Am.  Jour.  Pharm."l 
August,  1908.  / 
American  Medical  Association. 
393 
THE  CHICAGO  MEETING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
The  fifty-ninth  annual  session  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, held  in  Chicago,  June  2-5,  190S,  was  by  far  the  largest,  and  in 
many  respects  the  most  important,  gathering  of  physicians  that  has 
ever  taken  place  in  this  country. 
The  total  registration  of  members,  6,446,  while  large,  does  not 
fully  represent  the  actual  attendance,  as  many  of  the  members  from 
nearby  cities  and  towns  did  not  take  the  time  to  register  and  a  very 
large  number  of  physicians,  not  members  of  the  Association,  were 
present  as  guests. 
The  meetings  of  the  several  sections  were  uniformly  well  attended, 
and  the  interest  that  was  manifested  on  all  sides  indicated  that  the 
communications  that  were  presented,  were  considered  to  be  of  a 
relatively  high  order  of  merit. 
There  are  many  reasons  why  the  1908  meeting  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  will  be  considered  as  having  been  a  phenomenal 
one,  and  one  that  will  do  much  to  mark  real  progress  in  matters 
medical. 
Meetings  of  this  kind  are  usually  dominated  by  some  one  theme 
or  subject,  and  to  this  the  Chicago  meeting  was  no  exception.  The 
problems  most  frequently  discussed  all  appeared  to  bear  directly  or 
indirectly  on  the  need  for  educating  the  public  in  matters  medical. 
This  need  for  properly  instructing  the  people  in  matters  relating  to 
the  public  health  was  referred  to  at  some  length  by  the  President  in 
his  address,  was  the  fundamental  basis  of  discussion  in  the  oration 
on  medicine,  was  freely  discussed  in  the  House  of  Delegates,  and 
was  frequently  suggested  in  papers  that  were  presented  to  one  or 
the  other  of  the  many  sections.  Everywhere  it  was  evident  that 
the  present-day  medical  man  believes  that  physicians  should  be 
recognized  as  the  guardians  of  the  public  health,  and  that  they 
should  do  all  in  their  power  to  promote  the  development  of  hygiene 
and  sanitation  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  disease.  To  one  inter- 
ested in  the  development  of  the  physical  welfare  of  the  people,  the 
Chicago  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  was  indeed 
an  inspiration,  and  the  ultimate  effects  of  the  meeting  will  certainly 
be  far-reaching. 
As  in  former  years,  pharmacy  and  matters  pharmaceutical  were 
