APPENDIX VI

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ITHACA DIVISION OF THE MEDICAL COLLEGE

To the President of the University:

SIR-I have the honor to present the following report of the Ithaca Division of the Medical College for the academic year 1907-1908.

The registration in the Medical College was this year 65 students, of whom eight were also registered in the College of Arts and Sciences as candidates for the A. B. degree. The total number of students, therefore, is the same as last year, while the number taking the combined course was increased from five to eight. In addition to those studying Medicine, there were in attendance in the department of histology and embryology, 28 students from the Veterinary College, 16 students in Arts and Sciences and three graduate students, while in the department of physiology, there were 33 students from the College of Arts and Sciences, 19 from the College of Agriculture, and four graduate students, the total number of individuals receiving instruction in Stimson Hall being, therefore, approximately 144, with a total registration in all courses of 593 students. Many of the students from the College of Arts and Sciences, thus registered in Stimson Hall, are either prospective Medical students or possess a more or less direct interest in medical science.

The curriculum as followed this year has been the same as last. As has been stated in previous reports, it is greatly overcrowded and yet additional work next year in certain subjects is urgently called for. With the requirement of physics and inorganic chemistry for entrance, which will be in force year after next, a remodeling of the curriculum will be called for and the congestion and certain illogical sequences in the present course of study can doubtless be obviated.

The instruction in the various departments of the Medical school has been carried out with energy and enthusiasm on the part of the teachers, and fine perseverance and application on the part of the student body, with excellent results.

In the department of anatomy there has been the customary attendance in the required courses, while four students have taken

advanced work. The instruction has progressed smoothly, "the work of the students has been made more independent and the spirit of investigation has been fostered more strongly. In addition, the recitation work upon systematic anatomy has been concentrated in optional courses which have received the appreciation of the students." Dr. Kerr heartily commends the work of the staff. Dr. Schaeffer and Instructor Baldwin have devoted themselves to the department with untiring energy and in addition have done some excellent research. The work of Dr. Hathaway and Dr. Wright has been excellent and Drs. Pease and Prince have been faithful and painstaking in their teaching. Four of the instructing staff, however, were not devoting their entire time to the work of the department and Dr. Kerr regrets that sufficient compensation is not available for the securing of men who are making anatomy their life work.

The attendance in the courses offered in the department of histology and embryology has been 101 during the present year. Due to the resignation of the first assistant, Dr. E. A. Reed, and in view of his retirement at the end of the year, that he might not determine for his successor the assistants he should have employed, Professor Gage has conducted the work of the department with the help of men who were not devoting their whole time to the department. While they were capable and faithful, the limited time and energy they could give has made it necessary that detailed oversight of the work of instruction devolve upon Professor Gage.

Through the retirement of Professor Gage from the work of teaching, for the purpose of devoting himself exclusively to research, the Medical Faculty will lose a member of great force of character, honesty of purpose, and unfaltering devotion to high ideals of scholarship; the students, a teacher of wide experience whose clearness of presentation and enthusiasm will be difficult to replace. His cooperation will be greatly missed. He retains, however, his private laboratory in Stimson Hall, and while it would be an imposition to claim his ever-ready help and counsel as freely as in the past, it is a satisfaction to know that an adviser of so extensive experience and sound judgment is close at hand, while the example of devotion to research will be an inspiring one for teacher and assistant.

In his last report, Professor Gage offers some suggestions as to the future work in the department over which he has so long presided, that will be markedly helpful for his successor. For the Medical school as a whole, he urges a more carefully worked out

curriculum in which there is more coordination and less concentration of subjects and an instructing staff devoting their entire time to the branch they teach, which they intend to make their life work.

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In the department of physiology and pharmacology, the attendance this year has been greater than ever before; 113 individuals have received instruction, the total registration in all courses being The work has progressed with smoothness and the teaching has been conducted with energy and enthusiasm on the part of both students and instructors. The work of the assistants in the laboratory has been very satisfactory. Dr. Dresbach, as instructor, has proved himself an excellent laboratory worker of high ideals. His devotion to the welfare of the department and his appreciation of original work fully merit recognition which I hope may be accorded him soon.

