Provision for the teaching of anatomy was made with the organization of the Department of Medicine and Surgery in 1849 and the completion of the old Medical Building in 1850. One of the five professorships forming the faculty of medicine was the professorship of anatomy.
There have been five directors of the Department of Anatomy whose personalities are so closely interwoven with the achievements of the department during the period of their incumbency that it appears advisable to divide the ninety years of its development into five divisions. Dr. Moses Gunn directed the department from 1850 to 1854; Dr. Corydon L. Ford, 1854-94; Dr. James P. McMurrich, 1894-1907; Dr. George L. Streeter, 1907-14; and Dr. G. Carl Huber, 1914-34. Since that time Dr. Bradley M. Patten has been chairman.
Moses Gunn (M.D. Geneva Medical College [N. Y.] ‘46, A.M. ibid. ‘56, LL.D. Chicago ‘67) was the first Professor of Anatomy, and he held the chair, combined with that of surgery, for four years; he was appointed Professor in 1849 at $1,000 a year. A statement by Dean Vaughan brings out the personality of the man whose influence was outstanding:
While a student in a medical school at Geneva, New York, he read about the organization of the University of Michigan and the provision that a medical department would, sooner or later, be attached to this institution. Immediately on receiving his medical diploma he started to Ann Arbor, carrying in his grip several dissecting cases and, among his grosser impedimenta, a box of suspicious size and shape and unmarked content.
On arriving in Ann Arbor one cold February in the late forties, he hung out a shingle offering his surgical skill to the public and more discreetly he let it be known to the University students that, in his back office, after a certain hour, he was prepared to initiate any of them who might have the profession of medicine in view into the mysteries of the structure of the human body. He was soon recognized as a most desirable addition to the small group of intellectuals then constituting the faculty and student body of the University. There is no record of his surgical success as a private practitioner but his class in Anatomy was soon in a flourishing condition. His best students in his back office were Robert Kedzie, … and Edmund Andrews …
(Vaughan, pp. 187-88.)
The lectures in anatomy were given by Dr. Gunn four times a week in the morning and were attended by the two classes throughout the college year of six months. As nearly as can be determined, the first lecture-room was on the third floor of the old Medical Building.
The first anatomical laboratory was no doubt in the northeast corner of the second floor of the same building. Dean Huber has written: “The Anatomical Laboratory is by far the oldest laboratory in the medical department … The room then used as an anatomical laboratory is the one now used by Professor McMurrich as a private laboratory” (Huber, “Medical Laboratories,” pp. 259-60). This laboratory is estimated to contain about six hundred feet of floor space — or sufficient space for thirty-two students as they work now.
The staff during the formative years consisted of the professor of anatomy, who devoted part of his time to teaching surgery, and a demonstrator of anatomy. The most important duty of the demonstrator of anatomy was to obtain material for teaching practical anatomy in the laboratory. This was a most difficult task, with the two conflicting state laws; for if he obeyed one, there would be no Department of Anatomy.
Dr. Robert Clark Kedzie (Oberlin ‘47, Michigan ‘51m, LL.D. ibid. ‘00) was the first Demonstrator of Anatomy and one of the six graduates of the medical class of 1851. He took charge of the first anatomical laboratory while a senior. Dr. Kedzie became a distinguished professor of chemistry at Michigan State College. He has reminded us of some of the difficulties that beset the Medical School at its inception, with reference to the teaching of practical anatomy:
Many persons regarded with awe the dissecting room “where dead folks were cut up,” and the question “Where do you get your subjects,” had a strange fascination for many people. The reply, “We raise ‘em,” did not seem to satisfy the inquiring mind. There was no legalized method by which material for dissection could be secured, and the dark suspicion that graves were robbed in the vicinity took possession of many minds. The suspicion was confirmed when it was discovered that a grave a few miles away had been robbed under atrocious circumstances, fragments of the broken coffin and torn portions of the shroud being left beside the half filled grave. The outrage was charged to the Medical College. Bitter hostility against the College broke forth at once. A mob gathered in the evening with the avowed purpose of burning the medical building; the mob rapidly increased in numbers, and under the harangue of a tap-room demagogue, they announced their purpose of “burning that butcher shop of human flesh, and scattering the young crop of sawbones that would not let the dead sleep in their graves.”
The medics had their spies in the mob, and when it was learned that it was planned to burn the medical building, a guard of one hundred armed medics patrolled the campus to protect the building, having signs and countersigns to exclude our enemies. The mob, learning of this determined guard, soon cooled down and dispersed. A suit at law for desecrating a grave, in which the witnesses knew little and remembered less, was the outcome of the excitement.
