In 1817 the governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan passed an act establishing the Catholepistemiad, or University, of Michigania. Of the thirteen didaxiim or professorships, one didaxia was designated as iatrica or the medical sciences. There is nothing to indicate that actual instruction in medicine was given at that time.

Twenty years later, in January 1837, Congress formally admitted Michigan to statehood, and the legislature of the state, on March 18, passed the organic act establishing the University of Michigan. It was specified that the University was to consist of at least three departments: the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the Department of Law, and the Department of Medicine.

The vastness of the educational scheme laid down by the organic act, as well as financial difficulties, made it necessary for the Regents to act slowly. The Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts opened its doors in the fall of 1841, and for some years the tenderest care and every effort were needed to keep that much of the University alive. Six years elapsed before the matter of a medical college again came up for consideration.

At a meeting of the Regents, January 7, 1847, a communication was read "from Drs. Sager, Douglass,* and others, Surgeons, Physicians, etc., in reference to a Medical Department in the University," and this was referred to a committee of five, one of whom was Dr. Zina Pitcher, which reported on the following day a recommendation for the creation of such a department with four professors and a six months' course. The report was accepted, but after some discussion, on motion of Chief Justice Ransom it was recommitted. The next day the committee, for some unaccountable reason, presented a lengthy and adverse legal opinion to the effect that the Board had neither the authority nor the means to erect necessary buildings without specific action of the legislature.

At the same meeting Dr. Pitcher offered a resolution committing the Board to the organization of the Medical Department, but this was tabled. Whereupon he gave notice that he would call the resolution up again at the next annual meeting. This he did, and, in August 1847, a committee of three was appointed to report at a further meeting "upon the expediency as well as upon the plan of organizing the Departments of Medicine and Law." Dr. Pitcher, as chairman of this committee, presented to the Board on January 19, 1848, a lengthy and masterly report on the need of a medical department, and although two of the three members of the committee were lawyers, the subject of a law department was not stressed. The adoption of this report, the appointment of Dr. Douglass and Dr. Sager as professors in the new department, and the appropriation of $3,000 for a "laboratory" make January 19, 1848, the natal day of the Medical Department. The first session of the Medical Department was to begin in the fall of 1849, but because of delay in the construction of the laboratory, or medical building, its doors were not opened until the fall of 1850. The original medical building was finally completed at a cost of $8,981.

The establishment of the Medical Department was essentially due to three men, Zina Pitcher, Silas H. Douglass, and Abram Sager. Dr. Pitcher was one of the twelve original members of the Board of Regents appointed in 1837 and was reappointed in 1841, 1845, and 1849; he retired on the last day of 1851, at which time the appointive Board gave way to one elected by the people, as provided by the Constitution of 1850. He was the only member to serve continuously from its inception to its reorganization — a period of fifteen years. This may be taken as evidence of his intense devotion to the cause of education. The esteem in which he was held by his colleagues on the Board is to be seen in the fact that in July, 1848, a few months after the organization of the Medical Department, a committee appointed to name the University buildings, proposed to call the North Building "Mason Hall" and the South Building "Pitcher Hall." This report, although accepted, was tabled. The following day a motion to name the North Building "Mason Hall" was also tabled.

The Original Faculty. — The Organic Act of 1837, in establishing the University, provided by name for six professorships in the Medical Department, as it was officially designated until 1915. These were: (1) anatomy, (2) surgery, (3) physiology and pathology, (4) practice of physic, (5) obstetrics and the diseases of women and children, (6) materia medica and medical jurisprudence. It provided further, that in the first organization of the University the Regents should "appoint such a number only as the wants of the institution shall require; and to increase them from time to time, as the income of the fund shall warrant … Provided always, that no new professorship shall be established without the consent of the legislature."

The Organic Act of 1837, in designating the professorships in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, provided for a chair of chemistry and pharmacy. Hence these subjects are listed in the title given in 1839 to Dr. Douglas Houghton. In the Statutes of 1846, replacing this act, the sixth chair mentioned above was designated as that of materia medica, pharmacy, and medical jurisprudence. It may be inferred that Dr. Silas H. Douglass and Dr. Samuel Denton, then state senator, may have effected this transfer of pharmacy to the medical faculty.

The new Constitution which went into effect in 1851 omitted the naming of specific professorships and hence the Regents, after that date, became free to create new professorships and to give to each whatever title was desirable.

The Regents, in making the first appointments in the Medical Department, endeavored to comply with the letter of the law as far as the naming of the chairs was concerned. At the same time, considering the qualifications of the men to be appointed, the duties assigned to the holder of a chair might be quite different from those implied by the title. Thus, in the report to the Regents in January, 1850, the faculty was to consist of the following:

A Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy and Medical Jurisprudence, who would teach only Pharmacy and Toxicology.

A Professor of Anatomy, who should do the duties of the Chair of Surgery.

A Professor of Pathology and Physiology, who should besides Physiology also do the duties in part of the Professor of Materia Medica.

A Professor of Practice of Physic (including Pathology).

A Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women and Children.

(R.P., 1837-64, p. 442.)

At no time in the records of the organization of the Medical Department was chemistry mentioned. Doubtless, it was tacitly understood that this subject was to be taught by Dr. Douglass, who, since 1846, had been Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

The term chemistry could not be used legally in the title of Dr. Douglass as a professor in the Medical Department and hence, conforming to the law, he was designated as Professor of Materia Medica, Pharmacy, and Medical Jurisprudence, who "would teach only Pharmacy and Toxicology." A free interpretation of these two subjects might be taken to imply chemistry. At all events Dr. Douglass did teach chemistry in 1850 and thereafter, but did not teach materia medica. There being no longer any legal obstacle, in 1855 the title of Dr. Douglass was amended by substituting toxicology for medical jurisprudence.

An equally striking circumlocution was presented in the case of Dr. Jonathan Adams Allen, who in 1850 was made Professor of Pathology and Physiology, but "who should besides Physiology also do the duties in part of the Professor of Materia Medica." At the same time Dr. Samuel Denton was given the legal title of Professor of Practice of Physic, with the words "including Pathology" understood. It was perhaps deemed more logical to attach pathology, unofficially, to the duties of the professor of the practice of physic.

The removal of pathology and the addition of materia medica made Dr. Allen virtually Acting Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology, though his official title even as late as 1854 was Professor of Pathology and Physiology.

Prior to the report of 1850 the Regents had made three appointments to the medical faculty. In January, 1848, Dr. Douglass had been appointed Professor of Materia Medica; he was also to discharge the duties of Professor of Pharmacy and Medical Jurisprudence; Dr. Abram Sager was named Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine, and was to discharge the duties of such other professorship as might be prescribed (not the professorship of physic as specified in the Act of 1837). In July, 1849, Dr. Gunn was appointed Professor of Anatomy and was to discharge such other duties as might be required of him. Denton later seems to have acquired the title to the chair of the theory and practice of medicine, and of pathology. At the same time Dr. Sager, with his consent, was transferred to the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and children. Hence, the members of the faculty at this time held the titles prescribed by law.

Dr. Silas H. Douglass, a native of New York state, began the study of medicine in the office of Regent Zina Pitcher, who continued to be a Regent of the University until 1851. He also served as physician under Henry R. Schoolcraft, the noted Indian scholar, who was also a member of the Board of Regents. Later, he assisted Dr. Douglas Houghton in his geological survey of Michigan (see Part III: Department of Geology).

Dr. Douglass was made Assistant in Chemistry in 1844, without salary. After the death of Houghton in 1845 he continued in charge of the work, and in 1846 he became Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology; no mention was made of pharmacy, probably because of the statute of 1846, which was in effect.

There is no doubt but that Dr. Douglass, with or without the approval of his former preceptor, Dr. Pitcher, formulated the communication, signed by medical men and others, which, in January, 1847, was sent to the Board of Regents asking for the establishment of the Medical Department. The communication started the movement which, a year later, resulted in the appointment of Dr. Douglass and Dr. Sager to the faculty of the new Medical Department.

In 1846 Douglas became Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds and, as such, he had much to do with the planning and erection of buildings on the campus. The Medical and Chemistry buildings as well as the Observatory and the South Wing of the Literary Department, were built under his supervision. Dr. Douglass served as elective dean of the Medical Department for nine years. His service in the University ended in 1877.

Dr. Abram Sager, also a native of New York state, had been Professor of Botany and Zoology since 1842. He was given, in 1848, the chair of theory and practice of medicine, and this was changed, in 1850, to obstetrics and diseases of women and children. Because of ill-health he resigned in March, 1874, and Dr. Edward S. Dunster was appointed to the chair. Sager became Emeritus Professor and resigned as Dean of the medical faculty in 1875. He had served ten years as elective dean.

Dr. Moses Gunn, as a medical student, had formed a strong friendship with Dr. Corydon L. Ford, the demonstrator of anatomy. He came to Ann Arbor immediately after his graduation and brought a cadaver which had been given to him by the Geneva Medical School. Dr. Gunn dissected the body before invited guests, thus performing the first dissection in Ann Arbor, if not in Michigan. In 1849 he was appointed, as the third member of the new faculty, to the chair of anatomy, with other duties to be assigned. He was then twenty-seven years old. His interests were primarily in surgery, but the absence of clinical facilities resulted in his devoting himself during this period to work in anatomy. In 1853 he moved to Detroit, but maintained his position in Ann Arbor. The following year he became Professor of Surgery and held this title until 1867, when he resigned to accept the chair of surgery in Rush Medical College, Chicago, which position he held until his death. He acted as elective dean for only one year.

Dr. Jonathan Adams Allen, a descendant of Ethan Allen, was the fourth man to be added to the faculty. He was the youngest member, being only twenty-five years of age. His position was vacated in 1854 because of a controversy about student secret societies. Later he became president of Rush Medical College.

Dr. Samuel Denton, in 1837, was appointed a member of the first Board of Regents for a term of three years. He became the fifth member of the medical faculty. Dr. Denton served for three years as elective dean and died in Ann Arbor in 1860.

Officers. — At the meeting of the Board of Regents in January, 1849, Dr. Zina Pitcher, as chairman of a special committee, presented a report embodying regulations for the organization of the Medical Department. On July 17, 1850, the same report, somewhat amended and designated as Rules for the Government of the Medical College, was adopted.

In the report it was specified that one of the professors was to be appointed annually by the faculty as president and one as secretary of the medical faculty. This was in line with the practice of the faculty of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, which, since 1845, had designated its presiding officer as president.

The minutes of the medical faculty record the election of presidents in 1850-53 inclusive, and in 1855. Apparently, following the election of Dr. Henry Philip Tappan as President of the University, in 1852, there was a transitional period in the use of the term "president" by the faculty. It is noteworthy, however, that the Catalogue of 1852-53 lists Dr. Samuel Denton as Dean, though he was elected president. This is probably the earliest recorded usage of that title in the University. In the minutes, however, the earliest references to the dean appear in November and December, 1853; and in March, 1854, Silas H. Douglass was elected Dean.

The deans continued to be elected annually by the faculty until 1891. The rotating principle was at first adopted, but not for long, as can be seen from the following list of elective deans: Abram Sager (ten years), 1850-51, 1859-61, 1868-75; Samuel Denton (three years), 1851-53, 1857-58; Silas H. Douglass (nine years), 1853-57, 1863-68; Moses Gunn (one year), 1858-59; Corydon L. Ford (seven years), 1861-63, 1879-80, 1887-91; Alonzo B. Palmer (eleven years), 1875-79, 1880-87.

With the growth of the University, it became apparent that the election of deans by the various faculties should be centralized and, accordingly, the rules of the Board of Regents were amended on July 17, 1889, making the deans thereafter Board appointees. By this action the deans received a status which was recognized in all University publications. The elective deans had not been given this recognition in the University Calendar or Catalogue, and, at times, their names were not even in the Announcement of the Department. Dr. Ford was the last of the elective deans, and upon his resignation Dr. Victor C. Vaughan was appointed Dean by the Board of Regents.

