Pages 1-2 missing OF THE PRACTITIONER'S COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED IN THE SPRING OF 1883 IN y THE HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO. On the evening of March 26, 1883, in response to an invitation to a re-union and supper to be given by the Faculty of the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital to the class and a few special friends of the institution, one hundred and twenty persons met in the parlors of the Palmer House. The entertainment was informal and. thor- oughly enjoyable, and the record of what was said and done at the banquet which followed was preserved and is published herewith for the mutual benefit of those who were fortunate enough to be present, and of those of our absent friends who will be pleased to read it. The occasion was enlivened with music by the Chicago Quartette. The speeches were called forth by Prof. Vilas, who acted as Toast-master. The first sentiment given was, The Charter of the Hahnemann Med- ical College and Hospital of Chicago, to which Dr. D. S. Smith responded as follows; Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen ; The subject of my toast is such a prolific one that I shall need your kind indulgence. In the year 1853, I think it was, a draft of a charter for a Homoeo- pathic medical college was furnished to a member of the Illinois Legislature, and he promised to present it and give it the needful attention to secure its passage; in this he failed, which possibly was not his fault. At the next session, I went to Springfield and sought it among the archives of the State, but it was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, in my dilemma, expecting to find it, I met my friend, the Hon. Thomas Hoyne, one of our Board of Trustees, who is now sitting on my left. I explained to him my situation and what I wanted, whereupon he took me to the office of the Hon. Abraham Lincoln (our later ina'ftyredintroduced me to him, who kindly furnished law hek&mfeoing misters for medical colleges, and thus I was enabled just wKkt I deemed the best, an instrument /conferring all tire rights and privileges of similar institu- tions then in the State, or which might hereafter be con- ferred upon others. It w|tg to be nerpetual. At that time, Springfield was overflovwig with members of the Legislature, including (the who belonged to the third house, 4 as it was Sailed, and I could find no unoccupied room in the hotels. One of the members, a friend and patient, shared his bed and room with me, and I remained for several days. I had personal friends in the Senate and in the House, and soon the “ bill ” was on its passage. I was invited before the committee to which it was referred, and the result was that it passed, received the signature of the Governor, and so became a law. And it is under this very charter, obtained in 1855, that we are working to-day. Later, by request of Prof. Ludlam, I called a meeting of the in- corporators, who became trustees. A Faculty was chosen. The first course of lectures soon commenced, and for almost a quarter of a century this college has been in successful and continuous operation. It was not, however, until within the past six years that a new era dawned upon the school and hospital. In that interval, a glori- ous result and the most remarkable prosperity has been achieved. The consequence is that the “ Old Hahnemann ” is before all the Homoeopathic colleges in this or any other country, and her Alumni honor her, their Alma Mater, as she has honored them. Some years after our charter was granted, the State Constitution was amended, and Article II provides that “ No corporation shall be created, or especial laws or charters extended, changed or amended, except those for charitable, educational, penal or reformatory pur- poses, which are to be and remain under the patronage and control of the State. “ But the Assembly shall provide by general laws for the or- ganization of all corporations hereafter to be created.” This Corporation Act is for three purposes: (1) pecuniary profit, (2) not for pecuniary profit, (3) for religious corporations. It limits these corporations to the transactions of business—buying, selling, sueing and being sued, and the making and enforcing of con- tracts. This is all the power given by the State Assembly in the general law for corporations. It has failed to provide for educational purposes other than those under the patronage and control of the State of Illinois itself. Chapter 91 of the Revised Statutes provides that persons apply- ing to the State Board of Health must either present a diploma or pass an examination by the Board; and the diploma offered must be from a legally-chartered institution in good standing. Where do we find legal authority for conferring medical degrees or granting medical diplomas in this State, other than in those col- leges which are acting under the authority of special charters granted by the General Assembly of the State ? Massachusetts, I am informed, had a similar corporation law, and a license was recently obtained under it for a corporation for a medical school, and diplomas could be procured without lectures or examination ; but to the honor of the old “ Bay State,” the Supreme Court decided against that kind of a charter and denied it the privi- lege of issuing its worthless diplomas. 5 Now, my friends, you see on what foundation the Hahnemann College and Hospital rests. It is on a firm foundation, and its di- plomas are as good as those from older institutions—a fact appreciated by the profession in all quarters, and by her students, who flock hither from all parts of this country and also from other countries. It is pleasant to meet so many representative practitioners of the more advanced branch of the medical profession, and those who are called and acknowledged as homoeopathists. I am glad again that so many of you are graduates of the Hahnemann school, or students attending its post-graduate course. I may not meet you all again, but may God bless and prosper you. In response to The Trustees of the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, the Hon. Thomas Hoyne said; Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : As a Trustee of Hahnemann Medical College, it has been ray good fortune to be connected with its history and organization from the beginning. But you must excuse me if I seem somewhat embarrassed in my effort to address so large a medical audience. I shall not attempt the role of my friend, Dr. Smith, by discussing medicine as he did law, because I never was as good a physician as he has to-night proved himself a lawyer. Now, it is true, as Dr. Smith has told you, that our personal ac- quaintance dates back to a period contemporaneous with the organ- ization of the municipal government in Chicago, when the population of the entire city numbered some three thousand souls, and Dr. Smith alone rpnked in his science as the only