USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 22
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The Boston University School of Medicine, established in 1873.
The New England Medical Gasette, published monthly, by Otis Clapp & Sons, established in January, 1866.
The Medical Student, established in 1888.
In addition, there are in the State five hospitals which 'have double services, one being in charge of homœopathic practitioners, namely, the Newton Cottage Hospital, the Taunton Hospital, the Quincy Hospital, the Rufus S. Frost Hospital, in Chelsea, and the Malden Hospital.
There are also five other medical societies of this school in different parts of the State.
MEDICAL LIBRARIES.
Boston has quite a number of medical libraries, the principal one being the Boston Medical Library, owned by the Boston Medical Library Association; the others are connected with State or city de- partments or with some hospital. A detailed account of all these is here given :
The first extensive collection of medical books that was made in the city was
THE SECOND1 SOCIAL OR BOSTON MEDICAL LIBRARY.
In 1805 Drs. John C. Warren and James Jackson formed a private medical society for mutual improvement, in conjunction with Drs. Dix- well, Coffin, Bullard, Shattuck, Jeffries, Fleet and Homans. The society came together once a week for the purpose of reading and listening to papers. The members continued to meet until death re- moved all in succession. From this society, and principally from the
1 The First Social Library was a law library.
Mathias Matthieus
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exertions of Drs. Warren and Jackson, sprang the Boston Medical Library.
Among the papers of the late Dr. John Jeffries was the following autograph announcement :
December 30, 1805.
The Boston Medical Library will be opened on Thursday next at Dr. Fleet's. A few books only have arrived.
N. B. Books received and delivered on Mondays and Thursdays between three and five o'clock, P. M.
Dr. John Fleet, jr., lived in Milk street, and was, presumably, the first librarian.
About the year 180; the library was entrusted to the care of a sub- librarian, Mr. Amos Smith, apothecary, and "kept in his shop," No. 39 Marlborough street. The Marlborough street of those days was the portion of what is now Washington street, which is included between Milk and Bedford streets. The list of books, printed at the time of re- moval, contains twenty-nine titles and forty-three volumes.
The annual assessment was ten dollars.
In 1826 the Boston Medical Library ceded its whole collection of books, which in 1823 numbered 1,311 volumes, and was valued at the time of transfer at $4,500, to the Atheneum on the following terms:
It was agreed: " That each proprietor of the medical library should have the privilege of life-subscriber on the payment of five dollars per annum, and should become a proprietor of the Athenaeum by pay- ing one hundred and fifty dollars, such life-subscriber to have the right, on his removal from Boston, to transfer his share for and during the period of his life; that the members of the medical library should have access to the privileges of the Athenaeum during the then coming year for the sum of ten dollars; and that the medical department should re- ceive its full proportion of the sums applied hereafter to the purchase of books."
As the shares of the Athenaeum were then valued at three hundred dollars, it is probable that nearly all the members of the medical li- brary availed themselves of the opportunity of purchasing at half-price ; thirty shares were so taken.
In a letter of Dr. Shattuck dated 1828, published in the proceedings of the Suffolk District Medical Society, we are informed that there were at that time but seventy-one "regularly-bred " physicians in the city of Boston, so that at least one-half of the whole number must have
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been members of the library. There were only thirty-five physicians who, in his opinion, could support themselves by their practice.
THE BOSTON MEDICAL LIBRARY.
The importance of having a reading-room provided with current medical journals and of forming the nucleus of a future medical library of reference, in a locality easy of access from all parts of the city, had long been felt by the profession of Boston. The movement, which cul- minated in the formation of the present association, emanated from among members of the Boston Society for Medical Observation.
The first meeting of six gentlemen at the house of Dr. H. I. Bow- ditch, on December 21, 1864, for the purpose of discussing schemes for a library, was succeeded by others, with a steadily increasing number of participants, during the spring of 1875, and later by a general call to the profession to meet on August 20, 1845. On this occasion organ- ization was effected and officers for the first year were elected.
