31620900R v jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3 N ID I 0 3 '.V JC ll 'It s nlh Dsma? NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE SNOiaaw jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3nidiq3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3NOia3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3NOia3w jo Aavaan i«%- NLM051487835 i'i\ ■>:< "•*-- avaan ivnouvn 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan wnou> 3NOia3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn 3NiDia3w jo Aavagn ivnouvn 3Ni3iQ3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn snoiqsw jo Aavaan ivnoiu \ Fiftieth Anniversary —OF— The Hartford Medical Society Founded September 15, J 846 PROCEEDINGS —AT— ^ THE CELEBRATION ^ October 26, \896 —AT— HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT LIBRARY SURGEON GCNERAL'SOFFICE NOV. -3-1897 j 5-^ <} o3 - I \697 j* £ J> PREFACE. Jt jt jb TRANSCRIPTS FROM MINUTES —OF— THE HARTFORD MEDICAL SOCIETY. October 7, 1895. "Upon motion of Dr. Shepherd, it was " Voted, That the president be requested to appoint a committee at the next meeting, to devise a scheme for the proper observation of the fiftieth anniversary of the society." October 2 J, i895. "President Stearns announced the appointment of Drs. Shepherd, Davis and St. John upon the committee for the semi-centennial of the society." January 6, J 896. "The report of the committee on semi-centennial, presented by Dr. Davis, recommending an afternoon meeting with addresses, followed by a banquet in the evening. " Voted, To continue the committee, with power to arrange for the celebration on September 15, 1896." September 7, J 896. " It was voted to reconsider the vote of the annual meeting appoint- ing the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary upon September 15th. " Voted, To postpone the celebration to the third Monday in Octo- ber, the committee being authorized to make the date a week earlier or later." October 5, J 896. " Voted, To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary upon October 26th, as recommended by the committee of arrangements. " Voted, To leave in the hands of the committee all arrangements respecting the details of the fiftieth anniversary celebration." PREFACE. November J 6, 1396. " Voted, That the anniversary committee and the secretary be re- quested to recommend some means of preserving the proceedings of the fiftieth anni vers a ry.'' May 3, J 897. "The committee on publication reported, recommending the publi- cation of the fiftieth anniversary proceedings in form similar to those of 'The Presentation of the Loving Cup.'" May J7, J897. " Voted, That the committee on publication of the proceedings of the fiftieth anniversary be, and are hereby, authorized to contract for 125 copies of the same, at an expense of not more than $150.00, and to receive and distribute them." GEORGE R. SHEPHERD, ^j SAMUEL B. St. JOHN, ( Commi^^ G. PIERREPONT DAVIS, [Publication. GIDEON C. SEGUR, J Fiftieth Anniversary of The Hartford Medical Society Fraternity Hall, Y. M. C. A. Building October 26, J 896 PLIMPTON PRINT, HARTFORD. "Oh, call back yesterday, bid time return."—King Richard II. Order of Exercises At 4 o'clock Introductory Remarks by the President . . M. Storrs Historical Address.....Gurdon W. Russell Our Deceased Members and Incidents connected with the later years of the Society . . Horace S. Fuller "Esprit de corps** .....Henry P. Stearns The Present and Future of The Hartford Medical Society as suggested by a study of its Funda- mental Enactments .... Melancthon Storrs At 7 o'clock The Members of the Society, past and present, are requested to assemble at Hotel Hartford for @^DINNER^ Officers, 1896 President, MELANCTHON STORRS Vice-President, G. PIERREPONT DAVIS Secretary, GIDEON C SEGUR Treasurer, CHARLES D. ALTON Librarian, EDWARD K. ROOT Censors—GEORGE R. SHEPHERD WILLIAM T. BACON PHINEAS H. INGALLS Anniversary Committee GEORGE R. SHEPHERD SAMUEL B. St. JOHN G. PIERREPONT DAVIS INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. BY M. STORRS, PRESIDENT. Gentlemen, Members of The Hartford Medical Society: HE suggestion that this society should appropriately commemorate its fiftieth anniversary "was met with a hearty response, yet it was decided that this commem- oration should be simple and without ceremony. A society having such a long period of prosperity and a bright outlook should quickly respond to honor the men who made such a prosperity possible; therefore, it is the first impulse of our hearts to rise and salute the living- founder, to cherish the memory of the dead, and to con- gratulate and greet one another. The long period covered by this anniversary will nat- urally lead our minds along historic lines. We want to know the habits and the lives of the founders; how they looked and what they did for this society and for the public welfare. If we are looking for startling or brilliant history, we shall be disappointed. This society was born in a time of profound peace. It was not the offspring of contending forces, and we have never made ourselves im- mortal by any brilliant deed or by any great discovery. We were very near, but a little too late, for the grandest discovery of modern times—anaesthesia. But we need not despair, in so far as we have sought to do our duty and to honor the profession. Such honest endeavors may be worth more to the world and to human- ity than those which blind by their dazzling brightness. At any rate, it is along the common pathway of duty and effort that brilliant deeds and epochs of history are evolved. No one can say but that some humble word that he has spoken or some deed done, now slumbering in for- getfulness, may yet appear under conditions in the bright *© 8 IN TROD UC TOR Y REM A RKS. annals of history. It was«a common and insignificant event that happened in the little garden of Woolsthorpe 230 years ago this autumn. But the falling of the apple carried a suggestion to the young philosopher Newton, and, prophet as he was, he caught a glimpse of that prin- ciple or law which years after he demonstrated was in the reach of its outgoings as wide as the universe itself. And when to the suggestion was added the certainty of a demonstration, it became immortal, and shone out as a star of the first magnitude in the galaxy of history. But whatever our history may have been, in the study of it we are confronted with two conditions. It is too near and too remote. Too near for the professional his- torian. He cares for no living witnesses; he must not be biased either by living friends or foes; his subject may be veiled in oblivion, clouded by conjecture and speculation, but it is his prerogative to tear off the veil, discover and differentiate the facts, weigh the probabilities, and so reveal to the world what seems to be a new creation. On the other hand, too remote, for that which does not belong to the historic period must be considered as be- longing to current times and events, and its treatment is reportorial. But no reporter can go very far into the past. His dealings are with the present, nay, he reaches out towards the future. The facts of the past are quickly forgotten. Ask our historians if they could get many facts from living witnesses twenty-five and fifty years ago. So there is a dark belt between current events and history which the historian avoids and the reporter can not ex- plore. But we are not without resources. Some of us have known many or a majority of the founders; we can call them up in memory in all the freshness and fulness of life. Those that we have never seen are known to us by the testimony of others who have known them well, so that we have something of tradition. And all of us in these many years, going up and down these streets and enter- ing the homes that they visited, have often seen their footprints and heard the echo of their voices. IN TROD UCTOR Y REMARKS. 