Mar. 15, 1880.

THE COLLEGE AND CLINICAL RECORD.

Alumni Address.

"THE FACULTY OF 1841."

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE ALUMNI ASSOCIA

TION OF THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA, AT ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY, March 11th, 1880.*

BY JOHN H. BRINTON, M.D.

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rank is in the front; its reputation stretches beyond our Continent; its army of alumni is scattered over the earth. It is, gentlemen, but waste of words to speak of what our School is, for it confronts us in its own majesty.

I believe, however, that we may with profit on this occasion glance at the causes which have led to such success, and try to seize those points in the character of the school IN accepting the honor conferred upon me which have made it what it is; for I am sure by the Alumni Association of being your spokes- that an institution of letters may possess an inman this evening, I feel that I have assumed a dividuality as marked as does the living man. grave duty. Our alumni meeting may be re- Think of the persons you know who have risen garded as a family gathering, an assemblage of to place and power, and positions of trust. You men of common stock, who, travellers on di- will generally be able to trace their success to vergent paths, have once more come together the possession of some one or two dominant under the old roof tree. In truth, it seems to traits. A man may, in many respects, be as the me that we are met as kinsfolk, long sundered crowd around him, but he has within him someby time and circumstance, may meet. Does thing which his neighbor lacks. He may have not the talk on such occasions fall upon the boldness-audacity, if you like; stern purpose, dear old home, the much-loved family, its his- will, industry, the judgment to recognize the tory, past and present? Do they not speak of critical moment, the gift of imparting enthuthe strong who have done well, and of the weak siasm to others; the power to be a leader, and who have gone to the wall? Do they not ten- thus from one cause or other, he outstrips other derly cherish the memory of the brave and the runners, and in the end he wins. If we exgood who have passed away? Do they not love amine closely the lives of those who have worn to linger upon the hereditations of their race, the professorial robe in the Jefferson College, and to mark how, in this generation, and in that, it is not difficult to comprehend the causes the old blood tells? For surely the present which have made the school great and popwelfare of a House is influenced by the wisdom ular. I think-and I believe that you will or folly of its members in the past; and if this agree with me-that the one great feature in be true of families, is it not equally so of insti- the teachings of the school has been its practitutions? To elevate and maintain in greatness cal character. From its foundation, the single an institution of learning is no easy task. It object of the Faculty has been to make its can only be done by the unanimous, well-di-graduates good physicians, to send forth men rected, and persevering efforts of all its

teachers.

When we regard the School to which we owe our professional allegiance, we may well wonder. Its foundation-fifty-five years ago—was looked upon with derision, and its existence was regarded as ephemeral. Its enemies-and it had many-foretold its speedy dissolution; even its friends had scant faith in its vitality. Yet, look upon it now. The Jefferson College holds no second place in medical teaching. Its

* For the facts embodied in this address, not within the author's personal knowledge, he is indebted to the following sources: The biographical notices of George McClellan, M.D., by Dr. S. G. Morton; of Franklin Bache, M.D, by Dr. Wood; of Robley Dunglison, M.D., LL.D., by Dr. Gross, and of Charles D. Meigs, M.D., by Dr. J. F. Meigs, all read before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; obituary notices of C. D. Meigs, M.D., by Dr. John Bell, and of Franklin Bache, M.D., by Dr. Wood, read before the American Philosophical Society; the Alumni addresses of Drs. Hatfield, Gross, and Atlee; the Inaugural addresses of Professors Rand, Mitchell, Dickson, J. Pancoast, Gross, Dunglison, and Biddle; the address of Dr. Keen at the dissolution of the Philadelphia School of Anatomy in 1875, and the College archives.

VOL. I.-4

trained and self reliant, able to fight honestly and bravely the battle of professional life; men so educated as to be useful in that state of life to which it has pleased God to call them, and thus able to command the respect and love of the communities in which they might live.

The history of the Jefferson College is naturally divided into two well-marked periods, the first of which extends from its organization in 1825, or, to speak more accurately, from December 20, 1824, the date of the first Faculty meeting, to the year 1841; the second from the latter year to the present time. As you all know, the school was born of Genius. Its existence was due more to the exertions of Dr. George McClellan, than to those of any other He it was, who obtained person or persons. the charter of the school, organized its first Faculty, and by his personal exertions, in no slight degree, gathered the early classes. He had, too, most able colleagues in Drs. Eberle, Rhees, Beattie, N. R. Smith, Green, and subsequently in Drake, of Cincinnati. Resignations and withdrawals from the Faculty were, however, most unfortunately frequent, the va