In 1814 the association was incorporated under the general statutes, The Boston Medical Library Association. Rooms at No. 5 Hamilton Place were first secured as possessing the prime requisites of central position and freedom from noise of passing traffic.
In 1881 the present building, 19 Boylston Place, was purchased and altered over for the accommodation of books and to provide a suitable hall and committee rooms for the use of the different medical societies. All the principal ones are now regular tenants of the association.
This building soon became inadequate for the proper accommodation of the library and its members, and in 1887 preliminary steps were taken to move to new and more commodious quarters. A lot of land on the corner of St. Botolph and Garrison street was purchased with the hope of erecting, in the near future, a fire-proof building. This hope is now nearing fruition, plans having been drawn and accepted and the executive committee given authority to build.
The Directory for Nurses (for an account of which see page 213), is domiciled in the library building.
The first extensive collection of books received was that of the So- ciety for Medical Observation, amounting to 911 volumes of the most valuable American, English, French, and German journals. This is still yearly augmented by the periodicals for which the society sub- scribes. By the terms of the contract the society retains full ownership
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in its library, and the right to take from the rooms its own books for the period of one week. It binds its own journals and insures its own library, as heretofore.
The next considerable acquisition of books was the obstetrical library of the late Dr. William Rcad, numbering nearly two hundred volumes. and containing all the standard publications on midwifery that have appeared in England during the past century, including many rare and choice works.
In 1876 the trustees of the Boston Dispensary presented a library left in their building by the late Dr. John B. Alley.
In the same year the Boston Society for Medical Improvement de- posited its library of 444 volumes on the same terms as were accorded the Society for Medical Observation. Thus were acquired many sets of old English and American journals of great rarity and of practical as well as historic worth.
The list of individual contributors is a very long one.
The library at present contains (October, 1893): Books, 23,426; pamphlets, 23,472 -- making 46,898 titles; 472 different periodicals are regularly received. A carefully prepared cross reference card catalogue has been prepared.
The association is the possessor of many valuable portraits, rare manuscripts and early volumes, which it is now obliged to store, await- ing the advent of its fire-proof building.
LIBRARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.
The library dates from the organization of the board in June, 1869, and has been gradually increasing since that date, till it is now one of the most valuable sanitary libraries in the country. The books almost exclusively relate to hygiene and preventive medicine. The whole number of volumes is about 3,500, and there are about 3,000 pamphlets.
The library is not a circulating library, but is open for reference to all persons interested in matters pertaining to public health, and books are loaned at discretion to such persons as agree to return them in a reasonable time in good condition.
The following are some of the more valuable books in this collection :
Reports of the medical officer of the Privy Council of England, full set.
Reports of the Local Government Board of England, annual and supplements, full set.
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Works of the Imperial Board of Health of Germany, Veroffentlich- ungen, Mittheilungen, and Arbeiten.
Transactions of the American Public Health Association, full set.
Annales de l'Institut Pasteur.
Full sets of reports of American Boards of Health, about 200 vol- 11 mes.
Parliamentary reports on water-supply, sewerage, rivers, pollution, vaccination, and other sanitary subjects.
Registrar General's reports, England, full set, fifty-four volumes.
Registration reports, Massachusetts, full set, fifty volumes.
Registration reports of other States and countries.
Many special volumes on food and drugs, water analysis, air analysis, toxicology, ventilation, school hygiene, health of occupations, sewage disposal, infectious diseases, cremation, etc.
Several periodicals relating to Public Health in English, German and French are regularly received.
STATE LIBRARY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
There are few general medical books in the State Library of Massa- chusetts, with the exception of medical dictionaries and books of that nature. It has quite a full collection of books bearing upon public medicine and sanitary science.
LIBRARY OF THE SURGEON GENERAL.
