American dermatology journals. Their growth from 1870 to 1920.

Some fall stillborn from the press, many die in their infancy, a few attain to a vigorous manhood, and, now and then, one is fortunate enough to reach old age. — Samuel D. Gross 1 A CENTURY AGO, there was no Englishlanguage journal of dermatology, and the only periodical devoted exclusively to skin diseases, Giornale Italiano delle Malattie Veneree e delle Pelle , was just beginning. In fact, specialties did not appear on the medical scene until the mid-19th century, and in America, until after the Civil War. The fledgling disciplines of ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and dermatology were poorly organized everywhere. The American Ophthalmological Society did not begin until 1864; the American Otological Society, 1865; and the New York Dermatological Society, 1869. While great strides had been made in delineating many of the diseases and in evolving some method of therapy, these specialties were in their infancies, and their leaders