ADDRESSES 
DELIVERED AT THE 
TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 
OF THE 
tflcfcical w-fepMtettft! 
OF 
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE, 
BY 
PROF. JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D., 
HERBERT BOARDMAN, A. B„ M. D., 
AND 
R. D. DeL. FRENCH, M. D. 
MARCH 6, lays. 
WASHINGTON, D. C.: 
J. S. TOMLINSON, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER cfc STATIONER, 
1126 SEVENTH ST., 
1S73. ADDRESSES 
DELIVERED AT THE 
TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 
or the 
sfflfipillfpl 4itpa»fpr}if 
* 3w3? * 
or 
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE, 
BY 
PROF. JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D., 
HERBERT BOARDMAN, A. B., M. D„ 
R. D. DkL. FRENCH, M. D. 
AND 
JM A R C H 6 , 1872. 
WASHINGTON, D. C.: 
J. S. TOMLINSON, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER cfc STATIONER, 
1126 SEVENTH ST., 
1S73. CORRESPONDENCE. 
Washington, D. C. Jlarch 7, 1872. 
Dear Sir : 
Our class, whom we have the honor to represent, solicits for 
publication your address delivered at the Twenty-Third Annual Com- 
mencement of the Medical Department of Georgetown College. 
With sincere regard, your obedient servants, 
JOHN T. STRATTAN, 
D. H. HAZEN, 
CHAS. BITTINGER. 
Johnson Eliot, M. D., Committee. 
(ProJ-essor. of Surgery. 
Washington, D. C., J/Tarch 7, 1872. 
Gentlemen : 
Your letter of this date, requesting a copy of the Address delivered 
by me, to the Graduating Class, is received. 
I transmit, herewith, a copy, and thank you for the compliment. 
Truly yours, 
JOHNSON ELTOT. 
John T. Strattan, 
D. H. Hazen, 
Chas. Bittinger, 
Committee, 8fc. 
Washington, D. C., J/Tarch 7, 1872. 
Dear Sir : 
In behalf of our class-mates, we have been delegated to express 
to you their earnest appreciation of your Valedictory Address, delivered 
at the Twenty-Third Annual Commencement of Georgetown Medical 
College, and to respectfully request a copy of the same for publication. 
With great respect, your obedient servants, 
JOHN T. STRATTAN, 
D. H. HAZEN, 
CHAS. BITTINGER. 
Committee. 
Herbert Boardman, A. B., M. D., 
Valedictorian, Class of ’72. 
Washington, D. C., J/Tarch 7, 1872. 
Gentlemen: 
As requested in your communication of this day’s date, I transmit, 
herewith, the manuscript of my Address for publication, with the 
assurance that I highly appreciate the compliment thus conferred. 
I remain, as ever, very cordially, 
HERBERT BOARDMAN. 
J. T. Strattan, 
D. H. Hazen, 
Chas. Bittinger, 
• Committee, Sfc. CORRESPONDENCE. 
Washington, D. C., Jlarch 7, 1872. 
Sir; 
In compliance with instructions from the “ Medical Society of 
the Alumni,” I have the honor to request, for publication, a copy of the 
Address delivered by you, at the Twenty-Third Annual Commencement 
of the Medical Department of Georgetown College. 
I am sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
ANDREW R. BROWN, M. D, 
Corresponding Secretary. 
R. D. DeL. French, M. D. 
Washington, D. C., J/Larch S, 1872. 
SlK: 
Agreeably to your request, I transmit, herewith, a copy of the 
Address delivered by me, at the Annual Commencement of the Medical 
Department of Georgetown College, on the 6th instant. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 
R. D. DeL. FRENCH. 
Andrew R. Brown, M. D., 
Corresponding Secretary, 
JKedical Society of the fllumni. ADDEESS 
OF 
JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M, M. I)., 
(Professor of Surgery. 
Gentlemen: 
It is my fortunate privilege to address you this evening, 
and on behalf of the Medical Faculty of Georgetown Col- 
lege, welcome you as fellows in the honorable and 
charitable brotherhood of Physicians. 
Permit me to congratulate you upon the termination of 
your college course, and a temporary relaxation from 
study and application. 
Well do I know, with what mingled feelings this day 
has been anticipated by you. The result of patient study 
and reflection have finally culminated in your receiving 
the testimonials which have just been placed in your hands 
by the President of the College. 