The library in the office of the surgeon-general of this Common- wealth consists of books of reference upon medical and military mat- ters, monographs and reports, in all about sixty volumes.
LIBRARY OF THE CITY BOARD OF HEALTH.
This library is principally made up of public documents and health reports, and is not very extensive.
THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Has in its medical department over 13,500 volumes. Its collection of journals is very valuable, and the sets are tolerably complete. The regulations necessitated in a large general library do not allow of access to the shelves, except with an attendant as a special favor. Since
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its foundation in 1852, many private collections of books have been de- posited in its medical alcoves, among others a large portion of the library of the late Dr. James Jackson, and later the library of the late Dr. Daniel Tyler Coit. The library of the Massachusetts Medical Society was given to the city some years ago, at a time when all hope that the pro- fession would ever have a library of its own was entirely relinquished.
In the reading-room the leading medical journals (American and Euro- pean) are accessible.
THE LIBRARY OF THE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Consists almost exclusively of old text-books and sets of journals; it is used chiefly by the students of the school, for whom it was avowedly designed by its founders. It originated in a donation of books drawn from the private libraries of the faculty of the school in 1819. The number of books is estimated at about eighteen hundred, of which many are duplicates.
The physiological laboratory of the medical school has been the recip- ient of a very large cabinet of microscopic specimens and three hundred and fifty volumes from Dr. John Dean, late of this city. The library contains full sets of all the best German, French, and English period- icals relating to anatomy, physiology, and microscopy.
LIBRARY OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
This college has about 700 volumes, but which are not at present arranged so as to be available.
LIBRARY OF THE BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.
The library of this school contains three thousand bound volumes, comprising some of the most recent and valuable works in medicine and the collateral sciences, including text-books and works of reference, of which a printed and also a card catalogue on the decimal system has been prepared. There are also several thousand monographs and pamphlets and a large collection of journals. The library in the new college building furnishes excellent facilities for medical reading and study. Two reading-rooms have been fitted up, one supplied with many of the leading medical journals and current literature, the other with works of reference, to which students have daily access.
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The library is especially full in some of the earlier publications on homeopathy, which are long since out of print, as well as many more of recent date. It has complete sets of many of the most valuable journals, such as the British Journal of Homeopathy, New England Medical Gazette, North American Journal of Homeopathy, Hahuncman- nian Monthly, and many others, and has also complete files of the publications of the American Institute of Homeopathy, 1844-91; Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, 1840-92; New York Homeopathic Medical Society, Pennsylvania Homoeopathic Medical Society, etc. Some rather rare old books and interesting manuscripts.
LIBRARY OF THE BOSTON DENTAL COLLEGE.
The college has a library of about 300 volumes; these are mainly devoted to medical and chemical subjects, including many works on dentistry, made up by contributions from members of the staff and trustees, and of works purchased by the institution. The library is open to students and members of the faculty.
LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY.
This library is largely the gift of Samuel A. D. Sheppard, Ph. G. It contains about 3, 200 volumes, devoted chiefly to pharmacy, chem- istry, materia medica, medical botany and microscopy. Among its works of especial importance are an unusually complete collection of pharmacopœias and dispensatories, embracing nearly all extant to-day, and many of historical importance; illustrated works on medicinal plants, as Nees Von Essenbeck, Bigelow, Bently and Trimens, and Lochman; also a complete set of American journals of pharmacy and a large collection of journals of other countries,
In addition to the above are about 1,000 volumes, including reports of colleges of pharmacy, pharmaceutical societies, and boards of health.
A portion of the library is set aside for the free use of the students in the reading-room. The greater portion, however, is kept in the library for purposes of individual consultation, and under the immediate charge of the librarian. There is a card catalogue.
MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL.
The Medical Library of the Boston City Hospital was commenced at the opening of the hospital, in 1864. The nucleus of the library was
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about 200 books, mostly duplicates, presented by the Boston Public Library. Many of these books were standard books on medicine and surgery, and several old books with valuable plates. Many books were given by members of the medical and surgical staff, and also by other physicians in the city.