(Kedzie, p. 207.)
Dr. Edmund C. Andrews (‘49, ‘52m, LL.D. ‘81) was appointed to the position of Demonstrator of Anatomy upon the resignation of Kedzie in 1851 by the following resolution:
Resolved, That Edmund Andrews be and is appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical College and that he also discharge the duties lately performed by the Superintendent of Grounds. That for his services under this appointment he be allowed 10 per cent on all moneys he may collect and account for during the year ending 31st of December next, provided that such percentage shall not exceed $200.
(R.P., 1837-64, p. 494.)
It appears that one of the duties of the superintendent of grounds was to collect the three-dollar anatomy laboratory fee from each student taking the course (ibid., p. 538). Notwithstanding this dual function of his position and the method of collecting his salary, Andrews held the position until the close of college in April. In later life he became a leading surgeon of Chicago, one of the founders of Northwestern University Medical School, and a recognized authority on the geology of the Great Lakes (Vaughan, A Doctor’s Memories, p. 188).
The problem of finding adequate teaching material for practical anatomy was insuperable for many years. It is observed that the Catalogue of 1853-54 carried the following indefinite statement (p. 36): “Arrangements have been made by which an ample supply of materiel for the purposes of practical anatomy has been secured …”
The second period in the development of the department began in 1854 with the change in Gunn’s title to Professor of Surgery and the appointment of Dr. Corydon L. Ford (M.D. Geneva Medical College ‘42, A.M. hon. Middlebury ‘59, LL.D. Michigan ‘81) as the second Professor of Anatomy. He held the position for forty years:
Dr. Corydon La Ford … [was] a sensitive and earnest teacher, who had a way of “making dry bones and anatomical tissues of absorbing interest.” It is said of him that in his day he probably taught more students than any other teacher of anatomy.
(Shaw, p. 124.)
Under Ford’s direction lectures continued to occupy a large part of the teaching. Laboratory teaching of practical anatomy began to take a very important part in the instruction. He moved the Anatomical Laboratory from the second floor to the attic of the old Medical Building upon his arrival. This was a low room beneath the rafters, occupying the full width of the east portion of the building. The only daylight that reached the interior was through a dome-shaped skylight. The floor space of this room is estimated to have been about eight hundred square feet.
The Catalogue of 1854-55 (p. 36) announced for the first time courses in histology:
… The class is divided into sections for the examination of various tissues of the body by means of the Microscopes, so that each student has repeated opportunities for becoming familiar with the minute structure of parts, and also the practical working of the Instruments.
The teaching of anatomy at the opening of the Department of Medicine and Surgery was supplemented by the use of charts, few of which could be purchased, and by specimens preserved and placed in a room called the anatomy museum. This teaching material was prepared in the laboratory, with additions presented by friends of the school.
Ford continued to collect museum specimens largely for teaching purposes. Many of these specimens are still on exhibit, in cases especially built for them in the corridors on the fourth floor of the East Medical Building, where there is also a catalogue of the specimens in Dr. Ford’s handwriting.
In 1860 the Regents decided to combine the teaching of physiology with the chair of anatomy, as follows (R.P., 1837-64, p. 918): “Resolved, That Professor Corydon L. Ford be and he is hereby appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, with a salary of $1,000.” And again in 1860, without a change of title, Ford was to have direction of the amount of gas to be used at the “Medical College” (ibid., p. 923).
In 1864, when the medical lecture-rooms were added to the old Medical Building, the Anatomical Laboratory was moved from the attic to the third floor. The new quarters contained an estimated sixteen hundred square feet of floor space. Dr. Lombard has stated that Ford occupied a small room in the northeast corner of the third floor as his private laboratory.
Ford continued to broaden his teaching so that it included not only practical anatomy in the laboratory but also lectures on anatomy and physiology. There had been created an intense interest in the developing science of histology in lecture and laboratory. The importance of the teaching of histology was recognized by the following resolution of the Regents, in April, 1869: “Resolved, That Professor C. L. Ford be appointed Curator of the Medical Museum and Instructor in Microscopy” (R.P., 1864-70, p. 326). It will be observed, therefore, that at the end of the second decade of the development of the School (then the Department of Medicine and Surgery) the Department of Anatomy not only had broadened its teaching functions to include Gross Human Anatomy, lectures and laboratory, but also had developed Microscopical Anatomy and Functional Anatomy (physiology). Ford held these combined chairs as Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Curator of the Medical Museum, and Instructor in Microscopy.
