444 First European Journey 



truth of my opinions, with larger cHnical experience. I am surprised that 

 men who profess to monopolize the " scientific " shrine in Modern Medicine 

 should be so unscientific as to " stand pat " upon Cohnheim's theory of the 

 origin of cancer, a theory without any basis in clinical facts, and frown 

 upon any attempt to learn more about the possibilities of a parasitic origin. 

 The lack of agreement among pathologists as to the classification of tumors 

 and the hopeless confusion that now exists in classification has already 

 forced the clinician to lay less and less stress upon the pathological diag- 

 nosis and more and more upon the clinical. I believe you have inaugurated 

 a new era in Cancer Research. ... I shall do all in my power to help 

 along researches in the lines you have so splendidly started. 



Not only were the older great physicians, surgeons, and teachers 

 of Baltimore medical circles following Smith's work with interest, 

 but younger doctors were also being attracted to his new offerings 

 of scientific knowledge. Dr. Thomas Stephen Cullen, Baltimore 

 surgeon and professor of clinical gynecology at Johns Hopkins, 

 had attended the Buffalo meeting of the American Association for 

 Cancer Research and been so enthused by the disclosures made 

 by Smith in his address that immediately following the meeting 

 he had telegraphed Secretary of Agriculture Wilson and con- 

 gratulated the Department of Agriculture on having so able a 

 man. Receiving a copy of bulletin 213, " Crown-Gall of Plants: 

 Its Cause and Remedy," he again wrote to the Secretary on October 

 29, 1911, 



I have been greatly interested in a recent monograph appearing from 

 your Department, namely, " Crown Gall " by Dr. Erwin F. Smith. The 

 results in this work are truly remarkable. Recently I have had the oppor- 

 tunity of seeing many of the photomicrographs showing the finer structures 

 of these tumors. This work is of such a high scientific value and the photo- 

 graphs he has made so clear and convincing that I take the liberty of asking 

 you to urge him strongly to publish his results most fully and with plenty 

 of his photographs reproduced in the best possible manner. It will not 

 only reflect great credit on the department of agriculture but add materially 

 to the prestige of American Scientific work. I have been particularly 

 interested in the subject of cancer since taking charge of Gynecological 

 Pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital eighteen years ago and conse- 

 quently feel sure you will make no mistake in urging him in doing this. 

 It will redound greatly to the credit of your department. 



Dr. Cullen had received part of his education at the Collegiate 

 Institute, Toronto, Canada, and in 1890 his M. B. degree from the 

 University there. First he had specialized in abdominal surgery 