9 But, better than all, a kind Providence has spared one of the founders to tell us the story. I say a kind Provi- dence, for he is here in sufficient strength of body and in full possession of his mental powers. He seems to me, in '96, much the same as when I joined this society, in '65. He is an historian by nature, perfected by art and prac- tice. He can write history, near or remote; he can penetrate the dark zone without groping his way. No living friend or foe can bias his judgment. I care not what history he writes, "whether of the church, state, medicine or biography, he holds a true and inimitable pen. The story that he might tell us to-day, as he looks back over the stadium of fifty years and sees his compan- ions fallen by the way and he alone has reached the goal, might be a plaintive one. It would be so if he had outlived himself. But when a companion has fallen, he has pushed on, finding other companions, and living as a living man with living men, busy every day with his professional, literary and business pursuits, private or public. Many a year may he live, if so be that he does not outlive himself. He has done so much for us historically on former occa- sions, notably in the centennial year of the state society, contributing 156 pages in our transactions of the colonial period, and of later times has written so often and so fully, that we can not ask him to retrace his steps. It is enough for us, it is enough for history, if he gives us the additional facts and impressions as they come to his memory. A single thought: Some of you may be thinking that we are having many anniversaries—state and county centennials, and now the semi-centennial of this society. Emerson would, if living, say of us what he said of the American people in regard to their habit of travel. " The American," says he, "has the tapeworm of travel"; so he would say of us Connecticut and Hartford physicians that we have the tapeworm of medical anniversaries. But it is time that the methods or processes of history should be revised. There should be less of exhuming and 10 IN TROD UCTOR Y REMARKS. excavating, but more of embalming. We must photo- graph not only the form and the color, but catch the tones of the voice, register every motion and expression, and throw them all upon the canvas for the future. That is "what these anniversaries are doing, ascertaining and registering the facts for future use. The historian fifty years from now will have an easier time. Then we trust that history-will be true, and sacred because it is true, and the dying statesman will not have occasion again to say, "read not to me of history, for I know that it is wrong." Now, as the procession of the earlier and later dead will pass in review, not as weird specters, but, touched by the historic wand, living forms, as aforetime, I ask you to give your earnest and reverent attention, that you may the more worthily honor the founders and be better prepared to take, sooner or later, your place in the line of succession. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. BY GURDON W. RUSSELL, M. D. 'TS'HERE was no strictly local medical society in Hart- ^ ford until 1846. The Connecticut Medical Society held annual meetings alternately here and at New Haven, and The Hartford County Medical Association met annu- ally, also. Occasionally a paper was read, subjects were briefly discussed and cases in practice were related. The great interest of the meeting, however, "was as much cen- tered in the election of delegates to the state society and in partaking of a social dinner, as in subjects pertaining specially to our profession. It was all very well, and sat- isfactory as far as it went, but fell short of what many conceived to be dutiful and proper. So there had been, at various times, a desire expressed for the formation of a society which should be composed of the physicians of the city, in which medical subjects should be more thoroughly and frequently discussed, and where we should be more closely brought into social co-operation. Nothing, how- ever, resulted from this, except one or two far apart gatherings, where there was only a general conversation and a very small entertainment. There had, however, been formed, somewhere about 1826, The Hopkins Medical Society, consisting of certain physicians residing mostly in this county, but not con- fined to it. This was considered rather exclusive in its character, as the membership was elective and not very numerous. It did comprise, certainly, some of the most learned and skillful members of the profession, and for a term of years was a source of great profit and pleasure to all of them. But, through causes not necessary to be here specified, the association came to an end about 1844, leaving behind it a pleasant recollection of its benefits. So, a few years afterwards, we began to talk about another society; the older physicians very favorably en- 12 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. tertained the project, but nothing was done. Finally, Dr. Hawley and I agreed that we would call a meeting for organization, if one of them did not do it himself. When informed of the general feeling, Dr. Sumner complied at once, and a meeting was held at his house on August 27, 1846. There was a general desire for an organization; a committee, consisting of Drs. Sumner, Russell and Hunt, was appointed to prepare a plan and report to a sub- sequent meeting. This "was done, and the plan was accepted on the fifteenth of September, 1846, which, there- fore, becomes our natal day, the beginning of our semi- centennial year, in honor of which we have met here to- night. It is well to mention the statement made as to the object of the society: " The object of this society is to maintain the practice of medicine and surgery in this city upon a respectable footing; to expose the ignorance and resist the arts of quackery, and to adopt measures for the mutual improve- ment, pleasant intercourse and common good of its mem- bers." The meetings "were to be held twice in each month, at the residences or offices of the members. As very few kept an office distinct or separate from his house, we assembled there in a very pleasant and social manner. Regular office hours were not held of much account in the evening, and so we met at 7 and usually adjourned by 10 o'clock. The order of business was essentially the same as at present; cases were related, generally very clearly, but occasionally with painful minuteness. As our numbers were small, we could bear -with patience whatever every one considered of importance. Then came the discussion of a subject, usually participated in by all, unless there was some mis- cellaneous business. The refreshment followed, closing with cigars, which good Dr. Beresford always furnished, but never used himself; he was "willing to favor the "wishes of his guests, and, after the departure of the brethren opened his doors and windows for a free ventilation of the house. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 13 These meetings were exceedingly pleasant and agree- able. Our numbers at the beginning were only fifteen, so there was no difficulty in the matter of accommodation. While the entertainments were in no sense extravagant, yet they "were ample and satisfactory. The good wives and daughters entered into the spirit of the occasion and left nothing to be desired or complained of. The social element was especially cultivated, and all felt bound to do their part in upholding the society. As I look back upon those scenes of fifty years ago, I am filled with the most pleasant recollections of our meetings, and of the men who composed them, and I am sensible also of the benefit "which we gained in them. Dr. Hunt was accus- tomed to say that he never attended one "without learning something of importance. There "was also brought about by this organization a more friendly feeling and respect for one another; friendships were formed, suspicions were removed, jealousies were nullified, and we were led to know how much better it was to live in unity and brotherly love. It "was at this time that the visiting fee was increased from seventy-five cents to one dollar. It had been at the former sum for many years, when, as the preface of the new Fee Table said, "the town contained but about one- third of its present population; when the fees of lawyers, the salaries of clergymen, and wages generally, "were less than at present." Our increase of charges, however, while it was generally approved, met with some complaint, and several communications in the public press were indica- tions that every one was not satisfied. But time brought an acceptance of the increase as just and reasonable, as it has in those which we were subsequently compelled to make. Along with these pleasant recollections there comes also a loving remembrance of the many we have lost by death. In the course of these fifty years, it has fallen to me to write a biographical sketch of many of them, or it has been written by others, so that it can not be 14 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. expected that this ground should be covered again; but I may say that as fair a share of them have been as intelli- gent, kind and respectable men as can be found in any community. They had a just conception of their duties and obligations, went about their work with industry, and contributed cordially to the benevolent objects of the city. Our citizens realize how much they are indebted to our profession for the establishment of the Retreat for the Insane and for the Hartford Hospital. It is no part of my plan to pass in review a history of our half century. This will be done more fully by the gen- tleman who will succeed me this evening. But I can not refrain from alluding to the treatment of some forms of disease, more especially of pneumonia. When this sub- ject was under discussion, January the eighteenth, 1847, the clerk records, "the practice appeared to be very gen- eral to begin with bleeding, to be followed with antimony and calomel, both combined with opium, if necessary. After the action of the heart was moderated, large blisters were applied with good effect, and when the inflamma- tory symptoms began to abate, several gentlemen had used infusions of asclepias or sanguinaria and