VINCENT Y. BOWDITCH, M.D. 333 



We have referred to the Sharon Sanatorium in Massachusetts as 

 the first to be established near a large center of population and 

 independent of any climatic advantages. (See p. 10.) This 

 unique institution owes its inception to Dr. Bowditch's enthu- 

 siasm and. devotion. It was opened in March, 1891, and has 

 demonstrated that more could be done for the tuberculous at low 

 altitude, near the sea, in an inclement climate, than had been 

 thought possible before. The object of the Sharon Sanatorium 

 was to supply a suitable institution for the treatment of incipient 

 pulmonary disease arising in women who are unable, for pecuniary 

 and other reasons, to seek distant health resorts. The institution 

 has now been in existence for almost thirty years, and its constant 

 growth and the splendid results obtained show the wisdom of the 

 enterprise. Dr. Bowditch's demonstration of the possibility of 

 treating the tuberculous of the state of Massachusetts in their 

 home climates, resulted in the establishment of the Rutland State 

 Sanatorium, the first institution of its kind. It is but natural 

 that Dr. Bowditch should be one of its visiting physicians, a posi- 

 tion which he held for many years. The universal esteem in 

 which Dr. Bowditch has been held by sanatorium workers re- 

 sulted in his election as the first president of the American Sana- 

 torium Association in 1905. When the Massachusetts Tuber- 

 culosis League was formed in 1914 he was also chosen president of 

 that organization. 



As the accompanying bibliography shows, Dr. Bowditch's pub- 

 lications on the subject of tuberculosis have been numerous and 

 his labors on behalf of the consumptive poor worthy of the dis- 

 tinguished name he bears. Because of the historic and classic 

 interest of the elder Bowditch's introduction of paracentesis into 

 the treatment of pleuritic effusions, we may note with special 

 interest the fact that one of the first papers Dr. Vincent Y. 

 Bowditch published was in regard to 96 cases of pleuritic effusion 

 occurring in the private practice of his father, covering a period 

 of thirty years, in which he followed up the cases and gave the 

 after-results as evidence of the possibility of active pulmonary 

 disease showing itself in later life after an attack of pleurisy. The 

 result showed a more favorable aspect than that which had been 

 given previously by Dr. Landouzy, of Paris. 



