MRS. LEE AND PRESIDENT CONANT ARE SPEAKERS AT OPENING OF LIBRARY

The following remarks were made by President Conant and Mrs. Frances Glessner Lee, of Litticton, N. H., at the dedication of the new George Burgess Magrath Library of Legal Medicine at the Faculty Club, Harvard Medical School at 4 o'clock yesterday. Mrs. Lee is the donor of the library, which contains one thousand volumes on legal medicine and is unique in the United States. Mrs. Lee in 1932 founded the chair of Legal Medicine at the Medical School, which is held by Dr. George Burgess Magrath, Professor of Legal Medicine and Medical Examiner for Suffolk County.

Mrs. Lee said: "For many years I have hoped that I might do something in my lifetime that, should be of significant value to the community. I was sincerely glad to find that my opportunity to serve lay here at the Harvard Medical School.

"You are possibly all familiar with the objective in mind. My wish is to build up here a Department of Legal Medicine second to none other, but I firmly believe that its growth must be gradual in order to be sure. The plan is destined to a manifold development, only a small part of which is as yet under way. We are here today to mark the establishing of that part--to lay the corner stone of a structure which will need time to build, but which must ultimately prove of consequence in the service of mankind.

"I am grateful for this opportunity to pay a tribute to your colleague, my old-time friend Dr. Magrath, a man who practically created his profession, and whose life has been devoted to perfecting it.

"I have the honor of presenting to the President and Follows of Harvard College, albeit as yet in embryonic form. The George Burgess Magrath Library of Legal Medicine."

President Conant said: "Mrs. Lee, as President of Harvard University and on behalf of the Governing Boards I accept with gratitude your gift of a library of legal medicine. We appreciate most sincerely your generosity, and we are pleased that you have decided to make this University the permanent custodian of this valuable collection.

"The acquisition of this unique library is an important step in strengthening the study of legal medicine here at Harvard. It brings us nearer the goal of having a department comparable to those which have flourished for some time in certain European centers. I know that you. . are interested in furthering the study of legal medicine and that you regard this gift, as you have said, as the cornerstone of a structure which we may ultimately hope to erect.

"We are indebted to you not only for the presentation of the library but also for the careful and patient collecting of the actual volumes, many of which are so rare and of such great value. With the aid of this library I feel sure that this great School of Medicine will continue to develop in a worthy fashion medico-legal studies, the field in which you are so interested. By doing this the University will render a notable service to the commonwealth. Your gift and your interest have, therefore, significance for the whole community.

"This is an informal gathering, and I know it is your wish to make the cere-mony as simple and as brief as possible; however, I should like to say a few words about the happy circumstances that the library is to be known as the George Burgess Magrath Library of Legal Medicine. It is fitting that the name of one of the outstanding leaders in the field of legal medicine should be associated with this library. Moreover, it is pleasing to all of us that Dr. Magrath, who has been connected with Harvard almost all of his life, should be thus honored. A graduate of Harvard College, of the Harvard Medical School, long an instructor here and in recent years a professor of legal medicine, and for more than twenty-five years one of the two medical examiners of Suffolk County; this is Dr. Magrath's record.

"By his vigorous personality and the skillfull discharge of his duties he has played an important part in demonstrating the superiority of the system of med- ical examiners as compared with the old coroner system. The ancient office of coroner involved such a combination of legal and medical duties as to make it unsuitable for complex, modern conditions. It was condemned in this state in 1878, and the medical examiners system was instituted. A recent survey of the situation by a committee of the National Research Council has led to the statement that the office of coroner is an anachronism, and should be abolished, the medical duties of the coroner's office being vested in a medical examiner.

The problems which confront the coroner or medical examiner are of such a nature as to require that all the resources of modern science be brought to bear upon them. The examination should be made by a skilled pathologist who can call to his assistance other experts in allied fields, if necessary. This is possible only if the medical aspects of the old coroner's duties are put on a professional basis, as they have been under the Massachusetts system. Dr. Magrath, as one of the few men devoting all his time . . . and energy to this important work, has contributed much to building up a high standard for the profession. He has established traditions which affect not only the system in this state, but will serve to influence the practice throughout this country as the old coroner system is gradually superseded by the system of medical examiners. The manner in which he has carried on his work has demonstrated better than many long arguments the advantages of the system of which he is the exponent.

"For all these reasons we are happy to have here in the Harvard Medical School a library which will assist the medical examiners of the present and future, and we are glad that it is to bear the name of our colleague Dr. Magrath.