serpentaria with benefit." Dr. Sumner referred to the extremes of practice formerly prevailing in this city. Dr. Bacon, he said, "bled freely, and about the sixth day his patients were apt to be affected with diarrhoea. Dr. Todd gave opium, and his patients had coma. When the breathing was much obstructed he gave ipecac and zinc, and if vom- iting was produced they revived wonderfully; but the coma frequently returned, if the opium was continued." He would be a bold man who "would revive the custom of venesection in this disease, but there lingers in my mind the impression that the symptoms were more relieved and that convalescence was more rapid than it is at this day. One more reference to the record and I have done. The subject for discussion being hemorrhages, "Dr. Beres- ford said that in passive hemorrhage he had used the compound tincture of vitriol with much success." Dr HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 15 Dodge said that after the excitement had abated in some hemorrhages "he gave the compound tincture of vitriol, and that this preparation was much used by Dr. Munson, of New Haven," and then added the formula, as follows: 5 •—Sulph. Cupri Calc, § iv. Kino, §i. Alcohol, oj. M. Of this he usually gave about forty drops. It certainly is a valuable preparation, and formerly was much used. It seems to me that I might with propriety refer to one more disease, and that somewhat at length, both on account of its prevalence and importance and because, also, there has been such a diversity in its treatment. I refer to typhoid fever. And in this matter I shall not go over the whole list of theories and practice of the last one hundred years, but endeavor to give fair examples of the treatment at different periods. The pathology of typhoid fever was not well understood until Louis presented to the world his brilliant discoveries, locating in the intestinal canal its specific and important points, and led to a better under- standing of the fever, and possibly to a better course of treatment. I can not do better than to turn to the report of Dr. James Jackson on typhoid fever, communicated to The Massachusetts Medical Society, June, 1838, derived from cases observed in the Massachusetts General Hospital, from 1821 to 1836, amounting in the whole to more than 300 cases. He says that "it has long been the custom in New England to evacuate the alimentary canal freely at the commencement of the disease, and this was generally by calomel." Some employed emeto-cathartics. This was followed by ipecac, or more generally by antimony, opium, or opium and calomel. Two or three dejections a day were not objected to, unless there was weakness or exhaustion; and here he notes an important historical fact, that "the mercurial practice in acute disease began in New England, at least, quite as early as the middle of 16 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. the last century," and "that he was surprised, in attend- ing the hospitals in London, in 1799 and 1800, to find this practice, so familiar here, in typhus, pleurisy, pneumony, etc., as well as in hepatitis and cephalitis, to be unknown there." It was one of the discoveries made by our own physicians, close observers of symptoms, and as critical observers of the effect of remedies as any -who have fol- io-wed them. In speaking of venesection, he says that "bloodletting at the commencement of continued fever has been a more rare practice in New England than in many other parts of the world," and in this I think he is historically correct. In his early practice, he used the before-mentioned rem- edies with, he modestly says, "a fair success." About 1812, he "began to use antimony more freely, and the more grave symptoms seemed to me to subside and the disease to go on quietly, without secondary affections, and a favorable result to be produced oftener than when antimony was not employed." Later he was led to doubt whether he had not attributed too much to this medicine, but it appears that he resumed its use again, endeavoring to avoid some of its occasional effects, as the nausea which it produced in some persons, and an eruption which it caused in the fauces and throat, when not much diluted. In 1833, he says, "we began to doubt the benefit of active treatment, or, at least, the benefit of any continued active treatment," but in 1835 still employed antimoni- als in the first week of the disease, but " did not so often employ cathartics after the first days, as I had previously done." Of the 303 cases, there were forty-two deaths, or a little over one in seven. It is worth noting that the per- centage of death was larger in those who entered the hos- pital in the later stages of the disease, viz.: a little more than one in four, admitted in the fourth week. If the treatment of a certain number by antimonials was more favorable, the period of convalescence was somewhat lengthened. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 17 As to the use of alcoholic stimulants, he says, that "when a patient is induced to take cordials reluctantly, they seldom benefit him, and are often followed by injury." I have thus given a brief statement of the practice in the Massachusetts General Hospital for a term of years, and do not touch upon other points, as to the etiology, anatomical characteristics, causes or special complica- tions. What has been presented is pertinent enough for the considerations which I have in view, viz.: treatment and mortality. In a communication to The Massachusetts Medical Society in 1839, Dr. Enoch Hale, writing on the pathology of typhoid fever, gives the statistics of the mortality of this fever in the Massachusetts General Hospital, for the years 1836, 1837 and 1838, as follows: 1836—59 cases, 6 deaths, 1 in 10 nearly; 1837—29 cases, no deaths; 1838—20 cases, 1 death, 1 in 20, and follows it with this statement: "In the two years from November, 1836, to November, 1838, there was a succession of fifty-five cases of the typhoid fever, without a single death," and that "the greater mortality in the years 1832—1835, must have been produced by some other cause than the difference of practice. The true cause of the difference is doubtless the difference in severity of the same disease in different periods." This corresponds to what is well known of this fever as well as some other diseases; and not a few practitioners have had cause to regret a foolish boast, that they had never lost a case of measles, or scarlatina, or -whooping cough. A severe epi- demic undoubtedly caught them at last. He thinks that "the rose spots on the abdomen and the affection of Peyer's glands in the intestines are diag- nostic signs of the highest value," and inquires "what degree of importance shall be attached to them in a pathological point of view, that the affection is some- thing more than an accidental occurrence, and that it is 18 HIS TO RICA L A D DRESS. not easy to believe that an inflammation in the ileum, of so small an extent, as is often observed, should be capable of giving rise to all the variety of symptoms that are frequently seen in that fever?" I wonder if he had a sus- picion that there was an introduced germ or bacillus that was the actual exciting cause of this fever, and that this specific poisoning of Peyer's glands was the cause of an inflammation and ulceration, different in character, and productive of more serious results, than an ordinary acute inflammation of the same parts. I acknowledge that I have gone in these quotations a little beyond the plan which was promised, but they were so patent to the whole subject that I may be excused, and excused also for one more quotation -which ought to be considered in the methods of treatment. "The question remains, of "what avail is the knowledge of the disease of Peyer's glands, in the treatment of typhoid fever? It cer- tainly does not bring in information of any sure method of cure. The local inflammation and ulceration are no more under our control than are the other symptoms. This knowledge, however, does serve to explain many phenomena of the disease and many effects of remedies, which could not be so well understood before. It serves to guard us especially against inappropriate, irri- tating medicines, such as -were formerly in use, in the expectation of arresting the progress of the fever." These are true words, and show us the great value of close pathological investigation, and the logical deductions which we may fairly draw. I trust that Dr. Hale will not be called an "old fogy," because he wrote over fifty years ago. Let me refer to a physician near home, Dr. Elijah F. Reed, of East Windsor. I don't suppose that any of you ever knew him, or perhaps ever saw his pamphlet, being a history of febrile diseases, occurring between the years 1789 and 1837; and this is done for the purpose of show- ing the different methods of treatment in vogue at that time. It was read before The Hopkins Medical Society in HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 19 1837, and was published in 1848. I remember him as he appeared at the meetings of the society, and at our county