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History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

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CHAPTER XXIIMEDICAL LIBRARIES IN ILLINOISPRECEDING 1900*By OTTO F.KAMPMEIER, Ph.D., M.D.THEpreem<strong>in</strong>ent part <strong>medical</strong> men played <strong>in</strong> the colonization <strong>of</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois,<strong>of</strong>ten as leaders, has been told by Zeuch <strong>in</strong> Volume I <strong>of</strong> this series.It tan hardly be expected that the pioneer doctors burdened themselveswith many books yet there is no doubt that the most studious among themcame with as many as their saddlebags would hold. As the settlementsalong the water courses— the Ohio, the Mississippi and the Wabash thatbounded the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois Country—grew and the river traffic <strong>in</strong>creased correspond<strong>in</strong>gly,especially with the com<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the steamboat, the cargoes <strong>of</strong>barrels and boxes and baggage unquestionably conta<strong>in</strong>ed also books, many<strong>of</strong> them probably <strong>medical</strong> <strong>in</strong> nature. However, the lecture <strong>in</strong> <strong>medical</strong>schools reta<strong>in</strong>ed its authoritative character. As the dom<strong>in</strong>ant mode <strong>of</strong>transmitt<strong>in</strong>g knowledge, along with the catechismal quiz, the tradition <strong>of</strong>the lecture had become so firmly entrenched <strong>in</strong> the curriculum <strong>of</strong> the<strong>medical</strong> schools that almost all students and practitioners relied whollyon the pronouncements <strong>of</strong> their teachers and found little <strong>in</strong>centive to huntfor <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong> the published material <strong>in</strong> journals. This mental <strong>in</strong>ertiadoubtlessly was the pr<strong>in</strong>cipal factor <strong>in</strong> the late appearance <strong>of</strong> the public<strong>medical</strong> library. Not until the1890's did the movement for the establishment<strong>of</strong> such libraries become active and widespread and ga<strong>in</strong> momentum<strong>in</strong> the United States. 1 -2Before 1880 or 1890, those physicians who wereeager to dip deeply <strong>in</strong>to the past <strong>of</strong> their art and science and to keepabreast <strong>of</strong> its most recent contributions throughout the world, made theirhomes storehouses <strong>of</strong> <strong>medical</strong> literature to the measure <strong>of</strong> their f<strong>in</strong>ancialability. In most cases these private collections were later to become thenuclei <strong>of</strong> the public <strong>medical</strong> libraries. Any words <strong>of</strong> appreciation, therefore,that the present generation <strong>of</strong> research men, practitioners, students• Extracted freely from the 200-page monograph A <strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> Medical Libraries <strong>in</strong>Ill<strong>in</strong>ois Prior to i

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