ANADDEES?    ^£~rt£

DELIVERED BEFORE THE
OF THE
           MEDICAL  SOCIETY,


A
      STATE OF DELAWARE,


'^jM-    AT THE ANNUAL SESSION,
HELD AT DOVER,


   JUNE, 8, 1852.
BY ¥           :■'
HENRY F. ASKEW,  M. D, '^fga'fy I

          PRESIDENT.             ■'■-'  .
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY.
   WILMINGTON, DEL.:

HENRY ECKEL, & CO., PRINTERS.
1852. 
» vs..  N\
\
V
i 
                PROCEEDINGS
                      OF THE

    MEDICAL  SOCIETY OF  DELAWAKE,

At its Annual Session, held at Dover, June 8,1852.
             [extract from the minutes.]

  Resolved, That the thanks of this audience be, and the same are,
hereby tendered to Henry F. Askew, M. D., for his interesting and
instructive oration; and that he be requested to furnish the Medical
Society of Delaware with a copy of the same for publication.
         A»est,            B. F. CHATHAM, Secretary. 
 
   THE FOUNDERS, ORIGIN AND PROGRESS
                     OF THE

MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OE DELAWARE.
Gentlemen,—
      Fellows of the Medical Society of Delaware :
  Time  honored usage, and a law, that  antedates half a century,
demand  that our regular annual  meetings shall  be distinguished
each, by an address  to be  delivered before  you, and our  invited
guests, by one of our number previously selected.
  On this occasion that duty has devolved on myself as your pre-
siding officer.
  I may here appropriately remark, that those who are far more
thoroughly practised  than  myself, to the formalities and style of
public speaking, will excuse the avowal of some little diffidence on
my part, whilst others who being new  to such experiences,  may
hardly deem fitting and consistent with  the maturity  of  middle
life, and the  friendly familiarity, resulting from years of intimate
association with a large portion  of my  medical brethren, who  are
here assembled.
  The time and thoughts of the medical practitioner, engaged in
active business, are so entirely  and constantly occupied with the
daily routine of professional duty and engagements, that none but
the initiated, can conceive  of the difficulties and embarrassments
which surround him, when  required to elaborate  and  polish in be-
coming style for state occasions, his views on topics  of a general
character and interest, which admit not of the abstract close, harsh
phrase of technical discussion.
  I must throw myself therefore, on your kindness and forbearance,
and even more anxiously, upon  that of our fellow citizens of very
different pursuits, who have honored us  with  their presence and
countenance, on this occasion; if habit should  give to my delivery
rather the stiffness of the lecturer, than the grace and elegance of
the orator. 
6
  It has been said with much apparent truth, that " Time makes the
good better and the bad worse:'   What wiser or more useful course,
then, can we pursue, than to cast a glance into the past, take a cur-
sory view of the present, and determine from this  research to which
category we belong, and what are our prospects  for future useful-
ness, as we travel down the corridors of time.
  The " Medical Society of Delaware" has indeed,  a well founded
reputation to maintain.  It  was  born in the era of Giants.  Spring-
ing into existence, soon  after the ever great and glorious struggle,
that gave liberty to  our  country ;  and if  smallest in  stature among
her sisters, no one will  have the presumption to deny, that this gal-
lant little State, sent forth to the councils, and the  field, in  those
dark days, more, than her  share of giant intellects.   The very at-
mosphere of that marked age, seemed  to  engender lofty thoughls,
and noble purposes, not only in the  lights and leaders of the time,
but in men of every rank, in men of every profession.
  All  men were then politicians.   New  constitutions were to be
formed ; new institutions to be founded ;  and the  energy and fierce
impetus given to the human mind, during this period  of excitement,
reacted upon the philosopher in his closet, and the physician in the
varying  and  wearying  walks of his professional occupation.  Each
individual knew it to be his privilege and his duty, to contribute his
fraction  at least, to  the  common weal, and therefore  public interest
more than now, assumed precedence over private ends.
   It should be a matter of  honest pride with us, that no class of our
fellow citizens, displayed more thorough  patriotism, and self-sac-
rificing attachment to their country, during, and for  many  years
 subsequent to the revolution, than did the medical profession.  In
 each of  the  United colonies, and the young States  that sprang
 phoenix-like  from  their ashes,  that class was largely represented
 both in the camp and in the council.  Nor was  Delaware in  this
 respect behind her  sisters, nor  dimmed by any superior lustre.
   It is a singular fact,  that there are few names in the catalogue of
 those, who stood pre-eminent among the pioneers of medicine, that
 are not equally distinguished among the  statesmen, the military or
 the financial and executive servants of their country.  As the Rev.
 Dr. Matthias Wilson, combining  in  his  remarkable  character, the
 simplicity of the child, the ardour of the political  enthusiast, and
 the grave profundity of the accomplished scholar, carried with him 
7
 from parish to parish,  from academy to synod, the knowledge and
 appliances of the healing art, proving  that even medical practice
 may be rendered perepatetic, and that distinction in three  profes-
 sions is not always beyond the grasp of a single  mind.  So, many
 of our earlier medical  worthies, with whom practice  in their pe-
 culiar line, was a primary, not as in  his case, a secondary thought,
 refused  to  limit their labors to the comparatively narrow field  of
 medical duty, and in the halls of legislation gave increased dignity,
 and more usefulness  to a pursuit, which in the genuine  spirit  of
 philanthropy, links itself with all human interests.
