Il^l IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. W/ sigrtifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifle "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one expoaura are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, at many frames aa required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartes, planchaa, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A dee taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reprodult en un seul cllchA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, an prenant la nombra d'Images nAcessaire. Las diagrammea sulvants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ON THE PAST, PEESENT, AND FUTURE OF THB FACULTY OF MEDICINE OF M'GILL UNIVRSITY. An Introductory Lecture delivered at the opening of the Session of 1866-67^ BY ARCHIBALD HALL, M.D., Bdin., L.R.O.S.B., ^ ^ !» Professor of Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children, HcOill Univer* sity ; Honorary Fellow of the Obstetric Society of London ; Associate of tber College of Physicians of Philadelphia, &c., Ac, &c. Gentlemen, — ^The delivery of the introductory lecture to a course, marks, in a most incontestable manner, the lapse of time, and reminds me that this is the thirty-first year since this annual duty has devolved upon me. During this long period of time, in which Dr. Campbell, our present esteemed Dean of Faculty, and myself, have been associated — what changes have taken place in it I Not one of the early founders of this School now remains. They have all gone to the " mountains of myrrh, and the hills of frankincense, until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away;" but "though dead, they yet speak," and in un- mistakable language they tell us to be diligent while " our dmf^ lasts. Such thoughts impel me to deviate from my customary plan of lecture, and to devote this one to a sketch of the Past, the Present, and the Future of our Faculty ; and I trust that the narrative may prove of some interest. It feels strange to review scenes long passed away, bespeaking, as it does, the mu'^^ability of al) sublunary affairs. But if there is one point more than another which is most forcibly proclaimed, it is the unswerv- ing fidelity of the early founders of this School of Medicine to their self- imposed task — one undertaken with the merest shadow of remuneration, and which has now culminated in the fact that their work has prospered in a remarkable degree j and that this School is undoubtedly the first one in 2 British America, and its lectures may unquestionably vie with those of Great Britain, while I believe them superior to those of most, if not all, of the Colleges of the United States. I speak this with no sentiment of egotism. I but repeat what is now a trite remark. But now to our task. In the year 1813, died one of the merchant princes of this city, the Hon. Jas. McGill, bequeathing for the endowment of a University or College, to retain perpetually his name, the property known as Bumside, con- sisting of a dwelling and appurtenances thereon erected, with adjacent land to the extent of about forty-six acres, This property was valued at the time at £5000 ; but over and above this bequest he also left the sum of £10,000 in money, intended apparently for the endowment of Profes- sorships. There were two stipulations in the will : the one that the resi- duary legatee, Francis Desrivieres, should enjoy the whole for a limited time ; and, secondly, that unless the University was put in operation within ten years, the whole bequest sLould revert to the residuary legatee. It is now necessary to remark that in the year 1801 a Provincial statute or- ganized " The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning," but the Institution was not constituted until the year 1819. The trustees under the will now demanded the bequest from the legatee for the pur- pose of handing it over to the Royal Institution, an application which was refused by him — the refusal ending in a protracted law suit, which was not terminated until after the lapse of some sixteen or seventeen years. In the meanwhile, the Royal Institution applied to His Majesty George the Fourth for a Royal Charter, which was granted in the second year of his reign, 1821, and thus established the University with full powers. In this connection, I should observe that it was the intention of His Majesty George the Third to have established two Universities in this Province — one at Quebec, and the other in this city; and that Mr. McGill merely contemplated in his noble bequest the endowment of a college in the latter. This intention appears never to have been carried out in Lower Canada, although by the persevering energy of the vener- able Bishop of Toronto, the University of ^ ronto became established in the Upper Province, and most richly endowed with Crown lands. Such Wtid the intention of His Majesty, however ; ard the intention was also to have endowed these in a similar manner ; but, as already observed, from what cause soever, it was never realized, thus furnishing another example of the truthfulness of the Scottish poet's observation, that— " The be&j laid schemes of mice and men Gang aft aglee." \ We have now to consider bnother oiroumstanoe which exerted n marked influence on this School, and, in truth, mainly contributed to its establishment. I now allude to the erection of the Montreal General Hospital. In the first annual report of that Institutii q, I find the fol- lowing:—" In the year 1819, from the increase in the population of this town, the Hotel Dieu Nunnery was found to be inadequate to the recep- tion of the indigent sick ; an inconvenience further augmented by the great influx of emigrants from the United Kingdom, some of them labouring under fevers of a contagious nature, and other diseases, that were not admissible into that hospital." Accordingly that year a sub- scription was taken up for hiring a house to serve as an hospital • and the report further says ; " That though this was only on a small scale, the good effected by it was, after one year's trial, so evident, that it was deemed an object highly desirable to erect a building, which might give permanency to the establishment." Accordingly ground was purchased, subscriptions were opened to raise the sum of £2200, the estimated cost of the building, and in January, 1821, a special committee, appomted for the purpose, entered into