The apprehension of failure, which*has depressed you, 
the hope of success which has stimulated you to persevere 
in your studies, are now dissipated; arid to-day, with 
cheerful faces and thankful hearts, you receive from your 
Alma Mater, your reward of merit, and with it, her 
acknowledgement of the high confidence she reposes in 
you, as gentlemen and medical graduates. The Diploma, 
which you have just received, confers on you high and 
weighty responsibilities. It authorizes you to go forth, 
heal the sick and assuage suffering. The health and 
happiness of your fellow-beings are confided to your care. ADDRESS OF 
Promise, never to let confidence thus reposed, be violated 
or abused, for woe betide the man, who, either through 
ignorance, indifference, indolence or design, fails conscien- 
tiously to discharge.his full duty to suffering humanity. 
Your duties as medical men will be onerous, and at times 
fatiguing and exhausting, both to your mental powers 
and physical organization. Day and night, in sunshine 
and storm, you will have to respond to the calls of the 
public, and, without hesitation, generously give your time 
and labor to the demands made upon you; yes, often 
without recompense, or even an expression of gratitude 
from those to whom you have faithfully endeavorei 1 to render 
valuable services. This, gentlemen; is a cheerless picture 
to present you, as you are just entering upon your pro- 
fessional career; but it is, nevertheless, a true one. The 
experience of those who have preceded you, bear witness to 
its correctness; but let not this glance of the scene depress 
your ardor, but rather let it be a stimulus to aid you in 
overcoming obstacles in your path. The practitioner of 
medicine, even under the most auspicious circumstances, 
is slow to gain the confidence of the public. In the legal 
profession, a few successful cases will establish a reputa- 
tion—will, as if bv magic, elevate the individual to a firm 
and popular position in the estimation of the public—but 
not so with the physician—hundreds of successful cases 
with him will hardly extend his reputation beyond the im- 
mediate circle of the friends and relatives of the patient. 
You must not anticipate being thrown at onceintoa full and 
lucrative practice, but patiently await the tardy but ul- 
timately certain approach of success. Your successful in- % 
troduction into the practice of medicine depends greatly 
upon yourselves. Occasionally, however, a fortunate train 
of events may effect that, which under less auspicious cir- 
cumstances, might require years. Wealth, social relations, 
engaging manners, have a weighty power in the scale; but, ( JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D. 
gentlemen, believe me, when I declare, that all of these in- 
fluences, will in time cease to be felt; a reputation thus 
gained will be only temporary, and will wither with the first 
unfortunate cases that may fall to such individual’s lot. 
Close application to the study of your cases, industry and 
unretiring devotion to your profession, are the only 
certain paths to eminence and recognized reputation. In 
your intercourse with your patients, you must be candid 
and liberal, your deportment must be kind, patient and 
conciliatory, but ever free from affectation. Whilst you 
have accomplished much during your pupilage, and have 
indeed reflected credit upon the Faculty under whose 
charge you have been; yet for you there remains much 
to be done. The facts which you have so carefully stored 
away during your college sessions, have now to be digested 
and arranged, so as to render them available for future 
use and application. You are now to test with your own 
observation, both the principles and theories in medicine 
which have been taught you by your preceptors. You 
will now enjoy full scope to contrast the result of your 
own experience with the experience of the past. In 
availing yourselves of this privilege, however, you must 
be ever on the alert not to get adrift on the wide sea of 
medical theories. In every science there are certain 
recognized dogmas and principles, (more particularly so, I 
think, in medicine) which the observation and experience 
of centuries have confirmed as truths. These truths and 
principles must ever remain as stationary beacons for 
your guidance, and in all of your speculations and 
theorizing, they are never to be lost to your view- They 
must be, indeed, to you, what the polar star is to the 
navigator. The science of medicine is progressive in its 
character, its perfection have been slowly developed. 
Sometimes, the result of chance or accident, oftener 
through induction. Every period of time has added ADDRESS OF 
something to its growth as it has rolled on its course. 
Through the dark ages it was blended with the super- 
natural. Magic and astrology gave their influences in 
obscuring its truth. Thus, centuries elapsed before the 
healing art escaped from the bondage of ignorance and 
empericism, by which it was encompassed; but emerging 
slowly from this condition, now it presents itself to us in 
symmetry and usefulness, claiming its full position as a 
science, and a great blessing to man. 
Medicine of the nineteenth century affords to the 
investigator one of the widest fields for study and 
observation. Never, since it has been accepted as a 
means of relieving suffering, have so many conscientious 
and wise men devoted themselves in developing its 
resources as at the present time. The Anatomist, the 
Pathologist, and the chemist have emulated each other in 
laying upon its altar their most valued contributions. 
