598 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL\T[I. No. 1225 



American Medical Association, and more 

 than 45,000 are Fellows. The American 

 Medical Association is organized along the 

 most democratic and representative lines. 

 No profession in this or in any other conn- 

 try is more thoroughly and efficiently or- 

 ganized than the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation. The unit of the organization is 

 the county medical society. It is the 

 avowed purpose of the county society to 

 receive into its membership all reputable 

 practitioners who are legally qualified to 

 practise medicine. The county medical so- 

 ciety is a democratic organization. It is 

 not, nor is it intended to be, a select and ex- 

 clusive medical society. Its functions are 

 educational and social. It exists for the 

 purpose of using the united efforts of the 

 physiciajis of that county for the benefit of 

 the people and for the education of its 

 members. Any county society that is not 

 democratic and representative is not ful- 

 filling its proper function. By virtue of 

 membership in the county society the phy- 

 sician becomes a member of his state med- 

 ical society and of the national society — the 

 American Medical Association. 



During the first half century of its exist- 

 ence, the American Medical Association 

 was a rather loosely organized body. It was 

 founded for the special purpose of ele- 

 vating the standards of medical education 

 and practise. Its ideals were high, and it 

 accomplished a great deal of good. Not, 

 however, until its reorganization in 1901 on 

 broad democratic and representative lines, 

 did it become in fact the organized medical 

 profession of the country. The American 

 Medical Association is not sectarian, but is 

 broad enough to include in its membership 

 all licensed physicians who honorably prac- 

 tise scientific medicine. 



ACTIVITIES OF THE ASSOCIATION 



Since its reorganization, the American 



Medical Association has had a record of 

 splendid achievement. It has succeeded in 

 elevating the standards of medical educa- 

 tion in this country, which has been un- 

 even and unsatisfactory, to a position where 

 they are as high as those in any other coun- 

 try. It has improved the character of med- 

 ical instruction until we can now state with- 

 out fear of contradiction that the medical 

 student can obtain as thorough and com- 

 plete an education here in America as any- 

 where in the world. 



Moreover, the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation has accomplished much through its 

 council on medical education in coopera- 

 tion with The Journal. Through these de- 

 partments it has been of great service in 

 creating a register of licensed practitioners. 

 A register of medical students is now kept 

 so that the association possesses a full rec- 

 ord of the medical career of each licensed 

 practitioner and medical student. 



The American Medical Association and 

 its constituent state medical associations 

 have succeeded in securing improvements 

 in the medical practise arts of most of our 

 states protecting the people against ignor- 

 ant and inefficient practitioners and secur- 

 ing better public health service. 



The American Medical Association has 

 through its Council on Pharmacy and 

 Chemistry done outstanding, pioneer work 

 against the unscientific and unnecessary use 

 of drugs and against the prescribing of se- 

 cret formulas and "quack" medicines. It 

 has done more than any other medical or- 

 ganization to place drug therapy on a 

 sound and scientific basis. 



The Journal of the American Medical 

 Association has become the largest and most 

 influential medical periodical in the world. 

 It has a circulation of more than 65,000 

 copies, and in the best sense it is the instru- 

 ment that keeps the profession in touch 

 with the affairs of the association, with sci- 



