NEW YORK 
CANCER HOSPITAL 
SECOND AND THIRD 
ANNUAL REPORT 
1886-1887 Press of 
G. P. Putnam’s Sons 
New York MANAGERS. 
John E. Parsons President. 
Joseph W. Drexel Treasurer. 
A. Brayton Ball, M.D Secretary. 
Mrs. Howard Townsend. 
Mrs. Paul Dahlgren. 
Mrs. Wm. Butler Duncan. 
Mrs. L. C. Jones. 
George P. Andrews. 
J. W. Alexander. 
J. Coleman Drayton. 
William T. Bull, M.D. 
Clement Cleveland, M.D. 
James B. Hunter, M.D. 
Francis P. Kinnicutt, M.D. 
ASSOCIATE BOARD. 
Mrs. Isaac Bell. 
Mrs. F. C. Barlow. 
Mrs. A. T. Pratt. 
Mrs. G. M. Miller. 
Mrs. William Astor. 
Miss Laura Post. 
Mrs. B. K. Stevens. 
Mrs. J. H. Choate. 
Mrs. Julian T. Davies. 
Mrs. Lloyd Aspinwall. 
Mrs. Fred. R. Jones. 
Mrs. H. B. Van Auken. 
HONOR A R Y MEMBERS. 
Miss Hamilton. 
Mr. Wm. H. Parsons. 
Hon. and Mrs. John Jay. 
Mrs. William P. Van Rensselaer. 
Rev. William F. Morgan, D.D. 
Mr. George L. Schuyler. 
Miss Louisa Schuyler. 
Mrs. John C. Cruger. 
Hon. Hamilton Fish. 
Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Morgan Dix. 
Rev. John Hall, D.D. 
Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Livingston. 
Mrs. Gouv. M. Ogden. 
Miss Wilkes. 
Mrs. N. B. Hosack. 
Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D. 
Mrs. Jonathan Sturgis. 
Mrs. R. L. Cutting. 
Rt. Rev. Dr. and Mrs. H. C. Potter. Mrs. Matthew Clarkson. 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
J. B. Hunter, M.D. 
Clement Cleveland, M.D. 
Mrs. Paul Dahlgren. 
Mrs. L. C. Jones. 
J. Coleman Drayton. 
3 4 
FINANCE COMMITTEE. 
J. W. Drexel. 
George P. Andrews. 
. F. P. Kinnicutt, M.D. 
MEDICAL OFFICERS. 
Consulting Physicians. 
Fordyce Barker, M.D. 
John T. Metcalfe, M.D. 
William H. Draper, M.D. 
Consulting Surgeons. 
Thomas M. Markoe, M.D. 
T. Gaillard Thomas, M.D. 
T. Addis Emmet, M.D. 
George F. Shrady, M.D. 
Attending Physicians. 
Francis P. Kinnicutt, M.D. 
A. Brayton Ball, M.D. 
Attending Surgeons. 
J. B. Hunter, M.D. 
William T. Bull, M.D. 
Clement Cleveland, M.D. 
Assistant Physician. 
William G. Thompson, M.D. 
Assistant Surgeons. 
H. C. Coe, M.D. 
J. S. Hawley, M.D. 
B. Farquhar Curtis, M.D. 
HOUSE OFFICERS. 
Superintendent. 
Mr. Charles Ford. 
HOUSE STAFF. 
House Physician. 
J. E. Traub, M.D. 
Assistant. 
Leroy Broun, M.D. 
FOUNDERS BY THE GIFT OF $50,000 OR MORE AT 
ONE TIME. 
Mr. John J. Astor. 
Mrs. Cullum. 
PATRONS BY SUBSCRIPTION OF $10,000 OR UP- 
WARDS. 
Mrs. R. L. Stuart. 
Mrs. Charles Rogers. 5 
DONORS OF ENDOWED BEDS IN PERPETUITY 
BY THE GIFT OF $5,000 FOR EACH BED. 
Mr. John E. Parsons. 
Mr. Joseph W. Drexel. 
Mr. Morris K. Jesup. 
Mrs. Charles Rogers. 
Mrs. Stillman A. Clark. 
Mr. John J. Astor. 
Mrs. William Astor. 
Mrs. John J. Astor. 
Mrs. Cullum. 
Mrs. C. P. Huntington. 
A Friend, by Clement Cleveland, M.D. 
DONOR OF ENDOWED BED FOR TWO LIVES BY 
THE GIFT OF $4,000. 
Miss Susan M. Edson. Chapter 429. 
An Act to incorporate the New York Cancer Hospital. Passed May 31, 1884, 
by a two-third vote. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows : 
Section i.—Elizabeth H. Cullum, Phoebe Lord Day, Annie R. Dahlgren, 
Justine Van R. Townsend, S. Matilda Clarkson, John E. Parsons, Henry E. 
Pellew, Joseph W. Drexel, Richard T. Auchmnty, George P. Andrews, Wil- 
liam T. Bull, Clement Cleveland, James B. Hunter, George L. Peabody, and 
Francis P. Kinnicutt, and their successors, are hereby constituted a corporation 
or body corporate by the name and style of the New York Cancer Hospital, the 
object of which shall be to establish, maintain, and conduct a cancer hospital 
in this State. The corporation shall have perpetual succession as such. 
§ 2.—The property and concerns of the corporation shall be managed 
by a board of managers. The first board shall consist of the. fifteen persons 
above named. The board may from time to time, by a vote of not less than 
two thirds of its members, to be recorded in its book of minutes, increase or 
reduce the number of the board. At least five of the managers shall be physi- 
cians or surgeons. The others shall one half be male and the other half be 
female managers. The managers shall hold office for one year, or until such 
further time as their successors shall be appointed. The board shall fill all 
vacancies, and it shall appoint its own officers. 
§ 3.—The corporation is authorized to take by purchase, devise, bequest, 
or otherwise for its purposes, any real or personal property, and to hold, trans- 
fer, and convey the same. 
§ 4.—The corporation is hereby vested with the general powers of corpora- 
tions, and with such further powers as are requisite to carry out its object; and 
it shall be entitled to such other benefits and advantages as are or shall be con- 
ferred by any laws relating to religious, benevolent, or charitable institutions. 
§ 5.—No less than two thirds in number of the managers shall constitute a 
quorum for the purpose of electing managers and officers, making by-laws, 
appointing physicians or surgeons, and authorizing the sale of real estate. The 
by-laws may prescribe how many shall constitute a quorum for all other purposes. 
§ 6.—The corporation is authorized to take by purchase, devise, bequest, 
or otherwise for its purposes, any real or personal property, and to hold, trans- 
fer, and convey the same. The property of the corporation used for its pur- 
poses and from which no income is derived shall be exempt from taxation so 
long, and only so long, as it is used exclusively for charitable purposes, and so 
7 8 
long as it affords gratuitous treatment to those who comply with its rules but 
are unable to pay for such treatment. 
§ 7.—This act shall take effect immediately. 
State of New York, 
Office o’f the Secretary of State. 
I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, 
and do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of the 
whole of said original law. 
- ss. 
JOSEPH B. CARR, Secretary of State. NEW YORK CANCER HOSPITAL. 
SECOND AND THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 
\17HEN the First Annual Report was issued in 1885, it was ex- 
* ’ pected by the Managers that the building for female 
patients, provided by the generosity of Mr. John J. Astor, would 
be completed and ready for occupancy by October of the same 
year. The long delay in opening the Hospital has been due to 
two causes : 1st, the necessity of erecting two additional build- 
ings, one for mortuary purposes, and a larger one to contain a 
boiler-house, a laundry, and dormitories for servants ; 2d and 
mainly, the difficulty of establishing proper sewer connections. 
To avoid considerable expense, it was deemed best to wait for the 
completion of a sewer by the Department of Public Works in 
Eighth Avenue, a work which was not finished until late in 
November, 1887, on account of the extensive blasting required. 
On December 6, 1887, the Astor Building was formally opened 
with appropriate exercises, a full report of which will be found in 
the Appendix. Patients were received on the following day, and 
two of the wards were filled within the first month. 
The accompanying report by the architect, Mr. Charles C. 
Haight, renders a full description of the Hospital building 
unnecessary here, but two features are worthy of special notice. 
First, the admirable system of ventilation—a point of vital im- 
portance in a building designed for the treatment of a class of 
diseases in which purity of air is essential. It has been found by 
experiment that the air of each ward can be changed completely, 
with closed doors and windows, every five minutes, without pro- 
duction of annoying and dangerous draughts. In one of the 
wards, which has been devoted to the treatment of the most 
9 10 
offensive cases, we have succeeded by the aid of thorough disin- 
fection and rapid change of air in securing almost absolute free- 
dom from unpleasant odors. 
Second, the circular form of the wards. The New York Can- 
cer Hospital is the first hospital building erected in this country 
with circular wards. This form has been adopted abroad in the 
large Stuyvenberg Hospital, with four hundred beds, in Antwerp, 
and also in the Miller Memorial Hospital, Greenwich, and 
Hampstead Hospital, England, and is believed to be superior 
in many respects to the usual parallelogram shape. In a memo- 
randum on a plan for the construction of a hospital with circu- 
lar wards, by Mr. Ingress Bell and Major-General Sir Andrew 
Clarke, they observe that the circular form “ is the logical result of 
attempts to improve the sanitary condition of wards of the ordinary 
construction by rounding off their internal angles. By degrees the 
quadrants have been struck off with ever increasing radius ; and 
this proceeding strengthens the view that the ultimate solution of 
the problem lies in the adoption of the circular form.” Our own 
experience thus far has shown that for wards forty feet in diame- 
ter, built in towers, with accommodations for thirteen patients in 
each ward, the circular form presents unquestionable advantages. 
