ADDRESSES 
Delivered June 13, 1878, 
BY 
B. L. HCTVEY M. D„ 
Ol' Rochester, N. Y. 
BEFORE THE ALUMNI 
-ANI) 
wm. c. WEY, M. D„ 
Of Elmira, N. Y 
BEFORE-GRADUATING CLASS, 
Op the College of Medicine, 
OF THE 
Syracuse University. 
SYRACUSE, N Y.: 
Standard Pitijlishinc Company. 
187H. AN ADDRESS 
Delivered before the Alumni Association ok the Col- 
lege ok Medicine, ok Syracuse University, 
June 13TH, 1878, by 
HOVEY, M. D. 
Of Rochester, N. Y. 
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OK THE ASSOCIATION. 
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Alumni:— 
The pleasure I have anticipated in meeting, on this annual re- 
union, so many of my former associates and fellow students of the 
old Geneva Medical College, and our new brothers of the Alma 
Mater of the Syracuse University, and others who are looking with 
happy anticipation to an honorable distinction of the University 
among the literary institutions of the land, has been somewhat di- 
minished by an incautious undertaking of that which is altogether 
foreign to my custom or tastes. Although the invitation to address 
you at this time came from such a source, a refusal to make an 
effort would seem unkind; yet it can not be improper for me to say 
how sincerely I wish for your sake, not less than my own, that this 
particular work had fallen to other and worthier hands. 
Embarrassment comes to me not only in appearing before you, 
but in the selection of a subject most appropriate for the occasion. 2 
AN ADDRESS. 
I have chosen to present a very brief comparison between the 
requirements of the medical student at this day, and what they were 
in the early history of medicine in this country, and finally to draw 
some conclusions of the requirements of the profession to the public. 
The first medical college of America was established in the year 
1765, and denominated the University of Pennsylvania which name 
it hears to-day. The founders of this institution were Drs. John 
Morgan and Wm. Shippen, jr. These men were educated at Edin- 
burgh, and very naturally they brought the system of teaching and 
the requirements of pupils of their Alma Mater to the new institu- 
tion. It was their purpose to make this Medical College equal to 
any in Europe. The student was examined in his preparatory 
course by the trustees and faculty before he entered upon medical 
studies. It was required of all applicants to a medical course of 
study, who had not taken the degree of A. M., to pass a satisfactory 
examination in Latin and the Natural Sciences. The time of study 
required in this institution was four years, before an examination for 
a license to practice medicine, and if the examination was satisfactory 
he was entitled to be passed as a licentiate. After three years fur- 
ther study and practice, the licentiate was entitled to a second 
examination, and, if found competent, he was entitled to the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine. 
Thus it will be seen that four years’ pupilage, and three years’ 
practice (after the academic course was completed,) was required 
before he had the honor of being a graduate of medicine from this, 
the oldest and most honored institution in the country. 
I have chosen this institution to show what the legal and Uni- 
versity requirements were at this early history of medical science 
in our country, and also for the high character it has maintained 
through a period of more than a hundred years. Graduates from 
the University of Pennsylvania have no doubt received, or at least 
had, a superior standing in the profession on account of the high 
character it has sustained in this country and abroad. 
Since the University was established, one hundred and six medi- 
cal schools have been chartered in America—sixty-five regular, 
eleven Homoeopathy, four Eclectic, fourteen Pharmaceutical, and 
twelve Dental. 
From these several schools of medicine it is safe to estimate that 
three thousand doctors are made annually. This large product 
added to the profession is made a means to support the colleges and HOVEY, M. D. 
3 
to pay professorships. Support must come from some source, and 
as it is from tuition charged the pupil, the inference is fair to sup- 
pose that preliminary examinations are not made a requisite to the 
study of medicine as strictly as they were one hundred years ago. 
It is also safe to say that examinations for a degree, and the 
number conferred, are made a source of revenue to the institution and 
a gain to the examiners. 
Besides, there are places in our country where only money is 
required to procure a degree. No qualification whatever is made 
or required. Men from these spurious concerns strut with their 
M. D., and compete with the most learned in the profession. 
Still we have another source of making doctors, which is esti- 
mated to equal in number those graduated in chartered schools. I 
mean those who claim to be natural doctors, who despise learning 
or knowledge in medicine. These wear the title of doctor, and 
have better legal protection in this state than the most learned 
professor. 
From these two last classes we find the specialist, such as the 
oculist, the aurist, the throat doctor, the heart and lung doctor, the 
nerve doctor, the doctor for the blood, the skin doctor, doctors for 
crooked legs and natural bone setters, hair and corn doctors, the 
tape worm doctor (this last is a new departure,) the mesmeric doc- 
tor, the clairvoyant doctor, the spirit doctor, the thumping doctor, 
the laying on of hands doctor, the cancer doctor, the female doctors 
to distinguish themselves from doctors who attend the men, these 
arc called women doctors. This does not, by any means, exhaust 
the list of specialists who are to-day legally recognized in medi- 
cine and surgery. To this class we add the unscrupulous and un- 
principled adventurer from abroad, the disreputable quack, the men 
who have failed to pass examination in our country and in foreign 
countries, who seek a field in America, where without restriction 
they may assume the title of “ doctor ” and practice on an equality 
with the best and most honored men in the profession. Is it any 
wonder that these flagrant abuses exist, when there is no united and 
determined effort on the part of all true medical men to stamp them 
out, and elevate our own standard so that it shall no longer serve 
as a cloak for igporance and incompetency. Is it any wonder that 
the public recognizes systems and schools in medicine, and that 
public faith wanes and grows dim, that imposture and quackery of 
all kinds flourish like rank weeds, and that nostrums and patent 4 
AN ADDRESS* 
medicines possess a share of public confidence far larger than ever 
before? The profession owes a duty to itself and the community to 
rebuke this public wrong, and to correct what every true man 
knows it to be. 
If I should be asked my opinion as to the benefit specialists were 
to the profession, I could hardly give a positive answer; I mean 
specialties as practiced by educated men. I will say, good may 
come, and much harm does come from professional specialists, who 
have received a degree of doctor of medicine. 
When you and I graduated as physicians and surgeons, we were 
by our credentials entitled to the whole field. In the early part of 
my professional life there were no specialists recognized by the 
regular practitioner. Since then, men have come forward 
claiming special knowledge in the several branches of the profession, 
and to-day, if the doctor of medicine and surgery should yield to 
these several classes of doctors, he would have nothing left, “ for 
they take in the whole man, from head to feet,” every oigan and 
tissue is staked by them. 
The London Lancet gives to Dr. Robert Barnes the credit of 
the following: “ I have recently been honored by a visit from a lady 
of typical, modern intelligence, who consulted me about a fibroid 
tumor of the uterus ; and lest I should stray beyond my business, 
she was careful to tell me that Dr. Brown-Sequard had charge of 
her nervous system; that Dr. Williams attended her lungs; that 
her abdominal organs were entrusted to Sir William Gull ; that 
Mr. Spencer Wells looked after her rectum, and that Dr. Walshe 
had her heart. He adds that if some adventurous doctor should 
start a new specialty and open an institution for the treatment of 
diseases of the unbilicus—the only region which is unappropriated— 
I think I can promise him more than one patient.” 
This anecdote illustrates the assertion above made that the whole 
system is taken by specialists. I do not wish to convey the 
thought that they have not advanced the science of medicine in any 
degree. But, before they are entitled to recognition in the profes- 
sion or to the confidence of the community, they should be honora- 
ble physicians, who have gained their degree by study and a fair 
examination. They should be well educated in general medicine 
and surgery and in all their departments, and besides they ought to 
know it practically. R. HOVEY, M. D. 
5 
With this qualification for general practice they are in a position 
to choose a specialty. In no other way can they become fit 
specialists; not otherwise can they comprehend the dependencies 
and sympathies of the human organism. “No part or organ can 
be isolated from the rest of the body in health, nor can it he iso- 
lated in the phenomena of disease.” 
The uterine physician can not shut his eyes to the complex 
sympathies of the generative apparatus with all the rest of the 
female economy. The oculist must understand general pathology 
and therapeutics, because the brain, the circulation, the digestive 
functions, the kidneys, the uterine system, are all to he interrogated 
if he would comprehend the diseases which the eye presents, nor 
may he forget the poisons, both animal and vegetable, which vice 
or indulgence or accident may inflict upon the body. 
When the specialist takes this ground, and has mastered all the 
preliminary studies which every physician assumes, and when he 
enters upon his professional career, then will he he in a position to 
hold professional intercourse and add professional interest, on assum- 
ing the investigation of special diseases and their treatment. In no 
other way can they add to science or advance professional 
knowledge. 