Rich, indeed, have been the offerings made by them. 
The Anatomist with his scalpel, aided by the microscope, 
has revealed to our senses, the most delicate structures of 
organization in a normal condition. The Pathologist, 
through the same agency, has pointed out to us minute 
alterations in diseased tissues, their gradual transformation 
from a normal to an abnormal condition, thus pointing 
out to us, the early invasion of disease, and warning us 
of approaching decay. The Chemist, from the quiet of 
his laboratory, daily adds something to our store of 
knowledge, either through the discovery of new remedies, 
or the more acceptable application of those already known 
to us. His investigations in organic chemistry are not 
less brilliant. He has developed more clearly the laws of 
Hygeine, and has given us many valuable facts relating 
to the processes of digestion, nutrition, and secretion. 
We enjoy other advantages over our predecessors, in the 
invention and introduction of new and ingenious instrn- JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D. 
ments for aiding us in forming more correct diagnosis. 
Now, with all the means at our disposal arising from the 
invention of new appliances, the daily introduction of 
new remedies in the Materia Medica, neglect or failure 
on our part, to embrace the advantages thus offered to us 
would place one in an unenviable, if not, in a criminal 
position among his fellows. In your intercourse with 
your professional brethren, exercise the greatest courtesy 
and forbearance. A physician is daily misrepresented, 
both in language and action; and, if silly enough to take 
heed of remarks made concerning him, he will be in 
constant turmoil, and his time, instead of being passed 
pleasantly and usefully, will be consumed in endless 
wrangling and dispute. Pursue your calling industrious- 
ly and conscientiously without regard to the poverty or 
affluence of your patient; always remembering that life 
and health are as dear to the humble and lowly as to the 
more elevated and distinguished. Apart from your 
professional obligations, you have a large influence among 
your fellow-associates, both socially and morally; your 
example, for either good or evil, may be faithfully 
followed. As medical men, you are not oidy expected to 
restore the sick to health, but vou are to be the conserva- 
•7 • 
tors of it. Your advice and opinion in sanitary matters 
will be often solicited. It is your province to decide the 
causes which are detrimental to health, before the author- 
ities can abate them. 
Thus, gentlemen, by virtue of your profession, you are, 
indeed, to a certain extent, the sanitarians of the public; 
and I fancy that this office of the physician has been fully 
realized, and should be so acknowledged in this city. 
For while our sister cities have been fearfully visited 
by one the most frightful and disgusting maladies (small- 
pox) to'which man is liable, we have enjoyed almost an 
immunity from its ravages. This fortunate escape from ADDRESS OF 
the pestilence has been mainly owing, in my opinion, to 
the timely and efficient protection that has been given to 
all classes by vaccination. 
Gentlemen, the respect and consideration which have 
been extended to us during the whole period of our 
association, have deeply impressed us, and we part from 
you with the same feeling of interest and regard as we do 
from dear old friends. Locate wherever you may, you 
carry with you our warmest and kindest wishes for your 
future happiness and success. . 
Alumni of the Medical Defartment 
of Georgetown College: 
Permit me to thank you for your presence here to-day, 
and in the name of the Faculty, extend to you their 
kindest greeting. Nearly a quarter of a century has 
elapsed since the Medical Department was first opened. 
Over the opposition and vicissitudes which attend all new 
undertakings, it has triumphed; and from a class of five 
matriculates, it has expanded to over a hundred, and has 
years ago assumed its position among the institutions of 
the country. 
To you, gentlemen, we feel deeply indebted for the 
present flourishing condition of the Department, and we 
take a special pleasure in thus publicly acknowledging our 
obligations to you. 
We are, not only happily represented by you, in every 
section of our country, but have distinguished representa- 
tives in the most distant limits of the globe. Your 
personal influence, your kind consideration in our behalf 
will be ever remembered and deeply appreciated. Eest 
assured, gentlemen, that the pleasant relations which 
existed between us during your college days are vividly 
engraved on our minds. Time has not in the slightest 
degree lessened our interest in your welfare, and we trust 
ever to retain you as our personal and professional friends. JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D. 
Ladies and Gentlemen : 
Having defined some of the duties which the physician 
owes to society, and for the faithful performances of 
which Jie is held strictly responsible, it may not be 
inappropriate to ask your attention while I 'briefly and 
respectfully remind you, that there are certain privileges 
and courtesies which he in return has a right to claim 
from you. There is possibly no profession or vocation 
where solid worth and learning are so little appreciated 
and valued as in that of medicine. The ablest, the most 
scientific and meritorious men are often ungenerously 
permitted to remain in obscurity and indigence, while the 
more indifferent and superficially educated are courted, 
patronized, and enriched. 
