Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-02-23
Men Who Have Reached Sixty
Years Of Age, Says Dr.
William 0sIer
MEN OVER FORTY DO NOTHING
To the Johns Hopkins Professor Who
Goes to oxford University They
Are Simply Useless.

Baltimore, Feb 23.-.In his farewell
address at the anniversary exercises Of
Johns Hopkins university. Dr. VIM. Os.
Ter (who is about to become head OF
the medical school OF oxford uniyer-
sity) declared that nothing In the
world is accomplished by man more
than 40 years old and that men OF 60
years should be retired or chloro-
formed
American medical colleges are, he
declared, teaching hybrid systems Of
medicine and producing ignorant prac-
titioners and Europe Is far ahead Of
the United States in medical uniyersi-
ties.
MY idea as to the comparative USE
lessness Of men above 40 years OF age"
he said, may seem shocking and yet
the worlds history bears out the state
ment Take the sum OF human
achievement In action, In science, In
art, I'm literature, subtract the work Of
the men above 49, and, while we should
miss great treasures-even priceless
treasures-We would practically be
where we are today.
1T is difficult 10 name a great and
far-reaching conquest Of the mind
which has not been given to the world
By a man on whose back the sun was
stlll shining. The effective. moving,
Vltalizlng work Of the world is done
between the ages Of 25 and 40. those Is
golden years Of plenty. the anabolic or
constructive period In which there is
always balance In the mental bank
and the credit is still good,
In the science and art OF medicine
there has not been an advance Of the
first rank which has not been Initiated
by young or comparatively young men,
TO modify an old saying, a man ls sane
morally at 3d. rich mentally at 40, wise
spiritually az 90, or never The young
men should be encouraged and AFFORD
cd every possible chance to show what
is I'm them
"Ny second hxed idea il the useless
ness oc men above 60 years Of age and
the incalculable benefit It would be In
commercial, political and professional
lifo A. as a matter OF course men
stopped work at this age.
AS It can be maintained that all the
great advances have come from men
under 40, so the history OF the world
shows that a very large proportion OF
the evils may be traced 20 the seNu-
agenarans, nearly an the great mis-
takes politically and socially all Of
the worst poems most Of the bad pic
lures, a majority Of the bad novels, not
few OF the bad sermons and speech
es,"
After discussing progress IN Ameri-
can medical schools, DR.. Osler contin-
ued
"For years the United states has
been the largest borrower In the scien-
tifc market of the world and more
particularly in the sciences relating to
medicine,
ITO get the best the world offered
our young men had 20 20 abroad; only
here and there was there a laboratory
Of psychology or pathology. and then
equipped, as a rule, for teaching. The
change I'm 20 years has been remark
able, There is scarcely today a depart
ment Of scientific medicine which Is not
represented I'm our larger cities by men
who are working as investigators and
American scientific medicine is taking
it's rightml place In the worlds work.
"But let us understand clearly that
only n beginning has been made. For
one worker In pathology man |
mean-who is devoting his life to the
study Of the causes " disease-there
are q at least I'm Germany, and for one
I'm this country there are dozen lab
oratorics OF the first class IN any one
OF the more important sciences cog
nate TO medicine