With the admission of women to all departments of the University in 1870, eighteen entered the Department of Medicine and Surgery in the autumn of that year. Acting President Frieze said of them: “Those who have entered the Medical Department, in accordance with the action of the Board prior to the opening of the year, have formed a class by themselves, both in lectures and in the dissecting rooms” (P.R., 1870-71, p. 5). Just how long this double course of lectures in anatomy continued is difficult to determine. The first anatomical laboratory for women was in the attic of the Medical Building, a room previously occupied by the men. With the completion of the Anatomical Laboratory Building in 1887 a large room on the first floor was designated as the anatomy laboratory for women, and when West Medical Building was completed early in the present century (1903) such a room was also reserved for women (Huber, “The New Medical Building”). The women and men worked in separate laboratories of anatomy until 1908, when they were assigned to the same laboratory. The latter method has worked out to the mutual advantage of all concerned and is continued at the present time.
In 1872 the teaching of physiology was split off from anatomical instruction and was combined with the chair of therapeutics and materia medica under Professor Henry Sylvester Cheever.
In 1877 the teaching of physiology was combined with that of anatomy, as follows: “The Board request Professor Ford, with the assistance of other Medical Professors, to fill the chair and discharge the duties of Professor of Physiology, aided by the instructor in the Physiological Laboratory to be appointed” (R.P., 1876-81, p. 147).
Adding to the teaching load of the department was the extension of the medical course from six months to nine months in 1877 and the increase of the medical course from two to three years in 1880.
During the year 1877 the Physiology Laboratory was equipped, and the teaching of physiology was again separated from that of anatomy — permanently this time — by the appointment of Henry Sewall (Wesleyan ‘76, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins ‘79, M.D. Denver ‘89, M.D. hon. Michigan ‘88, Sc.D. hon. ibid. ‘12) as Lecturer of Physiology. As he had already “engaged himself for the year to Johns Hopkins University,” this appointment, though made in December, 1881, was not to become effective until October, 1882.
Apparently there has been no decade in the development of the Medical School when the teaching of the basic medical sciences was undergoing such revolutionary changes. The teaching of physiology developed by Dr. Ford was separated for a time from that of anatomy and then again combined with it, and finally sustained as a separate department.
Histology was recognized as a separate subject in 1877 upon establishment of the Physiological Laboratory, which was also arranged for work in practical histology, and by the appointment of Charles Henry Stowell (Genesee Wesleyan ‘68, Michigan ‘72m) as Instructor in the Physiological Laboratory, where the course Microscopical Anatomy was his chief interest. That Dr. Stowell taught this subject well is evidenced by his rapid promotion, as follows:
[June, 1879.] Resolved, That Charles H. Stowell, M.D., be and is hereby appointed Lecturer of Physiology and Histology at a salary of $1200 per annum, from and after the first day of October next.
[Nov., 1880.] Resolved, That the title of Charles H. Stowell, M.D., be and hereby is changed from “Lecturer on Physiology and Histology” to “Assistant Professor of Physiology and Histology.”
[June, 1883.] Resolved, That the title of Dr. Chas. H. Stowell be changed to Professor of Histology and Microscopy.
(R.P., 1876-81, pp. 385, 604; 1881-86, p. 361.)
Finally, the name of the Physiological Laboratory was changed to Histological Laboratory, in 1880.
By the creation of the chair of histology and microscopy in 1883, the complete separation of the teaching of microscopical anatomy from that of gross anatomy was recognized. The Department of Histology was maintained as a separate department until 1914, when it was again included in the Department of Anatomy. After having devoted ten important and productive years to instruction in the science of histology, and after having completed six important pieces of research, Dr. Stowell retired to private life. A copy of his large well-illustrated monograph, The Microscopic Structure of a Human Tooth, is in the departmental library. Stowell throughout his life was a loyal alumnus and was deeply interested in the development of the department. Upon the death of his widow, the following bequest was recorded in the minutes of the Board of Regents:
Regent Beal reported to the Board that the widow of the late Dr. Charles H. Stowell, who from 1881 to 1889 was Professor of Histology and Microscopy, at the time of her death, desired that the gold watch which had been presented to her husband at Christmas, 1885 by Dr. Corydon L. Ford, Professor of Anatomy, should go into the possession of the University, and particularly into the custody of the head of the Department of Anatomy and should be passed down from one succeeding holder of that chair to another. The Regents accepted the watch with thanks under these terms and conditions.
(R.P., 1936-39, p. 37.)
