1879. OBITUARY NOTICE. “ A life well spent, whose early care it was His riper years should not upbraid his green ; By unperceived degrees he wears away: Yet, like the sun, seems larger at his setting.” Blair. Since the last number of this Journal was issued, the Senior Editor, who for upwrards of half a century was so intimately associated with its best interests, and who during all that long period occupied so conspicuous a place in the professional eye, has passed away, beloved and respected by all who knew him, and venerated by thousands who never saw him, or pressed the hand of the man who had conferred upon them such inestima- ble benefits. Dr. Isaac Hays died at his residence, in Philadelphia, on the 12tli of April, 1879, aged 83 years. For some time prior to this event, it was apparent that, with the advance of age, his strength was gradually giving way, but it was not until about the middle of last February that any serious inroads were made upon his health, owing to an attack of influenza, which was then epidemic in this city, and which, in his case, as, indeed, in many others, finally terminated in bronchitis. He outlived the attack, but never rallied from its effects, or regained his strength, and died gradually exhausted from the failure of his vital powers. It is grati- fying to know that his mental faculties were undimmed by age, and perfect to the last. Dr. Hays was born in Philadelphia, July 5, 1796, and was the eldest son of Samuel and llichea Gratz Hays. He received his early scholastic training in the then well-known Academy under the charge of the Rev. Samuel B. Wylie, an eminent divine and classical scholar, and entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1812, taking his degree in the department of arts four years afterwards. At the earnest solicitation of his father, who was a merchant largely engaged in the East India trade, he now reluctantly entered upon mercantile life, but finding this to be uncongenial to his tastes, he soon abandoned it, and in 1817 commenced the study of medicine as an office pupil of Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, one of the great medical luminaries of his day. He graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1820, the subject of his thesis being “ Sympathy.” The faculty of this institution consisted at that time of Physick, Wistar, James, Dorsey, Coxe, Chap- man, Hare, and Gibson, names famous in American medical history. The early professional life of Dr. Hays was passed in his native city, in 282 Obituary Notice. [July active study, and in arduous preparation for the great battle of life, those struggles for favour and reputation which few men can so well appreciate as the young physician, especially one beginning his career in a large city, unheralded, and unaided by friends or the patronage of the great and influential. That the young aspirant for position and fame had his share in the world’s struggles may well be imagined, but how well he overcame them his whole life abundantly attests. It is only the laggard that falls by the wayside. A youth who is true to himself knows no such word as failure. It may be assumed that Dr. Hays was not indifferent to general practice, but from the beginning of his professional career he devoted much of his leisure to the study of the diseases of the eye, in which, as life advanced, he acquired an extensive reputation as one of the most successful practitioners on this side of the Atlantic. Indeed, he may justly be regarded as one of the pioneers in ophthalmic surgery and medicine in the United States. One of his earliest literary contributions was a long and exhaus- tive article in the thirteenth volume of the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences for 1827 on purulent ophthalmia; followed, soon after, by another, still more elaborate, on inflammation of the sclero- tica. In 1822, he was appointed one of the Surgeons to the Pennsylvania Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye and Ear; and a similar distinction was conferred upon him on the organization of Wills Hospital, an ophthalmic in- firmary, founded in 1834 by Mr. James Wills, a prominent merchant of this city. This position he retained until 1854, when the pressure of increasing demands upon his time compelled him to retire. When Professor Dewees published his work on the Practice of Medicine in 1833, Dr. Hays supplied the chapter on diseases of the eye. In 1843, he edited, with numerous additions, and sixty-seven illustrations, Mr., afterwards Sir William, Law- rence’s celebrated Treatise on the Diseases o f the Eye, a work which, under his supervision, passed through three editions, and enjoyed a most exten- sive circulation in this country. With this edition Mr. Lawrence was so much pleased that he wrote a warm letter of thanks to Dr. Hays. “I feel,” he says, “that I could not have received a higher compliment, and I shall always bold the circumstance in grateful remembrance.” Dr. Hays devised an instrument, combining the advantages both of a knife and a needle, for the division of hard cataracts, which, although now obsolete, was at one time much employed by American oculists; and he was also the author of a new operation for the cure of strabismus. He was one of the earliest observers to detect astigmatism, and to investigate the subject of colour blindness, which is now attracting so much attention in connection with railway operatives. On the organization, in 1870, of the Ophthalmological Society of Philadelphia, Dr. Hays was elected its first president. In 1834, Dr. Hays projected the American Cyclopcedia of Practical Medicine and Surgery, intended as a digest of medical literature. Of this work, which was published by the old firm of Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, 1879/ Obituary Notice. 