practitioner in the “ Homoe- opathic school” of the curative art. He did not, when confessing himself to have lived to almost old age, tell this assemblage of kdies and gentlemen what his own age was. Now I fear very ranch I shall not be so successful in concealing my own. This one thing I must ac- knowledge, that I have known the young man during all that period which he has so eloquently reviewed here to-night, and that we have been associated in the building-up of this great work. He took my law and I took his medicine. The result, ;you find, is this, that he has prospered in his estate, and I prospered in my health. And here let me say, that it is somewhat significant of the lon- gevity of Homoeopathic patients, as well as institutions, that of the ten trustees originally named in the charter of “ the Hahnemann Medical College,” passed by the General Assembly in 1855—that is twenty-seven years since—six of them are still living in this city, in the enjoyment of that peace which the absence of drug diet promotes and establishes. Perhaps you may be curious to learn what this young man, the Doctor, was doing from 1836 to 1855, before the Hahnemann had a local habitation and a name. Well, I can only give the local repu- tation he bears, the facts to which I became a witness. I came here 6 a boy, net an old one, ladies, in 1837, the first year of a city govern- ment and a Common Council, and in a frontier village such as Chicago then was, it was easy to catch the prevailing opinions of three thou- sand inhabitants. I know the M. D.’s of that day scattered thun- der and lightning pills, to frighten chills and fever.” Their thunder and lightning sounded abroad and purged the general health, but the health of the atmosphere was not improved. It was noticed that these agents killed more than the fevers—the sick did not recover, and those who were in health became sick, because the great mor- tality of that day made men panicky in respect to local causes of disease which became epidemic. There never was in all the experienced progress of human truth so rapid and miraculous a change worked as I must say I witnessed in that time. I saw the venerable Dr. John T. Temple, afterward the founder of the St. Louis Homoeopathic School, converted. He after- ward published for many years, a Homoeopathic journal. In Chi- cago, where he had been one of the earliest pioneers, and where his daughter and grandchildren love and perpetuate his memory now —he made a deep impression upon many of the richer families, and the old conservative schools of thought, and as these victo- ries were sounded abroad by fame, the reforms began to spread in their effects, first throughout the two great cities of the West, and then along the mighty rivers until other schools were called for in the West to advance the interest of humanity and truth. It was then, after whole communities were divided, that this ever- sleepless disciple of the healing art brought forward his Hahnemann charter. Upon the day he left my law office with a copy in his hand, I could only wonder what he could do more than he had already done. I was soon called upon to organize the Board of Trustees under this charter, and finally we met on a certain occasion to graduate, ma- triculate and confer an M. D. title upon four or five lean and hungry, and it seemed to me hopeless disciples, launched into a world of com- bat, strife and controversy, to re-enact the scenes through which the original—Paul, the Apostle—had passed and been persecuted from “ Ephesus, fighting with beasts,” to Rome, with gladiators like Nero. Year after year has passed, and from that humble beginning has sprung up the great Hahnemann College of this city and of our day. When, three years ago, ninety (90) younf* men, collected from every State and distant Territory, including even England and China, assembled in one of our largest halls to receive their degree from the Hahnemann, the city of Chicago marveled, when, how and in what way such a school as this had arisen in our own land and in our own citv. The Chicago Times once assailed this Faculty, because, as it was believed, no such number of educated students could have sought a medical education in a Homoeopathic college or hospital. It was said the matter should be investigated—if the com- 7 munity were to be victimized by quacks in medicine, without any general culture and education, it was time the other colleges should be heard from. And it was investigated, but the result was that the other colleges—the old regulars—were found to he the ones who had filled their classes from the kind of men they charged upon the Homoeopathic school. Another attack followed, made through the State Board of Health, upon the Hahnemann, and that fell, through the falsehood and malice of certain Homoeopaths themselves, who still are resorting to the dastardly methods of bigotry and prejudice. But the fact stands out that here in this metropolis of commerce, activity, and wealth, amidst a population of 600,000, in the geograph- ical center of the future glory and power of the American Republic, is to be found the most prosperous and renowned school of Homoeo- pathic medicine upon this continent or in any country upon the globe. And now, ladies and gentlemen, while beginning (with the his- tory of this science in this city and following its progress down to the organization of the Hahnemann Medical College by our friend, Dr. Smith, let us not forget the associates of his choice in those later struggles of the institution through which it has passed, to become—• as men do after infancy—more strong and robust. I willingly turn to other eminent professors of your Faculty, the President, Dr. A. E. Small and Dr. R. Ludlam. These men have for long years, without money and without price, in the sole interest of their profession—disciples of the truth as they have found "it by long experience and trial— devoted themselves, in the interest of mankind, to this work of medical education. But, Mr. President, in speaking of this foundation and in speak- ing of its great founders and prophets, let us not overlook its patrons among the laymen. Lee us not forget a name that should ever find a cherished remembrance in this city in all the schools of science, education, philanthropy, art or benevolence. We should be deeply mortified if any neglect of ours should ever occasion an omission of the name of that man who originally endowed theScammon Hospital. It is to the Hon. J. Y. Scammon that the Hahnemann Medical Col- lege is indebted for the valuable grants of land upon which the col- lege and hospital are planted. He also was a convert of the irre- pressible Smith, though for Mr. Scammon’s warm espousal of the interests of the college we are also indebted to his eminent medical attendant, Dr. Small. But, however that may be, we know that Mr. Scammon (alas ! that fortune should have » ver turned her face against him I) was ever the most