Intellectual Crossroads—an Appreciation of Ralph H. Major

INTELLECTUAL CROSSROADS—AN APPRECIATION OF RALPH H. MAJOR WILLIAM S. MIDDLETON* The ties ofblood and family are natural. Certain associations in civil life bind men together by their common interests in industry, business, and the professions. Social bonds have exploited the gregarious habit of man from the beginning of human civilization. The team concept on the playing field has been carried into the relationships of war. Wellington manifested keen insight when he said, "Waterloo was won on the playing fields ofEton." Just as important are the bonds between men of mutual intellectual interests; and when they share mutual friends and experiences, their intellectual crossroads assume an unusual significance. Like Ralph Major's, my early recollection of the University of Kansas School ofMedicine is the pathetically meager quarters at Rosedale. In the summer of 1921, under a special commission of the United States Public Health Service, I was responsible for the survey ofthe surviving veterans of World War I who had undergone surgery for chest wounds at the hands ofMajorJohn L. Yates. Limited as were our facilities in Madison, Rosedale was even more primitive. At this time a Wisconsin man, Dr. Harry R. Wahl, professor of pathology, was most gracious to me. His bookkeeping of the stages of fixing, paraffin blocking, sectioning, and staining every specimen in a huge ledger recalled Judge Cordoza's characterization , "There is an accuracy that defeats itself by overemphasis of detail." When Dr. Wahl became acting dean (1924), we never missed the opportunity of sharing our mutual problems. In justice to Dean Wahl, one detail must be preserved. Responsible for his independent budget, at times Wahl suffered from the geographic separation from Lawrence and, even * Veterans Administration Hospital, Madison.Wisconsin, and Department ofMedicine, University of Wisonsin Medical School, Madison.Wisconsin 53706. 65I more important, from a lack ofclose rapport with the university administration . In spite ofthis frustrating situation he never lost faith in the ultimate destiny ofthe University ofKansas School ofMedicine. The American Association of the History of Medicine met in Kansas City in 1941. My contribution to the program was "Medicine at Valley Forge." Logan Clendening and Ralph Major were most hospitable to me on that occasion. With characteristic generosity, Dr. Clendening gave me a precious watermarked copy ofJohn Sappington's The Theory and Treatment ofFevers (1841). As you may recall, Sappington had gained a widespread reputation for his success in the treatment of the fevers with his Anti-Fever Pills. A graduate of the University ofPennsylvania School of Medicine (1817), he rejected, as unphysiologic, the then-accepted theories ofCullen and Rush that recommended bloodletting, purgation, and emesis to combat fever. His support of the unity of disease was no more convincing , but his therapy was conservative. Sappington addressed his thesis to the lay public. In the dedication to the text he wrote, "To the people ofthe United States, more particularly the portion ofthem from whom I have always received cordial welcome and generous support; and also ofthat portion of the medical profession who can so far divest themselves of the prejudice of education as to give the following pages an unbiased and impartial perusal, is this work inscribed by its author." A series of testimonial communications, professional and personal, precedes the text. Among the signers of one ofthese documents was James M. Major of Cooper County, Missouri. Our honored nestor, Ralph Major, could claim no relationship, since his greatgranduncle James emigrated to Clay County, Missouri, in 1852. Among the numerous witnesses to Sappington's attributes as a physician and a citizen and to the virtue ofhis pills, there was a single reservation. JohnJ. Lowry ofHoward County, while commending Sappington for his logical "free use ofsudorifics, tonics and stimulants," concluded, "I will, however, take this occasion to add, that in what may very appropriately in this State be called congestive bilious fever, I could not, nor cannot now, treat it successfully without the lancet and calomel." In his book, Sappington attributed the hostility ofand his ostracism by his fellow practitioners to his professional success, but a more basic reason is not difficult to find. In 1819, he had started practice in Arrow Rock, Missouri. The next year Pelletier and Caventou isolated quinine from the 652...