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One of the most distinguishing medical historians of the past generation, Henry E. Sigerist, died long before he was able to complete his project of producing a monumental encyclopedia of the history of medicine from the beginning of time to the present. When he retired from the direction of the Institute of Medical History and the Welch Library at Johns Hopkins, he was of the opinion that escaping from the great pressures of time and work in a busy medical-academic center in a large city would give him the opportunity to complete this vast undertaking under more leisurely auspices. So he sought sanctuary in his beloved Switzerland.
The first of 8 projected volumes of this series came out nearly 10 years ago. Medical historians everywhere were happy and looked forward with pleasant anticipation to the fulfillment of a wonderful promise. But it was not to be. The combination of ill