«STON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL 31 ftUccMii journal of iHr&iciitc nnO VOLUME XCII.-NUMBER 7 ' CHARLES G. PUTNAM, M. D. [Reprinted February ii, 1875.] BOSTON H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY 219 Washington Street NEW YORK: HURD AND HOUGHTON 13 Astor Place ftitocrsitie press', CamDritige TERMS—SINGLE NUMBERS, 15 CENTS YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION, $5 00 CHARLES Gr. PUTNAM, M. D. This honored physician, who died suddenly on Friday, the 5th of February, was born in Salem in the year 1805. He took his first degree at Harvard College in 1824, and that of Doctor of Medicine at the same institution in 1827. After practising a few years in Salem he removed to Boston, where he married the eldest daughter of the late Dr. James Jackson. His practice was more especially in obstetrics and the diseases of women, on which subjects he made occasional commu- nications to the profession through the journals. With the exception of these and of a translation of the treatise of Louis on Bloodletting, he did nothing to make himself very widely known. But the profession of his native State was not unacquainted with his merits and standing, and in 1869 conferred the highest honor in their gift upon him by choosing him President of the Massachusetts Medical Society. There are men enough whose names are famous, so that when they are seen in the list of the dead all the world recognizes them, and yet who are not much missed by any immediate circle. And there are other men not much known beyond the limits of the community in which they live, whose loss falls heavily on many hearts, whose eulogy, however brief, comes mingled with regrets from the lips of all who knew them and speaks only what they feel. The good clergyman who has been the teacher and adviser and consoler of his little flock, the good physician who has done all that his skill and devotion could do for his trusting patients, often stand in this relation to the many and the few; to the world at large, on the one hand, and on the other to that lesser world which encompasses every man and in which he is held at his true value for his genuine human qualities. Such a man was Dr. Putnam. Except for the public honor conferred upon him unsought, his life was passed remote from general observation, in the noiseless and inconspicuous discharge of his duties as a physician. 2 Charles G. Putnam, M. D. Grave in aspect, cheerful in temperament, gentle, quiet, kindly, sympa- thetic, nature marked him for the calling he had chosen. Good judg- ment, which in a physician is worth all the showy gifts that make men shine in other walks of life, was his leading characteristic. He gave himself to his profession without reserve, fulfilling the one condition essential to the best kind of success, and thus acquired the confidence which is reposed only in the practitioner who lives entirely for his sacred duties. Dr. Putnam’s marriage brought him naturally into close professional relations with Dr. James Jackson. All the experience of that true master of the healing art became familiar to his son-in-law in their con- stant intercourse. To be with Dr. Jackson was an education such as many who cross the seas and come home full of the latest novelties of science never get. One may study the inside of a clock for a long time, and lay it down without being able to tell what is the hour of day. So there is a great deal of knowledge relating to the internal bodily mech- anism, curious, interesting, now and then valuable, but which, so far as the well being of any given patient is concerned, is quite insignificant as compared with that bedside clairvoyance, often found in sagacious practitioners whose scientific acquirements are somewhat defective, which sees in the patient’s attitude, expression, voice, movements, and all outward signs, the state of those vital forces which it is the physi- cian's chief business to support, to restrain, to modify, as he watches them from day to day or from hour to hour. Dr. Putnam, like his revered master, was a man whose place was at the bedside, rather than in any of the laboratories of unapplied science, where the special quali- ties that make the practitioner are 'less called for and less appreciated. We lament the loss of those who study science for its own sake. But we feel a deeper personal grief at the loss of those who use their knowl- edge directly for our need ; who stand by us and ours in the time of suffering and peril, and give themselves — all their mind and heart and strength — to our service as long as our necessity requires. One of these best-beloved friends has just left us. His merits were far beyond his pretensions, and the universal esteem in which he was held was their true measure. He has filled the full term of human life with days of modest and unheralded usefulness; none more free from blame, none more deserving of honorable remembrance. His life has helped, unconsciously to himself, to form the character of the profession in the city where he practised. He did not strive nor cry, nor did any man Charles Gr. Putnam, M. I). 