A HALF CENTURY OF PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN BACTERIOLOGISTS PAUL F. CLARK Department of Microbiology University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin This survey of the presidential addresses of the Society of American Bacte- riologists and brief citations concerning the men is dedicated to Barnett Cohen, Archivist of the Society of American Bacteriologists, first editor of Bacteriological Revies, Associate Professor of Physiological Chemistry in Johns Hopkins Medical School, and our cooperative friend of many years. I like to think of Barney as he arrived in San Francisco at the Society of American Bacteriologists meetings in 1938, a day or two early, with his pipe, his broad grin, and a heavy six weeks' beard acquired while camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He was in fine fettle, but in spite of our protests, he did shave before the meetings began. These present sketches are not designed for "the gentle reader" but for the well toughened citizen who has sat through long days at scientific meetings attempting more or less happily to understand papers of varying adequacy in his own or related fields, only occasionally running out into the corridors for a breather (in recent years a Coca Cola). It is hoped that the younger members, still in the hardening process, may pick up a spark or two or some suggestion from these remarks made by those who had preceded them. I discussed this project with Barney before his untimely death, and he gave it his blessing. He was dallying with the notion of writing a substantial history of bacteriology in America "possibly after retiring". I have thought of this paper as a tentative second step following his first one of the publication of the fifty year Chronicles in 1950, with the hope that the series of presidential addresses might show some of the trends of bacteriology during the half century. Carlyle has said that "history is the essence of innumerable biographies," but that definition is far too narrow, as there are many factors and forces in the world other than human beings. It is our privilege to work with and to study some of these highly signif- icant forces, Antony's "little animals". What then will fifty years of presidential addresses tell us about "the little animals" and about these men chosen during each of these years to be the leader of the S.A.B.? It is quite unnecessary for me to beg of you not to read this article through at one sitting; only the writer or his wife or an editor could possibly do that. I ask you rather to take the sketches a few at a time, preferably on Sunday and before an open fire. Has anyone hitherto ever read in rapid succession the presidential addresses of half a century and survived? I doubt it. Yet there has been a satisfaction in reviewing these speeches. I have known most of the men personally, a few of them intimately, and I can remember the effect that a number 213 214 PAUL F. CLARK [VOL. 17 of the speeches made upon me and other members of the audience at the time of delivery. In addition to the hope of some historical and scientific significance, I was led to make this survey partly by differences of opinion among our members, both on the Wisconsin campus and elsewhere, as to the appropriateness of a presidential address delivered after a day full of scientific papers and after a banquet abounding in delicious food and more or less skylarking. We are brought up to appreciate that "reading maketh the full man", but one realizes there are other means of obtaining this end. Some of my younger, less resistant, colleagues have moaned "my cup runneth over" even before the presentation of the presi- dential address. That these papers have commonly been so well conceived and so graciously received is a tribute both to the wisdom of the authors and to the hardihood of those who attend scientific meetings. Brief biographical statements and summaries of the addresses will be presented in chronological order, followed at the end of the series by comments. Brevity has been essential and omissions have been the rule. Only for completed careers, not merely official retirement, have I thought of a suggestion of finality in the thumb nail sketches. Inevitably in a survey like this, the treatment will reflect the interests, the judgment, and even the prejudices of the writer. I hope I have been reasonably fairminded in my reporting. The statements by each president are manifestly his own, but in passing judgment one should bear in mind the year in which the remarks were written. "Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be." 1899 Organization Meeting at New Haven The opening session was called to order by H. W. Conn; W. T. Sedgwick was asked to preside. During the cigar period, following the annual banquet of the American Naturalists, Professor William T. Sedgwick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spoke briefly of the foundation of a new scientific association, the Society of American Bacteriologists (1). 1900 Baltimore William Thompson Sedgwick 1855-1921 "Beloved teacher and unselfish public servant, founder at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of our first widely influential school of public health", Sedgwick continually stressed the now well recognized fact that microbi- ology is not merely a "handmaiden" of pathology and medicine but is a fundamental science. This has been the key- stone of the Society. Sedgwick was indeed a "pioneer in public health" (2) as is so ably demonstrated in a biography by that title, written by three of his formerstudents, E. 0. Jordan, G. C Whipple, and C-E. A. Winslow. His numerous publications in the fields of sanitary engineering and public health and his membership on manyboards attest the high quality of his scholarship and his far reaching influence. His greatest monument is the list of several hundred graduate students who have been competent sanitary engineers, contributing scholars, and distinguished professors in institutions in many areas of our country. The Origin, Scope, and Significance of Bacteriology (3) In a charming enlightening manner, Sedgwick presents the slow overthrow of magic and superstitition, as facts and their relations were dug out of the mud of 19531 HALF CENTURY OF PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES 215 our ignorance. "The lightning of heaven, thunderbolt of Zeus, interrogated by our own Franklin, has confessed its affinity to the humbler electricity of glass and amber." He showed the profound changes in man's philosophies as with painful gradualness the explanations of the heating of manure, the retting of flax, and decomposition of organic matter were pried loose and as epidemic plagues were proved due to natural causes and not to visitations of an angry Almighty. "The heavens had long since revealed the glory of God, and the firmament, thanks to the interpretations of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, had abundantly shown his handiwork. At last, largely through the development of the achromatic objective, the mysteries of the microbiological world are being unravelled." 1901 Chicago William Henry Welch 1850-1934 First dean and professor of pathology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School which opened irs doors in 1893, teacher of most of the leader in pathology in this country during the first half of this century, and wise counselor in the great awakening of medical education and research. After his first retirement at the age of 67, Welch organised the School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore; after his second retirement at 75, he was called upon to fill the new chair in medical history and to develop the Institute in that subject at Hopkins. In addition to his direct influence in im- proving medical education, Welch's charm of personality and his wisdom were used to stimulate gifts of millions of dollars from individual benefactors such as the Rokfeliers and from great philanthropic foundations. Many of his own studies were influenced largely by the advent of bacteriology and include researches in diphtheria, pneumonia, and wound infections, especially those caused by the bacillus of ga gangrene which bears his name as one of its synonyms. The biography of William Henry Welch by Simon and James Thomas Flerner (4) will stimulate and reward any who read it. Di8tribtdion of Bacillus aerogenes capualaus (5) Following a brief statement concerning the many synonyms for the B. aero- genes capoulatus, Welch indicated in some detail the frequent isolation of this organim in his laboratory from the feces of many species including man, also from garden soil, market milk, flies, cesspools, etc. "From these and similar findings by others, this organism must be regarded as one of the most widely distributed bacteria." These remarks at the dinner were made "off the cuff". All who have had the good fortune to know Dr. Welch will appreciate that they were given with a flair, with genial charm, and with a wealth of historical comment and allusion. 1902 Washington Herbert W. Conn 1854-1917 Professor inWesleyan University throughout his profeional life, Conn was active in the founding of this Society, author of many books and scientific papers in the ride field of biology and bacteriology so closely joined during this early period of our history. His son H. J. Conn gave a biographical sketch of the father as his presidential address in 184 (6). No record of the presidential address of the father has been found in the litera- ture or in the Archives of the Society. 1903 Philadelphia Theobald Smith 1859-1926 In the Bureau of Animal Industry, at Harvard Medical School, and as first Director of the Division of Animal Pathology of the Rockefeller Institute at Princeton, Theobald Smith, spare of body and keen of mind, both led and 216 PAUL F.