   Though in the age of which we speak (and it has been so at other
 times,) the highest and brightest worth w-as often attended with a sin-
 gular modesty; and  the  real  founders of institutions, not  unfre-
 quently  refused to be distinguished, from those who answered  to
 their call and assisted in  the work, it  is therefore  legitimate  and
 laudable, at a later  period, when all personal  rivalries and acri-
 monies lie buried with the actors,  sometimes to indicate or endeavor
 to determine, the master mind that took  the iniative in any noble un-
 dertaking.  As illustrative of the idea, let us allude to the history of
 the first, and still the greatest civil hospital in America—the  Penn-
 sylvania Hospital.    The  world has  generally attributed to  Dr.
 Franklin, the merit of first proposing this admirably governed ref-
 uge, and unsurpassed school of clinical medicine; whilst later times
 have developed the truth, and justice demands its proclamation,  that
 the plan and the first steps of its execution  are  due to the two emi-
 nent brothers, Drs. Thomas and Phineas Bond.  On the foundation
 stones were inscribed the names of the original managers, but with
 a beautiful prescience of that republican feeling, which was  destined
 to become characteristic of the country, it was resolved  to place the
 names of these gentlemen in a circle, in order that none should claim
 pre-eminence, among the worthy.
   So in referring to the  earliest record of this association in  1789,
 we must look far down the list of corporators, numbering  some
 twenty-seven  in  all,  for  the name of  him whom  we  imagine
 from his position, and character, to have been the most efficient—
 the acting master mind, in  the work of its creation.   Though  living
 evidence may not remain,  positively to  determine this  conclusion,
there can scarcely exist a doubt, that the medical  society of  Dela-
ware is  indebted for its origin, chiefly to the efforts and foresight 
8
of James Tilton, of Dover, who appears from the record, for more
than thirty years, to have presided over its deliberations.
  The history of this remarkable man as  we glean it from the re-
collections of his friends, a short biographical sketch, and the trans-
actions of this society, presents us with a  long  unbroken series of
labors  and disinterested exertions, for the public good, to which he
manifested the disposition to  be ever ready to sacrifice his private
advantage.
  Born in the county of Kent, in this State, he commenced his pro-
fessional studies with Dr. Ridgley, of Dover, and graduated with the
first class who received the title of Doctor of Medicine in an Amer-
ican school;  after having  concluded his studies at Philadelphia, un-
der Shippen and Morgan, who with the brothers Thomas and Phineas
Bond, gave origin to the collegiate plan of instruction in  the heal-
ing art, on this  side of the atlantic.
  Returning  to his native county, he commenced the practice of
medicine at Dover, in the year 1765, and  had already established
a high reputation, and was in the receipt of a considerable income,
when  the great struggle for independence—the struggle of the cen-
tury, commenced.   Fired  with the flame of patriotism, and with an
utter detestation of British  tyranny, he did not hesitate a moment to
relinquish a position so difficult to secure, and if once lost so much
more difficult to re-establish, the position of  a successful practitioner
of medicine.  He entered  the American army as  an assistant sur-
geon at twenty-five  dollars per  month, in the year  1776 ;  perhaps
little anticipating then, that his knowledge and influence would ere
long, enable him to propose and accomplish material reforms  in the
management  of military hospitals, and thus  by the soundness of his
suggestions, attracting the notice of  his country, eventually place
him in the elevated station of Surgeon General of the United States  •
during the occupancy of which post,  he  checked by his prudence,
activity and energy the terrible mortality, that thinned the ranks of
our army upon  the frontier, and almost arrested enlistments  in the
war of 1812.   He died.   But let us not anticipate.
  In 1782, he returned to Dover, and successfully recommenced
his career of private exertion, but not with the intention of preferring
his private good to the service of his country.  On the contrary, he
served at every sacrifice of personal emolument, as a member of
the old Congress of 1782, and at the  conclusion of that duty, con. 
9
sented repeatedly to represent his fellow citizens in the Legislature
of his native State.   Compelled at length by declining health to re-
linquish his residence at Dover, he  sought the heights of New Cas-
tle County, for  the benefit of a  slight  difference of climate, and
eventually established  himself at Wilmington.   During this period
of his life, the desire for public usefulness, induced him to combine
two duties, than which none  at first observation  appear  less com-
patible, physic  and  finance.  In the midst of his professional en-
gagements he accepted the position of commissioner of loans.
   At length old age approaching, Dr.  Tilton retired  in a great de-
gree from the active  practice of his  profession:  but  even  then,
though "  a sheaf almost ripe for the harvest." he was not long per-
mitted to  enjoy  the otium cum, dignitate.  In  1812, upon  the re-
newal of  hostilities by England, he was  summoned to Washington
and solicited to assume the chief command of  the  surgical corps of
the army, and after  having preserved the  lives of thousands, and
contributed abundantly to the comfort  and happiness  of all, who
were afflicted with disease, by the  skill  and judgment with which
he controlled  this department during the war, he continued through
many peaceful years to legislate  for  that important  branch of the
national service.  While  on duty on the frontier in the early part
of his life, he  almost fell a victim to hospital fever, which for a time
seriously impaired  his  constitution, but  could  not permanently ar-
rest his energies ; and when at the end of the  allotted period of hu-
man existence, a disease  of the  knee superinduced by exposure in
behalf of his country, and which rendered amputation  necessary,
the venerable septuagenarian still  struggled at the oar, undaunted,
for seven years longer, till death put a period to his career in  1822.
   Such were  the exertions,  such the blessings conferred upon so-
ciety, by  one  of the most conspicuous of our founders, and our first
President: whose bones now lie in the grave yard, unhonored by
monumental design  or inscription to indicate their resting place,  a
fact I am confident unknown to this society or the medical profession
of the State, or ere.this appropriate measures would have been adopt.
ed, to testify our grateful remembrance of this  great and good man.