The Stowell watch has been placed in the custody of Professor Bradley M. Patten, Chairman of the Department of Anatomy.
In the seventies the medical sciences of dentistry and homeopathic medicine were attracting much attention and discussion. Accordingly, two new colleges were added to the University, under the following provisions:
Resolve [d], … 4. Students entering the Homeopathic Medical College shall receive instruction in the now existing Medical Department in all branches not provided for by the chairs established above, (including practical anatomy); they shall be entitled to all the privileges accorded students in the Medical Department … [The two chairs established were Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, and Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine.] …
Resolved, That a College of Dental Surgery be established, which shall, in addition to the facilities now afforded by the Medical Department and Chemical Laboratory, be constituted by the founding of two professorships.
(R.P., 1870-76, pp. 432, 435.)
It is not surprising then, that, with the added teaching burden of these two groups of students, much of which fell on the Department of Anatomy, the medical faculty was striving to relieve the increasing teaching load. This was attempted in two ways: first, by separating the chairs of physiology and histology from that of anatomy, as stated above; and, second, by increasing the teaching staff of the department. The staff giving instruction in anatomy was increased by an assistant to the professor of anatomy and five demonstrators (Cal., 1877-78).
The great increase in laboratory instruction necessitated a lengthening of the medical course from two to three years in 1880.
The first formal expression by the students of their appreciation of Dr. Ford’s great service as a teacher and a friend was the presentation of a large portrait of him in the thirty-third year of his service to the University, officially recorded as follows:
Resolved, That the thanks of the Regents be presented to … members of the Junior and Freshman classes of the Department of Medicine and Surgery and to members of the Dental classes for a large portrait of Professor Ford, presented by them.
(R.P., 1886-91, p. 113.)
The large portrait of Professor Ford now hangs in the faculty room of the Medical School. With the increasing popularity of the basic sciences in medicine — particularly anatomy and histology — the available laboratory space became inadequate, and a request for an anatomical building was therefore presented to the Regents in July, 1887 (p. 140):
… The Committees on Buildings and Grounds, and that of [the] Medical Department … [recommended] that a two storied building be erected at a cost not exceeding the sum of $6,000, for the uses of dissecting rooms and a dead room, and that said building be located conveniently to the Medical College, but not within 100 feet of the same.
This building was ready for use in the college year beginning October, 1889. It is said to have been the first building in this country to be used exclusively for instruction in anatomy. The floor space provided for anatomy in the Anatomical Laboratory Building has been estimated to be about 2,400 square feet. The main laboratory was on the second floor, where the men worked; it was lighted by small windows in the side walls and by several skylights built into the slant of the roof. The interior of this room was unique, in that all of the great timbers that supported the roof were plainly visible, giving the appearance of what many of us believe a lodge should be. Near one end of the room from a tall, boxlike stage, about four feet square, the demonstrator might at leisure look down upon the bearded students of that day, assembled six to eight at a table. The first floor furnished a small dissecting room for women and contained the washrooms. The Anatomical Building allowed for the expansion of the laboratories of histology, physiology, and, in fact, of all of the basic sciences, and the acquisition of this extra space was a necessary readjustment for the extension of the medical course from three years to four years in 1890. The completion of the new Anatomical Building evidently relieved the crowded condition of the department for only a short time, however, for additions to the structure were authorized in 1893.
The death of Professor Ford in 1894 brought to a close a forty-year period in the development of the Department of Anatomy. Much of his time was devoted to teaching in the department. The remainder was consumed by his development of investigative methods for creating charts, models, mannikins, and teaching specimens of all kinds. Most of the teaching aids could not be obtained in the markets of the world during Ford’s career, and those few that were obtainable were prohibitive in price. As a result of Ford’s foresight, the University has thousands of teaching specimens illustrative of normal and pathological anatomy, both human and comparative.
Space will not allow more than merely mentioning the names of many of the men who as demonstrators assisted Ford during the years when he had charge of the Anatomical Laboratory. Some of these — notably, Andrews, Lewit, Cheever, Frothingham, Breakey, Herdman, Campbell, and Huber — have added materially to American medicine, mostly in fields other than anatomy. There are four articles that former students of Dr. Ford frequently mentioned whenever they spoke of that great personality — a multicolored human skull, his chart of the twelve cranial nerves, a cane made from Admiral Perry’s flagship, and a light stool with “Ford” carved in the seat — and these are to be found in the departmental library.