283 and which was designed to reflect the then existing state of the art and science of medicine in all their diversified branches and ramifications, only two volumes were issued. The contributors to the work were Franklin Bache, Nathaniel Chapman, Reynell Coates, D. Francis Condie, William P. Dewees, Robley Dunglison, Gouverneur Emerson, Eli Geddings, R. E. Griffith, Thomas Harris, Isaac Hays, Hugh L. Hodge, William E. Horner, Samuel Jackson, John K. Mitchell, Robert M. Patterson, John C. Warren, and George B. Wood; all men of more or less professional renown in their day and generation With such aid and co-operation, it might reasonably have been anticipated that the Cyclopaedia would be a success, but such was not to be the case. The real trouble was, not any want of ability on the part of the editor or of his collaborators, but inadequate support. The country was not ripe for a publication projected upon so extended a scale, and in- volving so much time, labour, and expense. The second volume, issued three years after the first, closed with “axilla.” Proceeding at this slow pace, at least fifteen or twenty more closely printed volumes would have been required to complete the work. The learned editor executed his part of the contract with his accustomed zeal and ability. His office mainly consisted in correcting the press, in furnishing bibliographical references, and in writing innumerable articles to fill up the gaps among the more elaborate ones; of which, however, he himself supplied two of the most important and exhaustive for the first volume. Many of the papers of the collaborators constitute elaborate monographs on the subjects of which they respectively treat, and it is safe to affirm that they will forever remain as among the most valuable contributions to the medical literature of the nineteenth century. Among the more able and erudite of these contribu- tions, those of the late Professor Eli Geddings, of Charleston, South Carolina, deserve especial commendation as finished, scholarly, and learned essays. The articles furnished by Drs. Reynell Coates, Hugh L. Hodge, R. E. Griffith, and Robley Dunglison are also worthy of particular encomium. Had the work been completed, it would have formed a lasting monument alike creditable to its original projector and to his learned associates. IIovv such an enterprise would be l'eceived at the present day, when the number of medical men is at least four times as great as it was when Dr. Hays assumed the editorship of the American Cyclopaedia, and when there is so much more talent among scientific contributors, is a question which can only be determined by a similar effort, which, it may safely be pre- dicted, must ere long be made as one of the prominent necessities of the age. There is sufficient talent, genius, and scholarship among American physicians to accomplish any enterprise to which they may direct their attention. Dr. Hays never published any original work, but he was the editor of a number of foreign productions, to all of which he made valuable additions. Mention has already been made of his edition of Lawrence’s Treatise on Obituary Notice. 284 [July the Eye. Iiis additions to this work, many of which were the deductions from his own ample experience, were numerous and valuable, and indeed, to use Sir William Lawrence’s own words, “might well have constituted a separate publication.” In 1829 he brought out an American edition of Arnott’s Elements of Physics, which went through several editions, and in 1846 one of Hoblyn’s Dictionary of Medical Terms, works which rendered good service in their day. In 1831 he published jointly with his friend, the late Dr. Robert Eglesfeld Griffith, afterwards Professor of Medicine in the University of Virginia, a translation of Broussais’s celebrated treatise on the Chronic Phlegmasice, in two volumes octavo, and in 1832 his Principles of Physiological Medicine. In 1833 he edited the Cholera Gazette, a paper designed to communicate useful intelligence re- specting the clinical history and treatment of cholera, which had caused such sad havoc during the preceding year in Canada and in our eastern cities. lie also contributed, at various times, articles to the pages of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, chief among which are those on the eye, already referred to, on ununited fractures, dislocations of the humerus, and fractures of the ankle-joint. Considering the nature of these topics, one is inevitably led to the conclusion that Dr. Hays’s early proclivities were of a decidedly