Abstract
The statements of Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO, abound within the osteopathic literature. However, Still is sometimes misquoted, and corresponding references to his quotations are occasionally incomplete or inaccurate. There are several reasons why these errors continue to occur, including confusion surrounding the copyright dates and multiple editions of his books. In addition, less reliable, secondary sources of Still's words are often used instead of primary sources. To help resolve these problems, the author proposes 3 solutions. A list of Still's known published books, including the correct copyright date of The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy, is provided. The disadvantages associated with using the 2 most popular secondary sources of Still's work are described. Guidelines from the 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style are reviewed to assist authors, educators, and students in accurately citing material from older sources, such as Still's writings.
Three long-standing problems continue to impede the accurate quoting of Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO. One problem is the uncertainty surrounding the copyright date of 1 of his 4 books,
The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Another is the use of 2 popular secondary sources containing excerpts of Dr Still's writings
1,2—some of which are inaccurately quoted. These sources are
Sage Sayings of Still: Selected from the Writings of Dr. A. T. Still, Founder of Osteopathy; With a Historical Sketch of Osteopathy and an Appreciation of Dr. Still (1935) and
Doctor A. T. Still in the Living, His Concepts and Principles of Health and Disease (1950). The third problem seems to be the inattentiveness of individual authors to verify, cite, or reference their own works against the original sources.
To aid authors in accurately citing and referencing quotations from Still, I offer the following 3 solutions: (1) a chronological list of copyright application and grant dates of Still's published books, (2) an argument dissuading the use of secondary sources for quoting Still's work, and (3) the reiteration of a set of established rules for citing and referencing sources.
If Still's words are going to continue being used to support the osteopathic profession's ever-growing body of knowledge, more care must be taken to reproduce his quotations accurately. Quotations attributed to Still are used in speeches, advertisements, textbooks, articles, and graduate theses. Yet, when these quotations are compared with Still's original writings, they frequently are found to be inaccurate. In some cases, these alterations are accidental; in other cases, they seem intentional. In either case, it is academically problematic to alter a direct quotation without offering an explanation for the change. Failure to meet accepted academic standards in quoting and referencing Still's statements could result in serious consequences for the osteopathic profession as a whole.
The 4 books known to be released by Still are the following:
-
Autobiography of Andrew T. Still with a History of the Discovery and Development of the Science of Osteopathy (1897, revised 1908)
-
Philosophy of Osteopathy (1899)
-
The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy (1902)
-
Osteopathy Research and Practice (1910)
Autobiography of Andrew Taylor Still with a History of the Discovery and Development of the Science of Osteopathy (referred to as
Autobiography in the present article) was Still's first book, published in 1897.
3 The Library of Congress granted copyright number 4881 to the book in 1898.
4 In 1907, the printing plates for the original edition were damaged in a fire, but because the book remained in demand, Still revised the 1897 edition. This new version was published in 1908. From the revised edition, he omitted some ideas “which were practically of no importance to the general reader....”
5 The modifications to the 1908 edition, though minor, have historical significance.
Because of a layout change, the revised version has fewer pages than the 1897 edition—even with the addition of a preface and 15 new pages. The 1908 version is now widely available, though that was not the case in the 20th century. The 1897 edition remains rare despite being reprinted in 1972.
6 Unfortunately, the illustrations in the 1908 edition are of a poorer quality than in the original edition as a result of the fire that damaged the printing plates.
Still's second book,
Philosophy of Osteopathy, was published in 1899.
7 Its copyright application was registered with the Library of Congress on October 5, 1899, as number 64516.
8 The Committee of Publication of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy was responsible for the first reissue of
Philosophy of Osteopathy in 1946. To this edition, the committee added a lengthy foreword praising Still and his contribution to osteopathy.
9 Each of the academy's members received a complimentary copy courtesy of Still's daughter, Blanche.
9 All of the reprints published since the 1946 reissue are identical, including the foreword, pagination, style, and font.
Still's third book,
The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy (abbreviated as
PMPO),
10 was published in 1902—despite some evidence suggesting it was published and copyrighted in 1892. If it was published in 1892,
PMPO would be Still's first book. The overwhelming evidence however, supports a publication and copyright date of 1902, making it his third book. The confusion continues today because although the title page and preface of both editions are dated 1902, the left front matter of both the original edition (
Figure 1)
10 and its 1986 reprint (
Figure 2)
11 indicate that it was copyrighted in 1892.
As a result of this ambiguity in publication date,
PMPO has been referenced using the supposed first copyright date (1892), the actual publishing and copyright date (1902), and the reprint date (1986). For example, the second edition of
Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine references
PMPO using all 3 dates
12:
Still AT. The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Original copyright by the author, Kirksville, Mo: 1892. Then, Kansas City, Mo: 1902. Reprinted, Kirksville, MO: Osteopathic Enterprises; 1986.
