Excerpt from The Harvard Medical School, Vol. 1: A History, Narrative and Documentary

Our author has had untrammelled access to authorities and documents, and he tells in elaborate detail the history of the Harvard School. After giving us an account of the medical conditions in New England during colonial times, he recounts what service Harvard men furnished to the medical depart ment of the Revolutionary Army, and then plunges into the story of the School's founding and feeble growth through the latter part of the 18th century, when the teaching was in Cambridge and hospitals did not exist. Numerous biograph ical sketches of ancient Harvard Medical worthies follow, and the period ends with the year 1810.

Then the School was transferred to Boston and waxed strong. Hospitals were built, teachers multiplied, new learn ing was imported, famous names appeared on our rolls, and. Just as an educational expansion was becoming imminent, the era ended in the crash of the great Civil War. So much is told in Volume II.

With Volume III we learn of a revolution in medical edu cation. President Eliot takes the reins. The old order changes. The old School had been a truly private enterprise under the shelter of the University. The new school becomes an integral part of the University. We read the inspiring story of the new learning and of University development throughout the land, - a story which must appeal to every thoughtful man. So we follow the history of the Harvard School down to the present, and learn of the great new founds tion which tomorrow we shall enjoy.

The history of a professional school cannot furnish many dramatic incidents. It flows on gently from year to year, punctuated here and there with names, discoveries, upbuild ings; with struggles, vicissitudes, contests. To be complete, a history of this kind must be largely statistical and docu mentary; such are the volumes before us; but through them. There runs a stream of narrative which Harvard men will fol low with interest and satisfaction.

Especially valuable are the sketches of Eminent Alumni. When you read the stories of Nathan Smith, Howe, the War rens, Dalton, Flint, the Bigelows, Holmes, Parker and many others, you appreciate the wide influence of the Harvard School; and if you are blessed with imagination you thrill with pride.

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