The Saint Paul globe., 1899-04-17
BOOKS OF MUCH VALUE
ST. PAUL HAS A LIBRARY GOTTEN
TOGETHER BY PITY.
SICIANs
MEDICAL REFERENCE BOOKS
The Idea OF Such n Library Was
Born Only q Little More Than a
Year Ago, but Already 1t Has
tfons and Il Proving a Great
Benefit.


Grown to Admirable Proper
tions and Il Proving a Great
Benefit.
Much interest has been centered In the
extension and development of the public
library and many strenuous efforts have
been made toward the accomplishment Of
that purpose. st. Paul people realize the
worth and necessity of education and at
all times have evidenced their apprecia-
ton Of the fact that a well equipped cir
culating library is one of the most funda-
mental educational influences of the pres
ent age.
Under such circumstances it is readily
seen how much support and encourage
ment may be expected for a similar in
stitutiop as soon as its respective aims
merits and the benefits to be derived
therefrom are plainly elucidated and
clearly understood by the people of the
Northwest.
Very few persons beyond those directly
interested are aware that st. Paul pos
sesses any other libraries than those
which have for so many years been num-
bered among the city's valued posses
sions. 1t is interesting therefore to note
that another such institution has existed
for over year and Is at the present time
one Of the most healthy and promising
Of any infantile library of it's kind ever
yet established.
It did not arrive with any blare Of trum-
pets and desire for notoriety. Like
tho immortal "Topsy" it "never was
born" but "growed up silently and
quietly amid the labyristh Of medical
halls Of the Lowry arcade, where it has
received scientific attention from the
most learned physicians of the North
west until it has attained it's present ad-
mirable proportions and is deemed
worthy to be presented to the public
To st. Paul it is destined to prove one
Of those ethereal beings so frequently
said to be entertained unawares and the
blessings likely to accrue from its pres
ence in the city may not at first be fully
realized by persons unfamiliar with sci
entiflc medical lore
LACK OF REFERENCE BOOKS.
For years and years medical men have
deplored the great lack Of scientific and
reference books in the public libraries
and es Il result in many large cities an
Independent medical library Is maintained
expressly for the convenience and In
strlction of the local physicians. In as
much as discoveries. improvements, in
novations, and wonderful experiments are
constantly being made all over the world
it not only behooves every medical man
to take time aside from his regular duties
to keep in touch with the great outside
world of medicine and science, but is the
aim and ambition Of every practitioner to
make constant progress In his chosen pro-
fessfon, to become more and more skilled
and to move steadily forward as the
wheels of discovery revolve instead Cf
cultivating the tendency to stand still
on the diploma furnished on the day of
graduation, supported by the thought
that now he has emerged from the halls
Of learning all study is past and there
remains nothing new to be learned
Minnesota physicians are certainly not
of the latter class. They are progressive
and philanthropic. They are sterling rep
resentatives of the broad spirit of the
times. There is hardly physician in St.
Paul who does not spend more hours in
study and research than he does in ply
stcal recreation. and more money In val
liable up-to-date medical works than he
does in clothes. thus providing for him
ard works. The volume of medical liter
ature has. in recent years, become so
enormous as to render individual effort
in this direction quite out Of the question
financially, for most, and undesirable for
all. owing to the amount of space neces-
sary to house and render accessible a
library of such proportions, as a private
undertaking. 1t Is therefore quite custo-
mary among physicians to borrow books
and journals from each other, and as a
very natural consequence it frequently
happens that when one physician wants
some particular book it is quite likely to
be at friends office. some distance
away. These many inconveniences and OBJ
stacles to improvement have been met
and coped with by st. Paul physicians
for many years. The entire local pro-
fession has long felt the crying need Of
medical reference library, but the pub
lie library offered no such department.
Some years ago the Ramsey County Medi-
cal society appointed a committee for the
consideration Of such an undertaking,
but 1t deemed the scheme impossible, and
made no recommendation.
LIBRARIES ARE COMBINED.
Everyone who has ever visited the
Lcwry arcade knows that its very por-
tails exhale fumes of iodoform, menthol
and lfniment, and that inside 1t is a YER
dustry. 1t was In this vast, human repair
shop that number Of the physicians in
order to facilitate business and to make
the care of their hundreds Of patients
more expeditions. decided to combine their
own personal libraries and place the
whole assortment Of books in the rooms
OF the medical society as loan. Thither
they could repair at any time for study
and reference. Only very short time
suff1ced to impress all with the desirable
ity of the arrangement becoming perma-
nent, and in less than a year the books
were all donated to the society.
A nucleus thus being formed interest
was again aroused. and what, year pre-
vious, had been set down as an impos-
sibility seemed now to become very
tangible object quite easy to acquire
Having once tested the benefits of such
a library offers of help were not lack
ing, and individual effort was made on
all sides toward the furtherance of the
object
But even a library, though support
ed and encouraged on all sides, cannot
survive without some financial income In
order to obtain fund more reliable than
one depending upon irregular donations
those most interested induced the medical
society to appoint a committee to consid-
er the feasibility Of publishing a journal,
the proceeds from which could be devoted
to the support of the library. The COM
mittee's favorable report was adopted,
and In January, 1S99 the first number of
the magazine appeared bearing on its
brown cover the words. "St. Paul Medi-
cal Journal. edited and published by the
Ramsey County Medical Society
DUE TO RETICENCE.
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