INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
AT THE 
SIXTY-FIFTH MEETING 
OP THE 
Ifedical Society oil U(e |tili of |ev |ork. 
By S. OAKLEY VANDERPOEL, 
PRESIDENT OP THE SOCIETY. ADDRESS 
Gentlemen of the Society: 
The return of another anniversary season permits the interchange 
of cordial greetings among members gathered from every portion of 
our great State. Each one brings the garnered ideas and experience 
of the year to add to the common store, and receives in return fresh 
vigor and encouragement to labor in the endless duty 6f relieving 
suffering and sickness. 
The social element fostered by these annual gatherings is by no 
means the least important benefit accruing to the members ; while it 
is no less instrumental in encouraging the growth and prosperity of 
the society. In the twenty years with which I have been conversant 
with its workings, it has passed from thirty or forty up to over two 
hundred. 
The physician, from the very nature of his avocation, seeks the 
intercourse of his fellows, since, professionally considered, his position 
is peculiarly isolated. While his duties call for constant activity, and 
while he mingles with a varied and incessant round of persons, still 
his professional life, in which his thoughts and aspirations are con- 
stantly directed, finds in its natural channels no responsive element; 
he must meet responsibilities, apply a ready tact and knowledge, 
stand firm amid suffering and sorrow, without the strengthening 
influence of friendly professional aid. The other professions, acting 
in a different forum, bring their members in constant personal com- 
munication, derive from one another mutual suggestions and support, 4 
and so preserve more spontaneous and unvaried fraternal and social 
relations. It is for this reason that medical men should especially 
cultivate all organizations which bring them in personal relations with 
their fellows. They will thus learn to know each other better; while 
suspicion and prejudice, which are so often engendered by isolation, 
will become disarmed. They, too, will find their professional armor 
strengthened in the interchange of thought and experience, and will 
return again to the routine of care, inspired by new thoughts, a dis- 
position for closer analysis, and in what was before the barren field of 
drudgery and toil, discover fruitful themes for scientific observations. 
If there were no other reasons, this one should cause physicians to 
cherish especially their local as well as their general organizations. 
Indeed, point me to localities where medical men act in fraternal 
relations, or where a common zeal inspires advancement, or where the 
highest aim of the profession is alone recognized, and I will show you 
that there medical assemblages are most frequent, and medicine in 
its scientific and humanitarian relations most assiduously cultivated. 
In this connection it gives me jfleasnre to bear testimony to the 
spirit of activity which has been shown in the cities of Hew York, 
Albany and Buffalo, during the year, in maintaining, with the excep- 
tion of the summer months, semi-monthly meetings of their local 
organizations. Even in the country districts, where association is 
more difficult, this necessity for personal intercourse and exchange of 
sentiment is so keenly felt that organizations comprising the physi- 
cians of three or four adjacent counties are formed, and meet at stated 
intervals for improvement. In addition to those in the southern tier 
and in south-western Hew York, one has been formed in northern 
Hew York, comprising the district of St. Lawrence, Ciinton and 
Franklin counties. 
The benefits which accrue from these organizations are not confined 
to the members, for the medical press, never more active, nor more 
worthy of commendation, publish full abstracts both of papers and 
debates, and thus disseminate to the profession at large thoughts 
which would otherwise be confined to the society. This publication 
of the proceedings by the medical journals exerts a reflex benefit 
upon the local organizations. It cannot have escaped the observation 
of those who read these reports that the most mature minds of the 
profession are taking part in them, instead of allowing, as has 
been too much the practice, the society to be sustained by the 
younger and more enthusiastic members. They feel and know that 
the medical press, like the secular, is the great lever for improvement 5 
and advancement, and that by no other channel can the fruits of 
study and experience find so ready access to the mass of the profession. 
A rule of the society which has for some time prevailed, and to 
which time has given the sanction of a by-law, prohibits the publica- 
tion of any paper in the Transactions, the whole or any part of which 
may have previously appeared in print. While the general principle 
upon which this is founded is eminently proper, still its stringent 
application is, I think, calculated to work detriment to the true 
advancement of the society. If I appreciate the subject correctly, 
the volume of Transactions for each year should, as nearly as possible, 
represent the status and mental activity of the profession throughout 
the State. As such it is, I think, regarded in other localities. In 
reality we know it is by no means the case. The activity which we 
have noticed as prevailing in many of the medical societies through- 
out the State, has probably been more fostered and stimulated by the 
prompt publication of their proceedings in medical journals than from 
any other influence. It is but a few years since that it was scarcely 
possible to gather more than a quorum at the anniversary meetings 
of the medical society of the county of New York. Now that the 
proceedings are fully reported, the meetings are far more frequent, 
the attendance large, and the most cultivated talent of the cipy pre- 
sent. Whoever is conversant with these reports knows full well the 
ability, learning and observation which characterize them, and which 
would be far more properly considered a reflex of medical activity in 
this State than the volume of Transactions as now restricted. This 
rule induces, also, a quasi antagonism between the “ Transactions ” 
and the medical journals, a position which no one can desire to favor. 