The tendency in the pursuit of a medical education is like every- 
thing else in America, to cut short, to get through, to be at some 
remunerative labor, no matter what obstacle is in the way, it must 
he removed to secure this end—wealth. 
If there are statutory enactments requiring time, age, attain- 
ments, character or any other safe-guard, repeal them. They say 
“ let there be no restraint over men from entering the medical pro- 
fession.” Let it he as free as that of trade, of manufacture, of mer- 
chandise. We stand just here to-day. The doors are wide open 
to admit all without “ let or hindrance.” 
Up to the year 1827 there were the following safe-guards to the 
practice of medicine: 
First—Four years’ study was required before a diploma could 
he granted. 
Second—No person could practice without a license, and no 
license could be granted except to doctors having diplomas. 
Third—Persons were forbidden to practice under twenty-one 
years of age. 6 
AN ADDRESS. 
Fourth—Persons not authorized to practice were not capable of 
recovering for services, and were subject to punishment by fine or 
imprisonment, or both. 
In 1S2S the provisions forbidding anyone to practice under twen- 
ty-one years was repealed. 
In 1S30 the penalty for practicing without license was modified 
to a fine of twenty-five dollars. 
In 1835 the time of study was reduced to three years—saying 
nothing of a preparatory course. 
In 1844, all laws restricting the practice of medicine were re- 
pealed, and all penalties, except for malpractice or gross ignorance, 
or immoral conduct in such practice. The graduated physician and 
non-medical man were placed on the same footing as to suits at law, 
except the latter were protected limiting their fine to $1,000, and 
imprisonment to not more that twelve months. Here was legisla- 
tion in favor of the ignorant, giving them protection to a limited 
extent, while the scholar in medicine was left to the mercies of a 
prejudiced jury or the tyranical judgment of a court. 
You will hardly fail to observe the retrograde requirements, 
which have been legalized in this state, at least within the last 
hundred years, as to qualifications of persons entering upon the 
practice of medicine. It will be said the facilities for instruction now 
far exceed what they did at that time, and will more than make up 
for the shortened course. It is true that the facilities are greater 
than then, but it is also true that there is more teaching to be done 
with the advancement of our science. Instead of shortening the 
course of study it should be extended. 
The improvements in our science and art, within one hundred 
years, are almost beyond our comprehension. Then the crudest 
speculations filled the place of our enlightened pathology. To-day 
we have means of diagnosis and other advances of equal importance, 
the authors of which were then unborn. The knowledge of the 
use of the stethoscope and percussion to diagnosticate accurately 
diseases of the lungs and heart, and, too, with that precision that 
dissections confirm the disease to be within the line named. 
This is only an illustration to show that medical science has made 
rapid and long strides in scientific improvement. The idea that a 
profession, embracing so much as medicine does, can be learned in 
three years is inconsistent with man’s ability to comprehend. This 
time will only give the learner an opportunity to study the funda- B. C. HOVEY, M. D. 
7 
mental branches, the beginning of the science, with none of the 
art. To illustrate again, the use of the stethoscope can never he 
learned except hy clinical observation and experience. This is true 
of other means practiced in our art which the student must learn 
hy personal application under the direction of a competent instruc- 
tor and clinical opportunity. 
The social and political standard of the profession, generally, 
does not hold that high distinction in society that it did in its early 
history in this country. It is true there are men in the profession 
who are, by their talent, wealth, family or situation, held in the 
foremost rank. But these are exceptions. The great mass of pro- 
fessional men are counted by society and political leaders as append- 
ages, to he used only as circumstances require. Their talent and 
learning is too often placed at a lower value than that of the com- 
mon day laborer. As an illustration in the city of Rochester: The 
Health Officer, a graduate of medicine, receives $41.66 per month 
for the duties of that office; a sanitary inspector $40, and an over- 
seer of these six or seven inspectors $75 per month. The best 
medical talent in the county or state, as members of the Board of 
Health, is disregarded, and non-professional talent is held hy that 
body as superior to that of experience and learning. 
Financial embarrassment is another hindrance to professional 
success in this country in our day. Quacks become suddenly rich 
out of their business, while an educated physician will work a life- 
time, and die leaving his family in destitute circumstances. Com- 
munities count a financial success as merited to those who acquire a 
competency, no matter how obtained. And too often this is made 
an evidence hy the public of professional skill and ability. The 
success of an adventurer depends very much upon equipage, show 
and egotism. These men laud their own skill hy high-sounding 
words, flaming handbills, and, very often, forged or deceptive letters 
from their unsuspecting and ignorant dupes. 
It will he conceded that our profession is financially poor. If 
general poverty, there must he a cause for it. That cause must 
arise either from the fact that the supply is greater than the 
demand, or that the fees charged are too small, or that our 
profession is too generous in giving its services beyond its income 
to support. The adventurer demands a large fee, and in advance. 
The poor and destitute he cannot see. Of the causes named why 
the profession do not become rich, all are substantially true. But 8 
AN ADDRESS. 
when we consider that there are over 62,000 practitioners of medi- 
cine in the United States, we are forced to say that the supply is 
greater in ratio to the population than in any other country in the 
world. 
Dr. Toner, of Washington, says there is one doctor'to every 
600 inhabitants in this country. The estimated annual increase of 
the population of this country is about 1,000,000, while there is an 
annual increase of doctors of 3,000, reducing the ratio to the popula- 
tion very materially every year. 
Germany 1 physician to 3,000 inhabitants. 
Great Britain 1 “ 1,672 *• 
France 1 “ 1,814 “ 
Italy 1 “ 3,500 “ 
From a cureful examination of tables on this subject I find that 
the above is a fair comparative statement of ratio of physicians be- 
tween this and other countries. 
In order that a physician shall be able to earn his living from 
the practice of his profession, it is evident that there should be an 
adequate number of persons who employ him. 
There are great general laws underlying our social organization. 
Marriages, births, deaths, suicides and murders are found to stand in 
certain proportions to population, and so will it he found, taking one 
year with another, that each individual needs a certain definite 
amount of medical service. Of course it will vary in locations, 
climate and occupations, so as to make more in some parts of the 
country than in others. 
The same author above quoted says: Taking all things into 
account, one thoroughly educated physician can well minister effi- 
ciently to and in turn be fairly supported by a population of 1,500 
to 2,500. 
Let us divide this number and say 2,000 persons to one physician. 
By this we have in the country 42,383 doctors more than is required 
for the people, and the same number who cannot be fairly support- 
ed, calling the population 44,000,000. 
The overcrowding of the profession does not only produce 
poverty, hut it makes professional men, unprofessional and naturally 
honest men criminals. Food and clothing are necessities which are 
indispensible. If they can not be obtained by honest competition, 
tricks, intrigue and cutting down the fee bill will be resorted to, 
and from this will follow deeds of darkness which will never he re- 
vealed until the final day of accounts. IJ. C. HOVKY, M. D. 
9 
Iii 1765, the population of the Colonies was 2,500,000 and one 
medical school. Now we have a medical school to a population 
of less than 500,000. In the State of New York, with a population 
of 5,1 1 5,000, we have thirteen medical schools, or one to a popula- 
tion of 39:5,000. 1 ask, is it any wonder that doctors are made at 
wholesale, since, as a rule, these colleges are sustained hv the fees 
charged the students? It therefore becomes a necessity to the 
trustees and faculties of these colleges to urge every young man 
into the profession possible. 
This State returns 6,810 doctors annually, or one doctor to 642 
persons, based upon the census returns of 1870, showing an excess 
to the wants of the people, or an excess to get a fair support, based 
upon the estimates above.given, of nearly 4,800. From these facts, 
is it a wonder that poverty should be so prominent an element in 
the profession? 
How the profession is to be relieved from these difficulties has 
been seriously considered, for a long time, bv our leading men. 
Our journals have been outspoken, and urged reform. Faculties of 
colleges have united in recommending plans to place the standard 
of medical education on a footing equal to what the public require 
of the profession. Conventions and medical associations have, by 
committees and resolutions, presented the subject of reform, and 
urged a higher standard in learning and intelligence, not only in 
medical literature, but in the sciences. So the question is not new. 
The necessity is acknowledged, as would appear from these doings. 
The only question remaining is—What is required, and how 
shall the work be accomplished? It is conceded by all that a 
proper preliminary education for the student is essential before he 
enters upon the study of medicine. In what, or what branches of 
science shall be required for the preliminary course, is a question, 
on which, perhaps, there will be a difference of opinion. Some 
will maintain that a classical course shall be completed, while others 
will require that the natural sciences constitute what is most desira- 
ble. Perhaps a third class will say both are requisite. To this last 
all will join, and admit that it woirtd be more satisfactorv if the stu- 
dent was thoroughly educated in both the classics and sciences. 