Occupying hardly a lesser place than Dr. Ford in the memories of the older medical graduates was his factotum, Gregor Nagele, better known as “Doc” Nagele. As an immigrant just landed, he helped in the construction of the old Medical Building, and remained to become for years the presiding genius of the Department, and, through his long association with Dr. Ford, an unofficial demonstrator of anatomy to the “boys.”
(Shaw, p. 124.)
James Playfair McMurrich (Toronto ‘79, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins ‘85, LL.D. Michigan ‘12) was appointed the third Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Department of Anatomy in 1894 and served the University faithfully for thirteen years. When he came to direct the department the anatomical laboratories were in the Anatomical Laboratory Building about two hundred feet south of the present West Medical Building. His private laboratory was in the northeast corner of the second floor of the old Medical Building.
Dr. McMurrich brought to the University very definite ideas as to the function of the Department of Anatomy, which were adequately expressed in his own words:
An anatomical laboratory has a treble purpose to fulfill. A thorough knowledge of the structure of the human body and of its various parts, of the arrangement of these parts and of their physiological and topographical relations is essential to both the physician and the surgeon, and in no way can this knowledge be obtained but by actual, personal investigation. One purpose then, which may be termed the special purpose of an anatomical laboratory is to provide means whereby the student may obtain at first hand, that knowledge of the structure of the human body which will enable him later to pursue the study of medicine and surgery intelligently and successfully. It is a common, but erroneous idea that this is the only raison d’être of an anatomical laboratory. In reality, however, the study of anatomy is not a part of the study of medicine, but rather a preliminary to it, and in this connection laboratory work in anatomy has a further purpose, a general purpose, namely, to train the student to habits of observation and deduction. Whether for professional or general education this side of a laboratory’s usefulness cannot be too greatly emphasized and no laboratory course offers greater opportunities for this kind of training than a practical course in anatomy. Finally the third purpose of an anatomical laboratory is to afford opportunities for increasing our knowledge of the structure of the body. It is another erroneous idea that our knowledge of the human body is complete. On the contrary there is yet very much to be learned, not only as to the actual details of structure, but also as to the meaning of the anomalies which occur so frequently. This, which may be termed the higher purpose of an anatomical laboratory, has been too much neglected in the laboratories of this country, although from the purely scientific standpoint it is by far the most important of all the purposes of an anatomical laboratory. To fulfill these various purposes an anatomical laboratory requires an extensive equipment, a corps of specially trained instructors. In its early days the laboratory of the University of Michigan was necessarily conducted almost entirely for its special purpose, but the aim of those in charge has always been to place it in a position to fulfill all the purposes which might be demanded of it. Before this can be accomplished however, many facilities, such as a more ample building, an improved equipment and a larger corps of instructors must be provided. This being accomplished the University of Michigan will have an anatomical laboratory second to none and worthy of the great institution of which it is a part.
(Huber, “Medical Laboratories,” pp. 261-62.)
When McMurrich took over the direction of the department he introduced a well-organized course in the anatomy of the nervous system. This course consisted of a series of lectures followed by laboratory work. The first Neurological Laboratory was arranged by Dr. McMurrich on the first floor of the Anatomical Laboratory Building. It was impossible to provide human material for laboratory instruction at that time; therefore, a careful study was made of the sheep brain. When the West Medical Building was completed in 1903, not only was provision made for laboratory instruction in gross anatomy, but also, adequate space was provided for the practical study of the central nervous system and special sense organs. This laboratory was situated on the south side of the third floor of the West Medical Building. A very interesting commentary on the introduction of this course is the action of the Board of Regents: “That Dr. McMurrich be allowed to give a course on the anatomy of the special senses” (R.P., 1896-1901, p. 105).
In teaching the anatomy of the nervous system as a subject separate from that of gross anatomy, Dr. McMurrich laid the foundation for that division of anatomy now known as the Laboratory of Comparative Neurology.
Perhaps the first official recognition that the subject of anatomy is a part of a general education and is not restricted to those interested in the medical sciences was provided when, by the action of the Regents, McMurrich was recognized as a member of the literary faculty (R.P., 1896-1901, p. 104). The first course in anatomy for students of the Graduate School (then a department within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts) of the University was also provided for upon the completion of the West Medical Building (Cal., 1903-4).
The Department of Anatomy occupied the east half of the third floor, the southeast portion of the second floor, and the northeast portion of the basement of the new building. The teaching laboratories occupied 4,490 square feet of floor space, besides the space devoted to adequate private laboratories for the staff, and to such additional rooms as the storeroom and morgue. McMurrich’s private office was on the third floor, adjacent to the court (Huber, “The New Medical Building,” p. 203). In 1907 Dr. McMurrich resigned as Director of the Department of Anatomy, after thirteen years of service, to accept a similar position at his alma mater, the University of Toronto.
