust of himself, presented bj one of the classes of 
 the University soon after he began to lecture. The inscription on 
 this bust is unfortunately lost. In the cholera epidemic of 1832, 
 Prof. Chapman had charge of one of the city cholera hospitals, 
 located at Twelfth and Locust Streets. At the termination of the 
 epidemic, Dr. C, in common with the other physicians who had 
 charge of hospitals, was presented by the city with a silver pitcher, 
 in testimony of his public services. This pitcher, known in the 
 family as the "cholera pitcher," contains the following inscrip- 
 tion: — 
 
 TO NATHANIEL CHAPMAN: 
 
 THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 GRATEFUL FOR HIS DISINTERESTED AND 
 
 INTREPID EXERTIONS 
 
 IN A PERIOD OF PUBLIC CALAMITY. 
 
 Tr unseat in exemjplum. 
 
 The medical class of 1835 presented him with a valuable ser- 
 vice of silver, consisting of two large pitchers, three waiters, and 
 goblets. They bear the following inscription: — 
 
 PRESENTED BY THE MEDICAL CLASS OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 TO PROF. NATHANIEL CHAPMAN, 
 
 AS A TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FOR HIS EXALTED TALENTS, 
 
 AND OF GRATITUDE FOR REPEATED INSTANCES OF 
 
 DISINTERESTED FRIENDSHIP, AND UNSOLICITED FAVORS. 
 
 Forsan et hcec olim memimsse juvablt. 
 
 Not long after this, at the request of another class, Dr. Chap- 
 man sat for his portrait, which was painted by his friend, Thomas 
 Sully, and was, at his own request, placed in the museum of the 
 University. 
 
 There is another portrait of Dr. Chapman, painted by Naglc, in 
 the museum of the medical department of Pennsylvania College, 
 which by some is thought to be a better likeness than the former. 
 
 Besides his duties as professor in the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania, Dr. Chapman performed other labors of a public character. 
 In 1820, during a severe epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia,
 
 152 APPENDIX. 
 
 he, with Dr. Thomas Hewson, had charge of the Citj Yellow 
 Fever Hospital. lie also, for a long period, gave clinical lectures 
 in the Hospital of the Philadelphia Almshouse. For nearly 
 twenty-five years, also, he delivered a summer course of lectures 
 in the Philadelphia Medical Institute. This institution, which is 
 still in existence, is the oldest of its kind in the United States, and 
 was founded by Dr. Chapman, in 1817, although he generously 
 declined all participation in the fees, or control over the appoint- 
 ments to chairs. 
 
 Soon after his return from Europe, he published a work en- 
 titled. Select Speeches^ Forensic and Parliamentary, with critical and 
 illustrative remarks, in five octavo volumes, which attracted much 
 attention. In 1817, first appeared his Elements of Therapeutics 
 and Materia Medica, which went through seven editions, one of 
 them surreptitious. This treatise long maintained distinguished 
 popularity among the works on Materia Medica, and now occu- 
 pies a high rank as a book of reference. Of late years. Dr. C. 
 refused to give his consent to the publication of new editions of 
 the work, unless he could revise it. In 1820, he commenced the 
 publication of the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physi- 
 cal Sciences, which he continued to edit for many years. The 
 Journal was undertaken with liberal views, the doctor never re- 
 ceiving any salary for his services. He was subsequently an oc- 
 casional contributor to different periodicals. 
 
 Dr. Chapman filled numerous and honorable appointments in 
 medical and learned societies. He frequently occupied the post 
 of President of the Philadelphia ]\[edical Society, in which he was 
 a leading debater when the floor of that Society was a field in 
 which the ablest members of the profession met in earnest and 
 often vehement discussion. He was the successor to Duponceau 
 in the eminent distinction of the presidency of the American Phi- 
 losophical Society, and was a corresponding member of many of 
 the learned societies of Europe. On the organization of the 
 American Medical Association at Philadelphia in 1847, Dr. Chap- 
 man was unanimously elected President of that body. On its 
 reassembling in Baltimore, in 1848, he positively declined a re-elec- 
 tion, recommending rotation in the office, a system which has 
 been followed ever since. Dr. C. wore these honors meekly, and 
 we believe never made the slightest display of them.
 
 APPENDIX. 153 
 
 The above, we believe, comprises briefly the mam fads in Dr. 
 Chapman's life. A few words in regard to him as a man, a phy- 
 sician, and an instructor, will close this sketch.* Dr. Chapman 
 was the Sir Henry Halford of the United States. He was not 
 more distinguished for professional attainments than for courtli- 
 ness and vivacity of manner, wit, knowledge of the world, and 
 literary taste. His private character formed a marked contrast 
 with that of his friend and contemporary, Physick, with whom he 
 so long shared the first rank in the profession of Philadelphia. 
 Physick, who shunned general society, and was little known, ex- 
 cept in professional intercourse, had a reserved stateliness of 
 manner, from which he never unbent. Engrossed by his patients 
 and profession, he seldom entered into the every-day topics of 
 life, and is remembered only as the skilful surgeon and successful 
 operator. Chapman's temperament was cast in a different mould. 
 Eminently social in disposition, with a gayety of spirit that did 
 not flag with years, a wit, a punster, delightful as a companion, 
 and enjoying company, he, for a long period, occupied a position, 
 we may saj^ unrivalled in the society of Philadelphia. To these 
 brilliant qualities he united the kindliest feelings. His wit was 
 without malice; he was frank, open-hearted, and open-handed. 
 It is not surprising, then, that he was individually as popular as 
 he was professionally eminent. He was emphatically the student's 
 friend. With his heart and his purse always open, he was ever 
 ready not only to impart sympathy, but more material aid when 
 it was needed. We remember to have heard, during our pupilage 
 in Philadelphia, that Dr. Chapman's generous nature was occa- 
 sionally taken advantage of by mendacious and unprincipled 
 students. If Dr. Chapman had a greeting more cordial, or a grasp 
 of the hand more friendly and earnest than another, it was re- 
 served for such of his pupils as were from his native State, Vir- 
 ginia, as he ever retained and manifested a decided preference for 
 Virginia and everything Virginian. This preference, however, 
 was by no means carried to the degree of exclusiveness, for ho 
 
 ' Here the writer feels constrained again to acknowledge his indebtedness to Dr. 
 John B. Diddle. Much that follows is almost literally quoted from his article in 
 vol. i. new series, of the 3Iedical Examiner, acknowledged in more general terms in 
 a note at the head of this memoir.
 
 154 APPENDIX. 
 
 ■was as much a favorite with the Northern as with the Southern 
 student. 
 
 As a practitioner, Dr. Chapman was distinguished as much for 
 the charm of his manner in the sick chamber, as for skill and 
 success in prescribing. His lively conversation and ever ready 
 joke were often more effective than anodyne or cordial. Indeed, 
 in cases of trifling importance, the doctor sometimes prescribed 
 little else. In pleasant chitchat, both patient and physician 
 seemed to forget the object of the visit, and the doctor would 
 depart and "leave no sign" for pill or bolus. In this connection, 
 we cannot forbear introducing a single short anecdote which, we 
 believe, is correctly attributed to Dr. Chapman. He one day 
 received a hasty summons from a lady to attend at her house. 
 On his arrival, he learned that her daughter had accidentally 
 swallowed a shilling piece, and the mother was all anxiety and 
 trepidation in view of the consequences. "Was it a good shil- 
 ling?" coolly asked the doctor. "Yes." "Well, then, I guess it 
 will pass," he replied, as he bowed and retired. 
 
 But when roused by symptoms of actual severity. Dr. Chapman 
 was almost as unequalled in resources as he was devoted in atten- 
 tions. Hence, as a consulting physician, his great powers were 
 particularly conspicuous. Rapid and clear in diagnosis, inex- 
 haustible in therapeutics, self-relying, never discouraged, he was 
 the physician of physicians for an emergency. "As a lecturer," 
 says Dr. Jackson, "Dr. Chapman was self-possessed, deliberate, and 
 emphatic. Whenever warmed with his subject, his animation be- 
 came oratorical. Often the tedium of dry matter would be en- 
 livened by some stroke of wit, a happy pun, an anecdote, or quo- 
 tation. He was furnished with stores of facts and cases, drawn 
 from his own large experience and observation, illustrating prin- 
 ciples, diseases, or treatment under discussion. His bearing was 
 dignified, manners easy, and gestures graceful. He had a thorough 
 command over the attention of his class, with whom he always 
 possessed an unbounded popularity. His voice had a peculiar 
 intonation, depending on some defect in the conformation of the 
 palate, that rendered the articulation of some sounds an eSbrt. 
 The first time he was heard, the ear experienced difficulty in dis- 
 tinguishing his words. This was of short duration; for, once ac-
 
 APPENDIX. 155 
 
 customed to the tone, his enunciation was remarkable for its dis- 
 tinctness. Students would often take notes of his lectures nearly 
 verbatim." 
 
 "His name," says the same writer, "is inscribed on the pages of 
 the medical history of our country, with those of the distinguished 
 and memorable men whose cultivation and labors have advanced 
 and illustrated our science. * * * It is embalmed, cherished, and 
 revered in the grateful bosoms of the thousands who loved him 
 as a man, valued him as an instructor, and blessed him as a physi- 
 cian." 
 
 In the spring of 1850, his declining health made it necessary 
 for Dr. Chapman to resign his professorship in the University, but 
 he was immediately chosen by the trustees, emeritus professor. 
 From this time to his decease, his health continued to fail, and he 
 died on the 1st of July, 1853, of a slow and gradual decay, rather 
 than of any positive disease.
 
