The members of the Society were accustomed to array themselves in masquerade dresses, and in the evening would enter the houses of the inhabitants of Cambridge, unbidden, though not always unwelcome guests. This practice, however, and that of conferring degrees on public characters, brought the Society, as is above stated, into great disrepute with the College Faculty, by whom it was abolished in the year 1834.
The Catalogue of the Society was a burlesque on the Triennial of the College. The first was printed in the year 1821, the others followed in the years 1824, 1827, 1830, and 1833. The title on the cover of the Catalogue of 1833, the last issued, similar to the titles borne by the others, was, "Catalogus Senatus Facultatis, et eorum qui munera et officia gesserunt, quique alicujus gradus laurea donati sunt in Facultate Medicinæ in Universitate Harvardiana constituta, Cantabrigiæ in Republica Massachusettensi. Cantabrigiæ: Sumptibus Societatis. MDCCCXXXIII. Sanguinis circulationis post patefactionem Anno CCV."
The Prefaces to the Catalogues were written in Latin, the character of which might well be denominated piggish. In the following translations by an esteemed friend, the beauty and force of the originals are well preserved.
Preface to the Catalogue of 1824.
"To many, the first edition of the Medical Faculty Catalogue was a wonderful and extraordinary thing. Those who boasted that they could comprehend it, found themselves at length terribly and widely in error. Those who did not deny their inability to get the idea of it, were astonished and struck with amazement. To certain individuals, it seemed to possess somewhat of wit and humor, and these laughed immoderately; to others, the thing seemed so absurd and foolish, that they preserved a grave and serious countenance.
"Now, a new edition is necessary, in which it is proposed to state briefly in order the rise and progress of the Medical Faculty. It is an undoubted matter of history, that the Medical Faculty is the most ancient of all societies in the whole world. In fact, its archives contain documents and annals of the Society, written on birch-bark, which are so ancient that they cannot be read at all; and, moreover, other writings belong to the Society, legible it is true, but, by ill-luck, in the words of an unknown and long-buried language, and therefore unintelligible. Nearly all the documents of the Society have been reduced to ashes at some time amid the rolling years since the creation of man. On this account the Medical Faculty cannot pride itself on an uninterrupted series of records. But many oral traditions in regard to it have reached us from our ancestors, from which it may be inferred that this society formerly flourished under the name of the 'Society of Wits' (Societas Jocosorum); and you might often gain an idea of it from many shrewd remarks that have found their way to various parts of the world.
"The Society, after various changes, has at length been brought to its present form, and its present name has been given it. It is, by the way, worthy of note, that this name is of peculiar signification, the word 'medical' having the same force as 'sanative' (sanans), as far as relates to the mind, and not to the body, as in the vulgar signification. To be brief, the meaning of 'medical' is 'diverting' (divertens), that is, turning the mind from misery, evil, and grief. Under this interpretation, the Medical Faculty signifies neither more nor less than the 'Faculty of Recreation.' The thing proposed by the Society is, to divert its immediate and honorary members from unbecoming and foolish thoughts, and is twofold, namely, relating both to manners and to letters. Professors in the departments appropriated to letters read lectures; and the alumni, as the case requires, are sometimes publicly examined and questioned. The Library at present contains a single book, but this one is called for more and more every day. A collection of medical apparatus belongs to the Society, beyond doubt the most grand and extensive in the whole world, intended to sharpen the faculties of all the members.
"Honorary degrees have been conferred on illustrious and remarkable men of all countries.
"A certain part of the members go into all academies and literary 'gymnasia,' to act as nuclei, around which branches of this Society may be enabled to form."
Preface to the Catalogue of 1830.