Each has its peculiar and respective fleld; each almost an entirely 
different set of readers. Journals catch up the daily, weekly scintil- 
lations which emanate from the medical mind, spreading them before 
the active worker to strengthen experience or widen observation • 
while the “ Transactions,” less varied in topics, pass to a larger and in 
some measure more secluded class, who, from the very force of cir- 
cumstances, often times are restricted to the Transactions as their 
quantum of medical literature for the year. The long interval which 
elapses between the presentation of a paper and its publication in the 
Transactions, prevents the reading of papers at these meetings which 
otherwise would naturally have been introduced. If a writer has 
views of immediate interest or priority of observation to submit, he 
will seek that channel which most speedily places them before the 
profession. Under the present rule a year must elapse before they 6 
pass beyond the society. Could any detriment occur,rif, after the 
reading of a paper here, it should be printed in a medical journal; 
or would it be less worthy of publication in the Transactions ? Let 
me, therefore, suggest that medical organizations be allowed a larger 
latitude than at present in the recommendation of papers and debates 
for publication; and that, after the reading of a paper here, it may 
not be debarred publication in the Transactions, if, in the mean time, 
it was deemed of sufficient interest to publish it in some journal. 
The able and conservative censorship of the publication committee 
must still decide upon the merits of papers and debates for publication. 
In conformity with the suggestion of my predecessor, this society 
at its last meeting took a most important step in recommending more 
thorough study of nervous diseases. Resolutions were unanimously 
passed, recommending both didactic and clinical teaching in our medi- 
cal schools on insanity, and other cerebral and nervous affections. 
Several schools have already responded to the expression of the 
society, and during their present terms are introducing partial courses 
in this class of studies. While it is true that the recent progress of 
this branch of medicine is mainly due to the labors of comparatively 
few men, and these engaged specially in hospitals, still the fruit of 
these labors should be disseminated as much as possible among the 
mass of the profession. If the general practitioner is made conversant 
with the earlier phases of the different forms of insanity, or taught to 
recognize the early symptoms of what are generally termed nervous 
diseases, many cases which now terminate in prolonged insanity could 
be averted, or years of suffering be spared, in rightly appreciating 
the character of the nervous affection. It is, therefore, matter of con- 
gratulation that this society was the first in this country to recognize 
the just claims of this section of medical practice, and to take the 
initiative in recommending that hereafter it should constitute a requi- 
site part of the curriculum of study. 
Probably the greatest impediment to positive advancement in the 
knowledge of the different forms of insanity and nervous diseases has 
been the difficulty of verifying any fixed pathological changes in the 
nervous tissue, or any of the internal organs, with the clinical history 
during life. 
Manifestly, any attempt at such verification in private practice 
would he utterly impossible. Cases are too rarely met, while the 
pathological changes in the nerve tissue are usually too minute to 
he recognized except by the practiced microseopist. One naturally 
turns to our insane asylums as the proper field for this class of 7 
studies. Little positive pathology has, however, thus far been fur- 
nished by these institutions. The clinical aspects of disease have been 
most carefully noted, the results of treatment fully appreciated, but 
insanity in its positive scientific relations has not advanced. 
Here, then, is presented a large and inexhaustible field of study. 
Mind and thought may not necessarily be materialized, but positive 
relations may be established between certain aberations of intellect 
and organic changes in the delicate tissue of the brain. 
To the State of Hew York belongs the honor of first recognizing 
the importance in its medical aspect of this subject to the welfare of 
society and the demands of medical science, by the establishment, in 
connection with the State Asylum at Utica, of a system of pathologi- 
cal investigations in insanity, by the appointment of a sj>ecialpatho- 
logist, as one of the medical staff*, charged with such duty. As may 
be well known to the profession, Dr. Gray, the medical superintendent 
of that institution, after due investigation brought the subject to the 
attention of the board of managers, who warmly seconded the project, 
and urged it upon the consideration of the Legislature in 1869. 
Governor Hoffman, fully alive to the importance of results accruing 
from such investigations, made it the subject of recommendation in 
his message to the Legislature in 1810, and in conformity with his 
suggestion a law was passed by that hody authorizing the appoint- 
ment. The board of managers designated Dr. Edward R. Ilun to 
the position, and hereafter the reports emanating from that institution 
will, I doubt not, possess an additional interest to the profession. 
In addition to the careful records which have always been kept 
during life of cases, a minute autopsy is made of every death, and the 
brain after hardening subjected to microscopic examination. It will 
not of course be expected that positive results can at once flow from 
such labors ; often a long series of observations are requisite to establish 
a single fact; yet such fact once recognized becomes at once a stand- 
point for grouping many disconnected and dissimilar observations. 
