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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 773 



cultural than other university subjects. Is 

 there any real reason why an advanced 

 student in zoology should be awarded a 

 higher degree, such as that of doctor of 

 philosophy, for special sustained work in 

 that subject, while this degree is withheld 

 from the advanced student in pathology or 

 anatomy or any other medical subject? 

 You all know the opposition offered by the 

 departments of literature, language, philos- 

 ophy, etc., in the past to the recognition of 

 the sciences as university subjects and 

 parts of the curricula of candidates for the 

 bachelor of arts degree. Gradually, how- 

 ever, this opposition gave way and the sci- 

 ences were received by the academic coun- 

 cils on the same footing as the older hu- 

 manities. Some such process is now going 

 on in medical subjects. I believe the day 

 will soon come when higher degrees will be 

 awarded for medical studies, just as for 

 other university subjects. Perhaps some 

 of the faculty present may resist this move. 

 I trust not, but if they do, I feel sure that 

 eventually they will be on the losing side. 

 Harvard, I am glad to say, has already 

 recognized this claim of medicine and there 

 is, in the organization of the faculty of arts 

 and sciences of Harvard University, a divi- 

 sion of medical sciences similar in organiza- 

 tion to the division of ancient languages, 

 or other divisions of that faculty, granting 

 higher degrees— master of arts, master of 

 science, doctor of science and doctor of 

 philosophy— as in other divisions of the 

 university faculty of arts and sciences. 

 This division of medical sciences is com- 

 posed at present of members of the depart- 

 ments of chemistry, physics and zoology, 

 of the faculty of arts and sciences and 

 of members of the departments of anat- 

 omy, comparative anatomy, physiology, 

 comparative physiology, pathology, com- 

 parative pathology, bacteriology and bio- 

 logical chemistry, of the faculty of medi- 

 cine and there are candidates for higher 



degrees working in several departments of 

 the Harvard Medical School. 



The next logical development in medi- 

 cine as a university subject will be the 

 acceptance of some of the clinical branches 

 as proper training for higher degrees. I 

 realize that this idea will be repugnant to 

 many in academic circles who regard medi- 

 cine and surgery as purely technical pro- 

 fessions. A comparatively few years back 

 and such was the case. Examination of a 

 modern department of medicine as an ex- 

 ample, however, serves to show that there 

 have been great changes in the past twenty 

 years and that now there is much similarity 

 in the methods and ideals of a department 

 of medicine to the methods and ideals of 

 the various university departments. The 

 department of medicine of a present-day 

 university medical school has a laboratory 

 equipped with apparatus for chemical, 

 pathological and physiological investiga- 

 tion and men capable of utilizing this 

 equipment in investigation. By the ex- 

 perimental method diseases are produced 

 and abnormal functions studied. The hos- 

 pital, with its patients, is another great 

 laboratory into which natural disease comes 

 for investigation and the attitude of the 

 department of medicine toward the hos- 

 pital is not essentially different from that 

 toward the laboratory. The student and 

 investigator in both seek to add to the 

 knowledge of disease facts that may even- 

 tually be applied to the alleviation and 

 prevention of the sufferings of humanity. 

 In the hospital are individuals seeking cure 

 from disease and the physician brings to 

 their aid all that medical science can offer. 

 In the diagnosis of their disease the meth- 

 ods and resources of the laboratory are 

 utilized. The treatment applied often has 

 been evolved as the result of animal ex- 

 perimentation. The result of the treat- 

 ment on the particular individual is part 

 of a great experiment built up of innu- 



