Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-16

Every year thousands of people visit the
library, doctors coming from all over the
country to make reseaI ches in their par
ticular line or speciality. or some matter in
which they are interested and upon which
they desire to prepare a paper Tables and
chairs are furnished, and polite attendants
get the books which the visitors desire,
every facility being provided for the pa
irons of this great free library.
The growth of this library Is a matter of
recent years. For many years there was a
small collection of medical books and jour
nails In the office of the surgeon general
which was probably commenced by Sur
geon General Lowell about 1890. At the
commencement of the late war this col
lection consisted of about $50 volumes,
mostly medical text books and Journals In
1862 and 1868, while DR.. Hammond was
surgeon general. about $50 volumes were
added, being chiefly works relating to mill
tary medicine and surgery. catalogue
published in the fall of 1865 shows that the
library then contained about 1,SG0 volumes.
The catalogue of 1872 placed the number OF
volumes at l3,0G0, which chiefly related to
military hygiene, medicine and surgery, to
public hygiene and medical statistics In
1874 there were 5000 volumes and 5000
single pamphlets catalogued and since that
date the growth has been uninterrupted
and progressive.
The Profession Interested.
In the preface of the catalogue of 1872
the need of the United States for large
the fact that We're all the public medical
libraries of the United States put together
1t would not be possible to verify from the
original authorities the references given by
standard English or German authorities
No complete collection of American medical
literature was in existence, and the most
complete was in private hands and not then
accessible to the public.
Upon the issue of this catalogue the medi-
cal profession of the country began to
take an active interest in the subject and
the library began to grow by accessions
from gifts. These donations were made by
the members of the medical profession
who realized that 1t Is to their advantage
to have well-stocked medical library
where all the books and special articles In
periodicals and pamphlets have their ap-
proprate reference in the index catalogue
1t is to such special libraries that
physicians give their books and pamphlets,
and the rapid growth of the library Is
largely due to this cause. There Is pour
ing into it a constant stream of literature,
not only from this country, but from
abroad. The result is that this library not
only contains more literature than the
Library of the British Museum or the Ma
tional Library of France, but it covers a
wider field. represents better the medical
literature and is decidedly better practi-
cal reference and working collection for
medical purposes than either of the great
libraries referred to- The library also gets
great many books through the medium of
this and foreign countries. Congress fur
nishes small sum each year for the pur-
chase of books, but it is not adequate by
any means.
Periodical Publications.
One feature of the library is the collec-
ton of medical journals, periodical publi-
cations issued in every language of the
civilized world. Over 1000 of these Jour
nails are on the subscription list of the
library, and they come in each month. OF
course, the value of these publications lies
in the original papers published by IA
nous physicians of all lands, giving the
results of their observations and expert
ences in actual practice or in the labora-
tory.
AS each periodical comes In it is exam
ined by DR.. Billings, and the papers which
are desired to be preserved for reference
are marked The volume is then turned
over to clerk, who indexes the conten IS
according to the subject matter, after
n