Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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The Skull of Honorary Fellows of The Royal Society of Medicine —it has no greater honour at its disposal. The following evening the Laryngological Section of that Society gave a dinner with Jackson as our chief guest, during which we were delighted to discover in him, a hitherto unknown but deep spring of sparkling humour which, as might have been expected, was frequently directed against himself. In these few halting lines, and with indifferent success—it has been my purpose to make such simple reflections as are fitting for an occasion when we all desire to commemorate one of the great Masters in Medicine, who is still amongst us. In St. Paul's Cathedral, London, there may be seen over the tomb of its architect—Sir Christopher Wren—the engraved lines: Si monumentum requiris. circumspice. He did not live to see them, but our colleague. Chevalier Jackson, whom we honour today, must be one of the few who has long since seen his own monument the Bronchoscopic Clinics, which a grateful city has erected in appreciation of his brilliant pioneer and still sustained work in that particular branch medicine. If I may be allowed to speak for my British associates, it would be to say that we would like to join the Graduating Class of Temple Medical School in expressing, in the columns of The Skull our respectful admiration of Chevalier Jackson s life's work in Peroral Bronchoscopy, to acknowledge how much we have learned and still hope to learn from him, and last but not least, how deep is our admiration of all those intangible virtues which make him so much beloved by his friends and so deeply respected by all. Fiftoen 933 ■

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The Skull bulb was so fixed to the proximal end of the tube that only 50% of its light was available for illumination. Shortly afterwards. Killian's assistant, Bruning. improved the mechanism so that nearly 100% of light could be directed on the field of observation. But this proximal illumination involved a good deal of top-hamper, and the surgeon had to look through a sort of key-hole” during the manipulation of his forceps, etc. An enormous improvement was soon to follow when Chevalier Jackson placed the light bulb at the distal end of the tube and thus provided for a full, unhindered view of the regions under examination, and removed those hindering mechanisms to which I have first referred. It seems strange to some of us that proximal light is still used in some of the Continental Clinics. As one who used the Bruning-Killian instrument for five to six years, I have often thought that to Jackson's transference of the light from the near to the distal end of the tube, is due the perfection of the art of Direct Endoscopy as we know it to-day, and in consequence the saving of thousands of lives from imminent peril. Fourteen But The Moving Finger writes, and having writ Moves on; . . . and the exigencies of time and space preclude me from saying more of what humanity owes to our friend for all he has done to make of Peroral Endoscopy one ot the great beacon-lights in the history of Medicine, and to have substantiated the prediction of The Great Teacher, who some 2,000 years ago said: There is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Mark iv. 22.) If these lines catch the eye of anyone whose work lies outside the ambit of the subject, but who may. nevertheless, be interested in it, let him open Jackson s Peroral Endoscopy —the Bible of the Endoscopist—where he will be able—alas:— to see how scant justice I have been compelled to do its author. His fellow-countrymen—professional and lay—have bestowed their highest honours upon him. and most of the medical centres of all civilised countries have in various ways shown their appreciation of his work. It will always be for me a proud recollection that in that Autumn of 1930, I was able to procure for him an invitation from the Royal Society of Medicine. London, to give a General Lecture on Bronchoscopy in Relation to Diseases of the Chests. It is an honour reserved for the few. The large lecture hall was packed as never before or since; the audience was held spell-bound by the quiet yet forceful delivery of the lecturer, and almost awed by his capacity for making chalk-drawings without interrupting his discourse. By my side sat Lord Moynihan —President of the Royal College of Surgeons—who turned to me and said: What an artist! A few weeks later ihe name of Chevalier Jackson was added to the small list 1933

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Ihe Skull DOCTEUR FERNAND LEMAITRE Sixteen Professeur a la Faculte de Medecine Oto-Rhino-Laryngologiite de L'Hopital Lariboisicre QUE dire du Professeur Chevalier-Jackson? Nous le connaissons tous, et tous, nous I'admirons autant que nous I'aimons. J'ai eu, a differentes reprises. I'heureuse occasion de me trouver a ses cotes; je connais aussi bien I'Homme que le Medecin; je n'hesite pas £ dire de lui: Apotre convaincu. Artiste fin et distingue, il est avant tout un Grand Coeur. Apotre convaincu, il va. prechant de par le monde la Science de la Broncho-oesophagoscopie qu'il a su faire sienne. II repand ainsi la bonne parole partout ou on le lui demande mais. comme tout apotre. il a. en dehors de sa Patrie. sa terre de predilection; et. pour lui. la terre de predilection, c'est la France. Je n'oublierai jamais avec quel enthousiasme, avec quel desinteressement, il a repondu a tous mes appels. Qu'il me soit permis de Ten remercier aujourd'hui publiquement! Artiste aussi fin que distingue, il est pourvu de dons merveilleux qu'une bonne fee lui prodigua sans compter le jour de la naissance. Son habilete est vraiment extraordinaire. On est sous le charme auand on le voit dessiner. de ses deux mains un peu anguleuses mais toujours si souples, les remarquables petits tableaux dont il dime illustrer son cours et que signeraient volontiers les plus grands maitres. On est dans I'admiration quand. tel le plus etourdissant des prestigitateurs, il jongle du bout de sa pince avec les corps etrangers les plus rebelles. enclaves profondement dans les voies respiratoires. Et, ce qui ajoute encore aux qualites de I'artiste, c'est la simplicity, c'est I'aisance, c'est la modestie avec lesquelles tout cela est accompli . . . Le Professeur Chevalier-Jeckson est avant tout un Grand Coeur. Cela ne s'analyse pas; cela se sent. Point n'est besoin d'avoir de delicates antennes pour percevoir les ondes qui emanent de toute sa personne. Ces ondes traversent aisement les mers, et c'est pour cela que nous apprecions si vivement. de ce cote de I'Atlan-tique. la grande bonte de notre grand ami. Elies agissent. naturellement. plus encore sur les etres qui evoluent au sein meme de son orbite et c'est pour cela que, dans son entourage immediat, on nourrit h son egard, des sentiments qui rappellent le culte que les croyants professent pour leur Dieu: Admiration, Silence et Recueillement. Chevalier-Jackson est notre gloire medicale mondiaie. 1933