Academic scientists and the pharmaceutical industry: cooperative research in twentieth-century America

sanitary science, and personal hygiene to the common soldiers. He appointed medical inspectors who, in the process of gathering information, would also serve as exponents of sanitation. The Union Army was woefully unprepared for hostilities, and the Medical Corps, under an octogenerian surgeon-general who had seen service in the War of 1812, was in a deplorable condition. Realizing that the limited funds and supplies of the Sanitary Commission could not possibly compensate for the inadequacies of the Medical Corps, Olmstead and his cohorts lobbied Congress for a medical corps reform bill. Their efforts were successful, and in April 1862, one year after the start of hostilities, an able surgeon-general was appointed. The Medical Corps was not alone in being unprepared; the Olmstead papers reveal general confusion and disorganization in the first years of the war. They also show an equally unbelievable amount of callousness and lack of concern for the welfare of the soldiers on the parts of both officers and surgeons. Like earlier intelligent men, Olmstead recognized the correlation between the health of troops and their fighting qualities. With this in mind, the Commission worked to improve the calibre of army surgeons, distributed large amounts offresh food, medical supplies, and blankets, inspected hospitals, aided sick and discharged soldiers, and gathered statistical information. By the time he resigned in 1863, Olmstead had created an effective administrative organization, contributed significantly to reforming the Medical Corps, and helped make the Sanitary Commission an important force for sanitary reform both in the armed services and in postwar America as a whole. The editor has written an excellent introduction and provided a series of biographical sketches of the leading figures. Detailed footnotes make the correspondence and papers clear to even the most uninformed reader. For medical historians, the papers shed new light on the clashes between the Sanitary Commission and the many other voluntary civilian aid groups. In addition to providing insights into many areas of American history, this volume is essential reading for any student of Civil War medicine. Systematic information about the relations between academic scientists and industry is hard to find. Many senior scientists act as consultants to many firms, but the terms under which they serve are seldom known and it is uncertain how far industry profits from their help. One may assume that industry would not make such arrangements without benefit to itself, but the extent to which universities …