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

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No, I never saw Deliverance Vm

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Ceremony and introduction marked the open- ing week of school. Each morning the students assembled to hear a two-hour oration by one of the professors. Each speech was full of rhetorical flower and classical allusion, apotheosizing the medical profession and exhorting the young men to study diligently. Seemingly, the platitudes did not bore the students. Always they applauded, sometimes they took up collections to have the lectures published and occasionally they might have been inspired. The most popular course was anatomy. Unu- sual emphasis on anatomy revealed the institu- tion ' s devotion to basic science. Anatomy required twice as much of the student ' s time as any other course. The striking success of the anatomy department stemmed from the ready availability of cadavers. Indeed the University did provide cadavers for as far away as Maine. Almost every student since the school ' s opening imagined himself the discoverer of some new fold or tissue. The medical students were a remarkably mature group of men. In contrast to most u ndergraduates, the ante-bellum Maryland students were characterized by high seriousness that bordered on the dull. The nuns (with whom many students boarded) complained that the resident students stayed out too late, but after investigation, the faculty scolded the boys only for working in the laboratory too late. The young men seemed to remain serious even when their fancies turned toward love. One story of love is especially famous. Samuel Carr of South Carolina and William Martin of the Eastern Shore were the best of friends and roommates until they both fell in love with Dr. Davidge ' s 14-year daughter, Mary. During the Christmas vacation, when Carr was in South Carolina, Martin learned that absence had affected Mary ' s heart; she was in love with his rival. Distraught, Martin wrote to his roommate sug- gesting foul play, and demanding that he pay what he owed on the bill that they had just received for wood. Carr replied with insulting condescension as only a victor can. The injury and insult were too much for Martin to bear and he demanded a duel with pistols. Carr was an experienced duelist and offered to pay for the wood on the spot but his lovesick opponent insisted that the duel go on and was killed. Death did not end the story, for while most people sympathized with Carr, the University was compelled to expel him. Mary eloped with the young man to Louisiana. Five years later they returned to Baltimore and Carr finished his degree at the University only to die a few years later. Mary, still young and fair married David Dudley Field, a famous American jurist. The tale was in the grandest romantic tradition. Class Football Team 1896

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And in Their Predecessor ' s Proud Tradition: The Class of 1975! 17