 156 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, M. D., LL. D., 
 SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Dr. Stevens was born in the city of New York, September 4, 
 1789. His father, Ebenezer Stevens, was one of those who threw 
 the tea into Boston harbor. He entered the army early, and 
 served to the close of the war. Was at the battles of Saratoga 
 and Yorktown, with the rank of Colonel of Artillery. After the 
 war, Col. Stevens married a sister of Col. Ledyard, who fell at 
 Groton, She was aunt to Ledyard the traveller. 
 
 At the age of ten years, Alexander was sent to school at 
 Plainfield, where he fitted for college under the now venerable 
 John Adams. At fourteen he entered Yale College, and gra- 
 duated with credit in his eighteenth year. Having selected the 
 profession to which he has since done so much honor, he entered 
 the office of Dr. Edward Miller, and after attending one course of 
 lectures in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a second 
 in the University of Pennsylvania, he graduated at the latter 
 institution, on which occasion his Thesis On the Proximate 
 Cause of Inflammation, was highly lauded by Dr. Push. In 
 1811, Dr. Stevens sailed for France, but was captured by an 
 English cruiser, and sent to Plymouth. Thence he found his 
 way to London, and attended the lectures of Cooper and Aber- 
 nethy. Next year he crossed the Channel, and at Paris followed 
 the cliniques of Boyer and Larrey. War meanwhile broke out 
 between the United States and England, and Dr. Stevens was 
 again captured on his way to America and sent to Plymouth. 
 Ultimately, he returned home in a cartel, and was appointed 
 surgeon in the army. In 1814, he was chosen Professor of 
 Surgery in the New York Medical Institution, and in 1818 elected
 
 APPENDIX, 157 
 
 Surgeon to tlie New York Ilospital. Here he immediately began 
 to give clinical lectures, which he continued with great success 
 for twenty years. On the resignation of the faculty of the 
 College of Physicians in 1825, Dr. Stevens was appointed Pro- 
 fessor of Surgery in that institution. Here, and at the New York 
 Hospital, he continued to teach surgery with great acceptance 
 till 1S38, when, on account of ill health, he resigned both places, 
 having previously confined his practice to consultations and 
 surgical operations. The retirement of Dr. Stevens from the 
 active duties of his profession, was matter of great regret to his 
 friends, and the officers of the two institutions which he has so 
 ably served, hastened to manifest their sense of the value of those 
 services. He was appointed by the Eegents, Emeritus Professor 
 of Surgery, and by the Governor, Consulting Surgeon to the New 
 York Hospital. His pupils also placed his portrait in the 
 Governor's room at the hospital. In 1841, the Eegents ap- 
 pointed Dr. Stevens President of the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, an ofl&ce he still holds. In 1846, he was elected Presi- 
 dent of the New York State Medical Society, and his inaugural 
 address was ordered by both houses of the legislature, and by 
 eminent members of the bar, to be printed. About the same 
 time he received from the Eegents the degree of LL. D. In 1847, 
 he was elected Vice-President, and in 1848, President of the 
 American Medical Association. He has been present at most of 
 the subsequent meetings of the Association, always ready to 
 exercise that large measure of influence which his character has 
 secured, in advancing the profession in general and technical 
 learning, in ethics and in social position. In his own city, and 
 among those brethren who have known him longest and most 
 intimately, he holds a position and wields an influence which 
 nothing but eminent ability could have attained, and nothing but 
 strict integrity and inflexible adherence to honor and duty could 
 retain. Dr. Stevens' publications have been few, and are scattered 
 through the medical periodicals of the last twenty years. As a 
 surgeon, he seems not to have sought the reputation of an ope- 
 rator, but rather to have cultivated a thorough knowledge of the 
 nature and treatment of surgical diseases— con^e?z^ to cure while 
 others sought to cut.
 
 158 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN C. WARREX, M.D., THIRD PRESIDENT 
 OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Dr. John Collins Warren -was born in Boston on the first 
 clay of August, 1778 ; his family were among the earliest inhabit- 
 ants of that city. His father, Dr. John Warren, was in the public 
 service as a surgeon during the whole Revolutionary war, became 
 a physician in Boston, and was the first Professor of Anatomy in 
 New England. His mother was the daughter of Governor Collins, 
 of Rhode Island. General Warren, who was killed at Bunker 
 Hill, was the elder brother of Dr. John Warren, and was himself 
 an eminent physician and surgeon of Boston. 
 
 The subject of this memoir, having received the preliminary 
 education at the Boston Public Latin School, where he obtained 
 the first Franklin Medal (a distribution made according to the will 
 of Franklin, to meritorious scholars), entered Harvard University, 
 from which he graduated in 1797. After obtaining the elements 
 of anatomical knowledge at home, he visited Europe, where he 
 entered Guy's Hospital, in London, as a pupil of William and Sir 
 Astley Cooper. At that period, Cline, Abernethy, Home, &c., 
 were on the stage in London ; the Munroes, Gregory, Duncan, and 
 the Bells, in Edinboro'; Cuvier, Bichat, Chaussier, Dubois, Alibert, 
 Desfontaines, in Paris ; to all of whom he had an opportunity of 
 listening. 
 
 Returning to Boston in the latter part of 1802, he entered at 
 once into the full practice of medicine and surgery, and married, 
 in 1803, the daughter of the Hon. Jonathan ]\[ason, then Senator 
 in Congress. In 1806 he was chosen Recording Secretary of the 
 Massachusetts ^Medical Society, and the same year was appointed 
 Adjunct Professor of Anatomy, as colleague to his father. Drs.
 
 APPEXDLX. 159 
 
 Warren, Dexter, Jackson, and J. C. Warren, then united to re- 
 quest the government of Harvard University to establish a branch 
 of the medical school in Boston, as previously it had existed only 
 in Cambridge ; this was done in 1810. They also took the first step 
 towards connecting a practical school to the Medical Institution, 
 by taking charge of the hospital of the Almshouse. In 1808, 
 was published the Pharmacopoeia of the Massachusetts Medical 
 Society, which had been prepared by Drs. Jackson and J. C. War- 
 ren. About this time, Dr. Dexter declined the office of Professor 
 of Chemistry, and Dr. Gorham was appointed his successor. 
 
 The first Anatomical Lectures in Boston were given (1809) over 
 the shop of a chemist, 49 ^Marlboro' Street, and the first public 
 dissecting room was opened in the same place by Dr. J. C. Warren. 
 From this period to about 1820, a regular series of steps was 
 taken towards the formation of a hospital ; and the principal 
 gentlemen of Boston entering with spirit into the matter, esta- 
 blished two hospitals, one for the sick, the other for the insane. 
 The McLean Asylum for the Insane was opened at Somerville, 
 in 1818, under the charge of Dr. Rufus AVyman, as Superintend- 
 ent and Physician. The Massachusetts General Hospital was 
 opened in September, 1821, in Allen Street, Boston ; to this in- 
 stitution Dr. Jackson was appointed Physician, and Dr. J. C. War- 
 ren, Surgeon. 
 
 In 1815, occurred the death of Dr. John Warren, then President 
 of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and Dr. J. C. Warren was 
 chosen Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, lecturing at the same 
 time on midwifery and physiology. In the same year, 1815, was 
 erected in Boston the Massachusetts Medical College, a substantial 
 brick edifice belonging to Harvard University, the funds for Avhich 
 were chiefly procured by the appeals of Drs. Jackson and Warren. 
 
 In 1827, Dr. J. C. Warren was chosen President of the Massa- 
 chusetts Temperance Society, a situation which he still continues 
 to hold after the lapse of twenty-seven years. In 1832, he was 
 chosen President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and re- 
 signed his ofiice in 1834. 
 
 After having labored in his profession thirty-five years, he went 
 to Europe in 1837, with his family, to renew his acquaintance with 
 his old friends, and to obtain new ones. Prom this visit he re-
 
 160 APPENDIX. 
 
 turned in the latter part of 1838, and resumed the lectures on 
 Anatomy and Surgery. 
 
 The death of Mrs. AVarren occurred May 8, 18-11. During the 
 thirty-seven years and a half of married life, there were born 
 unto them three sons and three daughters. In October 1813, Dr. 
 Warren espoused for his second wife, Anna Winthrop, daughter 
 of Governor Thomas L. Winthrop. She died December 17, 1850. 
 
 In 1846, Dr. Warren performed the first surgical operation with 
 ether. In 1817, he was chosen President of the Boston Society 
 of Natural History, an office which he continues to fill with un- 
 abated interest. In the same year, being then nearly seventy 
 years old, he resigned the office of Professor of Anatomy and 
 Surgery, and soon after presented his Anatomical Museum (the 
 acquisition of half a century, and supposed to be worth at least 
 ten thousand dollars), to Harvard University, for the benefit of 
 the Medical School, with the sum of five thousand dollars to keep 
 it in order. 
 
 As President of the American Medical Association for the year 
 1849-50, he delivered the Annual Address before that body, at 
 their meeting in Cincinnati, in May, 1850. 
 
 In January, 1853, he resigned the office of Surgeon to the 
 Massachusetts General Hospital ; whereupon the Trustees of that 
 Institution presented him a vote of thanks, and placed his bust 
 in their Hall.
 
 APPEXDIX. 101 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF E. D. MUSSEY, M. D., FOURTH PRESIDENT 
 OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Dr. E. D. Musset was born in New Hampsliire, Eockingham 
 County, Pelharn Township— on the 23d of June, 1780. His 
 father. Dr. John Mussey, a respectable country physician, was 
 unable to make much provision toward giving the son an educa- 
 tion, though he early expressed a wish to do so. 
 