In some citations,
Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine (third edition) references the 1902 version correctly, using 1 copyright date.
13-15 In other citations, the book incorrectly uses 2 copyright dates
16,17:
Still AT. The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Kirksville, MO: Original copyright by the author, 1892. Then, Kansas City, MO: 1902. Reprinted, Kirksville, MO: Osteopathic Enterprises, 1986.16
Still AT. The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co., 1892 and 1902.17
R.P. Lee, DO, author of
Interface: The Mechanism of Spirit in Osteopathy, astutely used a footnote to indicate that PMPO may have been published in 1902 instead of 1892.
18
▪
Arguments for 1892—Both strong and weak arguments have been advanced in support of an 1892 publication date for
PMPO. William Garner Sutherland, DO, who was a student at the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri, between 1898 and 1900 and who also worked at a “print shop,”
19 claimed to have seen the galley proofs of some of Still's manuscripts before they were published.
20 Dr Sutherland seemed sure that
PMPO was written before
Philosophy of Osteopathy, as he stated in
Philosophy of Osteopathy: And its Application by the Cranial Concept, draft21 (
Figure 3). Unfortunately, Sutherland did not indicate in which timeframe he thought
PMPO was written.
Further evidence suggests that Still had a book ready for print in 1892. This evidence comes in the form of a brief note written in Still's indisputable handwriting. The intended receiver was “J.R.M.,” in all likelihood the initials of Still's friend John Roy Musick,
22 whom Still credited as being the compiler of
Philosophy of Osteopathy and
Autobiography.
23 Although the note was undated and the name of his book not provided, Still wrote, “June 92 will be the time for publication.”
24
Jerry Dickey, DO, who was a friend of Still's grand-daughter, was adamant that
PMPO “was not published for 10 years,”
25(p135) suggesting that the book could have been written as early as 1892. Some portions of
PMPO are known to have been composed as early as 1898. For example, a paragraph beginning with the words “WONDERS are daily callers, and seem to be greatly on the increase...” was first published in 1898 in the
Journal of Osteopathy.
26 That same paragraph was then edited slightly for publication in 1899 for
Philosophy of Osteopathy7(p193) and reedited again in 1902 for inclusion in
PMPO.
28 Perhaps Still delayed publication of
PMPO because he was not initially satisfied with the text or felt that it provided too much information to his competitors.
27
▪
Arguments Against 1892—A copyright search for
PMPO was conducted at the Library of Congress in 2010 by Anthony J. Bogucki, senior copyright research specialist in the Records, Research, and Certification Section (A.J. Bogucki, written communication, April 2010). This search spanned the years 1870 through 1897, as a previous search, conducted in 1991, covered the years following 1897.
4 Bogucki confirmed that there was no record of any application for copyright under the name
PMPO (or Andrew Taylor Still) during the searched period. Therefore,
PMPO could not have been copyrighted in 1892.
▪
Arguments for 1902—Strong statements by 2 of Still's associates, Charles Hazzard, DO,
29 and C.M.T. Hulett, DO,
30 favor the writing period of
PMPO being closer to 1902. Two known existing draft versions of the preface to
PMPO indicate that Still may have started writing the preface as early as January 1900. The first preface draft (
Figure 4) shows an editor's slash through the second 0 of 1900.
31 An unbiased professional editor, Cindy Knowles, was shown the markings on this page and asked to comment on the slash. In her response, Knowles noted a variety of reasons why a proofreader or editor would use such a slash and then systematically eliminated each of those reasons in this particular case (C. Knowles, written communication, May 2008). The editor concluded, “I think it says 1901.”
The second draft version (
Figure 5)
32 appears to be a reworked adaptation of the previous draft. In this second draft, the last digit of the January 1 date seems to be altered twice, once to 1902 and again to 1903.
32
In a 1901 article, Still reported that he had compiled 2 books to date.
22 These books must have been
Autobiography and
Philosophy of Osteopathy, because their dates of publication have been indisputably established as 1897
33 and 1899,
34 respectively.
Consecutive issues of the
Journal of Osteopathy, in September,
35,36 October,
37 November,
38 and December 1902,
39 outlined the progress of the release of
PMPO. Finally, the January 1903 edition of the
Journal of Osteopathy announced that
PMPO was “ready for sale.”
40 JAOA—The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association confirmed receiving its first copy of
PMPO in February 1903.
