594 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tical laboratory and hospital work, and upon the diplomas of only 

 first-class colleges, which latter should be raised to a uniform high 

 standard of merit. Applicants for licenses should be examined, not as 

 to what theories they hold, to what " pathy " they conform, or what 

 text-books and lectures they have crammed, but as to what evidence 

 they can give of personal examination of the human body and per- 

 sonal observation of its ailments and witness of the influence of reme- 

 dies.* Laymen can render great assistance in these matters (and the 

 gain is ultimately their own) by furthering appropriate legislation, 

 frowning upon quackery and cheap diplomas, as well as by co-oper- 

 ating with the medical colleges in offering freely the use for clinical 

 instruction of all the hospitals and dispensaries which the public sup- 

 port and control. Most valuable opportunities for clinical observation 

 are at present needlessly wasted through lack of this system. To-day 

 the value of income-bearing funds of the eighty-seven medical col- 

 leges does not exceed $350,000, which yield an annual income of only 

 about $20,000. It is instructive to contrast with this statement the 

 fact that the one hundred and forty-five theological schools and col- 

 leges of the United States have a productive property of $9,500,000, 

 and an annual income therefrom of nearly $600,000 ! 



Of our eighty-seven medical schools, forty-two are associated with 

 general colleges or " universities," but the connection is usually merely 

 nominal, and no means of support are derived from the parent college. 

 The precarious footing upon which many of these institutions stand 

 is to be inferred from the fact that no fewer than fifty-one other medi- 

 cal colleges founded in the United States within a century have col- 

 lapsed and vanished. f 



It is a grave misfortune to have so many medical colleges as now 

 exist, for it is a farce to attempt to educate medical students away 

 from the hospitals and dispensaries which only the largest cities fur- 

 nish in abundance. The tendency to-day in all branches of education 

 from the Frobel Kindergarten system to the study of engineering 

 is more and more toward placing practical work and personal obser- 

 vation before tradition and theoretical instruction. Surely medical 

 education must not be left behind in facilities. 



There are many encouraging signs of speedy improvement in this 

 matter. There is a growing dissatisfaction with the old system. The 

 percentage of medical students who are graduates in letters or science 

 is constantly increasing. At present they number nine per cent, and 

 they have frequently had the advantage of a year or two of biological, 

 physiological, and chemical practice before entering the professional 

 school. The number of such students at the Medical College of the 

 University of Pennsylvania has doubled in the past six years. The 



* The State Board of Health of Illinois is a praiseworthy pioneer in this field, 

 t "Conspectus of the Medical Colleges of America," 1884, 1885. Illinois State 

 Board of Health. 



