112 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



in St. Louis with his faithful friend, Hecker, on October 

 28, 1848. Dr. Hammer soon became convinced of the 

 need of reform in American medical education, and, in 

 1855, obtained from the Legislature of Missouri a char- 

 ter for an institution to carry out his ideas. The St. 

 Louis College of Medical and Natural Sciences was 

 founded for the specific purpose of placing American 

 medical education upon a plane similar to that of the 

 best foreign universities. It was the first medical school 

 in the United States to require high preliminary qualifi- 

 cations for matriculation, a graded course of instruction, 

 and four courses of lectures. In those days the time al- 

 lotted to the study of medicine was two courses of four 

 months each, the same lectures being given in the sec- 

 ond course that had been delivered in the first. All 

 branches of medical science were taught in four months, 

 the student getting the alpha and omega of the science 

 in one term. Dr. Hammer insisted on four courses of 

 lectures in a graded course of instruction. This insti- 

 tution was compelled to close its doors in 1856. 



In the fall of 1859 Dr. Hammer opened the " Humboldt 

 Institut, oder Deutsche Naturwissenschaftlich-Medicin- 

 ische Schule in St. Louis." This college was unique in 

 the annals of American medicine in that instruction was 

 given in the German language. During the early part of 

 the Civil War the college was closed, but was reopened 

 later on and lectures were given until 1866, when the 

 name was changed to the Humboldt Medical College, 

 which ceased to exist in 1869 because of a split in the fac- 

 ulty. 



At the inauguration of the Henry Shaw School of 

 Botany of Washington University in 1885, Chancellor 

 Eliot in the course of his address said : 



Outten, W. B. Dr. Adam Hammer. Glimpses of early St. Louis 

 medical history. Med. Fortnightly 33-34. 171-173. 1908. 



Ball, J. M. Dr. Adam Hammer, surgeon, and apostle of higher medi- 

 cal education. Jour. Mo. State Med. Assoc. 6: 3. 1909. 



