This was Osler's first collaboration with Thomas McCrae. Osler and McCrae reviewed 150 cases of cancer of the stomach seen at Johns Hopkins in an encyclopedic fashion. Surgery was often recommended for definitive diagnosis and early treatment. The close interaction between Osler and William Halsted at Hopkins was perhaps one of the earliest examples of multidisciplinary management, which has proved to be such a valuable approach in oncology. “To attain the best possible results the physician and surgeon must cooperate.”  Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Osler contributed six chapters to this massive system of medicine: "The Evolution of Internal Medicine", "Diseases of the Arteries,"  "Aneurism," "Raynaud's Disease," "Diffuse Scleroderma,"  "Angioneurotic Oedema." Osler contracted with Lea Brothers to edit a multivolume series of specialized articles by the best authorities he could sign up. The models were the Systems edited by William Pepper in the 1880s and Clifford Allbutt in the 1890s, to both of which Osler had contributed. Based upon the reputation of the editor--in this case Osler's justly deserved fame-- working physicians bought the set to supplement their textbooks and journals. For contributions Osler enlisted many of his old friends, most of whom were leading experts in their fields. The massive 7-volume set, which weighed 36 pounds, contained almost 7,000 pages. In addition to Osler and McCrae, the authors included Maude Abbott, George Adami, Lewellys Barker, George Blumer, Richard Cabot, Henry Christian, Rufus Cole, William Councilman, Harvey Cushing, George Dock, David Edsall, Thomas Futcher, Archibald E. Garrod, Gordon Holmes, Henry Koplik, Warfield Longcope, William MacCallum, Frederick Novy, Eugene Opie, Joseph Pratt, Humphrey Rolleston, Bernard Sachs, and Hugh Hampton Young, among others.

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.