Ample light is secured by the exposure on three sides of the 
ward ; the absence of angles and corners promotes cleanliness ; 
the patients are under the immediate observation of the nurse in 
centre of the ward to a degree impossible with the parallelogram 
form ; the radiate arrangement of beds permits ampler space be- 
tween the heads of the beds ; the more ready access to the 
patients saves much labor on the part of the nurses ; and lastly, 
but not less important, the very cheerful aspect of wards of this 
construction is not without value in depressing illness. 
The Managers desire to call attention to the rule which has 
been adopted for the admission of patients, viz., that all persons 
suffering from cancer are eligible for admission whose condition 
admits of cure or relief, on approval by one of the medical officers 
of the Hospital. Cases not suitable for operation are not ex- 
cluded, provided there be a reasonable prospect of relief by other 
measures. It is hoped that this statement will correct the impres- 
sion which seems to have prevailed that only cases requiring a 
surgical operation are admitted. 
The design of the Hospital building contemplates an addition to 11 
the present structure to accommodate male patients, and to contain 
a chapel in memory of Mrs. Cullum, whose name is closely identi- 
fied with the foundation of this charity. Funds for the chapel 
have been provided by the property in San Francisco devised by 
Mrs. Cullum, and it is hoped that they will soon become available. 
Wards for male patients are urgently needed, and the Managers 
trust that the means for thus completing the work of the Hospital 
will be supplied by the generosity of the public. 
Since the last Annual Report several large donations have been 
received : $25,000 from Mr. John J. Astor for furnishing the Hos- 
pital ; $5,000 for building purposes from Mrs. Mary Rogers, in 
addition to a previous gift of $25,000 ; $5,000 from Mrs. Stillman 
A. Clark to endow a bed in perpetuity ; $5,000 from a Friend, 
through Dr. Clement Cleveland, to endow a bed in perpetuity ; 
and $4,000 devised by Miss Susan M. Edson to endow a bed for 
two lives. As this report is going to press another generous gift 
of $25,000 from Mr. John J. Astor has been received, to endow 
five beds in memory of his wife, Caroline Augusta Astor. A large 
number of engravings for decorating the halls have been given 
by Mrs. R. L. Stuart. Various smaller donations are acknowl- 
edged on a subsequent page. 
On December 12, 1887, less than a week after the opening of 
the Hospital, the institution lost a warm friend by the death of 
Mrs. John J. Astor. Though not connected officially with its 
management, Mrs. Astor manifested an active interest in its wel- 
fare. A memorial notice of her will be found in the Appendix. 
The New York Cancer Hospital is now in successful operation. 
It supplies for a class of cases hitherto inadequately provided for, 
accommodations unequalled by those of any similar institution in 
the world. The current expenses will necessarily be large, and to 
meet them the Hospital has no resources at present except the income 
from the endowed-bed fund and the weekly payments by patients, 
a large proportion of whom are admitted free. The total income 
from these sources will cover only a small part of the indispensa- 
ble charges, and must be supplemented by liberal contributions 
from the friends of the Hospital. The Managers feel that the 
New York Cancer Hospital has special claims upon all who are 
interested in the proper care of the victims of this terrible disease, 
and may reasonably hope that liberal gifts and bequests will be 
made to carry on the work begun so auspiciously. 12 
REPORT OF THE ARCHITECT. 
Architect, Mr. Charles Coolidge Haight. 
Style, French Gothic, builtj of .Belleville sandstone and red 
pressed brick. 
The Astor Pavilion has accommodation for seventy patients, 
and contains the administration offices, surgeons’ and nurses’ liv- 
ing rooms, the kitchen, and an operating theatre. 
The basement or cellar, partly above ground, is well lighted and 
is arranged as a heating chamber for the building. Fresh air, 
brought from an opening ten feet above the level of the yard, is 
drawn through steam coils arranged in sections and forced by 
means of a powerful fan into every part of the cellar. Sup- 
plementary coils placed at the base of each hot-air pipe enable 
the engineer to adjust the temperature of each room separately. 
The large wards arranged for thirteen beds are circular, forty feet 
in diameter, and are placed in the corner towers. Fresh air is in- 
troduced in the outside walls at openings between the windows, 
and the vitiated air removed through an iron column in the centre 
of the apartment. The dining rooms and the private rooms have 
open fireplaces with mantelpieces of iron and glazed tile. 
The kitchen is placed in the fourth story, and is connected by 
dumb-waiter with the pantries of the dining rooms on the floor 
below. 
A large hydraulic elevator gives easy access to the different 
stories, and a smaller one is arranged for freight and supplies. 
The floors of bath-rooms, lavatories, etc., are formed of large 
slabs of slate resting on moulded iron beams. The drain pipe, 
supply pipes, and traps are exposed in every part, and are easily 
accessible for inspection. 
The convenient and compact arrangement, the well-lighted 
corridors and staircase, the abundance of sunlight and fresh air, 
the simple and successful system of heating, of ventilation and 
plumbing, and the adoption of the circular instead of the rectan- 
gular form of ward, mark a new departure in hospital construc- 
tion, and make this admirable building a model of its kind. 
The corporation has also erected on the property a detached 
building for boiler house, laundry, and servants’ dormitories. 
Also a small mortuary. 13 
i88b. 
May i.— 
■To Cash on hand as per last report . . 
Donations ..... 
Interest ...... 
Sale Cullum lots .... 
Unexpended balance, annual report” . 
Cullum property, San Francisco 
$156,239 83 
26,037 84 
2,704 03 
23.559 33 
3i 85 
1,000 00 
1885. 
May 1, to 
1886 
May I. 
| By Payments on account of building . 
Interest . . . . . 
Sundry payments 
Balance . . . . . 
$92,100 20 
1,080 00 
710 58 
115,682 10 
$209,572 88 
$209,572 88 
1886. 
May 1.— 
May 1 to 
1887. 
May 1. 
To Cash on hand . . . , , 
| Donations ..... 
Interest ...... 
Cullum property, San Francisco 
Loan ’...... 
$115,682 10 
[255 00 
375 80 
1,000 00 
34,000 00 
1886. 
May 1 to 1 
1887. [ 
May 1. ) 
By Payments on account of building 
Interest ...... 
Sundries...... 
Transfer to bed fund 
Transfer to furniture account . 
Balance . 
$74,013 90 
1,080 00 
285 00 
44,050 00 
25,000 00 
6,884 00 
, 
$151,312,90 
$151,312 90 
JOS. W. DREXEL, Treasurer, in account with New York Cancer Hospital. 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 14 
1887. 
1887. 
May i.— 
-To Cash on hand ..... 
$6,884 00 
May 1 to 
May i to 
) 
1888. 
By Payments on account of building . $39,883 43 
1887. 
Feb. 17. 
[• Donations ..... 
330 00 
Feb. 17. 
Interest .... 
. . 2,429 08 
Interest ...... 
773 27 
Sundries.... 
938 57 
Bond and mortgage .... 
75,000 00 
Loan .... 
. . 34,000 00 
Cullum property, San Francisco 
1,000 00 
Chas. Ford, Supt. . 
. . 7,207 87 
C. Ford, Supt. ...... 
Mrs. Cullum, lots, per R. Ray Ham- 
707 47 
Balance .... 
13,972 56 
ilton ....... 
1,736 77 
Loan from furniture account 
12,000 00 
$98,431 51 
$98,431 51 
1888. 
Feb. 17.- 
—To Cash on hand . • . . . 
$13,972 56 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
JOS. W. DREXEL, Treas. 
Per W. B. Wiltbank. 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
We have examined the above report of the Treasurer, together 
with the vouchers, and find it to be correct. 
Committee. 
(George p. Andrews, 
FRANCIS P. KINNICUTT, 15 
1885. 
May i to 
1888. 
Feb. 17. 
■ To Receipts from donations 
Interest .... 
. $79,050 00 
3,769 66 
1886. 
June 30.—By Invested bond and mortgage . 
July 29 
Sept. 9 “ “ “ 
1888. 
Feb. 2 “ “ “ 
Balance ..... 
$10,000 00 
13,000 00 
9,000 00 
16,000 00 
34,819 66 
$82,819 66 
$82,819 66 
1888. 
Feb. 17.— 
-To Balance ..... 
. $34,8x9 66 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
JOS. W. DRfiXEL, Tteas. 
Per W. B. Wiltbank 
JOS. W. DREXEL, Treasurer, in trust, in account with New York Cancer Hospital “ Bed Fund.” 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
We have examined the above report of the Treasurer, together 
with the vouchers, and find it to be correct. 
Committee. 
GEORGE P. ANDREWS, ) 
Per F. P. K. 
FRANCIS P. KINNICUTT, j 16 
1887. 
March 5.—Donation . , 
1888. 
Feb. 17.—Interest to date . 
• 
. f $25,000 00 
. 948 90 
1887. 
March 5 to 
1888. 
Feb. 17. 