princely giver of all men who had accumulated capital and great fortune in this city of rapid fortune-making. He made his generous gifts in this instance, with a single regard to establishing a great school of Hcmeoeopathy in his beloved city, and although he no longer retains the fortune he had amassed, he yet lives to enjoy 8 this great result of his expectations, munificence and charity. If there were no other monument of his various charities, the Hahne- mann Hospital and College will carry his name down to the men of other generations. All honor and praise to all those whose disinter- estedness of motive and love of their race, have, despite the interests that lead men into selfishness and temptation, raised this great school among our people ! And now a word as to that charter under whose provisions and power we have so far proceeded. Some allusions have been made here as well as at the late commencement, to some trials to which our institution has been subjected since the corporation was organized, I have a witness and actor throughout all the vicissitudes of its career, and I beg leave here and now to record my own testi- mony of the fact, that there has never been a single difficulty or trial which might not have been avoided by a strict observance of the provisions of the charter. It is only in cases when the charter is overlooked or not strictly followed that difficulties and discord come in to disturb the regular and harmonious working of all the parts of the legal machinery. Here is just where my own vocation is called into service. In our lawyer’s jargon, we say “ Doctors never agree ; they always differ.” The legal gentlemen fight for their clients and fight an open battle, but they never fight against each other. Here is the lesson I would teach my medical brethren—never say “ I love ” openly to hate secretly. Private slander is the most pitiful weapon of defense or assault. It is the most fearfully uncertain, as it is never correctly reported—or heard—by parties interested. If I were a young physician, as I have often said, I would establish my claim to eminence on the fact alone that no friend or enemy had ever heard me utter one single word of disparagement against a living man— more especially against my professional brethren, but they should report me as commending them. I have spoken longer than I intended. I need not tell you that until I came into this room this evening I had no notice whatever that I should be called upon. You will, under such circumstances, pardon me for the lack of method and order I should have observed in a prepared effort. But you will give me leave to add a closing word of appeal. I stand here a link between the past and the present. For this insti- tution I stand as a builder outside its walls. As one of the “ Fa- thers,” let me speak to the generation now coming on to take up our work. We appeal to you as your progenitors in the schools of this city. The body of the medical profession is governed by a spirit of humanity and benevolence. The true physician is more than a druggist—he is the friend and counselor of his patients. The secrets of life, of happiness, the peace and union of whole families, 9 are sometimes and often dependent upon his wisdom and discretion and advice. The brethren of my own calling claim no higher office. To all of us Wordsworth, the poet says : “ The primal duties shine aloft like stars.” “ The charities that soothe and heal and bless are scattered at the feet of man like flowers.” “ The smoke ascends to heaven as lightly from the cottage hearth as from the haughty pal- ace, and he whose soul ponders this true equality may walk the fields of earth with gratitude and hope.” I feel a debt of gratitude is due from me as a citizen to the noble profession in which you are engaged, or are now embarking. Will you ponder well upon the mystery which has brought so many of you here ? I appeal to this Faculty and I appeal to the Board of Trust- ees, and I would appeal to all mankind, invoking a generous enthu- siasm to arise that shall inspire all connected with the Hahnemann College to give it a loyal support during their lives. I pray that God may still bless its counsels, and if some doubter should think my appeal to a higher intelligence impertinent, I point to the com- parison of the past with the present. In the life time of six trust- ees, now living, the entire philosophy and practice of medicine have been radically changed in Europe and America. In this city drugs were given to kill disease instead of helping nature to expel it. The lancet, the blister and the bleedings prostrated body and soul and the body succumbed. To-day the ancient learner of his art has been compelled to adopt the remedies, treatment, and in many cases, even the diet of Homoeopathists. It is true the communities are still divided, but the old school now and then, through some pro- founder student of differences between the systems, reaches out the hand of friendship and candor. By some laymen, a union of the schools is demanded. How could such a change as this be worked out by a few of the poor and humble, if there were not a great overruling law controlled by a superior intelligence, swaying the destinies of our short lives, while, from its intrinsic nature and its inherent power, Truth lives on and on forever. I might end by citing to you what perhaps has often been repeated by yourselves in moments of depression : “ Truth crushed to earth will rise again ; The eternal years of God’s are hers, But sorrow, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies among her worshipers.” The President of the College, Dr. A. E. Small, responded to the toast, The Object of the Practitioners' Course : Ladies and Gentlemen : After listening to the eloquent remarks of ex-President Smith and the enlivening speech from Hon. Thomas Hoyne, it is a matter of regret for me to follow; but there is something worthy of remark concerning the first suggestion of a 10 Practitioners’ Course. It was certainly intended for the benefit of the profession, as well as its patronage. The utility of an annual course of lectures that is especially designed for physicians and sur- geons cannot be doubted. Our city is the great medical center of the West—the Mecca for the resort of medical pilgrims at least every one, two or three years. The homage they pay at the shrine results in twofold advantages; the latest discoveries in therapeutics and surgery become familiar and the mutual help realized from the expe- rience brought into the common storehouse is deeply felt and ac- knowledged. The opportunity for experience meetings and inter- course with members of the Faculty, and among yourselves during the spring course, must have resulted favorably. When many physi- cians and surgeons, so fraternally united, freely relate their experiences to each other, there is no danger of any of them becoming rusty. It is feared that too much indolence has hitherto