George Linius Streeter (Union ‘95, A.M. Columbia ‘99, M.D. ibid. ‘99), the fourth Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Department of Anatomy, came to the University in 1907. The teaching staff consisted of the professor, one demonstrator, one instructor, and four assistant demonstrators. Streeter reorganized the department — the staff as well as the courses of instruction — and for the first time prepared teaching material according to modern methods of preservation.
Up to this time osteology, or the study of the skeleton, was taught largely by lecture. The lectures were supplemented to a very limited extent by the demonstration of five or six skeletons in the department. Streeter immediately recognized that one of the most fundamental systems of the structure and function of the body could not be properly taught without adequate material. In 1909 he was permitted to establish the loan collection of bones (R.P., 1906-10, p. 563). This collection, prepared within the department, grew rapidly under his direction. New sets have been added to it from year to year, until in 1940 the loan collection consisted of 250 complete sets. In addition, there were about two hundred sets nearly ready for use. No doubt this is the largest and most valuable collection of human skeletons for teaching purposes in this country.
In the field of investigation Streeter attracted many young men to his laboratories, where he offered full opportunity for individual investigation unhampered by European traditions. He encouraged optimism and freedom of thought and action; he expected, and obtained, results. His influence as a teacher and investigator broadened the scope of the department more than it had been broadened in any previous period. He directed the preparation of the first group of serial sections of mammalian brains prepared at the University for research purposes. These aids materially increased the interest in the study of the anatomy of the nervous system. Dr. Streeter was not only an excellent teacher and organizer, but also a trained investigator in the fields of neurology and embryology. He soon found conflict in these fields of investigation incompatible with ideals in research. In 1914 he resigned from the University to go to the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where he became Director of the Department of Embryology and Chairman of the Division of Animal Biology.
Upon the resignation of Dr. Streeter the Regents requested the medical faculty to devise a plan which would not involve an increase in the budget of the department (R.P., 1910-14, p. 960). Anatomy and histology were combined and the title of Gotthelf Carl Huber (‘87m, Sc.D. hon. Northwestern ‘30) was changed from Professor of Histology and Director of the Histology Laboratory to Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Laboratories. Huber was the fifth Director.
The development of the subject of histology has been traced above, from the time of the appointment of Ford (1854), who gave demonstrations on the minute structure of the human body by the use of the only microscope owned by the University, up to the recognition of a separate Department of Anatomy, with a well-equipped laboratory, by the appointment of Stowell as Professor of Histology and Microscopy (1883). The teaching of microscopic anatomy developed rapidly under Stowell. He gradually acquired the best equipment for the Histology Laboratory for teaching, demonstration, and research purposes. He encouraged original investigation among his associates by his own example. The capacity of the laboratory doubled under his guidance: only fifteen students could be dealt with in each section in 1877, but when he resigned, in 1889, there were facilities for thirty students per section.
After Stowell’s resignation the chair of histology had been combined with that of pathology under Heneage Gibbes (M.B. and C.M. Aberdeen ‘79, M.D. ibid. ‘81); and Dr. Huber at that time had been designated Instructor in Histology.
Dr. Huber, after having served as Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy under Ford in 1887 and as Instructor in Histology under Gibbes in 1889, began the direction of histology teaching. In 1890 the chair of histology was separated from that of pathology and was combined with that of physiology under William Henry Howell (Johns Hopkins ‘81, Ph.D. ibid. ‘84, M.D. hon. Michigan ‘90, LL.D. ibid. ‘12, Sc.D. Yale ‘11), Professor of Physiology and Histology. Although histology was nominally combined with physiology, first under Howell and later under Lombard, Huber was privileged to guide its development along the lines of teaching and research.
When the Anatomical Laboratory Building was completed in 1889 the Department of Anatomy vacated the third floor of the old Medical Building and the Physiological Laboratory was moved into these quarters. Histology as well as physiology was taught in this laboratory until 1892, when “the histology laboratory was … moved to the second floor of the medical building” (Huber, “Medical Laboratories,” p. 4). This laboratory now occupied the north half of the second floor, and Huber’s private laboratory was across the hall. The floor space assigned to this department is estimated to have been 1,200 square feet.
