The statement by L. Emmett Holt of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical
Research, that before 1906, the Smithsonian Institution was never a
beneficiary to medicine in any form,[9] is not entirely applicable. The
previous discussion has clearly shown that the U.S. National Museum's
cooperation with the Navy contributed materially towards encouraging and
promoting medical knowledge. Furthermore, Dr. Flint tried to bring many
of his plans for this medical division of the Museum to a practical
fulfillment. He devised a program for presenting medical history in a
way which would be of interest both to the public and to the profession.
In order to best illustrate the history of the healing art, he divided
his subject matter into five provisional classifications according to
the _Report upon the Condition and Progress of the U.S. National Museum_
during 1898:
1. Magical medicine including exorcism, amulets, talismans,
fetishes and incantation;