the better arrangement of the inscription, but, as a rule, books are placed so as to stand upright on the library shelves. Such being the case, the better plan is for the inscription on the back of thin books to read from the bottom towards the top. To some people the title-page of a book may be of no importance, but to those who necessarily must handle it the title-page is highly important and is an indication of the character of the work. While there may be studied exceptions to this assertion, nevertheless it may be stated that, as a rule, the title-page is a good indication of what is to follow in the text. The two should be harmonious, and in the great majority of cases harmony will be found to exist between them. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY OF THE PHYSICIANS TO THE GERMAN HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.* By HERMANN G. KLOTZ, M.D., Mr. President and Gentlemen: I have accepted, with great pleasure, the invitation of your Directing Librarian, Dr. Winfield, to present to you a brief history of the former Library of the Physicians to the German Hospital and Dispensary of the City of New York which to-night, through the munificence of some of your members, has become the property of your body. The origin of the library dates back to the foundation of the German Dispensary of the City of New York in 1857. Twelve physicians who assumed the duties of attending physicians and surgeons formed the "Collegium of the Physicians of the German Dispensary;" they were, in alphabetical order, Drs. J. Goldmark, C. Henschel, M. Herzog, A. Jacobi, J. Kammerer, E. Krackowizer, E. Noeggerath, E. Schilling, E. Schwedler, J. Schnetter, F. Strube and L. Voss. But three of them, as far as I know, survive: Dr. A. Jacobi, still in full activity, Dr. E. Schwedler, retired in New York, and Dr. L. Voss, retired in Germany. There is extant in manuscript a set of business rules for this "Collegium," the last paragraph of which reads: "The members *Read before the Medical Society of the County of Kings, Nov. 17, 1903. of the Collegium shall not restrict their activity to the treatment of patients applying at the instituion but shall consider it an important part of their aims, to mutually stimulate the interest in the science of medicine and the further development of its study. To accomplish this purpose scientific meetings shall be arranged at regular intervals the minutes of which shall be specially recorded. They shall also maintain a circulation of medical journals at common expense. These periodicals shall remain the property of the Collegium." This declaration sufficiently explains the intentions of the members. To meet the expenses of the current periodicals they paid $25 annually; this assessment had to be paid in gold, quite an important item during the Civil War and for some time afterwards. In addition, occasionally sets of older journals, as opportunities offered themselves, were acquired either by means of special assessments or probably more often by the liberality of individual members. After passing through circulation, the periodicals were returned to the house of Dr. Jacobi, up to 1866 at 50 Amity Street, later at 110 West Thirty-fourth Street, and there remained at the service of the members. Dr. F. Zinsser, who resided with Dr. Jacobi in Amity Street, later assumed the management of the journal circle and of the gradually increasing collection, and became the first librarian. I wish to call your attention to the fact that the New York Medical Journal Association was not founded until 1864 and that the collection which now has been removed to your library is of an older date than that of the Journal Association which was later on transferred to the New York Academy of Medicine and formed a nucleus for their collection of periodicals. When the German Hospital in Seventy-seventh Street was established in 1869, a majority of the members of the old Collegium transferred their active services to the Hospital and a number of young men assumed the duties of attendants at the Dispensary; they soon formed a new society of the physicians of the dispensary. For several years its members were admitted to the privileges of the journal circle without any payment, but when their number increased, annual dues of $10 were assessed on those who wished to avail themselves of this privilege. In 1872 the Dispensary was removed from East Third Street to 65 St. Marks Place, an old-fashioned high-stoop house. Here the large front room on the second floor, primarily intended for a meeting room, was provided with bookshelves along the walls and the accumulated periodicals were transferred to them. The later numbers of the periodicals were kept on file for a limited. time before going into circulation and this new reading-room became a great attraction for the members. Dr. G. Langmann about this time succeeded Dr. Zinsser as librarian and commenced the arduous task of bringing into order the accumulation of over fifteen years. In 1879 the writer of these notes was elected librarian and annually re-elected ever since. Previously, in the fall of every year, a special meeting of all the members of the Hospital and Dispensary had been called to consider the affairs of the library, to decide upon additions or changes in the list of periodicals, etc., but in 1871 it was decided to place the administration of the library in the hands of a committee, composed of two members from each the Hospital and the Dispensary together with the librarian, and they all were annually elected by the respective corporations. Up to 1879 the only American journal on the list had been the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, but in 1879 it was decided to add a number of domestic journals in order to favor a better acquaintance of the members with the profession