By Payments for elevator, waiter, furni- 
ture, bedding, etc. . . . $24,648 37 
Balance . * , . . 1,300 53 
• 
$25,948 90 
$25,948 99 
1888. 
Feb. 17.—To Balance . . 
. 
. $1,300 53 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
JOS. W. DREXEL, Treas. 
Per W. B. Wiltbank. 
JOS. W. DREXEL, Treasurer, in trust, in account with New York Cancer Hospital “ Furniture Fund.” 
New York, February 18, 1888. 
We have examined the above report of the Treasurer, together 
with the vouchers, and find it to be correct. 
Committee. 
GEORGE P. ANDREWS, ) 
FRANCIS P. KINNICUTT, j 17 
CASH SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE NEW YORK CANCER HOSPITAL TO 
FEBRUARY, 1888. 
Mr. John J. Astor . . . $250,000 
Mrs. Mary Rogers . . . 30,000 
“ R. L. Stuart . . . 25,000 
“ John J. Astor . . . 20,000 
“ Cullum 15,000 
Mr. John E. Parsons . . 5,000 
Mrs. William Astor . . . 5,000 
Mr. H. O. Armour . . . 5,000 
“ Isador Cohnfield . . 5,000 
Mrs. C. P. Huntington . . 5,000 
Mr. Morris K. Jesup . . 5,000 
“ Joseph W. Drexel . . 5,000 
Mrs. Stillman A. Clark . . 5,000 
A friend by Dr. Cleveland . 5,000 
Miss Susan M. Edson . . 4,000 
H. G. Marquand .... 1,000 
Mr. Horace Way .... 1,000 
“ D. Willis James . . . 1,000 
“ S. Inslee 1,000 
“ Julien T. Davies . . 1,000 
Mrs. Susan Anetta Gibbes . 1,000 
Messrs. Park & Tilford . . 500 
Mr. W. S. Warner . . . 500 
“ H. B. Hyde .... 250 
Mrs. Edward King . . . 250 
Mr. Henry E. Pellew . . 200 
Mrs. H. B. Van Auken . . 200 
G. A. Dockstader .... 200 
Est. E. D. Morgan ... 170 
Mrs. H. Townsend . . . 150 
“ Daniel Le Roy. . . 100 
“ E. M. Brown . . . 100 
A friend through Mrs. 
Clarkson 100 
Mr. Royal Phelps . . . 100 
“ B. H. Field .... 100 
“ M. Clarkson .... 100 
“ W. R. Travers . . . 100 
Mrs. C. A. Peabody . . . ioo 
“ Anna F. Jaffray . . ioo 
Mr. Jno. A. Robinson . . ioo 
“ Jno. W. Hamersly . . ioo 
Proceeds of amateur per- 
formance through Dr. 
Hunter 80 
Miss E. C. Jay .... 50 
“ Furniss 5° 
“ M. D. Smith ... 50 
“ D. N. Platt .... 50 
Mr. G. E. Clark .... 50 
Mrs. K. Campbell ... 50 
Miss Susan M. Edson . . 50 
“ Mary A. Edson . . 50 
M. B. Brown 5° 
Mrs. E. V. Clarkson ... 25 
“ Clement Livingston . 25 
“ J. H. Mortimer . . 25 
Miss Hamilton .... 25 
“ Alice Hamilton . . 25 
“ Adelaide Hamilton . 25 
Mrs. Fred. Bronson ... 25 
“ Eugene Kelly ... 20 
“ George Bird ... 20 
St. Thomas’ Bible Class . 12 
Mrs. J. A. Roosevelt . . 10 
“ R. M. Pell .... 10 
“ H. E. Pierrepont . . 10 
“ E. H. Kendall ... 5 
Miss Thomas 5 
“ S. F. Jones .... 5 
Mrs. Wistar 5 
P. J. Joachimson .... 5 
Donations of receipted bills 
for services from : 
Mr. V. K. Stevenson . . 1,000 
Messrs. Beekman & Ogden, 500 REGULATIONS. 
ADMISSION OF PATIENTS. 
Article i. All patients suffering from cancer, whose condi- 
tion admits of cure or relief, shall be admitted by the Super- 
intendent with the approval of one of the Medical Officers of the 
Hospital. 
Article 2. After admission the patients shall be assigned in 
rotation to the Surgeons and Physicians on duty, unless they 
bring a card signed by one of the Attending Staff, in which case 
they shall be assigned to his service, if so desired by him. 
Article 3. If, on admission, patients express a preference 
for the service of a given surgeon or physician, they shall be 
assigned accordingly, unless there is some good reason for doing 
otherwise. 
Article 4. No transfer of patients from one service to another 
shall be allowed without the consent of both the Surgeons or 
Physicians concerned. 
Article 5. Patients may apply for admission at the Hospital 
between the hours of 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. daily. 
Article 6. Patients who are too ill to present themselves in 
person will, on proper application, be visited and examined by 
one of the Medical Officers of the Hospital. 
Article 7. Patients living out of town should submit to the 
Superintendent an application in writing, accompanied by a state- 
ment of their case by some responsible physician, before presenting 
themselves at the Hospital. 
Article 8. Visitors to patients will be admitted daily between 
the hours of 11 A. M. and 12 M., or between 4 and 5 P. M. 
Relatives of patients may be admitted at other hours by per- 
mission of the Superintendent. 
19 20 
Article 9. All food, delicacies, and stimulants intended for 
patients must be left at the Superintendent’s office, and will be 
delivered to patients only on the order of the House Surgeon. 
Article 10. The charge for board in the wards and private 
rooms shall be at rates fixed by the Executive Committee. These 
rates will include all expenses except those of a special nurse. 
All charges may be remitted in whole or part by the Executive 
Committee, or in the intervals of its meetings, by the Superin- 
tendent. 
Article ii. All payments shall be made weekly, in advance. 
The day of entering and the day of leaving shall be counted as 
full days. 
At present the charges for board are : $7 per week for patients 
in the wards ; $20 per week for patients occupying single private 
rooms ; and $15 per week for patients occupying double private 
rooms. APPENDIX. 
21 APPENDIX. 
The New York Cancer Hospital was opened with formal ceremonies on 
Tuesday, December 6,1887, at three o’clock in the afternoon. The President, 
Mr. John E. Parsons, presided. 
As no room in the building was large enough for the purpose, the exercises 
were held in the spacious hall on the second floor, which was filled to overflow- 
ing into adjoining apartments. The large attendance was a gratifying mani- 
festation of the interest shown in the work of the hospital. Besides those at- 
tracted by the opening of the first hospital in this country, and the second in 
the world, devoted exclusively to patients afflicted with cancer, there were not 
a few present who were especially interested in the novel and admirable features 
of hospital construction described in the earlier part of this report. 
The exercises were opened with prayer by Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D., 
and reading of Scriptures by Rev. William F. Morgan, D.D., after which the 
choir of St. Thomas’ Church sang the Hospital Plymn, composed by Rt. Rev. 
A. C. Coxe, D.D. : 
Father, who mak’st Thy suff’ring sons 
Thy ministers to stronger ones, 
To light love’s holy flame within, 
Deposing self, abasing sin, 
O teach my soul, confiding still, 
To suffer or to do Thy will ! 
If in this world of mystery, 
Unequal favors fall on me, 
While brothers, better far than I, 
Are called to languish or to die, 
Help me in turn their ills to share, 
Their wounds to heal, their load to bear. 
Blest is their task, ’mid human woe 
Thy gifts on others to bestow ; 
For suffering lies at plenty’s door, 
And God appeals when cries the poor, 
His law ordains, for all that live, 
What sorrow lacks let mercy give. 
23 24 
The day shall come when veils remove, 
And all shall know that God is love. 
Then He himself all tears shall dry, 
And show of pain the reason why, 
And theirs shall be the great reward 
Who in His poor beheld their Lord. 
After the singing of the hymn, the following opening address was made by 
John E. Parsons, Esq., President of the Board of Managers. 
ADDRESS OF MR. JOHN E. PARSONS. 
To me belongs the agreeable duty of welcoming those who honor this occa- 
sion by their presence. After many disappointments and disheartening delays, 
the Astor Pavilion of the New York Cancer Hospital is ready for the use for 
which it has been constructed. In the First Annual Report of the Hospital it 
was stated that by October, 1885, the building would be completed and ready 
for occupation. It is unnecessary to refer to the causes which prevented the 
fulfilment of that expectation. The obstacles have at last been removed, and 
to-morrow the Hospital will be ready to receive patients. 
. I must be permitted to express my gratification, and that of the Trustees, 
both at the appearance and at the internal arrangement of the building. No 
greater compliment could be paid to it than the criticism which has been made 
against it. It has been spoken of as a costly building. Its construction has 
involved the expenditure of a considerable sum of money. The outlay for the 
Astor Pavilion proper has been about $200,000. That was the amount of 
Mr. Astor’s gift. An additional $25,000 was received from Mr. Astor for fur- 
niture. The entire cost of the building as it stands, furnished, ready for 
use, may be called $225,000. The building has a total front on Eighth Avenue 
of 137 feet ; its extreme depth on 106th Street is 108 feet. I think that any 
one who is acquainted with the expense of building will say that for these 
dimensions it would be difficult to put up a building with the plainest possible 
exterior, the cost of which would be materially less. 