the very beginning of the institution. Indeed, an infirmary had been opened within the walls of the Jefferson College in May, 1825, in advance of its first session, and on the 9th of that month Dr. George McClellan performed the first surgical operation in the anatomical amphitheatre.* The system of practical teaching thus introduced was continued, with more or less regularity, down to the period of the re-organization. By the new Faculty, the collegiate clinic— medical, as well as surgical-was made a pro

cancies being in turn filled by Drs. Samuel | been in the minds of successive Faculties from McClellan, Granville Sharp Pattison, Revere, Calhoun, and, in 1836, by Dr. Robley Dungli son; in 1838, by Dr. R. M. Huston; and in 1839 by Dr. Joseph Pancoast, McClellan's successor in the chair of surgery. The classes during the first fifteen years of the life of the College varied greatly. In 1826, 1827, and 1828, the respective graduating classes num bered 20, 34, and 25. In 1828-9 the attending class was 110, and the graduates numbered 26. In 1833, the number of students was 96; in 1834, 172; in 1835-6, 364, with 134 gradu-minent feature in the weekly curriculum. To ates. In 1839-40, the class had fallen away to 145.

The causes of the decline of the School at this period were varied; but the chief were dissensions in the Faculty, and consequent resignations. The public began to lose confidence in an institution which had apparently lost faith in itself. It is true that its Professors were not ordinary men; they were able, and more than able; they possessed energy, learning, and many good qualities, but unfortunately they were not actuated by that spirit of harmony, which, as has been said by Dr. Gross, in his sketch of this period of the life of the College, can alone prevent the downfall of medical institutions. From one cause or other, it therefore soon became evident that the preservation of the school could only be achieved by the entire re-organization of its Faculty, and this was accordingly done by the Board of Trustees, who vacated, by resolution, all of the chairs, and then effected a complete reconstruction of the Faculty. Dr. Dunglison was re-elected to the chair of Institutes, Dr. Pancoast was transferred from the chair of Surgery to that of Anatomy, and Dr. Huston from that of Obstetrics to that of Therapeutics and Materia Medica. The remaining vacant chairs were filled by the election of Dr. J. K. Mitchell to that of Practice; Dr. T. D. Mütter to that of Surgery; Dr. C. D. Meigs to that of Obstetrics, and Dr. Franklin Bache to that of Chemistry.

use the words of Professor Mitchell in his introductory of 1847, the clinic became "the right arm of the College." In addition to the clinics of the College, the class had access to the lectures at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and at the Blockley Almshouse. To the latter they were carried twice a week in large omnibuses hired for the purpose, the students often crowding the top, as well as the interior of the vehicles. This disorderly transportation was an event of great delight to all small urchins on the route, and afforded in winter, as I well recollect, inestimable chances for snowballing and boyish sharpshooting.

The mode of instruction by collegiate clinics met at first with opposition; it was denounced' and sneered at. It was said that it was imperfect and insufficient, that it conveyed false im pressions, and was calculated to mislead rather than to instruct. It may be that at first it was imperfect. It undoubtedly was inferior in some respects to hospital clinics, nevertheless it was a great step in advance, and the defects in the system soon brought their own remedy. In the early days of the clinics, I mean after 1841, patients who had undergone serious operations were sent to their homes in carriages, under the charge of a clinical clerk. A little later, about 1843 or 1844, one or two rooms were rented from a stove maker, over his shop, at the S. W. corner of Tenth and Sansom Streets, and thither grave cases operated upon before the class were conveyed and treated. After a while these accommodations proved insufficient to meet the wants of the growing clinics, and in 1849 or '50, possibly a little earlier, a floor and a half, or two floors were rented over a bottling establishment, then standing on the ground now occupied by the laboratories of the College. In the course of a few years, additional room having become necessary, this building was remodelled, and a very comfortable sort of miniature hospital was arranged, capable of

From 1841 to 1856, but one change occurred in the Faculty; in the latter year the resignation of Dr. Mütter took place, when the present illustrious Professor of Surgery was elected to the vacant chair. During these years, the period of the true rise and healthy growth of the school, the attitude of the Faculty was one of harmony, nay, of unanimity. Many of those great advances in teaching were then effected which gave the stamp to the school, and helped not a little to bring about that prosperity which has lasted, unbroken, to the present day. Chief accommodating fourteen or fifteen patients. among these was the successful development of the great system of Collegiate Clinics. The

Prof. J. K. Mitchell's Charge to the Graduates,

establishment of such a means of teaching had | March 9th, 1850.