 When E. D. M. was eleven years old, his father removed to 
 Amherst, N. H., where the son had the benefit of some Aveeks' 
 instruction in the winter, at the district school. He was tauo^ht 
 by his father the elements of Latin, and at the age of fifteen, was 
 sent to the Aurean Academy at Amherst. At this school, he 
 acquired such knowledge of Latin and Greek, and other studies, 
 as qualified him for entering freshman in one of the New England 
 colleges; but seeing no readier way of obtaining the requisite 
 means, he employed himself on the farm in summers, and taught 
 school in the winters. He commenced teaching in his sixteenth 
 year, and continued thus to employ his winters, until he entered 
 in 1801, the junior class in Dartmouth College; having laid by 
 a little from teaching, and being encouraged to hope for some aid 
 from his father. The winter vacations in college he spent in 
 school teaching, as he had done the winters before. 
 
 At college, he sustained the reputation of a respectable scholar, 
 and was regarded by his own and preceding classes as occupying 
 a standing in the first third of his class, which was larger than 
 the then average classes, numbering forty-five. He was graduated 
 in August, 1803, and immediately entered upon the study of 
 medicine, as a pupil of the late, and very eminent, Dr. Nathan 
 Smith, founder of the Medical School of New Hampshire. 
 11
 
 162 APPENDIX. 
 
 The next summer, he taught an Academy in the town of Peter- 
 borough, N. II., to recruit his finances, at the same time diligently 
 pursuing his medical studies, under the direction of Dr. Ilowe, of 
 Jaffrey, N. H. The remainder of his professional studies was 
 under the supervision of Dr. Smith. 
 
 After a public examination, at which he defended a Thesis on 
 Dysentery, he received the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, in 
 August, 1805. 
 
 Early in September of that year, he commenced the practice of 
 his profession in the South Parish of Ipswich, now Essex — in 
 Essex County, Massachusetts. Here he had no competitor — his 
 predecessor, who had monopolized the practice of the parish, being 
 in the last stage of pulmonary consumption. At this place he 
 remained three years — then collecting his dues, had sufficient 
 means to carry him to Philadelphia, where he remained nine 
 months. He put himself under the instruction of Dr. Benjamin 
 Smith Barton, Professor of Materia Medica, and attended, in the 
 ensuing spring, his botanical lectures, after a full course of 
 lectures in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1809, he received 
 the degree of M. D. from this institution, which at that period 
 enjoyed a high and wade reputation, attracting students from all 
 directions and great distances. 
 
 The professors at that time were Drs. Rush, Wistar, Physic, 
 Dorsey, Barton, Woodhouse — Drs. Chapman and James supplied 
 the place of an obstetrical professor in lectures, which all the 
 graduating students attended. 
 
 At this time, and for some years previous, Dr. Rush had taught, 
 in the physiological part of his course, the doctrine of the non- 
 absorption of the human skin. He was strengthened in his belief 
 by some experiments made by two young physicians of Philadel- 
 phia, in which the experimenter breathed through a tube, fastened 
 to his mouth at one end, while the other passed through the wall 
 into a distinct apartment, to which fresh air was freely admitted ; his 
 body being rubbed at the same time with various odorous sub- 
 stances — as oil of turpentine, asparagus, &;c. It was alleged that 
 none of these odors were detected in the secretion of the kidneys, 
 and the doctrine of non -absorption was regarded by part of the 
 profession as fully established.
 
 APPENDIX. 163 
 
 Dr. Mussey pursued a different course. He immersed himself 
 for three hours in a madder bath, in which three pounds of madder 
 were diffused in sufficient water to cover the body and Hmbs. 
 During the two following days, the urine exhibited a bright red 
 color, on dropping into a specimen of it a small quantity of a 
 solution of caustic alkali. 
 
 This experiment was repeated with the same results; and they 
 were made the basis for a Thesis at his graduation. These results, 
 so undeniable, were peculiarly gratifying to some members of the 
 Faculty, and of the profession generally, who had never been fully 
 satisfied of the correctness of Dr. Rush's views. After his gradua- 
 tion. Dr. Mussey pursued a series of experiments with colored 
 substances with a view to ascertain whether any others would 
 enter the circulation, through the skin. The coloring matter of 
 rhubarb was as easily detected, after a bath of its infusion, as that 
 of madder — an application of the alkali, as before, producing a 
 reddish-brown color. 
 
 These experiments were repeated, till there could be no mistake 
 as to the facts. Several other colored substances were tried ; as 
 indigo, arnatto, redwood and logwood ; but if either of these passed 
 into circulation, their coloring matter must have been changed, 
 inasmuch as neither of them could be detected in the urine. 
 
 One experiment was made with cochineal. A pound — or a 
 pound and a half— of that article was ground fine, and mixcd.with 
 sufficient warm water for a bath. After an immersion of three 
 hours, the liquid muriate of tin, a well-known mordant for the 
 color of cochineal, was employed as a test in the urine— but no 
 coloring matter was detected. 
 
 Another experiment was made by Dr. M., which miglit have 
 been regarded as not without risk. He immersed himself for 
 three hours in a strong infusion of nutgalls, and then went into 
 a strong solution of sulphate of iron, lying in that three hours 
 more. No ink was found in the urine. He opened a vein in his 
 hand, to ascertain if the serum of the blood exhibited anything 
 peculiar. After obtaining about an ounce and a half of blood, it 
 ceased to flow, and, exhausted by his long immersion, Dr. M. sank 
 faint upon the floor. The serum of this blood had a tinge slightly 
 different from that of common blood, and was slightly coagulated
 
 164 APrEN])ix. 
 
 • 
 
 — resembling very mucli the serum of common blood, in wliicli 
 
 a quantity of powdered nutgalls had been stirred up and allowed 
 
 to settle; leaving the inference, that some portion of the nutgalls 
 
 had probably passed into the circulation. 
 
 The doctor was not disposed to repeat the experiment — but 
 was a week or two in regaining his accustomed strength and 
 activity. 
 
 None of these experiments have ever been published, except 
 those made with madder and rhubarb — although the minutes of 
 them still exist, in Dr. Mussey's possession. As a matter of course, 
 they excited, at the time, not a little discussion among the profes- 
 sion at Philadelphia ; and it is said that some gentlemen — one of 
 whom, at least, before referred to — had made experiments with 
 odorous bodies, proceeded to repeat Dr. Mussey's experiments, 
 with certain precautions, which they alleged he ought to have 
 taken, viz: they plastered up very carefully the outlets of the 
 body, and then went into the madder and rhubarb baths. Not- 
 withstanding these precautions, they readily detected the foreign 
 coloring matter in the urine. They varied their experiments 
 somewhat, and at length made the announcement, that they had 
 found only a few patches upon the body, which were capable of 
 imparting these substances to the circulation by absorption or 
 imbibition. These patches were inside of the leg, and thigh, and 
 arm. The teachings of Dr. Rush, after this, were somewhat modi- 
 fied; he admitted that madder and rhubarb had a very "penetrat- 
 ing quality," and were capable of finding their way into the 
 circulation, through certain points only. In this he was followed 
 substantially by Dr. Chapman, the late Professor of Theory and 
 Practice in the same institution. 
 
 All this was, soon after, effectually refuted by experiments 
 made, at the request of Dr. Mussey — by his friend the late Dr. 
 Sewall, of "Washington City — then resident in Massachusetts. 
 He immersed his hand and wrist, and afterward his foot and ankle 
 — for periods of eight and ten hours — in a madder bath — repeat- 
 ing the experiments, and finding, upon each examination, plenty 
 of madder in the urine. 
 
 Dr. Mussey, on returning from Philadelphia, settled in Salem, 
 Massachusetts, a town of twelve thousand inhabitants, a dozen
 
 APPENDIX. 165 
 
 miles from Boston. In this place, he soon formed a professional 
 partnership with that excellent and learned man, Dr. Daniel 
 Oliver, afterward Professor of Medicine in the Medical Institution 
 of New Hampshire. During their professional connection, they 
 gave, in two successive years, two courses of popular lectures on 
 chemistry — at that time a novel enterprise in that town. 
 
 Dr. M. remained in Salem between five and six years, most of 
 the time largely occupied in professional practice. During the 
 last three years of that period, his obstetrical practice was larger 
 than that of any other physician in the town — amounting, in 
 average, to a fraction over three cases a week, for the whole time. 
 While in Salem, he also performed a considerable number of 
 surgical operations — especially upon the eye. 
 
 In the autumn of 1814, he accepted an invitation to the Pro- 
 fessorship of Theory and Practice of Physic in the Medical School 
 of Dartmouth Colleo;e. 
 
 In the changes which occurred in the Medical Institution, con- 
 nected with the attempt of the legislature to wrest the charter 
 from the Trustees of Dartmouth College, Dr. M. was requested to 
 give the lectures on chemistry for one session ; which he did, to 
 very general acceptance — seldom, or never, failing in any experi- 
 ment which was, at that period, considered necessary for the 
 illustration of chemical principles. After the decision of the 
 Dartmouth College question, by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, in 1819, so ably and triumphantly argued by the great 
 Alumnus of the College, Daniel "Webster — Dr. Mussey was 
 appointed to the Professorship of Anatomy and Surgery. At 
 this time he judged it necessary to commence the study of anatomy, 
 as it were, de novo; and having then a somewhat large profes- 
 sional practice, he was compelled to hard work by day, and frequent 
 encroachment upon the night, in order to give his two daily 
 lectures, during the term, and to meet the calls of his patients. 
 
 Until the close of the session in 1838, he continued to instruct 
 in these branches — and in addition, gave lectures for a time on 
 Materia Medica, and also on Obstetrics, to meet occasional exigen- 
 cies of the College. In the summer of 1817, he gave a course of 
 Lectures on Chemistry at Middlebury College, in Vermont. 
 
 Early in December, 1829, Dr. Mussey left Hanover for Paris,
 
 166 APPENDIX. 
 
 where he remained several months, attending the Hospital Cli- 
 niques. During this absence he passed several weeks in London, 
 visited many of the provincial Hospitals and Museums of Anatomy, 
 as well as those of the metropolis ; and formed the acquaintance 
 of many distinguished professional gentlemen. 
 
