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 
