IT T is now generally recognized that an important, very important, part of education, academic, technical, and professional, is the personal influence of the teacher upon the taught. Be the building, the laboratory, the equipment ever so perfect, there yet must be this essential, personal contact between teacher and pupil. From personal association of teacher and pupil follows that much talked of and sought for element atmosphere. With an atmosphere an institution becomes a seat of learning, at which both teacher and taught gain knowledge, and establish principles of thought and conduct, and to which they return eager to breathe again its 'inspiration.' Such is the history of the Dutch, French, and English Schools, whose power may be traced to the individual influence of the Masters of the Italian School. Close upon these, indeed almost contemporaneous, follow the German and Austrian Schools, and out of all these that composite product the American School. In these Morgagni, Valsalva, Morgan, Louis, Rush, Virchow, to mention a very few only, were the 'apostles' through whom this 'succession' of influence passed. viii Scientific institutions have been tardy in recognizing the importance of this power of influence, which the artistic world has long considered its corner-stone. In art or science, genius alone is able to flourish on the Geist from within. For my own purposes, in order to renew from time to time the influence which, as pupils and internes, we had come to depend upon, I have for some years made extracts from Dr. Osler's Lectures and Addresses *. I would like to share the benefits of these with others. At Oxford, during the summer of 1905, 'Counsels and Ideals' under his guidance took definite form. Those who know his personal influence, those in and out of our profession to whose 'unmeaning taskwork' in their 'brazen prison' he has shown a way to 'escape... and depart On the wide Ocean of life anew,' will welcome these pilot sayings to help grasp 'the rudder hard' and to see How fair a lot to fill Is left to each man still.' New York City, 1905. C. N. B. CAMAC * All of Dr. Osler's writings, including the seventeen collected Addresses entitled Aequanimitas, have been consulted. Forty-seven have been extracted for the present volume. CONTENTS The selections, made almost exclusively from the less II 51 57 65 69 77 NOTE.-Each extract has a numerical reference to the |