Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-30
Sir William 0sIer, Canadian
Born, Professor in Johns
Hopkins and Oxford, Sue.
CumbS to Pneumonia.
HIS FAMOUS SAYING
CREATED CONTROVERSY
Asserted at One Time That
Mems Usefulness Passed
After 40-Strong Moulder
OF Young Thought.

Oxford, England, Dec. S.-Sir
William Osler, noted physician. who
has been i'll for several weeks, died
here this evening.
Although Sir William Osler was
known to be seriously i'll at his home
in Oxford. where he has been -egius
professor of medicine since 1904. re-
cent advices nad given hope for his
recovery. Sir William, who passed
his 10th birthday last July, was
stricken with pneumonia in Novem-
Der, but about the middle of that
month was reported convalescent A
fortnight ago, however. he became
worse. Cabled adviccs shortly after
ward announced him somewhat I'M
proved, while on Christmas day a
message from him was received 1T
the Johns Hopkins hospital in Balti-
more in which the famous physician
extended Christmas greetings to Iii
his old friends and announced that
he was making good fight after
an empyema operation.
Dr.. Osler was professor Of medi-
cine at Johns Hopkins university
from 1880 to 1904. He was born IN
Canada in. l84o
A Great Canadian. /
Sir William Osler was one of the
great men who sprang from Canad-
ian soil. He was born in the prov
ince of Ontario and grew to be the
most distinguished of four distin-
guished sons of famous mother.
the Tooth anniversary of whose birth
was celebrated at Toronto, Decem-
her II, 1906.
His first preceptor was the parish
priest, to whom he acknowledged his
moral and mental indebtedness and
to whom he inscribed one of his
learned works, "The Practice of
Medicine"
Receiving his medical degree from
McGill university in 1872, DIR. Osler
placed the imprint of his ability on
medical learning TO such marked
degree that within a few years he
became an accepted authority in
medical science. His great art lay
in his skill in diagnosis ard his pro-
found knowledge of all the parts and
functions of the human bod, and the
various ills of nature. II such a
thing could be he was a sp Acialist in
all departments Of medicine.
In 1905 at the Commemoration
day exercises of Johns Hopkins Uni
versity of Baltimore, in which he
served as professor of medicine, DR..
Osler delivered the, address in which
he spoke of the comparative use
lessness of men above 30 years of
age" His words, then spoken with
cut thought of how far-reaching
they would be, passed round the
world in garbled form of every va
riety. He was quoted as having said
in effect that men past that age
were of no value in the progress of
humanity and. that men who had
reached the age of so should be
chlor oformed.
DR.. Osler remained silent on the
subject for a considerable period and
then issued a statement in which
he declared.
Il did not say men at 90 should
be chloroformed. That was the point
in the novel to which | referred and
upon which the plot hinged"
The novel in question was The
Fixed Period" written by Anthony
Trollope III 1882.
Criticized Eenera1ly
DR.. Osler was criticized by the
public and press generally.
In answer to these he said:
THE criticisms have not shaken
my convictions that the telling work
Of the world has been done and is
done by men under 40 years of age.
The exceptions which have been
given only illustrate the rule.
1T would be to the general good
# men at 20 were retired fran &C
tive work. We should miss the en-
ergies of some young-old men, but
on the whole it would be of greater
service to the sexagenarians them
selves"
Words on This Subject.
Nevertheless, and notwithstand-
ing his words on this subject. DR.,
Osler himself remained in active
practice until the close of his life.
During the war he rendered great
services to the empire as organizer
and counsellor and was one of the
leaders in the recent concerted
movement to bring British medical
education to the highest plane OF
thoroughness.
The only son of Sir William Osler
Continued on Page Two. Column Four.)
New Zealand Stays Wet.