prevailed after receiving a formal passport into the profession, and that many valu- able disclosures and discoveries are practically lost by not keeping- pace with the age and the times. It is related of an old graduate of medicine in Pennsylvania that he relied solely upon what he had learned when a student, at a time when no antidote to arsenical poi- soning had been discovered. Several years after entering practice, a young lady attempted suicide by swallowing a toxical dose of arsenic. He was called upon to prescribe for her relief, but at once declared that there could be no help for her. Another practitioner, living at a distance was called. His first inquiry was, “ Have you given the antidote?” “ What?” inquired the rusty old doctor, “is there any such thing as an antidote for arsenic?” If, through ignorance of the surest and latest discoveries of war- ring successfully against fatal diseases and poisons, death ensues, there is an awful distinctness in the reproach. The Practitioners’ Course is intended for a safeguard against any Rip Van Winkle examples. Education in medicine is never finished, and the mind must be ever open and on the alert in order to profit by the latest discoveries and improvements therein. On being called for, Dr. D. W. Macgranaghan, of Kentucky, spoke to the same sentiment on behalf of the class: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen ; An Irishman, very near the point of death, was greatly afraid that he would be buried alive. So he told his wife to put a glass of whisky to his mouth when he had been pronounced dead, and if he made no ef- fort to drink it he was certainly dead, for if anything would arouse an Irishman it was whisky. Now, Mr. President, while we Ken- tuckians are not so fond of whisky, yet we are very fond of Ken- tucky, and if anything would enthuse and fire us it would be the words, “ Old Kentucky.” Would that I inherited the gifts of eloquence and rhetoric of the 11 great men who have made this State famous—no less by their daring deeds than by their glowing words, that I might do justice on this oc- casion to the subject of this toast. I am glad to be able to say that Homoeopathy, a few years ago known only to a small number in the East, has at last come with healing in her wings to brood over the entire land. Much of this “ O glorious result has been brought about by the Hahnemann College, and she is still working at it, as witness this Practitioner’s Course. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that there is not one among us, not a person in this class, who does not feel greatly improved in knowledge, that has not added to his or her stock of medical information in many valuable and practical ideas, which will aid in the work of healing. Not one in the class but will go home with a feeling that we are all more competent than when we came here. As one of the oldest boys in the class, I give my class-mates this advice : Go home and live up to your principles, and come back to this school, to your Alma Mater, every year, to get in a nutshell what has been discovered, developed and improved upon while you were busy at home. There is no use in ever growing old; keep young by coming back to Old Hahnemann and brushing up, where you can get the latest ideas on medical subjects. If you have a pride in your profession and an interest in your patrons, you will never stop studying. The man who stops his studies ought to stop his practice on the same day. We are here to-night to enjoy the hospitality of the honorable Faculty, and to exchange greetings all around. As a member of the post-graduate class, and for them, I thank the Faculty for its abund- ant hospitality, and desire to express the gratification which we all feel in seeing students flocking here from the East and the West, the North and the South. We look upon this college as the Moses, who is to bring the people out of the land of Allopathic bondage into the full light of Homoepathic freedom. Now, in pure cold water, I propose a toast to “ The Faculty of the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, of Chicago; may its members live long and prosper in the noble work in which they are engaged.” Next came a jolly good song (The Dance) by the Quartette, after which Prof. C. H. Yilas spoke as follows to a toast given to The Hahnemann Hospital Clinics: In the opening paragraph of Goldsmith’s model tale, the Vicar cf Wakefield declares that he “ was ever of the opinion, that the Honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single and only talked of a population.” So, seven years ago, when the authorities of Hahnemann Hospital raised its clinics to the grade of foreign object-schools, a step was 12 taken which has done far more to elevate the standard of medical education than the littering of doctors’ offices around the country with thousands of circulars, which only prate of what really has no existence. Eight regular clinics, respectively conducted by the Professor of Nervous Diseases, of Surgery, of Skin and Venereal Diseases, of Eye and Ear Diseases, of Women’s Diseases, of Clinical Medicine, of Children’s Diseases, and of Obstetrics, and embracing all the medical and surgical diseases in these branches, continue the year round to dispense their charity, and carry blessings to many a household which would otherwise be debarred the benefits of modern science. From a small beginning twenty-seven years ago, there has risen a monument to the faithful toil of the men who have sacrificed so much of their lives, and the surging multitude crowding the clinic rooms attests the results which ever attend on zealous, skillful and well- directed effort. Since the college re-organization, it has been the constantly ex- pressed desire of the Board of Trustees and of the Faculty that each and every physician and student in the land should come and see for themselves what is actually being done in our clinics. The invita- tion is general and cordial, and will enable all to attest the sincerity of our statements. We are fortunate to-night in having many present who have availed themselves of this request; and as from them a verdict will be appreciated, I would call upon my friend, Dr. D. M. Graham, of Altoona, Penn., to express the sentiments of his fellow- laborers, our friends and students. Dr. D. M. Graham, a member of the class from Altoona, Penn., spoke eloquently and earnestly of the several clinics, the teachers, resources, and the modes and methods of conducting them, and closed as follows: But seriously, Mr. President, I am confident I but echo the deep and sincere sentiment of this class, and, I may confidently af- firm, of every alumnus of this college, when I assure you that we entertain for the clinics of the Hahnemann Hospital a most profound regard and loyal devotion. They have been to us, sir, as they have been to others, an Empyrean fountain of medical and surgical in- struction. It has been said that “ Education is the debt due from one generation to another,” but there are times and circumstances under which the discharge of that debt involves sacrifices which none but brave men, men moved by high and holy impulses, have the moral courage to face. Gentlemen, we have heard of your pro- tracted and unequal struggle to give to this and to former classes, and, as we hope, to the classes of future generations, the blessings and benefits of Hahnemann College and her clinics. The alumni of this institution will never forget nor cease to admire the Spartan courage of that brave few, who, in the dark night of its peril, rushed into the breach to protect and save this tender homoeopathic 13 plant from the ruthless and unfriendly hands which fain would have crushed out its almost helpless life. But, thanks to your courage and devotion, that plant still lives! It is no longer the tender Mi- mosa, bending and trembling before the fury of the chilling blasts which howled around it; but, under your fostering care, it has grown into a great and majestic tree, under whose benign shade the sick and suffering of this and other lands have found both shelter and safety. This magnificent growth belongs, not alone to Chicago, and not to the State cf Illinois. Its roots permeate the soil of every State in this great Union. Nay, more, sir; coursing beneath the sands of the peaceful Pacific, they have taken hold in the prolific soil of far-off Australia on the one hand; while on the other, stretching beneath the hills and valleys of the stormy Atlantic, they are budding forth into beauty and promise on the classic shores of England and the continent beyond. When I look around me and behold these busy, thoughtful and intelligent men, who have come here from the frozen North, from the orange groves of Florida and the Gulf on the South, from the sturdy hills of New England on the East and from the Golden Gate of the Pacific on the West, I am persuaded that you have opened here a fountain for suffering hu- manity’s sin and uncleanness like unto which no other city on this continent has supplied. When I look upon these earnest men, who have divorced themselves from the arduous duties and onerous responsibilities of professional life, and come up here to this great inland metro- polis to gather from this great clinical tree its ambrosial leaves and matured fruit for the healing of the nations, committed to their care, I am reminded, gentlemen of the Faculty and Board of Trustees, that you have builded both wisely and well; that the great super- structure which your devotion and self-sacrifice have reared and dedi- cated to science and sulfering humanity, rests on a sure foundation. Nay, more; that your fame, indissolubly linked, as it is, with this institution, rests with it,.anchored on the immutable and imperisha- ble rock of Truth. You need no more enduring monument. Here is your deserved reward. To be thus honored and crowned by two continents is the highest and grandest apotheosis to which man can aspire in this life. But, Mr. President, I am admonished that though art be long, “ time is fleeting.” My brother practitioners, we must soon exchange this rich clinical feast for the common and coarser food of profes- sional life. To you who must “ tread the wine press ”of professional life alone, with no tender hand to “ divide life’s sorrows or double its joys,” I extend the hand of sincere and cordial condolence. To you, my more favored brothers, who are but returning to the duplicature of your own better selves, the exchange has many compensating features ; you will still have your clinical lectures, as of yore, under whose soothing and familiar cadences you may “ wrap the drapery of your couch about you and lie down to pleasant dreams.” 14 Following another glorious song by the grand old quartette, the fifth regular toast was read: The Business Affairs of the Hahne- mann Medical College and Hospital. This was responded to by Prof. G. A. Hall. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It would seem ap- propriate for me, as Business Manager, to respond to this toast. I have been connected with the Hahnemann College and Hospital for ten years, and have been its business manager for one-half of that period. The business tree of this college was planted in 1860. It was protected by the most skillful hands and nurtured by the best talent of our profession. It grew moderately for ten years, the number of students increasing from the original number of twenty up to ninety. Its financial prosperity was in proportion to the increase of stu- dents. In 1870, this tree was transplanted, taken up from the old, dilapidated vinegar factory which it occupied on State street, to the new college building on Cottage Grove avenue, which has up to this time been occupied by the college. The Trustees were generous in their donations, and by the co-operation of Profs. Small, Ludlam and others, a sufficient amount of money was raised to purchase the real estate, erect the college and establish it in connection with the Hahnemann Hospital. The total valuation of the property at that time was $75,000. It was supposed that, under these circum- stances the business tree of the college and hospital would take a new start and become much more fruitful, but we are sorry to say this anticipation was not realized. The tree resembled in many par- ticulars the enormous elms which are transported to this city for shade purposes. It had too much top and too little root. From 1870 to 1876, the number of students did not increase, but fluctu- ated from ninety to seventy. A committee was then appointed on the part of the Faculty to report upon the financial condition of the Institution. The sub- stance of their report was as follows : The property of the corporation, including the Hospital, College and realty, was valued at $75,000. Its indebtedness, including mortgages and other incumbrances, amounted to $38,000, drawing ten per cent interest. (This report was really made in 1875 to the Board of Trustees.) The amount of indebtedness seemed discouraging to the majority of the Faculty, so much so as to cause a serious division of feeling on the subject. It would require, as then estimated, over $38,000 in money and twelve years of hard labor to liquidate that obligation. The trustees recognized the importance of making some change in the management of its business affairs. A fortunate circum- stance, however, occurred, which obviated the necessity of any action on their part. It was generally conceded that the top had become too cumbersome, and in 1876 a large number of 15 dry branches and worthless suckers were lopped off, leaving,' in short, only three live members. And then the rough bark, which had served as a hiding-place for death-dealing borers, was scraped away, the roots dug out and fresh soil applied thereto. This vigorous treatment was proclaimed by some to be the death- blow to the old tree, but not