But of all the benefits bestowed immediately upon the medical society
by this most excellent man, perhaps the greatest,  was the fostering
care, the  generous friendship and disinterested  patronage, which he
extended  to, and with which he cheered  and encouraged, the youth 
10
 of our earliest Secretary, and  our earliest orator,  the  celebrated,
 and, among the medical protession, the world  known Edward Mil-
 ler; one of the greatest medical philosophers of his age—and one
 who has not been exceeded  in  penetration, profun dity nor grasp of
 intellect by his successors.   Delaware may  well be proud of such
 a son,—we may  well be proud  that his name is associated with our
 primitive, our earliest records.   And when I contemplate  the  bril-
 liancy of the character of that man, I assure you it is not without feel-
 ings of trepidation, and deep distrust, that I  venture to fulfil before
 you those functions once performed by him.
   Doctor Edward Miller, was born in Dover, in the year 1760, and
 was the junior of Dr. Tilton, by about fifteen years.
   The ancient and honorable academy of  Newark, was the theatre
 of his preparatory studies.   In 1778, he entered the  office  of Dr.
 Charles Ridgley, of Dover; and it is  by no means the least import.
 ant distinction of this eminent  practitioner, that he was the profes-
 sional father, of  two  such brilliant  ornaments, of the kindred sci-
 ences of medicine and surgery.
   Doctor  Miller before graduating, devoted two years of his life, to
 the service of his country as an assistant surgeon in the army,  and
 performed one voyage to France in a vessel of war ; after  which he
 passed two winters in Philadelphia, and graduated at the university
 of Pennsylvania in 1784.   He  commenced the  pursuit of his pro-
 fession in the town of Frederica, but returned to Dover in  1786, and
 was received by Dr. Tilton, not as a  rival but as a friend.   The
 same disinterestedness which induced  Dr. Tilton to decline the offer
 of a professorship in the medical school of Philadelphia, in order to
 follow the fortunes of the army, in a doubtful  struggle, rendered him
 incapable of that petty jealousy of competition  in the walks of his
 profession, which frequently  results from  the conflict of pecuniary
 interest, or the vain and ignoble desire to exhibit an ephemeral dis-
 play on the ruins  of another.   Together, these  brothers in science
extended their anxious guardianship over the health of their fellow
citizens ; together they endeavored to  promote the interests and ad.
vancement of the healing art; and  together they labored to unite in
 fraternal bands, all the  respectable practitioners of medicine within
their native state,  by the institution of the " Medical Society of Dela-
ware.""  It is true that Dr. Miller removed from his native state and
sought a residence in  the city of New York in 1796.  True  is it. 
11
that there  he issued, established and  edited for many years, the
Medical Repository, in conjunction with  Dr. Elihu H.  Smith and
Dr. Mitchell, thus giving the origin to medical journalism in Amer.
ica; and commencing a career which brought him in correspondence
with most of the learned societies, and many of the distinguished
philosophers of Europe.   It  is true that New York was the theatre
of his exertions, the locality for  the display and dissemination  of
thought and experience  of  riper years.  As resident  physician of
that port, oi\ chief of the Quarantine, he  contributed in a great de-
gree to improvements in  its sanatary regulations.  Here also he won
his highest fame, as professor of the practice of medicine, in  their
university.   But it was in Delaware that  his mind was moulded and
formed, that his talents were first  perceived, encouraged  and ma-
tured.   In Delaware he commenced the active duties of his life, and
steadily pursued them for full  twelve  years.  It was here that in
1793, he wrote his celebrated letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, in which
he early gave evidences of  that deep  insight into  the nature and
cause of disease, which  in  after years  enabled him  to originate
opinions and doctrines, that when more maturely developed by him-
self, his cotemporaries and successors,  produced changes  in the en-
tire face of medical  science, gave the  initiative to the prominent
theories of more than one medical school, and woke up  an echo from
beyond the sea.  He was  one of Delaware's favorite sons,—and
surely then his native State may  safely claim that genius, which
started forth from her bosom, to illuminate  the  world,—and surely
we may pride ourselves, upon the fact, that its first rays were shed
within our halls.   Dr. Rush declared of  him that  he was inferior
to no physician in the United States.
   It would be a pleasing task, if time permitted, to analyze the his-
tory of those other  worthies who rallied to the call of the patriots
and scholars, of whom we  have just spoken;  their names are in-
scribed on our original charter, where you will find McKinley, Way,
Preston, Smith, Monro, McDonough,  Clayton, Needham, Molliston,
Sykes, Luff, Cook, Wilson,  Hall,  Marsh, Polk,  Hill,  Jackson,
McMechen, Latimer, McCalmont, Capelle,  Peterson, Lee,  with Til-
ton  and Miller, and subsequently Vaughan, and others which time
will not permit us to enumerate, most of  whom were " to the manor
born," most of whom were celebrated in their day for their profound
scholarship and deep and abiding integrity.  These were they, who 
12
 laid the foundation and reared  the superstructure of this  society,
 whose blessings we now enjoy, and who by the depth of  their re-
 searches and the brilliancy of their  minds, shed a halo of glory
 over our State, and  placed her inferior to none in the science of
 medicine.  These names constitute a tower of strength, from whose
 embrasures we of later date, may look through with feelings of con.
 fidence, that our science and profession  are founded upon a correct
 and proper basis.
