Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-04-09
A Medical Library,

The finest medical library in the
world is bonset IN the old theatre on
Tenth street, Washington. ID. c., where
Lincoln was murdered. This-is pot nv
day, says a writer from that city, to be
statistical. and L shall not attempt to
say how many books there are on the
shelves, how many OF them are bound
in sheep. how many in calf and how
many have gilt inscriptions on the back,
lest some statistical fiend snap me up
by pointing out a dozen libraries in
England or China five times as large as
our library here. Speaking generally,
L have no hesitation in repeating the
statement made to me by man who
knows that this is really and truly the
best of the sort. Years ago the Govern
ment gathered together the few medical
books it had, deposited them in one
place and called the collection the
nucleus of a medical library. Two
copies OF every medical work copyright
ed IN this country comes to the Library
OF Congress under the Copyright law
when published. AT er the nucleus was
gotten together the Librarian of Con-
gress, instead of putting the medical
bOoks on the floor of his crowded
rooms with the rest OF the publica-
tons that flood his narrow gu lrters
every day, bundled them INTO his shabby
little wagon and trundled them down TO
the medical library. A good many val
liable books are received in that way
every year. Congress had sense enough,
TOO, to see that the Surgeon General OF
the Army ought to have some money
every year with which to buy pr Jfes-
sional books for the use of his surgeons.
So it gave the Surgeon General money
and he organized a circulating library.
Every year he bought all the best new
books that did not come to him under
the Copyright law. After he had read
them himself lie sent them to the near
est military post. Tne medical men
there were allowed to keep them Ger
tain length of time. Then they must
send them on 10 the next post, and so 1t
went until every surgeon III the army
had read them, made his notes and
passed them on. At the end they went
into tine library here. The permanent
library of standard books at every post,
eked out by the books he got from the
Surgeon General, enabled every surgeon
to avail himself OF the accumulated
learning of his profession. The Sur
geon General bought books of reference,
too, which did not have u be passed
around, and rare old books and pamph-
lets. People who write medical books
-. %.
send them to the Surgeon General some
times; and SO tine library grew until
now 1t Is remarkably near perfection. l
think there are now more than 100, 900
bound books in this library, as well as
pamphlets and magazines Innunerable
maybe a great many more. Many of
these books are priceless, for the library
Is rich III black-letter volumes coming
down from the good old days that have
long since passed away Of course. no
library is perfect, though 1t speak with
ali the tongues OF men and OF angels,
unless it has n catalogue. The medical
library Is getting one as rapidly as may
be. 1T is a very elaborate affair, and OF
itself shows what the library Is. Here
is Volume 3 OF this catalogue, the latest
out-a thousand and twenty quarto
pages in double columns, closely printed.
1t includes 9043 authors titles, repre-
sentng l0,076 volumes, and 1886
pamphlets, as well as S572 subject titles
of separate books and pamphlets, and
IS, $40 journal articles, as well as 1895
medical portraits. Yet 1t carries the
catalogue only from CholecyanIe to
DzOrdI. 1t could not well be other wise,
however, for ii gives a hundred and
fifty pages to the works on cholera
alone, and a fourth as many to Group
and dlphtheria. What seli-sbscrbing
work there is IN this great volumeI
What investigation: and then the COM
pIlation, and the very prooi-readingl
Bat without 1t the treasures of this
great library might as well be at the
bottom OF the sea.