The Greek and Latin languages are desirable, and really a 
necessity, since these arc used by the anatomist, nomenclaturist, the 
teacher and author, the practitioner in his prescriptions, and are so 
generally adopted by the profession in the ordinary description of AN ADDRESS. 
disease and its pathology and treatment, that the practitioner is often 
in doubt as to the real meaning of terms who is not conversant with 
the languages. The study of the languages as a means to discipline 
the mind is certainly of incalculable value. The importance of a 
knowledge of the Greek and Latin presents itself with so much 
force that argument is unnecessary. 
But, conceding the great benefit to the individual the languages 
may he, if but one can be acquired, would not the profession he 
more honored, and the standard of medicine he more elevated, by 
requiring the student to be master of the sciences before he enters 
upon the study of medicine. 
In these are based the immutable laws of nature, and are esti- 
mated by a high scientific standard. On these the profession of 
medicine is based, and a true understanding of them has planted 
the science of medicine far above that of other professions, which 
are bound by authority, precedent or tradition. 
These carry no weight with the physician except in so far as 
they accord with the principles which science has proven and es- 
tablished as reliable guides. With us, as a profession, we hold to 
none of those old, blind ideas and methods which have hindered 
progress in other callings. With us, the old is valued only as it 
squares with the new; the past is estimated solely by the standard 
of the present. 
The natural sciences, to the divinity student, arc not made a 
qualifying branch to his professional studies. His education is based 
upon authority, precedent and tradition, and has an ultimate refer- 
ence to the fitting of man for another world. . 
Here we see the importance of a classical education, for it is the 
key that unlocks the source of his study and calling. Up to a very 
recent date the sciences to the divine were regarded as unessential 
in his work or culture. To the clerical profession the idea had its 
origin, that science and religion were incompatible, and for a long 
time, scientific investigations, as to cause and effect, were restricted, 
because the study of the secrets of nature were supposed to lead to 
materialism. But recent investigations by scientific men in the 
medical profession, have in a measure removed this heresy, and 
have shown that there is a first great cause and principle underlying 
all created things, and that these principles have their existence in God. 
Prof. Youmans says “ Science is the revelation to reason of the 
policy by which God administers the affairs of the world, and that U. C. HOVKY, M. D. 
11 
every discovery which science has made only furnishes additional 
proofs of the constant and overpowering control of a Supreme 
Being.” 
As a profession, “ law ” does not require a knowledge of the 
sciences, and in the language of a distinguished lawyer of this state, 
“ the profession of law contributes hut little or nothing to the stock 
of human knowledge.” 
When we reflect for a moment, and see what the duties of a 
lawyer are, it culminates in this: that he is engaged in the study of 
human laws, made and unmade by legislation. No part of his legal 
learning requires him to study the sciences, for they arc out of his 
profession. He has given himself to a study which as often deals 
with artificial principles, dogmas and uncertainties, as with great 
abiding truths. He is tied up to written authority, made and un- 
made by man. No creative powers with him beyond the books. 
Rulings of tribunals control his action, and this stifles his investiga- 
tion, except so far as to find what is written. Testimony (a danger- 
ous element), is the material from which he must sift the truth, 
while experiment is the absolute and unmistakable test of truth in 
science. In his professional life he does not aim at scientific ques- 
tions, professionally, hut very shrewdly relies upon the expert in 
science, to adjust disputed questions or to determine controversies. 
If my statement is correct as to the scientific qualifications of the 
professions of theology and law, the intelligent man will ask why 
these men so often endorse the quack doctor and his advertisement. 
The answer is plain and simple. It is because of the truth we have 
said, they are ignorant of the first principles of a scientific medical 
education, and consequently their endorsement is no more entitled 
to confidence than any other person of equal capacity to judge. 
This class of persons forget that medical education is founded 
upon “ science,” which means, according to Herbert Spencer, 
“ organized knowledge.” 
From this then we are to understand that true knowledge con- 
stitutes the basis of a preliminary course of study for the physician. 
His studies are purely scientific, and they comprise the whole range 
of natural and physical sciences. An author has said that “ medicine, 
in its original and comprehensive sense, as one of the great divisions 
of human culture, must be considered as taking in the whole of 
individual physical sciences.” It is the application of these sciences 
in biology which has given the physician that truer insight into the An address. 
nature of the living body with which he has to deal. True, the 
aim of the study of the physician is to restore the sick to health, 
when broken or disturbed by disease, and to prevent disease. To 
do this understandingly, a scientific education is required. A knowl- 
edge of the being to be disciplined nurtured, must form the basis of 
all medical knowledge. This can only be acquired by a study of 
the laws governing the evolution and action of both body and mind. 
To this study the physician is made conversant with, from his earli- 
est professional readings, for it embraces psychology and physiology. 
Having determined the organism of man and his varied powers 
and activities, and the modes, mechanism and laws of his action, it 
becomes the duty of the physician to judge the requirements and 
interests of this wonderful and complex being. This opens a study 
of wide range and of deep consideration. Its application is not 
confined to an individual, hut to communities, nations and to the 
world. There is scarcely a problem in sociology, which does not 
bear upon this question, and which does not come within the scope 
of medical education. The comfort and help of communities, the 
influence of occupations on life, the deterioration of the race, from 
residences in large cites and unhealthy districts, from transmitted 
diseases, from insufficient or impropriety of food, from any cause 
whatsoever, affecting the capacity of a population for labor which 
alone is productive; the prevention of disease, endemic and epidemic, 
and the consequent saving of life, by the right application of the 
established principles of sanitary science; the proper equilibrium 
between work, both mental and physical, and repose; the care and 
training of the feebleminded and insane; the management of crimi- 
nals; the recognition of the influence of habit, in development of 
mind and body; the restraint or correction of social evils; the 
explanation of gross superstitions; the generally recognized but illy 
defined influences of hereditary descent in producing certain apti- 
tudes for good or for evil, and the means of correcting or restraining 
these tendencies when illy directed. These constitute but a part of 
the many important problems that come before the physician to 
answer. lie alone is the one whose training fits him for this work, 
and he alone is competent to advise and guide the people in matters 
pertaining to such subjects. 
In view of all these facts, do not the public require or even de- 
mand a higher standard in a preliminary scientific course, before a 
student of medicine enters upon his professional reading? H. C. HOVEY, M. I). 
13 
Besides the training for a professional education, the physician 
lias a demand upon him as a general educator. Up to within a short 
time, the medical profession had but an indirect influence in educa- 
tion, though foremost in establishing institutions of learning, 
reaching was committed to another profession. The sciences, as 
was known, were confided to the clergy. The fear of scattering 
skepticism, the cultivature of physical and natural sciences, were 
strenuously opposed by them. This branch of learning was looked 
upon by them with distrust, and the claims it had upon mankind 
were measured by their own conception of truth. From this stand- 
point, the basis of all natural truth was covered with doubt, and the 
principles of natural laws were left smouldering for want of educa- 
tors to bring them out. But we are living in a different age, and it 
is a matter of great moment that the physician should at least have 
the basis of training, which, when carried out, will fit men to 
grapple with these responsibilities. It is claimed “that medicine,” 
to use the words of another, “as the science embodying and as the 
art applying the laws of our existence has a sort of a natural right 
to lead the way in the advancement of education.” This admitted, 
it requires no argument to show that the profession, having for its 
basis natural and physical science, should hold a prominent place 
among educators. Perhaps the time was when justifiable excuses 
coidd be rendered that culture in the medical student was to be over- 
looked, but at this day no man can enter the profession and sustain 
its high character who is deficient in these branches of learning that 
are so intimately associated with his being and the laws which 
govern his health,his capabilities andthe elements which surround him. 
A degree of medicine is presumptive evidence that the person is 
competent, and a competent educator. I do not mean that physi- 
cians should become professional teachers, or that professional 
teachers should have a technical medical education. This is too 
narrow a field for the physician to occupy. 
By this rule onlv a class would have the benefit of his teachings 
and it would be limited. A limited law or its application to a phy- 
sician is inconsistent with his life or education. 11 is duties carry 
him to all classes and conditions of men, and his education is as 
comprehensive as the works of creation, therefore his functions as 
an educator should be used in their broadest sense. 
In view of these important considerations the question naturallv 
suggests itself, how is the medical profession to be made competent AN ADDRESS. 
to meet these requirements? A complete and specific answer to 
this question would require greater space and more time than an 
occasion like this would permit, and no more than a brief allusion 
to some of the means and ways will be attempted. 