 From this absence of ten months he returned in season to 
 complete his college duties, by giving double and treble lectures 
 in the session of 1830, 
 
 At this time, the Medical School of Maine, having lost by death 
 its Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, invited Dr. ^Nfussey to 
 give the lectures in those branches; which he did, for four suc- 
 cessive winters — the session in Maine commencing after that in 
 New Hampshire had closed. 
 
 For two successive seasons, in 1836 and 1887, after the close 
 of the New Hampshire session. Dr. M. went to Fairfield, Herki- 
 mer Co., N. Y., to give lectures on Surgery, in the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons located there, an institution then very 
 flourishing, but some years afterward given up. 
 
 In the fall of 1838, Dr. ]\[., worn with the laborious country 
 practice in a cold climate, and looking to his future, as probably 
 of longer usefulness in a city, accepted an invitation to the Pro- 
 fessorship of Surgery, in the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincin- 
 nati, and removed thither with his family. In that institution, 
 for fourteen successive years, he gave the lectures on Surgery, 
 besides having charge of the surgical department of the Com- 
 mercial Hospital of Cincinnati, and sustaining a full practice. 
 
 At the close of his fourteenth course there, Dr. M. resigned his 
 chair in the Medical College of Ohio, and in the course of the 
 ensuing summer, 1852, consented to take the Professorship of 
 Surgery in the Miami Medical College in Cincinnati ; in which 
 he has already given two full courses of lectures, and has had 
 charge, through the sessions, of the surgical department of St. 
 John's Hospital (1854). 
 
 At, and before the time of Dr. Mussey's visit to Europe in 1830, 
 the doctrine of the non-union of intra-capsular fractures of the 
 neck of the thigh bone, was taught by Sir Astley Cooper, and 
 admitted by many distinguished members of the profession in 
 Great Britain. Dr. M. carried with him a specimen, which, in the
 
 APPENDIX. 167 
 
 opinion of several surgeons both in Paris and London, satisfac- 
 torily demonstrated the fact of snch bony union. When this 
 was shown to Sir Astley, he at first remarked, " This was never 
 broken." After a more careful inspection of it, especially its 
 interior, which had been sawed into two vertical portions to 
 render it accessible to the eye, he remarked: "This does look 
 a little more like it, to be sure, but I do not think the fracture 
 was entirely within the capsular ligament." Few surgeons who 
 saw the specimen, had the assurance to deny that it was a case of 
 bona fide fracture. That distinguished surgeon, Mr. John Thomp- 
 son, of Edinburgh, author of a treatise on inflammation, valuable 
 in its time, did, however, upon taking the specimen in his hand, 
 declare "upon his troth and honor," that it had never been broken. 
 This opinion, given with an ex-cathedr^ emphasis, foreclosed 
 all further conversation. Since that time. Dr. Mussey has pro- 
 cured several specimens which prove indubitably a bony reunion 
 of this intra-capsular fracture. 
 
 Before his visit to Europe, Dr. M. had operated upon a young 
 man, for a large, bleeding, and ulcerated noevus, upon the vortex 
 of the head — by tying in succession both carotid arteries, at twelve 
 days' interval — and a few weeks afterwards, removing the tumor. 
 An account of this case, contained in the Am. Journal of the 
 Med. and Phys. Sciences for February, 1830, had been received 
 in London a short time before Dr. M.'s arrival there. As this 
 was the first published case of tying both carotids, it necessarily 
 excited some interest in the profession, and enlarged Dr. M.'s 
 facilities of intercourse with its scientific members in that metro- 
 polis. 
 
 As a physician and operative surgeon. Dr. M. has sustained a 
 prominent rank in the profession of our country. While in New 
 Hampshire, he had a widely-extended field for the exercise of his 
 professional abilities ; and, although he had not the advantage of 
 that close association with medical men which large cities give, 
 the privation resulted in a more thorough development of his 
 own powers, and a more self-reliant professional judgment. 
 
 It was in this period, that he successfully treated, by operation, 
 a case of uni-locular ovarian disease. 
 
 Another rather rare operation, was one upon hypertrophicd
 
 168 APPENDIX. 
 
 tongue, in a boy of thirteen. The disease commenced at the age 
 of nine months, and at the time of operation, the tongue mea- 
 sured eight inches in circumference where it issued from the mouth, 
 and five inches in length, from the upper lip to the tip of the 
 tongue. The operation was successful. Eeported in the Phila- 
 delphia Journal. 
 
 Another extraordinary case was one of osteo-sarcoma, which 
 commenced in the thumb and forefinger, and for which an 
 operation was performed, consisting of the removal of the entire 
 metacarpal bone of the thumb, and three-fourths of that of the 
 forefinger. Thirteen years afterward, the disease had invaded 
 the radius, and the os humeri; especially its upper half, which 
 had become very large, and exceedingly painful. At that time, 
 the arm was amputated at the shoulder joint. Six years after 
 this, the patient came a third time to Dr. M., with the same disease, 
 in the form of a large tumor, occupying the greater part of his shoul- 
 der blade and collar bone. lie was then put upon farinaceous diet, 
 for a month — drinking only milk or water — preparatory to a 
 third operation. This consisted in the removal of the entire 
 shoulder blade and collar bone, and resulted successfully; the first 
 operation of the kind, it is believed, ever performed. This was 
 in October, 1887. The patient is still living, and well (1854). 
 
 In Ohio, Dr. M. had, in the summer of 1815, a case somewhat 
 like the preceding. Mr. Stark, from Lower Sandusky, had a 
 very large osteo-sarcoma of the arm, shoulder blade, and outer 
 portion of the collar bone. Dr. Mussey removed the arm, the 
 entire shoulder blade, and more than half of the collar bone. In 
 a letter received from this patient in the spring of 1854, he reports 
 himself tveli, having had no symptom of a return of the disease 
 since the operation. 
 
 In the summer of 1845, Dr. Mussey, for osteo-sarcoma of the 
 lower jaw, disarticulated that bone, removing more than half of 
 it, and accomplishing this without dividing the duct of Steno, or 
 the facial nerve. The object was to preserve the symmetry of the 
 mouth for the patient (a beautiful young lady), and it was fully 
 realized. 
 
 Dr. M. was not at the time aware that the lower jaw had ever
 
 APPENDIX. 169 
 
 before been disarticulated, and a large portion of it removed, 
 without implicating the facial nerve. 
 
 Dr. M. has kept no record of the number of his operations, 
 except those of three classes, viz: — 
 
 Lithotomy, 49 ; 4 deaths. Lithotrit}^, 1 ; successful. 
 
 Strangulated hernia, 40 ; 8 deaths. 
 
 Varicocele, 45; by subcutaneous ligation of the spermatic vein, 
 with never a bad symptom following. In all the cases followed 
 out — and it is believed in the whole number — a perfect cure. 
 
 Dr. M, recollects four cases of successful operation for perineal 
 fistula; and two for stricture of the urethra, of long standing, and 
 so complete as not to admit the jjassage of either catheter or 
 bougie, into the bladder. In both cases, the recto- vesical tapping 
 of the bladder was practised, as a necessary measure, to prevent 
 speedy death from entire obstruction of the urine. After the 
 subsidence of the irritation, the point of a staff pushed as far as 
 it would go into the urethra, was cut down upon through the 
 perineum, and as no instrument, not even the smallest probe, could 
 be passed into the stricture, an artificial canal was made, by pass- 
 ing, without a guide, a straight, narrow, sharp pointed bistoury 
 into the bladder, and was kept open by an elastic gum catheter. 
 In both cases, the wound in the perineum was ultimately healed, 
 and the artificial urethra kept open by the occasional use of the 
 bougie, for the first year, and very rarely afterwards, answered a 
 good purpose. One of the patients, who went to a distant part 
 of the country, was heard from five years after the operation, and 
 was reported to be well. The other, now about thirty-eight years 
 old, still lives in Cincinnati. He stated to Dr. Mussey, in May, 
 1854, thirteen years after the operation, that he sometimes felt a 
 slight difiiculty in passing his water, but that for some years he 
 had not, except in a few instances, been induced to pass a bougie. 
 
 In a third case of impervmis stricture, in which there was 
 enough dribbling of urine to prevent the necessity of puncturing 
 the bladder, an operation similar to the foregoing was practised, 
 within the last eight months, with less satisfactory results. The 
 patient— between fifty and sixty years of age— after a long confine- 
 ment with severe symptoms, recovered, and went home able to 
 urinate with a small stream, accompanied at each urination with
 
 170 APPENDIX. 
 
 the discharge of a few drops through a small aperture still 
 remaining in the perineum. 
 
 In several instanees he has removed the upper, and parts of the 
 lower jaw, for the diseases not unfrequently invading those bones 
 — and within the last ten or twelve years he has had numerous 
 cases in plastic surgery. In three cases, he had fair success, in 
 making an artificial nose, and in one case, failed. In repairing 
 cheeks and lips, lost by sloughing in childhood, he has had several 
 cases, with very satisfactory results. 
 
 Within the last two years. Dr. Mussey ligated, at four weeks' 
 interval, both carotids successfully, for aneurismal enlargement 
 of the arteries about the ear. Within the same period. Dr. M. 
 obtained a perfect cure by operation, of a recto-vaginal fistula. 
 Both cases are detailed in the Am. Jour. Med. Science, at Phila., 
 1853. 
 
