Harvard School of Medicine - Aesculapiad Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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I vu ' 4.. . -,I V In the autumn of the year bf our Lord iiineteen hundred and two, and of' the 'independence of the United'States the hundred and twenty-sixth, some eighty stalwart young men packed their lunch- baskets, shouldered their grips, and betook them- selves to the bigger, better and busier metropolis on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. They came fr0m all quarters of the globe. Some had been fed throughout infancy with silver spoons and later reared in luxuryg but others had passed through grave dangers and dire misfortune. One, for ex- ample, had barely escaped massacre in a far-off eastern climeg one had lived in Skowhegang three had been to Yale. VVith mingled feelings of awe and elation, these young men, one and all, entered the portals of a famous institution of learning., and, after parting with the first of an interminable sequence of fees, provided themselves with Boston bags and Gray's Anatomies, thereby proclaiming to the world the arrival of a new band of healers. The four years that followed were, indeed, momentous ones for this stalwart little company, years filled with events which will long endure in the minds of men. To a casual observer these youths must have seemed not unlike many others of their time. Their habits, while rarely bad enough to exact mention from the newspapers of the day, proved to be, in truth, not always exemplary. few of them were leisurely loungers, seemingly oblivious of the fact that each lecture missed meant a net loss of sixteen cents. Others violated the semicolon law fiagrantly. Some, as was the custom in those. days, were wont to gather and make night and day hideous with the strains of t'Bring the VVagon Home, John, in spoiled harmony. One man lived on vegetarian diet so persistently that he could barely muster 50 cents worth of haemoglobin, and had normoblasts galore in the lobe of his ear. Another cultivated a deep, booming enunciation, which enabled him, when properly lubricated, to imitate immitablyithe cadences of a famous comedian of the period. Several very soon displayed great proficiency in the science of anatomy. One was the discoverer ofuthe nerve supply to the pupil Qsee Alle Studenten Csiv. em der Hook, XXIIIQQ another demonstrated a superior method for resecting the sciatic nerveg while a third collected the skull of every man that died for his country at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Reprehensible as these things were, they became insignificant in comparison with the folly of six other good men and truefwho succumbed to the blandish- ments of the gentler sex, and whose bad example proved to be the' incentive of a virulent epidemic. It' was impossible to stamp out the in'fection., Many other men, we learn, suffered from the prodromal symptoms of the fever, or, indeed, were so far advanced in the incubation period that they gave promise of soon reaching the rash stage,-that of getting married, and of spending the rest of their days in felicitous convalescence. It is interesting to note, however, that all were too firmly impressed with the horrors of 24 McLean Street to offend even in the first degree. In contrast with such misdemeanors, these worthy young men had many excellent traits. Their only adverse criticism, it is said, came from one little John: Gentlemen, he remarked, in a courteous way, you show considerable evidence of intellect and high scholarship, but an entire lack of horse- sense. Nobody ever denied the high scholarship. Most 'of them tried to stand at the head, and one man, according to current report was successful. Their marks were so high that the Faculty refused to give them out piecemeal, but, instead, reserved them for one final, glorious, overwhelming announce- ment. V The Faculty often used to point to this remark- able aggregation with pride, saying: Here, gentle- men, you see our most brilliant and beloved offspring. May those who are to come emulate them in their good works. Verily, ttwhom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Qioth the Faculty further: Here is a class of sufiicient intelligence to react satisfactorily to the stimulus of a revolutionized, get-knowledge- quick curriculum. This is a golden opportunity to produce a practitioner of warranted strength and versatility. What was the result? Their heads were crammed in season and out. in a most hap- hazard fashiong they had knowledge applied intern- ally, externally and subcutaneously, until at last, after passing through a maclstrom of thirteen examin- ations, they slid placidly into their fourth year. Here they were promptly put on a restricted diet, and no longer allowed' to take hospital appointments between meals or to change their apportioned electives over night. f A few people living today will remember that they realized the inadequate laboratories and agoniz- ing lecture-seats of the former school building, and generously presented to their posterity sundry marble palaces out Brookline-way. A few will remember that, after a bitter struggle, they succeeded in raising the fourth-year tuition of two hundred dollars. It is a well-known fact that they rescued from a career of innocuous oblivion at Cornell, the Hbig gun of the Administrative Board. During their second year, Fw'-F:

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, 4 four of them served so brilliantly as this gentleman's assistants that to this day no more student assistants have been required in Physiology. The l1osp1tIl1Sa too, applied to them for aid. They. responded nobly to the calls for volunteers Providence, Hartford, Pittsburg and half a dozen other cities were supplied. The Massachusetts General drew upon their ranks for house-officers, while the institution which repre- sented the City of Boston,-but w-ords are lacking to describe adequately the consternation that arose. when a staff of physicians who had always been considered of ordinary human intelligence, suddenly showed signs of being afflicted with some obscure cerebral lesion. Surely, that whole affair resembled the peace of God, which passeth all understanding: Enough of such unpleasant details. i These illustrious young men did not spend every minute in serious occupation. Their entire .time was not em- ployed in staining their fingers with carbol-fuchsm, eliciting Austin Flint murmurs from llDVVlll1llgllCZll'tS, or in pursuing the joyful task of the alchemist. Hardly had they extracted a matriculation fee from lean pocket-books, when they .were called op to begin their social career by electing ofheers. Izvery man wanted to be president and it is said that every man voted for himself. After several ballots, one youth of innocent appearance but evil spirit succeed- ed in casting two votes for himself and was .thereby elected. For four years he held his position. of tyrant, unusurped. On the whole he was afairly successful leader. His effervescent wit, lns scintillat- ing, but always modest stories and lns geniahtytat class dinners in great measure offset the deficiencies of his character. When, towards the end of lns reign, he learned that he was destined to go through life burdened with a cum laude, he formed an honor- ary society for the recognition of his abnormal in- telligence. Aided by the high-handed methods of the president, a secretary and three eomnntteemen were chosen to complete the ring, Ofiicers elected, they saw the crying need of a dinner. Their first annual Udigestive function was an epitome of gastric delectation, song, story and smoke-talk. The climax of the evening was reached when a man of small stature, in an exhibition of unparalleled marksmanship, brought down huge oil paintings with missiles no larger than a small orange. Hardly less successful were the dinners which follow- edg one of them preceded by a visit to a local play- house, where the wit and skill of the performers was greeted with showers of confectionery Swiftly thrown. The athletic achievements of this ambitious group were not without glory. In two baseball contests they were nearly victorious. Their team- play .was masterly and but for the fact that the malt extract was carelessly placed near first base, some man might have gone farther. Although no one can deny that this little band were, in themselves, of exceptional ability, still it must be remembered to how great an extent their success was due to thc untiring efforts of learned instructors. How patiently, for example, did that garrulous but kindly anatomist disclose the secrets of frozen sections and iterate When I was in Vienna until the streets of Vienna became as familiar to them as those of their native towns. With what keen delight did their genial physiologist march them up hill and down dale or entice them into forests of kymographs, inhabited by Jumbo frogsg and when all was over, how gracefully he Hunked them. Very, thoroughly did those two sister de-partments,-headed by a brilliant satirist, on the one hand, and by an eminent attorney for the prosecution, on the other,- interpret the principles of medicine and the theory and practice of physick. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like ONE of these. How lucidly did the little first soprano explain the theory of 3-6-1. How forcefully, too, were they impressed, at a dollar a head, with the fact that it was inexcusable malpractice to inject less than four thousand units of Father John's Medicine. How frankly that surgeon, of complacent rotundity, con- fessed his fatal mistakes. How successfully did their two midwives,-he of the beaming eye, famous as the son of his father, and that tfeharming young pro- fessor with rouguish winning smile, famous as the father of his son,-explain the mechanism of labor or initiate the frightened neophyte into the mysteries of 24 Nlclaean, NVhere foolish virgin waits the visiting Swain. And the three C's,-internist, pathologist, alienist,- how soothingly did they exemplify the C C C of today. They work while you sleep. Secure in the knowledge gleamed from such eminent teachers, the well-trained company of young men were, all too soon, foisted upon the unsuspect- ing invalids of an uncharitable world. Their pia mater patted them on their sheepskins and sent them forth with a parting benediction: Bless you, my children. Be eager to do your best for the lame, halt and blind. Work, if you must, for love, but be ever ready to separate as many capitalists as you can from their treasure trove. And finally, remember the words of Aeseulapius, how he said : We dress the wound, God heals it. Thank Heaven for that! IMOTOOIAINI IV I I PURDV A OO-A Ill TRIMONT IT BOIYON KTM flip, -E-,, .g. f::.'ae5ts:9z1Za-a,.la.,:12:-