As before said, many leading men in the profession have for 
a long time been convinced that reform ih the standard of educa- 
tion in the medical profession should be required, both as to pre- 
liminary course and professional learning. 
They say, “ Qualifications must accord or be made equal to the 
requirements and responsibilities of the profession to the public.” 
Two ways have heen suggested, and if properly applied they must 
work the reform demanded. 
First, by demanding a high scientific education before admitting 
the student to the study of medicine proper, and, second, by length- 
ening the time of that study and taking up the separate branches in 
their natural and progressive order. 
These rules, coming from the source they do, make it obligatory 
upon us to adopt and practice them. 
The first one says substantially to every physician, not to receive 
a pupil of medicine into his office, until he has passed a scientific 
course of studies, this course to be determined by an examination or 
other evidences satisfactory to place the requirement beyond a doubt. 
This rule will not be too severe if the responsibility which has been 
imperfectly presented, rests upon the graduate of medicine as herein 
stated. Here is the beginning, and the door is effectually shut 
to uneducated men entering a denominated scientific profession. 
There is no arbitrary hardness in this rule, even in America, for 
the calling of the physician leads him to the most delicate, most 
tender, and most intricate duties that man can enter upon. It is 
unlike that of any other calling or business. These have to do with 
things which, if mistakes come, a hearing or review, or another 
occasion will rectify and restore. With the physician, the present 
is the time, and if a mistake comes it is irreparable. 
A due appreciation of the subject will induce the profession to 
act as a unit in this, and bring reform in that particular. A united 
action, like that of any other duty, will secure the end. 
The second proposition named may secure what is desired, to- 
wit: a higher literary standard in medical science. The purpose 
is to require more time, that more learning may be obtained. If all 
men were equally competent to learn, this rule would apply to all B. C. HOVEV, M. D. 
15 
alike and secure the standard required. But it is a matter of com- 
mon observation, that of two, who are equally assiduous, one can 
acquire knowledge and skill much more rapidly than the other, and 
that of two, who have equal capacity and equal facility of acquire- 
ments, the one may he much more assiduous than the other. To 
subject all capacities and all degrees of assiduity to the same unbend- 
ing rule of time is unjust, for it breaks down all the natural 
distinctions between lassitude and energy, indolence and industry, 
talent and imbecility. So the matter of time, which the legislature 
fixed as a standard for a man to prepare for a degree of medicine 
amounts to but little, if the standard of education is to be made the 
end for which the student is striving. 
So you will observe that time should have nothing to do as a 
requirement in the completion of a scientific course of medicine. 
Some men will learn as much in one year, as others will in two or 
more years. It is the standard, the knowledge and skill that is to 
be attained, not the time a man has spent in office or college that 
qualifies him for a degree of doctor of medicine. The second part 
of this last proposition we most heartily endorse, that the separate 
branches be studied in their natural and progressive order. This 
proposition is so plain, that argument is unnecessary to convince 
y ou of its importance, I am happy to say that our Alma Mater, 
the Syracuse University, has adopted this rule, and by doing so, 
it has placed itself on the high eminence of professional teaching 
with those old and honored institutions, the Uni\ersitv of Penn- 
sylvania, Harvard College, Chicago Medical College, and the Uni- 
versity of Michigan. 
With the high standard of teaching adopted here it will place 
the graduates of medicine of Syracuse University on an equal 
footing with those of old and honored institutions, and be to the 
graduate a guarantee of thorough, practical medical education. An 
education obtained by such a course will give to the beginner in his 
new occupation a character and standard of professional attainments 
commending itself to the confidence of the public. 
From what has been said, you will infer that there are more 
colleges and teachers than are required, and that this has a tendency 
to lower the grade of medical learning. The difficulty is not in 
this. We make no criticism upon the number of colleges or the 
number of teachers. We say let all teach who desire, have as many 
colleges as \’ou please, call them by what name you like, divide 16 
AN ADDRESS. 
them into schools or as many systems as yon wish, support them 
hy tuition fees, hy state appropriation or endowment, or you may 
even go further than this. Let your young men be educated at 
home or abroad, under private tuition or at chartered schools, no 
matter where the education is acquired, the standard is to he made 
the test for a medical degree. 
To determine the qualification of an applicant for the title of 
Doctor of Medicine, with the requirements herein named, is a 
question of great importance. To break over the custom of long 
standing and substitute new authority, disconnected from colleges,’ 
would he so great a departure that opposition from licensing boards, 
and, perhaps, the public woxdd resist so great a change. But to me 
it seems that this is the only true way to elevate our profession and 
to place it on a true basis, giving to each individual an equal stand- 
ing and equal honor. 
1 would have a central or state board duly constituted, whose 
duty it shall be to pass upon all candidates for the degree of Doctor 
of Medicines, this hoard to have the only authority to examine, and 
upon the recommendation of these examiners the applicant for a 
degree shall be entitled to a diploma, to which shall be fixed the 
seal of the state. A record of this shall he made in the state and in 
the county where the holder proposes to practice. 
This or a similar plan will remove the classification that the 
public and quacks put upon the profession of medicine. This puts 
all upon an equality, in the mode and form of an examination, and 
those graduated have equal honor, coming from the same authority. 
There are many reasons which might be urged, that teachers 
should not license their own pupils. An association between pre- 
ceptor and pupil becomes so endearing that justice cannot well be 
done. There is sympathy, kindness, desire, generosity and many 
other emotional feelings which will unavoidably influence the action 
and judgment of any man. For these and similar reasons the pupil 
should be examined as to competency in so important a subject as 
medicine by an entirely disinterested board. 
This plan effectually does away with examining boards. These 
boards pass upon their own pupils, and graduate them into some 
school of medicine, and call them Doctors of Medicine. This 
actually keeps up a distinction, or a diversion, which injures the pro- 
fession and leads the public into error. A correction in this will 
work reform, and place our profession on a basis which, when It. C. IIOVEY, M. D. 
carried out, will unite it in a common science, and give to its mem- 
bers the appellation they have earned, without the qualifying 
adjective which so many are pleased to use. 
The Medical Mirror, of London, in a recent number, says: 
“The profession of medicine in the United States is suffering most 
acutelv from a perfect deluge of licensing medical bodies, which are 
manufacturing to the utmost of their bent, full-blown medical men.” 
We quote further: “In America the competition between licens- 
ing bodies is on a gigantic scale. When two or three doctors 
happen to be gathered together, it is perfectly competent for them, 
not merely to found a teaching institution, but it is permitted to them 
to grant licenses for practice, as the various state laws permit the 
freest exercise of any and every medical doctrine, whether eclectic, 
hydropathic or homoeopathic.” Such is the saving of a leading 
London journal, and who can gainsay it? In the several schools of 
medicine of this country, with but few exceptions, the greatest num- 
ber of graduates is made an advertising fact of the popularity of 
the school. Circulars announcing this among other things, are 
thrown broadcast, inviting students to matriculate at their institution. 
This, in part at least, is made a necessity, for most of the medical 
colleges in this country are supported by tuition fees. It is there- 
fore plain to see that it is an object for each college to have a large 
class, and it is an object for the same reason to graduate all or nearly 
all applicants for a degree. 
To complete a system of reform such as is advocated in this 
paper, we need a statutory law, plain and distinct in its require- 
ments and severe in its penalties. The law should require all 
practitioners of medicine to have a diploma from this Board of 
Lxamincrs, and that no person should advertise or use the sign 
“doctor” on his residence or place of business, unless he is legally 
entitled to practice his profession after a proper examination, and 
has received his credentials attested by the seal of the state. 
All persons violating this enactment should be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and punished by tine and imprisonment, not at the 
discretion of the court, but fixed by statute, and made so severe that 
tramps and adventurers will absolutely refrain from their unlawful 
business. 
Objections will be raised to this, on the ground that it is im- 
politic to have a law to regulate the practice of medicine. More 
than thirty years ago it was urged by the Monroe County Medical 18 
AN ADDRESS. 
Society (or by some of its most honored members) to have these 
laws repealed, and, through this influence, Hon. Dr. Backus, Sena- 
tor from that district, and a member of tbe Monroe County Medical 
Society, did introduce a law in the Legislature in the session of 
1844, for repeal, etc. This was passed by that Legislature. From 
that time there has been no general law governing the practice of 
medicine in this State. I shall not question the policy of this action 
at that time. 
