_Sami Hamarneh_
HISTORY of the DIVISION of MEDICAL SCIENCES
_In The Museum of History and Technology_
[Illustration: Figure 1.--EARLY VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL
MUSEUM, known for the last quarter of a century as the Arts and
Industries building. Completed in 1881, it housed the Division of
Medical Sciences from its establishment in 1881 as a Section of Materia
Medica to the time of the writing of this paper. While the medical
collection remained in the Department of Arts and Industries, by the end
of June 1912 practically all other collections belonging to the fields
of natural history and anthropology were transferred to the then new
Natural History building.]
_This paper traces, for the first time, the history of the
Division of Medical Sciences in the Museum of History and
Technology from its small beginnings as a section of materia
medica in 1881 to its present broad scope. The original
collection of a few hundred specimens of crude drugs which had
been exhibited at the centennial exhibition of 1876 at
Philadelphia, has now developed into the largest collection in
the Western Hemisphere of historical objects related to the
healing arts._
THE AUTHOR: _Sami Hamarneh is the curator of the Division of
Medical Sciences in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of
History and Technology._
By the early 1870's, leading figures from both the health professions
and the general public had begun to realize the necessity for having the
medical sciences represented in the Smithsonian Institution. The impetus
behind this new feeling resulted from the action of a distinguished
American physician, philanthropist, and author, Joseph Meredith Toner
(1825-1896), and came almost a decade before the integration of a new
section concerned with research and the historical and educational
aspects of the healing arts in the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1872, Dr. Toner established the "Toner Lectures" to encourage efforts
towards discovering new truths "for the advancement of medical science
... for the benefit of mankind." To finance these lectures, he provided
a fund worth approximately $3,000 to be administered by a board of
trustees consisting of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the
Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army
(only in some years), and the president of the Medical Society of the
District of Columbia. The interest from this fund was to compensate
physicians and scholars who were to deliver "at least two annual memoirs
or essays" based on original research on some branch of the medical
sciences and containing information which had been verified "by
experiments or observations."[1]
The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution agreed to have these
lectures published by the Institution in its Miscellaneous Collections.
The first lecture given by the Assistant Surgeon of the U.S. Army, "On
the Structure of Cancerous Tumors and the Mode in which Adjacent parts
are Invaded," deserves credit even by current standards of scientific
research.[2] Only 10 lectures were given between 1873 and 1890 (see
bibliography), despite the recommendation for at least two every
year.[3]
[Illustration: Figure 2.--DR. JOSEPH M. TONER, a leading physician in
Washington, D.C., and founder of the "Toner Lectures" for the promotion
and advancement of medical education and research. In 1873, Dr. Toner
became president of the American Medical Association and, in 1874, he
became president of the American Public Health Association. He was a
physician to St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum and St. Ann's Infants'
Asylum in Washington, D.C. In addition, he was instrumental in
establishing Providence Hospital in the District of Columbia. He also
provided a workable plan for the American Medical Association's library
in Washington, D.C. (1868-1871). Among his several publications are:
_Contributions to the Annals of Medical Progress and Medical Education
in the United States before and during the War of Independence_
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1874) and _Medical Men of the
Revolution_ (1876). In 1882, he donated his large library, consisting of
44,000 books and pamphlets on topics related mainly to medicine and
history, to the Library of Congress. (_Photo courtesy of National
Library of Medicine._)]
A more direct factor, which not only contributed to the establishment of
a section on the healing arts, but also had a greater effect upon the
Smithsonian Institution than any other event since its founding, was the
1876 centennial exhibition in Philadelphia.
This magnificent international fair commemorated the hundredth
anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The
finest exhibits of 30 foreign countries and various States of the Union
participating in the fair were finally donated to the Smithsonian
Institution as the official depository of historical and archeological
objects for this country. As a result, the Institution's collections
increased to an extent far beyond the capacity of the first Smithsonian
building. This led to the erection of the National Museum, known for the
last two decades and until date of publication as the Arts and
Industries building, which was completed on March 4, 1881, and was used
that evening for the inaugural reception of incoming President James A.
Garfield.