July IT, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



73 



in the miuds of university authorities as 

 to the status of medical science and its 

 claims to be considered a liberal study. 

 The medical student at a university was 

 formerly far from being a matter of pride 

 to his alma mater. His relation to the royal 

 family of letters was apparently a morgan- 

 atic one. He did not appear on public 

 occasions, was very little in evidence on 

 commencement day, and generally passed 

 without much flouri.sh of trumpets from 

 academic halls to the, seclusion of private 

 life. "WTiatever medical science may have 

 once been in comparison with other sci- 

 ences, I have no hesitation in saying that 

 now it is the peer of any. Although only 

 the child of the past half century, it can 

 boast of a brilliant series of discoveries. 

 Compare the knowledge which has been 

 acquired of the causation of malaria, yel- 

 low fever, tuberculosis, the assured benefits 

 of the diphtheria antitoxin, Haffkine's 

 plague vaccination, Pasteur's anti-fabic 

 inoculation, and the like, with the achieve- 

 ments in any other branch of science. 

 Think of the mental training required to 

 settle the problems of immunity, to in- 

 vestigate questions of bodily metabolism, to 

 know the true action of remedies, and to 

 discover the law of diseases and their mode 

 of cure. Physiology, pathology, hygiene, 

 practical medicine, psychiatry, these are 

 all living branches of medicine which re- 

 quire the highest training which can be 

 given to the human mind to fit it to solve 

 the problems which they present. The 

 medical man needs to know chemistry, 

 biologj' and physics; he must be trained 

 to use his mind, and to rea.son from ob- 

 scure, often imperfectly known, factors. 

 He must be a diligent student of the laws 

 of mind, and keen to observe mental phe- 

 nomena. Above all, he must have a train- 

 ing of the head and of the heart to fit him 

 for the true exercise of his profession and 

 to deal with problems of the highest im- 



portance to the welfai'e of mankind. Are 

 not such studies worthy the attention of a 

 imiversity, and should not she feel the 

 duty and responsibility of providing ade- 

 quate teaching for them? 



Probably no better illustration could be 

 given of the influence of univei-sity ideals 

 upon medical education than is afforded 

 by what has been done in one of the de- 

 partments of Yale University to promote 

 and develop the study of physiological 

 chemistry. I have no hesitation in saying 

 that the impetus which has been given here 

 to this most important department of 

 chemical study and research has been felt 

 by every medical school worthy the name 

 in America. To Professor Chittenden and 

 the Sheffield Scientific School is due the 

 honor of initiating a most important and 

 heretofore neglected branch of study— one 

 which would probably never have been de- 

 veloped by a school unattached to a uni- 

 vei'sity. 



The university occiipies a vantage 

 ground enjoyed by no mere medical school. 

 She is unselfish, and by reason of her en- 

 dowment is able to view all educational 

 questions in an unbiased manner, regard- 

 less of their effect upon mere numbers of 

 students. She stands for knowledge and 

 truth. She can afford to disregard the 

 mere question of filling up the profession, 

 and need only consider the proper educa- 

 tion of competent men. The country 

 suffers from too many medical schools 

 and too many imperfectly educated men. 

 The university is alone competent to limit 

 the production and to improve the quality. 

 The intensely practical studies of the 

 physician, upon the one hand, need the 

 broadening influence of a university at- 

 mosphere to bring every branch of science 

 into its proper relations, and to give a 

 proper perspective. The university, upon 

 the other, needs and should foster depart- 

 ments like those of medicine to avoid a 