For then the Thompsonians were in full vigor. A sect known 
as Reformers, (but subsequently, at Cincinnati, called themselves 
Eclectics,) were in their glory, and the Homoeopaths had just been 
born. Under these circumstances the cry of legal protection to the 
profession was no doubt used by the quack and his followers as a 
gain to bis cause. 
But that day has passed. Nothing is left of these “isms,” 
“ pathys,” “schools” and “systems” but their name. The last act 
of abandonment by these fellows was done by tbe State Homoe- 
opathic Society, at Albany, last winter, when they substantially 
passed a resolution to use therapeutics without disguise. 
The quacks of our day are nobody, or nothing, or everything, 
as before named; no organization, no end, no creed. They run 
“helter-skelter” from “pillar to post,” from “town to city,” gull 
the people of their money, stay a short time, away they go to a new 
field, to repeat just what they did here. I ask you, gentlemen, is it 
wrong or bad policy to legislate against such pretenders to medical 
science? But that is not my proposition. All 1 ask of our law- 
makers is to give us a law making it a misdemeanor for a man to 
practice medicine and surgery or any of its branches without the 
evidence of qualification such as we have named. Let the question 
rest right here. Disturb no man in his theapeutics, or in the use of 
hot or cold water. If he is qualified to practice medicine under our 
rule, he is authority himself to use such means for restoring the 
sick and disabled as he pleases, for, as before said, we are not a pro- 
fession tied up to authority, precedent or tradition. 
I confidently look forward to the day, and that not far distant, 
when a higher standard in professional requirements will be en- 
forced, and when that becomes universal, it will wipe out all sys- 
tems, schools and divisions in the profession of medicine. 
Thus, with proper laws to protect the people against the snares 
and devices of the unscrupulous pretender, and to place a safe-guard WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D. 
around those who love science and culture, and who aim for a high 
literary and medical standard, we shall have a profession sound in 
learning, united in action, based upon principle, and firm as the 
unchanging law of nature. 
AN ADDRESS 
Delivered before the Graduating Class ok the Col- 
lege of Medicine, of Syracuse University, 
at Commencement, June 13, 1S7S, 
-BY- 
WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D. 
Of Elmira, N. Y. 
PUBLISI1KI) BY ORDER OK THE ASSOCIATION. 
Members of the Graduating Class :— 
The pleasing duty has been assigned to me of addressing you on 
the oceasion of your being admitted to the dignity of the doctorate 
in medicine. The many and weary months and years of toil and 
anticipation through which you have passed, now culminate in the 
reception of an honor which signifies to the people to whom you 
propose to offer your services, that you are indeed qualified to assume 
the responsibilities of the medical profession. Great hopes expand 
before you, and the attractions of the future are bright and cheering, 
without the interposition of a cloud to cast shadow upon the pros- 
pect. The full realization and significance of the position you now 
occupy in the world, through the power and agency of a lawful and 
necessary bestowal of authority on the part of the officers of this 20 
AN ADDRESS. 
institution, you can only in part understand. The problem you have 
undertaken to demonstrate in this first or formative act of your lives 
as physicians, will only be solved literally and radically through the 
gradual operations of time and experience. The enthusiasm of stu- 
dent-life must merge into the positive and sharply defined demands 
of actual practice. The theories adopted in the class room will be 
quickly brought to the severe test of bedside scrutiny, and your 
adaptation to tbe delicate and trying requirements of the every-day 
practitioner will be determined by the evidences you present of zeal, 
industry, skill and knowledge, and bv the instincts you exhibit, 
without seeming to be conscious of the exhibition of a deep and 
abiding humanity. 
The fact is apparent that certain medical men sooner or later 
acquire conviction that they are not fitted to discharge the peculiar 
duties which devolve upon them,* and abandon the profession for 
more congenial pursuits. It is also evident that others remain in the 
ranks of practicing physicians, who bv reason of peculiarities of dis- 
position, or because of idiosyncracy, should engage in avocations of 
a different character. With another class there is a natural propriety 
in assuming the prerogatives which belong to the physician, which 
singularly befit them, as if taste, temper and inclination had been 
trained for the especial exercise of the art which is to be the life 
business of those who minister to the necessities of such as fall under 
the power of disease. I assume that you have made choice of your 
calling on the principal of natural selection, which will fit you to 
grace and adorn the profession. And I speak with more than usual 
earnestness, when I consider the advantages which you have enjoyed, 
in the acquisition of knowledge in medicine, as an immediate result 
of the plan of University instruction, which in the wisdom of the 
faculty and trustees of this college, has been carried into successful 
operation. 
The second school in the United States to abandon the effete 
system of medical teaching, which, since colonial times, has been 
engrafted on our institutions and perpetuated with all the force and 
all the error common to experimental rather than philosophical 
training, the University of Syracuse, though recently assuming the 
province of education in this department, is far in advance to-day of 
nearly all the medical colleges in the land, in its plan and scope of 
instruction. Harvard, let it be said with pride and satisfaction, led 
the way in this much-needed reform. An old school, with new WILLIAM C. WEV, M. D. 
21 
life, convinced of the faulty and unsatisfactory methods of instruction 
so long in operation, by a process revolutionary in idea, but peaceful 
and practicable in accomplishment, provided a more gradual, sys- 
tematic and feasible course of study for her medical pupils. This 
shortened the period of training in the class-room, simplified the 
order of study, and illustrated in natural and consecutive manner 
the branches brought to the attention of the student. Hv the 
gradual unfolding of the scheme of medicine, which covers three 
years of study, recitation and examination, the graduate gained a 
well-arranged and comprehensive acquaintance with the funda- 
mental, more advanced and established principles which underlie 
and sustain the fabric of modern medical science, as taught in the 
schools. Quick to estimate the advantages of the graded as con- 
trasted with the concrete system of instruction, the medical faculty 
of the University of Syracuse judiciously adopted the Harvard 
plan, and resolved to teach its pupils in such a measured and delib- 
erate wav as to insure to them a more exact comprehension of the 
successive stages of preparation necessary for a thorough knowledge 
of the science and art of medicine. The legal period of pupilage 
remains the same under the new as under the old plan, if we regard 
three years as including the prescribed term of study. In one aspect 
of the question it is proper to demand of a student testimonials 
covering such a period of time. In another it seems to be unneces- 
sary to set a specific term of study, irregular and discursive in 
character, and culminating in two courses of lectures, perhaps at 
different schools, over against a consistently prepared system of 
instruction in one college, which advances the pupil from the com- 
mon to the higher grades of learning, and insists that his success 
shall depend upon proficiency in examination, as the several stages 
in the scheme are accomplished. Making fitness, certified by care- 
ful examination, the sole test of merit, I would be so generous in 
approving the University method, as to permit a student to enter 
the second year in the medical course. I know no reason why he 
should be hampered by the requirements of a course covering three 
full terms of college attendance, if he is capable of passing an 
examination at once in the higher range of prescribed study. It is 
well, however, to keep within the limits of lawful obligation, 
which impose upon the medical student, in a general way, three 
years of study. The University system, with true parental care, 
has discreetly named the conditions of study, and provided for the 22 
AN ADDRESS. 
increasing necessities of the pupil, thus showing solicitude, far be- 
yond the interest of the State, hi his behalf. If the State with us, 
as in some countries, exercised supervision of its charge through all 
the departments of education, from the primary form, at six years, 
on to the acquisition of a profession, no necessity would arise for 
any modification of the practice. In a compact of free States, 
however, methods of education differ, in respect to qualification and 
opportunity. An impression has prevailed that in the professions a 
superficial education only is required in a new and growing country. 
We appear to be constantly making apology for the errors of recent 
nationality. The qualifications of a young physician on the outer 
border of civilization have been regarded as in keeping with the 
rude manners and customs of the inhabitants by whom his services 
may he demanded, while the more polished society of the older 
States calls for a nicer degree of etiquette and a better standard of 
intellectual cultivation. Following this idea a step further, the 
cities more than the villages, and the great commercial centers more 
than all, have monopolized the best medical talent, by giving it 
larger employment and more liberal compensation. A sentiment 
once had currency that if a professional man possessed profound 
knowledge of his vocation, he would be known and appreciated in 
a large city or over a wide area. If he knew less of his profession, 
he naturally gravitated to a smaller town, and less still, to a country 
precinct. This was true in part only, in a former period, and 
semblance of the truth remains to this time, public opinion, though 
not with much discernment, giving fqrce and effect to the impres- 
sion. If under an erroneous form of education, which has no 
defenders among thoughtful men, such discrimination were possible 
between members of the same profession, other things being equal, 
it will be rendered inoperative, or reduced to the minimum of in- 
vidious contrast, by the more general adoption of the system of 
instruction, under the operations of which you have been ;fdmitted 
to the privileges of your calling in medicine. 