The success of the exterior is in its attractive appearance. For this we are 
particularly indebted to Mr. Haight, our architect. We think that the interior 
of the building is equally a success. Its distinctive feature may be said to be 
in its circular wards. The object in adopting that form was, that it gives a 
maximum of light, and it avoids corners in which may lurk the seeds of disease. 
The object throughout the building has been to furnish the largest exposure to 
light and air. We think that this object has been successfully attained. 
This building, however, is but a beginning. Upon the ground to the south 
and west additional buildings will be erected as the money is provided. This 
pavilion is only for the accommodation of women. We need immediately a 
building for the treatment of male patients. The situation of the property, 
opposite the Central Park, is such as to permit the largest part of the site to be 
occupied by buildings. It is in immediate contemplation to extend the present 
structure to the south. I hope that the necessaiy expense will be provided 
from the San Francisco property which came to the Hospital by the will of 25 
Mrs. Cullum. The distinguishing feature of that building will be a chapel in 
her memory. 
I think that the Trustees are to be congratulated for the wisdom which 
prompted them to select this site. The land was purchased just before the 
recent advance in value. I doubt if at twice the expense it would be pos- 
sible to-day to make a similar purchase. The selection of the Leake and 
Watts property for a new cathedral has assured the future of this part of the 
city. It is inevitable that not only shall a large population quickly move into 
the section which lies between the Central and the Riverside Parks, but that 
the character of the improvements will correspond with buildings like this. 
It may be in the minds of some that the name by which the Hospital is 
known is objectionable both in its effect upon the neighborhood and upon the 
future success of the Hospital itself. I cannot see why this should be so. 
The Hospital is for the treatment of cancer. Our hope is that the experience 
which will be furnished here will lead to new and successful modes of dealing 
with the disease. Recent events have created exceptional interest in it. I 
must believe that in the future some mode of treatment will become known 
which may strike at the roots of the disease, and if it does not extirpate it may 
at least ameliorate the condition of the patient beyond that which is possible in 
the present condition of medical knowledge upon the subject, and with this will 
disappear the prejudice against the name. It is but a prejudice. 
I cannot close without saying a few' words about the financial condition of the 
Hospital. It is in that situation which is and which should be chronic with all 
benevolent institutions. It needs money for the indebtedness which has been 
incurred in the purchase of additional land and the erection of a laundry build- 
ing. It needs money for an additional pavilion to be used for the treatment of 
male patients in connection with this building. From this time on it needs the 
necessary funds to carry on its active operations. Our success of the past 
has been so great that I feel confident that the liberality of the citizens of New 
York will furnish the money which is required. 
This occasion is not altogether joyous. Mingled with the gratification which 
it inspires is the thought that Mrs. Cullum, to whom the institution owes every 
thing, has not lived to see this day. And Mrs. Astor, without whose liberal 
sympathy, and that of Mr. Astor, this building would not have been erected, is 
unable to be with us. I only echo the thought of all in expressing the hope 
that her valued life may be spared and her health restored, and that New York 
may continue to benefit by her large-hearted and generous work and sympathy. 
General Cullum was then called upon, and made the following response in be- 
half of the Founders of the Hospital. 
ADDRESS OF GENERAL CULLUM. 
Managers of the Cancer Hospital : 
Ladies and Gentlemen—I have often said that I would rather brave a 
battery of artillery than attempt a speech in face of a peaceful company of men 
and women. But your pertinacious President, who finds it very easy for him 
daily to address “the gentlemen of the jury,” is not to be put off, and insists 26 
upon my saying a few words in behalf of Mrs. Cullum, one of the Founders 
of this Hospital. To her sacred memory I can refuse nothing. 
Years ago, with a warm heart ever earnest in good works, she proposed the 
erection of cancer-wards in connection with the New York Woman’s Hos- 
pital, of which she was then the Vice-President. Her zealous efforts proving 
unavailing, she turned her attention to securing a separate establishment for the 
cure and treatment of unfortunates afflicted with this scourge of humanity. How 
incessantly she toiled in the prosecution of this praiseworthy object, you all 
well know. I can answer that her whole soul was bent upon the accomplish- 
ment of this labor of love, and how greatly she rejoiced that generous givers 
had contributed a sufficient sum to justify the Managers of this institution in 
purchasing an eligible site and building this stately pile—the Astor Pavilion, 
justly so called in honor of the munificent donor of the funds necessary for its 
erection. Its beauty of design and adaptation to its purposes speak eloquently 
for its contrivers. 
Though it resembles a Roman stronghold or feudal castle, it is not the 
lordly dwelling of a cruel chieftain tyrannizing over his horde of vassals, but a 
luxurious home for the subjects of a dire disease to be treated with the tender- 
est care. One might have traversed the Roman empire in the zenith of its 
power, from the Atlantic’s shore to the banks of the Euphrates, without meet- 
ing a single charitable asylum ; and though, early in the third century, hospitals 
for invalids were instituted by Indian Buddhists, it was reserved for Christianity 
to multiply, endow, and perfect them. In the fourth century the Empress 
Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, founded in the chief cities of her 
realm hospitals and institutions of benevolence. In this good work she was 
followed by many high-born ladies, the hearts of women being naturally open 
to sympathy for the suffering. But, noble as were these charities, they labored 
under an essential defect in having substituted for educated physicians well- 
meaning but unskilled ecclesiastics. These infirmaries, however, were more 
of the character of hospices than of modern hospitals for the care of the sick 
and infirm, now so common throughout the civilized world, and nowhere more 
than in this commercial capital have these asylums of beneficence aided to re- 
move the canker of care and heal the sharpest stings of adversity. To-day we 
add another home for the unfortunate, in this building, the corner-stone of 
which, three and a half years ago, Mrs. Cullum was deputed to lay, in consider- 
ation, said your President, that “ the success which had thus far attended the 
effort to established a Cancer Hospital was due, more than to any other single 
cause, to her zeal, her untiring energy, and efficient labors.” 
Those of you who were present at that interesting ceremony can recall her 
commanding presence, her graceful bearing, and lustrous eye beaming with be- 
nevolence and triumph that at last the seal was set to her heart’s longings of 
many years. 
With her little remainder of life she relaxed no effort for the accomplish- 
ment of the philanthropic purpose you, her fellow-workers, have this day 
achieved. Even when that noble heart ceased to beat, and the light of that 
brilliant intellect had gone out, her benefactions for suffering humanity con- 
tinued to live on. By her will she left all her landed property in this city of 27 
her birth and her ample homestead on the peaceful shore of the Pacific to this 
hospital. 
Though much of the great work has been effected in the erection of this 
beautiful edifice, far more remains to be done in the tender care and treatment 
of the poor sufferers soon to tenant these spacious wards, with health gone, 
happiness waning, and hope almost extinct. I well know that the present Man- 
agers—both ladies and gentlemen—will, in the future as in the past, do all in 
their power for the eradication of this upas poison of the body, which 
has heretofore baffled surgical skill, and is to-day the opprobrium medicorum. 
For a time its treatment will doubtless have its ebbs and flows of failure to-day 
and some success to-morrow, yet the stream of knowledge will flow on, con- 
tinually multiplying the resources of the medical profession, and I trust that 
this Hospital may bring forth some genius, like Harvey or Jenner, to join the 
immortals and leave a monument of gratitude in the hearts of thousands yet un- 
born. And I further trust that its future management and history may dis- 
prove the reproachful words of the learned Buckle, who says, in “his History of 
Civilization in England,” that “if we examine the effects of the most active 
philanthropy, and of the largest and most disinterested kindness, we shall 
fiiid that those effects are, comparatively speaking, short-lived ; that there is 
only a small number of individuals they come in contact with and benefit ; 
that they rarely survive the generation which witnessed their commencement ; 
and that, when they take the more durable form of founding great public char- 
ities, such institutions invariably fall, first into abuse, then into decay, and 
after a time are either destroyed, or perverted from their original intention, 
mocking the effort by which it is vainly attempted to perpetuate the memory 
even of the purest and most energetic benevolence.” 
As opposed to these gloomy predictions of a profound thinker, I would, in 
conclusion, add the more cheerful saying of Dryden : 
“ Many things impossible to thought 
Have been by need to full perfection brought.” 
Then followed an address on the opening of the New York Cancer Hospital 
by Fordyce Barker, M.D., LL.D. 
ADDRESS OF DR. FORDYCE BARKER. 
The opening of a new Hospital in this city, the first in this country and the 
second only in the world, devoted exclusively to the treatment of cancer, is an 
event of such importance that I greatly regret that the selection of a person to 
give the address had not fallen upon one more competent to do justice to the 
occasion. But some considerations have been forced upon me, which seem to 
make it an imperative duty to accept the position and throw myself on your 
kind indulgence. 
One inducement which had its weight on my mind is the fact that I do not 
profess to be a surgeon, and as the wonderful progress made within the past 
decade, in the successful cure of many cases of cancer which before would have 
been left to die a miserable death, has been in the domain of surgery and the 28 
result of surgical proceedings, I can speak of these without any imputation of 
self-laudation. 
My purpose is simply to show the necessity for and the usefulness of such an 
Hospital—to impart some knowledge of the nature of this terrible disease, cases 
of which will seek relief and cure within these walls,—and to correct some popu- 
lar errors in regard to it which seem to be almost universal, and which the pro- 
fession well know have caused an incalculable amount of unnecessary misery 
and unhappiness in the world. It is to be confidently hoped that the good 
which this Hospital will eventually accomplish in the relief of unhappiness and 
suffering will be represented only in a minor degree by its future inmates, but 
will extend to many thousands who will never be within its walls. 