meetings, a talkative and positive member, rather fond, I think, of exploiting his own ideas on fever, whenever there was an opportunity. He was an honest thinker, a good practitioner, I believe, and useful in the town where he lived. He investigated his cases thoroughly, and relied much upon his "experience," and any of you young fel- lows who attempt to combat the "experience" of an old man will find him a tough disputant. He -was, perhaps, a fair representative of a large class of practitioners at that time, who were disposed to treat febrile diseases with efficient and supporting remedies and plenty of them. As some years before his death there had begun a change in medical opinion as to the use of stimulants and tonics in certain diseases, he easily found opportunity for contro- versy. Perhaps anyone -who holds firmly to his own views, even at this day, may find the same opportunity. In the early period of this history, he was accustomed to use emetics and purgatives in the first stage, and occa- sionally venesection, followed by antimonials, but later changed to moderate doses of ipecac early, did not purge much, and if in any case he used antimonials, found them harmful. His reliance "was more upon stimulants, alco- holic and acrid, bark and quinine. I believe he was a very careful observer of symptoms. One suggestion which he made, I think to be of value; that is, that in the depressed state of the patient, when large doses of spirits, bark and opium -were given, and failed to produce any appreciable effect, the stomach began to respond, the pulse to rise and the heat abate, upon the administration of capsicum, either in hot infusion or alcoholic tincture. Like his fellow believers, he was opposed to much dis- turbance of the bowels; he did not favor cathartics, unless very early; six or eight grains of opium, daily, were not uncommon; the delirium was abated; the unbelievers said it "was not, and that profound coma was frequently produced. It was a time of much discussion among the 20 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. doctors, and the lay element took full part in it also. Dr. Sumner, in a valuable paper read before this society, has given us a graphic and doubtless true sketch of the times. In all probability the community suffered from too much medication, and may have suffered from too little "when after-wards the pendulum swung in the opposite direction. For in matters of state, or religion, or medicine, or in most of the affairs of life, the very questions which agitate communities and separate men into almost armed fac- tions, are in aftertimes almost lost sight of and regarded as of minor importance. The fever rages for a time, runs its natural course, like the one -we are considering, and soon ceases to excite much interest or consideration. Perhaps this is nowhere better illustrated than in our own profession, when the so positively asserted facts of to-day may in the next generation be claimed to be no facts at all. If the diarrhoea -was checked, he thought the patient usually recovered. This and the possible hemorrhage were unfavorable symptoms, and so opium -was pre- scribed, and oil of turpentine if there -was hemorrhage. It is impossible to say how many of these cases were ty- phus or typhoid. Perhaps he was aware of the difference, but, as no post mortems -were made, we are ignorant of the anatomical conditions, or lesions. Neither he, nor most of his co-laborers, knew but little of the precision -which has been given to our art, by examinations after death. However, from the diarrhoea and tumefaction of the bowels, it is fair to suppose that most of the cases were similar to the typhoid, or continued, or enteric fever of our time. He thought that the diathesis changed sev- eral times during the period of -which he writes, and that they were more fatal in some years than in others. This is a point which I wish to emphasize, as showing that the mortality is not greatly influenced by different forms of treatment as much as many suppose. This is shown by the reports of Drs. Jackson and Hale, and "will be con- firmed further on by the testimony of Dr. Nathan Smith, HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 21 and also by a report from the Hartford Hospital, show- ing the practice of the present season. Let me refer to Dr. Reed once more. If there was one point upon which he and the practitioners of a like belief were united and regarded as of the utmost importance, it was this, that purgatives should generally be avoided in the course of the disease. And I must confess that in the latter days of my practice my sympathy was in a good measure with them. Dr. Tully strongly advised to let the bowels alone, and many very able practitioners strove to keep them quiet. A week, or ten days, or a fortnight, even, was a not unusual period, and their state- ment was, that by this time there would be a sponta- neous movement -without disturbing or -weakening the patient, and that if this natural movement did not occur, an enema, or very mild laxative, would be amply suffi- cient. A story is told of him, that being called in consul- tation, where the usual supporting and restraining agents had been employed, and the bowels had not been moved for a fortnight, he was asked what further should be done. Even he "was satisfied "with this long confinement, and replied: "that it might now be "well to draw the cork." Dr. Benjamin Rogers, an original member of this so- ciety, -who had been an extensive practitioner in the hill towns of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, came to this city in 1838. In his opinion, the diathesis of the febrile diseases were more sthenic in that region than in this valley, and that patients here did not bear venesection and the reducing agents well. He spoke of the great heat existing in some cases, in former years, so great that after feeling the pulse of the patient, the heat could be trans- ferred to the palm of the hand, producing a marked sting- ing, or burning sensation. This probably was the calor mordax of the old doctors. They suffered from not hav- ing a clinical thermometer; but then their instrument was always on hand. Dr. Nathan Smith, in his "Essay on Typhous Fever," 22 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. which possibly included some cases of genuine typhus, but probably more of what we now recognize as typhoid fever, doubts the advisability of using very active reme- dies, especially in the early stage of the disease, as it is not to be cut short in its course, but that our agents should be mild ones. Consequently he does not recom- mend venesection, or active, or continued purging, nor stimulants, nor large doses of opium. If the latter re- lieves certain symptoms for a time, the effect is not per- manent, nor is the patient benefited, nor is the disease arrested. He -was a very close observer, and possessed a most excellent judgment. Probably few of our New Eng- land physicians were his superiors, either in medicine or surgery. Hear what he says about antimony. "I have seen many cases "where persons, in the early stages of this disease, were moping about, not very sick, but far from being well, who, upon taking a dose of tartrite of anti- mony, with the intention of breaking up the disease, have been immediately confined to their beds." The old practitioners knew nothing about the close pathological examinations, or of the special lesions in this disease, developed by Louis. It was a new revela- tion destined to be productive of changes in theory and practice. Whether these changes lessened the mortality greatly in general practice may be a matter of some doubt, for we have observed that the cases treated in the Massachusetts General Hospital by various methods had about the same result. There was not, in former times, such a complete analysis of cases, nor careful pathological examination, nor a numerical reckoning of results, as we have at this day. We have now more positive knowledge of the effects produced by this disease upon different tis- sues, and ought, therefore, to have more favorable results in the treatment. Singularly enough, the lines followed by the hard headed, common sense, careful men of the be- ginning of the century seem to lie in pretty much the same plane with most of those of a later day, and the above statistics also show it, and this is one of the chief HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 23 points which I wish to have borne in mind — that the mortality varied greatly in different years, being, in one instance, fifty-five consecutive cases, -without a single death. The revelations of the microscope in disease have been wonderful and have led many to believe that we have at last discovered the true cause of this fever. I do not pro- pose to discuss this theory at any length and shall only refer to the bacillus which is said by some to be its chief cause. If this is true, and the bacillus is the prime factor, the fons et origo, it is a wonderful discovery, and may "well be ranked among the -wonderful and important dis- coveries of the last half