Certain men in the profession, who have long been impatient 
under the inanity of the old and still prevalent methods of teaching 
medicine in the schools, rejoice to see this day. Reform in education, 
as all my hearers, particularly those whose office it is to teach, will 
admit, is slow and difficult of accomplishment. The conservatism 
of instructors is proverbial, and the way of the fathers is nearly 
always the way of the children in matters pertaining to class teach- WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D. 
23 
in};. In some departments of education the most pronounced con- 
servatism constitutes the highest merit in the system of teaching. 
Hut in the study of the countless forces which govern the organic 
and inorganic elements which constitute the framework of medicine, 
adherence to the conservative as placed against the progressive 
fashion of treatment, is like sleeping through the progress of stirring 
and memorable events. The age is so busy and exacting, invention 
so prompt and suggestive, and discovery so searching and exhaust- 
ive, that in the domain of medicine, more perhaps than in any other 
region of enquiry, the spirit of investigation which actuates the 
advanced nations of the earth, is operating with unceasing energy. 
If two courses of lectures, given oftentimes without method to junior 
and advanced students alike, proved sufficient, with three years of 
study, to qualify for a diploma, under the old plan, how much more 
rational, in view of the expansiveness of medical knowledge, as at 
present understood, to extend the lecture course to three terms, to 
grade it in accordance with the actual progress of the student, and 
at the same time to advance the standard of qualification. This is 
what your instructors have done, and we cannot sufficiently praise 
them for thus demonstrating a more consistent and perfected system 
than that under which they, in common with the majority of Amer- 
ican physicians, were commissioned to pactice. 
That this plan will become general in the United States, no 
observing man can doubt. The University of Pennsylvania, the old- 
est medical school in this country, has just closed its first term under 
the graded system of instruction, with augmented numbers in attend- 
ance. I have no hesitation in declaring that as soon as the medical 
colleges throughout the country become fully convinced that patron- 
age will not be lessened on account of the modified system of instruc- 
tion, the old methods of teaching will be abandoned. The sentiment 
of physicians and medical instructors in the United States is increas- 
ingly in favor of an altered plan of study and lecture attendance, 
which shall gradually or immediately take the place of that which 
has been pursued since medicine began first to be taught publicly in 
the city of Philadelphia. The old plan, burdensome, indiscriminat- 
ing and illogical, has yielded to the world, it must be conceded, 
physicians of the greatest skill and knowledge in the departments 
they have advanced and illuminated. The average attainments 
of physicians, as their education has been conducted, has conformed 
to a standard indicated by medical colleges, and accepted as sufficient 24 
AN ADDRESS. 
by the public, but not us high as the colleges or the public should 
have adopted or demanded. Men who have attained conspicuous 
position in the profession, have achieved such distinction not 
because of the manner of their education, but in spite of it. Con- 
scious of the faults of the system under which they were trained, 
by additional special and prolonged study, by the aid of methods 
not employed in colleges, by the exercise of intense mental and 
physical force, including instrumentalites afforded by foreign institu- 
tions, preparation has been made, by a privileged class, for a more 
elaborate understanding of medical science, and its successful appli- 
cation in the multiform duties of the practicing physician. 
What the people require, if not what they demand, is fewer and 
better educated physicians. One excellent result will be accom- 
plished by the plan under consideration, which we shall all regard 
with favor. The systematic division of study and the gradual 
acquirement of knowledge, by prolonging the course of instruction 
in schools, will properly exclude from the profession many young 
men who seek, by an expeditious process, to obtain authority to 
practice medicine. 
Whatever of significant and undeniable criticism applies to the 
profession of medicine in the abstract, is based upon the hasty and 
imperfect methods by which the early and later study is pursued. 
This fault of inadequate preparation and imperfect standards does 
not apply to any particular portion, geographically, of our vast 
domain. Hurried education is a national peculiarity, as pernicious 
as it is common and unrebuked. In the second century of our 
independent existence as a free people, an obligation rests upon us 
to correct this and other defects, which have grown out of our un- 
paralleled increase in population and material resources, and the 
amazing indpendence and conceit of the American people. The 
self-confidence of the native-born citizen is characteristic and pro- 
verbial. 11 is activity in mental processes, and his physical energy, 
are alike conspicuous, and not the least of his offensive exhibitions, 
is the effrontery with which, after insufficient preparation, he 
parades his ability to do well, professional or other skilled labor, 
which only time and careful study can qualify him to perform. 
I recall something of the awe which took possession of me, and 
which nearly turned me aside from the ardor of my purpose, when 
as a comparative youth, I sat for the first time in 1845, under the 
teaching of the learned men who composed the faculty of the WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D 
Albany Medical College, all of whom, with one exception, have 
been removed by death. Perplexed as I had felt in view of acquir- 
ing sufficient familiarity with medical science to he entitled to a 
diploma, my fears grew into startling reality as the several pro- 
fessors proceeded to unfold before their classes the circumstantial 
plan of the lecture course, including the rudiments of teaching, as 
well as the ultimate truths attained by modern investigation. As a 
beginner of the study, with only crude information from text 
books, 1 sat beside the student who expected at the close of the 
term of sixteen weeks to he entitled to his diploma, and received the 
same measure of instruction which the wisdom of the faculty 
regarded as applicable in the case of my associate. I was fed with 
the same strong intellectual food administered to the advanced 
pupils who crowded around the promiscuous tables presided over 
In the dignified professors, and stranger still, I was supposed to he 
able, by an easy and natural process, mentally to digest it. Teacher 
and pupil gave, received and accepted this kind of instruction, 
which they jointly esteemed as sufficient, time-honored and practi- 
cable. I struggled, or to speak with more correctness, staggered 
on through the operation, and survived it, though I am compelled 
to admit that I become surfeited and somewhat stunted in the pro- 
cedure, which extended over a period of four lecture terms. I 
never entertained a thought, until after the lapse of years, that the 
process in education to which I had submitted, was illogical and 
impracticable, and not worthy of respect, even though it had been 
the custom and bore the sanction of the fathers in medicine. My 
convictions have acquired strength as my opportunities for observa- 
tion have increased, and I repeat, emphatically, the declaration with 
which 1 opened my remarks, that the hold and radical stand taken 
by the faculty of this college in grading the course of medical in- 
struction, is evidence of reform, which will finally be accepted as 
the true basis and standard of teaching in all the schools of the 
country. 
1 am reminded in this connection of the intense interest which 
discriminating alienists have recently taken in the early and late 
effects of mental strain beyond the limits of the juvenile framework 
to hear. The testimony of the most astute reasoners and teachers 
in the departments of psychological enquiry, is steadily increasing 
our knowledge in respect to the dangers of undue cerebral activity, 
incurred at the expense'of general physical impairment. As your 26 
AN ADDRESS. 
opportunities for observation increase, you will be made familiar 
with illustrations in support of this declaration. The enervated 
girl in the grammar-school department of instruction, whose 
average of acquirements runs higher, while her standard of physical 
growth and perfection as steadily declines, affords a common exam- 
ple of the pernicious influence of forced intellectual cultivation. I 
doubt not you have had your drooping enei'gies as school children 
spurred into activity by an enthusiastic teacher, to emulate the 
quickness and brilliancy of a favorite pupil, whose minimum of 
success far exceeded the best efforts of his less morbid but more 
naturally balanced companions. By comparison with such an 
abnormal youth, you have been shamed into utter self-abasement, 
and have lamented the exceeding dullness of your mental powers, 
as if they were permitted only a feeble gleam of illumination, 
while to the gifted child seemed to he vouchsafed a radiance of light 
and promise. But recall the end of the precocious hoy, and you 
will remember it as one of blasted hopes and designs and unfulfilled 
expectations. The great tension exercised upon the mental faculties 
at last and naturally relax, and because of lack of control and direc- 
tion, the outgrowth of gradual development, founded upon and 
associated with physical conformity, the purposes of the individual 
become weak, vacillating and disconnected. Professional pursuits, 
the outcome of unceasing training commenced in childhood, and 
continued through a collegiate and special preparatory course, 
intensified by competitive examinations, are rendered in some in- 
stances wholly inoperative in consequence of the mental enfeeble- 
ment which attends the consummation of the process. As Dr. 
Clifford Allhut has forcibly expressed his convictions on this subject, 
in the first number of the “ Brain,” just issued, “ How many of us 
know that quiet friend, unnoted by the many and unfelt by the 
world; whose powers of assimilating knowledge are great, whose 
intellect is capacious, and whose accomplishments are manifold, hut 
whose nerve currents are of low and inconstant tension! He finishes 
no work, he fathoms no research, and he dies leaving hut the memory 
of great powers wasted.” 
