University of Maryland School of Medicine - Terrae Mariae Medicus (Baltimore, MD)

Page 9 text:

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE This building is now in its one hundred and fortieth year as a center of medical education. When it was erected medical practice, as we know it today, was still far in the future. The well known contributions of Pasteur and Lister were a half century away. Percussion of the chest was very new and Laennec had not as yet published his famous “De l’ausculdetation Mediate,” wherein he described the use of that useful instrument of his invention, the stethoscope. The foundation stone of this, the original med- ical school building was laid by Colonel John Eager Howard on April the seventh, 1811. Colonel Howard, a local revolutionary war hero and wealthy land owner, sold the land for nine thousand dollars. The building, completed in 1812, was designed by the noted American architect, R. Cary Long. A newspaper account of the day states: “ — the front forms a handsome peristile of eight columns of Grecian Doric in imitation of the pan- theon of Rome. The rotunda has an amphitheater of sixty feet in diameter capable of accommodating one thousand.” The building was described as “located on a hill just beyond the western boundary of the city, commanding a fine view of the harbour and conveniently situated near the Washington Post road.” Cost of the land for the building and its construction was met by public lottery. At that time this was not an uncommon procedure for financing an institution. Interesting though the old building is, except for the medical school within, it would be only another quaint old Baltimore edifice, the work of a once famous architect. For an interesting account of the actual begin- nings of the medical school we turn to the writings of Dr. Nathaniel Potter, one of the co-founders. In an account written in the eighteen thirties he states: “In 1797 I adopted this city (Baltimore) as a permanent residence and became acquainted with the late John Beale Davidge, M.D. He was born in Annapolis in 1768, son of an ex-captain in the British army and Mary Howard of Anne Arun- del county. He had been educated at Edinburgh and Glasgow, where he had devoted himself to the study of anatomy and physiology. We fre- 5

Page 8 text:

THE HISTORY OF THE A

Page 10 text:

JOHN BEALE DAVIDGE, M.D. quently conferred on the prevailing theories and practice of the day as they were taught and pursued on both sides of the Atlantic. We came to the conclusion that science could not be successfully taught under the usual organization of the medical schools. We saw — that without the aids of physi- ology and pathology associated with anatomy— the philosophy of the body could not be understood. In the winter of 1806, Dr. Davidge began to lecture on obstetrics and anatomy in an anatomical theater that he had erected at his own expense on his own ground. In 1807 — it was discovered by the people that he had introduced a subject for dissection — a mob assembled — -which demolished the house and put a period to all further pro- ceedings for that season. — This disaster activated us to pray the legislature for authority to open a medical college under the guarantee of the state.” In 1807 an act was passed by the legislature establishing The College of Medicine of Maryland and creating a Board of Regents consisting of the Board of Medical Examiners of Maryland together with the president and the professors of the college. The Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Marvland was made patron of the college and its president named chancellor. The original faculty consisted of John B. Dav- idge, M.D., and J. James Cocke M.D., joint pro- fessors of anatomy, surgery, and physiology; George Brown M.D., professor of the practise and theory of medicine; John Shaw M.D., professor of chemistry; Thomas E. Bond M.D., professor of materia medica; and William D. Donaldson M.D., professor of the institutes of medicine. Dr. Brown resigned and Nathaniel Potter M.D. was elected to fill the vacancy. Ten students comprised the first class. Anatomy and chemistry were held in an old abandoned school house on Fayette Street and McClellan’s Alley. The first winter was so cold that cadavers and chemical reagents froze and the professors all contracted pleurisy. The course of the institutes and practice of medicine was held in the ball room of a private residence on Commerce Street. In April 1810 the first public commencement was held and five graduates received degrees. In 1812 the m edical school moved into the building which houses its administration and lecture halls to this day. Also in this year an act was passed by the state legislature creating The Uni- versity of Maryland by engrafting Schools of Di- vinity, Law, and Arts and Sciences upon the exist- ing Medical College. Archbishop John Carroll was chosen first Provost of the University but declined and the Hon. Robert Smith, a former U.S. Secret- ary of State, was elected and accepted the position. Of the various colleges of the new university that of medicine was the only one that flourished during the early years. A Gold Medal was instituted in 1813, to be awarded annually to the student writing the best 6