The deans appointed are as follows: Victor C. Vaughan (thirty years), 1891-1921 (resigned); Hugh Cabot, 1921-February, 1930 (relieved); Executive Committee, 1930-33; Frederick G. Novy, 1933-February, 1935 (retired); Albert C. Furstenberg, February, 1935, to date.

In the interim following the termination of Dr. Cabot's deanship, the administration of the Medical School was entrusted to an executive committee consisting of Drs. James D. Bruce, Harley A. Haynes, Frederick G. Novy, Udo J. Wile, and Arthur C. Curtis, Secretary. The committee chose Dr. Novy as chairman, and in September, 1933, he was appointed Dean.

The executive committee, which had demonstrated its usefulness in the conduct of the affairs of the School, was continued, and similar committees were set up in the other schools and colleges of the University.

The Rules of 1850 provided that "the Faculty shall annually appoint one of their number Secretary." This rule was observed literally for a number of years, but on March 28, 1865, the Regents received a communication from the medical faculty asking the appointment of Douglass as dean and secretary with additional salary. An appropriation of $200 was made for this purpose, but no official appointment was made, since that was probably considered to be a faculty matter.

His successor, Dr. Abram Sager, likewise held the two positions from 1868 to 1875, when he resigned. It is probable that Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer, who followed as Dean, also acted as secretary, but as the faculty minutes for 1875 to 1878 are missing, this cannot be verified. These minutes were either lost or destroyed in the fire of 1911, which actually damaged the book of minutes starting in 1878.

Elective secretaries, 1850-78: M. Gunn, 1850-51; J. A. Allen, 1851-53; A. Sager, 1853-55, 1861-62, 1868-75; C. L. Ford, 1855-57; A. B. Palmer, 1857-59, 1862-64, 1875-78; S. Denton, 1859-60; S. H. Douglass, 1860-61, 1865-68; S. G. Armor, 1864-65.

A revision of the bylaws, adopted in 1880, and subsequently revised in 1883, allowed the faculty to fill the position of secretary with one of the assistants to the professors. Since they received a salary, appropriated by the Board, they became actual University appointees. Appointive secretaries, 1878-1940: L. G. North, 1878-79; G. B. Ayres, 1879-80; P. E. Nagle, 1880-81; C. F. Dight, 1881-83; C. F. Chadbourne, 1883-84; G. A. Hendricks, 1884-85; W. A. Campbell, 1885-97; G. C. Huber, 1897-1911; C. W. Edmunds,* 1911-19; R. E. McCotter, 1919-29; J. L. Garvey, 1929-30; A. C. Curtis, 1931-35; H. M. Pollard, 1935-40.

Buildings. — The report of Dr. Zina Pitcher, establishing the Medical Department of the University, was presented to the Board of Regents on January 19, 1848. Among other recommendations, it proposed the "erection of a Laboratory which by the expenditure of $3,000 in addition to the material on hand can be completed so as to furnish all the room required for the Medical Department for many years to come" (R.P., 1837-64, p. 392). The Board directed the building committee to procure a plan for a laboratory to be submitted for approval to the executive committee which was to select a site for the building. The executive committee appropriated $3,000 for its erection and selected a site on the east side of the campus. When the Medical Department opened its doors to the first students the building cost was $8,981. It was not until two years later that appropriations were made to complete the exterior of the building, bringing the total cost to $9,991.84.

During the session of 1852-53, there were 167 medical students registered. The inevitable crowding of "the narrow and ill ventilated rooms" used for dissection led the faculty, in March, 1853, to recommend to the Regents that a fee of three dollars be charged for the course in practical anatomy and that the attic be fitted up for dissecting purposes. In October, 1854, a committee of the faculty appeared before the Board and presented a plan for "certain alterations in the Medical College Building for the purpose of accommodating classes in dissections, and of providing apartments for the private researches of the Professors" (R.P., 1837-64, p. 575). These alterations were probably made in the spring of 1855, since the sketch of the campus made by J. F. Cropsey in the summer or fall of that year shows the glass dome over the new dissecting room.

The original Medical Building was ninety-two feet in length, forty-two feet in width, and three stories high. The amphitheater had a seating capacity for 222 students. By 1860 the number of students had increased to 242, and by 1863 to 350. Because of the large number of students the Regents considered the question of raising the roof to provide extra space, but this was not deemed to be expedient. Another suggestion was to separate the classes into two divisions, the professors repeating their lectures. The report of the Board of Regents in September, 1863, pointed out that the Medical Building must be enlarged or its door closed to many students. In his address to the new Board, at its first meeting in January, 1864, President Erastus O. Haven stated that the "greatest immediate necessity" was a new or enlarged building for the Medical Department. The finances of the University at this time were too low to meet the expense of putting up the desired addition, but on February 17, 1864, the Board authorized such construction as soon as $10,000 had been provided from sources other than the treasury of the University. A committee was appointed to take such steps as would be expedient to raise the sum from the citizens of Ann Arbor. Noteworthy is the fact that Dr. Douglass was appointed to this committee and that the next day he introduced to the Board a committee of the citizens of Ann Arbor, who indicated that the sum of $10,000 would be raised by subscription, with the expectation that this money would be repaid as soon as the legislature approved a general tax or a bond issue for that purpose. The money was soon subscribed, and on March 29, 1864, the Board let a contract for $20,615 for the addition to the Medical Building and appointed Dr. Douglass to superintend the work. The legislature, a year later, legalized the bond issue by the city of Ann Arbor.

The addition to the Medical Building was sixty feet square and four stories high, with two large lecture rooms or amphitheaters, each containing comfortable bench seats for about six hundred persons. The top floor provided a new and enlarged dissecting room. The addition came very opportunely, since the number of students in 1864-65 rose to 414. Dr. Moses Gunn in 1866-67 delivered his last lectures in surgery to 525 students, probably the largest medical class in this country up to that time.

As long as the method of instruction was by lectures and recitations, the enlarged old Medical Building served its purpose. But by 1886 it was apparent that new rooms and more space were required for the rapidly developing sciences. The legislature was requested to provide funds for the erection of new laboratories. It responded, in 1887, by the grant of $35,000, which obviously was insufficient to meet all the demands for space. Of this appropriation, the sum of $30,000 was allotted for the construction of a new building to house the Department of Physics and the newly created Hygienic Laboratory. This building was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1888. In the meantime, the Regents authorized the erection of an anatomical laboratory, which was occupied in 1887. This building was used as a laboratory until 1903, when it was turned over to the Buildings and Grounds service. The removal of anatomy from the old Medical Building allowed space for the Physiological Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Henry Sewall. At the same time, space was provided for histology and, a little later, for pharmacology.

All this change, however, was only temporary. The full impact of the advances in medical sciences was felt in the nineties, and enlarged and better equipped laboratories were needed. In 1901 construction was started on the West Medical Building. This was completed in 1903 at a cost of approximately $137,000 and provided space for hygiene, bacteriology, physiological chemistry, anatomy, histology, and pathology. Physiology and pharmacology were taught in the old building until, with the construction of the Chemistry Building, space was made available in the old Chemical Laboratory, which was fitted up for them in 1909.

In 1923 construction of the East Medical Building was begun, and in 1925 physiology moved into its new quarters. In 1926 anatomy, histology, bacteriology, and the Pasteur Institute occupied quarters in this building, which was erected at a cost of $858,283. The West Medical Building provided expanded space for hygiene, physiological chemistry, and pathology.

The Curriculum. — The course of study as given at the time of the opening of the Department of Medicine and Surgery consisted of four lectures daily, or twenty lectures or recitations a week, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. Saturday was reserved for the reading of theses and for clinical instruction.

Each of the five professors gave four hours of instruction a week. Dr. Allen presented materia medica; Dr. Douglass, chemistry; Dr. Denton, theory and practice; Dr. Gunn, anatomy; and Dr. Sager, obstetrics. In the first report it was stated that "quite a number of clinical lectures" were also given, and that sixty-four students entered their names among the dissecting classes.

The second Announcement, for 1851-52, mentions surgical operations performed before the class and states also that "during the past term numerous patients availed themselves of this privilege." While gratified by this demand on the part of the then small population in and about Ann Arbor, the faculty could not refrain from making adverse comments on clinical teaching as a "hasty walk through the wards of a hospital" and emphasized that "Clinical Instruction … is far better imparted in the walks of private practice … than can be done even in the best regulated hospital." This view was repeated in subsequent announcements, but was eliminated in that of 1856-57, the reason doubtless being that by that time the number of medical and surgical cases presenting themselves for treatment had increased, and the desirability of a hospital was perhaps recognized.

From 1857 to 1859, Dr. Zina Pitcher conducted a summer clinical course in the hospitals of Detroit. A surgical clinic was held by Dr. Gunn, in Ann Arbor, in 1858-59, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. These two days continued to be used for medical and surgical clinics until 1884 when clinics became an everyday routine (see Part V: University Hospital).

A striking feature of the program in 1850-51 was the requirement compelling the student to attend the same lectures again in the second year. This practice continued when the course was extended to nine months and even when it was lengthened to three years. Thus, the medical Announcement of 1889-90 stated "that attendance upon … lectures on the same subject a second time … is much more interesting … and profitable than the first; and hence they require students to attend lectures on all the leading subjects more than once." With the inauguration of the four-year course in 1890-91, this custom came to an end.

One of the requirements for graduation, as laid down in the Rules adopted by the Regents in 1850, was that the student "shall exhibit evidence of having pursued the study of Medicine and Surgery for three years, with some respectable practitioner of Medicine." This was interpreted as including two full courses of lectures. It was the accepted practice of that time for a student to serve as an apprentice with a physician, known as a preceptor. In the medical Announcement from 1877 to 1890, the preceptors' lists show that the role of the preceptor was diminishing with the passage of time, for members of the faculty were frequently named as preceptors. The formality of this requirement ceased with the organization of the four-year course.

In 1850 each candidate for graduation was required to write an original thesis which was to be read and defended before the class. These theses or essays were bound and duly deposited with the faculty. A thousand of them, more or less, now repose in the Michigan Historical Collections of the University. According to the Announcement of 1852-53 and that of 1875-76, the thesis could be written in English, German, French, or Latin. With the nine months' course, effective October 1, 1877, and the prominence given to written examinations, the final thesis ceased to be required.

The Rules of 1850 make no mention of practical anatomy as a requirement for the M.D. degree. This may have been an omission to allay public feeling, or it may have been caused by the difficulty of securing enough subjects for dissection. In the first Announcement of the Department, 1850-51, it is stated that "arrangements have been made by which an ample supply of materiel for the department of anatomy has been secured." It was not until 1852-53 that the student, as a requirement for graduation, "must have been engaged in the study of Practical Anatomy." It thus became the first required laboratory course in the Medical Department. Two dissections were required in the first or second year, and these called for twenty to twenty-four weeks of daily laboratory work. After a few years all the work was placed in the first year. In 1941 a total of 433 hours were required in gross, applied, and topographical anatomy.

As already indicated, beginning with 1850 chemistry was a part of the didactic course. Optional laboratory work was offered early, but it was not until the Chemical Laboratory was built that the work was developed. Thus, in the medical Announcement of 1858-59, for the first time a course in Practical Chemistry was offered. This course covered qualitative analysis, urine analysis, and toxicology. When the laboratory was enlarged it became possible to instruct all medical students. Hence, in 1865-66, the requirements for graduation stated that the student "must have been engaged in the study of Practical Anatomy and Practical Chemistry." Thus, practical chemistry became the second required laboratory course.

This course as given in 1875-76 required ten to sixteen weeks of afternoon work. In 1881-82, both Qualitative Chemistry and Urine Analysis called for six weeks of afternoon work. In 1883-84 and thereafter, each course required twelve weeks. They became the second and third required laboratory courses. With the raising of the entrance requirements in 1909 to sixty hours of collegiate work, including general, organic, and qualitative chemistry, as well as physics, these subjects ceased to be a part of the medical curriculum. Chemistry had been taught in the Medical Department for fifty-nine years.

