July 28, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. , 



101 



N. S. Davis, Alfred Stille, Lewis A. Sayre 

 and many others which adorn the annals 

 of American medicine. It has from the 

 beginning been a great power with the pro- 

 fession of America. Its greatest influence, 

 as I have already indicated, was in the 

 growth and diffusion of scientific knowl- 

 edge through the splendid w^ork of the sec- 

 tions. In elevating medical education, in 

 promoting legislation and advancing the 

 powers of public health organizations, its 

 influence was most felt in the development 

 of a helpful public professional opinion. 

 The extension of the influence and advan- 

 tages of organization to the masses of the 

 profession Avas gradually lost sight of in 

 the annual meetings, and the work relating 

 to matters of public policy was spasmod- 

 ically considered and imperfectly executed. 

 "Whatever w^as accomplished along these 

 lines worthy of mention was the w^ork of 

 committees. The necessity of reorganiza- 

 tion was appreciated by the leading mem- 

 bers of the association long before it was 

 accomplished. In 1888, Dr. N. S. Davis, 

 as chairman of a committee appointed for 

 the purpose, reported a scheme of reorgan- 

 ization very similar to that adopted in 1901 

 at St. Paul. 



ORGANIZATION. 

 The object of this association shall be to feder- 

 ate into one compact organization the medical 

 profession of the United States, for the purpose 

 of fostering the growth and diffusion of medical 

 knowledge, of promoting friendly intercourse 

 among American physicians, of safeguarding the 

 material interests of the medical profession, of 

 elevating the standard of medical education, of 

 securing the enactment and enforcement of medi- 

 cal laws, of enlightening and directing public 

 opinion in regard to the broad problems of state 

 medicine, and of representing to the Avorld the 

 practical accomplishments of scientific medicine. 

 (Article II., constitution of the American Medical 

 Association. ) 



If every physician worked alone, relied 

 on his own unaided observation for his 



knowledge, never looking outside his OAvn 

 scope of view, ignorance would prevail and 

 there would be no progress in medical sci- 

 ence. Medicine is not an exact science, and 

 until perfected by extorting from nature 

 all her secrets, it must from the nature of 

 things continue to be a progressive science. 

 Never before in the history of medicine 

 has such marked progress in all its depart- 

 ments been made as during the present age. 

 Theories have been supplanted by facts; 

 laboratory research and clinical investiga- 

 tion have taken the place of tradition and 

 authoritative opinion. To rely on the ac- 

 complishments of the college period is to 

 be left behind in hopeless incompetency. 

 The advance of medical knowledge is to be 

 observed first in our medical societies, and 

 afterward in our scientific medical jour- 

 nals. In the medical societies innovations 

 are subjected to criticism and discussion by 

 those competent to judge the merits of sci- 

 entific contributions. Moreover, there is a 

 stimulus to study and investigation from 

 association with workers in the same field; 

 and one obtains a broader view of every 

 subject so considered. The physician, more 

 than any other professional man, is isolated 

 by the conditions of his life, and to no pro- 

 fession is the educating influence of society 

 work so essential and invaluable. This 

 same condition of isolation is at the founda- 

 tion, for the most part, of the jealousies 

 and petty bickerings so prevalent in our 

 profession. These troubles are, as a rule, 

 the result of misunderstandings, and are 

 both prevented and corrected by coming to- 

 gether in a society composed of physicians. 

 The lonely worker in any calling is prone 

 to become narrow, suspicious and morbid. 

 Our' medical societies are the great post- 

 graduate schools of the profession, where 

 knowledge is increased and individual char» 

 acter developed. 



But the promotion of scientific investiga- 