  We must however pause to dwell for  a moment upon the labors
 of the bold and brilliant James Sykes, who was equally distinguished
 in medicine and surgery, to whom the  scalpel was, "as the pen to
 a ready writer;" nor was he  less distinguished, as  the dignified
 Speaker of our Senate for many years, and  afterwards  the  able
 Governor of our State.  To his energetic public and private char-
 acter, we shall  have occasion to allude again : for  he outlived a
 long blank period in our history; assisted in resuscitating  and  ex-
 tending the usefulness of our society, and linked the past age with
 the  present, by succeeding  the venerable Tilton, as our President,
after the death of that lamented officer.
  Such then were the men, who gave origin and impetus to our socie-
 ty, and although Tilton and Miller and  Way were bachelors, yet in
their death the  community felt their loss and mourned as  a com-
mon relative.
  It would be  a source of great gratification to speak more partic-
 ularly, of the elegant and  accomplished Nicholas Way, the friend
and companion of Washington ;  the liberal and  influential Jonas
 Preston ; the dignified Joshua Clayton ;  the punctual and profound
George Monro; and  the  young but brilliant John Vaughan; but
 time and your  patience warn me to proceed; suffice it to say,  that
whilst they were eminent  in their profession, most of them were
elevated to high, civil and political distinction.  The last of all these
worthies, has long since paid the debt of nature, they rest from their
 labors, but their names have become immortal.
  As will be naturally supposed, an  institution planned  by  such
founders, was not limited in its  views to selfish and mere local in-
terests.   The terms of its charter point to two grand purposes—the
 permanent establishment of " regularity and public utility"  in  the
practice of medicine and  surgery—" regularity" by investing the
whole body of the medical  profession, with certain powers, some- 
13
what analagous to an internal  police jurisdiction; and of "public
utility," by the advancement of every species of knowledge, having
direct Or indirect relation to the healing art:—and  for these pur-
poses the charter was left wide and unrestricted as the wind.
  At and before the period of our foundation, the medical schools of
America were in their infancy,  and insufficient in extent to supply
the demand for educated practitioners, in  a territory already  so
vastly expanded, with a  population  increasing with unprecedented
rapidity.  Under the necessity of the case, there sprang up on every
hand, a class of medical  men, whose means were insufficient to con-
vey them to  the distant  centres of  learning, and to support them
during a long  course of study.  These men were thrown upon the
book of nature, for their  knowledge,  with no other guides, than their
own native shrewdness, and the few volumes of professional science,
that then found their way to a young country, where humanity was
still chiefly occupied, in  battling for existence, with the forest and
the  elements.  And  it is astonishing,  that so many  of this class
succeeded, in acquiring well won eminence, in the teeth or midst of
such appaling disadvantages.   But it was inevitable, that this sys-
tem, must give rise to a large mass of ignorant pretentions, and the
sacrifice of many valuable lives, was the necessary and certain con-
sequence.  To remedy this evil, partially at least, the society re-
solved to establish within itself, a high toned standard of profes-
sional merit;  and thus  render  its membership an object of desire,
as a certificate of professional character, of sufficient value, to re-
pay the recipient for the  mild restraint imposed  by its  internal reg-
ulations.  Though the Diploma of the Doctorate or Baccalaureate in
Medicine was made necessary  to the rank of Fellowship, in the as-
sociation, its  membership was obtainable by those who  had  been cut
off from the opportunity  of obtaining these  distinctions,  upon the
presentation  of an approved essay on some  medical subject, and a
rigid and successful  examination before  a  medical board of ex-
aminers.
  In this manner, it was anticipated that  all  those  practitioners,
whose merits really warranted the public confidence, would be grad-
ually drawn within the corporate influence of the profession, and
that the example of associated numbers, would oppose a moral check
against  the march of ignorance.  To this end  the  labors of the
society appear to have been  principally directed, during the  first 
14
nine years of its existence; and the success of their exertions was
exhibited, in the general  good feeling, and  the  marked ability, ob.
served throughout the whole fraternity : its membership was eagerly
sought for at  home, and its honorary Fellowship highly appreciated
abroad.
  Candor compels the acknowledgement, that the evidences of the
" public utility" of our body in  the accumulation  and diffusion of
medical knowledge, during the period of which we speak, are not so
clear ; for the minutes of the society are too frequently, almost mea-
gre to a fault on this head.
  The establishment of prizes for medical essays of unusual merit,
was several times discussed, and at one time a  prize of three hun.
dred dollars was offered for the best treatise on malaria, but with-
out doubt from  the extensive, constant, and laborious professional
engagements of the Fellows of that day, only one article was offered
for  the premium, and that was deemed unworthy of the reward.
  A communication on cholera infantum  and malaria, by the Presi-
dent, and another by Dr. Capelle, on a subject chiefly interesting to
the  naturalist, were presented in 1790, and several  articles of still
higher importance were read  in 1793, there were some speculations
on the resemblance between a peculiarly malignant  and fatal form
of bilious colic, then prevalent in Delaware, and the  yellow fever at
the same time ravaging the city of Philadelphia; also an account of
the  cure of Typhus fever by  the use of  cold bathing, both by Dr«
Miller.   But in 1794, Dr. Sykes had the skill and good fortune to
discover and detect the true cause of the colic  affection which had
cost society some of its best citizens, and so much suffering  during
the preceding and current years.   Observing the  close analogy be-
tween the most alarming symptoms, and the effects of lead, upon the
constitution, as they occur in the painter's colic, he was induced to
suspect the adulteration of medicine employed in the treatment of
that period, of the diseases peculiar to  their locality; among which
medicines in those days Peruvian bark stood prominent.  Upon anali-
 zing specimens of that article  as it had been furnished by thedruggists
of Philadelphia, a large admixture oUitharage was detected, and thus
the evil  was at once unmasked. The society immediately appoint-
 ed  a committee, to investigate the  source of this  outrage upon the
 community, and it was  found  to have originated in  the dishonesty
 of  an employee, engaged in  the principal firm in  Philadelphia, who
 dealt in Peruvian bark, to grind the article for the market. 