41
The most convincing evidence for a 1902 publication of
PMPO comes from a copyright search conducted in 1991. That search revealed that an application for copyright of
PMPO was made on December 8, 1902, and that the Library of Congress received 2 copies of
PMPO on January 17, 1903.
4(p1)According to Peter M. Vankevich, head of the Copyright Information Section at the US Copyright Office in Washington, DC, this procedure met the requirements of the 1870 copyright law, and
PMPO was registered with copyright number A7638 (P.M. Vankevich, written communication, April 2010). This finding substantiates the fact that
PMPO was copyrighted in 1902.
▪
Reprint—The only reprint of
PMPO came in 1986, when Osteopathic Enterprise—a company founded by a group of osteopathic physicians, including Jerry Dickey, DO—photographically reproduced the book from a copy owned by Still's granddaughter, Mary Jane Denslow.
25(p136)
The 1986 reprint is the version that is readily available today. It is identical in every respect to the original, except for the left front matter, which denotes Osteopathic Enterprise as the publisher.
▪ Conclusion—Some portions of PMPO were composed in 1898, and perhaps the entire book was ready for publication as early as 1892. However, the overwhelming evidence suggests that PMPO was Still's third book, published and copyrighted in 1902. Thus, it is unnecessary to include the year 1892 when referencing the book.
Osteopathy Research and Practice was Still's fourth book, published in 1910. The Library of Congress granted copyright in 1910 with number A265340.
4(p1) During the 20th century, many versions of
Osteopathy Research and Practice, all with identical text but with varying numbers of pages and different designs, were released.
42-47
In 1992, Eastland Press released the most popular version of
Osteopathy Research and Practice, with the famous photograph of Still pondering the human femur on the cover and the foreword written by Harold Goodman, DO.
47 Because of this book's multiple publications, care must be exercised when citing
Osteopathy Research and Practice.
A troublesome reason for misquoting Still arises from the popular use of secondary sources of his words. This practice emerged in the mid-20th century, when accessing his published books had become increasingly difficult. As a result, 2 collections of quotations attributed to Still were published. George V. Webster, DO, produced
Sage Sayings of Still: Selected from the Writings of Dr. A. T. Still, Founder of Osteopathy; With a Historical Sketch of Osteopathy and an Appreciation of Dr. Still in 1935,
1 and Robert E. Truhlar, DO, was responsible for
Doctor A. T. Still in the Living, His Concepts and Principles of Health and Disease, in 1950.
2
In Sage Sayings of Still, Webster arranged approximately 100 of Still's quotations alphabetically by subject. Although each quotation was referenced, Webster failed to indicate the editions of the books from which the quotations were extracted. Despite its age, Webster's book remains readily available.
Doctor A. T. Still in the Living contains in excess of 1000 quotations, conveniently packaged alphabetically by the theme of the statement.
2 Unfortunately, none of the quotations in Truhlar's book were referenced—not by title, year, edition, or page number. Other inherent problems with Truhlar's compilation are that some quotations were taken out of context, some were likely transcribed incorrectly, and others seem to have been intentionally altered.
An even more disturbing concern is that some quotations in Truhlar's book were not from Still's writings. Rather, they were statements recalled by H.H. Gravett, DO,
48 from lectures given by Still at the American School of Osteopathy in 1896. Gravett had published his recollections in 1948, and Truhlar incorrectly attributed these statements to Still.
An inaccurate quotation and contradictory reference appears in chapter 39 of the second edition of
Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine.
49(p566) The sentence, found on page 566 of this book, reads as follows (with quotation marks as in the original text): “To find health is the object of the physician; anyone can find disease.” The reference for this quotation is given as: Truhlar RE.
Sage Sayings of A. T. Still. Indianapolis, IN: American Academy of Osteopathy; 1994.
49(p572)
There are several problems with both this quotation and its accompanying reference. Webster is the author of
Sage Sayings of Still, not Truhlar, and the actual title of Webster's book does not include Still's initials.
1 The foregoing quotation does not appear in
Sage Sayings of Still, but something similar to it does appear in Truhlar's
Doctor A. T. Still in the Living.
2 Furthermore, according to Debra Loguda-Summers, curator of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine
SM, “there is no 1994 reprint or edition of Truhlar, Robert;
Dr. A. T. Still in the Living” (D. Loguda-Summers, written communication, May 2008).
Besides the author, title, and year of publication being contradictory, the statement on page 566 of
Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine49(p566) has been altered from Still's original quotation, which reads: “To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease.” This exact quotation appears identically in
Philosophy of Osteopathy,
7(p28) PMPO,
10(p72) and even in Truhlar.
