374 
Editorial. 
Aui.  .lour.  Pharm. 
July,  1897. 
American  Medical  Association."  This  address  is  not  only  very  interesting,  but 
it  is  a  document  of  considerable  historical  value,  for  Dr.  Davis  is  almost  the 
only  one  who  can  speak  with  authority  on  this  subject.  He  first  briefly  out- 
lined the  early  history  of  the  country,  and  called  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
springing  as  it  did  from  a  few  States,  which  had  achieved  independence,  the 
Government  was  confronted  with  many  difficult  problems,  the  one  of  educa- 
tion by  no  means  being  the  least;  but  it  was  decided  to  leave  that  important 
subject  to  the  regulation  of  individual  States. 
Our  educational  history  as  an  independent  people  commenced  thus,  during  the  last  half 
of  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  a  new  and  sparsely  populated  country, 
extending  from  Maine  to  Florida,  with  only  four  medical  schools  organized,  all  as  depart- 
ments of  literary  colleges  or  universities,  and  all  attracting  annually  attendance  of  less  than 
300  students,  of  whom  not  more  than  fifteen  annually  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine, and  no  two  of  them  controlled  by  the  laws  of  the  same  State.  And  it  must  be  noted, 
also,  that  a  very  large  majorit\r  of  those  who  entered  upon  the  practice  of  medicine  at  that 
time  gained  their  education  in  the  office  of  some  established  practitioner,  and  were  licensed 
by  the  censors  of  medical  societies,  the  judges  of  courts,  or  even  by  the  certificates  of  their 
preceptor,  without  ever  having  spent  a  day  in  a  medical  college. 
After  thus  outlining  the  early  history,  the  speaker  came  to  the  years  1846-47, 
when  the  Association  was  organized,  when  it  was  found  that  colleges  had  mul- 
tiplied until  thirty  were  in  existence,  with  an  annual  attendance  of  3,500  stu- 
dents, of  whom  not  less  than  1,000  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
This  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  colleges  necessarily  led  to  the  most  active 
rivalry. 
So  potential  was  the  question  :  "  In  which  school  can  I  obtain  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
c.ne  for  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and  money?'  on  the  several  medical  schools,  that, 
although  the  three  medical  schools  originall\r  organized  in  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston 
had  been  founded  on  the  same  basis  or  curriculum  as  the  Universit3*  of  Edinburgh,  requiring 
a  good  academic  education  as  a  preliminary  for  entering  the  medical  course,  then  from  three 
to  five  years  of  medical  study,  with  annual  college  terms  of  not  less  than  six  months,  long 
before  the  number  of  our  medical  schools  had  reached  thirty,  all  preliminary  requirements 
had  been  abandoned,  the  term  of  medical  study  limited  to  a  nominal  three  years,  and  the 
medical  college  instruction  to  two  annual  repetitional  courses  of  from  twelve  to  sixteen  weeks 
each.  Under  this  inadequate  and  unsystematic  medical  education  it  really  cost  less  in  time 
and  money  to  obtain  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  than  it  had  previously  cost  to  serve 
an  apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  a  respectable  practitioner,  and  obtain  a  license  from  the 
censors  of  a  local  medical  society. 
Such  a  deplorable  condition  naturally  led  to  a  desire  on  the  part  of  many  for 
reform,  which,  it  was  said,  could  only  be  effected  by  organization.  As  early  as 
1835  the  faculty  of  the  Medical  College  of  Georgia  urged,  through  the  medical 
press  and  by  correspondence,  the  holding  of  a  National  Convention.  This  and 
several  other  attempts  failed,  until,  in  1846,  Dr.  Davis  and  a  few  associates 
effected  organization  in  New  York,  and  arranged  for  meeting  in  Philadelphia 
in  May,  1847. 
The  speaker  then  detailed  the  business  of  the  first  meeting,  named  the 
officers  of  that  meeting,  and  concluded  as  follows  : 
Such  is  a  brief  history  of  the  origin,  objects  and  organization  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  two  years  of  the  great  war  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union  of  these  States,  has  held  its  regular  annual  meetings  in  all  the  important 
parts  of  our  widely-extending  country,  still  adhering  tenaciously  to  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples on  which  it  was  founded.  And  I  am  most  happj'  to  add  that  every  leading  object  sought 
to  be  accomplished  by  its  founders  has  been  substantially  obtained  ;  that  is,  universal,  free 
and  friendly,  social  and  professional  intercourse  has  been  established  ;  the  advancement  of 