The beginning of histology may be said to go back to 1869, when Dr. Ford was given the additional title of Instructor in Microscopy. It is known that Ford gave demonstrations of histological structures. The recognition of the importance of the subject led to the establishment, in 1877, of the Physiological Laboratory, which in 1881 was renamed the Histological Laboratory. The practical course consisting of "fifteen lessons of afternoon work" was still elective in 1880-81, but became required in the following year, as a part of the new three-year schedule. It, therefore, became the fourth required laboratory course. Under the four-year curriculum, the laboratory work was extended to six weeks and in 1900-1901 to nine weeks. Subsequently, the laboratory work was greatly enlarged by the addition of embryology and neuroanatomy, so that by 1941, a total of 275 hours was required for graduation. Including lectures, the aggregate of hours amounted to 371.

With the appointment of Dr. Sewall in 1882, the lecture course in physiology became a required subject. An optional course in modern laboratory methods was offered by him in 1883. His successors also offered elective laboratory work. With increased facilities and space, provided in 1904, laboratory instruction became required of all medical students. The course called for daily afternoon work for eight weeks, requiring twelve hours weekly in the second semester. The lectures and laboratory work, in 1941, totaled 271 hours.

Modern pathology had its beginning in the Medical Department when Dr. Heneage Gibbes entered upon his service in January, 1888. The lecture course was supplemented by an optional course, in practical pathology, open to senior students. The latter course became a required study for juniors when the four-year course went into effect in 1890.

A special course in the Pathological Laboratory, of twelve to fifteen weeks' duration, was listed from 1885-88, given, presumably, by Dr. Herdman. In addition to Practical Pathology a course in Practical Bacteriology was offered in 1889-90, at which time the department was housed in the basement of the Anatomical Building. Gibbes, as a member of the British Cholera Commission of 1885, had had some experience with the cultivation and staining of bacteria, but he had very little faith in their importance. The course was offered once again, in 1891-92, but it had no attraction owing to the extended course in bacteriology given in the Hygienic Laboratory.

In 1892 the Pathology Laboratory was moved to the recently vacated Homeopathic Hospital Building, where it remained until 1903. In 1895, the Department of Pathology was merged with the Department of Medicine. Dr. George Dock gave the lectures, and the laboratory work was assigned to Dr. A. S. Warthin, as Instructor in Pathology. With characteristic energy and enthusiasm he developed the work of the department. At the same time he himself rose rapidly in rank, becoming Professor of Pathology in 1903, which position he held until his death in 1931.

At first the laboratory work in pathology required daily afternoon work over a period of five weeks. In 1898 it was lengthened to eight weeks. In 1903 the laboratory was moved to its present quarters in the West Medical Building and the work continued to be given to the juniors until 1912, when it became a sophomore course. A total of 352 hours in lectures and laboratory was required in 1941.

The medical Announcement for three years, from 1885-87, listed a course of ten lectures on the Study of Bacteria. However, the first laboratory course in bacteriology was started in January, 1889, in the then new Hygienic Laboratory. It consisted of daily afternoon work for a twelve-week period. At first, it was optional for literary and medical students, but with the establishment of the four-year course in 1890, it became a required sophomore study. Though described in the text of the medical Announcement for 1889-91 as a course in bacteriology, in the schedule of studies it was listed first as Etiology and then for two years as Practical Hygiene. It finally appeared, in 1892-93, under its real name, Bacteriology. Actually, instruction in laboratory bacteriology began not, as sometimes stated, in 1892 but in 1889.

The lecture course in general bacteriology was given four times weekly throughout a semester from 1890 to 1938, when it ceased to be a requirement for medical students. The length of the course has varied from eight to sixteen weeks and has required from 160 to 320 hours.

The laboratory course in electrotherapeutics, which was optional under the three-year curriculum, became required when the four-year curriculum was adopted. It was taken by the second-year class, three hours daily for six weeks. In 1903 it was combined with the demonstration course and given in the third year. For two years after the death of Dr. Herdman in 1907 it was listed as an optional course and then was eliminated. At the same time "Electrotherapeutics" was dropped from the title of the chair held by Dr. Herdman since 1899.

The appointment of Dr. J. J. Abel marked the beginning of the Pharmacology Laboratory. Unfortunately, the space allotted for his work was limited. His successor, Dr. A. R. Cushny, established the Pharmacological Laboratory in two rooms in the old Medical Building in 1894 and gave the first course in practical pharmacology. This course was open to the third-year class as an elective and required four afternoons each week for a period of six weeks. The removal of histology from the building in 1903 provided additional space so that in the following year the laboratory work in pharmacology became a required eight-week course for the second-year class. In 1910, the department obtained better quarters when it moved to the old Chemical Laboratory. This space was doubled in 1925, when the Department of Physiology was transferred to the East Medical Building. The total of hours, lectures, and laboratory required in pharmacology, materia medica, and therapeutics in 1941 amounted to 192 hours.

The four-year curriculum was characterized by the separation of the preclinical and clinical courses. The first two years were devoted to lectures and laboratory work in the scientific subjects, and the last two years were given to clinical instruction. The demonstration courses in the third year, introduced into the curriculum in 1892, have in a certain sense carried on the idea of laboratory instruction. The consideration of these courses belongs, however, under the section dealing with the development of the Hospital.

The elective system in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts came into full operation in 1878, when it was extended to sophomores and juniors. One result of this new departure was the opening of a large number of courses to election by the students. Moreover, the number of elective courses increased from year to year. Courses such as physics, general and organic chemistry, and qualitative analysis, which were required studies in the Medical Department, could be elected by the prospective medical student. A little later, such a student was offered courses in hygiene and physiology as well as lectures and laboratory work in bacteriology, histology, and physiological chemistry. The student electing and completing these courses received full credit upon entering the Medical Department, thereby shortening his medical course by a year or more.

With the adoption of the four-year medical course it became evident that some formal control and recognition should be given to this method of meeting the requirements for graduation in the two departments. In 1892 a combined course was established, and the student was asked to register in the Department of Medicine and Surgery at the close of his third year in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. The student thus had a double registration in order to meet the time requirement of four years in the Medical Department. This combined course was the first of its kind in the University, and for that matter, the first in the country.

At first all required courses for the first two years in the Medical Department, with the exception of anatomy, were listed as electives in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Later, although anatomy also became an elective, regional and surgical anatomy, electrotherapeutics, and pathology did not. The student taking the combined course received the bachelor of science degree in four years and the degree of doctor of medicine two years later.

The combined course was also open to the candidate for a bachelor of arts degree, and the two degrees could be earned in six years. Thus, in the medical Announcement of 1902-3, it was stated that "a student who has completed sixty hours of work in the Literary Department is permitted to enter the Medical Department, and when he has obtained sixty more hours of credit in those subjects which are accepted by the Literary Department, he can obtain the degree A.B."

This held true until 1908, when an important change was made. The bachelor of science and doctor of medicine degrees were awarded, as before, upon the completion of six years of study. But the candidate for a bachelor of arts degree was required to have ninety or more hours of credit before registering in the Medical Department. Upon completion of the first year in medicine he was recommended for the bachelor of arts degree. The combined course for the two degrees, bachelor of arts and doctor of medicine, henceforth required seven years.

Candidates for the bachelor of science and doctor of medicine degrees were eligible for double registration upon the completion of sixty hours of credit and could obtain the two degrees in six years. In 1914 the candidate for these two degrees was required to have seventy-five hours of credit before enrolling in the Medical Department. This meant that the combined course covered six years and one or two summer sessions. The degree was designated as bachelor of science in medicine.

The combined course of bachelor of science in medicine and doctor of medicine virtually ceased in 1931, when the admission requirements to the Medical School were raised from seventy to ninety hours. The student, therefore, was obliged to have ninety hours in order to enter upon the combined course. Upon the completion of the work of the freshman year he received the bachelor of arts or, at his option, the bachelor of science degree.

Those desiring to enter upon a combined course were required to have a uniform record of good scholarship. In 1921 this was expressed in terms of points. The applicant for the combined course was expected to have earned at least one and one-third times as many points as hours. In 1930 this requirement was raised to one and one-half points; and in 1937 to one and three-fourths points. In 1940, with the new grading system, this became two and three-fourths points.

A combined course in pharmacy and medicine leading to the degrees of bachelor of science in pharmacy and doctor of medicine was started in 1925, but was discontinued in 1931. The candidate was required to have ninety-six hours of credit before enrolling in the combined course. Upon completion of the first two years of the medical curriculum he was given the degree of bachelor of science in pharmacy.

The Fees. — The Organic Act of 1837 specified that "the fee of admission to the University shall never exceed ten dollars; and it shall be open to all persons resident in this state … without charge of tuition …, and to all others under such restriction and regulations as said regents shall prescribe." Acting under this provision the Regents, in the Rules of 1850, required that every student entering the Medical Department pay ten dollars as an initiation fee. In the Announcement of the first session of the department this fee was designated as a matriculation fee. No other fee was exacted of the student and no distinction was made between Michigan residents and nonresidents.

Since the matriculation fee was paid but once, it follows that the expense to the student taking the two-year course was but five dollars a year. By contrast, the fees prevailing in other medical colleges which were essentially proprietary ranged from sixty-five dollars to one hundred twenty-five dollars a term, the income being divided among the professors. At Michigan, however, the medical professors from 1850 to 1869 received salaries of one thousand dollars each, paid by the University out of its income. The one exception to the foregoing statement was Dr. Douglass, who taught students of the Literary Department as well as those of the Medical Department, and for the double duty he received a salary of fifteen hundred dollars.

The matriculation fee for Michigan residents has always been ten dollars. In the case of nonresident students it has changed first to twenty dollars and then to twenty-five dollars. The Announcement of 1852-53 required each student to make a deposit of one dollar to cover possible damages, the balance to be returned to him at the close of the term. This practice continued until 1862. In 1852 the fee for a diploma, which at that time was printed in English, was fixed at two dollars; in 1877 it was raised to ten dollars, where it remained until 1936. In 1878, at the request of the medical students, the diploma was printed in Latin.

A moderate but new source of income was instituted in 1858 with the incidental or annual fee of five dollars. This was required of all medical students. In 1866 it was increased to ten dollars. In 1874 this fee was again increased, but this time a distinction was made between Michigan residents and nonresidents: the former paid fifteen and the latter twenty dollars. From that time the annual fee increased and a differential of ten dollars was maintained for many years.

In addition to the annual fees, the student, as the practical work developed, was called upon to pay laboratory fees, which eventually became considerable. At the same time the general expenses of the University increased. Accordingly, in 1916 the plan was developed of combining annual and all laboratory fees in one sum, which for Michigan students was set at one hundred dollars and for nonresidents at one hundred twenty dollars. In 1933 the annual fee was replaced by semester fees.

In 1936 the matriculation and diploma fees were absorbed in the semester fees, which for Michigan residents amounted to one hundred ten dollars, and for nonresidents, to one hundred seventy-five dollars, payable each semester. In 1940 the semester fees became one hundred twenty-five dollars for Michigan residents and two hundred dollars for nonresidents.

The Term. — At the time of the opening of the Medical Department in 1850, there was probably no medical college in the country which had a term exceeding four months in length. The Regents, having under consideration the question of a Medical Department, in January, 1847, recommended that the term of lectures be six months. In July, 1848, a committee was appointed to report on the prerequisites for admission to the Medical Department. This committee consisted of Dr. Zina Pitcher, as chairman, two additional Regents, Dr. Abram Sager, and Dr. Silas H. Douglass. In the committee's report of January, 1849, it was recommended among other things that "the course of Lectures and Recitations … shall occupy one entire year, to be divided into three terms, namely, one of fifteen weeks, one of fourteen weeks, and one of eleven weeks" (R.P., 1837-64, p. 417). This would correspond to the forty-week session of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

In the meantime considerable opposition arose concerning the proposed long term, and Dr. Pitcher was obliged to yield. The Rules presented and adopted in July, 1850, provided that "the Course of Study … shall commence the first Wednesday in October and continue until the first Wednesday in April" (R.P., 1837-64, p. 469).

For some reason the Announcement of the Medical Department for the first three years gave the end of the term as the "third Wednesday in April," probably to end with the spring vacation in the Literary Department. Actually, the first two commencement exercises were held on April 21, 1852. During the first year of President Henry P. Tappan's administration the exercises were also held in April.