In choosing your medical adviser, you should be 
governed in your selection by the standing the individual 
holds in the estimation of his medical brethren, rather 
than by his personal popularity or his political affinities. 
The relations of the patient with his physician should 
be of the most friendly and confiding character, and every 
facility should be afforded him in the prosecution of his 
duties. He should know that his suggestions and direc- 
tions are rigidly enforced. He should be made sensible, 
that the utmost confidence is reposed in his skill, both, by 
the patient and his friends. There is a subject which I 
particularly desire to impress on your attention in 
relation to the medical man, and point out to vou the 
injustice which you often do him. It is this: you compel 
the physician to a too hasty opinion in cases which 
require the deepest reflection and consideration. 
You often force him to arrive at conclusions without 
the proper premises. He must be infallible; and, as if 
through inspiration, give you his opinion of a case at a 
single examination of the patient, which should be only 
given after reflection and investigation. A physician is 12 
ADDRESS OF 
summoned hurriedly to visit a sufferer. The friends of 
the invalid are anxious and alarmed. The physician is 
urged to immediate action, and he is, without careful con- 
sideration, compelled to prescribe. If he hesitates a mo- 
ment; yes, if he even appears serious and reflective, (for his 
countenance is closely watched) his skill is questioned by 
the friends of the- sick man, who unhesitatingly pro- 
nounce him unskillful in his profession. How often would 
the physician dearly prize a few moments for reflection, 
and quiet to enable him to correctly diagnose the case, 
and sketch out a safe course of treatment. But this boon 
is denied him. Consultations in all aggravated cases of ill- 
ness should be held. The meeting of physicians is always 
pleasant, and consultations are earnestly invited by them. 
Certainly there exists no valid reason why they should not 
be enfcouraged, both by patients and their friends. Much 
good often results from a medical consultation over a sick 
man, even if the opinion and course of treatment pursued 
by the attending physician is entirely sustained by the 
consulting one. It is argued by many, that consultations 
are unnecessary, and assign as a reason, that a change of 
treatment is seldom made; that physicians are too courte- 
ous to each other to make any alteration in the conduct of 
a case, for the fear of casting a reflection on a brother 
practitioner. This, I assure you, is not the case; there is 
but one sentiment which inspires the honest physician, and 
that is to relieve his suffering patient, regardless of all else. 
I speak to you from experience, when I declare to you, 
that an interchange of views afforded by a consultation, 
is always agreeable to the physician in attendance. The 
consultation divides the responsibility, and adds firmness 
and energy in" treatment. I would ask, if any of you 
would trust a douti'ul case at law, where thousands of dol- 
lars are involved, to one legal gentleman? It matters 
not, how eminent his qualifications might _ be, your ( JOHNSON ELIOT, A. M., M. D.' 
answer would be certainly in the negative. Then, I will 
ask of you, if you value your health less than your wealth? 
Remember, that in medicine, as in all important trans- 
actions of life, there is safety, as well as wisdom in a 
multitude of counsel. It is, never, the proposition for a 
consultation that is objectionable, but it is the manner in 
which it is made. 
The suggestion for a consultation comes'often abruptly, 
and carries with it, a question of skill on the part of the 
attendant. The greatest delicacy should be practiced in 
this matter, more particularly with young and over 
sensitive practitioners. In concluding my remarks, allow 
me a word in commendation of the graduates of 1872. 
From an intimate association with them, for several years, 
I am fully prepared to introduce them as gentlemen of 
high merit and education. They have faithfully passed 
through an unusually rigid curriculum, and have impar- 
tially gained the honors which have this day been conferred 
on them. As a Faculty, we experience much pride in the 
manner with which they have acquitted themselves while 
under our instruction; and, we look confidently forward to 
the time when they will rank among the many distin- 
guished and eminent sons of the old renowned Alma 
Mater. _A-ID ID IE?/ ESS 
OF 
HERBERT BOARDIAN, A. B, M. D., 
Valedictorian, Class of 1S7S. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 
The age is in need 6f physicians. By physicians, I 
mean not those who, following the empirical practice of the 
dark ages, prescribe in accordance with formulae written 
before the adoption of modern views and new remedies; 
formulae designed for diseases whose history, like that of 
many nations, is written, but whose types have been re- 
placed by diseases of an entirely new character previously 
unheard of and unknown. Not those who have a superfi- 
cial knowledge of diseases, knowing little or nothing of 
their causes, pathology, or anatomical characteristics; ignor- 
ant alike of what is necessary to restore diseased structure 
to its normal condition or how to preserve it from decay 
and destruction, but the age needs progressive physicians. 
