History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

68 History of Medical Practice in IllinoisMuch of the economic comment sounds familiar. Dr. B. M. Griffith,Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements, stated: "The political economyof this country is passing through a critical financial trial, and parties,political and otherwise, are shaping their lines to secure the best resultsfrom the changes. It yet remains to be seen whether the silver bill, the issueof 4 per cent bonds, economy in government expenditures, the EuropeanWar, and a rigid reform in the civil service, will be the efficient panacea somuch desired to secure prosperity for our people."1879 — LincolnDr. E. P. Cook of Mendota was President of the Society this year. No particularproblem faced the House at this session; scientific reports, a tripthrough the Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, two rather importantresolutions, and a discussion of the physician as an expert witness in courtsummarize the highlights of 1879.Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson gave an "excellent presentation" on the"Disorders of the Sympathetic Nervous System" which provoked interestingdiscussion. She was elected as a delegate to the American MedicalAssociation and was listed in the minutes as "S.H. Stevenson," althoughshe herself continued to sign "Sarah" to her scientific contributions.The Illinois House asked that all regular medical colleges institute preliminaryexaminations for students applying for admission to classes,then to admit only those who had at least a thorough English education.The House also asked that all students should be required to study medicinefive years and attend three full sessions of lectures before they wereadmitted to examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Harvardand the University of Pennsylvania were leading the field in this promotionof high standards for students, and the demand that Rush and other Illinoismedical schools do likewise was approved by the House.The House also went on record as opposing "crowded and unventilatedconditions in our public school houses," and passed a resolution that "acommittee of three be appointed to memorialize the Legislature at its nextsession to enact a law establishing a Board of Commissioners of Hygienein each County in this State whose duty it shall be to inspect all publicschool houses and see that they are supplied with proper means of ventilation,and are of sufficient size to accommodate the number of pupils inattendance; to inspect all proposed sites and plans for new school houses,and approve or reject the same, and to adopt such measures for the preservationof health in our public schools as from time to time they may thinknecessary and proper."In his Presidential Address, Dr. Cook asked for legislative action toamend the law for the commitment of the insane. "While our State standsand