OSLER, WILLIAM. 1849-1919.


Autograph Letter Signed ("Wm Osler") to [Jesse M.] Mosher, offering information on the Albany Medical School Base Hospital Unit No 33, 2 pp, 12mo, December 24, 1918, on his 13 Norham Gardens stationery, remnants of old stub to edge of verso.OSLER NOTES THE EARLY EXPERIENCE OF THE ALBANY MEDICAL SCHOOL BASE HOSPITAL AT PORTSMOUTH. Writing to Jesse M. Mosher, in part, "I have no record of my flag-raising remarks - so sorry. They did not amount to much. The unit has had a brief but interesting experience at Portsmouth. Elting made things hum at first; & Corning has been an unqualified success as his successor. The clin. & path. laboratory was one of the very best I have ever seen & the x-ray outfit was extraordinarily good..." He also requests a visit from Mosher's son, "I should be so pleased to show him my books. Mosher was a specialist in neurology and psychiatry at Albany Medical College, establishing the first psychiatric ward within a general hospital. With the US entry into the Great War, the Albany Medical College and Hospital sent a unit of 24 physicians, 152 enlisted men, 65 nurses and 6 civilians to establish Base Hospital Unit No 33. They arrived at Portsmouth, England in May 1918 with the expectation of serving in France. Osler, who often acted as a consultant for Army medical units, was on hand for the flag-raising ceremony and commissioning.