December 3, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



777 



in that science as to be able to keep abreast 

 with its progress after his student days. It 

 is a fatal error to present the fundamental 

 medical sciences with too exclusive refer- 

 ence to their practical application to medi- 

 cine and surgery, although the occasional 

 illustration of the bearing of anatomy, 

 physiology, pathology, etc., on their prac- 

 tical application to clinical medicine is of 

 distinct advantage. "With these principles 

 in mind the position of pathology in the 

 medical curriculum is not difficult to deter- 

 mine. There is a rather striking uniformity 

 in the place assigned to bacteriology and 

 pathology in the courses of study in the 

 several colleges. In the majority of col- 

 leges bacteriology is offered in the first 

 semester of the second year, followed by 

 general pathology in the second semester, 

 and by special pathology, with autopsies, 

 in the third year. In a few institutions 

 bacteriology is given in the first year, and 

 in two instances pathology proper is begun 

 at this time. In a number of colleges ad- 

 vanced pathology with autopsies, and spe- 

 cial topics such as surgical, gynecologic, 

 neurologic and dermatologic pathology are 

 continued into the senior year. 



Bacteriology, it seems to me, might, with 

 advantage, be divided into two parts, gen- 

 eral bacteriology, with laboratory technique, 

 being given in the first year, or better still, 

 required for admission, to be followed by a 

 briefer course in the pathogenic bacteria, 

 and in infection and immunity, in the 

 second year — preferably the first semester. 

 The fundamental course is an excellent one 

 for the beginning student, no work in the 

 other sciences being prerequisite for the in- 

 telligent study of the subject, and the labo- 

 ratory technique affording a good training 

 for the laboratory exercises in the other 

 branches. It seems impracticable to crowd 

 such a course into the two years o.f premed- 

 ical work at present demanded by most 



schools, but it is probable that this mini- 

 mum amount can, before long, be extended 

 to three years, and thus provide time for 

 bacteriology. 



The position of general pathology in most 

 curricula is as it should be. It secures to 

 the student the necessary preparation in 

 anatomy, gross and microscopic, embryol- 

 ogy, physiology, biologic chemistry and bac- 

 teriology, and, on the other hand, links 

 these subjects closely to the clinical 

 branches. I would urge, however, the im- 

 portance of placing pathologic anatomy 

 with autopsies later than is now done in 

 many schools. The student should have ac- 

 quired some considerable first-hand knowl- 

 edge of the phenomena of disease in the 

 living patient before he studies the final 

 outcome of serious disease as disclosed at 

 the autopsy, and as often as possible he 

 should follow the individual patient, dying 

 from some affection, which he has observed 

 in life, to the post-mortem table. Of espe- 

 cial educational value is the study of a few 

 cases, seen at autopsy, exhaustively, by 

 every feasible method of examination, as 

 contrasted with a second-hand survey of 

 the whole field of pathologic anatomy by 

 lecture, text-book and recitation. One of 

 our members, not long since, described his 

 own method of conducting such a course, 

 which seems to me in every way commend- 

 able. 



May I, in this connection, comment on 

 the singular and widely prevalent perver- 

 sity with which teachers in all lines and 

 grades of education in this country are 

 prone to get away, in their practise, from 

 the fundamental idea and purpose of edu- 

 cation ? 



Its primary purpose is to develop the 

 mental facilities, not to impart information. 

 And this is quite as true of medical as of 

 any other kind of education. That the 

 pupil shall be educated, trained to observe 