surgical character. Dr. Hays never occupied any chair in a medical school, but at an early period of his professional life he associated himself with Drs. John D. Godman, R. E. Griffith, and W. II. Keating, as a lecturer on Practical Medicine and Diseases of the Eye and Ear. How long this arrangement continued is not now known. The probability, however, is that it did not last long, as Dr. Godman, the projector of the enterprise, settled in New York, in 1827, as Professor of Anatomy in what was then known as Rutgers Medical College. The attention of Dr. Hays was not confined exclusively to the study and practice of his profession, or to the onerous duties of a public journalist. The cultivation of natural history had irresistible charms for a mind so aesthetic and so diversified in its tastes and requirements. Many of his earlier leisure hours were spent in pursuits of this kind; and it is a singular fact that he became a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia two years before he took his medical degree. Throughout his long life he retained his interest in, and affection for, this fascinating study. He was the author of several valuable contributions to palaeontology. In 1865 the Academy honoured him with its Presi- dency, an office which he occupied until December, 1869, when advancing years compelled him to decline a re-election. In 1828 Dr. Hays edited an edition, in three quarto volumes, of Alexander Wilson’s American Ornithology, that great and wonderful work of the Paisley weaver, peddler, schoolmaster, poet, and naturalist, who, in 1794, emigrated to this country, and who, on his deathbed, expressed a desire, soon fully 1879. Obituary Notice. 285 carried out, to be buried in the Old Swedes’ Church-yard, in Philadelphia, —in a spot where, as he said, the birds might sing over his grave.” We can well imagine that such a task as this, in the younger and more enthu- siastic days of Dr. Hays, must have been essentially a labour of love. The great ornithologist died in 1813, and it is, therefore, not improbable that he and his future editor were personally acquainted with each other. Nay, indeed, it is not at all unlikely that the young student imbibed his first love of natural history from this great and wonderful man, the subject of such a curiously checkered and eventful life. Although Dr. Hays accomplished a great deal of work in various direc- tions, work always well and conscientiously performed, and evinced a remarkable diversity of talent and learning, his claims to posthumous fame will chiefly rest upon his labours and long career as a public journalist. At the time of his demise he was the oldest editor in the United States, if not in the world. Until last summer this honour, as it may be justly re- garded, was enjoyed by the veteran editor of the New York Evening Post, Mr. William Cullen Bryant, but at his death it fell to the lot of Dr. Hays. A service, steady and persistent, of any kind of fifty-two years, is no ordinary occurrence; and when it is devoted to constant and assiduous labour in the diffusion of knowledge of the highest interest to mankind, it especially deserves more than passing mention. The career of Dr. Hays as a medical editor commenced in 1827, in con- nection with the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences, founded in 1820 by Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, Professor of Medi- cine in the University of Pennsylvania; and it is a notable fact, often re- ferred to even at the present day, that this celebrated man chose for the motto of the work the famous paragraph published only a short time pre- viously by Sydney Smith in the sixty-fifth number of the Edinburgh Review: “ In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play ? or looks at an American picture or statue ? What does the world yet owe to American physicians or surgeons?” The editorship of the Journal remained exclusively in the hands of its origina- tor until the close of the ninth volume, in 1824, when, in consequence of increasing labours and other engagements, Drs. William P. Dewees and John D. Godman were added to the editorial staff, followed, in February, 1827, by Dr. Isaac Hays—the first step in a career which was destined to last for upwards of half a century. Owing to Dr. Godman’s removal to New York in this year, and to the constant demands of an onerous prac- tice upon the time of Dr. Dewees, the editorial labour now devolved upon Dr. Hays. With a view to making the Journal more broadly represent- ative and national in character, the co-operation of the leading medical minds in all parts of the country was now secured, and in November, 1827, the title of the journal was changed to the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, and, although it was continued until 1841 without any 286 Obituary Notice. [July names upon the title-page save those of the publishers, Dr. Hays had the sole management of the work until 18G9, when, in consequence of advancing age he availed himself of the valuable aid of his son, Dr. I. Minis Hays, upon whose shoulders now gracefully rests the mantle so long and so worthily worn by his distinguished father. Of Dr. Chapman, the