century. But please remember that theories, in medicine as well as elsewhere, follow one another in rapid succession, and that all theories do not be- come established facts. About the time that I commenced the study of medicine, there was a general prescribing of the iodide of potassium in consumption, so much so that it was regarded by many as the last and most promising curative agent. But this idea was dispelled, and we, we of the regular profession, have been promised many and other sure cures for this disease, and have run through the list from iodide of potassium down to enemas of sulphuretted hydrogen. Now, is it not possible that this bacillus, and other germs and bacilli, may be accidents or natural accompaniments of this fever, and find their nat- ural habitat in the small intestines, just as certain plants and animals are found in certain locations, and in no other, which is termed their habitat? Possibly the true cause may never be found by anatomical examinations, only the lesions which are the resultant. So that we may enquire whether the bacillus is the prime factor in the dis- ease, and is the cause of the ulcerations, or that he only seeks a domicile in the small intestines, and finds there a location comfortable and pleasing to himself; made ready for him, as a special boarder, by some other factor, more potent and smaller, not yet discovered, but may be in the future. The Hindoo philosopher was positive that the 24 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. earth was a flat surface, and that it rested upon the back of an elephant, and that the elephant stood upon a tor- toise. When asked what supported the tortoise, he was puzzled and would talk no further. A lady of my ac- quaintance, and she -was a lady and had danced in a set with the Prince of Wales, spoke of a certain woman who was as pertinacious an enquirer as a Chinese ambassa- dor, constantly asking very pointed and impertinent questions about her friends, which she did not wish to answer. " These devilish questions " she called them, very naturally, -when provoked, and so I "will press the matter no further now, merely saying that all honest men should examine theories with a sincere desire of ascertaining the truth, and close this paragraph with an answer which Lieutenant-Governor Pond, of Milford, was accustomed to make to a persistent controversialist, "There is some- thing in -what you say, sir." Dr. Nathan Smith was too goodly a man to be passed by carelessly; his common sense view of disease and its treatment was remarkable. In general, in this fever, it did [not indicate excessive medication; as it could not be cut short, it should not be violently interrupted; bleeding was not generally necessary and did not very much influ- ence it either; laxatives, rather than purges, were prefer- able. " I have never known a patient die of typhus," says he, ""whose bowels "were slow and required laxatives to move them, during the course of the disease; and the milder they are, if they have the effect to excite the bowels to throw off their contents, the better, and even these should not be used too freely. If the bowels are shut up too long "—and hear this for your comfort, who believe in poisonous germs—"their contents become offensive to the intestines, stimulating them violently, and a diarrhoea is more likely to follow than if the bowels had been excited by a gentle laxative." Opium may be used with advan- tage in some cases, and if combined with ipecac and cam- phor, when diarrhoea occurs, is generally useful. No great advantage is derived from blisters, except in special cases, HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 25 nor does very free diaphoresis always relieve the fever; he supposes that the commonly received value of it arises more from its accompanying other symptoms of amend- ment than from any specific or general virtue, in itself; mercury may occasionally be useful, but he clearly does not believe in a prevalent opinion of its necessity. We may learn his opinion of some other remedies when he says that those "who treat this disease with tonics and stimulants have not been remarkable for their success." "All things considered," he thinks, "we can place no dependence on internal refrigerants, and if we wish to produce this effect, if we -wish to diminish the temperature of the body when above the ordinary stand- ard, we must have recourse to cold water or cold air." Patients may be allowed the use of it internally ad libi- tum, "but the heat abstracted from the body by the water which they will drink, however, is but small." His great resource "was in the use of cold water exter- nally, which is commended highly and with no fanatical tendency. He first used it in the summer of 1798, and, though he is speaking of typhus fever, the case was prob- ably typhoid. The patient "had been first bled and put into a warm bed before he saw him, which apparently did not much improve him. So the next day, as he lay upon a straw mattress, he poured a gallon of cold water upon him, from head to foot, and directed that this should be repeated as often as he grew dry and warm. The affusion was renewed the next day, and the heat -was kept down, as during the preceding one. Before night the patient had recovered so as to speak, called for more water, and wished to be put into the river; convalescence was soon established without any other remedy." His method -was to place the patient upon a straw bed, turn down the bed clothes and dash from a pint to a gallon of cold water on the patient's head, face and body, so as to wet both the bed and body linen thoroughly. This would be considered as rather robust practice in our time, when the patient must be placated with the gentlest 26 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. of treatment, the minutest of doses, and the most saccha- rated of pills. As an assurance of his confidence in this agent, he often relied upon it alone, and says : " In no in- stance where I have used it, or seen it used by others, has it done harm. There are cases, however, where it is not called for; at the same time, there are but few in which, in some stage of the disease, it will not do good." It is just to him to say that he acknowledges that the external use of cold water in fever "was from a hint which he took from Dr. Robert Jackson's work on the fevers of warm climates." Some of his brethren -were content with simply spong- ing the surface with cold water, and this he did sometimes himself, "but considered the shock given by its first con- tact of some importance where there was much stupor or coma." He thought it not material " about the tempera- ture of the water, if it was below blood heat." The ■water used was taken directly from the well, and prob- ably ranged from 50° to 56° of Fahrenheit. Last season I took at several times the temperature of the water in a well on Cedar Mountain, about fourteen feet in depth, and found that it varied from 50° in June to 54° in August; and the temperature of two springs, one on the east and one on the -west side of the mountain, from 50° to 56°. From these figures we may presume upon the probable temperature of the water used by him. Further than this, Dr. Smith advocated the most thorough hygienic treatment of our day; the diet should be bland and unirritating, "as farinaceous and mucilagi- nous substances, with the exception of milk largely dilu- ted with water, or whey prepared from it." Other requi- sites, as a spacious room, uncarpeted, the bed placed not in a corner, but brought out into the room, so that a current of air may pass over it; thorough ventilation, windows open night and day; all unnecessary furniture removed and the floor often washed. Cleanliness is ab- solutely essential; no dirty dishes or useless medicines allowed to remain in the room; all excrementitious mat- HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 27 ters immediately removed, the bed and body linen changed and the body sponged every day. What a revelation is this from a man who probably had never read a special volume on hygiene, but studied the matter out by the exercise of common sense and close observation, without which no one can ever be a judicious, though he may be- come, for a time, a popular practitioner. I have referred to the opinions of some of the older -writers on typhoid fever, for the purpose of noting a few particulars of its treatment and of its mortality. It does not come within the lines laid out to speak much of the characteristic symptoms or cause of the disease. As has been seen, the treatment has been stimulating and sup- porting, mildly stimulating, antiphlogistic, and expect- ant. And further, that while the characteristic symp- toms have been always present, yet the mortality has varied greatly, from one in four to one in fifty, varying possibly according to the treatment pursued, but more probably from the peculiar diathesis prevailing. The value of remedies has been variously estimated, but, aside from relieving special complications, there stands the opinion of judicious men, that the disease should not be