There was at this time no special room assigned for the library, the books being kept under lock and key in elaborate hard wood cases in the board room of the hospital. The number of books did not increase rapidly in number, and the library became the repository of official documents of a miscellaneous sort, of no special professional value. From time to time the trustees of the hospital allowed a small sum each year for the purchase of medical journals and books. The number of volumes finally exceeded the capacity of the cases, and there being no special room, a large number of volumes were stored in closets and places not available for use. The growth of the Medical Library was slow and not of special interest until the year 1890.
At this time, after repeated petitions of the trustees and staff, the City Council appropriated $14,500 for the construction of a building in the rear of the Administration Building, for a medical library, a pamphlet room, a place for keeping the clinical records, and for allied purposes. The library has now a room especially constructed for it, which not only serves most admirably for the deposit of about 6,000 volumes, but also as a proper place for the headquarters of the medical and surgical staff. The present capacity of the library may be increased by means of recessed alcoves, as the library grows in the number of its volumes.
When this library was transferred to its new quarters there were about 900 volumes. During the years 1891 and 1892, special appropria- tions and special methods were taken for increasing the number of books. There are now 2, 243 volumes upon the shelves, all in good condition, with thousands of unbound pamphlets, medical journals, monographs, duplicates, etc.,. in the pamphlet room.
The hospital now has a most excellent practical working medical library. A large number of the books are those which have been pub- lished within the last five years. There are a large number of medical journals, both American and foreign, bound and properly classified ; also large numbers of the reports of the leading American, London and foreign hospitals, together with the publications of American and foreign medical and surgical societies.
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A card catalogue with cross references of all cases, medical and surgi- cal, treated during the last ten years is kept in the library. A special feature of this library is a section devoted to hospitals, their construc- tion, organization and administration, and also a section on public hygiene.
It is intended to be a practical working library for the medical and surgical and house staff of the hospital.
MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL.
This library is known as the Treadwell Library, and was founded by the will of the late Dr. John Goodhue Treadwell, of Salem, in 1857. By its terms his library and some forty thousand dollars reverted to the hospital, the gift having been declined by the president and fellows of Harvard College on account of certain "unusual and embarrassing conditions." These conditions were in reference to "the support and maintenance of a Teacher of Physiology and Structural Anatomy, the Laws of Life and Organization." Eight closely written pages define how this teacher was to have been appointed, his duties, remuneration, etc. Most of this money was given to establish free beds. In addition to the books directly given to the hospital, "to be held in trust by the corporation for the use of the physicians and surgeons of the staff and their successors," the sum of five thousand dollars was especially set apart and reserved as a library fund. The income of this fund was to be " applied annually to the increase and repair of the library." No books could be purchased from this source excepting those on "anat- omy, physiology, chemistry, medicine, surgery, and the collateral sciences."
To the original books contained in the library of Dr. Treadwell have been added from time to time large numbers of works on medical and surgical subjects in German, French and English, until the number now exceeds five thousand volumes. Nearly fifty of the best medical and surgical periodicals in these languages are printed. Officers and students of the hospital have the benefit of bound volumes of the lead- ing periodicals issued subsequent to the year 1857.
The library is especially rich in works on surgery, and has many very valuable plates for teaching this and other branches of medicine.
The Treadwell Library has recently been moved from the room which it has occupied for many years to a large, light, and well venti-
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lated apartment in the central building of the hospital, formerly occu- pied by the resident physician. There are accommodations here for an expansion to twenty-five thousand volumes. In addition to a large reading-room for general use, in which are arranged the periodicals as they appear, are alcoves for quiet study, conversation, and consultation. A librarian has recently been appointed, who has full charge of the de- tails of management.