In 1903 the Department of Histology was moved from the second floor of the original Medical Building to the second floor of the West Medical Building, where it occupied the northeast portion. The student laboratory was increased to 1,800 square feet of floor space. In addition to this laboratory there were a library, storerooms, and many rooms for members of the staff. Huber’s private laboratory was on the north side. In 1898 the Regents made provisions for a separate chair of histology, as follows:
Resolved, That the title of Professor Lombard, now Professor of Physiology and Histology, be changed to Professor of Physiology. That Dr. McMurrich’s title be made Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Laboratory; and that Dr. Huber’s title be made Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Histology Laboratory…
(R.P., 1896-1901, p. 218.)
Dr. Huber, with one assistant — Dr. Lydia Maria Adams De Witt (‘99, ‘98m, A.M. hon. ‘13), continued the development of the department according to his conception of its functions, namely, the teaching of medical and dental students and of students from other departments, and original investigation.
The Histology Laboratory, as well as the laboratories of the basic sciences, became overcrowded. The completion of the West Medical Building in 1903 allowed the expansion of laboratory facilities so that students from the Graduate School and from certain departments within the Department (later the College) of Literature, Science, and the Arts were permitted to pursue studies in the Department of Histology. Dr. Huber found time, in addition to that required by his heavy teaching load, to continue research to such an extent that by 1914 he had completed sixty publications, either individually or in collaboration with others (Thompson, pp. 33-41).
The story of this era in the development of the Department of Histology would hardly be complete without mention of his only, but capable, assistant, Lydia De Witt. Dr. De Witt, during her thirteen years as assistant in the Department of Histology, by publishing six papers contributed in no small measure to the fulfillment of Huber’s ideal of continuing research. After leaving the University, she spent most of the remaining sixteen years of her life with the Sprague Memorial Institute and with the University of Chicago, where she became a prominent pathologist (Livingston, p. 31).
Many advanced students became interested in the science of histology at this time. Among them were Atwell, Guild, Curtis, Eggerth, and Clark. All have become prominent in one field of medical science or another; two have followed in the footsteps of their illustrious teacher. Wayne J. Atwell (Ph.D. ‘17) became professor of anatomy and director of the Anatomical Laboratories in the University of Buffalo, and Stacy R. Guild (Ph.D. ‘18) became director of the Department for Otological Research at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
In 1914 the Department of Anatomy and the Department of Histology were again combined as the Department of Anatomy, and Huber was placed in charge. Under his direction the Department of Anatomy rapidly developed courses that attracted students in departments of the University other than the two medical schools and the School of Dentistry. Soon the portion of the West Medical Building allocated to the Department of Anatomy became so overcrowded that even the addition of a large room in the basement brought only temporary relief. With the completion of the East Medical Building in 1925, however, this condition was relieved, and provision was made to develop courses for physical education, first announced in 1927. Courses in anatomy for nurses were announced the same year, as well as the Anatomy and Physiology of the Vocal Organs, a course for graduate students in the Department of Speech, and in 1932 a course was arranged for students in the Department of Fine Arts. In 1934 a course was arranged for students of the biological sciences. Many students from the Graduate School continued to apply for a place in the neurological division of the department. Graduate students of the School of Dentistry attended in large numbers the course in the division of gross anatomy arranged for them the second semester. Finally, courses in gross anatomy for interns were so arranged that they could work in the evenings, whereas in the similar courses for graduates in medicine the students worked throughout the day.
Not only was the teaching program for undergraduate and graduate students broadened under Dr. Huber’s direction, but also many pieces of valuable equipment for teaching and original research were added. Among these were a well-equipped photographic room, including microphotographic apparatus, X-ray apparatus for teaching and research, and a well-equipped laboratory for making the Born wax-plate reconstructions.
During all of his association with the Department of Anatomy, Huber was particularly interested in neuroanatomical as well as in histological and embryological fields, as is evidenced by his research record. His interest in neuroanatomy reached fruition in the development of a Laboratory of Comparative Neurology, recognized by the Regents of the University as such in 1929 and having as its raison d’être a group of workers interested in neurological research and one of the largest collections of comparative neurological material available in this country or abroad. The collection, much of which was prepared by Huber, consisted of approximately six hundred complete series of the brains and spinal cords of various animals. These series, stained by standard methods, are one of the most valuable possessions of the Department of Anatomy.
During the twenty years that G. Carl Huber directed the Anatomical Laboratories he published thirty-two contributions to science. Most of these were in the field of comparative neurology; many were written in collaboration with others, in particular, with Elizabeth C. Crosby. Besides the publications mentioned above there were many contributions by members of the staff and by graduate students.
