New-York tribune., 1909-01-16
GONE Studies IN Medical and SWrg1-
cal Biography.
AN ALABAMA STUDENT AND OTHER BIO BIO
GRAPHICAL ESSAYS By William S,s4eE'
II D. p z S Svo, pp- Ss4. Henry Froude-

M D.. 2. z. S. Svo pp- S34. Henry Froude-
SDKGlGA 4;5 a4e. NSS8iHs N56ford D n1srated With
portraits Svo. pp. 35S Monat. Yard Co
The field OF medical biography has not been
uEduly exploited for the benefit Of the lay
reader This may possibly be accounted for og
the fact that great trfumphs OF medicine ana
surgery though Of vital consequence TO hu-
lnanity, are not easily reported in language that
reaches the general ear Or. granting that II
rnsy be made TO reach still it may fail to de-
Hight Many readers still feel a lurking kinsnlp
with that poor little Mary Ann who was rem
dered ''neryous' by being forced TO hear TOO
Enucis about her insides." Generally speaking.
the medical book does not circulate far beyond
tha confines OF the profession. Biographers
have not been tempted hither. But by an ood
coincidence il happens that Two volumes Of
medical memoirs have recently come from the
press. each bearing the hallmark Of an authori-
tative name and each written in spirit ano
style that abundantly qualify II for general
rerItsal Dr. Osler, now Regius Professor OF
Medicine at Oxford. is indisputably the leading
physician OF the present day His volume con-
sists Of e dozen or mora scattered biographical
studies ranging from photographed lucuora-
tons on Sir Thomas Browne to q memorial ad-
dress on the late Dr. William Pepper, OF the
University OF Pennsylvania DR.. Murnforo Is
instructor in surgery at the Harvard Medical
cluded in his Surgical Memoirs" several ad-
dresses on less personal topics-for instance one
10 nurses on Present Problems another en-
titled Studies in Aneurism,' while a third
''TIistory and Ethics in Medicine" vigorously
attacks the sectarian spirit. Biography how
ever is each authors principal theme
DR.. Osler's titular essay. An Alabama Stu
Dent" records the life Of Dr. John Bassett, OF
Huntsville Ala, "a man. he says addressing
-frrtA
of whom you have never heard. whose name is
not written on the scroll of fame, but one who
heard the call and forsook all and followed his
ideal" Cut of by tuberculosis while still in
middle life QS51), Dr.. Bassett had lived long
enough 10 prove himself ''bindred with the great
OF old" This kinship was most clearly eVinced
by the passionate earnestness with which he
ra1rslled knowledge At the aEe Of thirty-o
though married snd already established as q
regular practitioner his dissatisfaction with
merely traditional medical education drove him
-gersea 20 Paris. then the leading medical centre
4 the world This was the partial realization
~ g lifelong ambition. He coveted the contact
~ great minds In Paris were the teachers who
.,5o=ainared the thought O. the profession
1aennec Broussais. Louis, Velpeau and others
Rassett's home letters reveal restless. non
,orfo~rnisr' mind come At last into its Own
T1roper element. Here is 8 passage from one OF
his glowing reports Of Paris men and methods;
When Hook at some oe the medical men by whom
a1e surrounded Il makes blush for shame
OLD men may daily be mixing their white locks
with boys and pursuing the!T pT2tessIoI naI ae @
N France that is idle, for # he was that moment
n9ns 81 faT ahead that they are pressed by
others: many are distanced. it IS true but there are
none allowed walk over the course. vines NllneS
Trosssais lecturing and laborinE daily 70 sustain
himself after having elevated himself 10 the pima
ar4er making his daily visit and lecon for ten
@ Ioss son 5 cs6ice course of operations: and old
Roller may be seen daily supporting hinseL Fon ON
bedpost to bedpost as jolly as Il ne were not laf
over sixty.
I,zvfng out and following the most exacting
% proarararnmes for hirnseif-up by o'clock
in the morning. at La Charlie by 4, breakfast
at 10 dissection till 2 lectures tin 3, lectures
from Z till g. study till 11-he absorbed all that
four brief precious months could be forced
tc Weld and then returned to the more prosa1c
but no less exacting duties Of a provincial Ala
hama practfce. A man ''voiceless in the pro-
fese!on' yet capable. had the chance come to
him. Of mounting to the summit To those
restless sDirits' remarks the author. who have
had ambition without opportunities and ideals
rot realizahle in the world in which they move.
the story Of his life may be a solace. for after
all he concludes. it is not what one happens
to accomplish but what one struggles for that
makes life worth while
Perhaps 10 other profession has so many eX-
arnples 70 offer Of incessant, 'voiceless' labor
labor that has no other reward than what iies
On the struggle itself Sometimes opportunity
and man meet. and then a nature like bassel' $
Ia. q different fruition. Such instance is
that recorded by Dr. Osler, under the title. "A
Rsckwood Psychologist" A young army sur
,,eon named beaumont was on duty al Mackinac
leland on June g. 1922 and il fell to his lot 70
a,,ess the wound Of a French Canadian Voyagelr
who had Just shot himself by accident through
Sae stomach. The wound was expected 10 De
mortal but it healed, and the stomach was ieil
Ga such g condition that ali the operations oI
digestion could be observed. Beaumont deol-
Gated himself 10 a study Of stomachic functions
and MS records Of experiments upon Alexis -
Martin have ever since been unique neoiea'
classic That fstulous old Alexis. ne cs'iS
him In one Of his letters; and the eplthe' Was
certainly deserved. Inexhaustible tact ana Pa-
+serce bribery. too. were required 70 keep the
s,,rlv little Frenchrnan amenable to experiment
sor its seems he had not the least interest IN 1he
.d,znca Of medical science. Notoriety Of the
dime museum order was much more 10 his ilk-
ing and he was quite ready TO sell peeps TO the
c,,,icus But best Of ali was his home in the
Canadian -q1abitant' country. and for twenty
wears after the publication Of beaumont
eDoeh-u1akiny studies the surgeon tried IN yam
~ ne-suade Alexis 70 return to him and permit
,,,rtter expertment Alexis outlived beaumont
but science got no more out of him.
DIR osier's volume abounds with impressive
Illustrations Of the domination which a Truly
.c,a-+tec ideal will exercise over a mans life,
He tells Of Harvey's long. self-sacTinclhs s'oo'
of the function of the blood vessels till his DAY
thought TO be filed with air-witness the word
.a-tery''). and of his final triumphant demon
-, .s,,,- ~ the circ1,latorv processes He tells