The present collection of Contributions, Papers 34-44, comprises Bulletin 240. Each of these papers has been previously published in separate form. The year of publication is shown on the last page of each paper. FRANK A. TAYLOR _Director, United States National Museum_ Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Paper 43 HISTORY OF THE DIVISION OF MEDICAL SCIENCES by SAMI HAMARNEH SECTION OF MATERIA MEDICA (1881-1898) 272 DIVISION OF MEDICINE (1898-1939) 276 DIVISION OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (1939-1957) 281 DIVISION OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (1957 TO PRESENT) 290 A NEW DIMENSION FOR THE HEALING ARTS 292 FOOTNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY 297 INDEX [Illustration: Figure 1.--EARLY VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, known for the last quarter of a century as the Arts and Industries building. Completed in 1881, it housed the Division of Medical Sciences from its establishment in 1881 as a Section of Materia Medica to the time of the writing of this paper. While the medical collection remained in the Department of Arts and Industries, by the end of June 1912 practically all other collections belonging to the fields of natural history and anthropology were transferred to the then new Natural History building.] _Sami Hamarneh_ HISTORY of the DIVISION of MEDICAL SCIENCES _In The Museum of History and Technology_ _This paper traces, for the first time, the history of the Division of Medical Sciences in the Museum of History and Technology from its small beginnings as a section of materia medica in 1881 to its present broad scope. The original collection of a few hundred specimens of crude drugs which had been exhibited at the centennial exhibition of 1876 at Philadelphia, has now developed into the largest collection in the Western Hemisphere of historical objects related to the healing arts._ THE AUTHOR: _Sami Hamarneh is the curator of the Division of Medical Sciences in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of History and Technology._ By the early 1870's, leading figures from both the health professions and the general public had begun to realize the necessity for having the medical sciences represented in the Smithsonian Institution. The impetus behind this new feeling resulted from the action of a distinguished American physician, philanthropist, and author, Joseph Meredith Toner (1825-1896), and came almost a decade before the integration of a new section concerned with research and the historical and educational aspects of the healing arts in the Smithsonian Institution.