 Dr. Mussey's private character and history remain for a differ- 
 ent record. That his life has been full of successful labor, possible 
 only to a firm and energetic perseverance, this professional outline 
 will indicate — that it has been for many years controlled by the 
 principles of an earnest and conscientious Christianity, is its 
 better testimony. His attention was roused in early life to the 
 necessity of a temperance reformation, and his agency in that 
 movement has been not only prominent from the first, but con- 
 sistently progressive with the growth of public sentiment — unless 
 it may be said to have been, at times, in advance of it. For more 
 than twenty years, he has been a water drinker, and for almost 
 the same period, a practical vegetarian, in accordance with what 
 he believes to be the true principles of hygiene.
 
 APPENDIX. 171 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES MOULTRIE, M. D., OF CHARLES- 
 TON, S. C, FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSO- 
 CIATION. 
 
 The subject of this memoir was born in the city of Charleston, 
 State of South Carolina, on the twenty-seventh clay of March, 
 seventeen hundred and ninety-three. The names of his ancestry 
 are honorably recorded in the revolutionary as well as medical 
 history of the country. He is the fourth, in four successive 
 generations, who gave themselves to the vocation of medicine. 
 He received the early portion of his preliminary education at 
 home, the late in England, at the town of Hammersmith, then 
 not far distant from London, under the direction of its eminent 
 Principal, who had been an inmate and private tutor in his 
 grandfather's family. 
 
 This school, which was one of the best in that vicinity, had 
 many scholars, living within a campus, and subject to a disci- 
 pline analogous to our own colleges ; the branches of education 
 taught therein being the ancient classics, the French and Italian 
 languages, mathematics, drawing and painting, music and dancing. 
 Besides these, it was the usage of the principal frequently to 
 take with him to London members of the higher classes, to at- 
 tend the public lectures on astronomy and other kindred subjects, 
 at which he delighted to be present also. 
 
 It was the misfortune of young Moultrie, however, to have 
 been under the necessity of leaving England, soon after the 
 finishing classes had entered upon the concluding term of disci- 
 pline, in which the members were chiefly occupied in recapitula- 
 tions, and the further exercises of translating extemporaneously, 
 from one language into another, from Latin chiefly into French,
 
 172 APPENDIX. 
 
 and vice versa, as well as into English, under the oral diction of 
 the head of the school, in consequence of the encounter between 
 tjie Chesapeake and Leopard, and the apprehended difficulties 
 ■which eventuated in the war of 1812, This was felt by him as a 
 severe calamity, occurring, as it did, at so important a period of 
 life, and so likely, for that reason, to be irretrievable. His return 
 took place in the autumn of 1808. 
 
 On his arrival in Charleston, a commission was procured for 
 him as a cadet at "West Point, and preparations entered upon to 
 enable him to efiect an early entrance into that seminary ; but, 
 other and perhaps wiser counsels prevailed. A personal prefer- 
 ence having been expressed for medicine, the profession of his 
 progenitors, he at once entered tlie medical office of the firm of 
 Barron and Wilson, two distinguished practitioners of that day, 
 and commenced reading the Edinburgh Pharmacoj'tceia, }[ateria 
 Medica, and First Lines of Cullen, together with the compounding 
 of formulas and prescriptions. About a year after, he left them 
 and went to the Marine Hospital, where he became a pupil of Dr. 
 Geo. Ilall, for the purpose of enjoying the further advantages of 
 clinical instruction, post-mortem examinations, and anatomical 
 dissections ; and of simultaneously attending a private infirmary, 
 for people of color, established by the same individual, jointly 
 with Dr. Thos. Akin. 
 
 The winters of 1810-11 and 1811-12 were spent in Philadel- 
 phia, in attendance on the lectures, in the time-honored Univer- 
 sity of Philadelphia. At the end of the second season, he 
 graduated, and immediately returned to the scene of his future 
 labors. 
 
 His father, having declined in health, and being no longer able 
 to discharge the duties of the office which he had long held as 
 Port Physician, and Physician to the Jail, as well as Magazine 
 Guard, consisting of a small body of State troops, organized for 
 the protection of the State ammunition, that appointment, through 
 the agency of a patron, was conferred upon him by the then Go- 
 vernor of the State, Jos. Alston ; an honor and a position which he 
 continued to enjoy and to hold for many years. Hostilities, too, 
 between Great Britain and the United States having actually 
 commenced, and the State of South Carolina having been under
 
 APPENDIX, 173 
 
 the necessity of organizing two regiments of infantry and a bat- 
 talion of artillery, under the orders of the General Government, 
 the post of surgeon, in a civil capacity, to the latter, was tender- 
 ed him and accepted, until that vacancy could be regularly filled. 
 This condition, however, was never fulfilled, and he continued in 
 the discharge of the obligations incident to the trust, until the 
 end of the war, when the troops returned to their homes. During 
 the encampment, which was in a place subject to the influence of 
 malaria, the members of the battalion suffered, in common with 
 those of the regiments, with fevers, dysentery, and pneumonia; 
 but it was their good fortune, nevertheless, to retire from the 
 field without having occasion to lament the loss of a single com- 
 rade. His intimacy, too, with the members of the profession in 
 charge of the two adjacent regiments, afforded him daily oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing, and often of assisting in their practice, a 
 privilege of which he frequently availed himself, thereby en- 
 larging the sphere of his experience, and of preparing for his 
 future duties. 
 
 During the same period, as well as afterwards, his visits to the 
 Marine Hospital were uninterrupted, and the duties of the in- 
 cumbent often performed for him for considerable periods of time; 
 in one instance this lasted for a year. Connected with it was the 
 enjoyment of other advantages besides the clinics; the study of 
 pathology, and permission to use the operative room for dissec- 
 tions in anatomy and the delivery of lectures. These opportuni- 
 ties were accordingly so employed for several seasons, in the 
 presence, and with the aid of a reputable class, and for the sole 
 purpose of self-instruction and improvement; it being often 
 necessary for him, at midnight, to contribute his personal exer- 
 tions in procuring the subjects necessary for that purpose the 
 
 next day. 
 
 At the close of the war, accruing embarrassments having ren- 
 dered necessary the transference of much property, during the 
 course of that transference, the prisoners of war, who were accom- 
 modated in jail, gave place to inmates of a different color ; and the 
 smallpox having subsequently and unexpectedly made its appear- 
 ance, opened a new scene of observation, which tended to aug- 
 ment the summation of his experience. A similar opportunity
 
 174 APPENDIX. 
 
 was also afforded, some time later, at the Lazaretto. Sucli was 
 the general character of his initiation into the responsibilities of 
 his profession. 
 
 In 1812, shortly after his return from the University, he was 
 admitted a member of the Medical Society of South Carolina ; 
 and after serving in immediate succession, for the term of two 
 years each, as Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice-President, he was 
 unanimously elected, in 1821, President of the same, and again 
 in 1S22. During the second year of his service, the idea of the 
 establishment of a Medical College in the metropolis having been 
 seriously entertained by the Society, yet failing to prepare for its 
 execution in time for the meeting of the legislature, which was 
 actually in session, and apprehending from a similar entertain- 
 ment at the Capitol, the establishment of that institution, either 
 exclusively in the latter place, or as a school divided between the 
 two municipalities, an extra meeting was suddenly called by those 
 immediately interested, and the President requested to draw up, 
 by the next day, a suitable memorial. That memorial was pre- 
 pared, and at the adjourned meeting unanimously adopted and 
 forwarded. It had the effect of preventing the evils which were 
 deprecated, though it failed to secure to the memorialists the prin- 
 cipal objects had in view. It contained, a sine qua non for the 
 erection of a suitable edifice, a petition for money : a condition 
 which the judgments of the legislators were not willing to accord. 
 The next year, however, on a renewal of the memorial, which was 
 drawn up by Samuel Henry Dickson, M. D,, now Professor of the 
 Institutes and Practice in the Medical College of the State of 
 South Carolina, in which the frustrative feature was omitted, an 
 act of incorporation was unhesitatingly granted, and the professors 
 being elected by the Society, the College went into instantaneous 
 operation. Dr. Moultrie was expected to assume the professor- 
 ship of Anatomy, but declined, the reasons for which are not 
 necessary to be detailed. On a second occasion, however, in 
 which the Faculty of the College were induced to apply for an- 
 other act of incorporation, and the Medical College of the State 
 of South Carolina was instituted, being invited to unite with that 
 body, as Professor of Physiology, in their renewed adventure, 
 and those reasonings no longer obtaining, he instantly accepted
 
 APPENDIX. 175 
 
 the invitation, and has been associated with them ever since, in 
 effecting the ends had in view. 
 
 Through his exertions, in a great degree, was formed the Medi- 
 cal Association of the State of South Carohna, the organization 
 of which was recommended by the American Medical Associa- 
 tion, at its own organization, in 1847, in Philadelphia, on which 
 occasion he was elected one of its Vice-Presidents. 
 
 At the meeting of the American Medical Association, in May, 
 1850, in Charleston, Dr. Moultrie was unanimously elected Presi- 
 dent. His speech, on being inducted to the chair, was strikingly 
 neat and appropriate. He presided with great dignity ; and at its 
 subsequent meeting in Richmond, read the annual address, which 
 it is the custom of each retiring officer to deliver to the Associa- 
 tion. His paper contains many important and valuable sugges- 
 tions relative to the constitution, functions, duties, and influences 
 of that body, and deserves a careful reading by every member of 
 that great national institution. 
 