so ; it proved to be a great blessing. A more vigorous growth followed, and the ensuing year the number of matriculates mounted from 90 to 141. They have continued to increase from year to year, and during the last collegiate year they numbered 365. The annual cash receipts of the college have increased since 1876 from $7,000 to $17,000, notwithstanding that the yearly tuition-fee, which had been $9O, had been reduced to $5O. The amount of money actually expended on the College and Hospi- tal building since 1876, is over $27,000. The college indebtedness, besides, is nearly wiped out, leaving us a college property valued at nearly $lOO,OOO. During the coming year, it is intended to have erected an addi- tion to the college building, and to construct a large amphitheatre to accommodate our constantly increasing class. Through all of the adversity, and storms of malice and hatred, which have twisted its top and bent the trunk of this noble tree, the roots have seemed to grow deeper and stronger, and to-day it stands as the largest representative Homoeopathic College in the world. The next regular toast brought Prof. W. J. Hawkes to his feet, who spoke with even more than his usual force and effectiveness. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am to speak to the sentiment, “ The Progress of Therapeutics.” My friend, Prof. Ludlam, says that I have therapeutics for breakfast, dinner and sup- per ; and now they have given it to me for this midnight banquet. He says I talk of nothing but therapeutics, and do that even in my sleep. Probably I do. Why should I not? Homoeopathy is the “ science of therapeutics.” Therapeutics is all there is distinctively Homoeopathic. Take away therapeutics and there is nothing left of Homoeopathy. Everything about us speaks of the progress of therapeutics. Those eloquent speakers at the center table are living evidences of what Homoeopathic therapeutics can do ; they speak of forty years ago as though it were but yesterday. Homoeopathic therapeutics has made them so ; has kept them well and strong, though past their threescore years and ten. The progress of therapeutics has brought this large and intelligent company together to-night. All about us is evidence of therapeutic progress. Current Allopathic literature is full of the progress of therapeutics. I hold in my hand a copy of the latest issue of the Medical Record, the Allopathicperiodical of this country. In it I find a lecture by Dr. Stickler, in which he 16 says he has demonstrated to his own satisfaction that the scarlatinal virus of the horse inoculated into the human being produces symp- toms similar to scarlet fever, but exempts the human subject from the disease, as vaccination by bovine virus prevents or modifies small- pox. What is this, if it is not in accordance with the Homoeopathic law ? Here the inoculated scarlatinal poison of the horse given to a healthy human being exempts from, or greatly modifies scarlatina in that human subject. This is evidence of the progress of therapeutics. The best proph- ylactic is always the curative remedy. The genius epidemicus is always the best prophylactic. This is in accordance with the science of therapeutics. And that such a fact should be published in the leading Allopathic journal of the day, one which is in the van of medical discovery, is a further significant evidence of the progress of therapeutics. The most prominent recent writers in the Allopathic school, such men as Ringer, Philips and Bartholow, are full of good Homoeopathic ideas. Ten years ago, no such statements in the literature of the old school could be found. They speak of the physiological action of medicines. They recommend the ascertaining of the curative properties of drugs by observing their physiological action upon the healthy. The authorized dose has been reduced from five, ten, or twenty grains of ten years ago to the one, one-tenth, or one-hundredth grain of to-day. All this is an evidence of the progress of therapeutics. Dr. A. A. Smith, Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in a lecture on the “ frequent repetition of doses,” bears strong evidence of the progress of therapeutics. He says ; “Urticaria is often caused by the administration of full doses of balsam copaiba in cases of urethritis, or inflammation of other mucous membranes, and it may seem strange to you, when I make the statement, that a single drop of the same drug, given every half-hour will sometimes control urticaria. I have no explanation to offer, but I make the statement not alone upon the authority of oth- ers ; I myself have often observed the efficacy of the treatment.” He further says: “ Half a drop of Fowler’s solution given every half-hour for six or eight doses will often relieve the morning vomiting of drunkards, and is of decided benefit in the sympathetic nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.” And further: “A solution of the sulphate of atropine, one one- hundredth of a grain in a goblet of water, a teaspoonful of which shall constitute a dose, amounting in all to about sixty doses.” This is about the third decimal potency. Much more of the same nature could be quoted from this lecture, all showing vast strides in the progress of therapeutics. 17 Let us look to it that the more advanced members of the old school do not leave some of us behind in this progress. Recent writings and expressions of some of my Homoeopathic brethren make this warning pertinent. We seldom hear of five-grain doses of mercury being given by the advanced Allopathic physician of to-day. Their best writers now condemn the old way of dosirig with mercury and quinine. If any of us must imitate the old school, let us select for patterns such of them as are in the van. When “ The Sailor’s Glee ” had been given by the Quartette, Prof. G. F. Shears made a telling speech for the Surgical Clinic of the Hahnemann Hospital, which ran as follows : Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : Until within a few years, it has been a just opprobrium which has been cast upon the Homoeopathic profession that it possessed among its members very little surgical skill. It was said that although a Homoeopathist might prescribe successfully for the sick, according to a dogmatized rule, when a case came up which needed, besides the ability to pre- scribe, an anatomical knowledge that would enable him to make a clear diagnosis, a courage to act upon this decision and the skill to carry out the plan proposed, he must apply to his old-school breth- ren. Admitting this to be true, what was the cause of this con- dition? Not any lack of material in the members of the profession certainly, for its ranks were filled from the same class of men as filled the ranks of the allopathic profession. Our students came from the same literary institutions and in every way possessed the same edu- cational and social advantages. It could not be because we lacked men of force, for in