It is a pardonable conceit which medical and other graduates ac- 
quire, that, clothed with authority, they possess peculiar aptitude for 
the discharge of the duties which appertain to their vocation. The 
theories in medicine are so fascinating, the written descriptions of 
disease so accurate, diagnosis so proven and established, and the ap- WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D. 
plication of remedies so natural and opposite, that it appears as if 
the sick room furnished an enjoyable opportunity for the display of 
skill and knowledge, and of the higher privileges which indicate 
love to man. This illusion, my friends, will prove of longer or 
shorter duration, as you slowly or more rapidly find your way into 
practice. Eventually it will entirely disappear. You are provided 
at this stage of your training with powers of observation, cultivated 
to a certain extent, under judicious teaching, which will need to he 
elaborated, as time and occasion give opportunity for their exercise. 
As you have profited much or little by the advantages at your dis- 
posal in the college course, you will find your road* easily or more 
slowly and by pains-taking methods, to an elucidation of the princi- 
ples of medical sciences, as applied to hed-side experience. Medi- 
cine, regarded as a whole, embraces scientific and practical studies, 
considerations and results. Scientific medicine includes an understand- 
ing of the causes that relate to the accession and continuance of disease, 
the progress of recovery and the application of remedies. The use of 
remedies implies something more than the employment of therapeu- 
tical agents. It comprehends disease as influenced by age, sex, color, 
occupation, inheritance and the thousand immediate surroundings of 
the patient. Scientific medicine reaches back to ultimate causes in the 
production of disease, and forward to the innumerable agencies which 
tend toward recovery. It appreciates the laws which govern the 
maintenance of health and the results which proceed from their 
violation. The ends by which the penalty of their infraction are 
counteracted, in countless detail, appertain to the department of 
practical medicine. Scientific and practical medicine are so nearly 
allied, that they accompany the physician hand in hand in his every 
day employment. One cannot he separated from the other without 
disturbing the harmony which preserves the fair proportions of 
medical science. Such disseverment is like the forcible removal 
from the body of a limb, by which the beauty of the image of the 
maker is forever destroyed. And yet, however humiliating the 
confession may prove to be, the fact is undisputed, that some among 
the members of the profession to which you have this day been 
admitted, ate practitioners of practical medicine merely, to the 
neglect, from first to last, of the cultivation of the higher and pro- 
gressive ranges of scientific inquiry. Such men are perfunctory 
dispensers of therapeutical agents. They walk in the shadow of 
others, and though they may and do acquire the confidence of 28 
AN ADDRESS. 
people to whom they render service in the capacity of family phy- 
sician, they are limited in resources, have no originality, and are 
confined within the narrow circle of personal experience. It may 
be said of them also, that ceasing to be students on entering practice, 
their experience is founded upon insufficient and erroneous knowl- 
edge, which uniformly deteriorates for want of cultivation. They 
read no books, subscribe for no journals, avoid the society of physi- 
cians, and frequently decline to be associated with their colleagues 
in medical organizations. In some instances, on the contrary, they 
are dilligent attendants at medical meetings, although contributing 
no papers and taking little part in discussions, and maintain a certain 
questionable standing with the brotherhood, and acquire informa- 
tion by association with representative members of the profession. 
A physician of much local reputation, whom I had often met in 
consultation, and to whom I suggested, in a case of serious disease, 
a specific plan of treatment, based upon the researches of dis- 
tinguished observers, which had obtained wide publicity in the 
journals, disclaimed all information on the subject. To my inquiry, 
“ Have you not seen this matter a good deal discussed of late in the 
prints?” replied “No, the fact is I am not now taking any medical 
journal!” I dare say that had been the fact for years, as the book- 
shelves in his neglected office, aside from his frank confession, 
emptily testified. I venture to relate another item of experience, 
to show, in part, that the aspersion cast upon the profession, to 
which I have alluded, that physicians of inferior quality naturally 
gravitate to obscure places, is without foundation in truth. A phy- 
sician for forty years had pursued his peaceful labors in a small 
country village. His practice carried him night and day, and always 
willingly, over a wide extent of rough country. His patrons were 
chieflv poor and illiterate people, and his reward consisted princi- 
pally in relieving their sufferings, as he received little or no com- 
pensation for his services. His heart was amplified and satisfied by 
the consciousness of doing good, and his intellectual powers were of 
a rare and perfectly consistent order. Mingling with people of 
inferior character, he never acquired their habits of speech or de- 
portment, but maintained his natural dignity and simplicity of 
manner and conversation. He condescended to persons of low 
estate with such ease and naturalness as to create no feeling of 
jealousy, and went in and out among them with cheei fulness and 
alacrity, as if filled with the high purpose he was commissioned to WILLIAM C. WEY, M. 
29 
accomplish. With small leisure and no worldly resources, he 
studied the classics and communed with the sages and philosophers 
of Greece and Rome. He made himself familiar with modern 
languages, with history, science, biography and poetry, and kept 
steady pace with the progress made in his own profession. He 
organized a church, became one of its officers and chief patrons, 
though a poor man, and often officiated in the sacred desk as a lay 
reader. He interested himself in schools, served in the capacity of 
trustee, and regarded the pupils and their interests with all the 
tenderness of a parent devoted to the welfare of his children. He 
was artless and simple-minded, yet comprehensive in thought, and 
when quickened and opposed in argument, his strength and subtlety 
of logic made him an antagonist with trenchant weapons. His 
knowledge of scientific medicine schooled him in diagnostic excel- 
lence, and rendered him judicious and reliable in dispensing rem- 
edies. His success in all the functions which devolve upon a 
country practitioner was such as would have brought fame to a 
pretentious or ambitious man. To him it brought only modest 
contentment, and as one year followed another, the same ceaseless 
round of duties. He was singularly adapted to his position; as the 
poet Cowper has expressed the sentiment:— 
“ Some must be great. Great offices will have 
Great talents. Aud God gives to every man 
The virtue, temper, understanding, taste, 
That lifts him into life, and lets him fall 
Just in the niche he was ordained to fill.” 
My friend was occasionally absent-minded, as the incident I am 
about to mention will show. It also shows his manner of acquiring 
knowledge under difficulties; difficulties they would have been to 
other men, but not to him, which I offer for your edification. 
Calling at my office one day, he found me engaged in reading a 
little work on the cryptogamous origin of fevers. As I related to 
him the views of the author, he became interested in the subject, 
and expressed a desire to examine the volume, which was immedi- 
ately placed in his hands. In a few weeks the doctor returned the 
book, which had evidently* by some mischance, been immersed in 
water, as the cover was loosened, the leaves matted together and 
the print defaced. An explanation, he said, was called for con- 
cerning the condition of the book, which he was occupied in read- 
ing, as he rode in his sulky to visit a patient, and he had not 
observed that a sudden shower had occurred, until the leaves had AN ADDRESS. 
become so wet he could not turn them over. I have preserved the 
volume as an interesting sketch of a rejected notion of disease, 
which displays on its pages, in the form of fungus germs, the in- 
genious theory of the author, besides recalling a characteristic habit 
of the doctor. 
The way lies open before you, my friends, to become true 
disciples of scientific medicine, or to sink your functions to the in- 
ferior plane of routine practitioners. If you make this auspicious 
occasion the beginning of careful study, and seek dilligently and 
conscientiously to discharge the obligations which will press upon 
you at every step of your progress, you will acquire habits of 
observation and penetrating investigation, which will continue and 
increase as years, responsibilities and honors gather over you. 
Make books, journals and medical societies efficient instruments to 
aid you in this great work. Disregarding such agencies, your 
mental vision will become circumscribed, your usefulness restricted, 
and the esteem of your patrons and of the people generally will 
sensibly decline. Popular sentiment, often faulty, is usually correct 
in its judgment of medical men. The occupation in which you are 
to engage will subject you to much of watchfulness and criticism. 
In a large sense you are to be public men, not private citizens 
merely, and your speech and acts will be weighed and measured 
with as searching exactitude as if you were being tried by a jury 
for some offense against the peace of the Commonwealth. Before 
this tribunal of popular opinion you will be approved or con- 
demned. Whether you sustain yourselves or fail to win favor, 
responsibility for the result lies entirely with you. The study of 
your cases, even those of a common and trivial character, should 
constitute a portion of your daily employment. There is no display 
of morbid phenomena, however common-place, which is not worthy 
of observation, and if you evince familiarity with subjects of minor 
importance, you will readily and naturally acquire information con- 
cerning those of greater magnitude. One idea above all others 
needs to be impressed upon you at this time, and that is to make 
the study, the hard study of medicine the»chief object of your lives, 
be they long or short. The years of pupilage constitute a period 
of preparation for the never-ending engagements of scientific in- 
vestigation. All that you have thus far accomplished as students 
makes you worthy of license, simply of license, to continne a course 
of practical study, which shall terminate only with age and mental WILLIAM C. WEY, M. D. 