As early as 1857 the medical faculty asked that the term be extended to nine months, but this request was tabled, and a year later the Board decided that the change was not expedient. In 1876 the Regents' committee presented a report recommending a full nine months' course beginning in October, 1877, and this was adopted.

In the Announcement of the Medical Department for 1877-78, full prominence was given to the extension of the course to nine months. It was also stated that students entering for the term of 1877-78 would be provided with a graded course of instruction covering three college years. This three-year course was clearly optional, since the requirement for graduation was "at least two full courses."

The optional three-year course paved the way for the next step, which was taken in 1879 and which provided for a full three-year graded course to be required of all students after October 1, 1880. Improved hospital facilities were provided, and laboratory work in anatomy, qualitative and physiological chemistry, and histology was required.

The next and final step was taken in 1887, when the faculty requested that the course be extended to four years of nine months each. The Board considered the request, presented by Dr. Palmer and Dr. Herdman, but it was temporarily tabled. The death of Dr. Palmer, in December, 1887, and the subsequent agitation about the removal of the department to Detroit, delayed action on the recommendation. However, in June, 1889, the Board acted, requiring "all students who enter [the Medical] Department after July 1, 1890, … to pass four years of professional study before graduation" (R.P., 1886-91, p. 323). Ford had succeeded Palmer as Dean, but the work of reorganization devolved upon Dr. Vaughan. In June, 1890, the faculty presented a plan for a four-year graded curriculum which was adopted by the Board. In June, 1891, Dr. Ford resigned the deanship. He was the last of the deans to be elected by the medical faculty.

Admission. — The committee appointed to frame regulations for the organization of the Medical Department provided the following entrance requirements in their report in 1849:

Every candidate for admission shall present satisfactory evidence of good moral character; shall pass an examination satisfactory to the Faculty in English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, and Natural Philosophy, and be possessed of such knowledge of the Ancient Languages as will enable him to read and write prescriptions with facility.

(R.P., 1837-64, p. 417.)

In the final Rules as adopted on July 17, 1850, the language follows that given in the first Announcement of the Medical Department, for 1850-51, which evidently was published somewhat earlier. According to the Announcement:

Every candidate for admission shall present to the Faculty satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and also of such literary attainments as have been recommended by the National Medical Association, viz: — "A good English education, the knowledge of Natural Philosophy, the Elementary Mathematical Sciences, and such an acquaintance with the Latin and Greek languages as will enable the student to appreciate the technical language of medicine, and read and write prescriptions."

(Primary Announcement of the Course of Lectures in the Medical Department …, 1850-51, p. 8.)

In order not to frighten away prospective applicants the Rules provided that "these literary requirements shall not be insisted upon for the first two years, until the student becomes a candidate for the degree of M.D." This latter provision was stretched somewhat, for in the third to the ninth Announcement the rule regarding admission stated that "each candidate for admission … must be provided with satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and, if a candidate for graduation, also of such literary attainments as have been recommended by the National Medical Association. …" Under this requirement any person "of good moral character" could enroll in the Medical Department for at least a year, and then if he could not qualify for further study toward the degree he was free to go to another college or he could cease the study of medicine altogether. That this was actually the case for many years is seen in the great disproportion between the number of students enrolled and the number of graduates. As early as 1852, in connection with the request to have the graduation fee lowered from five to two dollars, the awareness of the faculty in this matter is indicated in its report by the statement "that the tendency will be to convert this College into a merely Preparatory School for students who wish to graduate in other Colleges." Similarly, the request of the faculty, in 1857, for an extension of the course from six to nine months may have been actuated by the fact that students upon completing the first year's work in March could enroll in some other college and even receive a medical degree a few months later.

In the Announcement of 1861-62 the admission requirements were slightly modified to read:

Every candidate for admission shall exhibit to the Faculty satisfactory evidence of a good moral and intellectual character, a good English education, including a proper knowledge of the English language, and a respectable acquaintance with its literature, and with the art of composition; a fair knowledge of the Natural Sciences, and at least, of the more elementary Mathematics, including the chief elements of Algebra and Geometry, and such a knowledge of the Latin language as will enable him to read current prescriptions, and appreciate the technical language of the Natural Sciences, and of Medicine.

This requirement did not call for an oral or written examination. As a matter of fact no medical college in the country, then nor for many years afterward, required an examination for admission. The requirement continued in force until 1874.

The question of requiring examinations of candidates for admission to the professional schools, Law and Medicine, came up in 1872, and the Regents directed "the Professor … [to] make such inquiries of the applicants …, as will enable them to report understandingly upon the actual extent of preliminary education possessed by such applicants." The result of that inquiry is unknown, but, in June, 1873, the State Medical Society, through a committee, conferred with the Board, and the matter "was referred to the Committee on the Medical Department, together with the medical faculty."

After lengthy discussions the admission requirements were strengthened in October, 1874, and presumably included written examinations. The medical faculty in their annual report for that year reported a "considerable increase of numbers notwithstanding the rejection, for deficiency in preliminary preparation, of a number of applicants." The following year the report of the faculty indicated "more than a dozen rejections." President Angell, in his report for 1874-75, stated that "an examination for admission was held. Though the requirements were very slight, it was found necessary to reject some of the applicants, whose ignorance was profound." He went on to express his belief "that no other Medical school in the Union yet holds an examination for admission." Under the circumstances the medical faculty could justly claim this to be a "pioneer movement in Preliminary Examinations in American Medical Colleges."

The requirements for admission, as given in the medical Announcement for 1875-76, were formulated by the committee referred to, and as such were quite different from those of the preceding twenty-five years. For the first time diplomas or certificates of graduation from colleges, academies, and high schools were officially recognized. Moreover, the examinations of those not provided with such credentials were to be in writing. Thus, the requirement states that, in addition to being eighteen years of age and of good moral character, "unless already a matriculant of the University or a graduate of some respectable college, academy or high school" every candidate was to take an examination in writing, which was to "cover the ordinary branches of an English education." Until 1889 the examinations were written, but with the announcement of the four-year course in that year, although required, they no longer had to be taken "in writing." In 1875 Latin ceased to be required, but in 1892, two years after the extension of the course to four years, Latin became a required subject, and it continued to be such until 1936.

A change in the admission requirements was announced in 1878 which may have lowered the standard of 1875. Thus, "graduates or advanced members of some academy or high school" were exempted from taking the examination. Apparently, a full academy or high-school course was not considered necessary; however, in 1889, this was changed to "graduates of literary colleges of good standing, graduates of the schools approved as diploma schools in the Literary Department and of other High Schools of equal standing."

The statement concerning the written examination of 1878 was more explicit than that of 1875 as to subjects required: "Arithmetic, Geography, History, Forms of Government and current events" and the candidate was "particularly … required to correct imperfect English." These subjects were amplified in 1885 and the first science, elementary zoology, was added.

The requirements of 1892, eight in number, were more exacting than at any previous time. Emphasis was placed on subjects considered essential to the proper study of medicine rather than upon the possession of a diploma.

The minimum age limit for admission, which in 1875 had been set at eighteen years, was lowered to seventeen in 1893, doubtless to meet the twenty-one years' requirement for graduation. It ceased to be mentioned after 1900.

In 1897, instead of a classical or Latin diploma, a formal certificate was required of the high-school principal showing that the candidate had passed in certain prescribed subjects. The applicant was exempted from examination only in those prescribed subjects covered by the certificate. He could take the examination in the uncertified subjects, or he could be accepted with a condition, which had to be removed within a year. No student was permitted to have more than two entrance conditions.

In 1903 graduation from an approved high school or its equivalent became mandatory. For unconditional acceptance, the applicant was expected to have had two years of collegiate instruction in addition to his high-school course. High-school certificates continued to be used until 1909, when the applicant for admission was required to have the equivalent of sixty hours of credit (two years of collegiate work), and also to have credentials showing "an acquaintance with Latin and a fair reading knowledge of either German or French, and a year of collegiate work in Biology (Zoology and Botany), Chemistry and Physics."

The requirements of 1909 practically called for two years of collegiate work, but it was not until 1912 that the definite announcement was made that "no student will be admitted to the school who has not completed two years of college work, in addition to graduating from an approved High School, or its equivalent." The applicant was, moreover, required to have credit for the five subjects prescribed in 1900 and also to have had organic chemistry. The subject requirements have undergone little change since 1909.

Graduation. — The Rules of 1850 prescribed the conditions required for graduation. The first was that "candidates for graduation shall announce themselves as such at the close of their first course or the commencement of their second, and shall be examined upon the subjects of Anatomy, Physiology, Materia Medica, and Chemistry." This was known as the primary examination. They were further required "to write a thesis upon some Medical or Surgical subject, once in two weeks, which thesis shall be read and defended before the class, on such Saturdays as may be appointed by the Faculty."

In the Primary Announcement of the Course of Lectures (p. 9) it was further specified:

In order that any student may be recommended for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine, he shall exhibit evidence of having pursued the study of Medicine and Surgery for the term of three years, with some respectable practitioner of Medicine; (including lecture terms;) must have attended two full courses of lectures, the last of which must have been in the Medical Department of the University of Michigan — must be twenty-one years of age — must have submitted to the Faculty an original Thesis, in his own handwriting, on some Medical subject; and have passed an examination, held at the close of the term, satisfactory to the Faculty.

It was also ruled:

An allowance of one year … may be made in favor of graduates of the Department of Science and Arts, and of other respectable Literary Colleges, and respectable practitioners, of four years' standing, may be admitted to the degree of M.D., by attendance upon one Course of Lectures — on passing the requisite examination.

(Rules, 1850, p. 9.)

The provision in the Rules granting exemption of one year to college graduates continued in force until 1858, when it was changed to "six months," and this was continued until 1880, at which time the extension of the course to three years of nine months each went into effect. Thereafter, the matriculant received credit for whatever medical courses he may have taken as a literary student.

The Rules of 1850, while stating that "all degrees shall be conferred by the Board of Regents, upon the recommendation of the Medical Faculty," contain no mention of a diploma. However, the minutes of the faculty, November 23, 1850, show that Dr. Denton and Dr. Sager were appointed as a committee to draft a form for a diploma. This draft, in English, was adopted and sent to the Board, which, in January, 1851, entrusted to Dr. Zina Pitcher the duty of procuring the engraving of the diploma and "to make such alterations in the style and embellishment thereof as he may find proper." The cost of engraving the diploma and making twenty impressions was $250.

In 1875 Dean Sager, reporting on the complaint of the students that the old diploma plate was worn out, stated "that the vignette designed to represent the Medical College and surroundings … conveys a very imperfect and inadequate idea" of their present condition. The students asked for a new plate and new diplomas. The Board decided not to procure a new plate, but recommended that an appropriation of not more than $200 be made to represent on the plate the University buildings of that time. This recommendation was adopted, but a month later the action was rescinded, and the Board directed that the representation of the Medical Building on the plate be stricken out.

The Board, in 1878, received a petition from the medical students asking that the diplomas thereafter be printed in Latin and offering to give $150 toward procuring a new plate. This request was granted provided that the cost to the University did not exceed fifty dollars. The sum of ninety dollars was received from medical students as part payment toward a diploma plate.

In the Announcement of 1852 a new requirement for graduation was added which stated that the candidate "must have been engaged in the study of Practical Anatomy." A further slight change made at this time was that the thesis had to be "composed and written by [the candidate] himself." In 1865, as a result of the enlargement of the Chemical Laboratory, the above requirement was made to read "must have been engaged in the study of Practical Anatomy and Practical Chemistry."

With the above slight additions, the requirements were the same in 1875. It was stated, however, that the candidate was required during the course, "to submit to written examinations by each Professor." The final thesis could be written in English, German, French, or Latin.

In 1877 the transition from the old requirements began as a result of the extension of the course from six to nine months and the initiation of the optional three-year course, which went into effect in 1880. In the Announcement for that year it was stated that in addition to the examination required, the candidate "may be called upon to write upon some theme … required to be defended before the class. In consequence of the prominence given to written examinations through the Course, no graduating thesis will be required." The old phrase "of having studied medicine three years" is retained but that of "with some respectable practitioner of medicine" is deleted, although the names of the preceptors continued to be published until as late as 1890.