A sentiment of a good old latin author declares “ That a 
poet is born, not made;” so the age needs physicians born 
to their calling, and wholly devoted to it, who have chosen 
the profession on account of their adaptability and fitness 
for it. But more: there are needed beside this peculiar 
adaptability, men of education; men, who can combine with 
their fitness, ability and reasoning powers by the use of 
which they can apply, with understanding, every improve- 
ment suggested in medicine; men, who having a thorough ADDRESS OF 
and minute knowledge of the fundamental principles under- 
lying the superstructure of medicine proper, can appreciate 
all that is connected with the structure of the system not 
only in disease but in health as well. There are needed 
men who, knowing that medicine assists nature, and does 
not cure disease, will be content in applying the smallest 
quantity of remedial agents to accomplish the desired 
result. 
The necessities of the age demand physicians who can 
draw from the bare facts presented in disease and its con- 
comitants, deduction after deduction, until, arriving at new 
conclusions, they establish that which is doubted or over- 
throw that which is worthless or.pernicious. 
There are two great classes of physicians alike needing 
the accession of young men, thoroughly in love with their 
profession, to their ranks. 
The one, by necessity the larger portion of that army of 
seventy thousand practicing physicians of this country, 
known as General Practitioners, who apply truths already 
deduced and of known reliability, whose advantages 
are few and whose situation and wide-spread practice 
exclude them from minute and accurate research. The other 
known as Specialists, who, occupying their minds with 
a few of the many newly occuring phenomena, evolve 
new facts and truths which seem almost the gifts of Provi- 
dence and the greatest of blessings to mankind. They are, 
and ever will be, the vanguard of their profession. Their 
origin dates back as far as the history of medicine itself. 
Indeed, we read in Herodotus (who flourished many centu- 
ries before the birth of Christ.) “Here each physician 
applies himself to one disease only, and not more. All 
places abound in physicians, some for the • eyes, others for 
the head, others for the teeth, and others for internal 
diseases.” HERBERT BOARDMAN, A. B., M. D. 
They have, in the past, suffered banishment and martyr- 
dom for the assistance they have rendered the cause of 
science; poverty for their principles; and the jibes and 
sneers of the most learned of their cotemporaries for the 
honest support of newly established facts. They have 
made their names immortal, and we are to-day reaping the 
benefits of their ill-requited study and investigations. 
In stating that there is need of progressive physicians, 
I would not detract one atom from the ability and zeal of 
those eminent and brilliant minds in the profession who 
have contributed so much to the advancement of medical 
science during the last half century, and who are elabora- 
ting the great truths of the science at the present time. 
No class of men can claim more energetic or more studious 
workers among their ranks; no profession can boast of 
more gifted minds or more brilliant talents. 
Through the deep researches of a Darwin and a Huxley, 
startling as their assertions have been, believing or not 
believing, we have been taught, more minutely, comparative 
anatomy, the antiquity of man and the wonderful manner 
in which the works of a Divine Master are performed. 
By the aid of the investiga tions of the microscopist and 
the chemist, the means pf bringing certain criminals to 
justice, the changes of the body in health, the action of 
medicines, the causes of disease, and the modes of pro- 
moting the health of cities, have been determined with 
wonderful accuracy. 
The Stethoscope, conveying every sound of the diseased 
or healthy lung to our ear, and the Laryngoscope, reflecting 
to our sight the appearance of the throat almost into the 
lungs themselves, have made a revolution in the treatment 
of diseases of the throat and lungs, within the last half 
century, unprecedented in the history of medicine. 
The recent application of the thermometer, in determin- 
ing the rate and amount of destruction in the tissues, and ADDRESS OF 
of the sphygmograph, which writes unerringly the character 
of the pulse-beat, tell us as plainly as did the handwriting 
on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, of what “to beware” in 
the course of a disease. 
Do we ever seriously reflect upon the grand results of 
vaccination, that arrester of the great scourge of countries 
and nations, the advent of which was more dreaded and 
fatal than the approach of an invading host? The im- 
mortal Jenner worked over thirty years, through poverty 
and want, in ridicule and disgrace, to solve the problem 
which was to be a blessing to the world, the important 
results of whose experience can be applied in as short a 
time as I have been speaking of it. 