 The success attendant upon the early lectures of the Faculty in 
 the first school, having obtained from the legislature the boon 
 which had primarily been asked in vain, and further assistance 
 from the city council, it enabled them to erect a suitable edifice, 
 and which was ready for the accommodation of the class in 
 1829. On the occasion of its opening, which was a public one, 
 the inaugural address was delivered by the venerable Stephen 
 Elliot, Professor of Natural History, and a member of the Faculty. 
 It was the last of his literary efforts, he having died in the course 
 of the ensuing spring, not long after the close of the college ses- 
 sion. Shortly after it. Professor Moultrie received a joint appli- 
 cation from the Faculty of the College, and the Philosophical 
 Society of Charleston, of which the deceased had been chief 
 founder and perpetual President, to deliver an eulogium at the 
 next reopening of the institution, which, on the arrival of that 
 event, was again made a public one. The honor was wholly un- 
 expected, but the appointment was accepted, and the duties of the 
 trust feelingly and faithfully discharged. This address is per- 
 haps the most elegant and chaste of all the compositions of Dr. 
 Moultrie. While it avoids, with perfect good taste, the exagge- 
 rated language of fulsome eulogy, or indiscriminate admiration, it 
 is full of the gentle and melancholy feeling which the occasion
 
 176 APPENDIX. 
 
 ■was adapted to call forth ; and sketches with great nicety and 
 proper appreciation the character and merits of the lamented 
 dead, while it dwells upon the loss sustained by society in the 
 removal of so distinguished and successful a cultivator of the 
 natural sciences. 
 
 It has been his melancholy gratification to have been on two 
 other occasions called on to perform a like task before the Medi- 
 cal Society of Charleston ; one, a former preceptor, and second 
 member of the firm, with whom he commenced his medical 
 studies ; the other, a promising young member of the profession, 
 and quondam pupil ; on both of which occasions, the sad duty was 
 acceptably discharged. 
 
 In 1836, by appointment of the South Carolina Society for the 
 Advancement of Learning, he delivered in the legislative hall at 
 the Capitol in Columbia, before that body, the adjourned legisla- 
 ture, and a miscellaneous assemblage, an elaborate Essay on the 
 State of Medical Education in South Carolina, which was printed 
 by the Society, and appeared as a 3d number of a series of 
 similar papers. 
 
 His account of the fossil fragments of the cranium of the cele- 
 brated Guadaloupe skeleton, identifies that relic with the head- 
 less trunk from the same region, in the British Museum ; and 
 determines the question as to the ethnological relations to which 
 the individual originally belonged. 
 
 A paper on the Uses of the Lymph, published in the 1st vol- 
 ume of the American Medical Journal^ deserves our special men- 
 tion. In this essay, Dr. Moultrie has carried out successfully, 
 and as it seems to us to very important results, a suggestion, 
 perhaps first made, and then carelessly and incidentally as it were 
 by Blumenbach, that " the vital principle of the blood appears 
 immediately to reside in its lymphatic portion." Reasoning with 
 much ingenuity and in full detail from the data accumulated by 
 physiologists, he establishes on firm and satisfactory grounds 
 several deductions, since that time generally received by the pro- 
 fession, among them the wide distinction, almost contrast, between 
 the venous functions and the lymphatics ; and clearly pointing out 
 the several "ofiices or uses of the lymph," viz: "to vivify the 
 chyle ;" " to augment the animalization of the arterial blood ; and
 
 APPENDIX. 177 
 
 lastly, to produce all those effects wliicli constitute the pheuomena 
 of reproduction, adhesion, &c." 
 
 It is sufficient, but perfectly just praise of this admirable paper, 
 to say that nothing has been added to our knowledge of the sub- 
 ject since the date at which it was offered to the profession, 
 nearly thirty years ago. 
 
 During a long life of devotion to the profession of his early 
 choice. Dr. Moultrie has enjoyed in a remarkable degree the con- 
 fidence of his professional brethren, and of the community among 
 whom he resides. Always observant of the strictest etiquette, 
 his manners are easy and agreeable. His practice has been large 
 and successful, and his patients have loved him as warmly in his 
 quality of sympathizing friend, as they esteem him in his charac- 
 ter of physician. 
 
 He is a member of the Unitarian Church, and for a long time 
 presided over it as chief officer of the congregation. No one of 
 its members has done more to advance its interests, and no one 
 enjoys a larger share of its respectful regard. 
 
 In the political contests, of which neither his name nor his social 
 position permitted him to shrink from taking his share, he has re- 
 tained the good will of all parties, while maintaining firmly his opin- 
 ions as a moderate opponent of all ultra doctrines, and an advocate 
 of the true rights of the States, and the infinite value of the Union. 
 
 In the professor's chair, he is distinguished as a profound 
 thinker, and, as a teacher, has fully instructed himself in the far- 
 thest progress of the department of physiology. His lectures 
 abound in minute analysis, and close and logical deduction, which 
 he enforces graphically by physical and material demonstrations; 
 by drawings and diagrams well conceived and adapted to the 
 purpose of illustrating topics so frequently difficult and obscure 
 to classes imperfectly prepared and promiscuously collected. 
 
 But his studies and researches have not been restricted to the 
 specialities of the profession. He has gradually accumulated a 
 well selected and well arranged library of several thousand vol- 
 umes, relating to the varied departments of human knowledge, 
 -which constitutes one of the chief ornaments of his dwelling, the 
 indices and pencillings of which, under his own hand, attest the 
 uses which have been made of it. 
 12
 
 178 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF B. R. WELLFORD, M. D., SIXTH PRESI- 
 DENT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Dr. Beverly Eandolph Wellford -was born in Fredericks- 
 burg, Virginia, on July 29, 1797. He was graduated in the 
 Medical Department of the University of Maryland, in the spring 
 of 1816, and returning to Fredericksburg, was immediately asso- 
 ciated with his father in the practice of medicine. 
 
 Devoting himself with enthusiasm and energy to his profession, 
 he not only soon established himself in the confidence and affec- 
 tions of a large circle of patients, but his reputation spreading 
 beyond the sphere of his immediate practice, he was often invited 
 to consultations by his brethren in adjacent counties. Dr. W. 
 not only pursued with ardor the several branches of his profes- 
 sion, but he enlarged his mind and improved his taste by excur- 
 sions into the kindred fields of science and general literature. 
 
 It was a matter of course that a man of such liberal studies 
 should sympathize with the movements for medical reform, 
 and professional organization, recommended by the American 
 Medical Association. Accordingly, Dr. "W., by his zeal and 
 energy, contributed materially to the prosperity of the Virginia 
 ^ledical Society, whose members evinced their appreciation of 
 his efforts by electing him its President in 1851. 
 
 He discharged the duties of this office with so much care, and 
 in a manner so satisfactory, that when the American Medical 
 Association met in Richmond in 1852, he was, upon the unani- 
 mous recommendation of the Virginia delegates, chosen President 
 of that body. The dignity and courtesy with which he presided 
 over its deliberations, elicited the admiration of his associates, 
 and the graceful elocution, varied learning, and general ability
 
 APPENDIX. 179 
 
 whicTi characterized his address before that body, gave him at 
 once a national reputation. 
 
 In the spring of 1854, Dr. W. was elected to the chair of 
 Materia Medica and Therapeutics, in the Medical College of 
 Virginia, and removed to Eichmond, where he has been diligently 
 engaged in discharging the duties of this office, and in the prac- 
 tice of medicine. His courteous manners, ripe experience, 
 professional learning, and literary taste, all fit him to shine in 
 his new sphere, and attract towards this rising institution the 
 regards of the American medical public.
 
 180 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX n. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CHARLES A. POPE, M. D., EIGHTH PRESI- 
 DENT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 
 
 Dr. Pope was born in EEuntsville, Alabama, on March 15, 
 1818, consequently, being now in the 37th year of his age. 
 
 His primary education was received at Greene Academy, in his 
 native town. He subsequently passed through the prescribed 
 courses of collegiate study in the University of Alabama, and 
 immediately afterwards commenced the study of law. Finding, 
 however, that the sedentary habits necessary to its prosecution, 
 were incompatible with his then rather delicate constitution, he 
 abandoned it for the study of medicine. 
 
 He began his medical studies with Drs. Fearn and Erskine, of 
 Huntsville ; the former being already widely and well known as 
 a surgeon, and the latter ranking high as a physician. For both 
 these gentlemen. Dr. Pope has always entertained high admiration 
 and regard ; he has always looked upon them as perfect t3'pes 
 and exemplars in a social as well as a professional point of view. 
 It was doubtless fortunate for the subject of this notice, that his 
 early professional education was confided to such men. His own 
 early eminence may be in a great degree attributable to their 
 influence and example. 
 
 Dr. Pope attended his first course of medical lectures in the 
 Cincinnati Medical College. Dr. Drake was then at its head, and 
 in the height of his fame and popularity as a teacher. He was 
 the idol of the class, and has always been regarded by Dr. Pope 
 as one of the " greater lights" of the profession in this or any 
 other country or age. 
 
 At the age of 21, Dr. Pope received his degree from the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and soon after repaired to Europe
 
 APPENDIX. 181 
 
 for the further prosecution of his studies. It was in the city of 
 Paris, in Nov. 1839, that the writer of this brief notice first 
 became acquainted with the young surgeon, for he had already 
 begun to manifest his predilection for this branch of the profes- 
 sion. He was thentioted as the most expert and neatest operator 
 on the cadaver, amongst us. His friends, acquaintances, and 
 teachers, even at that early day, predicted that he would in after 
 years rank with the renowned masters of the noble and daring 
 art. 
 
 He remained in Paris nearly two years, and afterwards visited 
 the great continental schools, as well as those of Great Britain 
 and Ireland. 
 