In 1851 the faculty decided upon a ballot system. Each professor was given five votes, making a total of twenty-five possible votes. The passing grade was fixed as sixteen votes, 64 per cent. Of the seven candidates who presented themselves, one received six votes and accordingly was rejected. The remaining six candidates received from sixteen to twenty-five votes. The one to receive the unanimous vote was Dr. Robert C. Kedzie, who, later, as professor of chemistry in the Michigan Agricultural College, became very prominent in sanitary work.

In later years each professor was given seven votes. The full vote of six professors in 1878 was therefore forty-two, and the passing grade was twenty-six votes, 62 per cent. The candidates received from twenty to thirty-seven votes; the latter, or highest, vote was received by Dr. Victor C. Vaughan.

In 1880 the candidate who received the highest number of votes, fifty-one out of a possible fifty-six, and thus graduated at the head of his class was Dr. José Celso Barbosa of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the first student to come to the University from that island. One of the youngest graduates was Dr. William J. Mayo, who lacked one day of being twenty-two at the time of his graduation in 1883.

Probably with the object of developing the best possible relations with the physicians of the state, the Regents in 1878 decided to appoint annually two of the physicians to serve as examiners. They were to act with the medical faculty at the examination of candidates for graduation and were to report, jointly with the faculty, the names of such candidates as were deemed worthy for graduation. These examiners sat with the faculty and each had the usual seven votes. Their names were listed in the announcements of the department from 1880 to 1883.

Dr. William Brodie, of Detroit, and Dr. H. O. Hitchcock, of Kalamazoo, were the first examiners to be appointed. They were succeeded by Dr. A. F. Whelan, of Hillsdale, and Dr. E. P. Christian, of Wyandotte. The next and last to be appointed was Dr. W. Parmenter, of Vermontville.

The method of balloting upon candidates for graduation continued into the late eighties. With the increase in the number of laboratory and lecture courses, a card system for keeping records was devised by the secretary, and this procedure, greatly developed, has been followed ever since. It doubtless was responsible for the discard of the old procedure of balloting on each candidate.

The requirements for graduation under the four-year course, as set forth in the medical Announcement of 1890-91, were brief and explicit. The candidate, in addition to being "twenty-one years of age" and of "good moral character," requirements handed down from the beginning, "must have completed the required courses in laboratory work, … must have been engaged in the study of medicine for the period of four years, including time spent in attendance upon lectures. He must also have passed satisfactory examinations on all the studies included in the full course of instruction."

The reporting of examinations as "Passed," "Conditioned," or "Not Passed" had been the custom for some years, but the "Rules" were not published in the medical Announcement until 1892. The condition had to be removed within a year, otherwise it became "Not Passed." These rules were modified in 1903 by the addition of "Absent" and "Incomplete." The change to letters, still in use, came in 1915, when the results of examinations were reported as: A, excellent; B, good; C, fair; D, conditioned; E, not passed.

In 1931 the candidates for graduation, in addition to having completed all required work and having passed all course examinations, were required to take a comprehensive examination covering all subjects in the curriculum. This requirement has continued in force up to the present time.  In contrast to the five hundred hours of instruction by didactic lectures, required in 1850, the schedule of instruction in 1940 called for 4,294 hours of lectures, demonstration and laboratory work, and clinics.

Enrollment. — In his first report on the Medical Department, in 1848, Dr. Pitcher said "that in two years from the establishment of a Medical Department of the University there would at least fifty students matriculate annually, the

TABLE  I

Summary of Medical School Enrollment, 1850-1940

YearEnrollmentGraduates

1850-5191--

number of course constantly increasing." It must, therefore, have been a gratifying surprise to the faculty to find ninety-one matriculants when the new department began its first session. Moreover, this number was appreciably larger than that in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, which had an enrollment of sixty-four.

During the first four years the enrollment in medicine exceeded that in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. But, in the session of 1854-55, the latter took the lead and held it until 1863, when it was again outnumbered for another period of four years. In 1867-68 the two departments tied, each having 418 students. Table I gives a summary of the enrollment in the Medical Department. The first high peak, of 525 students, was reached in 1866-67, probably because of the post Civil War influx. At the time this was the highest enrollment in any medical school in the country. The second high peak, of 556 students, in 1900-1901, marks an adaptation to the high-school requirements for entrance. The third high peak, of 664, came in 1928-29, when, as yet, no limitation on numbers had been set. It was the next to the highest attendance in the medical schools of the country. The ninth decade, that of the "depression," marked the beginning of the limitation of enrollment with the object of securing the best possible clinical instruction. The number of students in 1940 was under 500.

The Rules of 1850 (p. 6) provided that

"clergymen, members of the legal profession, and graduates of other respectable medical institutions, may be permitted to attend the course of instruction as honorary members of the Medical Department." The enrollment under this provision is given in Table I in the column designated "special students." The custom apparently ended in 1866. Of the honorary members, eight were clergymen, twelve were medical graduates, and two were without designation. As the work in the laboratories developed, students not enrolled in the regular medical course applied for instruction in certain fields and were designated as "special students."

The students who enroll in any one year, obviously, do not all remain in school. Various causes contribute to the decrease in the number of students in any one class. A very important factor during the first three decades was the lack of clinical facilities, which caused students to migrate to other schools in large cities. This migration was lessened somewhat by the erection of the Pavilion Hospital on the campus in 1876; it decreased still more after 1892, when the then new Hospital was occupied, and soon ceased altogether. Another possible reason for the decrease recorded was that the student who had taken one year in medicine could go out and practice the art without having a medical diploma, since, at that period, there were no legal requirements.

Scholastic and financial difficulties, as well as illness and unfitness, have always been factors in decreasing the number of a graduating class. In general, it may be safely predicated that about one-third of those entering school in a given year do not graduate at the end of the four-year period, although some of these may return and graduate later.

In the first session of the department, in 1850-51, the class was made up largely of Michigan students. They constituted 78 per cent of the attendance, which is a larger percentage than that of any subsequent class. Seventy-one Michigan students were enrolled as against twenty from six other states. Evidently, the existence of the new medical college was as yet hardly known outside the state.

In 1855 students from other states, excluding foreign countries, made up 77 per cent of the total enrollment, an all-time high record. In the peak year of 1866, with an enrollment of 525, Michigan students numbered 120 or only 23 per cent of the total. It was not until 1921 that the Michigan residents regained the majority which they had lost seventeen years before. In that year they had 51 per cent, with 281 residents out of a total of 552 students. From that time the Michigan residents, with slight variation, have led in the enrollment. In 1939 they reached 75 per cent, almost the same as in 1850.

During the first twenty-five years, apart from Canada, which in 1864 had fifty-four students (13 per cent of the total), the enrollment from foreign countries was very limited. The records show only one each from England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Russia, and Jamaica, and two each from Hawaii and Liberia — a total of eleven entrants from nine countries. It may be assumed that the students from all but the last three countries were immigrants and that those from Hawaii were probably the sons of American missionaries.

A steady enrollment of foreign students began in 1876. Since that time there has not been a year without representation from some foreign country.

The missionaries began to send women for medical training as early as 1878, when Burma was represented. Later, Chinese and even some Japanese came under like auspices. The most significant help, however, came from the Levi Barbour Oriental Girls' Scholarships, which were established in 1917; these have served to train women from many Asiatic countries. Incalculable benefits have come from this most generous foundation.

Women Students. — With the adoption of the resolution permitting the attendance of women in 1870, in October of that year eighteen women entered the Medical Department, and one of them, Miss Amanda Sanford, of Auburn, New York, was graduated in the following March. She was the first woman to graduate from the University and from the Medical Department. (It should be stated that she was followed, within a half hour, by Miss Sarah Killgore, who received the degree of bachelor of laws.) Three months later, two women, Amelia and Mary Upjohn, were given the degree of pharmaceutical chemist. Thus, four women were graduated from the University in 1871.

In view of the applications from women for admission to the Medical Department early in 1870, the medical faculty presented a memorial to the Regents. They stated that "in their judgment the medical co-education of the sexes is at best an experiment of doubtful utility, and one not calculated to increase the dignity of man, nor the modesty of women." They suggested, however, that the faculty was "willing to give a full course of medical instruction to females, at any convenient time, and for a suitable compensation" (R.P., 1870-76, pp. 36, 37).

Three months later a special meeting of the Board was called for the express purpose of considering the education of women in the Medical Department, and Dean Palmer, in a brief report, reaffirmed the views of the faculty:

Declaring their clear conviction of the inexpediency of the co-education of the sexes … having in view not only the indelicacy of such common instruction …, but also … the difficulty of restraining improprieties of deportment, and checking insubordination, in large classes of mixed students …, [the faculty recommended] a complete course of instruction separate, and in all respects apart from that given to the other class.

(R.P., 1870-76, pp. 51-52.)

They also agreed to accept a remuneration of $500 for each course. This plan was then adopted. As a result of this action two separate courses of instruction were given and hence each professor gave eight lectures a week. In 1871-72 thirty-five women were enrolled in the department, indicating "a probable final and complete success."

The first and partial break in the rigid requirement of two separate courses occurred within a year, when Dr. Douglass asked to be relieved from the duty of repeating his lectures in chemistry to the ladies. This request was granted but with the proviso that he "so arrange his lectures … as to avoid introducing the students of both sexes into a common lecture room." Just how this was done is a matter of conjecture. It may be surmised that the women students were given seats in the preparation room where they could hear, and yet could not be seen by the male students.

In March, 1874, one of the Regents offered a resolution "that hereafter there shall be no separate lectures given to women in the Medical Department, and that the extra compensation … shall be discontinued." In the report on this resolution it was pointed out that the faculty assured the committee "of the impracticability of conducting certain lectures and experiments in the presence of mixed classes, and that any further attempt in this direction would seriously damage the Department." The committee also stated that the question of a reduction in salary was equally impracticable, and recommended that the matter be referred "to the judgment and discretion of the Medical Professors."

It was not until 1881 that the subject came up again, this time on the initiative of the faculty. They asked for discretionary power on the subject of separate lectures to the male and female students of the department. The request was granted, and from that time on the segregation of the classes practically ceased.

When it came to seating the women, then often referred to as "hen-medics," in the amphitheaters of the old Medical Building, the faculty found it desirable to bar off a section to the left of the lecturer by a broad red-painted band extending from the pit to the top row of seats. Violation of that border line by either sex was unthinkable. With the erection of the West Medical Building in 1903, the red line disappeared and the co-ed was free to take a seat wherever she wished. For many years practical anatomy was pursued by the two sexes in separate rooms.

The Announcement in 1883, regarding instruction of women, added: "And such of the lectures and demonstrations as it is thought by each member of the Faculty not desirable to be presented to the combined classes, are given separately; but in most of the lectures, in the public clinics, in the chemical laboratory, and in various other class exercises, it is found that both may with propriety be united." This statement, somewhat shortened, has been handed down through the past sixty years.

The Laboratories

Chemistry. — With the completion of the original Medical Building a limited space became available for practical instruction in chemistry. The first laboratory course in chemistry, in toxicological analysis, was given in 1854 in the Medical Building by Dr. Silas H. Douglass. The demand for this work was such that Douglass felt it desirable to provide instruction after the end of the medical term. In this he gained the support of President Tappan, who in his report in December, 1855, announced that a "summer course in Practical and Analytic Chemistry" would begin the first week in April. It may be assumed that the course was intended primarily for medical students desiring such instruction, and that it was given in 1856 and 1857. This was only a temporary expedient.

In this connection it may be well to point out that another summer course was put into effect in 1857. In that year, Dr. Zina Pitcher recommended that clinical instruction be given in one of the two hospitals in Detroit and that, in order not to conflict with the claims of analytical chemistry, it should begin in June and continue until the end of September. He was appointed Clinical Instructor and the work was given in St. Mary's Hospital, which, at that time, had an average of fifty to seventy-five patients. The course in 1857 was taken by nine students; that in 1858 had thirteen students. Dr. Pitcher resigned in the spring of 1859, and the attempt at summer instruction came to an end.

