Tempus et Hora:
Time and the Hour
The title Tempus et Hora: Time and the Hour has been selected for this
exhibit primarily to honor the everchanging flow of events; past, present and
future. As the world's oldest national neurological society, the American Neurological
Association celebrates this year 125 years of activity, and renews its commitment
to a rich and continued future.
Tempus et Hora was the favored
motto of the world's first great international neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot,
who was among the first honorary members of the American Neurological Association.
Charcot decorated his private study with his adaptation of the Orsini family
crest with the powerful bear holding an hourglass. This image simultaneously
captures the past, present and future, the importance of taking firm hold of
timely opportunities, and the requisite acknowledgement of fleeting time by
even the mightiest. The motto is closely linked, but broader in its interpretive
possibilities, than the more familiar Tempus Fugate or Fleeting Time.
Though Charcot never visited the United States, his influence on American neurology
and his close association with early American neurologists justifies this special
tribute in the present exhibit.