The appointment of a pathologist to the Asylum for the Insane at 
Utica was one in which I, as a manager of the institution, took a deep 
interest. This class of unfortunates, increasing so rapidly in our 
highly wrought civilization, demands that the utmost limit of positive- 
ness be attained in everything which relates, not only to the causes, 
but also to the effects of these mental maladies. When other States 
shall have followed our example, and when a corps of painstaking, 
conscientious observers shall be formed in the many institutions of 
this kind, I doubt not results will flow which will add to the scientific 8 
claims of medicine, and humanity be oftener spared the saddest of 
afflictions, a reason dethroned, a mind lost from the image of its 
Maker. 
I would suggest that the society make proper recognition of its 
appreciation of the labors and results which are being accomplished 
in the army medical museum at Washington, in behalf of medical 
science. The results which have been obtained in photographing 
tissue under high magnifying power mark an era in histology and 
pathology, and make the observations of a favored few the common 
property of the profession. The labors of those engaged in this skilled 
undertaking should be encouraged by the approval and support of 
medical men. 
It affords me pleasure to comply with the suggestions of the Hew 
York Medico-Historical Society, that there be a complete registration 
of the regular medical profession of the State ; also, that each county 
society have a committee on registration, whose duty shall be to pre- 
pare and preserve a complete list of the past and present members of 
the society ; also, to forward on or before the first of March, annually, 
a list of the names, post-office addresses, and office hours of all the 
regular practitioners of medicine in their county, to the editor of the 
“Hew York Medical Register.” The value and necessity of this 
publication are so fully recognized, as to need no special commen- 
dation. 
During tlie past year the record of mortality has been unusually 
numerous, both among honorary and permanent members. Among 
the list of honorary members is one whose memory will be blessed, 
and who can truly be regarded a benefactor of his race. I refer to 
Sir James Y. Simpson, late of Edinburgh, known to our 
profession, as indeed to mankind at large, for the introduction of 
chloroform as an anaesthetic. “ lie rose from the obscurity of a 
country village to be the favorite of his sovereign; the peer of the 
highest literary and scientific authorities; the cynosure of the medi- 
cal and surgical intellect of this century. It was as if bv magic, but 
his only talisman was the perfect bravery, persistency, sincerity and 
simplicity of his life. Quick to perceive, he was equally apt in exe- 
cuting. He expended no unnecessary force; lie begrudged no required 
effort. He was not only the skillful accoucheur and the thoughtful, 
wise gynecologist, but his surgical suggestions gave him high posi- 
tion among surgeons.” He was taken in the prime of life, not sixty 
years of age, when ripe experience could have borne valuable fruit; 
still, the work he had already done will cause his name everywhere 9 
to be a household word, “ never to be forgotten as long as the primal 
curse, from which through God’s grace he took the sting, shall lie 
upon suffering woman.” 
I recommend that appropriate resolutions be passed by the society, 
and forwarded to his family. 
I must be content with reciting merely the names of other deceased 
honorary members, each possessing merit and individuality: 
Benjamin W. Dudley, Lexington, Ky.; Landon C. Rives, Cincin- 
nati, Ohio ; T. G. Geoghegan, Dublin; Charles A. Rope, St. Louis, Mo. 
Deceased permanent members are : 
Platt Williams, Charles Barrows, Edward Hall, J. H. Reynolds, 
William B. Bibbins. 
The death of Dr. Bibbins is one of peculiar sadness to the society. 
For some years he had been a regular attendant at our meetings, and 
taken a deep interest in the proceedings. The vigor of health which 
pervaded his countenance betokened years of activity and usefulness. 
There were, in his character, traits which commanded respect, and 
which made him a most useful member in organizations of this nature. 
In addition to his devotion to the interests of the profession, he 
had a straight-forwardness of purpose, combined with executive ability 
and rectitude ; invaluable traits in positions of trust and responsibility. 
Even while I write there comes to me the sad news of the death of 
a dear friend, a highly gifted and skilled physician. Though not on 
the list of permanent members, his name had been placed among 
those eligible, and the society would soon have been honored in his 
permanent election. I allude to the death of Dr. George T. Elliott. 
Very few have risen so rapidly to eminence in the profession, or dis- 
tributed more generously the rich fruits of experience as an aid to his 
fellow workers. His life has been sacrificed to his ardor, his zeal and 
the intensity of application in his special department. With his 
gifted intellect he possessed, also, endearing social qualities, so that 
his approach to the sick room was greeted no less as the trusted and 
loving friend than as the skilled physician. Snatched, like the learned 
Baud, before the zenith of his honors or labors was reached, he leaves 
in his writings and memory a record of honor. 
In conclusion, gentlemen, let me hope our proceedings will be 
marked by harmony and the spirit of mutual edification, and that the 
results of our deliberations shall show, what in reality the name of 
our society imports, the true position of advancement of the profes- 
sion of the State.