the; 
CHAIR OF SURGERY 
IN 
RUSK MKDICAU COUUKGE. 
SENN. The Chair of Surgery in Rush 
Medical College. 
N. SENN, M.D., Ph.D., 
BY 
OF CHICAGO. 
PROFESSOR OF SURGERY IN RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE; ATTENDING 
SURGEON PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL. 
Introductory Address delivered before the Class, April u, 1891. 
Reprinted from “ The Journal of the American Medical 
Association,” April 25, 1891. 
CHICAGO : 
Printed at the Office of the Association. 
tSqi. THE CHAIR OF SURGERY IN RUSH 
MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
Within the short space of four years ruthless 
death has twice vacated the Chair of Surgery in 
this college. On both of these sad occasions the 
faculty, students and alumnse felt that an irrepar- 
able loss had been sustained. To fill the Chair 
of Surgery made vacant by the death of men who 
have distinguished themselves in their profession 
by honest scientific work, and have endeared 
themselves to their colleagues and students as 
exemplary and masterly teachers is by no means 
an easy task, hence the anxious inquiries from all 
sides and everywhere: Who shall be the suc- 
cessor? Who shall continue the work left unfin- 
ished? Rush Medical College has always been 
justly proud of its Chair of Surgery. Its founder 
was a surgeon of world-wide repute, and there 
can be no doubt that from its very beginning the 
men who have occupied this chair have been the 
great magnet which has attracted an increasing 
number of students from year to year. lam not 
saying too much, if I make the claim, that the 
Chair of Surgery in this school, with the immense 
clinics attached to it, stand to-day, in the estima- 
tion of the profession and the people, second to 
none in this country. 
The faculty of this college has entrusted me 
with the work commenced by the immortal Brain- 
ard, the work so faithfully and ably conducted by 4 
the genial and scholarly Gunn, the work brought 
up to the present immense proportions and impor- 
tance through the heroic labors of Parkes, whose 
untimely death is now the cause of universal sor- 
row. To be chosen as successor of such men should 
satisfy the goal of ambition of any man. To be 
the fourth in a genealogy of a group of such sur- 
geons in the oldest and most famous institution for 
medical education in the great Northwest is a mark 
of distinction which I fully appreciate, and which I 
shall make a faithful endeavor to merit by earnest 
devotion to the duties imposed, and by contribut- 
ing my humble share towards making this great 
city what it surely will be in less than twenty- 
five years—the most important medical centre in 
the United States. 
Brainard, the founder of this institution and 
the first occupant of the Chair of Surgery, was a 
great surgeon, a gifted teacher, and an original 
investigator. His giant intellect was not content 
in acquiring, practicing and teaching what was 
known at his time, but sought new fields for ex- 
ploration, and the knowledge thus gained was 
freely infused into his students. Brainard’s work 
in the field of experimental surgery brought him 
an international fame, and his name will be 
quoted as long as books on surgery will be printed. 
His work has not only left numerous permanent 
impressions in surgical literature, but it created 
a stimulus which took possession of his students 
and the progressive surgeons throughout the civ- 
ilized world, leading them away from the old 
well-beaten paths into new, unexplored territories 
awaiting the advance column of original explorers. 
It is difficult to estimate the importance and mag- 
nitude of his work in this direction, but hundreds 
of his students scattered all over this country still 
remain living witnesses of his zeal, industry and 5 
ability as a surgeon, teacher and scientist. They 
are to be envied for having received their first sur- 
gical knowledge from one of the greatest, and 
certainly from the most original surgeon that 
America has yet produced. 