As preliminary to what I am about to say, I may be permitted to define some 
words which are in general use by the public in a sense quite different from 
their professional use. The'word tumor when applied to any abnormal enlarge- 
ment in any part of the system is one which carries terror to the minds of most 
patients, who often consult their physician because of an avowed apprehension 
that they have a tumor. 
The word tumor is nearly but not exactly identical with the word swelling, 
and carries to the professional mind no significance as necessarily implying 
danger to life. We speak of glandular tumors, fatty, cellular, or fibrous tumors, 
as innocent, or benign, meaning thereby that they are purely local growths hav- 
ing no tendency to extension by formation of other growths, and that if removed 
they are gone forever. But we also have what are called malignant tumors, 
which involve a destructive degeneration and gradual invasion of adjacent tis- 
sue, and which may finally infect the general system and destroy life. 
Cancer, using the term in a general sense, is a typical form of malignant tu- 
mor. It is probable that this was first observed and studied as an external dis- 
ease. The name is said to have been given to this affection by Galen, who 
lived in Rome in the latter part of the second century, a physician of great em- 
inence, and one of the most accomplished and learned men of his age. From 
a fancied resemblance of the appearance of the disease as it extends itself into 
adjacent healthy tissues to the claws of a crab, he gave it the Latin name of 
Crab, namely Cancer. Since his day the name has been universally adopted 
both by the medical profession and the public, and is popularly applied to all 
forms of the so-called malignant growths, such as scirrhus or hard cancer, en- 
cephaloid or brain-like cancer, epithelioma, the rapidly growing, infecting, 
and recurrent forms of sarcoma, and other varieties, which may differ much in 
structure, and in their clinical features. 
The malignancy which is the common characteristic of all, justifies the long- 
continued popular usage of the term cancer to cover all these diseases, and all 
come within the province of this Hospital to treat. I will briefly refer to some 
of the peculiarities of this group of diseases which distinguish them from all 
others. They have for some years been gradually increasing in frequency and 
causing a larger proportion of deaths in those nations which are the most ad- 
vanced in civilization. 
In the Forty-first Annual Report of the Registrar-General of England, pub- 
lished in 1880, it was asserted that the number of deaths from cancer was 5,218 29 
in 1851, and 12,664 in 1878, but as the population had largely increased in this 
period, the increase in frequency will be more distinctly appreciated by the fol- 
lowing quotation from this report: “ The average annual mortality (from can- 
cer) during the five years 1850-4 was 304 in one million living. In the five 
years 1870-4 it was 443, while in the year 1878 it was 512.” 
In New York City, the proportion of deaths from cancer in 1875 was 400 to 
the million. In 1885 it was 530 to the million. According to the Reports on 
Vital Statistics of the Census of the United States of 1880 the proportion of 
deaths from cancer to the total number of deaths reported from known causes 
was 36.68 to 1,000. 
Cancer is a disease of advanced age. It is found in all ages but in very un- 
equal proportions. In 8,193 cases the proportion of deaths under 5 years of 
age was 15.95 per 1,000, while from 5 to 10 it is only 2.82 per 1,000, and from 
10 to 15 1.60 per 1,000. From the age of 15 the proportion gradually rises in 
each quinquennium, until between the ages of 50 and 55 it reaches 130.18 per 
1,000. After this period the proportion gradually diminishes as the population 
of those living after this period of life decrease. Mr. Jonathan Hutchison, of 
London, whose opinion on all questions of pathology is considered authority by 
the profession in all parts of the learned world, in the most able discussion 
which has ever been held on this subject, that before the Pathological and Clin- 
ical Society of Glasgow in 1886, said : “Of the causes which underlie the pro- 
clivity to cancer, and which render some races and some families more prone 
than others, we as yet know but little. What little we do know would lead us 
to believe that it has nothing to do with diet or with climate. The herbivorous 
animals are liable to it as well as the carnivorous, and so far as I know it pre- 
vails in all parts of the world where the conditions are favorable to longevity. 
Wherever, from whatever cause, they are not so, there cancer becomes rela- 
tively infrequent. It is almost unknown in those of our domestic animals which 
are used for food, for the simple reason that we never let them grow old, while 
in dogs, cats, horses, and asses it is common,” 
Dr. Billings says : “ The increase of mortality from cancer with advancing 
age may be explained either on the theory that the cause of cancer becomes 
more potential in advanced age at the period of physiological decay, or on the 
theory that the predisposition to cancer belongs to the strongest and longest 
lived.” The fact is settled beyond question, that in those populations where 
but few reach old age, cancer is proportionally rare. 
There are some curious and interesting facts in regard to the geographical 
distribution of cancer, which science as yet does not satisfactorily explain. 
The last census of the United States demonstrates that this disease is es- 
pecially prevalent in the New England States and on the Southern Pacific coast, 
that it is prevalent in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the interior of 
Michigan and the southern part of Wisconsin. That it is least prevalent upon 
the Mississippi and in the South, and that the proportions are generally lower 
in the coast regions than in the interior. An examination of the reports of 
death from cancer in England and Wales made by Dr. Havilland leads him to 
conclusions quite in accord with those derived from our own census. Both 
banks of the Tweed near Berwick, and of the Tyne at Newcastle, some parts 30 
of Yorkshire, and the whole of the beautiful lake district are fertile beds of 
cancer. The Isle of Wight is all but free from this disease, while it is common 
in Brighton, Folkestone, Dover, Ramsgate, and Margate. Statistics also 
demonstrate, as other facts have seemed to prove, that density of population, 
poor living, and laborious toil have very little to do with the development and 
appearance of cancer. Thus in London, in which, as a whole, cancer is very 
prevalent, the parish of St. Luke’s, the neighborhood of Bishopsgate Street, 
crowded Bethnal Green, the Isle of Dog, Rotherhithe, and Bermondsey, are 
almost exempt from this disease, but in the respectable parts of the metropolis, 
about the Marylebone Road, Regent’s Park, and Primrose Hill it is exception- 
ally frequent. In Liverpool, which has a large mortality from other causes of 
death, the percentage of deaths from cancer was very small. In the future it may 
be discovered that the localities where the prevalence of this disease is most 
frequent, they have certain characteristics in common which science may over- 
come and thus notably diminish this tendency in such localities. 
In the Report on the Vital Statistics of the United States of the Tenth Census 
in 1886, it is remarked that the peculiarities of the differences in mortality from 
cancer in different localities may be in part explained by differences in the pop- 
ulation of these localities as regards race and age. It is a disease which is 
much less frequent in the colored than in the white race, hence the mortality 
from it is greater in the North than in the South. It causes the greatest pro- 
portion of deaths where there are the greatest proportion of people of advanced 
age,—that is to say, in the New England States. Hence in any given locality, 
a large proportion of deaths from cancer indicates, to a certain extent, that the 
locality is a healthful and a long-settled one and has a large proportion of 
inhabitants of an advanced age. 
Cancer is not a disease due to misery, to poverty, to bad sanitary surround- 
ings, to ignorance, or bad habits On the contrary, it is a disease of the most 
highly civilized, the most cultured, the wealthy, and of localities which are the 
most salubrious. One of the characteristics of cancer is that, unless the brain 
is involved, it leaves intellectual power and force unimpaired. Nay, it seems 
that in some cases it almost increases these qualities. 
No pathetic incident is more indelibly stamped on my memory than a visit 
made to a victim of this disease, whom I found, as I often had before, seated 
at his writing-table, his drawn, pallid face expressing fatigue and suffering, but 
still more expressive of will force and a remarkable power of endurance. 
“Excuse me,” he said, as I entered the room. “ until I finish a paragraph 
that I have just begun.” After a few moments he laid down his pen, saying 
with a sad gleam of satisfaction: “ There, since your visit yesterday I have 
written eight pages.” 
After the commencement of his painful illness, stimulated by the hope of 
overcoming reverses and leaving his family in circumstances to which their 
former position entitled them, he succeeded in accomplishing a larger amount 
of work, and receiving a greater pecuniary reward for it, than in the history of 
the world was ever before acquired for literary work in so short a period of 
time. 
Census reports are to most persons uninteresting, and the value of the two 31 
large volumes of the last census, which relate to the vital statistics of this coun- 
try, can be appreciated by but few persons ; nevertheless, I wish to call your 
attention especially to the importance of these books, and to the remarks in 
which Dr. J. S. Billings, of the United States Army, under whose direction 
they were compiled, sums up the conclusions which may be drawn from them, 
and points out the way in which such statistics should be extended, improved, 
and made reliable as a means of increasing our knowledge of the causes of pain 
and death, and of the means of destroying or of diminishing these causes. 