15
  This reckless and dishonest man, (whose name  has been  con-
signed to oblivion) being paid for  his labor by the pound, and find-
ing litharage resembled  bark in  color, and was more reducible to
the requisite degree of fineness, and of much  greater specific grav-
ity ; resolved to economise exertion, and influenced by a base cu-
pidity to  enhance  his wages, he  made the mixture, and thus, per-
haps, through ignorance of the poisonous properties of the substitute,
consigned a large number of his  fellow  beings, to a horrible death
and an untimely grave.
  In this accident we find a startling  proof of the usefulness of lo-
cal medieal  societies, which should always be encouraged, if only
to guard against the accidents and impositions to which the health
and lives of the people are continually exposed, from the chicane or
the ignorance of mere dealers in drugs;  and  it affords additional
confirmation of the propriety of  that valuable  regulation of  a re-
cent Congress in the appointment  of a qualified  inspector of drugs.
  In 1794 we find  a  notice of a paper presented to the society by
Dr. Miller, in which he treats of the various  articles of native growth
which might be made available as substitutes for  the Peruvian bark.
Also another paper on  Cholera  Infantum, and  a third containing
additional observations, in  relation to bilious  colic, being an ap-
pendix to his communication of the preceding year.   These with a
few minor papers, accounts of remarkable  cases, and communica-
tions from other learned bodies  complete  the  catalogue, and  it is
much to  be regretted that neither a full detail, nor even a digested
abstract of these essays can be found upon  our minutes.
  Before  we venture however to condemn  the paucity of  these de-
tails, justice requires that two considerations  of importance should
be well remembered.   First,  The extreme difficulty with which the
whole  profession in our State can  be assembled at any one point to
participate in annual or biennial conclave, and  secondly, that during
this period of nine years, Delaware was contributing her full share
of novel stars to the medical galaxy, not only  within her own bor-
ders, but also in other States ;  and that the more general records of
the profession are rich in valuable communications from  her resi-
dent or wandering sons.
  How far our peculiar organization may  have contributed to this
result, by creating an "esprit du corps," and stimulatingexertions,
it is impossible accurately to determine ; but that its influence was 
16
wide and most effective, there can be but little  doubt; and had the
precocity of our infancy been nursed with  more  attentive care, as
it ripened into manhood,  it is more than  probable  that the science
of medicine would have rested on a more permanent basis, than lat-
ter years have demonstrated, in  the State of Delaware.
  Time, thus far, had however unquestionably  made " the  good
better," but it is said that humanity like the human pulse advances
per saltum ; and alas! we now approach a period of relaxation.—
From the last annual meeting in 1798 to the first in 1822, a period
of twenty-four years, we have had record of but few assemblings of
the body.  There were three in  1811, two in 1812, two in 1813, and
one in  1818.
  During this long interval of twenty-four  years,  the ravages of
time were made conspicuous to  a melancholy  extent.  Of the dis-
tinguished of the olden date, the names of  few  appear except those
of Drs. Tilton, Sykes, Monro and Smith, while a new group,  most
of whom have since retired  to their long repose, are prominent
upon the minutes ; among the latter, Drs. Gibbons, McLane, Lofland;
Naudain, Brihckl£,  Collins, J.  F.  Vaughan,  Morris, Baker, Ad-
ams and Greene,  stood pre-eminent, as still continuing to connect
the medical profession with the  affairs of State—but let us avoid the
invidious task of lauding  cotemporary merit.
  The efforts of the  society in  this middle portion of its existence
seem to have been mainly directed  towards remodeling the  consti-
tution, and the acquisition of additional legal powers.   The first half
of the present  century, has been unenviably  distinguished by the
birth and progress of innumerable schools of empiricism in all things,
moral  and intellectual; and the  increase of quackery under the ex-
isting laws, perhaps  less  effectively counterchecked than formerly
in Delaware, by the combined efforts and example  of the  associa-
tion, began to produce serious alarm, not only in the profession, but
with the general public; for it was felt that human  life was endan-
gered continually  by the host of impostors of every grade, who palmed
themselves upon the  people as adepts  in the art of healing, without
any certificate of fitness  for their calling or visible marks of an ap-
propriate education.  Who were acknowledged  totally ignorant of
the anatomical  structure of the  human being;  could not appreciate
the difference between a healthy  and diseased organ, and would have
mistaken a congested lung for a healthy liver.   A feeling of the ne- 
17
 cessity of self-defence,  rather, perhaps, than the repeated  sugges-
 tions, and even petitions of the medical society, at length  induced
 the Legislature, especially enlightened on  the  subject by  our late
 distinguished fellow-member, Dr. Sykes, to attempt a  reform, by
 endowing the association with novel and far more dictatorial pow-
 ers for the regulation of medical  practice within the State.  By a
 series of acts and amendments passed in the years 1819, 20, 21 and
 22, the society was endowed with a control, to  a considerable ex-
 tent absolute, over the abuses of empiricism.