3 hear his voice in the streets; but as he loved the sweet accords of music, so he loved the placid harmonies of life and shamed its discordant clamors, when such arose, by his peaceful equanimity. His life has rounded itself to a perfect close. He has bequeafhed his •r name and character to children whose promise has rewarded all his hopes. Summoned, not without timely, but gentle warning, he has been released from the growing burdens of age, and the threatened prospect of years when he might have to say there is no pleasure in them, as quietly as the leaf falls when the season is ended. HARVARD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, BOSTON, MASS. NINETY-FIRST ANNUAL ANNOUNCEMENT. (1874-75.) HA^axTniiTY- ov1 iMHEZDiainsriE CHARLES W. ELIOT, LL. D., President. CALVIN ELLTS, M. D., Prof, of Clinical Medicine, Dean. JOHN B. S. JACKSON, M. D., Prof, of Pathol. Anatomy. OLIVER W. HOLMES, M. D., Professor of Anatomy. HENRY J. BIGELOW, M. D., Professor of Surgery. JOHN E. TYLER, M. D., Professor of Mental Diseases. CHARLES E. BUCKINGHAM, M. D., Professor of Obstet- rics and Medical Jurisprudence. FRANCIS MINOT, M. D., Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. JOHN P. REYNOLDS, M. D., Instructor in Obstetrics. HENRY W. WILLIAMS, M. D., Prof, of Ophthalmology. DAVID W. CHEEYER, M. D., Adjunct Prof. Clin. Surg. JAMES C. WHITE, M. D., Professor of Dermatology. ROBERT T. EDES, M. D., 4ss’r Prof, of Materia Medica. HENRY P. BOWDITCII, M. D., Ass't Prof, of Physiology. GEORGE F. H. MARKOE, Instructor in Materia Medica. CHARLES B. PORTER, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy, and Instructor in Surgery. FREDERICK I. KNIGHT, M. D., Instructor in Percussion, Auscultation, and Laryngoscopy. J. COLLINS WARREN, M. D., Instructor in Surgery. REGINALD H. FITZ, M. D., Ass't Professor of Pathological Anatomy. THOMAS DWIGHT, Jr., M. D., Instructor in Histology. EDWARD S. WOOD, M. D., Ass't Professor of Chemistry. TIENRY II. A. BEACH, M. D., Ass't Demonsi'r of Anatomy WILLIAM B. HILLS, M. D., Instructor in Chemistry. FRANCIS B. GREENOUGH, M. D., and EDWARD WIGGLESWORTH, Jr., M. D., on Syphilis. J. ORNE GREEN, M. D., and CLARENCE J. BLAKE, M. D., on Otology. JAMES R. CHADWICK, M. D., on Diseases of Women. CHARLES P. PUTNAM, M. D., on Diseases of Children. JAMES J. PUTNAM, M. D., on Diseases of the Nervous System. LECTURERS The plan of study was radically changed in 1871. Instruction is given by lectures, recitations, clinical teaching, and practical exercises, distributed throughout the academic year.’ This year begins October 1, 1874, and ends on the last Wednesday in June, 1875. It is divided into two equal terms, with a recess of one week between them. Either of these two terms is more than equivalent to the former “ Winter Session,” as regards the amount and character of the instruction. The course of instruction has been greatly enlarged, so as to extend over three years, and has been so arranged as to carry the student progressively and system- atically from one subject to another in a just and natural order. In the subjects of anatomy, histology, chemistry, and pathological anatomy, laboratory Work is largely substituted for, or added to, the usual methods of instruction. Instead of the customary oral examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, held at the end of the three years’ period of study, a series of written examinations on all the main subjects of medical instruction has been distributed through the whole three years; and every candidate for the degree must pass a satisfac- tory examination in everyone of the principal departments of medical instruction during his period of study. For the First Year. — Anatomy, Physiology, and General Chemistry. For the Second Year. —Medical Chemistry, Materia Medica, Pathological Anatomy, Theory and Practice of Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Surgery and Clinical Surgery. For the Third Year.—Therapeutics, Obstetrics, Theory and Practice of Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Surgery and Clinical Surgery. Students are divided into three classes, according to their time of study and proficiency. Students who began their professional studies elsewhere maybe admitted to advanced standing; but all persons who apply for admission to the second or third year’s class must pass an examination in the branches already pursued by the class to which they seek admission. Examinations are held in the following order: — At the end of the first year — Anatomy, Physiology, and general Chemistry. End of second year — Medical Chemistry, Materia Medica, and Pathological Anatomy. End of third year — Therapeutics, Obstetrics, Theory and Practice of Medicine, Ciinical Medicine, and Surgery. Examinations are also held before the opening of the School, beginning September 28th. Students who do not intend to offer themselves for a degree will also be received at any part of the course, for one term or more. Any student may obtain, without an examination, a certificate of his period of con- nection with the school. Requirements for a Degree.—Pivery candidate must be twenty-one years of age; must have studied medicine three full years, have spent at least one continuous year at this School, have passed the required examinations, and have presented a thesis. Course for Graduates —For the purpose of affording to those already Graduates of Medicine ad- ditional facilities for pursuing clinical, laboratory, and otiier studies, in such subjects as may specially interest them, the Faculty has established a course which comprises the following branches : Histology; Physiology; Medical Chemistry ; Pathological Anatomy ; Surgery : Auscultation, Percussion, and Laryngoscopy; Oph- thalmology; Dermatology; Syphilis; Psychological Medicine; Otology; Electro-therapeutics; Gynecology; and Obstetrics. Single branches may be pursued, and on payment of the full fee also the privilege of attending any of the other exercises of the Medical School, the use of its laboratories and library, and all other rights accorded by the University will be granted. Graduates of other Medical Schools who may desire to obtain the degree of M. D. at this University, will be admitted to examination for this degree after a year’s study in the Grad- uates’ Course. Frks. — For Matriculation. #5 ; for the Year, $200 ; for one Term alone, $120 ; for Graduation, $30. For Graduates’ Course, the fee for one year is $200; for one Term, $120; and for single courses such fees as are specified in the Catalogue Payment in advance. Members of any one department of Harvard University have a right to attend lectures and recitations in any othi department without paying additional fees. For further information, or Catalogue, address Dr. It. II. FITZ, Sec’ y, 108 Hoylston St., Boston, Mast DIVISION OF STUDIES.