The belief has been almost universal, both with the profession and the pub- 
lic, until within a comparatively recent period, that cancer has generally an 
hereditary origin. It is probable that no doctrine in regard to the cause of dis- 
ease has given rise to so much and so causeless misery and unhappiness in the 
world as this. In those who have some symptoms which they suspect to indi- 
cate the beginning of this disease, suspicion becomes a conviction, if any rela- 
tive of a former generation has died of cancer. They may almost be said to begin 
the pangs of a moral death long before it is demonstrable that physical death is 
inevitable from this cause. If the patients have any family history of this dis- 
ease, and are suffering from any acute or chronic affection attended with symp- 
toms which they have heard exist in cancer, the effect of this conviction is not 
only most depressing, but dangerously complicates conditions which otherwise 
might result in recovery. I have personally known many illustrations of the 
truth of both of my two last assertions. Again, I have more than once been 
asked in those pathetic tones which tell of heart-breaking anxiety : “ Are my 
children or is my daughter doomed to suffer as I now do ? ” The answer given 
in no equivocal words is : “ The probability of such a doom for any descendant 
of yours is extremely small.” In all the statistics which I have been able to col- 
lect, where the antecedent family history seemed to be trustworthy, I have 
found that the proportion of those who have had cancer, in whom some relative 
of a former generation is reported to have had some form of malignant disease, 
to be only 13.65 per cent. On the other hand, in one family which has in the 
present generation the largest number of victims that I have ever personally 
known, I have authoritative proof for asserting that no development of any 
form of malignant disease has ever existed in three previous generations, 
including collateral branches. 
Before a professional audience I could give a list of names which would be 
regarded as conclusive as to present belief of the profession on this point. 
More than a quarter of a century ago, Mr. Jonathan Hutchison, whose opinions 
carry the greatest weight, expressed his disbelief in hereditary origin as an effec- 
tive cause. Recently, that is during the past year, in a notable and most able 
discussion of this subject, he said : “ It is utterly useless to employ such a term 
as hereditary transmission of cancer in such a sense as we speak of the trans- 
mission of some other diseases.” 
A proclivity to the disease may result from the conjunction of certain parent- 
age, but it cannot be said to be inherited from ancestors in whom it did not 
exist. We may speak of cancer being hereditary as we speak of delirium tre- 
mens as hereditary, but in neither case is this transmission of the disease. Parents 
cannot transmit to children disease which has no existence in their own system 32 
previous to the birth of the children, and thus it is absurd to say that a daugh- 
ter has inherited the disease which her mother first developed twenty-five years 
after the birth of the daughter. 
A cancer bacillus is as yet unknown in science, and the most recent investi- 
gations have failed to find any. But I observe that Sir James Paget, in a lec- 
ture delivered on the nth of November, expresses the belief that micro-para- 
sites or substances produced by them will some day be found in essential rela- 
tion with cancer and cancerous diseases. But as yet there are no ascertained 
facts which support this belief. 
In a paper read before the Academy of Medicine in 1870, I then avowed the 
opinion that cancer could not be regarded as an hereditary disease, but that an 
hereditary tendency to it often exists in those whose ancestry has been wholly 
exempt from it. In such it is probably developed by some local existing causes. 
Cancer was regarded by Abernethy (a great authority in pathology and sur- 
gery during the early part of the present century) as being simply the local 
manifestation of a constitutional disease. Within the past few years a large 
number of the most eminent pathologists have become adherents to the doctrine 
that it is primarily a local disease, and that the constitutional affection is a 
secondary result. This is not the time or place to review the various able 
arguments which have been urged in favor of one or the other view, but it is a 
point of great importance as affecting the question of the curability of the dis- 
ease. In the first place, no medicine has yet been discovered which acts spe- 
cifically in retarding or curing the disease, as quinine and mercury and others do 
certain specific diseases. No man has the moral right to administer any drug 
without some well defined view of the end which he wishes to accomplish and 
a well grounded belief that the drug he selects will probably effect this result. 
But in cancer we do not know what primary changes are necessary in either 
tissue or function to prolong life or cure the disease. Even if we did know 
this, no drug has yet been found which experience has proved will effect these 
changes. So it may be positively asserted that no case of cancer has ever been 
proved to have been cured by medical treatment. But many cases have been 
arrested for months and years by surgical treatment ; and as after three years 
it is generally believed that the probability of recurrence is very slight, we have 
the right to say that many cases have been absolutely cured by total removal of 
the diseased tissues. 
I think sufficient facts have been accumulated, especially within the past ten 
years, to justify the following assertions :— 
Total removal of the whole diseased growth, when it is found as a distinctly 
limited affection, the lymphatic glands not being involved, it is highly probable 
will be followed by a cure. 
If the disease has involved the lymphatic vessels and glands, the chances of 
cure are materially diminished ; but in many cases an operation has proved to 
be of great service in relieving suffering and prolonging life for months and in 
some cases from one to two or three years. 
After the local disease has existed a sufficient length of time to contaminate 
the blood and infect the general system, a cure by an operation or by any other 
method is absolutely hopeless. Great progress has been made in successful 33 
surgery within the past few years by a resort to the operation at the earliest 
possible period, that is, so soon as the existence of the disease can be deter- 
mined. 
The most recent and probably the most authoritative writer on this subject 
Mr. Butlin, of London, asserts that every week of delay increases the danger of 
the contraction of various adhesions, of affections of the secondary glands, and 
of the formation of secondary growths. But duration alone is not a conclusive 
argument against the success of an operation ; for, as the same author adds : 
‘ ‘ When long duration of a malignant tumor is associated with a very slow 
progress, small size, absence of serious adhesions, absence of affection of the 
neighboring lymphatic glands and of secondary growths, so much the more 
favorable is the prospect of permanent relief from operation for its removal.” 
The question of the locality of the growth is one of great importance in forming 
a decision as to the necessity and probable success of removal, and will always 
be carefully and conscientiously weighed before a decision is made. These 
malignant growths may appear in any tissue of the body, external or internal, 
and eminent surgeons of this city, as elsewhere, have removed them with all the 
success anticipated from muscles, bones, lymphatic glands, the eye, the face, 
the lower lip, the tongue, the breast, and other external organs. 
If this were a fitting opportunity, and time would permit, I am sure all pres- 
ent would be interested in hearing an account of such as I have a personal 
knowledge of, either from my own observation or from a knowledge derived 
directly from the operators. But such details would be inappropriate on the 
present occasion, and I am compelled to deny myself the pleasure of paying a 
just tribute to the skill and sound judgment of surgeons that we have in oyr 
city. 
Dr. S. W. Gross, of Philadelphia, asserts : “ The convictions are steadily 
gaining ground that this disease in the breast is primarily a local affection and 
not a constitutional one, and that these views are supported by many of the 
most eminent men living,—pathologists such as Virchow, of Berlin ; Bilroth, of 
Vienna ; Fersche, of Breslau ; Esmarch, of Kiel; Mussbaunn, of Munich ; 
Volkman, of Halle ; Erichsen, Hutchison, Gull, Simon, Bryant, Green, and 
others, of London ; and the late Dr. Gross, and Parker, Peters, Moore, Rich- 
ardson, and others, in the United States has shown by the statistics of his 
practice, and that of others, the usefulness and success of the surgical removal 
of the disease.” 
But as I have said before, removal of the disease by operation is not restricted 
to external organs, for many operations for removal of internal organs have 
been performed with all the success that could be anticipated, although it must 
be added there have been many failures. On Nov. 14th, three weeks ago, I 
was present when one of the Medical Board of this Hospital performed one of 
the most difficult operations ever attempted in surgery, viz., the entire removal 
of a most important internal organ. I had previously seen the patient and con- 
curred in the opinion that the operation was imperatively necessary, and that it 
offered a fair promise of success. I may add that the opinion of the operator 
and myself was given independently, each without the knowledge of the other. 
The patient, as I have learned within a few days, has had no unfavorable syrnp- 34 
toms which have retarded her convalescence. It is possible that she may here- 
after escape any return of the disease. It is certain that her life has been pro- 
longed, and that she has been saved from months or perhaps years of suffering 
which would have soon ended her days. A fair number of cases have been re- 
ported in which such results have been attained. And yet so late as fifteen 
years ago, any proposal to attempt such an operation would have been con- 
demned by the universal sentiment of the profession ; and if it had been 
attempted and resulted in failure, the public would have denounced the ope- 
rator as a reckless, unscrupulous butcher, who had no conscience as regards the 
result to his patient, but simply sought personal glory in the eclat of having 
performed a wonderful operation. All of us have before heard such language 
applied to surgeons. 
The case which now commands the most universal sympathy and interest in 
all nations of the world is that of the Crown Prince of Prussia. It is an unpar- 
alleled event in history that three men, two of whom had been at the head of the 
government of their respective nations, and the third, whose probable inheri- 
tance was an empire, should each have been victims to malignant disease in 
contiguous localities, differing only in some minor details, at the same period in 
the world’s history. In the case of President Grant, the locality of the malig- 
nant growth was such that it was decided by most competent authority that 
from the beginning a successful removal by surgery was not practicable, as the 
danger from such an attempt would be much greater than the probability of any 
benefit. During the illness of Gen. Grant I received a letter from the brother- 
in-law of Dom Ferdinand, ex-King of Portugal, and his attending surgeon, de- 
tailing the history and description of the case of the ex-King, in whom malig- 
nant disease had also appeared in the mouth, very near to but not exactly in the 
same site. From the description given the conviction was irresistible to my 
mind that it would be impossible, by any surgical procedure, to remove the 
whole of the diseased tissue, and that any attempt of the kind would be 
attended with such danger as might be followed by immediate death, and would 
undoubtedly shorten the duration of his life. His death followed within a few 
months that of our honored ex-President. As regards the probable future of 
the case of the Crown Prince, none but those able men who are in attendance 
upon him, and who must have a knowledge of many details which are essential 
elements, but which it is impossible to explain to the world, are competent to 
form or express any opinion of value. In general terms, I may say that his 
general health is reported to be very good ; that the progress of the disease ap- 
pears to be slow as compared with some cases I have seen, and I may add, if 
it be decided by his medical advisers that partial or entire excision of the larynx 
should be performed, we have abundant evidence that in a certain number of 
cases both of these operations have prolonged life to a period when the proba- 
bility of recurrence is very small. In some cases entire excision has saved life 
for a length of time that gives great encouragement for hoping that the ravages 
of this terrible disease have been arrested. Two such happy results have been 
reported in this country and several abroad. Dr. Roswell Park, of Buffalo, in 
June, 1885, removed the entire larynx on account of the existence of this dis- 
ease in a patient who was himself a medical man. In a letter dated Nov. 22d, 35 
he writes to me : “ The doctor has a number of relatives in Buffalo, and as I 
frequently see one or more of them, I am kept pretty well informed as to his 
condition. My latest news is so recent as last week, and to the effect that he 
is as well as ever.” 
