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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1349 



in pathology, but his struggles were not all 

 over. The serious question all along was the 

 economic one. Pathology was not a remunera- 

 tive profession at the time. The fees from 

 students taking the course were small, the oc- 

 casional windfall from a private autopsy was 

 precarious. There were, of course, the fees 

 for the examination of specimens for physi- 

 cians and surgeons and the possibility existed 

 then as now of turning this practise into con- 

 siderable income. But "Welch shrank from an 

 enterprise which would consume his time and 

 yield no corresponding scientific return. After 

 the abandonment of the " quiz " a way out was 

 found in that he became, first, assistant dem- 

 onstrator and later demonstrator of anatomy 

 at Bellerue, both paid positions; and then he 

 offered himself for practise. That his neigh- 

 bor and teacher, Alonzo Clark, sent him pa- 

 tients, we have seen; it remains, however, to 

 add that the now elderly gentleman formed the 

 habit of referring his surgical cases to Welch. 

 ' This was also the period of Welch's associa- 

 tion with the elder Flint, then at the zenith of 

 his prominent career as teacher and consultant. 

 He was professor of medicine and the leading 

 spirit at the Bellevue College, and a great 

 Bocial and professional figure in New York. 

 Flint was engaged at the time in bringing 

 out a new edition of his Practise of Medicine 

 and asked Welch to revise the sections on 

 pathology. Welch " jumped at the chance " 

 and was given a free hand, except for two or 

 three topics which were reserved for his son, 

 Austin Flint, Jr. Any one to-day reading 

 Flint's Practise of Medicine will recognize 

 the superior merit of the introductory chap- 

 ters on general pathology and the sections on 

 the pathology of the special diseases there 

 given, the whole amounting to a text -book on 

 pathology. 



It was Flint's habit to precede his lectures 

 on " practise " with a sketch of the pathology 

 of the subject to be presented. Pretty soon 

 these preliminary lectures were turned over to 

 Welch, who lost apparently no opportunity to 

 increase the prestige of pathology in the cur- 

 riculum. Thus he introduced the class au- 

 topsy, which he held once a week in a room 



filled with students. Notwithstanding these 

 clear indications of Welch's unmistakable bent 

 and trend, Flint assumed all along that Welch 

 would become a consultant and succeed him 

 in the professorship of medicine. Indeed, he 

 took steps by having the faculty elect Welch 

 to the clinical professorship of medicine to 

 make his succession certain. Welch on learn- 

 ing of this action brought about its revoca- 

 tion, first, because of the injustice which he 

 considered done to the then incumbent of the 

 clinical professorship, and next because of his 

 great interest in pathology. 



Looking backward it can be perceived that 

 these many shifts and activities were inci- 

 dental to the laboratory of pathology. First, 

 the " quiz " ; second, the demonstratorship in 

 anatomy; thirds practise — each in turn sup- 

 plied the necessary income in money to cover 

 living expenses. Each in turn was followed 

 with energy and success, and abandoned as 

 soon as the needed income was available from 

 a source less exacting of the precious time to 

 devote to autopsies and laboratory, or freer 

 from considerations violating fundamental be- 

 liefs in sound educational method. Pretty 

 soon his skill in performing autopsies and his 

 eagerness for pathological material brought to 

 Welch privileges from the Babies' Hospital 

 and also from the coroner, with whom Welch 

 stipulated that he was not to testify in court. 

 It is of passing interest to note that none of 

 these were paid positions, but that at this time 

 a small stipend came to Welch from the regis- 

 trarship of the Woman's Hospital, which posi- 

 tion he then held, and where he made the au- 

 topsies and studied the specimens, mainly 

 ovarian tumors, removed at operations. 



Half a dozen years had passed since his re- 

 turn from the European studies, and Welch 

 had intrenched himself deeply in the medical 

 life of New York. He was the outstanding 

 pathologist and representative of the new 

 pathology, and there came to him. to study or 

 to work, the alert and ardbitious among the 

 medical students and young practitioners of 

 the day. These years had contained not a little 

 that was pleasant, but much also that was dis- 

 couraging to one who possessed a deeper feel- 