   By these enactments,  a penalty of "fifty dollars, was imposed on
 all persons  attempting to  practice in  this State, without  a  license
 from  the  medical society, for which a fee of ten  dollars  was ex-
 acted ; aftd the granting of such license was restricted to such can-
 didates only, as could produce " a diploma from  some respectable
 medical school," and such others  as  submitted  themselves, to " a
 full, strict and impartial examination,  by the board of medical ex-
 aminers."   As it is very correctly stated in an able report of a com-
 mittee, read at the session held at  Smyrna,  November 6, 1843, this
 increase of power was not conferred  "to promote the interests of
 the medical profession—but avowedly  to  protect  the people of the
 State from the evils of empiricism."
   This period of comparative  inactivity which  has just  been de-
 scribed, did not pass by without being marked  by some traces of
 lingering vitality in the scientific department of  our labors.  At the
 few meetings which were held, several papers on  medical subjects,
 were read, but  unfortunately  no  abstract  of their contents  have
 adorned our minutes.  One action'however, merits attentive notice-
 At the annual meeting in May 1818, Drs. Joseph Harris, Allan Mc-
 Lane and William Baldwin were appointed delegates to the general
 convention to  be held in June 1819, for the purpose  of  forming a
 national pharmacopa?.  This was  the first  effort towards the com-
 bined action of the profession  throughout the United  States, from
 which so many benefits have  already  accrued  and from which so
 many more are likely to ensue.
   It it is not improbable that  the local medical societies  of  this
 country, will derive their future importance, chiefly, fiom the fact,
 that they are or ought to be, the  necessary constituency of those
 annual national conventions, which by concentrating  the energies
 of the entire mass of  medical learning and  public  spirit within our
borders, and  directing it upon common purposes, have already many
                              B 
                              18
objects of high utility and promise to effect, hereafter others of still
greater moment.  The influence of such imposing  bodies of talent
and social standing has  even now been productive of good in the
halls of national and state legislation, and will be increased, if the
local associations are true to their trust, and  the proper dignity of
the profession.   We  may congratulate ourselves upon the fact, that
upon the  very inception  of this general movement, Delaware was
ready at the call of our common  country—that at the darkest hour
of our inaction, our  sleep was  not a Rip Van Winkle sleep,—and
that we proved ourselves in  this peaceful field, worthy the fame of
our patriotic founders, in the era of giants I   When our  country
callS)—be it to the arena of science, the march of  philanthropy or
the certaminis guadia ; may gallant little Delaware be ever ready
and found foremost to spring to the sound of the trumpet!
   Our rapid review of the history of this society draws towards its
 conclusion, for we have arrived at a period  within the memory of
 many (would that we  could say all) of our compeers of to-day ; and
 our remarks henceforth will  be presented with less detail, mingling
 the story of the present with the anticipations of the future.
   The year 1822, was marked by two events important to the pro-
 gress of the institution, the death of the venerable President Tilton,.
 who was immediately succeeded by Dr. Sykes, and the acceptance
 of the new constitution as modified by the legislature.
   Stimulated by its newly acquired powers and responsibilities, the
 society  now leaped forward on  its path with renewed energy ; the
 meetings became regular,  the minutes more voluminous  and the
 number ot its members  rapidly greater;  but the cares  and in-
 crease of business, resulting from the necessity  of  legislating for
 the government of the practice, the adoption of diplomas  and cer-
 tificates, the examination of candidates, and a thousand duties, grow-
  ing out of new relations between the  corporation, and  the whole
  body of practitioners within the State, materially interfered with the
  society in the active prosecution of literary and scientific researches.
    The association was destined to learn by  experience the dangers
  attendant upon the interference of  the laws with the regulation of
  a liberal profession, and the exercise of legal coercion by a scien-
  tific body in a country governed upon purely republican principles.
  Empiricism which had been previously held somewhat in check,  by
  the moral influence of regular  and  well educated physicians, felt
  itself doubly aggrieved, when suffering under  legal  disabilities, in 
19
consequence of the possession of exclusive privileges by a peculiar
class.  It soon began to awaken sympathy in a community remark-
able for extreme nervousness on this point, and too frequently prone
to adopt the chimeras and dogmas of the day.   Many deluded  and
credulous persons were induced to believe that their personal lib-
erty was encroached upon, when prevented from endangering their
health or sacrificing their lives at their own option, by  seeking the
advice of the  incompetent.  The  advocates of medical doctrines,
which, those  who had received  instruction in the most celebrated
schools,  knew were false, and felt conscientiously bound to frown
upon, as neither rationally founded nor practically safe; these advo-
 cates assumed to be outraged and ostracised when  excluded  from
fellowship on the  ground of their peculiar opinions. Hence origi-
nated an exterior opposition, feeble at first, but continually increas-
ing in power, which not unfrequently was cherished into force and
nursed into influence by those, who from their elevated and digni-
fied position should have  kept aloof from such  folly.   But " time
 which makes the good better and the bad worse,"  also  sometimes
converts minorities into majorities of influence, when perseverance
and self interest  urge them on ; and it  is a matter of surprise that
the society should have been  able to resist the external pressure,
and protect, (as it certainly did,) the citizens of Delaware from most
of the evils of empiricism, for seventeen years, from 1822 to 1829.
   It was not perhaps, unnatural, that the public should soon learn
to contemplate these " exclusive privileges," as they were  termed,
(though they  really were onerous duties,) with  a  sinister eye; and
 that the profession should lose a portion of its  moral power, from
the  constant iteration of  the  charge of interested motives, in en-
 deavoring to shield human life against the tampering of ignorant or
 impudent pretention.