the early days it was only men of character and strong convictions who dared to enter a school to which stood opposed almost the whole medical profession. Where, then, was the difficulty? Simply in this, that while our schools presented excellent teaching, they had little opportunity to make their teaching valuable to the student by applying the knowl- edge in his presence. We had no surgeons because we had no sur- gical clinics. The Hahnemann Hospital furnished one of the first regular Homoeopathic surgical clinics in the West, and probably no one clinic in the land has done more toward placing the Homoeo- pathic physician in the enviable light in which he is now regarded as a surgeon than this same clinic. He is no longer compelled to defer to his opponents in surgical cases, but goes his way, neither asking nor refusing counsel from the once dominant schools. It is possible that some of our earlier graduates may feel modest as to the surgical advantages presented by our hospital when khey contrast it with larger public institutions, but they need not. While others under State control may show a larger number of cases, few if any can show a greater variety of such eases as come into the hands 18 of the surgeon in his daily life. Where the inmates of the hospital or the attendants upon the dispensary have failed to furnish the rare cases which were necessary to exemplify every phase of surgical dis- ease, such cases have been generously furnished from private prac- tice. While this has been true of our surgical clinics for many years past, it has been particularly so during the last session. There is hardly an important operation which has not been made before the class. One noticeable feature of the surgical department is its limited number of professors. While other colleges have distributed the work among a half-dozen different men, lecturing at remote inter- vals, and often upon the same topics, in Hahnemann every sub- ject in the surgical field has been thoroughly treated by two men, my colleague, Prof. Hall, and myself, who, working in unison, have neither repeated nor indulged in useless specializations. In order to cover the ground effectually, the lectures have been frequent and the drill continuous. Aside from the lectures, of which there have been over 100 delivered, two hours every week have been spent in quizzes and practice in the dressing of fractures, dislocations, etc. During the greater part of the session, sub-classes have accompanied the professor in his daily round through the wards, receiving in this manner practical instruction in the dressing and after-treatment. So popular have the lectures, clinics and quiz- zes become, that students from other colleges have been regular attendants upon them, the only instance in my knowledge where allopathic students have sought surgical teaching outside of their own schools. Of the surgical wards, it can be truthfully said that in the many comforts furnished they are not surpassed by any institution, public or private. Within the last year, over $1,500 worth of furnishings and appliances have been added to these wards. And now to whom are we indebted for the success which this department has sustained and the reputation which has brought to its clinic so much valuable material ? While undoubtedly it shows, with the other departments and clinics, the reputation which has been made for the hospital by the many eminent gentlemen who compose its staff, it is universally acknowledged, I believe, that to the energy, ability and disinterestedness of my colleague, Prof. Hall, we are mainly indebted for the prominent position it now holds. The Women in the Class and the Women s Clinic.—In re- sponse to this sentiment, Prof. Ludlam said that it must have come to Prof. Vilas as a kind of after-thought, like the toast to “ the La- dies ” at an ordinary banquet: that he should be out of his element if he spoke for the ladies, but that he had a word to say for the 19 women in whose welfare as pupils and patients he had been greatly- interested. It is now thirteen years since the women were admitted to the privileges of the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, on equal terms with the men. In that time, nearly 300 women have attended our courses of instruction, and, after as thorough a training as possi- ble, a due proportion of them have graduated and entered the field of practice. Without discussing their general fitness for the work, or the fear on the part of some of our friends that their admission to the college would drive away students and damage its interests, truth and justice to all parties compel us to acknowledge that the remarkable prosperity of this institution, especially within the past few years, is largely due to their presence and cooperation. One of the reasons for this fact is outlined in the toast which must he my text. In this country, as a rule, a “ clinical rule ” it you please, with women in the class we can have women in the clinic; for if a poor, shy, timid woman comes to the threshold of the amphi- theatre for relief, and sees her sisters among those who are there to hear her story and to study her infirmities, she will neither shrink within herself, so that we cannot get what we want, nor run away altogether. But, if she finds at a glance that the room is full of men of all ages, from the boy of sixteen to the bald-headed old fellow of sixty, and not a woman in sight, she must be very ill, or very needy, or very confident that the teacher is skillful and kind, before she can be in- duced to come willingly into the presence of the class as a patient. Nor is the mere presence of women in the amphitheatre as a moral support to the teacher and a grateful guaranty to the patient, the only good that comes of having a mixed class in the school. No one can organize and conduct a Women’s Clinic successfully without the active assistance of the women themselves; and, naturally enough, our trained help must come from among those who have had especial advantages, and who, while they can sympathize with the patient as men cannot do, know from their own student-life what the class requires. Every gynecological table that is kept and used for clinical purposes, needs and should have its lady-assistant as a go- between, not only to smooth the pillow of the patient, but also to civilize the pupil while he is being trained in this very interesting and important department of medicine. Show me a Women’s Clinic at which the lady students are as scarce as a doctor’s ducats, or in which the operating-table is not provided with an assistant of the same sex as the patient, and I will show you a very meagre supply of material for the one, and a low morale for the other. In the medical schools of America hundreds of men are gradu- ated every year who have not been privileged to come within gun- shot of a gynecological case, and who know nothing practically of the modes of examining and of