VALEDICTORY ADDRESS 
TO THE 
GRADUATING CLASS 
or THK 
HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE 
OF MISSOURI, 
E. C. FRANKLIN, M. D , Professor of Surgery. 
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT DR. LODGE’S IIOMCEOPATHIO PHARMACY. 
18UG. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS 
To tie Graduating Class of the Homoeopathic Medical College of Mis.socri, by E. C. 
FRANKLIN, M. D., Professor of Surgery 
Gentlemen:—The occasion upon which L have the pleasure of 
addressing you may seem to be one of simple occurrence, possessing no 
great amount of either novelty or importance; and yet the act I now 
perform, of delivering a valedictory, terminating the fourth course of 
regular lectures in this College, may prove of great value in the 
new relations you have this day assumed, as co-laborers in the great 
work of medical progress. 
Upon me devolves the honorable duty of welcoming you, in behalf 
of the Trustees and Faculty of the Homoeopathic College of Missouri, 
into the ranks of that time-honored profession, wherein you have put 
off the garb of the student, and put on the more dignified and 
responsible attire of Doctors in Medicine. The relations existing 
between us hitherto as teacher and pupils have ceased, and you now 
stand before the world accredited with all the rights and privileges 
of medical men, co-equal with all, inferior to noue ; clothed with 
authority from the State of Missouri to act your part in the great 
drama of life, as ministers to suffering humanity. The position is 
one that calls forth renewed energy and unceasing application in the 
practice of that, profession which has performed such an important 
part in the regeneration of the world. The life of the medical man 
is one continuous battle to counteract the life-invading influences 
that men raise against each other. 
Amid the conflict of civil war that has swept o’er our fair land 
like the poisonous blasts of the sirocco, distracting the home circle, 
severing social tics, and impoverishing the accumulated wealth of 
thousands, we have seen the medical man toiling and laboring, amid 
privation, disease and death, that he might garner new aids where- 
with to enrich the store-house of medical knowledge. 
Whether upon the gory battle-field, or in the peaceful pursuits of 
life, the aim of medical science has ever been to regain for man his 
lost primeval inheritance, “ before the fall brought ruin on our race,” 
when God said, showing him animate and inanimate nature, “ have 
dominion.” To sustain and advance this science, medical schools 
have been instituted, and the curriculum of study, from time to time, 
has been largely increased. If I desired to furnish an example of 4 
the progressing genius of medicine, and the efficiency and attainment 
that has marked its energetic pursuit of truth amid all the trials that 
clog the wheels of progress, I would point to the present state of the 
science, and compare it with that of a century ago, before the genius 
of Hahnemann gave birth to the eternal law—“ Similia similibus 
curantur” The multiplication of homoeopathic colleges within the 
past quarter of a century, is the amplest evidence of the growth and 
extension of this great improvement in medicine. The increasing 
popularity attending the dissemination of its principles in the refined 
and cultivated classes of society, the success of its practice, even 
amid the bitter and relentless persecution heaped upon it by the 
advocates of that “ slow coach ” sect that have always opposed pro- 
gress in medicine, proves conclusively 
“ That truth is precious, if not all divine, 
And what dilates the powers, must needs refine.” 
In every course of human action there must be a movement to 
he development of good or evil, and when elements of error lurk 
in any system, a mere careless, thoughtless manner, in carrying that 
system forward, favors the bias in a wrong direction by merely neg- 
lecting the impulse towards the right. Giving all honor due to the 
general character of our noble profession, to the unwearied philan- 
thropv, the energetic pursuit of truth in all its branches, and to the 
patient, progressive struggle in the path of duty, unallured by bril- 
liant prizes, it must be conceded by all, that much attainable improve- 
ment yet remains, before we may hope to witness its utmost limit of 
perfection. Influenced by such motives, encouraged and sustained 
in our laborious career in elaborating and perfecting this compara- 
tively new system of medicine, there is presented a theme of the 
deepest interest, not only to the co-laborers in this field of medical 
progress, but to all who become objects of its professional care.* That 
you may become competent to act well your part in elevating and 
perfecting this improvement in medical science, it is proper that you 
receive a thorough course of medical education. Not that species of 
instruction that merely stores the memory with barely sufficient infor- 
mation for the day of trial, but that clear and comprehensive know- 
ledge, that promises the highest qualification for a future responsible 
and brilliant career of duty. This depends not only upon the 
,-principles which form the basis of a thorough course of medical 
instruction, but the spirit in which that instruction is received, by 
those who seek to pass the portals of the profession. Keeping well 
their faith towards you, and appreciating the zeal and enthusiasm 5 
you have manifested in availing yourselves of the advantages of this 
institution, the Trustees and Faculty of the Homoeopathic College of 
Missouri have added increased facilities for the acquirement of a 
systematic and scientific medical education. In addition to the 
advantages already secured, of a regular medical course by a corps 
of earnest and competent teachers, actively engaged in imparting the 
principles of their respective chairs, and the clinical teachings that 
have been presented in the wards of the Good Samaritan, Post and 
Freedman’s hospitals, and the daily clinics held at the college dis- 
pensary, they have inaugurated a summer course of lectures for the 
purpose of clinical and didactic teaching. This summer term will 
commence on the first of May and continue to the 4th day of October, 
when the regular course begins. The objects which originated this 
additional course of instruction, and which will continue for the ben- 
efit of all who seek to increase their fund of medical knowledge, are 
found in the development of the great resources afforded though the 
hospitals and public charities of this city, and the complete applica- 
tion of 'these resources to the various branches of medical instruction. 
