598 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1139 



have lost individual and collective power in 

 their attempts at the solution of the prob- 

 lems of society. This has, at the same time, 

 been to their economic disadvantage. 



Medicine is founded on the highest 

 ideals which inspire human action. Its 

 traditions are of the noblest. The relation 

 of the patient to his physician is sacred. 

 Nearly every individual looks upon some 

 member of the profession as almost divine. 

 Yet the public, which is composed of just 

 such individuals, has been suspicious of the 

 profession which has in it many hundreds 

 of just such physicians. We realize that 

 in order to cure, as well as to prevent dis- 

 ease, it is necessary to deal with humanity 

 one at a time. Yet to-day we are facing, as 

 never before, the problem of harmonizing 

 the individual's obligations and rights with 

 collective needs and mass efficiency. 



The greatest asset of the individual, as 

 of the mass, is physical efficiency. Yet we 

 can not solve our present problems in terms 

 of the medicine of the past. The physi- 

 cian's problem, as it involves himself and 

 others, is not medical alone, or economic 

 alone, but social. We physicians have to re- 

 turn to the ideal of our fathers in medi- 

 cine, which is that of service. We must go 

 on in our search for new means of prevent- 

 ing and curing disease. We must employ 

 these means for the benefit of humanity. 

 In our interest in the details of this work, 

 we must not lose sight of the increased 

 complexities of those whom we seek to 

 serve. We must either adapt ourselves and 

 our profession to the ever-increasing needs 

 of humanity, or expect that they will be 

 adapted for us by others, who are less sym- 

 pathetic with our traditions and aims. We 

 must not stand aloof. We must develop 

 leadership within the profession, which 

 is only possible to those who understand 

 the spiritual, intellectual, social and eco- 

 nomic needs and problems of those whom 



they may seek to serve as well as they do 

 their physical ills. 



The day for American leadership has 

 dawned. If she realizes it she may go 

 further than any other country has yet 

 been able to go, and one of her greatest op- 

 portunities is in the orientation of medicine 

 with other social forces. 



To her is proffered the honor of gaining 

 universal recognition of medicine as the 

 highest calling whose motto is "I serve." 

 Will she accept it? Has her medical pro- 

 fession the needed vision and strength? 

 Will her people receive such leadership 

 kindly ? 



The agony which the world is enduring 

 will have been suffered in vain if we can 

 not learn how to develop the best that is in 

 each of us for the advantage of all. Is not 

 the world at war to determine whether the 

 greatest right of every man is that of serv- 

 ing others, or of being served ? We are now 

 adjusting our perspective of obligation on 

 the background of individual right. 



F. F. Wesbeook 

 University of British Columbia 



DEDICATION OF THE NEW MUSEUM 



BUILDING OF THE CALIFORNIA 



ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The dedication of the new museum build- 

 ing of the California Academy of Sciences 

 and the formal opening of the museum to the 

 public occurred on Friday afternoon, Septem- 

 ber 22. The dedicatory exercises were held in 

 the California Mammal room, a hall 180 feet 

 long by 60 feet wide. 



Mr. C. E. Grunsky, the president of the 

 academy, presided. The invocation was by 

 the Eight Reverend William Ford Nichols, 

 bishop of California. Brief addresses were 

 made by the following: Mr. William H. 

 Crocker, president of the board of trustees; 

 Mr. C. E. Grunsky, president of the academy; 

 Mr. Edward Eainey, for the mayor; Mr. George 

 Haviland Barron, curator of the Memorial 