founder of the Philadelphia Journal of the Medi- cal and Physical Sciences, and, indirectly, of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, and of his two associates upon the editorial staff, Dewees and Godman, this is neither the time nor the place to speak. It is sufficient to state that these are names that, are indelibly engraved upon the history of American medical literature. The learned and facetious Chapman, a native of the “ Old Dominion,” as Virginia was so long called, acquired a world-wide reputation as an able and facile writer, a great wit, and an eloquent, accomplished, and popular teacher in the chair of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, which he adorned for upwards of a quarter of a century; Dewees, as is well known, became the American autocrat in midwifery ; and Godman, more celebrated as an anatomist and naturalist than as a physician, will ever be remembered as a child of genius, born to misfortune, to hard struggles, and to an early grave. When Dr. Hays assumed the charge of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, he took care to collect around him a group of collabora- tors representing many of the best and most prominent men in various sections of the country, distinguished for their ability as writers, their learning, and their scientific attainments. The original roll comprised thirty-nine names, to which, on the appearance of the fourth volume, in 1829, four more were added. Of these collaborators—among which are conspicuous the names of Physick, Chapman, Bigelow, Warren, Dudley, Francis, Godman, Hosack, and Dewees—twenty-six occupied chairs in different medical schools, the remainder being prominent medical practi- tioners. All these men have passed away, the last to do so being® the venerable Professor Jacob Bigelow, of Boston, who died only last January at the ripe age of ninety-three years. In the selection of this long list, care was taken to embrace in it all the branches of medicine then taught in our schools, while others were chosen with special reference to their fitness for the important office of reviewers. It will thus be seen that the editorial change in the Journal was inaugurated under the most favourable auspices, the young editor throwing all his energies into the service ; while the names of the publishers—Carey, Lea, & Carey—were a sufficient guarantee of the success of the commercial portion of the undertaking. The object of the Journal, as stated in the fourth volume, was to establish a national work, designed to advance the interests of medical science, to foster and develop native talent, to disseminate useful medical knowledge, to elevate the cha- racter and dignity of the profession, and to supply a want deeply felt by the American practitioner. Up to that time no American periodical on 1879/ Obituary Notice. 287 so extended a scale, or combining so many important elements, had yet appeared on this continent. Anonymous communications, as well as all personalities, were scrupulously excluded; and another important feature was that the Journal should never condescend to notice any attacks that might be made upon its editors or contributors by disappointed outsiders, smarting under the lash of just criticism or merited rebuke. Each number of the Journal was then, as it is now, issued under three distinct heads—a department for original communications, a review and bibliographical de- partment, and a periscopic department—the latter being devoted to a con- densed account of the recent progress of medical science, as taught and practised in different portions of the civilized globe. Sailing under such colours, with the aid of such canvas, the Journal at once inspired public confidence and became an assured success. While other medical quarter- lies, both at home and abroad, have succumbed under the pressure of cir- cumstances, brought about by a change in professional sentiment or pecu- niary embarrassments, the American Journal of the Medical Sciences is proudly holding its own, enshrined in the confidence and affection of the American physician, and supported by a corps of collaborators rich in knowledge and ability, and ambitious of sustaining its best interests as a great national exponent of the medical sciences and of medical literature. When I look at the one hundred and three stately volumes of this Journal, as they stand upon my library shelves, issued under the supervision of one man, I am ready to exclaim, “ Si monumentum requiris, circurnspice.” Such a work is an immense library in itself, and when we reflect that it embodies the results of the practice, observation, and experience of many of the best minds of this and of other countries during a period of upwards of half a century, it is impossible to place too high an estimate upon it. What other journal, American or foreign, can boast of having furnished its readers during the same period upwards of 50,000 octavo pages of closely printed matter, of which at least three-fourths are original ? Many of the original articles will be ranked in all time to come as among the most valuable contributions to our medical literature, while not a few of its reviews will be