violently interfered with, for it will usually run a specified time and course. Nor can there be a discussion on the germ theory of disease, or whether this fever is due to a certain bacillus. You may be sure that its true value will be established in time by thorough investigation and candid consideration of results. At present, although a specific bacillus has been discovered in typhoid fever, and his fellows have been cultivated in certain menstrua, I do not know that these bacilli of another generation have ever been proved to have produced the fever itself. When this happens, the opinion will be more logically conclusive than it is at present. Pray do not become tired with me because so much has been said about some of the older practitioners. There are enough who will praise that which is new, and 28 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. think that little can be learned from that which is old. I came across a paragraph a few years since, relating to a reported statement of the young Dr. Simpson, of Edin- burgh. It was to this effect, that if all the books, theo- ries and suggestions of medical men, down to the previous seven years, should be lost to the world, the world would be no great loser. If this is true, his enthusiasm caused him to lose his head. Young Dr. Simpson is the son of a wise father. I have received from the house physician of the Hart- ford Hospital, Dr. J. H. Naylor, an account of the cases of typhoid fever treated in the hospital the past season. A part of this I beg to introduce to you, viz.: that relating to the treatment and the mortality. The number of cases treated was seventy and the deaths two, show- ing a very favorable record of one death in thirty- five cases. Though the symptoms detailed by him were severe, with diarrhea and hemorrhages, yet it is fair to suppose that the disease was well treated, as also that the type of fever was milder than usual. But these cases are referred to more especially because of the treatment of them by the application of cold water. In fact, it is going back to the like treatment by Dr. Nathan Smith upon which he greatly relied, and which, as has been shown, was highly efficacious. That part of Dr. Naylor's report will, I think, interest you all, and receive the approval of all who desire a safe and effectual remedy. "At the time of entering the hospital, the patients were generally in the latter part of the first week, or in the second week of the fever. The temperature ranged from 100° to 105°. The only antipyretic used was water, whenever the temperature reached 102% °. The patient was rolled into a rubber sheet, the four corners of which were then attached to the corresponding posts of the bed, forming a large rubber dish, or tub. He was sponged from head to foot with water at 90 °; this was reduced to 80 ° with ice, and retained at that temperature HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 29 from ten to fifteen minutes; the amount of water used was from three to four pailfuls. The patient was then removed from the bath, rubbed dry, and rolled in a woolen blanket. Twenty minutes later the temperature was taken, and generally showed a drop of from 1° to 6°— average 2 °. Before the bath we found the patient rest- less, with headache and rapid pulse; after the bath the headache disappeared, pulse approached normal, respira- tions more natural and the patient generally received the benefit of several turns of natural sleep. " The diet was mostly confined to liquids, until the tem- perature had been normal for about a week, when a soft diet, viz.: soft toast, eggs, chops, steak, etc., was substi- tuted. The average duration of time in the hospital was about four weeks." It is evident that we have, in the external use of cold water, a powerful agent in the reduction of the fever; respirations more natural, pulse reduced, heat lowered, headache relieved, nervous irritation quieted, and sleep induced, factors of importance in any disease, and espe- cially in typhoid fever. I should extremely like to know how the bacilli in the ulcerated Peyer's glands regard this new attack upon them in the bowels of their host, and whether, by the use of the water, a new action is generated in the system, neutralizing the specific poison of the bacilli and rendering all results of his action nugatory and void. And just here it might with propriety be asked if it is necessary that the bowels should be moved twice or thrice daily, in order to sweep out the poisonous bacilli, -what becomes of the poison when the contents of the bowels are retained for a week, ten days or more. It does not become me to give an answer, but possibly the bacilli are narcotized by the opium which has been given, put into a coma or state of hypnotism, and so are rendered helpless; and when the gates are unlocked they are washed out into unknown places and ultimately perish. The subject is a broad one, but frightful to contemplate. These problems are only propounded for the purpose of getting at the truth, which, I take it, is what we all are striving for. 30 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. The successful treatment of this fever is very creditable to the physicians of our hospital, and is as successful as it was in the hands of Dr. Smith, up in New Hampshire, nearly a century ago. While the principles of medicine are generally "well es- tablished, as well as the true value of remedial agents, it is yet found that their action is not always so uniform as to form in completeness the basis of a precise science or to procure the exact results -which were desired. For this there are various reasons; among them we may especi- ally notice that the stomach is part of a living body, subject to the varying conditions of a living man, and these are sometimes beyond finding out, except by om- niscience. It is well, therefore, to recall what Abernethy said to his students, "the stomach is not a bag, gentle- men ; it is a stomachy But enough of this. I am not here to teach you; rather, I should be a learner, for the discoveries of recent years have added so much to our art, that he must have been a faithful student indeed who has been able to keep pace with jthem. When one has passed his four-score years, it must be expected that he has lost something of the energy and enterprise of youth. These years, how- ever, have brought no loss of love for our profession, no less a belief of its usefulness and its "worthiness of general support. I hold in admiration the success which has at- tended the efforts of the members of this society in the various departments of medicine and surgery, and truly believe that they would do honor to any medical men in any part of the country. I count myself happy that I can enjoy whatever of honor or prosperity that comes to you. My esteem is weakened by no trace of envy or jeal- ousy, for I claim to share with you a part of that honor which truly belongs to us all. I sometimes regret that the opportunities which are afforded to you were not enjoyed by those of us who were students sixty years ago. So much better are you now instructed in all departments of medicine, that our HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 31 knowledge upon entering our profession seems now ex- tremely meagre, and so it was left to the man himself to find out, in the course of his life, those things which he ought to know. I recall, with great satisfaction, the words which my instructor, Dr. Amariah Brigham, spoke to me upon my entrance as a pupil in his office: "Now you must remember that it depends upon yourself what you will be in the future." It led me to think more se- riously of my duty, and to apply myself with more energy for the coming life. Begging your pardon for these personalities, I return to subjects more particularly proper at this time. When The Hartford Medical Society "was formed, it consisted of fifteen members, and these composed all of what was termed the regular faculty of the city. There were here other practitioners, principally bonesetters, and botanies, who "were termed Thompsonians, but there was no such a multitudinous body as may be found to-day. The homeopathists came soon after, and for a time pre- vailed -with their infinitesimal doses, but, I believe, in a few years followed not far behind us in their prescriptions. If you expect to live long enough to see all these and others like them pass out of existence, you will, in all probability, be obliged to reach a greater number of years than is now recorded of anyone. There are privileges in this world of ours, besides that of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which some men consider as prop- erly belonging to them, and among them may be named the privilege of choosing their own doctors. The discovery of the practical application of an anaes- thetic agent by our townsman, Dr. Horace Wells, and the remedial power of aseptic agents in later days, has enabled our surgeons to perform new and most wonderful operations, with less suffering and danger to the patient, and with better results, than ever before known. The severe pains on the