31 
infirmity, or with final rest from labor. Bear in mind the words of 
Sidney Smith: “ It is no more possible for an idle man to keep 
together a stock of knowledge than it is possible to keep together 
a stock of ice exposed to the meridian. Every day destroys a fact, 
a relation, or an influence, and the only method of preserving the 
hulk and value of the pile is.by occasionally adding to it.” 
Temptation is afforded to relax into habits of indifference in re- 
spect to the higher demands of professional life, if an individual 
is disposed to murmur because of the tardiness of his advancement. 
It is evidently easy for some to abandon the study of medicine, 
though in the way of promotion, and endowed with talents which 
give encouragement of intellectual superiority and professional suc- 
cess. Love of study is natural or acquired. If natural it may 
decline for want of stimulation, while on the contrary, when 
acquired by diligence and the exercise of indomitable will, it may 
he encouraged to produce the most gratifying results. As 1 have 
shown, without affiliating intercourse, the higher ranges of investi- 
gation may he reached and mastered, in the midst of engrossing 
professional employment. If I should search for an illustration of 
knowledge accpiired under the most adverse circumstances of daily 
toil, harsh and unsympathetic treatment, the absence of methods 
and facilities in the form of preparatory education, including text 
hooks and manuals, and absolute isolation from congenial society, I 
would point to Thomas Edward, the Scotch naturalist, the events 
of whose life have been felicitously portrayed by the hand of 
Samuel Smiles. A God-given genuis was bestowed upon Edward, 
which poverty, a scantily rewarded occujjation, and lack of educa- 
tional advantages, failed to repress. Notwithstanding these and 
other obstacles, and without ambition, as the word is commonly 
used, by sheer power of will, which never for an instant flagged, 
Edward was raised to commanding distinction among the scientific 
men of Great Britain, and in the evening of his days receives the 
homage of learned men throughout the world, and the favor and 
bounty of his Sovereign. If at any time you languish and become 
despondent over unrequited study and preparation, in the profession 
of your choice, as you wait for recognition and employment, read 
the life of Thomas Edward, and instead of growing weary and 
faint by the way, you will catch inspiration from the example of 
that wonderful man, and press on to the realization of the hopes 
and purposes which are this day forshadowed in your career. 32 
AN ADDRESS. 
Remember, as the cares of practice increase, that the busy men 
in our profession, whose days and nights are spent in the discharge 
of duty, are those chiefly, whose contributions to science are the 
most constant, as well as the most valuable. The man of compara- 
tive leisure is an indolent, as he is a procrastinating man. Pro- 
fessional activity suggests investigation and research, and uninter- 
mitting labor is favorable to the development of the higher functions 
of the intellectual being. Remember, also, that your fealty is first 
to your profession, as long as you remain active workers in it, and 
he not distracted by the allurements and the emptiness of social life 
and political ambition. The first, if it draws you from professional 
interests, leads to leanness of mind, and the last to moral dearth and 
decay. A gulf as wide as that which separated Lazarus from Dives 
lies between the true physician and office-seeker and the office- 
maker. The caucus is as incompatible with professional propriety 
as poolselling, and not a particle more scrupulous. A political 
physician should be held in such low esteem that he can find no 
fraternization with his colleagues of more elevated ethical appre- 
ciation of duty. 
Finally, my friends, keep yourselves in the lines of good 
citizenship. Let your example be worthy of imitation before men. 
Fear God; honor the constituted authorities. So deport yourselves 
in the profession that no attractions, no abatement of force or influ- 
ence because of the fascination of extraneous occupation, shall divert 
you from the pursuit which this day so invitingly opens before you. 
Thus you will reap the reward which proceeds from self-denying 
devotion to the exacting duties of legitimate medicine, and that 
higher commendation which will be awarded you for having served 
the Master, through humble service rendered his suffering children. COLLEGE OF MEDICINE 
OF 
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 
JOHN TOWLEK.M. D., Professor ot Chemistry 
and Toxicology. 
FREDERICK HYDE, M. D.,Professor of Prin- 
ciples and Practice of Surgery. 
HENRY D. DIDAMA, M. D , Principles and 
Practice of M dieine and Clinical Medicine. 
NELSON NIVISON, M. D , Professor of Physi- 
ology, Pathology and Hygiene. 
JOHN VAN DUYN, M. D., Professor of Gene- 
ral, Special and Surgical Anatomy. 
CHARLES E. RIDER, M. D . Professor ol 
Ophthalmology and Otology. 
HARVEY B. WILBUR, M. D., Lecturer on 
Insanity. 
FACULTY. 
WILFRED W PORTER. M. D.. Professoi of 
Obstetrics and Diseases of Women. 
WILLIAM T. PLANT, M. D., Professor of 
Clinical and Forensic Medicine, and 
Diseases of Children. 
ROGER W. PEASE, M. D„ Professor ot Opera- 
tive and Clinical Surgery. 
ALFRED MERCER, M. D., Professor of Minor 
and Clinical Surgery. 
J. OTIS BURT, M, D , Professor of Materia 
Medica and Therapeutics. 
WM. MANLIUS SMITH, M. D.. Professor of 
Medical Chemistry and Botany. 
J. VV. KNAPP, M. D.. 
Demonstrator of Anatomy. 
DAVID M. TOT.MAN, M. D., 
Instructor in Physiology. 
I5RACE W. LOOMIS. M. D., 
Instructor In Histology. 
J. G. JUSTIN, M. D.. 
•Instructor in Chemistry. 
G. U. METCALF, M. D., 
Instructor in Materia Metlica. 
Experience having shown it to be impossible to present even the essentials of medi- 
cine in a series of lectures extending through four or five months, the course in this 
school has been graded and extended. 
The College Year begins on the drst Thursday in October, and ends on the second 
Thursday in June. It is divided into two terms, nearly equal in length. There :s a 
vacation of two weeks between the terms. 
The studies are divided into those of the first, the second and the third years. 
Lst Tear Studies—Anatomy; Physiology; General Chemistry; Histology and 
Botany. 
2d Tear Studies—Continuation of Anatomy and Physiology ; Medical Chem- 
istry ; Matbria Medica; Practice; Surgery; Clinical Medicine and Surgery. 
3d Tear Studies—Materia Medica; Practice; Surgery; Clinical Medicine and 
Surgery; Obstetrics; Diseases of Children; Forensic Medicine; Gynecology and 
Ophthalmology. 
Students of the first year are taught the use of the Microscope and practical His- 
tology, and receive a thorough course in Analytical Chemistry. 
To students of the second and third years, all necessary facilities for clinical in- 
struction are afforded by two good hospitals and the College Dispensary. 
This school makes no distinction as to sex. Women and men receive precisely the 
same instruction. The system of co-education has been pursued since the school was 
organized with results that fully warrant its continuance. 
Examinations are frequent and thorough. Students who join the school for the 
regular course are examined as to their qualifications for the study of medicines unless 
they present evidence of scholarship from some creditable source. At the end of the 
second year, final examinations are given in Anatomy, Physiology and Chemistry. 
Students at home or in an office who may desire to join our second year, will come 
prepared for examination on the bones and muscles in Anatomy; on nutrition, in 
Dalton’s Physiology; and on the inorganic part of Attfleld’s Chemistry. 
$3T"Students who do not intend to become candidates for the degree, may be re- 
ceived at any time and make their own choice of studies. 
Requirements for Graduation.—Twenty-one years of age; good character; 
three full years of medical study; one continuous year at this school, and satisfactory 
examinations. Thesis not required. 
FEES A1VD EXPENSES. 
For Graduation $25 00 
Ovinoiifutrator’s Fee 5 00 
For Matriculation $ 5 00 
Tuition for the Fear 100 00 
For either Term alone 05 00 
Tho foe for the third year to students who have fully paid for the first and second 
years will be $50.00. 
Students in the Chemical Laboratory will be charged $5.00 per Term for Laboratory 
expenses. 
Students not in the regular course, receiving instruction in one or two branches, 
re charged, after matriculation, $18.00 per Term for a single study. 
H Board may be obtained for $3.50 and upwards. 
For other information, address the Registrar., % 
WM. T. PLANT, M. D., Syracuse, IN. Y.