How long the summer course in chemistry continued to be given is not clear, but it probably was discontinued when the Chemical Laboratory was built. At all events these two courses were modest precursors of the summer session which came about forty years later.

The erection of a chemical laboratory had been under consideration by the Regents in the forties, but the organization of the Medical Department delayed the project. It came to the front in 1855, when President Tappan pointed out the need of a chemical laboratory. The Regents responded in May, 1856, by appropriating $2,500 for such a building, and later four additional appropriations were made, so that up to the end of June, 1857, the sum of $6,459 had been voted. President Tappan, in his report for 1856 and 1857, referred to the new analytical laboratory as "the most complete and efficient in our country." It was situated just west of the Medical Building, probably to accommodate the large number of medical students.

The laboratory was a small building, with only twenty-six tables, but to Dr. Douglass it was the realization of the dream of a decade. It was the first chemical laboratory in a state university. Within a year after its completion, realizing the need of gas in chemical work, Dr. Douglass organized the Ann Arbor Gas Company. He was permitted in June, 1858, to lay gas pipes from the street to the laboratory at his own expense and to charge students for the use of gas. Six months later, permission to use gas in the Medical Building was granted under like conditions. The title to all gas pipes laid upon the University grounds and in its buildings was acquired by the University, in 1860, by the payment of $350 to Dr. Douglass.

With a steady increase in enrollment there came an ever-increasing demand for practical instruction in chemistry. As many as seven additions or alterations were made to the laboratory, first in 1861, and later in 1866, 1868, 1874, 1880, 1889, and 1901. For years, most of those who took practical courses in "the Laboratory," as it was generally known, were medical students. Thus, in 1871-72, of the 267 students who took lectures and laboratory in chemistry, 195 or 73 per cent, were medical students. At that time there were 135 tables. In 1878 and 1879 the Chemical Laboratory had 374 students, twenty-eight of whom were from the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts and 346 from the Dental, Medical, and Pharmacy departments. After the last addition to the old building, in 1901, there were 362 tables available. The continued increase in students called for the construction of an entirely new building, with 634 tables, which was occupied in 1909 (see Part III: Department of Chemistry).

With the opening of the Medical Department, in 1850, instruction was given by five professors, each of whom taught four hours a week. Chemistry was coequal with the four medical subjects. As the Chemical Laboratory developed, emphasis was placed on practical instruction in qualitative analysis, toxicology, and physiological chemistry.

General Chemistry including physics was given by Dr. Douglass until 1877. The work was then taken over by John W. Langley, who taught it until 1889 when he resigned. His successor, Dr. Paul C. Freer, greatly developed the course. Dr. Samuel Lawrence Bigelow succeeded to the chair. The subject became an entrance requirement in 1900.

After 1889 the instruction in physics was given for medical students by an instructor in general chemistry. Thus, Dr. D. M. Lichty taught the course from 1891 to 1901. It was then given by Dr. John O. Reed, of the Department of Physics, until 1906. The subject had been a prerequisite for entrance to the Medical School since 1892.

Qualitative Chemistry was at first optional, but became required for medical students in 1866 and so continued until 1900, when it became an entrance requirement. This laboratory course at first required daily afternoon work for seven weeks and later was extended to twelve weeks.

With the appointment of Dr. A. B. Prescott as Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Lecturer on Organic Chemistry, in June, 1865, the first separate course in organic chemistry was given. He continued to lecture on this subject to medical students up to the time of his death in 1905. The course was then continued by Dr. Moses Gomberg who taught it until 1909, when it became a premedical requirement.

Physiological Chemistry. — Laboratory instruction in medical chemistry, such as urine analysis and toxicology, began very early. Such work was optional and was carried on in the old Medical Building. With the erection of the Chemical Laboratory more students availed themselves of the opportunity. The report of the Chemical Department for 1871-72 states that toxicology was taken by eighteen students and "urology" by 143 students. Thus, of the 350 students in the Medical Department, nearly one-half took the latter course, the instruction being given by Dr. P. B. Rose, a graduate of the medical class of 1862. Rose had served as an assistant in the Chemical Laboratory in 1861-63 and 1866-75.

In October, 1875, Dr. Rose was appointed Assistant Professor of Physiological Chemistry. This probably was the first use of that title in this country. Because of a laboratory defalcation Rose was suspended on December 21, 1875 (see Part I: The Douglas-Rose Controversy).

In 1877, a joint committee of the legislature made an "investigation" and concluded that Rose was innocent and asked for his restoration. The request was repeated in February, 1879, and the Board thereupon appointed him Assistant Professor of Physiological Chemistry. In June of that year he was named Assistant Professor of Physiological Chemistry and Toxicology and Lecturer on Renal Diseases.

A decision of the Supreme Court, in January, 1881, exonerated Dr. Douglas, the Director of the Chemical Laboratory, and awarded him a judgment against the University. Thereupon, Dr. Rose resigned, as of October, 1881.

The immediate result of the suspension of Dr. Rose, in December, 1875, was the appointment of Victor C. Vaughan as temporary assistant in the Chemical Laboratory. In June, 1876, he was given the permanent appointment, which he held until 1879. At the same time, having obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1876, he enrolled in the fall of that year in the Medical Department and received his M.D. degree in 1878.

In 1879 Dr. Vaughan was made Lecturer on Medical Chemistry and Assistant in the Chemistry Laboratory. In November, 1880, he became Assistant Professor of Medical Chemistry and Assistant in the Chemical Laboratory. In 1883 he was made Professor of Physiological and Pathological Chemistry and Associate Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica.

On the creation of the Hygienic Laboratory in 1887, Vaughan was given the title of Professor of Hygiene and Physiological Chemistry, and he lectured on these subjects until his resignation in 1921. Dr. Vaughan was Director of the Hygienic Laboratory from 1887 to 1909. He gave the laboratory work in physiological chemistry until 1891, when it was taken over by Frederick G. Novy, who conducted it until 1921. Dr. E. B. McKinley carried on the laboratory work for the following year, when Dr. Howard B. Lewis was appointed Professor of Physiological Chemistry. In 1935 the name of the department was changed to Biological Chemistry.

When Vaughan began to teach physiological chemistry only two poor microscopes were available. In 1876 he obtained six more, and in 1879 another lot of six was added. This was at a time when microscopical work was all but unknown. The committee on microscopes reported in June, 1882, that at that time  there were 104 microscopes in the University, and forty-two of these were reported by Dr. Vaughan.

With the 1880 addition to the Chemical Laboratory, physiological chemistry acquired a large room with forty-eight tables and a room for microscopes and microscopical examinations. A room was also provided for Dr. Vaughan. In 1903 the work was transferred to the present West Medical Building, where it is still given.

The Anatomical Laboratory. — This was actually the first laboratory on the campus. In July, 1849, a year before the Medical Department opened, the Regents appointed Dr. Moses Gunn to be Professor of Anatomy and to discharge such other duties as might be prescribed. He was then twenty-seven years old and the only candidate for the position. As his real interest was in surgery, although he lectured on anatomy, the practical work was turned over to a demonstrator.

In July, 1851, Dr. Edmund Andrews was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy and Superintendent of Grounds. Three years later he became Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Demonstrator of Human Anatomy. It may be inferred from this title that the course in practical anatomy was based to some extent on animal dissection. Andrews was capable and energetic and as Superintendent of Grounds he devised a comprehensive plan for the planting of trees on and around the campus. At that time the campus, as well as the bordering streets, was treeless. His plan called for 1,640 trees. In June, 1855, he resigned his position and went to Chicago, where he soon rose to distinction.

As early as July, 1851, the Regents had passed a resolution stating "that no anatomical subject shall be introduced into the Medical Building or brought upon the grounds of the University except through the agency of the Professor of Anatomy, and any student of the University violating this resolution shall be expelled" (R.P., 1837-64, p. 497). It may be inferred from this that during the first year medical students had attempted to act as "resurrectionists." Without doubt, during the next twenty-five years, as many stories seem to indicate, material was obtained from outside sources. It may be assumed that from the beginning an important duty of the demonstrator of anatomy was to supply material for dissection. The financial reports included in the early Regents' Proceedings, with one exception, throw no light upon the cost of such supplies. This exception perhaps entered the records inadvertently. For the session of 1861-62, the Demonstrator of Anatomy listed: "To expense of procuring 45 anatomical subjects — $1,367.46."

Students in increasing numbers elected work in practical anatomy, which, of course, they would not have done if there had been a scarcity of anatomical subjects. As a result increased space for dissection had to be provided. The anatomical law of 1875 provided relief from the difficulties of the past and assured a solution of the problem for the future. Even then the Regents, in appointing a professor of practical anatomy (1875), required that he "shall give his attention to the procuring of anatomical material." Two years later the demonstrator of anatomy was "charged with the duty of procuring the supplies of material needed for the use of the students." During the succeeding years action had to be taken frequently because of attempts to evade the law by those whose duty it was to send unclaimed bodies to the Anatomical Laboratory.

Dr. Moses Gunn, in July, 1852, was made Professor of Surgery and Lecturer on Anatomy. At the same time Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer was named Professor of Anatomy. He never served in that capacity; in 1854, after the dismissal of Dr. Jonathan A. Allen, he was given the chair of materia medica and diseases of women and children.

In 1854 Dr. Gunn relinquished his work in anatomy, but served as Professor of Surgery until he resigned in 1867 to accept a position at Rush Medical College in Chicago. When Gunn had been a student at Geneva Medical College Dr. Corydon L. Ford was the demonstrator of anatomy. The two became intimate friends, and in discussing their futures the young Gunn dreamed of the time when they would be associated in a medical college, he as professor of surgery and Ford as professor of anatomy. The dream came true in 1854, when Dr. Ford was offered and accepted the professorship of anatomy at the University of Michigan. At the same time Dr. Edmund C. Andrews was made Professor of Comparative Anatomy.

In 1860 after the death of Dr. Samuel Denton, Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and Pathology, which necessitated a change in the duties of the professors, Ford became Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. This title he held until his death in 1894, which occurred two days after he had completed his fortieth course of lectures on the campus and just when he was about to retire as Professor Emeritus. He had tendered his resignation in 1892, but at the request of the Regents he had withdrawn it. Dr. Ford's whole life was devoted to the teaching of anatomy in various medical colleges. As long as the University medical course was only of six months' duration, he was able to teach in other medical schools during the spring and summer.

Dr. James Playfair McMurrich occupied the chair of anatomy from 1894 to 1907, when he was succeeded by Dr. George L. Streeter, who served as Professor of Anatomy from 1907 to 1914. After the resignation of Dr. Streeter, the chairs of anatomy and histology were combined under the direction of Dr. G. Carl Huber, who, however, retained his active interest in histology, while Dr. Rollo E. McCotter conducted the anatomical work, as Professor of Anatomy. In 1935, Dr. Bradley M. Patten (Ph.D. Harvard '14) succeeded to the position previously held by Dr. Huber. With the discarding of the title of Director, in 1938, he became Professor of Anatomy and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy.

Physiology and Histology. — Dr. Jonathan Adams Allen, one of the original faculty of five members in the Medical Department, was appointed, in January, 1850, Professor of Pathology and Physiology. But actually he served as Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology. After he left in 1854 the medical faculty was reorganized, and Dr. Abram Sager, in addition to his duties in botany and zoology, occupied the chair of obstetrics and physiology.

Upon the death of Dr. Denton, Dr. Ford succeeded to the chair of anatomy and physiology. At that time physiology was purely a didactic subject, and the experimental method was hardly available. The natural approach to physiology was through the microscopical study of the tissues. Hence it was that in April, 1869, Professor Ford was given the additional title of Instructor in Microscopy, and the students taking the course were required to pay an additional fee of ten dollars.

In June, 1872, at the earnest request of Dr. Ford, and in order to secure a more extended course of instruction in physiology, the Regents, at the request of the medical faculty, transferred this subject to Dr. Henry S. Cheever, who, from 1872 to 1876 was Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology.

From 1873 to 1875, when Dr. Cheever was on leave of absence in Colorado, Dr. Frederic H. Gerrish was first Lecturer on Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology, and then, in 1874, Professor. He resigned his chair in 1875.