regarded as models of English composition, equal to any that have ever appeared in the United States or Great Britain. Large as the Journal was, it was found, in the increasing progress of medical art and science, to be insufficient to embrace a satisfactory abstract of the labours of American and European physicians and surgeons; and hence, as early as 1843, the publishers of the Journal, at the instance of the editor, commenced to issue in monthly numbers what is known as the Medical News, as a part of that periodical. To meet a still further de- mand, another journal was issued in 1874, under the same editorial super- vision, entitled the Monthly Abstract of Medical Science. Both these wrorks have done good service, and have no doubt greatly contributed to the maintenance of the popularity of the parent Journal. 288 Obituary Notice. [July It is a remarkable fact, one, indeed, hardly appreciated even in medical circles of Philadelphia, that at the time Dr. Hays entered upon the active duties of life there was a galaxy of young men in his native city who, horn about the same period—that is, either near the close of the last century, or very near the opening of the present—ran together a race of fame and for- tune, pitted, as it were, one against another. However this may have been, they all became eminently distinguished either as teachers, authors, or practitioners, or, indeed, in all these relations. These men, mentioned in the order of their seniority, were Samuel Jackson, Franklin Bache, Charles D. Meigs, Rene La Roche, George McClellan, Hugh L. Hodge, John K. Mitchell, D. Francis Condie, and George B. Wood. To this list may he added the names of John Bell and Reynell Coates. All these Avere, like Dr. Hays, graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, with a good general education, and several of the most prominent were horn in the same year. The early professional life of Jackson was spent in the apothecary busi- ness, and it was not until near middle age that he entered upon the bril- liant career which made his name so famous as a teacher and a physician. Connected for a time Avith Avhat was long known as the Philadelphia Medical Institute, founded by Dr. Chapman, he was for twenty-eight years Professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the University of Penn- sylvania, the idol of his classes, and one of the most popular men of his day in and out of the profession. His Avork, entitled the Principles of Medi- cine, published in 1832, was, scientifically considered, a failure, although it Avas well received by the profession. Who will ever forget Jackson’s handsome, manly face, his melodious voice, his fine conversational poAvers, or his elegant manners? Franklin Bache will long be remembered as an excellent chemist, and as an acceptable and instructive teacher. As one of the authors of the United States Dispensatory, a work which has passed through numerous editions, he rendered most important services to his profession and to his country. What can one say of Charles D. Meigs that has not already been said a thousand times, the popular, beloved, kind-hearted, benevolent, and facetious man, scholar, and professor ? Was a teacher ever more Avorshipped by his pupils ? As a Avriter on ob- stetrics and gynaecology Avho does not knoAv Meigs? His treatise on “ Woman and her Diseases” abounds in delightful reading, but, like all similar productions, is not by any means free from error. Rene La Roche immortalized himself by his learned and exhaustive treatise on “ YelloAV Fever,” a work of gigantic labour, combining the elegance of the accomplished scholar with the patience and the research of the German philosopher. George McClellan, a native of Connecticut, a man of “rest- less activity and sleepless vigilance,” settled in Philadelphia in 1817, Avhere he founded the Jefferson Medical College, and acquired a Avorld-Avide reputation as a brilliant and successful surgeon. Hugh L. Hodge, wdio 1879/ Obituary Notice. 289 died only a few years ago, has, like his illustrious confrere, Meigs, left immortal works on midwifery and gynaecology. For many years he adorned the chair of midwifery in the University of Pennsylvania, for which he and Meigs were at one time rival candidates. Of John K. Mit- chell’s early professional life much was spent in chemical and philosophi- cal pursuits, which very justly soon brought him prominently before the public. When, in 1841, the chair of medicine became vacant in the Jef- ferson Medical College, he was unanimously elected to fill it, and remained in its occupancy until the time of his death, in 1858. He wrote besides many scientific and medical essays, a volume of poems and a treatise on the cryptogamous origin of malarious and epidemic fevers. Condie was the author of an excellent and popular work on the Diseases of Children, and a most active and useful collaborator of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences. lie was a rapid writer, and yet his chirography was strikingly beautiful, being a neat round hand as easy to read as print. Of George B. Wood, who died on the 30th of March last, less than a fort- night before Dr. Hays, it is only