contract for the erection of the edifice now known as the Montreal General Hospital. Like most other large build- ings, the actual cost of its erection exceeded the estimate by the large amount of nearly £1500, but it was finished for the reception of patients in the year 1822 ; and that there must have existed an urgent necessity for its erection, is proved from the fact, that between May, 1822, and May, 1823, 421 indoor, and 397 outdoor patients received medical assistance from its officers. The medical gentlemen who thus early gave their services were Drs. Robertson, Caldwell, Holmes, Loedel, Stephen- son, and Lyons. With an hospital at their command, in which clinical instruction might be afforded, the thought wr ' now conceived to establish a school of medi- cine in connection with it ; and the following extracts from the early "Minutes of meeting " of the Faculty will prove the best introduction to what follows. On October 20th, 1822, a meeting of the medical officers of the hospital was held, consisting of " W. Robertson, W. Caldwell, A. F. Holmes, J. Stephenson, and H. P. Loedel, for the purpose of taking into consideration the expediency of establishing a medical flchool in this city," in which it was unanimously resolved " that the con- siderations which seemed to warrant so desirable an object should be drawn out and laid before the next meeting of the Board, to be held on the 27th of the same month, and that Drs. Stephenson and Holmes be appointed a committee for the said purpose." Such then was the actual commence- ment of this School of Medicine ; and t imagine that it will prove a matter of no little curiosity to see upon what reasons thdr conduct was subsequently based, a fact in which not themselves alone were imme- diately concerned, as far as we may gleam from the subsequent proceed- ings, but one in which other eminent individuals of this city were at the time intimately interested, doubtless from the influence which it might exert upon their own children at the time. At a meeting of the same Board, held on October 27th, 1822, the same officers present, the sub- joined resolutions were adopted : — " The medical officers appointed by the President and Directors of the Montreal General Hospital having seen the great difficulties which the student in medicine in this country has to encounter before he acquires a complete knowledge of his profession ; knowing the great inconvenience resulting to many from the necessity at present existing of spending several years in a foreign country to complete a regular medical educa- tion, and being convinced of the advantages which would result from the establishment of a Medical School in this country, have met to consider of the possibility of founding such an institution in this city. After due deliberation, they conceive that the following considerations warranted an endeavour to promote so desirable an object : " Ist. There can be but one opinion concerning the utility and neces- sity of a School of Medicine in this Province, seeing that the condition of Medicine in many parts sufficiently attests the want of opportunities of medical instruction. Such an Institution will tend very much to remove this growing evil, by the facility it will aflford of acquiring medical knowledge. " 2nd. There can be little doubt that students from different parts of this Province, as well as from Upper Canada, and probably from the adjoining States, would eagerly profit by the opportunities thus afforded of acquiring a sound medical education. Those who might not intend to pursue their studies at a foreign University would be enabled to obtain an adequate knowledge of all the useful branches of medicine, while those who, after attending this Institution, might wish to enjoy the advantages of study in other countries, would be better able to benefit by them. " 3rd. They consider that the Montreal General Hospital is an Insti tution which much favours the establishment of a School of Medicine in this city. It affords the student a facility of acquiring a practical knowledge of physic never before enjoyed in this Province, an advantage which will be greatly enhanced by the establishment of lectures on the different branches of the profession. " 4th. If such a plan should be carried into effect, a pecuniary benefit 5 wuld result to the funds of the Hospital, highly advantageous in their present state. " 5th. They are further encouraged to attempt the formation of a medical seminary, when they reflect that the Medical School of Edin- burgh, the basis of which they would adopt for the p-esent Institution, now justly considered the first in Europe, is of comparatively recent formation, it being little more than one hundred years since medical lectures were first delivered in that city. And the early history of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is not dissimilar to that of the Montreal General Hospital. ' " 6th. In the event of the establishment of a Classical and Philosophi- cal Seminary in this city, the two institutions would be materially benefitted. " 7th. To ensure the success and permanence of such an institution it would be highly desirable that the persons composing it should be asso- ciated by Royal Charter or act of incorporation. " 8th, and lastly. Should such a desirable object be attained, the fol- lowing gentlemen, iu furtherance thereof, have agreed to deliver lectures *i the several branches of the profession : Anatomy and Physiology, Dr. Stephenson. , Chemistry and Pharmacy, , Dr. Holmes. Practice of Physic, -.Dr. Caldwell. Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children,... Dr. Robertson. • Materia Medica, Dr. Loedel Botany, Dr. Holmes. Surgery, Dr. Stephenson. " It was finally resolved that the foregoing resolutions and opinions be forwarded to His Excellency Lord Dalhousie (then Governor in Chief) for his consideration." On the 30th November, 1822, a letter was received from His Excel- lency, through his secretary, Mr. Cochrane, approving, among other matters, " of the scheme proposed by the medical officers of the Montreal General Hospital for connecting with that establishment a medical school for giving a course of lectures in the different branches of medical science." The letter further remarks that *' His Excellency will readily give his support to this desirable object, and will do all in his power to assist the endeavours of the medical gentlemen who have