prescribing for women. And yet, if they succeed, nine-tenths of their work will be among women and chil- 20 dren, nor will a life-time of reading and study as isolated practitioners atone for this defect. The very fact that so many of you have come to our college for this special term, and for these special advantages, leaving your fields of labor and journeying a long distance, confirms the truth of my statement. You are here for the sake of object-les- sons, which you did not have, and could not have, in your college days, for there were no women in the class, and next to none in the clinic. And there are thousands of physicians all over the country who feel the same need, because of the same defective training when they were in college. As a means of improving the tone and character of the coming doctor, a great deal has been said and written of “ a higher system of medical education,” of “elevating the standard of requirement,” of splitting the essential branches into all sorts of bric-a-brac, and of making the final examinations more rigid, but not one word has ap- peared in any journal or college announcement, or in the transac- tions of any medical society that I have ever seen, concerning the disgraceful defect of which I have just spoken. If every medical col- lege was attached to a Woman’s Hospital, the case might be different; but it is not so in this country, or in any other, and it never can be. Ten years of lecturing to a male class of as good students as ever sat upon the benches of any medical school, and thirteen years of a riper service to a mixed class, have convinced me that, in so far as the thorough teaching of the Diseases of Women is concerned, co- education is a clinical necessity. Our medical grandfathers were gynephobists (afraid of the women !), and there was not a gynecologist in the whole lot of them. It is a mere matter of common sense, therefore, to say that, if you want to study the diseases of women, you must go where the women are. If it is unwomanly in them to study medicine, it is unmanly in us to deny them the privilege, especially when, clinically speaking, we are the obliged party. No unprejudiced person could have looked in upon our class of last winter, with its two hundred and thirty-six men and sixty women, respectful and decorous, eager and earnest in the pursuit of practical gynecology, without recognizing the fitness of a mixed audience in such a place. But for such an atmosphere I should have failed as a teacher, and the bottom would have been out of my clinic long ago. Without the women in the class, you would not have learned the hundredth part of what you have acquired in this Practitioner’s Course concerning gynecology. Therefore, my friends, if there were no other reasons than those which I have given, we should welcome the women as well as the men, to the class and to the clinic. 21 LIST OF MATRICULATES FOR THE PRACTITIONERS’ COURSE IN THE SPRING OF 1883. Alpers, J. H., M. D., . Illinois. Baldwin, E. AV., . . 1 Illinois. Bedford, L., M. D., . Illinois. Bishop, C. H., . . lowa. Bowerman, Mrs. M. A.,M.D., Illinois. Berry, AV. T., M. D., . Minn. Block, H. C., . . Illinois. Boulter, Mrs. McE., M. D., Illinois. Bossard, C., . . Illinois.. Chapman, T. G., . . Illinois. Cobb, J. P., M. D., . Illinois. Creighton, Miss M. J., . Illinois. Davis, H. G., M. D., . Illinois. Donaghue, E. 8., M. D., . Illinois- Dunn, George AV., M. D., Illinois. Du Souchet, A. L., . . Illinois. Dewey, Charles, M. D., Illinois. Dillard, E., Illinois. Eddy, V. C., . . 'N. Y. Epps, F., M. D., . . Eng. Figg, J. J., . . Illinois. Foster, J. M., M. D., . Illinois. Freyermuth, E. G., M. D., Ind. French, A. J., M. D., . Illinois. Garrett, Grace, . . Illinois. Glover, H. G.,M. D., . Illinois. Hartsell, AV. AV., M. D., Kansas. Hart, AV. H., M. D., . Penn. Hunter, C. R., M. D., Illinois. Harlan, R. A., M. D., . Illinois. Higgins, A. F., . . Illinois. Harris, A. F., . . . AVis. Houston, M., M. D., . Mass. Hayes, Ed. H., . . Illinois. Hoyt, 0. N., M. D., . lowa. Hutfaker, T. S., . . Mo. Hughes, Clara A., . Illinois. Hutchins, H. G., M. D., Illinois. Hutchins, Mrs. A. V., M. D., Illinois. Hislop, M., M. D., . Illinois. Hunter, Miss J. E., Illinois. Jensen, Anna C., M. D., Illinois Karten, J. AV., M. U., . Mo. Keller, Mrs. M. E., . Ind. Kilgore, H. F., M. D., , Minn. King, J. B. S., M. D., . Illinois Linn, A. M., M. D., . lowa. Lowry, J. T., M. D., . Miss. Ludlam, R. Jr., . . Illinois. Macgraneghan, AV. 11., M .D., Ky. Meinhardt, Emma T., . Illinois. McGowen, AV. E., . AVis. Mcgiilvery, Miss M.M.,M.D. Illinois. Miessler, C. F. 0., . . Illinois. Miller, Mrs. C. A., . Illinois. Macgranaghan, F., M. D., Ky. Mann, J. E., . . . Ind. Palmer, 0. A., M. D., . Ohio. Paul, Ph. D., . . . AVis. Paxon, Mrs. R. S., M. D., Kansas. Pond, F. L., . . Illinois. Rowe, Addie M., . Illinois. Rogers, L. D., . . Ohio. Rogers, Mrs. S. 1., . Ohio. Risdon, Mrs. C. A., . Illinois. Stevens, A. M., A. M., . Minn. Stevens, H. F., . . Illinois. Sinclaire, James, . . Minn. Simmons, E. A., . . Ohio. Swallow, F., . . Mon. Smith, M. D., M. D., . Vt. Shoop, G. 1., M. 1)., . AVis. Towsley, R, F., . . Illinois. AVade, F. S., B. S., M. D„ Illinois. AValker, L., . . Neb. AVyckoff, P. S., M. D., . Illinois. AVillis, R., M. D., . AVis. AVayte, Lucy C., M. S., . Illinois. Whitworth, G. F.,Jr., -. AV. Ter. AVheeler, F., M. D., . Illinois. Total for the spring session of 1883, 80. 22 THE PRACTITIONER’S COURSE OF LECTURES Is entirely separate from any other course of instruction in this institution, and is designed to meet the especial wants of the practitioners in medicine and surgery who flesire to keep up with the advance studies of the times. The subjects lectured upon during the term of four weeks, now just .past, were as follows : PROF. A. E. SMALL, Diseases of the Heart. PROF. R. LUDLAM, Gynecological Surgery and Clinical Illustrations. PROF. T. S. HOY WE, The More Important Venereal Diseases. PROF. G. A. HALL, Dislocations and Fractures and their Proper Treatment. PROF. C. H. VILAS, The Diseases of the Eye and Ear most frequently met with in General Practice. PROF. W. J. HAWKES, PROF. IT. B. FELLOWS, New Remedies. Medical Electricity. PROF. S. LEAVITT, Selected Topics in Obstetrics. PROF. C. E. LANING, Anatomy in its Relation to Medicine. PROF. C. PUSHECK, PROF. E. S. BAILEY, Urinary Analysis. The Microscope in Practical Medicine. PROF. G. F. SHEARS, Surgery of the Genito-Urinary System. PROF. E. E. HOLMAN, Ventilation and Sewage. REGULAR CLINICS Prof. Fellows, - Nervous Diseases, Monday, 11:00 A. M. “ Hall, - - Surgical, Monday, 2P. M. “ Hoyne, - Skin and Venereal, Tuesday, 11 A. M. “ Vilas, - - Eye and Ear, Tuesday, 2:30 P. M. “ Ludlam, - Women’s Diseases, Wednesday, 11:30 A. M. “ Hawkes, - Medical, Thursday, 11:30 A. M. “ Laning, - Children’s Diseases, Friday, 11:00 A. M- Are held the year round, as follows ; The profession and students are cordially invited to attend any of these Clinics.