It must be obvious that all new and important operations are followed by a 
progressive success in their results, as the methods of operating are improved in 
their details, and as the after-treatment necessary becomes better known. The 
percentage of successful results increases in a ratio in proportion to the experi- 
ence acquired by the increasing number of the operations. Indeed, I may add 
that it is my conviction that the progressive number of cures of this terrible 
curse to humanity is in a more rapid ratio than the progressive increase of the 
frequency of the disease. 
Need I say more, in the light of the past, to point out what may be hoped 
for in the future from such a Hospital as this, under the devoted zeal of the 
active staff, whose ability, competency, and faithfulness to their duty have 
already been demonstrated in other positions. Can any one have a doubt as to 
the probable service to humanity which will result from the careful observation 
and study by such competent men of details that can never be acquired except 
in a large hospital ? 
I question whether any, even the most sanguine, has more than a feeble con- 
ception of the benefit to the victims of the disease to be here treated, and to 
thousands of others, that will result from the opening of this Hospital. 
At the conclusion of Dr. Barker’s address the President called upon Dr. 
William H. Draper, who said : 
ADDRESS OF DR. DRAPER 
The inauguration of a new hospital must necessarily inspire more or less 
painful emotion. It is always an occasion of solemn interest, because it 
reveals and emphasizes the ills and perils which afflict humanity. It crystal- 
lizes, so to speak, the miseries of disease. It concentrates the attention 
upon an accumulation of physical woes and mental anguish in a way to appall 
sensitive and sympathetic natures and to make the stoutest hearts despondent 
in the face of misfortunes they are often helpless to relieve. But happily the 
instinct which impels us to protect ourselves and each other from the perils 
which beset us in this life is so strong that it manifests itself not only in indi- 
vidual conflict with the dangers that threaten our existence, but in the organ- 
ized warfare which we carry on with the scourges which afflict the race. In 
this organized warfare the hospital is the most important of the battle-fields. 
Here we find the forces of disease gathered, and arrayed against the powers 
which the advances of human knowledge have furnished to antagonize them. 
It is for this reason that the science of disease and the art of healing command 
universal interest, and as the struggle which develops them is carried on with 
the systematic discipline and the organized methods which we find in hospitals, 
it enlists universal sympathy. There are no public institutions which are 
more sure of support, because they appeal at once, by their practical benefi- 
cence, to the highest intelligence and the most generous emotions. 36 
The motives which led to the establishment of this Hospital are especially in- 
teresting, as showing how an intelligent public sentiment keeps pace in the di- 
rection and extent of its charities with the progress which science is making in 
its conflict with disease. The classification of human ills, based upon the daily 
increasing knowledge of their causes, and the improvement in technical skill 
developed by special experimental efforts for their cure, have aroused popular 
attention to the importance of encouraging the specialization which is the domi- 
nant feature of the science of medicine to-day. The truth of this statement is 
illustrated in the number and prosperity of the hospitals which have been estab- 
lished in this country, and all over the civilized world, within the past twenty- 
five years for the study and treatment of special classes and varieties of disease. 
The idea that a direct and organized effort should be made to stay the rav- 
ages of cancer found its birth in the public sentiment inspired by the practical 
benefits which had resulted from the scientific method of contending with 
other diseases. And the idea was no sooner born than it commanded general 
attention and generous encouragement. 
It is not yet four years since the humane thought found expression that 
something might be done to emphasize and strengthen the efforts towards the 
mitigation of the terrors of this fatal scourge by affording to medical and surgi- 
cal skill a special field whereon to wage a close and determined warfare with it. 
To-day you behold this substantial, fit, and well-equipped building, with a staff 
of distinguished physicians and surgeons ready to devote their earnest efforts to 
diminish the sufferings of this terrible disease and to help as far as possible 
towards the efforts which are being made all over the world to determine its 
cause, to stay its progress, and possibly to effect its extermination. 
The friends of this institution need no assurance of the immediate benefits 
which will result to all who seek its succor. 
The Hospital itself presents every possible advantage which can come from 
perfect construction, cheerful environment, and even luxurious accommodation. 
It will doubtless be administered on the part of its Managers with a liberal con- 
sideration for the needs and comfort of the patients, and with all the skill and 
attention on the part of the medical staff which the latest advances in science 
can suggest. 
But you may reasonably ask what are to be the remote consequences of the 
establishment of this Hospital? What are the prospects of our attaining deeper 
insight into the causes of cancer, and greater skill and success in its treatment, 
from the opportunities of observation and experience which will be afforded 
here? These are questions which no man can answer. But remember, they 
are questions which at one time it would have been considered foolishness to 
ask. The very fact that it has entered into the minds of men to seek the solu- 
tion of problems like these, gives us reason to hope that they may be solved. 
This hope is encouraged by what has already been accomplished in the solution 
of similar problems through the practical application of discoveries in science. 
Recent investigations show that many of the diseases which have been sup- 
posed to be constitutional in their origin and the result of inherent and trans- 
mitted tendencies are in reality parasitic in their nature, and determined by 
definite, tangible, and demonstrable germs. These germs are planted in our 37 
bodies through the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the water we drink, and 
the food we consume. This has been definitely proved of some of the more 
acute scourges of humanity, like cholera and typhoid fever ; it is true of con- 
sumption and leprosy, and recent investigations lead us to hope that it may be 
true of cancer. 
Surely it is a great point gained in any conflict with the powers of darkness if 
we can see and define our enemy. It is not clear how far the discovery that 
cancer depends upon a parasitic germ, should it be made, is going to affect our 
ultimate success in diminishing its ravages. There would certainly be one in- 
teresting result of this addition to our knowledge of the pathology of cancer— 
it would justify in the most complete manner the necessity of early surgical in- 
terference whenever it is possible. This of itself would be a great gain, and it is 
probable that this is one of the ways in which this Hospital is going to illustrate 
its beneficent work. In its out-door department a great many cases will come 
under observation in their earliest stages, when prompt surgical aid will cer- 
tainly save needless suffering, and prolong, if it does not rescue, many lives. 
In this way the institution will accomplish each year of its existence enough 
good to justify its liberal support. This much requires no prophecy. As to the 
greater benefits which are to come from its establishment, how far its contribu- 
tions to the treatment and cure of cancer may make this Hospital a recognized 
force in the emancipation of humanity from this relentless disease, we can only 
express the hope that its destiny in this respect may realize the expectations of 
its most enthusiastic friends. 
ADDRESS OF REV. DR. HALL. 
Rev. Dr. Hall, who was to make the last address, said that at that late 
hour, and after the interesting and authoritative information given them, he 
would content himself with the statement of three thoughts, and he would 
make the statement as concise as possible. In the first place there is, in cer- 
tain quarters, a strong disposition to censure the well-to-do as such, as if the 
very possession of means, however acquired or however employed, implied 
wrong on the part of the owner. Every such institution as this constitutes an 
answer, in part at least, to those criticisms, and is fitted to weaken those un- 
happy feelings that threaten to divide society and produce irritation where 
there should be mutual trust and mutual helpfulness. 
The second point respects one class of results from the working of this insti- 
tution. Observations on the mysterious malady for the sufferers by which it 
has been erected, have necessarily been more or less desultory, and difficult of 
collection and comparison. We may surely hope that under the eyes of capa- 
ble physicians observing and classifying observations regularly made, and in the 
most favorable circumstance, there will come out conclusions the practical 
effect of which will be to render the disease less common or more manageable. 
Who that has seen its victims can refrain from praying for this incidental gain 
from this benevolent work ? And, finally, let us hope that the working of this 
Hospital in the coming years will dispel that vague, indefinite feeling regarding 
this form of human suffering which so frequently leads to its concealment, or 38 
its being spoken of with “bated breath.” “I can say,” said the speaker, 
“ and with the deepest feeling, that some of the best, the gentlest, the most 
Christian people I have ever known have, in this way, passed from this brief 
life into the rest and peace promised to God’s children. Within the last year a 
gallant British officer, who in military life and in civil won the highest places, 
and an Irish judge, than whom I never knew a juster or a nobler man, so 
passed upward ; and their patience, gentleness, and hope, as I stood by them in 
the time of critical suffering, were as noble and impressive as any thing I ever 
saw. It will be no mean gain if unreasoning feeling on this matter be dissi- 
pated, and the working of this great and benevolent institution, I do not 
doubt, will have happy influence in this direction. We cannot but wish and 
pray that the blessing of Him who loved us and suffered for us may rest on 
those who watch the outlay of their means on this new form of relief to human 
misery ; and when its founders are all gone, yet blessed will be their memory.” 