of the United States. In the same year rules for the use of the library were adopted and printed; among other features, they regulated the lending of books to the members and, on introduction by a member, to other physicians, a privilege which always formed a prominent feature of the library. In 1880 an extra assessment of $5 was levied on all members which was expended for binding the older journals, and in the same year a catalog was published which gives over 2,500 volumes as the size of the library at that time. In 1884 the Society of the Dispensary agreed to extend the annual dues to $10 to all its members in recognition of the advantages offered by the reading-room, particularly since the Dispensary had been removed to its present location at 137 Second Avenue. In this splendid building in which through the munificence of Mr. Ottendorfer new shelves and comfortable furniture had been provided, the conditions of the library were greatly improved and the labors of the librarian largely facilitated. He began to arrange a regular accession book which was finished. to date in 1889. The increase in the income had enabled him to complete as far as possible the files of periodicals and occasionally to add new books, besides allowing of subscription to a number of new periodicals which rapidly began to make their appearance on the medical horizon. However, the increasing number of members had gradually affected the usefulness of the circulating part of the library so that some of the journals were quite late in reaching the hands of the members, and the establishment in 1885 of two separate circuits, with some of the journals in duplicate, did not materially relieve the situation. So in 1892 it was decided to abolish entirely the circulation of journals, and at the same time the Hospital members resolved to reduce their annual dues to $10. This curtailment of the income of the library made necessary the discontinuance of a large number of subscriptions and other improvements. In 1895 the friends of the library, principally under the influence of Dr. Isaac Adler, succeeded in having the dues restored to $25, but in 1897 the Collegium of the Hospital Physicians initiated the entire abandonment of further contributions after 1898. A final assessment of $10 upon the members of both institutions was voted for 1898 in order to maintain the library within its limits and make it as useful as possible. By adding here and there some missing volumes or occasionally some work of reference, and particularly by the binding of as many volumes as possible, the library was kept in good condition; but the interests of the members gradually became less and less and but few books were taken home. Under these circumstances it became more and more evident that the library had outlived its usefulness. When the funds were reduced to a small sum, the Committee had only the choice to recommend further assessments or else to dispose entirely of the library. In April, 1903, the Collegium of the Hospital Physicians, who were the owners, unanimously accepted the recommendations of the Committee to discontinue the library, to sell it if possible en bloc, and to donate the proceeds of the sale to the New York Academy of Medicine for the endowment of its library. This seemed to the Committee the only way to keep the library together, because enough members were ready to claim the most valuable sets of periodicals for their own use as soon as the library was to be divided. Personally, I am much gratified to see my former pet so well housed and, as I have no doubt, appreciated. It is not difficult to find the causes which brought about this abandonment of the library by its owners. General experience has sufficiently proved that the concentration of books, into larger libraries renders them much more useful, and that they can there be administered more effectively and more economically particularly by trained librarians, such as your library as well as that of our Academy are fortunate enough to be favored with. Our late library was practically self-acting since the librarian was present only at certain hours, still it worked very well and it is remarkable that in all the years when the library was open and hardly protected, yet very rarely a book has been missed. The enormous development of the city of New York and the consequent removal to the newly developed portions of the city on the part of the members of the Dispensary and Hospital who formerly used to live all within a certain neighborhood, contributed largely to the difficulties of maintaining such a library. Finally, it must be taken into consideration that the expenses of a library which has to meet the just expectations of the profession have been enormously increased by the unnatural and almost deplorable development of medical literature, particularly of medical periodicals. Under these circumstances the action of the Physicians to the German Hospital and Dispensary will appear sufficiently justified. PRESENTATION OF THE LIBRARY OF THE PHY- Mr. President and Fellow Members: This occasion will always remain a red-letter day in my memory, for this evening I, as your Directing Librarian, have the privilege of presenting to the Medical Society of the County of Kings one of the greatest gifts it has ever been the good fortune of this or any other medical library to receive. Owing to the generous response to a call for funds, we have been able to secure a collection of books which places ours in the foremost ranks as a medical reference library. About eighteen months ago I learned that the Library of the Physicians to the German Hospital and Dispensary of New York City was to be disposed of. Immediate steps were taken to secure *Presentation speech by the Directing Librarian, read before the Medical Society of the County of Kings, Nov. 17, 1903. |