252  American  Medical  Association.  {Am'A0ne.iwi"m' 
ceeded  in  organizing  a  medical  society,  January  6,  1784,  and  it  is 
yet  in  existence. 
In  1787  our  own  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia  was  founded, 
the  history  of  which  is  known  to  most  of  us.  This  closes  the 
Colonial  period,  and  I  would  say  of  those  medical  men  of  this  period, 
who  worked  shoulder  to  shoulder  to  uplift  and  improve  the  educa- 
tional standards  of  their  profession,  that  they  were  men  of  learning 
and  high  character,  and  built  better  than  they  knew  when  they 
initiated  those  movements  for  a  better  organization  of  their  profes- 
sion, as  much  of  their  work  stands  to-day  a  monument  to  their 
greatness. 
SECOND  PERIOD. 
From  1800  to  the  foundation  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, 1847,  I  have  named  as  the  second  period. 
During  the  first  half  of  this  period  the  country  was  overrun  with 
doctors  of  all  kinds,  some  practicing  without  diplomas,  some  having 
taken  but  one  short  course  of  lectures  of  two  to  three  months,  some 
none  at  all.  We  had  regulars,  irregulars,  mongrel  and  hybrid.  The 
shoemaker  or  tailor,  tired  of  work,  laid  down  his  tools  and  picked 
up  the  calomel  bottle  and  the  bleeding-lance,  and  with  this  kit  of 
tools  started  on  a  career  as  a  healer. 
With  such  a  motley  crew  do  you  wonder  that  seeds  of  discord 
were  scattered,  that  the  dignity  of  the  profession  was  lowered  and 
its  usefulness  was  impaired  ?  How  could  such  a  class  of  men  see 
any  necessity  for  the  organization  of  a  medical  society  ? 
During  the  later  half  of  this  period  the  profession  suffered  much 
from  the  advent  of  the  Homeopathic  and  Eclectic  schools  of  medi- 
cine. The  contentions  between  members  of  these  schools  and  the 
regular  profession  were  so  acrimonious  that  the  public  lost  almost 
the  semblance  of  respect  for  us  collectively.  We  became  the  butt 
of  the  press,  the  comic  almanac  and  illustrative  journal. 
With  the  advent  of  a  better  class  of  men  into  the  professorial 
chairs  of  the  medical  schools  of  our  large  cities,  came  the  desire  for 
a  better  organization  of  our  profession. 
There  came  into  existence  year  after  year  from  this  time  a  local, 
a  county,  a  State  or  an  interstate  medical  society  until  the  number 
became  sufficiently  large  to  warrant  the  organization  of  a  national 
medical  society. 