   The science of medicine is recondite.  It is placed, " in a well,"
 far beyond the ken of the most professed politician.   It would be
 unreasonable, in the present state of popular education, to  suppose
 a majority of any State  legislature, to be competent to decide upon
 the  merits of the  conflict, between those who are  termed  regular
 practitioners and  their antagonists.
   The experience of the past few years, has clearly demonstrated,
that this has been the age of delusion.  For no chimera, however
 wild in theory or vague  in fancy, but has had its advocates j the
 grossest absurdities  have been pronounced philosophic facts; the 
20
tricks of the charlatan have assumed to be scientific  truths, and
their perpetrators have arrogated to themselves the title of profes-
sors.   At no period from the time of Paracelsus with his " immor-
tal catholicum," down to  the present, have  more incongruous and
antagonistic schemes  been presented,  at  the same time ;  and all
have had their adherents ; the refrigerating process of one has been
met by the caloric process of another, and infinites&imal  special spe-
cific for each symptom (the result of disease) has been antagonized
by the single specific for all  diseases.
  Thus individuals  of but mental mediocrity, and certainly without
education and principle, armed only in the panoply of their own pre-
sumption, have, regardless of consequences  madly rushed into the
arena to engage in conflict with disease and grapple with the " king
of terrors."
  Is it to be wondered then,  that assemblies composed of men  taken
from the mass of the community, surrounded with, and in some in-
stances indoctrinated in these heterogenious abominations—when
repeatedly assailed, individually and collectively with the complaints
against the injustice and oppression of " the  privileged class"  of
practitioners; is it,I say, to  be wondered  at, that they yielded at
length to  these renewed assaults?
  In 1825, the Legislature added an  amendment to the charter, per-
mitting any person practicing without a license,  to receive such fees
from their patients as might " be voluntarily tendered them."  This
was the beginning of the overthrow of the newly acquired powers :
but the usefulness of the society, was by no means destroyed, by this
gentle measure.  It was not until 1839 that the coup de grace was
given this system of public protection, by a  repeal of the law pro-
hibiting the recovery of fees, for attendance, so far  as  it could be
applied to (i persons practising on the Thompsonian or Botanic sys-
tem exclusively."  Thus one of the  objectionable isms of the day
was regularly legitimated by the Legislature to the prejudice  of all
the rest.  Soon another group of malcontents,  clamored still  more
loudly, against the injustice inflicted  upon them ; and four years af-
terwards, another blow was struck at the almost inefficient powers
of our " exclusive rights."   In 1843, the privileges granted "ex-
clusively" to the  Thompsonians, were again  extended to include the
Homcepathists, "exclusively," and there being no more isms of a
medical character, at that time in a sufficient state of organization.
to assert their rights, peace  was at length restored. 
21
  The power for usefulness, which had been with so much difficulty
achieved by the society, in the interval between 1818 and 1822, and
so laboriously and happily employed for seventeen following years,
being thus completely nullified, and the results of  the exertions of
almost a generation ruthlessly destroyed, our fraternity was seized
with a despondency, which with some of our members almost sank
into disgust.
  The committee to  whose masterly report in 1843, we have  al-
ready alluded,  assumed the position that the profession in this State
was in some degree insulted, by this carte blanche, given by the Leg-
islature to irregular  practice, while an implied responsibility, no
longer capable of fulfilment, and  the shadow of powers now con-
verted into " pains and  penalties"  bearing upon learning, science
and superior cultivation, was still continued, as a burden on  our
shoulders.  It advocated as a  necessary vindication of the dignity
of the profession, the immediate relinquishment of the  charter, of
"the Medical Society of the State of Delawaie," into the hands of
the authority from which it  had been derived ; and the reconstruc-
tion of an institution, as a voluntary association, for the promotion
of medical science.  This report was unanimously accepted and or-
dered to be published, in order that the members  might seriously
reflect on the subject; its discussion was  postponed, and happily as
we believe, it was  never finally adopted.  There was reason, in the
feeling engendered by the manner in which the society had been
assailed by the representatives of the popular will, and honor, in the
desire  to withdraw from a position  apparently undignified;  but as
our founders were ever ready to sacrifice themselves, for the com-
mon weal  in " the days which tried men's souls" even so should
such sentiments emulate their descendants.  The right of confer-
ring licenses upon the regularly instructed and qualified is still  val-
uable, because it gives us the power to preserve incontaminate within
our own jurisdiction the altars of Esculapius.  And thus whilst the
less enlightened portion of the community,  may have lost  in per-
sonal safety, what it has gained in personal liberty, by regaining
the original power, to patronize error or incompetence, as its ambi-
tion or cupidity may direct, the society should have recovered that
moral  influence and weight, with the well informed and more intel-
ligent, which they esteemed  it had  impaired, by consenting to as-
sume the right of legal dictation, over all practitioners.  It still  re-
tains all the capacities for worth and usefulness which it possessed 
22
in its first bright decade, and superadds  to  these the power to en-
close within its pale all those whose affiliation it may deem desirable.
