198 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



CORYDON L. FORD, M. D., LL. D. 



Dr. Ford was born of good Puritan stock in Greene county. New York, 

 August 29, 1818. His father was a farmer, but infantile paralysis of one 

 of his lower limbs rendered the youth unfit for the severe manual labor 

 of the agricultural pioneer, and gave him more time for study. At the 

 early age of seventeen he began his life-work of giving instruction to 

 others. As a schoolmaster, he very soon developed that clearness and 

 terseness of statement, enthusiasm in his work, and close sympathy with 

 his students, which afterwards made his lectures veritable revelations 

 to the many who attended them in search for knowledge. A good foun- 

 dation for professional studies was laid at the Canandaigua Academy, 

 and in 1842 the degree of Doctor of Medicine was earned at the Geneva 

 Medical College. Dr. James Webster, then professor of Anatomy at 

 Geneva, was noted for his skill in dissecting, his success in demonstrat- 

 ing, and his fluency in lecturing. Of this able teacher young Ford be- 

 came, during his course of study, the favorite pupil; and on the day of 

 his graduation he was appointed demonstrator of Anatomy. In 1846, 

 Flint, Hamilton, White, Webster and Ford, all names now memorable 

 in the history of medical education in this country, established the Medi- 

 cal College at Buffalo. In 1854 Dr. Ford was called to the professor- 

 ship of Anatomy in the University of Michigan, and here he labored con- 

 tinuously for forty years. From 1854 to 1886, he gave a second course 

 of lectures, and sometimes a third, in other schools during the spring 

 or summer months: At Castleton, Vermont, until 1861; in the Berkshire 

 Medical College, at Pittsfield, ^Massachusetts, from 1860 to 1867; in 

 Bowdoin College, from 1864 to 1870; and in Long Island College Hospital, 

 Brooklyn, from 18()8 to 1886. By thus giving two or more courses in 

 different schools in the same year. Dr. Ford finished his one hundred 

 and ninth course of lectures in Anatomy the day before he was stricken 

 by death. 



Probably no other professor, certainly no other professor in a medi- 

 cal school in this country, has given instruction to so many students, 

 and it can also be said that no other teacher has won more of the respect, 

 confidence, and love of his pupils. Thousands have sat at his feet, liave 

 seen him make tln^ dry bones objects of interest, convert the shriveled 

 muscles into volumes of information, and cause the dead to teach the 

 living how to heal the sick. 



Dr. Ford gave all his time and energy to teaching, and as a conse- 

 quence contributcMl but little to the literature of his chosen science. 

 However, he made extensive notes, and it is likely that among these 

 there may be found records of valuable scientific facts. As a great oral 

 teacher, a class not numerous in these days Avhen hand-books, text-books 

 and compends are ]»roduced so abundantly, he will be remembered and 

 revered by his students. In recognition of the great service he rendered 

 in building up the Medical Department of Michigan Cniversity, Dr. 

 Ford was honored with the degiee of LL. D, in 1881. It is not generally 