Cheever resumed his duties in 1875, but was compelled by illness to resign his position in March, 1876. Dr. Burt G. Wilder, of Cornell University, was appointed Lecturer on Physiology for the session of 1876-77.

During this year both Dr. Ford and Dean Alonzo B. Palmer pressed the need of a physiological laboratory and of a permanent professor for that subject. The Regents appealed to the legislature, which responded by an appropriation of $2,500 for 1877, and one of $1,000 for 1878.

In June, 1877, Dr. Charles H. Stowell was appointed Instructor in the Physiological Laboratory and was authorized to go to New York and examine instruments and other appliances needed. He visited Bausch and Lomb, and also Spencer at Geneva and examined their microscopes and lenses. As a result fifteen microscopes and a number of minor items were purchased at a cost of about $1,300.

In June, 1878, Dr. Ford presented a report to the Board of Regents describing the work done during the year in the Physiological Laboratory. With fifteen microscopes it was possible to give a course to six classes, each class consisting of fifteen students. A class devoted one afternoon every week for ten weeks to practical work with the microscope. It thus appears that ninety students received instruction during each ten-week period. Three courses were given, and more than 250 students received instruction during the year. Such was the beginning of actual class instruction in microscopical work in the Medical Department.

In 1880 Stowell was made Assistant Professor of Physiology and Histology. In the second semester of 1880-81, Dr. Henry Sewall began his service in physiology in the Medical School. Since Dr. Stowell was not in the new department, his title was changed to Assistant Professor of Histology and Microscopy (1881-83), Shortly thereafter, the Regents changed the name of the Physiological Laboratory to the "Histological Laboratory." In 1883 Stowell was made Professor of Histology and Microscopy, which position he held until he left the University in 1889.

The microscope had been introduced into the University as early as October, 1854, for in an addendum to the Annual Report of President Tappan, it is stated that "several fine microscopes are also in the use of the [Medical] Department." Nothing is known of these instruments, and it may be assumed that they were not of an expensive type.

In March, 1856, Professors Sager and Winchell were made a committee to contract for the construction of a suitable microscope for the University. The committee spent $300, and in December a further sum of $150 was voted to cover the balance due. In September, 1857, the committee received an additional grant of $19 for accessories. The total cost of the instrument was $469. Since this amount was charged to the account of "Natural History" it follows that this was the first microscope in the Literary Department. Undoubtedly, it was the transfer of this microscope from the Department of Botany to the Physiological Laboratory that the Regents authorized in October, 1877, with the provision that the Laboratory should furnish a suitable one in return. At all events, the report of the committee on microscopes in 1882 lists a W. and J. Grunow microscope, purchased in 1856 at a cost of $500, as being in the custody of Dr. Stowell of the Histological Laboratory. This would seem to explain the statement in Hinsdale's History of the University that the first course in histology was given in 1856.

The next record of the purchase of a microscope was in March, 1860, when the medical faculty was authorized to buy a "superior" microscope and certain anatomical preparations offered for sale by Dr. DeVille for $275. The actual amount was $228 as shown by the warrant paid on April 3. This instrument, also in the custody of Dr. Stowell, was listed as a Powell and Leland microscope of English make, and purchased "20 or 25 years ago" at a cost of $150.

A third instrument, listed about 1861 by the committee, as a J. Grunow inverted microscope, was probably acquired by the Chemical Laboratory, and thus came into the custody of Dr. Victor C. Vaughan. Of the remaining sixteen microscopes bought before 1877, two were acquired in 1872, twelve in 1875, and two in 1876. These were used in microscopical botany.

From January, 1877, to June, 1882, the University acquired eighty-five microscopes. The "Report on the Use of Microscopes in the University" (R.P., 1888, pp. 201-10) lists 104 microscopes, twenty-three of which were in the custody of Dr. Stowell (histology); forty-two in the care of Dr. Vaughan (physiological chemistry), making sixty-five (62 per cent) in the Medical Department. Of the remaining thirty-nine microscopes, which were in the Literary Department, thirty-three were used in botany, four in zoology, and two in geology.

In July, 1889, following the resignation of Dr. Stowell, the medical committee of the Board of Regents recommended that the chairs of pathology and histology be combined under Dr. Heneage Gibbes and that Dr. G. C. Huber be appointed Instructor in Histology. This recommendation was adopted, but two weeks later, the title of Dr. Gibbes was changed back to Professor of Pathology, and that of Dr. W. H. Howell, the newly appointed Lecturer in Physiology, was changed to include histology. The following year he became Professor of Physiology and Histology and held that title until he resigned.

Dr. Howell's successor was Dr. Warren P. Lombard, who was appointed in June, 1892, Professor of Physiology and Histology. To Dr. Lombard the connection of histology with physiology was purely formal, and in 1898 his title was changed to Professor of Physiology.

As mentioned above, Dr. G. C. Huber was made Instructor in Histology in 1889. After graduating from the Medical Department in 1887 he served two years as Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy. His entrance into the field of histology, in 1889, marked the beginning of a long and successful career. In 1898 he became Junior Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Histological Laboratory, which position he held until 1903, when he was made Professor of Histology and Director of the Histological Laboratory. When anatomy and histology were combined in 1914, Dr. Huber became Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Laboratories. He continued, however, to give the work in histology and embryology until his death in 1934, thus completing forty-five years of service in that field. From 1928 to 1934 he served as Dean of the Graduate School.

Dr. Bradley M. Patten became Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Laboratories in 1935. He took direct charge of the work in histology, and in this he has been ably assisted by Dr. Elizabeth C. Crosby.

Work in histology began in 1877 in what was known at that time as the Physiological Laboratory. The space which it then occupied in the old Medical Building continued to be used for that purpose until 1903, when new quarters were provided in the West Medical Building. In 1926 anatomy and histology were moved into the new East Medical Building.

Physiological Laboratory. — The designation Physiological Laboratory was in use as early as 1877, but the work was in histology and microscopy. By the spring of 1881 the medical faculty recognized the need of a chair in modern experimental physiology. Three names were submitted in answer to letters sent by Dr. Vaughan. H. Newell Martin, professor of biology at the newly established Johns Hopkins University, recommended his assistant, Dr. Henry Sewall. When the vote of the faculty was taken Dr. Sewall received a majority, and his name was sent to the Board of Regents. His first appointment was that of Lecturer on Physiology for the second semester of 1881-82. His ability, enthusiasm, and training were promptly recognized, and in June, 1882, at the age of twenty-seven, he was made Professor of Physiology.

The advent of Dr. Sewall marked a new era in the history of the Medical Department. The purely didactic method gave way to demonstrations and to the experimental approach. His meager laboratory, under the slanting side of the upper amphitheater, became the scene of active research. A number of scientific papers resulted, the most striking of which appeared in 1887 under the title "Experiments on the Preventive Inoculation of Rattlesnake Venom." This work was the precursor of all subsequent studies on immunity to snake venoms and to bacterial toxins. When Dr. A. Calmette, the eminent authority on venom immunity, visited Ann Arbor in 1908, he asked particularly to see the room in which Sewall had done this pioneer work.

Between Dr. Sewall and Dr. Vaughan, both young men, an intimate friendship developed which undoubtedly widened their horizons. Dr. Sewall's year abroad in 1879-80 familiarized him to some extent with the pioneer work of Pasteur and Koch, and when he returned to Johns Hopkins he already knew of the work being done by Dr. Sternberg, who was working as a guest in Dr. Martin's laboratory. As part of their Sunday afternoon stroll, Sewall and Vaughan were wont to sit on a hill overlooking the Huron River and discuss the "germ theory." The enthusiasm of Dr. Sewall found an eager listener in Dr. Vaughan, who in this way became convinced of the important relation of bacteria to disease. The immediate result of these discussions is probably reflected in the note in The Chronicle of January 31, 1885, to the effect that "Dr. Vaughan is giving to the Seniors some interesting talks on Bacteria," and again, on March 14, 1885, in the remark that Dr. Sewall gives the freshmen weekly talks on the "Bacteria Theory."

In spite of an active and vigorous constitution, Dr. Sewall developed in the spring of 1886 the first signs of illness. He spent the summer of that year in Denver and returned in October much improved in health. In November of that year he began his famous "Experiments on Preventive Inoculation of Rattlesnake Venom." The work was interrupted by another attack of illness, and Dr. Sewall was obliged to seek relief in the mountains of North Carolina. On his return, in April, he completed the investigation which marked the beginning of immunology as regards soluble toxins. During the summer of 1887 anatomy was transferred to a new building, and Sewall moved his laboratory into the renovated old dissecting room. In the spring of 1888 Dr. Sewall asked for a year's leave of absence, and during his absence, in 1888-89, the work in physiology was given by Dr. Joseph W. Warren.

Dr. Sewall returned in April, 1889, and, although not greatly improved in health, he planned to give a course in practical physiology. At the same time he taught the second laboratory course in bacteriology offered in the University. It was there that he examined his own sputum and found the tubercle bacillus present. This was decisive for him, and, in June, he regretfully resigned his position.

Dr. Sewall's successor was Dr. W. H. Howell. He was appointed, in 1889, Lecturer on Physiology and Histology. He was Professor from 1890 to 1892, when he resigned to accept a position at Harvard. Dr. Warren P. Lombard succeeded Dr. Howell, first as Lecturer (1892) and a year later as Professor of Physiology and Histology. Largely at his request histology was dropped from his title in 1898, and he then became Professor of Physiology and held this appointment until his retirement in 1923.

Dr. Robert Gesell, the present incumbent of the chair of physiology, was appointed in 1923. He and his associates have carried on valuable researches on respiration and allied subjects.

As already stated, the modern Physiological Laboratory had its beginning under Dr. Sewall. He saw it develop from poor, makeshift rooms to commodious quarters in the old Medical Building. The laboratory was wiped out in the fire of 1907 which destroyed the western end (built in 1867) of the old Medical Building. Work, however, was carried on in the east half of the building until 1909, and thereafter transferred to the old Chemical Laboratory. Under Dr. Gesell the Physiological Laboratory acquired, in 1925, thoroughly modern quarters in the south wing of East Medical Building.

Pathology. — As stated before, one of the six professorships provided for in the Act of 1837 was that of physiology and pathology. Accordingly, in January, 1850, Dr. Jonathan Adams Allen was appointed Professor of Pathology and Physiology, but with the reservation that pathology was to be given by Dr. Samuel Denton, Professor of the Practice of Physic. Hence, Dr. Denton was in charge of pathology from 1850 until his death in 1860. The title of his chair was apparently changed after 1851, for in President Tappan's report for 1853-54 Denton is designated "Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and of Pathology." No record of this change is noted in the Regents' Proceedings. Upon the death of Dr. Denton in September, 1860, Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer was appointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, Pathology, and Materia Medica. A year later, with the appointment of Dr. Samuel G. Armor, this title was amended by leaving off "Materia Medica."

In 1863 the surgeon general of the United States Army determined to require at least one course of lectures on hygiene and military surgery from candidates for the Army medical staff. The Regents thereupon provided for a course of lectures on hygiene to be offered in the Literary Department. Dr. Palmer was appointed Lecturer for that purpose. In June, 1864, Palmer was appointed "Professor of Pathology, Practice of Medicine and Hygiene," with the stipulation that the course in hygiene was to be given in the Literary and Law departments. This course was discontinued in April, 1869, and at the same time Palmer was appointed Instructor in Auscultation. Incidentally, it may be added that a course in hygiene was not given again in the University until 1887, when Vaughan was appointed Professor of Hygiene and Director of the Hygienic Laboratory.

The title of Dr. Palmer's chair from 1869 to 1880 was that of Professor of Pathology and Practice of Medicine. As a result of the growth of the Hospital, in 1880, "and Clinical Medicine" was added to this title, which he held until his death in 1887.

The lack of a large hospital made it difficult to secure material for gross pathology. The anatomical law of 1875 relieved the situation to some extent by supplying unclaimed bodies from state institutions. Some of these could be used for pathological demonstrations, and undoubtedly it was with this object in view that Dr. William J. Herdman was made Lecturer of Pathological Anatomy and Demonstrator of Anatomy in 1879. He held the title of Professor of Practical and Pathological Anatomy and Demonstrator of Anatomy from 1882 to 1888.

