FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33  
34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   >>  
he first curator of the Section had envisioned that the exhibits eventually would embrace the entire field of the healing arts. In the _Smithsonian Annual Report_ for 1883, Dr. Flint noted that "in the establishment of a museum designed to illustrate man and his environment, it is proper that the materials and methods used for the prevention and cure of disease should have a place." However, his plans were temporarily interrupted when his first term as honorary curator ended in 1884. On June 4, 1884, Dr. Henry Gustav Beyer was detailed by the Department of the Navy to become the second honorary curator of the Section of Materia Medica. As a young man, Dr. Beyer (1850-1918) had come from Saxony, Germany, to the United States and, in due course, became a naturalized citizen. He was graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City in 1876. Because of his interest in physiological experimental research, Dr. Beyer enrolled at the Johns Hopkins University, where he was awarded a Ph. D. degree in 1887. Unlike his predecessor, Dr. Beyer was primarily interested in carrying on research on the physiological action of certain drugs and in pharmacology. This was evident from the original scientific papers mentioned in the _Smithsonian Annual Reports_ and published by him during the period of his curatorship from 1884 to 1887. Despite the pressure of his postgraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Beyer helped in arranging and classifying the _materia medica_ collection without trying to extend materially the scope of the Section. After the term of Dr. Beyer expired in 1887, Dr. Flint returned to take charge of the Section. Surprisingly, at this time, it seems that he showed less enthusiasm and devotion to the work of the Museum which he had previously served so well. It could have been a disappointment resulting from a lack of evidence of any real progress in the Section since he had left it three years before. Whatever the reasons may have been, the _Smithsonian Annual Reports_ show that only a few hundred specimens were added to the _materia medica_ collections between 1887 and 1890, bringing the total to 5,915 preserved in good condition. Further curtailment of the Section's activities began in November 1891 when Dr. Flint was again transferred to other duties for the U.S. Navy. From November 1891 to May 24, 1895, curatorship of the Section was charged to five physicians of the U.S. Navy: D
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33  
34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   >>  



Top keywords:

Section

 

Smithsonian

 
curator
 

Annual

 

medica

 
honorary
 

research

 

physiological

 

Hopkins

 

University


materia
 

November

 
curatorship
 

Reports

 

enthusiasm

 

devotion

 

showed

 
Museum
 

Surprisingly

 

served


previously

 
studies
 

helped

 

arranging

 

classifying

 
postgraduate
 

pressure

 
period
 
Despite
 

collection


expired
 

returned

 

extend

 

materially

 

charge

 

condition

 
Further
 

curtailment

 

preserved

 

bringing


activities

 

duties

 

physicians

 
transferred
 
collections
 

progress

 

charged

 

disappointment

 

resulting

 

evidence