necessary, in this connection, to observe that he was the worthy peer of this remarkable group of men. Learned, refined, and highly cultured, he was a successful and popular teacher, first of chemistry, then of materia medica, and, lastly, of the principles and practice of medicine, and a copious author, whose works enjoyed a wide circulation at home, passing through numerous editions, while one of them, the Treatise on Medicine, was extensively employed for several years as a text-book in the schools of Great Britain. The name of John Bell, who died in 1872, will be long remembered in connection with medical jour- nalism, reprints of foreign works, and an excellent treatise on baths. As a lecturer he failed, and his style as a writer was unfortunately too dif- fuse. Nevertheless, John Bell performed much useful labour. Of Rey- nell Coates, a man of brilliant talents and an erratic genius, mention has already been made in connection with Dr. Hays’s Cyclopcedia of Practi- cal Medicine and Surgery to which he was one of the most erudite and elaborate contributors. He had talents of a high order, and had he been spared to his profession he might have earned immortal renown. Most of the men whose career has been thus briefly sketched died at an advanced age, the life of several of them extending into the eighties. Only three of them (lied before they reached their seventieth year. All had their early struggles, and several left the world as poor as when they entered it. All were hard-working, ambitious men, with few exceptions devoted students, good writers, and excellent teachers, with scholarly tastes, refined manners, and cultivated intellects. Well may the question be asked, AVhat would Philadelphia have done without them ? Who for a third of a century would have supplied their places as journalists, authors, teachers, and practitioners, men who shed so much lustre upon her name and fame ? Who could doubt that these men, constantly acting and reacting upon one No. CLV July 1879. 290 Obituary Notice. [July another, stimulated each other’s ambition, and thus paved the path to glory and to usefulness ? The permanent prosperity of any great and commanding journal, whether medical or literary, must of necessity be materially influenced by the cha- racter and stability of its publishers, whatever may be the talent, industry, ©r genius of its editor. In this particular, Dr. Hays had every reason to congratulate himself; for during his protracted connection with the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, and the various changes which the original publishing firm experienced, not a word of misunderstanding ever arose between the existing parties to mar the success of the enter- prise, or to disturb their friendly relations. The founder of the house which was destined to attain a world-wide reputation, especially for the part which it has played for upwards of half a century in supplying the country with standard medical works, was Mathew Carey, an eminent philanthro- pist, whose voluminous writings on the political and social sciences exercised no little influence in their day, and whose History of the Yellow Fever of 1793 is still referred toby medical writers. In 1783, his political writings having rendered him obnoxious to the British Government, he was obliged to emigrate from Ireland and take refuge in this country, and soon after entered upon the book trade in this city. It was under his auspices that Dr. Chapman brought out the first four volumes of the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences. In 1822, Mr. Carey retired from the firm, and was succeeded by his son, Mr. Henry C. Carey, and his son-in- law, Mr. Isaac Lea, Avho have since become so distinguished in the literary and scientific world, the one as a great writer on political economy, and the other as the author of numerous contributions to natural history, evincing great research and rare talent. It is gratifying to know that these two gentlemen are still among us in the enjoyment of excellent health and un- impaired mental vigour. In 1833, the late Mr. William A. Blanchard, a man of remarkable executive ability, was added to the firm, which then became known as Carey, Lea, & Blanchard. In 1839, Mr. Carey retired, followed, in 1851, by Mr. Lea, who was succeeded by his son, Mr. Henry C. Lea, the firm being now Blanchard & Lea. In 18G5, Mr. William A. Blanchard retired and his son, Mr. Henry Blanchard, entered, and the firm again took the name of Lea & Blanchard, but only for a few months, Mr. Blanchard being obliged to retire on account of ill health, thus leaving the field solely to Mr. Lea, a gentleman widely known on both sides of the Atlantic, not only as a great publisher, but as an accomplished scholar and vigorous writer. Dr. Hays took an active interest in everything that related to his pro- fession and to the prosperity of his native city. He was one of the founders of the Franklin Institute, and from 1828 to 1840 acted as its corresponding secretary, an office in which he was succeeded by the late Alexander Dallas Bache, the eminent scientist. He was chairman of the building committee 1879/ Obituary Notice. 