498 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



that, for those who knew him, recalls vividly to memory the picture 

 of the man and his personality. His publications were numerous and 

 varied, for the most part dealing with clinical medicine. A bibliog- 

 raphy published in 1919 shows 730 titles. His practice of medicine 

 has remained, since the first edition in 1892, the most popular textbook 

 for English speaking students as well as having been translated into 

 French, Spanish and Chinese. A new edition has been issued at three 

 year intervals and through this book Osier exerted a tremendous in- 

 fluence on the practice of medicine for in it Osier's personality domi- 

 nates in a truly remarkable way when one considers the difficulty of 

 introducing any personal note inherent in a textbook necessarily con- 

 densed when covering such a voluminous topic as the practice of 

 medicine. 



Through all the years of his activities as investigator, teacher, 

 medical writer and hospital chief, Osier remained an active consultant, 

 aiding fellow physicians in the solution of difficult problems in diagno- 

 sis. His own optimism radiated courage to the patients and his 

 delightful personality and charm endeared him to innumerable physi- 

 cians who brought him patients. He was most intolerant of unkind 

 criticism of others and would never allow patients or physicians to 

 bring to his ears unsavory gossip of fellow practitioners. He believed 

 in and practiced direct honesty in dealing with patients and physi- 

 cians, but a different opinion or advice from him never carried with it 

 the sting of a rebuke nor the implication than an unjustifiable error 

 had been made by another. 



Osier was distinctly more a scholar than almost any of his medical 

 contemporaries. He had a deep interest in the classics. That he, a 

 physician, should be president of the British Classical Association, as 

 he was in 1919, was a recognition by scholars of his classical learning. 

 His interest in medical history has already been referred to. In this 

 connection he was, all of his life, an ardent bibliophile and his library 

 of early editions of medical classics and allied topics was a veritable 

 treasure house. To many his name recalls the picture of a delightful 

 eagerness and radiant charm of manner as, standing in his library 

 either earlier in Baltimore or later in Oxford, with one of his choice 

 volumes in hand, he turns the pages and talks of the author or his 

 writings. This is the mental picture rather than that of physician, 

 for, however much his life's work was that of inspiring medical men, he 



