Henry Hodgen Mudd / [John Blasdel Shapleigh].

  • Shapleigh, John Blasdel, 1858-1925.
Date:
[1925]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Henry Hodgen Mudd / [John Blasdel Shapleigh]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2 SURGERY, GYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS For nearly the whole of his professional life he was connected with the St. Louis Medical College, as prosector and demonstrator of anatomy from 1872 to 1883; professor of anatomy from 1880 to 1883; professor of anatomy and clinical surgery from 1883 to 1886; professor of surgical anatomy and clinical surgery from 1886 to 1890; and professor of clinical surgery and dean of the faculty in 1890. His service as teacher and executive was terminated only by his death, November 20, 1899. As a teacher his constant aim was to make his instruction practical and help¬ ful to his students and he sought to impress them by the clearness of his pres¬ entation rather than by ornate diction or elaborate oratory. His lectures therefore were simple, logical, and full of useful suggestions. He was quick to recognize merit in his students and his quiet smile of approval or occasional word of commendation was valued more by them than would have been effusive praise from others. His influence on them was not confined to the class room, for from his character and example they gained an incentive to uprightness and high ideals which must have had a lasting, if unconscious, effect upon their later lives. As dean of the medical school his unusual administrative ability and his far¬ sighted policy made him a powerful factor in the advancement of medical educa¬ tion in the Middle West. It was a time of transition and of increasing demands upon the resources of independent medical schools and he fully realized the necessity of a university connection for them if they were completely to fulfill their obligations. It was in the second year of his deanship that the St. Louis Medical College became the Medical Department of Washington University, a union destined to develop one of the great medical schools of the country. Dr. Mudd was for many years surgeon in chief of St. Luke’s Hospital and through his ability and reputation contributed very largely to its growth and prestige. He took an active part in the work of the St. Louis Medical Society and was its president in 1881. He was also a member of the Medical Fund Society of St. Louis (an organization formed solely for the betterment of medical educa¬ tion), the Missouri State Medical Association, the American Medical Associa¬ tion, and the American Surgical Association. Dr. Mudd’s most important published articles are the one on “Hernia” in Wood's Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, the one on the “Surgery of the Mouth and Tongue” in Dennis’ System of Surgery, and the chapter on “Frac¬ tures and Dislocations” in Park’s Surgery by American Authors. Besides these he was the author of many valuable papers read before various medical societies which, unfortunately, have not been preserved. He was modest in self appraisal, undemonstrative, and somewhat reserved in manner, and his strength of character and the charm of his personality won for him the confidence and affection of all who knew him well.