Dr. Franklin P. Mall : an appreciation / [Simon Flexner].

  • Flexner, Simon, 1863-1946.
Date:
1918
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dr. Franklin P. Mall : an appreciation / [Simon Flexner]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tained the firmest belief in liberty in its true and proper sense. Out of this in¬ tensity of conviction arose the views ex¬ pressed in conversation more frequently but not more forcibly than in his addresses, on full opportunity and freedom in uni¬ versity education, both in its pre-graduate and post-graduate aspects. His compre¬ hending and incisive mind was the first, I believe, to appreciate and afterwards to propound that the best of medical edu¬ cational institutions were half-hearted affairs. That part of the institutions which a quarter of a century earlier had been the weakest—the laboratory branches namely—had been immeasurably strength¬ ened in that short period, during which the previously stronger part—namely the clinical branches—had progressed rela¬ tively little. The balance could be struck and must be, even though in the process the old system were, if need be, completely shattered, as much shattered indeed as had been the earlier hybrid combined laboratory and clinical chairs. Out of this conception which Mall propounded, I am almost in¬ clined to say preached to us persistently, arose the present movement, ever gaining force and strength until it has now become almost irresistible in favor of full-time clinical professorships. It is very interesting to consider just here the extent to which he used others, converts or disciples as they may be called, to diffuse more broadly his reforming ideas. One would search Mall’s miscel¬ laneous papers, of which indeed there are notably few, in vain for an exhaustive presentation of the case for the full-time clinical plan. The wide dissemination of the idea by the printed page was left to others, while he maintained the high leve] of conviction in those coming under his immediate influence by an irresistible fund of logical exposition. In his delightful essay on his master. Wilhelm His, Mall reveals his attitude toward higher education in its various complex aspects. I wonder how many re¬ turned foreign students have kept up an intimate correspondence with a revered teacher extending over a long period of time, like that disclosed by Mall in this essay. The extracts from his letters there published show how well the older man comprehended the younger, as the spirit and substance of the essay shows how the younger man admired and appreciated the older. There is no doubt that His per¬ ceived in Mall rare personal and mental qualities, as he confides to him not only the subjects and trend of work, but his larger aspiration in the wide domain of anatomical research. In the light of the relation there revealed one can surmise the satisfaction and joy with which His, had he lived, would have welcomed the establishment of the Institute of Embry¬ ology with Mall as the first director. In my task of presenting a fragment of the personality of Mall as apparent to his intimate friends and associates, I find my¬ self embarrassed by the many memories that crowd my mind. It is not easy to select episodes. I love myself to think of the period during which he lived, as did the medical officers, in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, for then we were almost con¬ stantly together. The small, older group of men—older, that is, than the internes.— saw much of one another. Mall, Frank Smith, Thayer, Barker, and I met always at dinner, frequently at breakfast and luncheon, at the small table at the head of the room. There was lively conversation and much variety of theme; and not a little good cheer. A small photographic print still exists which pictures the group; it is chiefly notable for the good likeness of Mall which it presents, showing him as it does in one of his happiest moods. Mall returned to Baltimore as the first