one hand, and the poisonous germs on the other, have yielded to the researches of the human intellect. It now remains to make more effectual the pre- 32 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. vention, as well as the cure of disease. Never before were the laws which relate to hygiene and public sanitation so well understood by our profession, or so highly appre- ciated by the public. It would not be proper that the names of the founders of this society should be passed in silence, and so they are here given, and deserve your grateful remembrance. Dr. Fuller stands first, though he was not the oldest resident in the city. It was considered as due to him from his age and position, and was recommended by Dr. Sumner: Silas Fuller, George Sumner, David S. Dodge, Henry Holmes, Samuel B. Beresford, George B. Hawley, Gurdon W. Russell, David Crary, Pinckney W. Ellsworth, Ben- jamin Rogers, Ebenezer K. Hunt, Seth Saltmarsh, H. Allen Grant, S. I. Allen, William James Barry. Of these fifteen, Dr. Allen removed from the city in 1847, and Dr. Barry died in September of the same year. Dr. Dodge removed to New York, and Dr. Grant to Enfield in 1854. Dr. Saltmarsh remained here but a few years. All in the original list are dead with the exception of Dr. Ellsworth, who resigned his membership some years since,* and myself. By the great mercy of God, I am spared to this day, the last one of the original number who has retained a constant connection with the society, and remain still a loyal member of it. If the enthusiasm, the hopefulness and the energy of youth have been moder- ated by the half century of years, it has not been lost by a more extensive acquaintance with the world, with men, and especially with you, my brethren. I have never allowed myself to indulge in regrets for the profession which I have chosen, or to join in idle talk against the value of it. On all occasions I have stood firmly for it, vindicating it, its honor, its dignity, its usefulness. Of all persons whose good will I have desired, none have been more valued than those of the medical profession. At their hands I have received more commendations than I have desired or deserved. I count as a great honor your * Since this was written Dr. Ellsworth has died, HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 33 testimonial of a few years since, and, when it passes into the hands of another as it soon must, trust that it will be more merited, but know that it can not be more esteemed than by myself. The secretary writes me that our society now consists of seventy members, and that one hundred and seventy have been connected with it. The fifteen of 1846 have increased to seventy in 1896; a goodly number, and probably sufficient for the needs of the city, but there is always room for one more. While our society has increased in numbers, it has also increased in the material possessions of life. I only enumerate that one which is most conspicuous. The memorial which the friends of Dr. Hunt have generously furnished us, and the addition which has been furnished by ourselves and our friends for the purchase of land, will stand a noble monument to the memory of an intelligent physician and honest man. These reminiscences and discussions must come to an end: the past has had its day and now comes the future, with its aspirations, its hopes, its successes, and its inevi- table disappointments. The completion of our centennial year may furnish a solution of problems we have not even guessed at, and render our profession more noble and use- ful. We, who have long been laborers in the field, must be content "with our record and seek the needed rest. But this "work is not for us, for there comes a time when memory begins to fail, and the wearied body requires relief from labor. A self-examination should bring us peace and content. Let us hope that there shall be recorded of us no such selfish and degrading legend as this, "he lived for himself alone," but rather that other more noble, truthful and Christian one, "he lived that he might do good to others." MEN AND EVENTS OF THE LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. BY II. S. FULLER, M. D. A quarter of a century is but a point in the cycle of time, yet when we consider that it embraces so large a part of the average professional life, and that so many of our members of twenty-five years ago, memorable for their good deeds, are no longer with us, this period in relation to the individual expands into vast proportions. This is further manifest when -we think of the great advances that have been made in the art and science of medicine during these years; its enrichment by new dis- coveries ; its facts confirmed by more careful observation, and its deductions more rationally made. We can only allude to a few of these. Our materia medica has been enlarged by the addition of chloral-hydrate, that rare hypnotic; cocaine, second only in importance to ether and chloroform; the coal-tar preparations of most diver- sified and valuable application; sulphonal, peroxide of hydrogen, the salicylates which have entirely changed the treatment of rheumatism; the scientific use of cold water and the antithermic drugs in the treatment of fevers, and the subcutaneous use of large quantities of saline solu- tions in hemorrhages. Through the advance in chemistry many of the remedies which were obtained from natural products can now be produced by synthesis. Physiology has not been behind in its discoveries and neurology has made more progress than in any previous half century. Brain and abdominal surgery have been revolutionized by the application of the antiseptic and aseptic methods. In this period laboratories, with the improved microscope, have been added to our hospitals, and bacteriology in rela- tion to the human subject has had its most wonderful development, for you will readily recall the fact that the discovery of the specific germs which are the cause or the accompaniment of so many of our zymotic diseases, an- MEN AND EVENTS. 35 thrax excepted, belongs to the quarter century just passed. Here also belongs antitoxine, which was first produced in this state in our hospital and by one of our members, who was also the first to use in this state the Roentgen rays to locate and remove a foreign body. Such rapid progress is made in every department of medicine that he who-would keep pace with it must be on the alert- Even the briefest description of the many valuable discov- eries -which have so greatly advanced every department of medicine -would fill volumes. The words of Dr. Gross are more applicable as the years pass by—that " medicine has become a great and complex study, and he who -would excel in it, whether considered merely as an art or as a science, must be wide-awake and give himself up, soul and body, to its interest. No half measure -will suffice." We are fortunate in having with us to-day one who was present at the organization of this society, who has related to us the condition of the medical profession at that time, the difficulties in the way of forming it, its early growth and trials, and who also could tell us from per- sonal remembrance of the characteristics, qualifications and peculiarities of his early colaborers, he himself being the most conspicuous figure in all its history, even down to the present day. The lives of many of these men have extended well into our time, and some of us were person- ally acquainted with them. It remains for me to go back somewhat into that earlier period to speak of those who have taken up the work of one and another as he has passed from these earthly scenes of labor. A number of our surgeons having joined the army, our membership was somewhat reduced; those who remained at home had their time fully taken up with their profes- sional duties. The meetings of the society were not largely attended, and the records give little information in regard to them; but at the close of the war our num- bers were largely increased, both by the return of former members and by the accession of new ones who located 36 MEN AND EVENTS. here. It was in 1865 that I came to this city and joined The Hartford Medical Society. At that time there were twenty-three members, the city containing 33,000 inhabi- tants, so that the proportion of doctors to the population has since largely increased. Our meetings were then held at the residences of members, and were conducted on the same general plan as at present: the relation of cases, dis- cussions, an occasional paper and a half hour given to social intercourse, which has always been an important feature of our society. Monday has always been the day, and nine o'clock, after repeated changes, has become the established hour. While our numbers were few, notifications of meetings were often given to members by the clerk personally in order to insure a full attendance. By way of comparison with the present time, it may be of interest to observe that, in a discussion on diseases of the caecum and its appendix in 1868, one of our leading surgeons remarked that nature would generally find an outlet better than we could, and on the question, is it proper to make an exploratory in- cision into the abdomen, the conclusion was that there were cases in which it might be done with propriety and life saved. In 1870 there was renewed discussion throughout the country as to whom belonged the honor of the discovery of anaesthesia. Our society, believing that Dr. Horace Wells was the actual discoverer and the first man to bring anaesthesia into practical use in surgery, instituted a movement to erect a memorial to his memory. Chloro- form, instead of ether, was in general use here at that time. We sometimes had exciting discussions upon the pre- vailing diseases; one such occurred in 1877 over the cause of the death of Prof. Alvergnat, who died of hydro- phobia. Although a bare majority of those present voted that he suffered from some other disease, the subsequent occurrence of several other cases of hydrophobia in the city changed this opinion, and most, if not all, were con- MEN AND EVENTS. 