Dr. Herdman performed occasional autopsies and gave demonstrations of pathological material in the large amphitheater before hundreds of students. The medical faculty, in October, 1887, recognizing the lack of laboratory work in pathology, asked the Board to establish a chair of pathology and to appoint Dr. Heneage Gibbes, of Westminster College, London, England, as Professor of Pathology. This was done by the Board, and modern pathology thus began in the University.

The service of Dr. Gibbes as Professor of Pathology began in January, 1888. He established a laboratory in the basement of the new Anatomy Building, but the quarters were inadequate for the laboratory instruction of students. After the transfer of the Homeopathic Hospital to its new building Dr. Gibbes, in 1892, acquired ample space for his work.

Dr. Gibbes, unfortunately, had an arbitrary and intolerant disposition which brought on clashes with his colleagues. The appointment of a nonmedical man, Dr. James P. McMurrich, as Professor of Anatomy gave him an ally in the person of Dr. W. A. Campbell, Assistant Professor of Anatomy, who aspired to the chair. Together they formulated and presented to the Regents a sweeping plan for reorganizing the Medical Department. A somewhat similar plan was presented by Dean Obetz, of the Homeopathic Department. As a result, the chair of pathology was abolished, as of October 1, 1895, and the title of Dr. George Dock was amended to Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine and Pathology.

Dr. Aldred S. Warthin was made Assistant to the Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine in 1891. In June, 1892, he became Demonstrator of Clinical Medicine and held this position until 1895, when he became Instructor in Pathology. In 1899 he became Assistant Professor. In 1902 he was made Professor of Pathology and in 1903 Director of the Pathological Laboratory.

Under Dr. Warthin the Department of Pathology was developed into the foremost of its kind. With the completion of the West Medical Building, in 1903, the laboratory acquired new quarters which it still occupies. Dr. Warthin died in 1931 and was succeeded by Dr. Carl V. Weller, who was Director of the Pathological Laboratories from 1931 to 1938, when he was named Chairman of the Department of Pathology.

Materia Medica and Therapeutics. — The sixth and last of the professorships prescribed for the Medical Department, as indicated under the "Original Faculty," was that of materia medica, pharmacy, and medical jurisprudence. Therapeutics was not mentioned in the legislative act and hence the term does not appear until after 1851. Dr. Douglass was appointed, in January, 1848, Professor of Materia Medica and was also to discharge the duties of Professor of Pharmacy and Medical Jurisprudence, but, as specified in 1850, he would teach only pharmacy and toxicology. In other words he was given the title required by law, but was not to teach materia medica.

The Board in 1850 appointed Jonathan Adams Allen Professor of Pathology and Physiology. It was specified that besides physiology he should also perform in part the duties of the Professor of Materia Medica. The teaching of pathology was assigned to the chair of physics.

At the time of his dismissal in 1854, Dr. Allen though nominally Professor of Physiology and Pathology, was still "acting as Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology." In the reorganization that followed Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer was given the chair of materia medica and the diseases of women and children. At the same time Dr. Abram Sager was transferred to the chair of obstetrics and physiology.

After the death of Dr. Samuel Denton in 1860, another rearrangement of duties took place. The work in materia medica and therapeutics was divided. Dr. Palmer was appointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, of Pathology, and of Materia Medica. At the same time Dr. Gunn was made Professor of Surgery and Therapeutics; Dr. Sager, Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children; and Dr. Ford, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology.

In 1861 the Regents amended the titles of Dr. Palmer and Dr. Gunn by dropping materia medica and therapeutics, respectively. At the same time a chair of the principles of medicine and materia medica was established to which Dr. Samuel G. Armor was appointed. At the next meeting of the Regents, at the request of Dr. Armor, the title was changed to "Institutes of Medicine and Materia Medica." Dr. Zina Pitcher, in 1851, had been named "Emeritus Professor of the Institutes of Medicine and Obstetrics."

Dr. Armor resigned in 1868, having served for seven years. He was succeeded by Dr. H. S. Cheever, after Dr. Robert C. Kedzie had declined the position. Dr. Cheever, made Lecturer on Therapeutics and Materia Medica in 1868, became professor of these subects in 1870. In 1872 physiology was added to the title, thus making it essentially the same as the acting title held by Dr. Allen from 1850 to 1854. Cheever held this position until 1876, interrupted by leave of absence for two years because of ill-health (1873-74). He resumed his teaching in 1875 and resigned in 1876. During his absence the work was carried on by Dr. Frederic H. Gerrish, first as Lecturer and then as Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Physiology. Dr. Gerrish resigned in 1875.

After the resignation of Dr. Cheever the duties, in part, were passed on to Dr. George E. Frothingham, who was designated Professor of Materia Medica and Ophthalmology (1876). In 1880 "and Clinical Ophthalmology" was added to this title.

Dr. Frothingham came to Ann Arbor in 1867, as Prosector of Surgery and Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy, with Dr. William Greene, his former preceptor, who had been appointed to the chair of surgery. From 1872 to 1875 he was Professor of Ophthalmology and Aural Surgery, and Demonstrator of Anatomy; and in 1875-76 he bore the title of Professor of Practical Anatomy and Ophthalmic and Aural Surgery. In 1876 Anatomy was replaced by Materia Medica in this title, which, with the addition of "and Clinical Ophthalmology" in 1880 he held until his resignation in 1889.

Although materia medica was included in Dr. Frothingham's title from 1876 to 1889, it does not follow that he taught the subject for thirteen years. As a matter of fact, Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, in 1883, was appointed Professor of Physiological and Pathological Chemistry and Associate Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica. He taught the latter subject to pharmacy students and perhaps to medical students. His connection with materia medica and therapeutics ended in 1887, when he was appointed Professor of Hygiene and Physiological Chemistry and Director of the Hygienic Laboratory. In the fall of 1887, Dr. Conrad Georg was appointed Instructor in Materia Medica. This title he held for two years and in 1889, when Dr. Frothingham resigned as Professor of Materia Medica and Ophthalmology, Dr. Georg was appointed Instructor in Materia Medica and Therapeutics, which position he held for one year.

During the forty years that had elapsed since the opening of the Medical Department, the teaching of materia medica and therapeutics had been purely didactic and often had been combined with some other discipline. Like a poor relative it was passed around from one professor to another. Thus, during four decades the names of ten men, from Douglas to George, were associated with materia medica and therapeutics. By contrast, during the fifty years that followed, these subjects were presented by only three men.

Pharmacology. — In 1890 the Regents established a chair of materia medica and therapeutics, and Dr. John J. Abel was appointed Lecturer on these subjects, to begin his duties on January 1, 1891. In June, 1891, he was made full Professor, which post he held for the next two years, when he resigned to accept the chair of pharmacology in the new Medical School of Johns Hopkins University.

Just as the appointment of Dr. Sewall marked the beginning of a new era in physiology, so the appointment of Dr. Abel was equally significant for pharmacology. Although he did not have the title he was, in fact, the first professor of pharmacology at Michigan. He introduced the experimental, scientific approach to the subject of materia medica and therapeutics. Like Dr. Sewall he had to begin his research work in a small room under the sloping sides of the lower amphitheater in the old Medical Building. The facilities were meager, but the enthusiasm for research was uppermost.

Dr. Abel was a stimulating, prolific, and tireless investigator. He was succeeded in 1893 by Dr. Arthur R. Cushny, who resigned in 1905. Under Dr. Cushny the laboratory space was enlarged by taking over a large room in the old Medical Building. It was well equipped, and it became possible to give the practical course in pharmacology to medical students. The first course, given in 1894-95, was optional for a limited number of junior medical students. In 1909 after removal of the department to the old Chemistry Building, it became possible to make the laboratory course in pharmacology a required one for all medical students.

After Dr. Cushny's resignation, Dr. C. W. Edmunds, who had been his assistant, was given charge of the Pharmacology Department, as it was commonly designated. In 1907 he became Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics and Director of the Pharmacological Laboratories. Under the supervision of Dr. Edmunds the laboratory, through its research work, became recognized as the foremost of its kind. Dr. M. H. Seevers succeeded Dr. Edmunds in 1941 as Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.

Electrotherapeutics. — In 1875, the Board appointed Dr. John W. Langley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Acting Professor of General Chemistry and Physics, and a year later he was made full professor. Early in 1880 Langley offered an elective course in electrotherapeutics to the medical students, which consisted of practical laboratory work in its applications to medicine. The faculty report in 1882 recorded that the assistant in charge gave seventy-two lessons in electrotherapeutics to sections of the class and a quiz once a week during the first semester.

Incidentally, charges were preferred against this same assistant for unethical advertisement of an "electrical belt" through local dealers. The Board brought in a Scotch verdict, whereupon Dr. Frothingham and Dr. D. Maclean tendered their resignations. A month later, the Board reversed itself, and the resignation of the assistant was requested and at the same time the resignations of the professors were tabled.

In 1888 Dr. W. J. Herdman gave up his connection with pathology and was named Professor of Practical Anatomy and of Diseases of the Nervous System. In 1890 he was made Professor of Nervous Diseases and Electrotherapeutics. A practical course in the latter subject was organized and required of all medical students. It was given in the old Chemical Laboratory, but after the death of Dr. Herdman it was discontinued. In 1898 Herdman was given the title of Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System and of Electrotherapeutics.

Hospital Laboratories. — The old Hospital on the campus provided few or no facilities for diagnostic purposes, although the rules of 1891, providing for the government of the hospitals, required the resident physician to "see that all analyses and examinations of sputum, urine, etc., as required by the clinical Professors are made and properly reported to them."

When the Catherine Street Hospital was occupied in 1892, there was no provision for laboratories, and Dr. George Dock was obliged to convert a water closet into a diagnostic laboratory. Under most unfavorable conditions he organized and equipped a suitable laboratory which soon demonstrated its usefulness. The other clinical departments followed the example set by Dr. Dock.

With the erection of the new Hospital in 1925, provision was made for a central laboratory. Dr. Kenneth Fowler was in charge of it. After his resignation in 1928, Dr. Reuben L. Kahn was placed in charge and given the rank of Assistant Professor of Bacteriology. In addition to the diagnostic work in chemistry, hematology, bacteriology, and serology, some instruction was given in special methods.

The full impact of the laboratory type of instruction was soon felt by the clinical branches. In May, 1892, the Board authorized the establishment of six new courses for junior students, and the appointment of demonstrators to do the work. These courses in the clinical departments were known as demonstration courses and were required of all junior students. Later, they came to be known as junior sections. They are given in medicine, obstetrics, surgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and roentgenology. Incidentally, the first work in roentgenology was done by Dr. Herdman in 1896, shortly after Roentgen's discovery, but it was not until Dr. James G. Van Zwaluwenberg became a member of the staff in 1907 that the program in roentgenology was really inaugurated.

Frederick G. Novy

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Announcement, Department of Medicine and Surgery [Medical School, 1915-] (title varies), Univ. Mich., 1850-1940.

Calendar, Univ. Mich., 1871-1914.

Catalogue …, Univ. Mich., 1848-71, 1914-23.

Hinsdale, Burke A.History of the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor: Univ. Mich., 1906.

MS, "Minutes of the Medical Faculty" (title varies), Univ. Mich., 1872-1940.

Rules for the Government of the Medical College, 1850. Detroit: Duncklee, Wales & Co., 1851.

President's Report, Univ. Mich., 1853-1940.

Proceedings of the Board of Regents …, 1864-1940.

Shaw, Wilfred B."The Early Days of the University of Michigan."Mich. Hist. Mag., 16 (1932): 439-63.

Shaw, Wilfred B."The Early Days of the University of Michigan — II."Mich. Hist. Mag., 17 (1933): 52-107.

University of Michigan Regents' Proceedings …, 1837-64. Ed. by Isaac N. Demmon. Ann Arbor: Univ. Mich., 1915.

Vaughan, Victor C.A Doctor's Memories. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1926.

History of the University of Michigan

Medical School