The plan is, to combine to the fullest extent the clinical and didactic 
methods of teaching, not devoting especial attention to the one at the 
expense of the other, but aiming to give the utmost practicable 
extension to both. This has been effected by engrafting the teachings 
of this medical college upon the privileges afforded by the hospitals 
already in existence, and through which are afforded more abundant 
facilities than any other homoeopathic college in the country, where 
this system is not adopted. The Professors in all the practical 
branches taught in this University, are visiting physicians, surgeons 
and obstetricians in the hospitals alluded to, and the practice of 
medicine and surgery, will be amply illustrated by cases in the Hos- 
pital, immediately following their consideration in the lecture room. 
In addition to the opportunities already presented, the Professor of 
Surgery will familiarize students in the use of cutting instruments, 
and cause them to perform all important operations on the cadaver 
under his immediate supervision, thus giving them confidence and 
dexterity in the use of surgical means for the relief of the living. 
To the graduating class, the Professor of Obstetrics will furnish cases 
of midwifery, and practically indoctrinate them in the mechanism of 
parturition. 
During the past session, clinical instruction has been given three 
times a week in the Dispensary connected with the College building, 
and increased opportunities for instructive observations have been 6 
afforded you during the occasional hours not otherwise devoted to 
study. Superadded to all these advantages, you have enjoyed unusual 
facilities for the study of practical anatomy, and material in abundance 
has been furnished by the Demonstrator to enable you to perfect 
yourselves in anatomical knowledge and the lesions of pathology. 
Here let me observe that with all these advantages—to make your 
object real—your aim and purpose that of attaining the highest possible 
degree of perfection in your chosen profession, it is incumbent upon 
you to continue laboring earnestly and incessantly, gathering facts 
wherever presented, to increase the store of knowledge you have 
already acquired; co-workers in perfecting the immutable principle 
inculcated through the guidance of the immortal founder of our sys- 
tem of medical faith, let me invoke you, when leaving these halls of 
learning to battle alone in the great strife for professional excellence, 
never to loose sight of the cardinal principles taught in your alma 
mater, but apply yourselves diligently and faithfully to the triumphant 
working out of this progressive system of medical treatment. The 
perfection of medical acquirement to be realized from the opportunities 
you have enjoyed—the adoption of a high standard of medical ethics, 
and the practice of increased refinement in manners, both professional 
and social, in your contact with the world at large, tends to exalt the 
true dignity of the profession, extend its usefulness in society, and 
sustain its position in the social scale. 
It has been frequently remarked, especially by the uninformed, 
that medicine, as a science,has not progressed in a ratio corresponding 
with the collateral sciences. That the assertion is not well-founded, 
we have only to examine the great eras in civilization, when we will 
discover that, as a science, medicine has progressed pari passu with 
the advancement of the physical sciences generally. While society 
has been steadily progressing with the aid of various improvements, 
and civilization has been pushing continually onwards, medicine has 
contributed her full share in this advancement. 
