Abram Sager, M.D.  Click on image to enlarge Professor Abram Sager, M. D. Dr. Sager died at his residence in Ann Arbor, August 6th, 1877, from phthisis, complicated, near the end, with disease of the kidneys and with dysentery. Born at Bethlehem, Albany Co., N. Y., December 22, 1810, he was educated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1831. At this school he was under the instruction and inspiration of Professors Torrey and Eaton, men noted in the study of botany and zoology. Thus was developed a taste for these studies, which he cultivated with such eminent success throughout much of his after life. His medical studies were pursued at Albany and New Haven, Conn., under the guidance of Professors Marsh and Ives. He attended lectures at the Albany Medical School and at Castleton, Vt., graduating at the latter institution in 1835. He settled first in Detroit, then he lived for a few years at Jackson, and finally located at Ann Arbor, where he has lived for over thirty years. In 1838 he married Sarah E. Dwight, daughter of Darius D wight, of Detroit. Of the eight children born to them, five are now living, three sons and two daughters. In 1837 he received the appointment of chief in charge of the botanical and zoological departments of the Michigan state geological survey. The zoological specimens, which were the basis of his report in 1839, laid the foundation of the present zoological collection in the University museum. His botanical collections were also important and of great value. The Sager herbarium, now in the University museum, contains 1,200 species and 2,000 specimens. These were collected in New England and the West. He also prepared and placed in the medical museum a valuable collection illustrating comparative craniology, neurology and embriology of the verte- brata. From 1842 to 1855 he was professor of botany and zoology in Michigan University. In 1848 he was appointed to the chair of the ' Theory and Practice of Medicine," and in 1850 that of " Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children" in the medical department of the University. This latter position he continued to hold till 1875, the last four years as Emeritus professor. For several years he was dean of the medical faculty, and held the position after failing health compelled him to relinquish the work of teaching. Dr. Sager was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia, and the Academy of Science of Chicago; of the American Medical Association; of the New York State Medical Society and of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. He is the author of a variety of papers in the Peninsular Journal of Medicine and Detroit Review of Medicine, besides papers in the American Journal of Science, and in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia. After the death of Dr. Eaton, he was tendered the presidency of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but did not accept. In 1876 Dr. Sager was unanimously elected president of the Michigan State Medical Society. For many years he was an active member of the Board of Education of Ann Arbor. It will not be forgotten that Professor Sager's success as a teacher was attained in spite of certain natural defects. Neither his voice, his physical appearance or his temperament were favorable to public teaching, yet his other excellencies were such that, although surrounded by teachers possessing the natural gifts that he lacked, he steadily retained his hold upon the students of the University for more than a quarter of a century, until his resignation.