After Dr. Hall’s remarks, the audience joined with the choir in singing the 
hymn “ With One Consent ” (Old Hundred). 
FROM THE ONE HUNDREDTH PSALM. 
With one consent let all the earth 
To God their cheerful voices raise ; 
Glad homage pay with awful mirth, 
And sing before Him songs of praise. 
Convinced that He is God alone, 
From whom both we and all proceed, 
We, whom He chooses for his own, 
The flock that He vouchsafes to feed. 
For He’s the Lord supremely good, 
His mercy is forever sure ; 
His truth, which always firmly stood, 
To endless ages shall endure. 
The Benediction was then pronounced by the Right Rev. H. C. Potter, 
D.D., and the audience dispersed to inspect the Hospital building. MEMORIAL. 
The New York Cancer Hospital, 
The following memorial notice of Mrs. John J. Astor, prepared by Mr. John 
E. Parsons, President of the Hospital, in accordance with resolution passed at 
the meeting held December 20, 1887, was this day presented, and directed to 
be placed upon the minutes. 
On January 5th I received from Mr. Astor his check for $25,000 “ for the 
endowment of five free beds in perpetuity at the New York Cancer Hospital, 
in memory of Charlotte Augusta Astor, wife of John Jacob Astor. ’ This 
announcement makes a fitting beginning to the memorial notice to be placed 
upon our minutes, which I have been instructed to prepare. 
A well rounded life, which has met every duty as it came along, furnishes little 
in the way of incident. It is the termination of such a life and the vacant 
space it leaves by which best can a judgment be formed of the measure of its 
importance. Of this Mrs. Astor was a striking illustration. She lived under 
the observation of all. She died in our midst. We wereconscious of the import- 
ant duties which she discharged. We knew the time and interest which she 
gave to the innumerable demands which the needs of a city like this create. We 
were witnesses of the warmth of her heart and of the wise counsel which she 
brought to the aid of the work which engaged her attention. But it was so 
much a matter of course to expect this from her, that we took it for granted. 
We must look back to form an opinion of the loss which her death has occa- 
sioned. We then recognize how complete her life was, and realize that it is 
rather to be estimated in the fulness of all its harmonious proportions than to 
be judged by any special or exceptional detail. 
Mrs. Astor was born in the city of New York, on February 27, 1825. Her 
father, Thomas Stanyon Gibbes, belonged to a prominent South Carolina 
family. Prior to 1825, he established his residence in New York. Here he 
continued to live down to his death. Here his children were brought up. Mr. 
Gibbes was a gentleman of position, of intelligence, and of abundant means. 
It goes without saying that from her earliest life Mrs. Astor enjoyed every ad- 
vantage which was possible. What distinguished her was the use which she made 
of opportunities common to her with many others. She was endowed natu- 
rally with a mind of unusual power. She was gifted with a taste for literature, 
for music, and for the fine arts. She readily acquired the accomplishments of 
January 17, i388. 
39 40 
refined and cultivated life. She possessed excellent natural judgment. From 
the beginning she devoted herself to studies and pursuits more serious than is 
usually the case with those of her class. 
On December 9, 1846 she was married. The important position which Mr. 
Astor filled, called for the discharge of important duties by her. In such a 
position social claims are imperative. It was a necessity that much of Mrs. 
Astor’s life should be devoted to their discharge. Notwithstanding this, she 
continued to gratify her love of literature, of music, and of art. To read the 
current books, to maintain her proficiency in music, to keep herself informed 
about the many subjects which occupied public attention, necessarily involved 
much time. Aside from lighter accomplishments Mrs. Astor was interested in 
science, in the development of human thought, and in studies of a practical and 
earnest kind. Her acquaintances were among persons eminent in art, in liter- 
ature, in public life, and in science. She enjoyed their society ; she met them on 
equal ground. Naturally she was ambitious to keep herself informed on the 
great variety of subjects in contact with which she was brought, and that she 
did so in no superficial way is well known to all who had the pleasure to enjoy 
conversation with her. 
In 1848 her son, the present Mr. William Waldorf Astor, was born. To 
train and educate him for the important position before him, was a pleasure 
and a duty. To it she applied herself with the conscientiousness which charac- 
terized all her acts, steeling herself against permitting a mother’s love for an 
only son to interfere with that son’s welfare. 
And underlying this attention to social, friendly, and family duties, was a 
keen and lively interest in every scheme and undertaking which looked to the 
improvement of the human race. It is easy for those who are rich to give 
money. It is not difficult for them to give a portion of their time. Mrs. As- 
tor was not satisfied with the expenditure of time and money in her work for 
the poor and degraded, the unfortunate and the erring. Knowledge of their 
condition, study of the best means by which to improve it, and accurate under- 
standing of the diseases from which humanity suffers, and of the best mode of 
alleviation, were in her view required to enable her to discharge the philan- 
thropic and benevolent work which she undertook. Whether it was a question 
of the poor children of this city, or the degraded Indians of the Western 
plains, whether of those suffering from the consequences of their own crimes, 
or the unfortunate persons of her sex who were victims of the diseases to which 
they are especially subject, Mrs. Astor gave to her work in their behalf an ac- 
curate knowledge of their condition and of the best mode for its relief. 
In 1872 she became a member of the Board of Managers of the Woman’s 
Hospital. She subsequently declined to become its president, but she con- 
tinued, until the condition of her health forbade, to be active and earnest in the 
work of that institution. Out of it grew special relation to this Hospital. 
The story of the gift with which was constructed the Astor Pavilion has been 
told before. During all the time that Mr. Astor’s offer for a cancer pavilion in 
connection with its work stood open for acceptance by the Woman’s Hospital, 
Mrs. Astor took a quiet part in the discussions ; she was a member of the com- 
mittee appointed to consider the subject ; but never did she betray by word or 
look the interest which she felt that the gift should be accepted. Out of its 41 
refusal came the beginning of our Hospital. It must always be an occasion 
of regret that Mrs. Astor’s health prevented her being present at the laying of 
the corner-stone, or ever visiting the building. But although she was denied 
the opportunity of any outward display of her interest, the Hospital and its 
concerns were none the less near her heart. The plans, as they were prepared, 
were submitted to her examination. In all the hurry of her departure on her 
last visit to Europe, she gave time to go over them thoroughly and to make 
careful practical suggestions, and as the Hospital now stands, it represents the 
result of her matured knowledge upon the subject of that mode of hospital con- 
struction best adapted to produce the happiest results. 
From the laying of the corner-stone down to her death, Mrs. Astor’s health 
gradually failed. Long before the time came to open the Hospital, we knew 
that neither would she be able to be present, nor was she likely ever to see the 
practical results of the beneficent bounty which she had inspired. Her death 
came on December 12, 1887. It may be said that the death of no private person 
has caused more regret or called for wider sympathy. It is not only in the homes 
of the rich, among those of her own class, that Mrs. Astor will be missed. She 
was a friend of the poor, and they knew it. They have sustained a loss which 
it will be difficult to repair. The outcast and the degraded came within the 
reach of her earnest and active interest. They have been bereft of one who 
was always working to improve their condition. Human suffering in every 
form provoked her sympathy, and prompted her to active and intelligent effort 
for its relief. The innumerable number of those who suffer have met with an 
irreparable loss. The work of the church to which she belonged has been de- 
prived of a conscientious and efficient laborer. She will be missed in every 
public enterprise which aims at the improvement of New York. Her most 
appropriate monument is in the esteem, affection, and regard in which she was 
held by all who knew her. 
In a notice of Mrs. Astor’s death, written by her friend, Bishop Potter, and 
published in the Churchman, this incident is related: ‘ ‘ The writer well 
remembers driving up Fifth Avenue on that hot day in August, a few years ago, 
when Grant was borne to his tomb. On either side, the long procession 
was flanked by closed houses, with only here and there an open window, indi- 
cating thus the almost universal absence of their owners from their homes. 
But a marked exception was the residence of Mrs. Astor, whose windows were 
crowded with shop-girls and women bidden by its thoughtful hostess to gather 
there and view the memorable pageant, and as her guests to enjoy a privilege 
once eagerly longed for and most difficult of attainment. She herself was absent 
at her summer home by the sea ; but even then her thoughts were with her less 
favored friends who were prisoners in the town ; and a delicate forethought 
and personal painstaking gave to these, not only the pleasure of a rare spec- 
tacle, but the rarer pleasure that they were kindly and generously remembered.” 
Little remains to be said. Within the short time since the Hospital has 
begun, it has sustained the loss of two of its most valued friends. Mrs. Cullum 
and Mrs. Astor were cousins. Interest in the treatment of cancer, brought them 
together in the formation of the Hospital. It is an appropriate memorial of 
both. As long as its buildings last, as long as its beneficent work goes on, it 
will be a memento of them and of the good deeds by which they are endeared. FORM OF BEQUEST. 
/ give and bequeath to the New York 
Cancer Hospital in the city of New York the sum of 
dollars. 
42