A card catalogue of every case that has been treated in the wards of the hospital since its foundation is being made, with cross references, so that, knowing the name of the patient or the disease, it may be pos- sible in a moment's time to find any case that has ever been under hospital care. The hospital records in detail-that most valuable mon- ument of the labors of previous generations-are provided for, so that they can be easily consulted, and so that it is impossible for them to be lost or stolen. This catalogue and the records are part of the library and constitute a special feature.
The Treadwell Library of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in its practical workings, gives the hospital staff the daily opportunity of keeping up with the work of the profession throughout the world through its best medical journals. It provides, by easy methods of reference, the records of the work and experience of previous genera- tions of physicians and surgeons; and, finally, it gives, to those of the staff who wish to do literary work, abundant material for research in well lighted, well ventilated and quiet rooms.
THE LIBRARY OF THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Is only a small reference library for use of the house officers.
THE MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EVE AND EAR INFIRMARY
Consists of two libraries, one for each department of the institution. The library of the ophthalmology department was started by gifts of the medical staff and continued by appropriations from the board of managers. It has now about 500 volumes, and is purely special in char- acter. Its use is limited to the medical officers of the institution.
The medical library of the Aural department was founded by one of the aural surgeons in the year 1888. Since the opening of the new anral building the provision of a special library fund by the board of
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managers of the institution has enabled the staff to provide the depart- ment with most of the modern works on otology, to which individual contributors are constantly making additions.
The library includes, besides special works upon diseases of the ear, the Index Medicus and several works on anatomy, physiology, and gen- eral medicine. At present there are ninety-eight bound volumes, sev- eral volumes of medical magazines, and about fifty pamphlets and mon- ographs.
The library is in charge of the aural interne, under the direction of the surgeon on duty, and books may be loaned to any one connected with the institution.
MEDICAL LIBRARY OF THE CARNEY HOSPITAL.
There are over two hundred volumes in the medical library, which was started by Dr. M. F. Gavin, of the surgical staff, and is for the use of the staff and house officers. The books are principally bound volumes of journals. There are also quite a number of works in French, the gift of Dr. Sargent.
A room is devoted to the library, and it is hoped to increase the num- ber and value of the books in the near future.
THE BOSTON ATHENEUM,
With the Second Social Library as a nucleus (see page 220), has added to its medical department until it numbers to-day about five thousand volumes, but it no longer adds to the collection. It subscribes to four medical journals. Its sets of journals are neither numerous nor com- plete.
THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY,
In Gore Hall, Cambridge, now contains 3,783 medical books. This department of the library was founded by Ward Nicholas Boylston, esq., who in the year 1802 gave to the college a medical library of eleven hundred volumes, as a special tribute of respect to his uncle, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston. In 1803 he established a permanent fund of five hundred dollars, subsequently augmented, the interest of which was to be expended in the purchase of books and the publication of prize dis- sertations.
About five hundred volumes were added to this collection some years since by Dr. B. Joy Jeffries, from the library of his father, the late Dr. John Jeffries.
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The library contains but few modern works, and few recent period- icals. It receives but one strictly medical journal, and that gratu- itously.
THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY
Has a very choice library of twelve thousand volumes, and receives regularly over five hundred journals, reports, society transactions, etc. Among them are series of all the best journals relating to anatomy, physiology, microscopy, chemistry, botany, and other kindred branches of medical science. Free use of the books is accorded to all who apply for the privilege.
As supplementary to the libraries, mention should be made of the
WARREN MUSEUM.
The nucleus of this collection was presented to Harvard College by Dr. John C. Warren in 1842. Since this time it has been largely increased by gifts from different members of the medical profession, and is of great advantage to the students of the Harvard Medical School.
And also of the
WARREN MUSEUM OF NATIONAL HISTORY.
This museum was incorporated by the Legislature in 1858, although the fire-proof building, which it occupies, was built in 1849 by Dr. John C. Warren, to whom it is indebted for its establishment and many of its valuable specimens, including the skeleton of the great mastodon.
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