The researches of Mendini, Silvius, Beranger and Versalius in 
the then hidden mysteries of anatomy, and the unfolding of the 
arcana of man’s physical nature, were coeval with the great discov- 
eries that reflected such renown upon the expedition of Columbus 
and successive navigators. Servetus broke the shackles that tram- 
melled the car of medical progress, when he demonstrated the errors 
and absurdities of the physiology of Galen, at the same time when Coper- 
nicus discovered tne errors of the Ptolemaic astronomy. Harvey, 
who demonstrated the circulation of the blood, and expounded the 7 
course of tho vital fluid through the body, was a cotemporary with 
Galileo, who discovered the movements of the earth and planets 
around tho sun. Ilaller, who wrought out his ingenious theory of tho 
laws and special forces of life, lived only a short period after Newton, 
who discovered the law of gravitation, and the principle that regu- 
lates the movements of the heavenly bodies. Hahnemann, who 
elaborated his theory of the dynamization of remedies and their 
correspondencies in disease and in health, subverting the errors and 
crudities of poly-pharmacy, and investing the Materia Mediea with 
the pure light of science, lived about the same period when Fulton 
applied the power of steam to ocean vessels, and joined the two 
Continents together. Morten, the discoverer of anaesthesia, which 
has deprived Surgery of its horror—the mind, under the most pain- 
ful infliction of the knife, being as blissful as if wandering in 
elysian fields—was a cotemporary with Morse, who invented tho 
electric telegraph. 
Thus, in all ages, has the science of medicine kept pace with the 
rapid strides of the collateral sciences. The progress in medicine is 
not only in the structural knowledge of the system—the laws that 
govern life—but the development of additional resources in the treat- 
ment of disease, supplanting the heroic by the milder power that 
subdues. The scourges that formerly terrified nations, leaving in 
their track despair, desolation and death, have been shorn of their 
terrors by the timely aid of medical science. The ravages and destruc- 
tion of the loathsome small-pox, which in England alone carried off 
over 100,000 human beings in its deadly embrace, have succumbed 
to the brilliant discovery of Jenner’s similia, vaccination. That ter- 
rible scourge of man Cholera, which has almost decimated the human 
family, originating from the marshes and jungles in India, marching 
through valley and over hill-top; now devastating cities with its 
poisonous breath, and anon desolating the fertile plains of the hus- 
bandman—now climbing o’er mountain range—then spanning the 
great oceans of commerce, strewing its pathway with the dead and 
dying, has been stripped of its venom by the potent spell of similia. 
Before Homoeopathy pushed its investigations into the arcana of this 
dreaded disease and established the remedies for its cure, nothing 
seemed competent to stay its work of death, and the malady, in its 
mad career, marched steadily onward, irresistible as doom. While 
society was almost overturned by this implacable disease, and men, 
pale with fear, fled hither and thither, they knew not where, to escape 
its ravages, a medical philosopher thus wrote: “The disease will 8 
march on, through Persia, Russia, Germany, England; cross the 
Atlantic, until it has girdled the earth ; and the remedy for Asiatic 
Cholera is camphor,” a remedy which the whole medical world has 
united in affirming to be the most, powerful agent in subduing this 
terrible disease. The name of this great benefactor of the human 
race is Samuel Hahnemann, to whom should be given the esteem of 
mankind and the homage of every true lover of his profession. 
By the blessings vouchsafed to man through the light of Homoeo- 
pathy, human life has been greatly lengthened during the past half 
century. The reports of the Parisian hospitals show that in the 
beginning of the 18th century one death occurred out of every seven 
admitted, while the mortality of the present time gives only one in 
twelve, thus showing a gain in sixty years of 71 per cent. In Eng- 
land, according to Macauley, the term of human life has been greatly 
lengthened in the whole kingdom. In France, also, according to 
Dapin, the duration of life has been greatly increased, so that nine 
and one-half years have been added to human existence in the last 
half century. In the practice of Surgery, too, statistics show that 
the saving of life exceeds by more than 35 per cent, the results of 
the last century. The returns of the Kegistrar-General of England 
show a steady and notable decrease in the ratio of mortality, from 
1838 to the present time. The decrease being in direct ratio to the 
increase of Homoeopathic physicians and the spreading of the practice. 
Whenever these two ruling systems of medicine have been tested, 
either in civil or hospital life, the result has invariably been in favor 
of the Homoeopathic practice. In the more malignant diseases, such 
as Cholera, Yellow Fever, Small-pox, Diphtheria, the more violent 
forms of phlegmasice, or the low consuming Typhus, Homoeopathy, 
when fairly tested, has gained new laurels and established itself 
among thinking, reflecting men, as the gentlest, safest and most reli- 
able system of medical treatment. In the comparative* statistics in 
Homoeopathic and Allopathic hospitals in this city, the same success- 
ful and gratifying results have been witnessed as mentioned by Mac- 
auley, the lleturns of the Begistrar-General of England and the statis- 
tics of Dapin. In civil life, too, the comparative results are equally 
important and satisfactory, proving that the decrease in mortality, as 
attested by the authorities just quoted, is fairly to be attributed to 
the gradual and increasing extension of the Homoeopathic system of 
medicine. 