Professor Gunn assumed a responsible position 
when he succeeded Brainard. That the faculty 
acted wisely in securing his services has been 
abundantly shown by his marvellous success as a 
teacher and the ever-increasing prosperity of the 
college under his watchful eye and judicious 
guidance. Gunn loved this institution dearly 
and jealously watched its interests. He was more 
than a friend of every one of its graduates. He 
was not only familiar with the current surgical 
literature but also added his share of original sci- 
entific work. His love for original research 
seemed to increase as he grew older. His contri- 
butions to our knowledge of the mechanism of 
dislocations were the outcome of patient experi- 
mental work and philosophical reasoning, and 
mark a decided advance in this important depart- 
ment of surgery. His last paper on this subject 
is a masterly product and should be in the hands 
of every student, as it is a genuine multum inparvo, 
containing all essential facts pertaining to this 
difficult chapter in surgery in a nutshell. Athough 
the faculty, the students, and every graduate felt 
keenly the great loss sustained by the death of 
Professor Gunn the action of the faculty was 
plain in the selection of his successor. Professor 
Gunn made ample provision to meet such an 
emergency during the whole time he was con- 
nected with the college. He selected and trained 
his own successor. The late Professor Parkes 
was well aware of this fact and made the best of 
his excellent opportunities. For fifteen years he 
taught anatomy with an enthusiam and ability 6 
unsurpassed in this or any other country. Under 
his tuition thousands of students learned to re- 
gard the study of anatomy as a pleasant and 
profitable pastime instead of an uninteresting 
drudgery, as is so often the case when taught by 
one less skilled and conversant with his subject; 
and left the college perfectly familiar with the 
essential basis of a thorough knowledge of sur- 
gery. During all this time Parkes was the right- 
hand of his teacher of surgery, master and stu- 
dent assisting and stimulating each other in their 
respective work. How well he had prepared 
himself for his life-work is shown by his short, 
but brilliant career as professor of surgery. His 
accurate knowledge of anatomy combined with 
his familiarity with modern surgery made him a 
brilliant and successful operator. His skill as a 
surgeon was soon recognized and was eagerly 
sought for far and near. His success as a sur- 
geon has made this clinic what it is to-day, one 
of the largest and most profitable on the contin- 
ent. As a teacher few equalled, none surpassed 
him. Dike his predecessors, Parkes was not only 
a distinguished surgeon and great teacher, but 
also an enthusiastic, faithful worker in the field 
of original research. His valuable experimental 
investigations on the surgical treatment of pene- 
trating gunshot wounds of the abdomen have 
laid the foundation for the rational treatment of 
these injuries for all time to come. His experi- 
mental and clinical contributions in this depart- 
ment of surgery have erected a monument to his 
memory more enduring than marble and more 
precious than bronze. 
His untimely death is surrounded by halos of 
peculiarly sad and distressing circumstances. The 
cold hand of death touched him in the prime of life. 
The final message reached him at a time when he 7 
was just beginning to reap a well-earned abun- 
dant harvest, and when in full view of a profes- 
sional career unparalleled in usefulness and pros- 
perity. His pen dropped from his busy hand 
after he had nearly completed what promised to 
be a most interesting and valuable work on ab- 
dominal surgery. His work as a teacher came 
to a sudden end near the close of the session and 
just before the Commencement exercises at which 
one of the largest and best classes left the portals 
of Rush Medical College in deep mourning over 
the loss of their favorite and most esteemed 
teacher. His restless soul departed from this 
world in the absence of his family, and the last 
moments of his life were not cheered by words of 
love and parting kisses from those nearest and 
dearest to him. 
The life of Professor Parkes furnishes a strik- 
ing illustration of what can be accomplished in a 
little more than half a life-time by well-directed, 
hard study; close application to professional 
duties and unremitting work in search of new 
facts. In appearing before you as his successor, 
I am free to confess that it is with a keen appre- 
ciation of my many shortcomings. In resuming 
the work as a teacher of surgery in this institu- 
tion, lam encouraged by the prospects that I 
shall, in the near future, be joined in my work by 
an associate, a surgeon of more than National 
reputation. If the combined work of both of us 
shall accomplish for the college and students 
what was done by Brainard, Gunn and Parkes 
my ambition and expectation will have been re- 
alized. I have left a lucrative practice, a pleas- 
ant home, a large circle of professional and 
social relations, a prospering, wide-awake State, 
and a beautiful city, and have come here to de- 
vote the balance of my life to the interests and 8 
welfare of this college and its students. I am 
fully conscious of the fact that I am coming at 
a time when the methods of teaching are under- 
going a radical change. In the future recitations 
will largely take the place of didactic lectures. 
Text-books will be written with this special end 
in view. This comparatively new method of 
teaching surgery will be made a prominent fea- 
ture during the next and all subsequent sessions. 
This new departure will necessarily change some- 
what the plan and scope of clinical teaching. It 
is my intention to carefully arrange and classify 
the available clinical material in my department 
which will enable me to combine didactic with 
clinical instruction. This change will result in a re- 
duction of the number of cases brought before the 
class, but will prevent unnecessary repetition, and 
thus save more time for the study and examination 
of pathological lesions, which will be a sufficient 
inducement for the students to attend every clinic, 
take full notes of what they see and hear and 
to remain from beginning to end. May God 
grant that the work entrusted to me and my 
colleague may be worthy of our predecessors, 
and equally efficient in relieving suffering human- 
ity, in advancing the interests and increasing the 
sphere of usefulness of this college, and finally, 
in giving to its students a thorough knowledge 
of the science and art of surgery.