Ball, James Moores, 1863-1929

Ophthalmologist, 1862-1929. Professor of Ophthalmology, St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1894-1910; professor of Ophthalmology and dean, American Medical College, 1910-?.

James Moores Ball was a physician and scholar who became an eminent member of the St. Louis Medical Society. Ball received his medical degree from Iowa State University in 1884, taking further post-graduate courses in New York and Europe. He served as professor of Ophthalmology at the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1894 to 1910, then served as dean and professor of Ophthalmology at the American Medical College. Dr. Ball was active in local, state, national, and international medical societies, notably the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom, the American Ophthalmological Society, and the American Oculist Society. He was also the editor of the Annals of Ophthalmology. Additionally, Ball was a well-known author, and his writings were crafted from his own extensive personal libraries on ophthalmology and general history of medicine. His three monographs reflect his scholarly and scientific interests: Andreas Vesalius, the Reformer of Anatomy (1910), Modern Ophthalmology (six editions between 1904 and 1927), and a study of the practice of body snatching, The Sack-em' Up Men (1928).