* Statistics in Homoeopathic and Allopathic Hospitals, by E. C. Franklin, Surgeon Cavalry 
Depot Hospital. 9 
As still farther proof of the conclusions I have drawn, the statis. 
tics of life insurance have demostrated that longevity has been 
increased to such an extent among its policy-holders, that a special 
clause has been opened for the insurance of the patrons of Homoeo- 
pathy, at a sum ten per cent, less than the ordinary Allopathic rates. 
Thus I could adduce, without limit, proofs as strong as Holy Writ, 
showing the great superiority of this progressive system of medicine 
over its rival that boasts of “the learning and investigation of all 
time.” Hut “facts speak louder than words,” and the intelligence 
and discrimination of the people in adopting this improvement in 
medicine, in spite of the denunciations and fulsome ridicule of its 
opponents, are the surest evidences, not only of its success, but the 
high esteem in which it is held as a progressive system in medical 
science. 
Go on, therefore, Gentlemen, as you have begun, in your respon- 
sible and arduous career as progressives in the noble art of healing; 
labor diligently and faithfully; bring to the edifice of this medical 
reform, which is being reared by the disciples of Hahnemann, to 
shelter the suffering of every land, your accumulated observation and 
facts, that man’s lost inheritance may be regained and that you may 
receive the reward of good and faithful servants. ANNOUNCEMENT. 
Summer Course of Lectures to be Delivered at the Homoeopathic 
Medical College of Missouri. 
Tho Faculty of the Homoeopathic Medical College of Missouri, 
being aware that there are very many medical subjects of the highest 
import to students of medicine, which can only be imperfectly dis 
cussed in the short period of time allotted to the Winter Session, 
have, after due deliberation, determined to open the College for a 
Summer Course of lectures, in order that those who desire may 
receive the requisite instruction in these important points. 
The Summer Term will begin early in May and continue until the 
ensuing Autumn. Regular hospital instruction will be given during 
the course, and the Hospital Diploma of the College conferred upon 
those who have been constant in the attendance upon the clinics. No 
charge will be made either for the course of lectures or admission to 
the Hospitals ; the students being only required to matriculate. 
The following named are the subjects which will be taught by the 
respective Chairs: 
1. Diseases of the Skin.—T. G. Comstock, M. D. The great 
importance which attaches to Dermatology, as well as the difficulties 
of diagnosis belonging thereto, will be fully entered upon by Dr. 
Comstock, who has given the subject especial attention, both in this 
country and under the most distinguished dermatologists of Europe; 
especially Prof. Hebra of Vienna. 
2. Diseases of the Chest.—E.A.Fellerer,M.D. The most famil- 
iar as well as the more obscure diseases of the thorax will receive the 
attention of this Chair, while auscultation and percussion will be 
practically illustrated; the student being taught to discriminate 
between the nicer sounds which can only be appreciated by the prac- 
ticed car. 11 
3. Diseases of Infancy—D. R. Luyties, W. D. Not only will all 
those varied affections which belong to this class of diseases receive 
that attention which their importance deserves, but plain and practi- 
cal instruction will be afforded as to the manner of preventing disease 
and the hygienic treatment of the young. 
4. Medical Botany.—J. T. Temple, M. D. During the Summer 
Term the general considerations of animal and vegetable life will be 
entered upon, and especial attention directed to the medicinal proper- 
ties of indigenous plants. The class, accompanied by the Professor, 
will make excursions into the surrounding country, and will be made 
familiar with those articles of the Materia Medica which flourish during 
the season; thus pleasure and profit and practical experience will 
be combined. 
5. Embryotomy and the use of the Microscope.—G. S. Walker, 
M. D. It will be the endeavor of this chair to elucidate the whole 
subject of Embryology, so far as scientific research has yet extended. 
The development of animal life from the lowest zoophite to the highest 
order of living beings, will be thoroughly taught, and are certainly 
subjects which should excite the curiosity of every intelligent student. 
