April 9, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



567 



For the advancement of science in this sense we 

 require all three — ^the professor with academic 

 freedom, to illuminate with his genius any phe- 

 nomenon which he may be pleased to investigate, 

 the administrator, face to face with the practical 

 problems in which science can help, and the living 

 voice which can tune itself in harmony with the 

 advances of science and in sympathy with the 

 needs of the people whom it serves. 



You will find among the past contribu- 

 tors to papers and discussions on the sub- 

 jects mentioned, such names as, Kelvin, 

 Eiieker, Schuster, Lockyer, Eliot, Cortie, 

 Teisserene de Bort, Glazebrook, Chree, 

 Gill, Thomson, etc. 



I can not better illustrate the mutual 

 help that may spring from friendly con- 

 ference between the pure physicist and the 

 world-inoculated one than to quote you a 

 paragraph or two from a most admirable 

 presidential address delivered by Dr. S. 

 Weir Mitchell, at the second meeting of 

 the Congress of American Physicians and 

 Surgeons, held at Washington in 1891, 

 entitled, "The Early History of Instru- 

 mental Precision in Medicine. ' ' Referring 

 to this congress of the eminent of the land 

 in medicine and surgery, Dr. Mitchell says : 



It is uere, therefore, that the open-minded man 

 may feel the broadening influence of intellectual 

 contact with those who have other limitations 

 than his own; for, indeed, in our divergent atten- 

 tion to special studies we run some risk that, 

 contrary to St. Paul, the eye may say to the hand, 

 " I have no need of thee," or the head to the body, 

 " I have no need of thee," for as to us also, there 

 should be no schism in the body. . . . 



What the specialist learns, until it is common- 

 place, is not easily enough assimilated by the 

 mass of practitioners. At last, however, comes a 

 time when it is, and then that whole body of 

 medicine feels the gain in nutrition and repays 

 the debt. The masters of our still most perfect 

 art, medical optics, may wisely remember that it 

 was physicians who most distinctively recognized 

 and diffused the knowledge that headaches and 

 some other brain disorders are due to eye strain, 

 and thus, while lessening our own futile labors, 

 crowded the waiting room of the ophthalmolo- 

 gist. . . . 



As I have mentioned the need for continuous 



individual cultivation of our multifarious science 

 on a broad scale, and for personal consultation, 

 1 like to enlarge the plea and call a meeting like 

 ours a general consultation. And this, in fact, it 

 is; a focal point for condensed opinion, for au- 

 thoritative statements, for criticism from varied 

 standpoints and for significant indications as to 

 those accepted gains which ought to become, from 

 time to time, a part of the mental equipment of 

 all other special, and indeed of all general prac- 

 titioners. 



Change the words physician, surgeon, 

 medicine, to corresponding ones applicable 

 to this gathering, and what apter or truer 

 characterization of what our own aims and 

 purposes should be could be given than is 

 embodied in these words ! One is tempted 

 to wish that we might also, like the 

 "Deutscher Naturforscher und Arzte Ver- 

 sammlung" of Germany, gather with us in 

 annual conclave the physicians and sur- 

 geons as well. Picture to yourselves the 

 opportunities this would afford for enliv- 

 ening and quickening discussions in several 

 of our sections, and you will appreciate 

 what I am seeking to emphasize, especially 

 here, with regard to open, general meet- 

 ings between the generalist and the 

 "broadened" specialist. I say "broad- 

 ened specialist" advisedly, for I believe 

 upon critical examination it will fre- 

 quently appear that the very pursuit of a 

 speciality has a widening influence not ade- 

 quately appreciated by one whose sphere 

 of activity is restricted solely within the 

 bounds of his own general science. For 

 there is no more patent and suggestive fact 

 of present-day research than that the most 

 notable and the most rapid achievements 

 are not in the older, well-recognized 

 sciences, but in their bordeiiands or "twi- 

 light zones." Thus the true research 

 AYorker soon finds it necessary to make ex- 

 cursions into regions beyond what he had 

 been regarding as his own particular zone. 

 He makes new acquaintances, learns new 

 customs and laws and gradually begins to 