37 vinced that Prof. Alvergnat's had been a genuine one of that malady. The infectious nature of pneumonia was insisted upon by Dr. Wilcox in 1879. During this year the medical examiner system was advocated. Our numbers had now so increased that the custom of holding our meetings at private houses was discon- tinued in 1880, Dr. Jackson being the last to entertain us. Rooms were then secured at the State Savings Bank Building. Dr. Russell, who had often entertained us at our annual meetings, still continued to extend his hospi- tality, and since that time this has been regarded as the most important and interesting gathering of the whole year. The rooms which we had secured were occupied by the Library and Journal Association, which had existed for some years, and though actively supported by our younger members, liberal contributions were made by some of the older ones. Home and foreign journals were on its tables and files of the most important medical publications and reports were obtained. A number of costly books and atlases were secured and thus a credit- able library was founded. The objects and membership of the two societies being practically the same, the asso- ciation disbanded and afterward conveyed its books to our society. These form the chief part of our present library. Dr. Chamberlain did the greater part of the work of collecting and arranging the books, reports and journals which we now have. In January, 1884, a committee was appointed to con- sider and devise a plan by which a building for infectious diseases could be secured. The same year our committee presented a plan for the reorganization of the Board of Health and also one for plumbing and ventilating houses, to be submitted to the Common Council. Dr. Chamber- lain, in some remarks upon germs, considered those of scarlet fever and diphtheria identical, and thought the day not far distant when we should have to accept the theory that a germ innocent may become so changed that in some it will produce one disease and in others another. 38 MEN AND EVENTS. The statue of Dr. Horace Wells was given by Joseph Allyn, Esq., and placed in Bushnell Park upon a tempo- rary wooden support. The society, desiring to take part in erecting this memorial to the discoverer of anaesthesia, in 1886 subscribed $500 towards procuring an appropri- ate pedestal of granite. The most important and memorable meeting of our society was the one which occurred on November 21, 1887, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Russell's practice in Hartford. On the 16th of May, the same year, a committee had been chosen to consider the character of a memorial to be presented to Dr. Russell. After much discussion it was decided to procure a loving cup, to be forever owned by the society, but to be in pos- session of the man during his lifetime whom it most delighted to honor. The committee "was further em- powered to obtain proper designs and inscriptions for the cup, as well as a seal and motto for the society. The work was completed and the cup and seal accepted by the society, our motto being "Salutari levat arte fessos." The dinner was a most noted and enjoyable one, having as its guests only representative physicians from different parts of the state. We are reminded to-day that eight of our number, three of whom -were speakers on that occa- sion, are no more with us. Our society had enjoyed great harmony during these past years, but this celebration did much to solidify it. With the prospect of future possessions, we obtained a charter from the state under the name of The Hartford Medical Society, which now has a legal standing. In 1890, finding that the treasury had a surplus of $100, it was voted that it be laid aside as a nucleus for a building fund. Rumors were abroad that a bequest was in store for us, and it was deemed necessary that we do something for ourselves. In January, 1893, a subscrip- tion paper was started and over a thousand dollars were raised. Before the year closed, it was announced that the will of Mrs. Dr. Hunt contained a conditional bequest of Paste the inclosed Erratum on page 39, facing page 38, of the booh entitled "Pro- ceedings of the Fiftieth Anniversary of The Hartford Medical Society," and erase the first sentence of paragraph on top of page 38. Erratum et Addendum. In January, 1870, a few citizens of Hartford, after consultation, decided that an effort should be made toward securing the erection of a suitable monument to the memory of Dr. Horace Wells, as the discoverer of modern Anaesthesia. As a preliminary step, Dr. H. P. Stearns, a member of this Society, presented the evidence relating to the claim of Dr. Wells before the Gynaecological Society of Boston, Mass., the home of the other claimant, Dr. Morton. It was also sent to Sir James Y. Simpson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who had, in 1847, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. Both these atithorities pronounced unqualifiedly in favor of the claim of Dr. Wells. A resolution of like import was also passed unanimously by the American Medical Association at the meeting in Washington in the same year. At the annual meetings of the Connecticut Medical and Dental Societies of this year, committees were appointed to further the object of securing the monument, and Drs. Stearns and McManus, as chairmen of those committees, appeared . before the State Legislature and the Hartford City Council, and secured an appropriation by each of these bodies of $5,000. With these sums the statue of Dr. Wells, which is now on the Bushnell Park, was procured. MEN AND EVENTS. 39 twenty thousand dollars for a memorial building to her late husband, Dr. E. K. Hunt, the condition being that this society should procure a suitable location. Our mem- bers, assisted by the generosity of a few friends, soon con- tributed enough to purchase a site and secured the legacy. Now we have the prospect of a home for ourselves and our possessions. ****** Pleasant memories come to us to-day of some of those who have left us for homes in other parts of the country. Dr. M. W. Easton -was here but a short time. Though a scholar in medicine, he had no love for its practice. He received a call to the chair of philology in the University of Pennsylvania, "which he accepted because he loved words better than deeds. Dr. R. B. Talbot was a physician of superior attain- ments, but the metropolis had greater attractions for him, and he has done us honor there. Dr. M. D. Mann, who removed to Buffalo, has become a leader in the profession and an author of note. Dr. C. W. Page, called to the superintendency of the Insane Hospital at Danvers,Mass.,isa recognized author- ity in his specialty. Dr. S. B. Childs was doing a good practice here, but was compelled to go to the silver state for health. Dr. G. B. Packard, loved by the profession and his patients, left us for the same reason, and has gained repu- tation and practice in his new home in Denver. Dr. Charles Dennison, a pale, slender, young man, with bright, sparkling eyes and as bright a mind, who suffered in the extreme from hemorrhages and was so loath to leave us for the mountain regions of the west, has re- gained his health and earned an enviable reputation, not only in this country, but in Europe. ****** With mingled feelings of sorrow and pleasure, we recall the familiar forms and faces of those who can nevermore meet with us here on earth. We sorrow at the loss of 40 MEN AND EVENTS. their companionship; we take pleasure in the memory of their friendly greetings, their kind sympathies, their gen- erous assistance, and of that brotherhood between us, so real and yet so indefinable. Our profession has its failings and its bad men, but, in reviewing the lives of those who have gone from us, we believe that in the main they were high-toned, conscien- tious and honorable. Let us remember the remark of Dr. Holmes, "That those men who see into their neighbors are very apt to be contemptuous; but men who see through them, find something lying behind every human soul which it is not for them to sit in judgment on or to attempt to sneer out of God's manifold universe."