In the Laboratory of Comparative Neurology Professor Elizabeth C. Crosby (B.S. Adrian ‘10, M.S. Chicago ‘12, Ph.D. ibid. ‘15) has had an outstanding influence. Before coming to the University in 1920, Dr. Crosby worked for several years with Professor Herrick, one of the best-known comparative neurologists. After coming to the University she was associated with Dr. Huber in the development of the laboratory. She has produced many original and important pieces of research, mostly in collaboration with Huber. Upon his death in 1934, she completed revision of that outstanding two-volume treatise, Comparative Anatomy of the Nervous System of Vertebrates. She took over the task of completing the “Huber Memorial Volume” of the Journal of Comparative Neurology. In 1936-37 Crosby brought to the University, for conferences on neurology, Dr. C. U. Ariëns Kappers, Dr. Herrick, and Dr. Larsell — three of the foremost neurologists of the world. She is an exceptionally successful teacher and is loved by all her students. We of the University were late in recognizing that in our midst is one who ranks among the leading neurologists of the world. The University is aware that with Professor Crosby directing the division of neurology in the Department of Anatomy its high standard is assured.
Bradley Merrill Patten (Dartmouth ‘11, Ph.D. Harvard ‘14) was appointed the sixth Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Laboratories in 1935. It was decided that three divisions be made within the department, and that an adjustment of space be made for teaching and for research — the division of embryology and histology, the Laboratory of Comparative Neurology, and the division of gross anatomy. The division of embryology and histology is under the direct charge of Professor Patten. The teaching laboratory is on the second floor of the East Medical Building. The laboratory has about 180 microscopes, an excellent loan collection of microscopic slides for histology, and a good loan collection of microscopic slides for embryology. With the seating arrangement providing adequate working light, the microscopical laboratory will accommodate 144 students. Patten’s private office is on the second floor, and the research laboratories are in the south part of the first floor. To the photographic laboratory has been added a motionpicture outfit for microscopic work. The general shift in the allotment of space within the department has given to the Laboratory of Comparative Neurology a group of twelve rooms on the fourth floor of the East Medical Building. Within this space have been arranged a large laboratory for technical work, a seminar room, a small but reasonably well-equipped experimental laboratory, a secretary’s room together with space for housing the neurological collection, projection and chart rooms, and a series of smaller rooms for neurological research, all of which are occupied. The collection has been arranged and catalogued, and additions to it are constantly being made. A research grant from the Graduate School has made possible the development of a monkey colony having special quarters on the fifth floor. A program in normal and experimental neurological research is being carried on by members of the department and by graduate students.
The division of gross anatomy occupies portions of the first, the third, the fourth, and the fifth floors of the East Medical Building. There is working space for 472 students. The division of gross anatomy attracts students from many of the schools and colleges of the University. The groups that receive instruction in these laboratories are: from the Medical School, first-, second-, and third-year medical students and graduates in medicine; from the School of Dentistry, both undergraduates and graduate students; and students from the School of Nursing, the School of Education, the Institute of Fine Arts, the Department of Speech, the Graduate School, the College of Architecture and Design, and the Summer Session. During 1936-37, 578 students pursued courses in gross anatomy.
The state anatomical law under which teaching material may be provided for the medical schools was passed in 1867. It has been amended many times since. The Michigan law is the best one ever enacted for scientific purposes, and it has been used as a model for similar legislation in other states.
A careful record of all the bodies sent to the University has been kept, beginning in 1881. By 1940 more than 10,000 subjects had been received. The rate of arrival of bodies is between four hundred and five hundred per year, a sufficient number at this time for the very large enrollment in the department. The subjects are cared for by a full-time embalmer and morgue director. After the bodies are used for scientific purposes they are cremated in a crematory built for this purpose. The ashes are buried once a year, with the Christian burial service, on the University lot in Fairview Cemetery.
The first morgue was built in the basement of the old Medical Building, at a cost of $185.81. In 1889 a morgue was built into the basement of the Anatomical Laboratory Building. When the West Medical Building was completed in 1903, a morgue with a capacity of fifty subjects was constructed and was furnished with refrigeration machinery. In the East Medical Building a large morgue, with a capacity of 200 subjects and with refrigeration apparatus, was provided.
It is fitting that the present members of the department should record with pride the achievements of their predecessors. But that alone is not enough. The tradition of scholarly work must continue without interruption, for we are realizing with increasing clearness that teaching soon becomes barren without the revivifying effect of original investigation.
Rollo E. McCotter
[Rollo Eugene McCotter (‘10m), Professor of Anatomy in the University since 1914.]
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