2(p62)
By changing “should be” in the original sentence to “is,” the statement's conditional nature is altered, making it appear as though to find health is an accepted fact or doctrine within the osteopathic profession. Furthermore, modernizing “doctor” to “physician” has ramifications that affect the statement's original meaning.
The third edition of
Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine also has some quoting and referencing problems. For example, the same “to find health” quotation appears in this book at least 3 times. In 1 case, the statement is correctly quoted, but the year of publication is missing from its corresponding reference.
50 In another case, Truhlar is incorrectly quoted.
51 In yet another case, the identical misquote that was found in the second edition on page 566 is used again in the third edition, but with no reference provided for this quotation.
52
An Internet search conducted in 2010 using the Google search engine and the phrase
anyone can find disease along with the word
osteopathy revealed a startling number of variations on Still's original statement, including the following:
A doctor's job is to find health, anyone can find disease.
It is the object of a physician to find health, anyone can find disease.
It is the objective of the doctor to find health, anyone can find disease.
Anyone can find disease. The role of a physician is to find health.
To find health is the mission of the doctor—anyone can find disease.
To find health should be the object of the practitioner. Anyone can find disease.
Another misrepresented quote of Still is found in chapter 6, titled “Functional Anatomy 2: Horizontal Diaphragms,” of an American Academy of Osteopathy publication.
53(p34) The misquote reads: “By it's (diaphragms) action we live, and by it's failure we shrink, or swell and die.” The correct reference for this quotation (
Philosophy of Osteopathy, page 164) was provided, but Still's original sentence reads: “By its action we live, and by its failure we shrink, or swell, and die.”
7(p164)
Note that the correct quote contains the possessive pronoun its, and the altered version uses it's, which is a contraction for it is or it has. A comma after the word swell has also been omitted, altering the meaning of the statement.
The standard practice of inserting a bracketed word, in this case
diaphragms, within a quote to indicate the subject of a sentence when it may be unclear within the original quote was used appropriately. However, the inserted word
diaphragms was incorrect, because this statement is derived from Still's chapter on fascia and was referring to the fascia's action, not to the diaphragm's action.
7(p164)A sentence similar to both Still's fascial statement and the altered version of the quote is found in
Philosophy of Osteopathy on page 136, in the chapter on the thoracic diaphragm.
7(p136) This sentence reads as follows (the quotation marks are shown as used by Still):
This diaphragm says: “By me you live and by me you die. I hold in my hand the powers of life and death, acquaint now thyself with me and be at ease.”
Thus, the author in the American Academy of Osteopathy publication
53 not only quoted Still's words inaccurately but has made the original sentence grammatically incorrect—going as far as providing a misrepresentation of the original subject matter.
According to the 10th edition of the
AMA Manual of Style, section 3.6, a book is referenced by its copyright year.
54(p42) Using AMA formatting, the original version of
PMPO should be referenced as follows:
Still AT. The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Kansas City, MO: Hudson-Kimberly Pub Co; 1902.
The 1986 reprint should be referenced as follows:
Still AT. The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Reprinted, Kirksville, MO: Osteopathic Enterprise; 1986. Originally published, Kansas City, MO: Hudson-Kimberly Pub Co; 1902.
The solution for ensuring academic rigor in quoting Still is to transcribe his words exactly as originally recorded. The
AMA Manual of Style states: “[t]he author should always verify the quotation from the original source,” and “[i]n all quoted material, follow the wording, spelling, and punctuation of the original exactly.”
54(p359) The only exception to the latter rule is when a quoted sentence begins with a capital letter in the original source and is used within another complete sentence in the secondary source. In that case, the capitalized letter may be replaced with a lowercase letter enclosed in brackets, as illustrated in the second sentence of the present paragraph.
The
AMA Manual of Style also states “[b]rackets are used to indicate editorial interpolation within a quotation and to enclose corrections, explanations, or comments,”
54(p357) and to use [sic] sparingly “when quoting material from another era that now uses obsolete spellings.”
54(p359)
When Still's quotations are used to support modern ideas in osteopathic medicine (as well as in osteopathy in general), there should be absolute adherence to their original form. Still's right to be accurately quoted should parallel the accepted standards of practice throughout academia. The inaccessibility of Still's books is now completely remedied. His writings are available worldwide, and the correct dates of copyright and publication have been firmly established. Secondary collections of Still's works, such as those by Webster
1 and Truhlar,
2 which had value when Still's books were difficult to obtain, have now been shown to be unreliable and redundant.
Each author, educator, and student has not only the ability, but the obligation, to faithfully cite and reference A.T. Still—and indeed all of the early osteopathic literature. Failure to maintain the highest standards of competency, integrity, and accuracy in quoting from the written historical works of this great profession may lead to a loss of heritage and reputation.