The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Massachusetts Medical Society

MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, an association incorporated at Boston, Mass., 1 Nov. 1781, and holding regular sessions from that date to the present. Its charter was signed by John Hancock, first State governor of Massachusetts. Physicians and surgeons, who have made their medical studies in colleges approved by the society and who have been examined by its censors and are of known probity, are eligible to membership. Women were first admitted in 1884. Since 1790 it has regularly issued its ‘Medical Communications.’ It also issues a ‘Pharmacopœia’ and ‘Publications,’ various reports and essays, an annual directory, and, since 1789, a triennial catalogue. The society is a potent force in maintaining a high standard in the medical profession. It has about 3,500 members.