 It was on January 1, 1842, that Dr. Pope commenced the 
 practice of his profession in the city of St. Louis, where his 
 studious habits, high moral worth, and gentlemanly bearing, 
 soon brought him into public notice and -favor. In 1843, he was 
 unanimously chosen Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, 
 these chairs being then united in the Medical Department of the 
 St. Louis University, a position for which he was not slow in 
 proving himself fully competent. In 1846, he again visited the 
 Old World, and furnished, during his absence, various contribu- 
 tions to the St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal. In 1847, he 
 was transferred to the chair of Surgery, at which time he had 
 acquired considerable reputation as a judicious surgeon and skil- 
 ful operator. It cannot but be regarded as a fortunate circum- 
 stance for him, that he delivered three courses of lectures on 
 anatomy, before his accession to the chair of surgery; to this fact, 
 no doubt, is to be attributed in a great degree his rapid success 
 as a teacher and practitioner of this his favorite branch. In 1848, 
 he was chosen dean of the faculty, an office which he has ever 
 since held. 
 
 As a lecturer. Dr. Pope is rapid, clear, and concise; he is fluent, 
 but makes no effort at oratorical effect. Few men can say more, 
 or teach more, in an hour, than he. With the history and litera- 
 ture of surgery he is perfectly conversant. lie is familiar with 
 all the doctrines and modes of operating extant, and well may he 
 be, as his entire attention is, and has been for years, devoted to 
 them. He eschews the practice of medicine, consecrating him-
 
 182 APPENDIX. 
 
 self solely to tbe teaching and practice of surgery. Ilis collection 
 of instruments, preparations, drawings and models, illustrative 
 of bis branch, are unexcelled by any private collection in the 
 country. 
 
 As an operator, be is calm, confident, expeditious, full of 
 resources, and, it may be added, eminently successful. Perhaps 
 no surgeon of his age, in the country, has performed as many 
 operations as he. This fact is not attributable to the absence of 
 competition, for he found, on his arrival in St. Louis, three 
 surgeons high in public estimation. Dr. Beaumont was then in 
 his glory, and he, venerable man, was among the first to discover 
 and rightly appreciate the talents of the future surgeon of the 
 far West. Dr. Pope's connection with the St. Louis Hospital, as 
 well as with the City Hospital, and the circumstance of St. Louis 
 being a centre, attracting surgical cases from the surrounding 
 States and Territories, will in part, perhaps, account for his 
 extensive practice and frequent operations. As yet he has not 
 handled his pen as much as his knife. He has not written a 
 great deal. His contributions to surgery, however, though few, 
 are valuable, and they have been extensively copied and fre- 
 quently referred to as of standard authority. 
 
 A proper notice, however brief, of Dr. Pope's career, thus far 
 requires a tribute to his liberality and devotedness to the medical 
 department of the St. Louis University. To him, in a great 
 degree, the school is indebted for its success; and, in this con- 
 nection, justice demands the mention of the name of his father- 
 in-law, Col. John O'Fallon, a man whose princely wealth has 
 always been employed in behalf of the best interests of his city 
 and his State — of humanity and of science. To him, the subject 
 of this memoir, and his colleagues, are indebted for the ample 
 halls of the St. Louis Medical College, and the public Dispensary 
 thereunto attached. 
 
 Ten years ago, one of Dr. Pope's colleagues spoke of him in a 
 public address, a valedictory, as follows : " Our professor of 
 anatomy is yet a very young man, but I predict that in ten years 
 he will rank among the first surgeons of the country." That 
 prediction has been fulfilled, and Dr. Pope is yet a young man. 
 Ten years ago, St. Louis was not what it now is ; then it had
 
 APPENDIX. 183 
 
 only a population of 40,000 souls, now it contains 130,000. What 
 will the city and its institutions be in ten or twenty years more ? 
 May they not fully rival those of the east and of the Old World? 
 May not the name of the young surgeon of the west rank with 
 the most venerable names of the profession, and may he not 
 bequeath to the institution which he has so efficiently contributed 
 to build up, and to the profession, a fame equal to that of a 
 Wistar or a Physick ?
 
 ISi APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF NATHAN S. DAVIS, M. D. 
 
 The subject of this memoir is the second son of Dow Davis, 
 and was bora in the town of Greene, Chenango Co., New York, 
 January 9th, 1817. Ilis father is bj occupation a fiirmcr, and 
 with his elder son, still occupies the farm on which Nathan was 
 born, lying three miles northwest of the village of Greene, and, 
 near the valley of the Genegantslet Creek. Of his ancestral rela- 
 tions but little is definitely known. Ilis boyhood was spent in a 
 log house, and until he was sixteen years of age, was himself bred 
 a farmer, engaging actively in the varied and laborious pursuits 
 incident to a farmer's life. Endowed by nature with a spare 
 frame, slight and fragile in appearance, the occupation of his boy- 
 hood doubtless contributed much to the acquirement and subse- 
 quent development of that physical energy and power of endur- 
 ance which he has enjoyed in his manhood. Ilis early education 
 was limited and defective, consisting only of such as he could 
 acquire at a backward district school in the neighborhood, and 
 by voluntary reading during his leisure hours, of such books as 
 he could obtain. The pecuniary circumstances of his father, and 
 the need of his assistance at home, and in the field, seemed to op- 
 }-)ose the propriety or expediency, however desirous he may have 
 been, of placing his son in a position where he could enjoy those 
 advantages which he so much coveted, and it was not until he 
 had attained the age of sixteen, that his desires in this particular 
 were gratified. At this time he seems to have formed the pur- 
 pose of preparing himself for the practice of medicine, and obtain- 
 ing his fiither's consent and approbation, he entered Cazcnovia 
 Seminary, where he remained six months, pursuing the studies of 
 English grammar, chemistry, natural philosophy, algebra, and 
 Latin, with an earnestness and profit which few exhibit.
 
 APPENDIX. 185 
 
 At tlie expiration of this term in the seminary, he commenced 
 the study of medicine with Dr. Daniel Clark, of Smithville Flats, 
 with whom he continued until the following autumn, when he 
 took his first course of medical lectures at Fairfield, in the old 
 " College of Physicians and Surgeons of the "Western District of 
 New York," At the close of the course, our young student en- 
 tered the office of Dr. Thomas Jackson, of Binghampton, under 
 whose tuition he remained until the completion of his term of 
 study, attending lectures each winter at Fairfield. In January, 
 1837, at the end of his third course of lectures, he received the 
 degree of M. D., being then but a few days over 20 years of age. 
 
 Of four^ who were selected from the graduating class, to read 
 their dieses in public, as a part of the commencement exercises, 
 Dr. Davis was one. 
 
 During his pupilage, his small supply o^ money and the limited 
 assistance he received from friends, compelled the adoption of a 
 rigid system of economy, and while in college, he tells us, that he 
 boarded himself, "living very cheaply upon roast potatoes^ pudding 
 and milk,^^ &c. &c. 
 
 Near the close of his last college course, an application was 
 made to the Faculty of the college for their recommendation of 
 a suitable young man who would go to Vienna, Oneida Co., 
 and take the place of a physician who had for many years at- 
 tended to the greater part of the practice in the vicinity, but 
 whose health was then supposed to be rapidly failing. Dr. Davis 
 was referred to, and the proposition accepted. With a small 
 library of books and a pocket-case of instruments, we find him, in 
 the February following, engaged in the practice of his profession, 
 with the physician above alluded to (Dr. Daniel Chatficld). Soon 
 after he made a verbal agreement with Dr. C. to purchase his 
 property, the latter consenting to retire from practice altogether. 
 During the following summer, however. Dr. Chatfield's health 
 having become much improved, he was again desirous of en- 
 gaging in practice, forming a partnership with Dr. Davis. But 
 the latter declined the proposition. The "half agricultural and 
 half lumber'' town of Vienna, together with its remoteness from 
 any considerable town or village, was little suited to satisfy the 
 ambition and aspirations of such a man as Dr. Davis; and hence,
 
 186 APPENDIX. 
 
 in July, having made a residence of only five months, he removed 
 to Binghampton, Broome Co., where he continued in practice un- 
 til his removal to New York, a period of nearly ten years. At the 
 time of his removal to Binghampton he seems to have been desi- 
 rous of migrating to the Valley of the Mississippi, but the want 
 of pecuniary means induced the abandonment of any purpose in 
 that direction. 
 
 The success which attended Dr. Davis in his new field of labor, 
 both in his professional and social relations, was all he could de- 
 sire or reasonably expect. While the intelligence, skill, and sound 
 judgment which he exhibited as a physician secured to him the 
 confidence and patronage of the community in which he lived, 
 the urbanity of his manners, and the kindness and good feeling 
 which he uniformly manifested, won equally the esteem and 
 friendship of all who knew him. 
 
 In the spring following his removal to Binghampton, he was 
 married to a Miss Parker (daughter of the Hon. John Parker, of 
 Vienna), and who is still, with their two children, the pleasant 
 sharer of his alternate joys and sorrows. 
 
 In addition to the varied and onerous duties incumbent upon 
 him as a physician, and identified as he was with reform move- 
 ments of both a local and general character, he still found much 
 time for close and careful reading. His ambition to excel in the 
 profession of his choice, coupled with an ardent love for its study 
 and pursuit, left no leisure hour unemployed. In the organiza- 
 tion and prosperity of medical societies, he took a deep and earn- 
 est interest, laboring zealously and diligently in whatever would 
 contribute to their welfare and usefulness, or to the advancement 
 of medical science, and the elevation of professional character. 
 And I may add, his zeal and industry in this respect have not in 
 the least diminished. Frequent communications from his pen 
 made their appearance in the different medical journals, and one 
 of which, originally published in the American Journal of Insan- 
 ity, was copied into some of the European journals. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the New York State Medical Society, 
 in Feb., 1840, the prize previously offered for the best essay on the 
 "Diseases of the Spinal Column," &;c., was awarded to him, and 
 the essay published in the Transactions of the Society. The fol-
 
 APPENDIX. 187 
 
 lowing year he received the prize offered b}"- the same society for 
 the best essay on the " Discoveries in the Physiology of the Nerv- 
 ous System, since the time of Charles Bell," which was also pub- 
 lished in the Transactions of the Society for the same year, 1841. 
 
