Sir William Osier. 



XXUl 



work for a great text-book, and his Text Book of Medicine was Osier's 

 magnum opus. In it he made a judicious use of statistics collected from 

 hospital cases ; it gains much from the inclusion of tables and charts, and he 

 made full use of the researches of others. The clear and individual style of 

 the book makes it very helpful to students and practitioners alike, and it has 

 long held the foremost place among such works, both in this country and in 

 America. One great feature is the due weight given to morbid anatomy. 

 The book has passed through many editions, and has been translated into 

 French, German, and Chinese. The ninth edition, upon which he was 

 engaged, has appeared since Osier's death, under the editorship of Dr. T. 

 MacCrea, with whom he had previously edited a System of Medicine. 



Valuable as Osier's researches were they cannot be described as epoch- 

 making. What was epoch-making was the work which he instigated and 

 inspired ; the stimulating influence which he exercised upon his assistants 

 who worked under his guidance, upon the hundreds of students whom he 

 taught, and upon the thousands who have read his text-book and other 

 writings. He had the gift of being genuinely interested in the work of all 

 his pupils and friends, and spared no pains to help even the least of these 

 in what he was trying to do. From wherever Osier might be there issued 

 telegrams, letters and post-cards, conveying here a word of sympathy or 

 congratulation, there a pat on the back to the writer of a paper which 

 pleased him, or a note on something which he thought would be helpful to a 

 fellow worker. 



His scientific writings by no means exhausted his literary activities. 

 Essays and addresses of compelling interest and admirable in literary style, 

 such as were collected into the volumes with the titles of " Aequanimitas " and 

 " An Alabama Student," lay sermons, such as " A Way of Life " delivered to 

 the students of Yale, and introductions to reprints of old books, appeal to a 

 wider audience, and give us a revelation of his thoughts and ideals. 



Many honours came to him. Many universities conferred upon him their 

 honorary degrees, and the Academie de Medeeine of Paris elected him as a 

 Foreign Associate. He was made a Baronet in 1911, at the time of the King's 

 Coronation. One tribute which gave him special pleasure was the presenta- 

 tion, on the eve of his seventieth birthday, of two volumes of essays written 

 in his honour by pupils and friends upon both sides of the Atlantic. The 

 presentation was made, in London, by his brother Eegius Professor of 

 Cambridge, Sir Clifford AUbutt, in a speech worthy of the occasion, which 

 elicited from Osier an equally felicitous reply, spoken with deep emotion and 

 lackinoj none of his old charm of diction. 



The last years of Sir William Osier's life were spent under the shadow of 

 the great war. He felt the incubus deeply, but spared no effort to help. 

 Long railway journeys, under conditions trying to a man of his age, attendance 

 on many committees, inspections of many hospitals, and especially those 

 conducted under American and Canadian auspices, laid a heavy burden upon 

 him. In 1917 he and Lady Osier suffered the loss of their son, their only 



