Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-01-01
DR.. 0SLER, NOTED
PHYSICIAN, DIES
Vas Accused of Saying That
Men Above 40 Are Compare
lively Useless and Should Be
ChlOrOfOrmed at 60
NEARLY DID SAY so
Deceased Was Author of Mnny Learn
cd WOrks-His "Practicr~ an Au-
thority-At 50 Was Made Rcgius
Professor of Medicine at oxford

oxford. Eng. Dec. 2o.-Sir William Oslcr,
Me noted physician who has been i'll for
several weeks past, died here this eve
ming.
Sir William Osler was one of the great
men who sprang from Canadian soil He
was born in the province of ontario and
grew to be the most distinguished of four
distinguished sons of a famous mother,
the hundredth anniversary of whose birth
was celebrated at Toronto on December
A. 1906.
His first preceptor was the parish priest.
to whom he acknowledged his moral and
mental Indebtedness and to whom he in
scribed one of his learned works-"The
Practice of Medicine"
Receiving his medical degree from Nc
Gill University in 1872. Dr. Osler placed
the imprint Of his ability on medical learn
Ing to such a marked degree that within
few years he became an accepted au-
thority in medical science. His great art
lay in his skill in diagnosis and his pro-
found knowledge of all the parts and
functions of the human body and the var
lous ills of nature. If such thing could
be, he was a specialist in all departments
of medicine.
ne Idte george Murray UcSCTlDCu Hltii
as "a man Of great and versatile genius.
The province of Ontario characterized
him as among the greatest living Cana
dams.
No small part of DR.. Osler's work lay
IN his directing influence on the lives
of others. His precepts were broad and
SOUND. Thousands of young men from all
lands came under the eye of this teacher
and thousands learned the lessons thai
he taught through his writings.
In 1905 at the Commemoraton day eXer.
rises at Johns Hopkins University OF
Baltimore, in which he served as pro.
. fessor of medicine, DR.. Osler delivered
the address in which he spoke of The
comparative uselessness of men above A
years of age" His words, then spoken
without thought of how far-reaching the,
would be, passed around the world II
garbled form of every variety lie wa!
quoted as having said in effect that mel
past that age were of no value in thu
progress of humanity and that men whit
had reached the age OF 60 should b.
Chloroformed.
DR.. Osler remained silent on the sub
ject for considerable period and theI
issued statement, in which he de
clared:
II did not say men at GO should b.
Chloroformed. That was the point il
the novel to which I referred, and upol
which the plot hinged"
The novel in question was THE Fixe,
PERIOD written by Anthony Trolope il
1882
DR.. Osler was criticised by the publ
and press generally, and in answer t.
these he said: THE criticisms have no
shaken my convictions that the tellin
work of the world has been done and /
done by men under 40 years of age. TIL
exceptions which have been given onl
illustrate the rule
at would be to the general good
men at so were retired from active work
We should miss the energies of som
young-old men, but, on the whole,
would be of greater service to tn
sexagenarii themselves"
Nevertheless, and Notwithstanding hi
views on this subject, DR.. Osler himsel
remained in active practice until the clos
Of his life. Having served in Johns HoI
kins to 1905. he was called, at the age Q
b. to oxford University as regius profes
sor Of medicine, the highest honor in tn
bestowal of British institutions of iearr
ing. For his great services in med
cine he was knighted and created
baronet by King George at his coronatio
In 1911. During the war he rendere
great services to the empire as organize
and counsellor, and was one Of the leat
ers in the recent concerted movement I
bring British medical education to tn
highest plane of thoroughness.
The only son of Sir William Oslo
Lieut.. Edward Osler. was killed in actio
In 1917.