Makch 15, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



261 



work. lu fact, perhaps the most lasting 

 effect which he made upon the minds of his 

 followers was the value of scientific stand- 

 ards and the meaning of ideals in research. 

 He never gave first-hand praise; the only 

 encouragement which a student received 

 was a genuine interest in his work shown 

 in such a way that the student came to find 

 enjoyment where Dr. Mall found his — in 

 the work itself. Many of his informal talks 

 in the laboratory were on general topics or 

 on principles rather than the specific de- 

 velopment of research, and so general, so 

 whimsical were these discussions that their 

 meaning was lost entirely upon more than 

 one student. 



In directing departments there are cer- 

 tain leaders who train the students only 

 in their own problems, giving little scope 

 for independent work. Dr. Mall on the con- 

 trary was keen to give opportunities to those 

 who could develop an independent line of 

 research. Thus, for example, in his labora- 

 tory he developed the method of tissue-cul- 

 ture. Again, though his own work did not 

 lead him into the newer fields of cytology, 

 he saw to it that this work was represented. 

 An even more striking example is that he 

 was the first to see that the methods of 

 anthropology might be applied with great 

 value to the study of embryology ; hence he 

 brought into the department of embryology 

 professional anthropologists thereby widen- 

 ing the scope of the science of embryology. 



Closely bound up with his own scientific 

 achievements is the part he played in the 

 development of scientific publications in 

 this countrj'. According to his own ac- 

 count when he started out he hoped that 

 the excellent Journal of Morphology would 

 care for all the more complete publications 

 of the laboratory, but it became hampered 

 financially and finally suspended publica- 

 tion in 1903. During a term of years, those 

 in the laboratory well remember that he 



constantly discussed the feasibility of es- 

 tablishing a new journal. At a meeting of 

 the Anatomists held in Baltimore in 1900, 

 a committee was formed to launch the 

 American Journal of Anatomy and its first 

 number appeared the following November. 

 In 1906 followed the Anatomical Record, 

 both published first in Baltimore. In 1908, 

 when the Journal of Morphology was re- 

 vived by the Wistar Institute of Anatomy, 

 it was with Dr. Mall 's work on monsters as 

 its first number. More striking still as an 

 example of Dr. Mall's ideas of ■ developing 

 scientific publications in this country, are 

 the new Contributions to Embryology, pub- 

 lished by the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington. His originality, far-seeing vision 

 and courage for undertaking new enter- 

 prises could not be better illustrated than 

 in connection with these journals. 



In his introduction to the article on His, 

 Dr. Mall wrote these words : 



The ancient science of anatomy has been per- 

 petuated during many centuries by great men ivho 

 have dedicated their lives to it. The list is a long 

 one, for the development of science has been slow 

 and progressive from the earliest ages up to the 

 present time; we find in it, on the one hand, some 

 of the names of the greatest who ever lived — 

 Aristotle, Vesalius — on the other, the names of 

 those who rank as leaders of a generation, Bichat, 

 His. 



With Bichat and His belongs the name of 

 Mall. His name will be associated with the 

 strongly physiological bent of modern 

 anatomy, with the laying of a broad founda- 

 tion of organogenesis in embryologj-, and 

 with the vision of a broadening of the scope 

 of embryologj' so as to bring it into rela- 

 tion with the problems of clinical medicine 

 and social welfare. In America, his place 

 ^s unique ; it goes without saying that he 

 was our greatest anatomist. More than any 

 other man in American medicine, he had 

 led his generation into the way of research. 



Florence R. Sabin 