291 of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and an active member of the American Philosophical Society, of which in early life he was elected a member. He took a prominent part in the organization of the American Medical Association, of which he was the first treasurer and chairman of the committee which framed the admirable Code of Ethics by which the Association, as well as every other medical society in America, has ever since been governed. If this code is not faultless, it is safe to assert that it is as free from errors as it is, perhaps, possible for any code of morals to be. The highest praise has been awarded to it not only in Great Britain but also on the continent of Europe. Dr. Hays was a member of numer- ous societies—medical, literary, and scientific, both domestic and foreign •—and his labours as a public journalist devolved upon him an enormous correspondence with distinguished men on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1834, Dr. Hays was married to Sarah, daughter of Isaac Minis, Esq., of Savannah, Georgia, who, with four children, survives him. It will not be invading the sanctity of private life to add that he was a most affec- tionate and devoted husband, and a loving and watchful father. In stature he was about five feet ten inches, well proportioned, with blue eyes, a well-formed head, finely chiselled profile, and a countenance beaming with benevolence. In his manners he was emphatically a gentleman of the old school, bland, gentle, and dignified, with a sweet and subdued voice, and a warm, sympathizing heart. Ilis habits were those of the diligent student. Punctuality was one of his cardinal virtues. He had a daily task before him, and therefore never postponed until to-morrow what he knew was necessary to be done to-day. He was an early riser, and seldom required more than five or six hours of sleep to refresh his mental and physical faculties. His journalistic work was usually done in the early morning, or in the evening, thus leaving him the remainder of the day for his professional, literary, and public duties. As a writer, his style was free, simple, and scholarly, without any effort at ornament or display. Although in early life he was fond of society, yet, as he advanced in years, and his professional labours increased, he was gradually obliged to withdraw himself from the public, and to spend most of his leisure, especially at night, in his library and in the domestic circle, or among a few intimate friends. His last appearance, if my memory serves me, was at a large social gathering at the commencement of the late war, at one of the last meetings of our Wistar Party Club, of which he was an old member. The portrait which accompanies this number is from a daguerreotype taken in 1 852. Dr. Hays had a large and well-selected library, rich in works of the fathers of the profession and in periodical literature, much, if not most, of the latter being sent to him in exchange for the American Journal of the Medical Sciences. The exchange list, as it is called, has for many years past been immense, and forms a striking proof of the esteem in which the 292 Obituary Notice. [July 1879. editor and his Journal were regarded by the profession in all parts of the civilized world. If, as Bacon has declared, every man is a debtor to his profession, then I am sure this obligation was never more thoroughly, more conscientiously, or more honestly discharged than in the present instance. No man ever had a more just or a more exalted conception of the functions of a public journalist, of the sanctity of the press, or of the moral duties of an editor, than Dr. Isaac Hays. If he had not possessed all the great qualities of a public editor—brains, great intelligence, judgment, method, patience, boundless industry, and a full appreciation of the wants of his readers—he could not possibly have sustained himself for fifty-two years at the head of such an enterprise. During that long period how many journalists in this and other countries have broken down and brought financial ruin upon themselves and their publishei’s ? Dr. Hays not only possessed the requi- site qualifications for carrying on successfully such a work, but he threw his whole soul into the enterprise, and never for a moment lost sight of his great and responsible duties. No man, who has not himself been an editor, can form any adequate idea of the drudgery, toil, and anxiety incident to such a life. The correction of the press is of itself no ordi- nary task, but when, as in the case of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, such a publication extends its arms into the most remote parts of the civilized world, it is easy to conceive that the man who occu- pies the editorial tripod must be a person of vast industry, of a clear head, of a far-seeing eye, and of immense executive ability. When the history of American medical literature shall be written, an important place will be assigned to this, the greatest and most gifted medical journalist of the nineteenth century ; while the present generation will hold in grateful remembrance the inestimable benefits which he conferred upon his pro- fession and his country. S. D. Guoss.