Makch 18, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



249 



upon the developments in bacfteriology, physi- 

 ology, histology and chemistry. A history of 

 any one of these necessarily describes diag- 

 nostic progress. 



In therapeutics the most noteworthy ad- 

 vance was the gradual transition from the old- 

 time so-called gunshot prescription to the 

 simple single drug prescription devoted to the 

 specific need for which it is to he used. Some 

 pf the more beneficial additions to modern 

 therapeutics are chloral as a hypnotic and the 

 salicylates for the relief of so-called rheumatic 

 affections. 



, The discovery of the hemostatic effects of 

 certain drugs by means of which hemorrhage 

 beyond the reach of the hemostatic instru- 

 ments may be controlled has been a great boon 

 to the physician and to the surgeon. 

 I In the eighties the antipyretic drugs were 

 given to the profession and were soon eagerly 

 appropriated by the laity for the relief of 

 vague an-d distressing pains in one part of the 

 body or another. 



I A very important contribution to thera- 

 peutics was the introduetion of von Behring's 

 anti-diphtheritic serum in 1893. Another was 

 the introduGtion of anti-typhoid inoculation. 

 , The modern synthetic sleep-producing drugs, 

 iof which trional and sulphonal are examples, 

 were introduced in 1893. Novocain, which is 

 widely used, was discovered by Einhorn in 

 1905. No more important remedial agent has 

 been given to the medical profession than 

 JEhrlich's salvarsan in 1909, which has done 

 much to rob syphilis of its terrors both to the 

 community and to the individual. 

 , The multiplicity of pharmaceutical and bio- 

 logical products is bewildering and a large 

 percentage of them are useless and serve 

 merely to enrich the manufacturers and to 

 deceive for a time the credulous public. 



The most spectacular of all the discoveries 

 in modern medicine is that of the X-ray, 

 which Eoentgen announced in 1895. Not 

 only has it proven a useful therapeutic 

 agent but it holds a commanding jxisition 

 among diagnostic methods. Another thera- 

 peutic agent which aroused a great deal of 

 attention was the introduction of radium for 



the treatment of cancer and indolent ulcer, 

 the exact value of which has not, as yet, been 

 definitely determined. The trend of to-day in 

 therapeutics is to limit the amount and 

 number of drugs used, and to employ hygienic 

 and dietetic measures in the treatment of dis- 

 ease, and to reach out after prophylactic 

 methods. 



In passing from a consideration of thera- 

 peutics I may be pardoned for calling atten- 

 tion to the fact that the medical profession 

 differs from all others in being the only one 

 which, in its practise, is self-destructive, by 

 teaching the public laws of social hygiene 

 and of preventive measures. 



A necessary development in the scientific 

 care of the sick was the advent of the trained 

 nurse, who came to be recognized as a nec- 

 essity in the latter part of the nineteenth 

 century. Nursing as a profession was sug- 

 gested by Dr. Samuel Gross about fifty years 

 ago, and shortly thereafter, on August 1, 

 1875, the first training school for nurses was 

 formally opened at Bellevue Hospital, N. T. 

 Soon, other training schools were established, 

 until at the present time training schools for 

 nurses are to be found in great numbers 

 throughout the civilized world. 



It would be difficult to conceive the possi- 

 bility of carrying out the modem methods of 

 caring for the sick without the invaluable aid 

 of that great body of earnest and intelligent 

 women who go to make up the nursing pro- 

 fession. One has only to mention the Eed 

 Cross to realize the deep root the nursing pro- 

 fession has taken in the social fabric of the 

 world. 



Of necessity the scheme of medical educa- 

 tion and the development of medical libraries 

 have grown with the needs arising out of the 

 progress of the profession during the past half 

 century. 



Having considered briefly a few of the more 

 important epoch-making discoveries which 

 have marked the progress of the medical 

 profession during the past half century, may 

 we not draw therefrom encouragement to 

 look at the future, rich in the promise of 

 developments which will progressively lessen 