Nor should we esteem  the  license fees  a severe taxation upon the
regular practice.  They constitute with our annual contribution but
a very moderate income for the  support  of an institution essential
to the well-being and progress of our profession ; and he who would
refuse to yield this slight pecuniary aid, to  a common interest, can
hardly be possessed of those philanthropic feelings which  are es-
sential in the members  of a liberal profession, whose duties  include
not only its own advancement but the promotion of the health and
happiness of society at large.  We have therefore perhaps but little
to murmur for in that which has been taken from us; some may as-
sume that we have almost gained by our losses, and in our corporate
capacity enjoy  a respectability in position and an extent of power
to do good which cannot be possessed by a  merely voluntary asso-
ciation.  We have learned by somewhat bitter experience, a lesson
fully worth at least what we have suffered.  We have  learned that
in order to be permanently effective, we cannot depend on the ca-
prices of assemblies, and that institutions of a country must accord
in plan and structure with the genius of  its  government.  We have
learned that  the dignity and usefulness of the medical profession in
a republic cannot be enhanced by legislative grants of exclusive
privileges, and legal control  beyond its  proper fellowship.   If the
march of empiricism and error is ever to be checked, it  must  be by
enlightening the mind  of the public  in general, upon physiological
 and hygienic truths and principles, in a manner scientific and clear
to the comprehension.   Who  that has  been taught to look under-
standing^, even, though it be partially, and but for a moment, upon
 the delicate structure and  most complicated actions of the human
 frame, could afterwards be led to believe, that the half is greater
 than the whole, or that vegetable poisons  are less  noxious and fa-
 tal than those derived  from inorganic nature?  Why  should not
 rational physiology be taught in our common schools, not from the
 trashy and compiled text books now too usually found in our acad-
 emies, but from the labors of the really learned in the great science
 of life, where they should  be taught  things and not words.
    Why shall not our corporate  medical  societies exert  their influ-
 ence in this  as well as other directions?  Their combined influence
 would be abundantly  sufficient  to accomplish such a purpose; and
 in a few  years, the beneficial consequences would far outbalance 
23
those which have followed all  the efforts of our legislators for the
protection of the public health.
  Let  us now turn from this somewhat painful subject to one of a
more cheerful character.
  Ours is indeed a noble science.  For  although interminable self
sacrifice is continually demanded in its  pursuit, still we have the
proud consolation, that all our efforts are in the cause of humanity
in endeavoring to relieve " the ills that flesh is heir  to."  We visit
and  heal the sick, allay the pang of suffering, comfort the afflicted
and  succour the distressed.   We repair  and  preserve  these frail
bodies, and feel that our profession stands at the head, as that to re-
pair is but a few degrees lower than to create.
  Our science is not only noble, but  it is rapidly progressing—from
the meeting of the Convention to form a  National  Pharmocopae in
1819,  the movement of the profession throughout the union has
been steadily advancing, and becoming concentrated to most useful
purposes, in the form of national conventions  for specific ends.
  The American Medical Association holding its annual meetings
in various cities of the North, South, East and  West of this great
republic, and consisting of a well-regulated representation from all
the principal medical corporations and societies of this country, has
given increasing impetus to the progress of the science.   Jt has dis-
cussed questions and originated  measures of vital importance  to
us, and to humanity, whose cause is ours.  Here, as on all former
occasions, when the whole country has been exercised on medical
subjects, Delaware  has answered promptly to the call of  her sister
States, and her delegates have been  her sponsors in the assemblages
of the learned.
   That our  State Society has been productive of much good there
can be but little doubt, and that its sphere for usefulness is not ended,
subsequent  events will amply demonstrate.   We have seen that one
of the earliest scientific efforts of our society, was the investigation
of a most fatal domestic adulteration of Peruvian bark—outrages of
a similar character  I doubt not are numerous  and continual, and
the  absence of success from a medical prescription may in many
cases be traced to an inferior quality or an adulterated condition, of
the  article prescribed.  The  Colleges of Pharmacy may  partially
protect the large cities, where they  are located, from the evil con-
sequent on these horrible crimes, instigated as they are by the keen
 lust for  gold ; but what is there to protect the interior? 
24
   Foreign impositions of this nature are  now  in  a  good degree
 prevented, by the inspectors of drugs at our principal sea-portsr
 but domestic adulteration still continues to an alarming extent.—
 Should we not here, (without colleges of pharmacy,) move  early in
 this matter, and immediately adopt some measures to secure the ap-
 pointment of domestic inspectors within our State.   The example
 would assuredly  be followed  by  our  sister States, and  the honor of
 originating the plan, would add another gem to the coronet of our
 fraternity.  We  owe the effort to  the memory of the lamented
 Sykes !
   But I will  not  detain  you  with further specifications of  the pro-
 fessional objects which call loudly for our exertions.   Let it suffice
 to say, our fathers "were men of the nation"—the  times  require
 that we, their successors, should be " men of the  nation  likewise."
   If then we  expect to gratify  the loftiest hope for  the future, we
 must  be engaged  in energetic action.   We have a character to main-
 tain that has  been hallowed by age,  and the deeds of the good men
 of " olden time."   Let us be  true to  ourselves and to the honor of
 Delaware. Let County  Medical Societies be instituted in  those
 counties where they do not now exist; let the medical practitioners
 of the County meet and mingle  together frequently—ex-collisioni
scintile.   The good wishes of our fellow  citizens will  cheer  our
 path,  acrimony and jealousy will be  subdued, and we shall  rapidly
 and surely advance the  elevation and dignity of our  profession.
   And to you, my fellow citizens, who have honored us with your
 presence, patiently listening to a theme which  precludes  all elo-
 quence, let   us  hope  that our  actions  may be worthy  of  the
 reputation of our predecessors, and  of your  conscientious  ap.
 proval—
        " And in life's closing hour when  the trembling soul flies,"
 may we be able in our latent accents to  affirm, that  we have done
 our duty—that we have kept the faith—and  be  prepared con-
 fidently and calmly to resign our spirits to the great " Giver of all
 good."
  And that the generations who shall succeed us, when they  shall
 read the medical  history of  our times, may be   able  to exclaim,
" These men  were of the category of those, whom  time has not ren-
 dered worse."