In the instruction of Medical students in physiology, the plan of closely coordinated recitations, demonstrations and laboratory work has been employed in the major course as last year and the value of carefully arranged laboratory work in physiology becomes more apparent each year. A closer correlation of the course on metabolism with the work in physiological chemistry is desirable and doubtless will be possible when the schedule is remodeled. The arrangement of rooms used in the department is now fairly satisfactory, although the problem of a demonstration room is still unsettled. The shop room in the basement has been exceedingly useful. A mechanic for the department is much needed. The equipment for instruction in experimental physiology is quite good, but there are still some gaps in the equipment for demonstration and research that need to be filled.

Half of the students registered in the department of physiology were from outside the Medical College. The increasing number of such students indicates the demand that exists for the adequate instruction in human physiology as a basis for an appreciation of the laws of health and as a preparation for secondary school teaching. The course as given needs extension with the incorporation into it of carefully selected laboratory work. At present, both the equipment and instructing staff are inadequate for the proper development of this important side of the work in physiology.

The work in pharmacology has been carried out by Dr. Wilson and Dr. Dresbach along the lines laid down by the professor in charge, and has been quite satisfactory. Dr. Dresbach conducted the course on the physiological action of drugs, while Dr. Wilson

had charge of the instruction in materia medica. Pharmacology is one of the youngest (as well as oldest) of the medical sciences, and constituting, as it does, the foundation study for therapeutics, its importance is being more and more recognized. The increased amount of instruction that is being devoted to it in the New York division of the Medical College and elsewhere, requires that more ample provision be made for it at Ithaca. Pharmacology is one of the "pure" sciences in medicine, though closely touching the practical branches, and it can be adequately dealt with only by one who devotes his entire time to the subject as his life work.

The work in the department of bacteriology and pathology has been conducted with the success that has been its marked feature in past years. Sixty-one Medical students were registered in the courses in general pathology and bacteriology and have on the whole done good work. Dr. Moore speaks in the highest terms of Drs. Burnett and Taylor, who have assisted him in the instruction of Medical students. The pathological material available in the department has been steadily increased so that at present there are about 1,000 specimens in gross pathology and 365 series of slides for the study of pathological histology.

Eleven published articles have appeared from this laboratory this year and of these Dr. Moore has contributed eight, Dr. Burnett two, and Dr. Taylor one.

The work in medicine, obstetrics and surgery has been given as heretofore with satisfactory results.

With the beginning of next year the Medical College, under the advanced requirements for entrance, enters upon a new era of great possibilities. It is hardly necessary to state that the Faculty at Ithaca welcome the change although it will mean greater responsibilities for all.

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The practical impossibility of obtaining suitable assistants for the salaries available has been mentioned in previous reports and in the future the difficulty will be even greater. It will be necessary to secure men who are capable of advancing the sciences to which they are devoting themselves and they must be given opportunity to do This means better remuneration and more leisure for research, and it is only under these conditions that such men can be secured and retained. The facilities for advanced work in the three major departments of anatomy, histology and physiology are good but here, also, additional equipment is needed. I cannot too strongly urge that the means be provided for putting these sciences, funda

mental in biology and medicine, on a sound university basis, as the heads of the departments will be expected to maintain the position of preeminence that the Medical school has elected to fill. .

By no means second to the maintenance of a high standard in research is the demand for adequate instruction, and in the working out of the future curriculum the responsibility for success rests with the Faculty.

Stimson Hall possesses a most beautiful and commodious library room, and the Medical College is constantly receiving donations of books and periodicals. There is, however, no provision as yet for the care of the books so housed, or regulations governing their use. There is urgent need of some plan whereby this most valuable adjunct of medical laboratories may be properly cared for. Either a librarian might be on duty at stated times, or there might be a clerk of the College who would be officially appointed and also be made responsible for the care of the library.

Technicians such as are in the service of the departments of physiology, histology and anatomy elsewhere, are necessary for the work of these departments in Stimson Hall. As has been set forth in previous reports, a mechanic is necessary for the repair and construction of apparatus in the department of physiology, while a preparator is indispensable for the best work in histology.

As a whole, the Medical College at Ithaca has passed through a year of steady growth in all departments. For its future work, however, additional assistant professors and instructors are needed, and it is sincerely hoped that provision for them may be made in the immediate future.

Respectfully submitted,

B. F. KINGSBURY,

Secretary of the Ithaca Division of the Medical College.