6. Diseases of the Gcnito-Urinary Apparatus.—E. C. Franklin, 
M. D. This subject has become an important speciality in surgical 
science. The student will receive a full and comprehensive exposition 
of the nature, causes, symptoms and treatment of the various lesions 
of the the urinary apparatus and the operations for their relief. In- 
struments will be shown and preparations to illustrate the branch will 
be introduced tc the student. 
7. Causes of Disease. - T. J. Vastine, M. I). There is no branch 
of medical education fraught with more interest to the student than 
the consideration of the influences of those agents upon the body by 
which diseases are occasioned. In the consideration of this branch, 
age, sex, temperament, idiosyncrasy, habit of body, climate and diet, 
with the many and varied exciting causes, will be thoroughly taught. 
8. Comparative IVnysio/ogy.—C. Vastine, M 1). It will be the 
effort of this Chair to point out a general plan of organic structure 
and development, and from man, the highest order of created beings, 
to draw those comparisons of function which enables the physiologist 
to place in their proper sphere the lower orders of the animal creation. 12 
9. Regional Anatomy.—C. H. Nibelung, M. D. While in the 
regular course of instruction during the Winter months the systematic 
consideration of the different branches of human anatomy are entered 
upon ; it is of the highest import to the student that all the parts 
entering into the formation of different regions should be relatively 
studied. To those who desire to make Surgery a speciality this 
instruction is absolutely indispensable, while it is a very important 
consideration to every practicing physician. 
10. Dental Surgery.—C. W. Spalding, D. D. S. To those phy- 
sicians who expect to locate in the country the proper understanding 
of a few of the principles of Dental Surgery is often of practical 
import, while to every physician the appreciation of both first and 
second dentition, the physiology thereof, and the influence of the 
same on after life, is a matter of decided import. These subjects will 
be carefully elucidated by this Chair. 
11. Semeiology of Disease.—Wm. Tod Helmuth, M. D. While 
the student familiarizes himself with Symptomatology, it is of great 
importance that characteristic Semeiology be properly understood. 
The great characteristic symptoms of every disease, and the absolute 
importance of such in diagnosis and prognosis will be pointed out, 
while at the same time the analogy between them and the pathognomic 
symptoms of those drugs which have been found curative in such 
conditions, will be brought forward as additional evidence of the truth 
of the Homoeopathic law of cure. 
12. Post-Mortem Examinations.—S. B. Parsons, M. D. A 
properly conducted and satisfactorily explained autopsy is certainly 
the mark of a well-educated physician. In this branch especial 
attention will be paid to the decent performance of such, while the 
preparation and preservation of the cadaver will also receive minute 
consideration. 
13. Electro-Chemistry.—Prof. Smith. This important branch 
will be fully illustrated by Prof. Smith, whose large experience, 
extensive apparatus, and the position he occupies as Professor in the 
City University, will certainly assist in rendering the subject intelli- 
gible and entertaining. 13 
In addition to the foregoing instruction, the facilities afforded for 
practical instruction in medicine and Surgery by the hospitals under 
the immediate supervision of the Professors of the College, cannot be 
well over-estimated. The Good Samaritan and St. Luke’s Hospitals, 
and the Freedman’s Orphan Asylum, are all open to students of the 
College, making a combination of advantages for the study of medicine 
rarely offered to the medical student. As has been before observed, 
an extra Diploma is granted to those who have been assiduous in their 
attention to the clinics of these institutions. WINTER TERM 
Session of 1866-1867. 
The regular course of instruction will begin on the fourth Monday 
of October and continue until the 1st of the ensuing March. 
The regular hospital clinics will be held, and those students who 
have have been assiduous in their attention to these practical instruc- 
tions, will receive the Hospital Diploma of the College. 
. Prizes.—Dr. Franklin offers, for the best anatomical preparation 
made in the dissecting room of the College, a handsome operating 
case, and for the second best, a valuable surgical instrument. 
During the Winter Term, those who attend the Hospitals are con_ 
veyed thither free of expense. 
FEES. 
Fees for attending a full course of lectures $80 0# 
Hospital ticket 5 00 
Matriculation fee [paid once only] 5 00 
Practical anatomy [paid once only] 5 00 
Graduation fee 30 00 
Beneficiary fee 40 00 
Fees for students having attended two full courses in other Medical Col'eges 40 00 
Graduates of other Medical Colleges 30 00 
A Catalogue, containing full particulars of the course, with regu- 
lations of the College, will be issued during the Summer. 
WM. TOD. HELMUT!!, M. D., Registrar, 
No. 209 Pine St., above 12th.