 In 18-42 he was appointed delegate from the Broome County 
 Society to the State Society, taking his seat in that body in Feb- 
 ruary, 1843. He continued to meet with the State Society annu- 
 ally until his removal from the county in 1847, and to contribute 
 to its Transactions almost yearly until his removal from the 
 State. 
 
 During Dr. Davis's residence in Binghampton, he conceived the 
 idea of a National Medical Association, and through his instru- 
 mentality and the co-operation of others, a convention of members 
 of the profession was called, which met in the city of New York, 
 in May, 1846, and which resulted in the organization of the so- 
 ciety known as the American Medical Association. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, being ainbitious for a wider field of la- 
 bor, and increased facilities for acquiring distinction, he removed 
 to the city of New York. During the winter following he em- 
 ployed a part of his time, at the solicitation of the Demonstrator 
 of Anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of tliat 
 city, in taking charge of the dissecting-rooms and giving in- 
 structions in practical anatomy, and at the close of the regular 
 college session, received and accepted an invitation from the 
 Faculty, to give the spring course of lectures on Medical Juris- 
 prudence in that institution. In the latter part of the same year, 
 1848, he commenced editing a small semi-monthly medical journal, 
 styled the Annalist, and which he continued to publish until his 
 removal from the city. During his residence in New York, his 
 private practice slowly but uniformly increased, and in the sum- 
 mer of 1849 he found his time not only fully but profitably em- 
 ployed. In July of this year he received and accepted an invita- 
 tion from the Trustees and Faculty of ''Bush Medical College," 
 located at Chicago, Illinois, to occupy the Chair of Physiology 
 and Pathology in that institution. With this view he left New 
 York in August, and after spending a few days in the interior 
 of the State, started for his western home, arriving in Chicago 
 in September, and the following month entered upon his duties
 
 188 APPENDIX. 
 
 as a public teacher, discharging them with much credit to him- 
 self, and satisfiiction to others. During the following year, 
 some changes were effected in the Faculty of the College, and 
 Dr. Davis was transferred to the Chair of Practice of Medicine, 
 uniting with it Pathology. The establishment of a hospital soon 
 after, brought with it the duties of clinical practice and instruc- 
 tion, and from that time until the present, he has performed the 
 duties, and held the title of ^'■Prof. of Patliology, Practice and Clini- 
 cal Jifediciney Viiih what ability and satisfaction he has dis- 
 charged the responsible duties imposed upon him as a teacher in 
 medicine, the testimonials he has received abundantly testify. 
 
 Near the close of the regular college session of 1852-'53, 
 he was presented by his class, as a token of their appreciation 
 of his talents and ability as a teacher, and his worth as a man, 
 with a valuable microscope, having a magnifying power of 1000 
 diameters. It bore the following inscription : — 
 
 PRESENTED 
 TO 
 
 N. S. Davis, M. D., 
 
 Prof, of Pathology and Practice of Medicine 
 
 in Rush Med. College, 
 
 BY THE CLASS OF 
 
 1852 AND '53. 
 
 During the last session of 1854-55, he was again made the 
 recipient of testimonials equally expressive of the high regard 
 and esteem in which he is held by those who listened to his in- 
 struction. 
 
 In the organization and prosperity of our State and Local Medi- 
 cal Society, he has uniformly taken a lively interest, attending 
 their regular meetings, and contributing much to the interest of 
 their transactions and their usefulness. 
 
 At the annual meetings of the National Association, of which 
 he is at present one of the vice-presidents, he has been a regular 
 attendant, with the single exception of the meeting at Baltimore. 
 A list of the reports he has made, and papers presented to that 
 body, together with others published from time to time, will be 
 found appended to this sketch.
 
 APPENDIX. 189 
 
 In concluding this brief outline of the past life of Dr. Davis, it 
 may in brief be said, that in the reform movements pertainino- to 
 medical education, and in whatever will contribute to the ad- 
 vancement of medical science, and the elevation of professional 
 character, there is concentrated his best energies, giving them his 
 most zealous, earnest, and efficient support. 
 
 A few words in reference to his mental, moral, and social quali- 
 ties, and his character and abilities as a physician and teacher 
 will finish this sketch. 
 
 The talents which nature has bestowed upon Dr. Davis are of 
 a high order. He possesses an inquisitive mind, clear, logical, and 
 comprehensive. Originality of thought and independence of 
 opinion are prominent qualities of his mind and character. The 
 sentiment embodied in the oft-quoted and well-known line — 
 
 "Nullius addictus furare in verba magistri," 
 
 is peculiarly applicable to him. In the discussion or investiga- 
 tion of any subject, his intellect is keen and searching. He has 
 an ardent temperament, with a predominance of the nervous, a 
 lively imagination, and a general fund of humor and pleasantry, 
 which renders him in conversation or discussion, lively, pleasing 
 and attractive. In debate he is usually calm, always ready and 
 self-possessed ; and not unfrequently, in the excitement or 
 warmth which the subject or place occasions, arises to sublimity 
 of thought and expression. His reasoning is cogent and terse, 
 stating his points with clearness, force and precision. In manner 
 he is impressive, always commanding attention, and oftentimes 
 admiration. 
 
 Dr. Davis is a member of the Protestant Methodist Church, 
 contributing by precept and example to the advancement of its 
 interests, and the dissemination of true piety. He is frank, open- 
 hearted and open-handed, ever ready to console the bereaved and 
 unfortunate, to encourage the despondent, and to assist with more 
 material aid the needy and destitute. Unlike many, his charity 
 is prompted by a higher, nobler motive than ostentation and 
 show. His labors and self-sacrifices in behalf of the unfortunate 
 sick and poor of this city are held in grateful remembrance by 
 the hundreds who have been the recipients of his kindness and aid. 
 
 As a physician, it is no unjust praise to say that he is uuiver-
 
 190 APPENDIX. 
 
 sally beloved and esteemed by those who come under his care, in- 
 spiring in them confidence and hope, and meeting them with an 
 encouraging smile, and a remark, oftentimes more effective for 
 good than the most potent anodyne. In his diagnosis of disease, 
 he is minute, careful, and searching, equalled only by the skill and 
 sound judgment which he exhibits in their treatment. In emer- 
 gencies requiring self-possession and prompt action, he is calm, 
 deliberate, and efficient, exhibiting a ready command of resources 
 which few under like circumstances possess. These attributes 
 have secured for him, in a remarkable degree, the confidence of 
 his professional brethren, and of the community in which he lives. 
 
 As a lecturer and teacher, he is a deep thinker, and a ready and 
 fluent speaker. A close and accurate student himself, his lectures 
 are delivered with clearness and distinctness, characterized by 
 originality of thought, rigid analysis, and close logical deductions. 
 He possesses the happy faculty of awakening in the minds of his 
 class a lasting and earnest interest, and rendering them enthu- 
 siastically in love with the principles and study of medicine. He 
 is emphatically the student's friend, ever ready to afford him 
 every facility in his power for self-improvement and the accom- 
 plishment of every laudable and noble impulse. In a word, in 
 all his relations, whether as a physician, teacher, or citizen, he en- 
 joys a reputation which "no praise can brighten, or condemnation 
 make dim." 
 
 The following is a list of the works written by Dr. Davis, not 
 including any of his numerous communications to medical peri- 
 odicals, viz: — 
 
 "An Essay on Diseases of the Spinal Column," to which was 
 awarded the prize of the New York State Medical Society, in 
 February, 1840, and which was published in the Transactions for 
 that year. 
 
 "An Essay on the Discoveries in the Physiology of the Nervous 
 System, from the time of Charles Bell to the present time." This 
 received the prize awarded by the New York State Society for 
 the year 18-il, and was also published in the Transactions. 
 
 "A Text-Book on Agriculture, designed for study in schools," 
 published by S. S. & W. Wood, 261 Pearl St., New York, 1848, 
 pp. 148.
 
 APPENDIX. 191 
 
 "History of Medical Education and Institutions in tbe United 
 States, from the first settlement of the British Provinces to the 
 year 1850; with a Chapter on the Present Condition and Wants 
 of the Profession, and the means necessary for supplying those 
 wants, &c. &c. : Chicago, S. C. Griggs & Co. publishers, 1851." 
 
 " Has the Cerebellum any Special Connection with the Sexual 
 Propensity or Function of Generation?" An experimental in- 
 vestigation concerning the relative development of the Cerebel- 
 lum in the Ox and Bull; read to the American Medical Associa- 
 tion in May, 1850, and published in the Transactions, vol. 3. 
 
 "An Experimental Inquiry concerning some points connected 
 with the Functions of Assimilation, Nutrition, and Animal Heat; 
 also Analysis of the Blood of the Kenal Vein and Artery, and that 
 of the Iliac Vein and Artery of the same animal ;" read to the 
 American Medical Association in May, 1851, and published in 
 the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal. 
 
 "Report from the Standing Committee on Medical Literature ;" 
 read to the American Medical Association in May, 1853, and 
 published in the Transactions, vol. 6. 
 
 "A Lecture on the Effects of Alcoholic Drinks on the Human 
 System, and the Duties of Medical Men in Relation thereto ; de- 
 livered in the lecture-room of Rush Medical College, Dec. 25th, 
 1854 ; with an appendix containing original experiments in rela- 
 tion to the effects of Alcohol on Respiration and Animal Heat." 
 J. F. Ballantyne, printer, Chicago, 1855, pp. 81.
 
 ( 
 
 I
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 BIOMtB OCT 27 '84 
 
 BIOMED Ua 
 
 OCT 26 1984 
 
 DEC 31 1984 
 
 OCT 04 1986 
 RECO
 
 j 
 
 31 158 00361 6215 
 
 1'-'