It required the mind of a Newton to discover the prin- 
cipia naturae, and a Copernicus to replace the complicated 
Ptolemean by the true theory of the solar system; but any 
child of twelve can comprehend and learn them now that 
they are discovered. 
But as in the dying words of La Place, “ The known is 
little, and the unknown is immense,” a host of truths re- 
main to be discovered and established which can be 
accomplished only by patient toil and unremitting study: 
for example, to determine the essential nature of fever, the 
causes of what are called spontaneous diseases, and the suc- 
cessful treatment of diseases for which there is at the 
present day no known remedy; in materia medica to arrive 
at a knowledge of the precise action of medicines; in phy- 
siology,. to determine the nature and exact function of 
organs still unexplained; and so on through every branch 
of medicine there are a multitude of problems which, 
when once wrought out and understood, will prove of im- 
mense benefit to mankind. 
We come then before you to-day, ladies and gentlemen, 
to beg that our names may be added to the list of those 
who wish to serve their fellow-men. We have pondered heebeet boaedman, a. b., m. d. 
long and well the great responsibility which we undertake, 
and our fitness for the work before us. We have doubted 
and feared by turns, and we now launch forth to seek a 
new life-work, trusting that our feeble efforts may do some- 
thing toward the solution of those problems which concern 
the amelioration of the sufferings of our fellowmen. 
Looking forward to that end, we ask your support and 
sympathy. For your presence here to-day, we extend to 
you all a most cordial 'greeting. 
To those friends who have watched us with care during 
the long course of our studies, and who have kindly con- 
sented to be present at this our marriage to the profession 
of our choice, we owe our heartfelt thanks. 
To the ladies, particularly, whose bright smiles and 
cheering words of encouragement, have assisted us so much 
in our studies in the past, aud who have this day wreathed 
our honors with garlands of flowers, emblematical of their 
own purity and devotion of character, we owe our deepest 
obligations for their heartfelt interest in this the great era 
of our lives. 
Indeed, in all the ever-varying phases of life, woman is 
the * great rock of our dependence; she watches with a 
tender care and anxiety our childhoods’ hours; shares our 
youthful fancies; counsels, advises, and sympathizes with 
us in our trials in manhood; nurses and supports our 
tottering steps down to the grave and mourns our loss 
after we are gone. 
Worthy and Respected President of our College: 
We congratulate ourselves upon receiving from you our 
long and earnestly desired degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
We trust that our future may be such that you will never 
regret having conferred it upon us. It will ever be our 
aim so to live as justly to merit the high honor which we 
have just received at your hands. ADDRESS OF 
Gentlemen of the Faculty : 
During our course we have endeavoured to work for our 
mutual interest and that of our Alma Mater. If our 
rebellious spirit has lead us into error, rest assured it has 
been an error of the head and not of the heart. Your 
kindness of manner and the freedom with which you have 
allowed us to address you, have endeared you to the hearts 
of every member of the class of eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two, in a friendship that will die only when the 
spark of life leaves the body. We thank you for your 
continued kindness to us, and trust -you may be spared to 
instruct and lead into the paths of medicine many young 
men more worthy and deserving of your kindness and 
attention than we have been. 
Gentlemen of the Junior Class: 
The mantle of responsibility for the future of our Alma 
Mater this day falls upon you. She will be to you and to us 
what you make her. If you work for and honor her, she 
will honor you. If you are derelict in your duty toward 
her, she cannot, even by her already gained reputation, 
elevate you. 
We are that the trust reposed in you will not 
be betrayed. The ever ready manner with which you have 
assisted us in furthering the advancement of our College, 
is, to us, a sufficient guarantee that you will guard its 
name and fame as you would your own. For your atten- 
tion to our friends, and for the services you have this day 
rendered us, we shall ever be grateful. May we express 
the hope that when another year rolls around you may be 
honored with the same courtesy and good will that you 
have this day shown us. 
Fellow Classmates : • 
In the mountains of Switzerland there is a narrow pass 
over a deep and yawning abyss so dangerous and terrifying, HERBERT BOARDMAN, A. B., M. D. 
that when the guides, who have become familiar with it 
would conduct a traveller across, tliey blindfold him lest he 
should lose his self-control and stagger at the sight. So will 
it be with us; when we shall have gained the skill necessary 
to enable us to lead over the giddy heights and depths of 
serious disease, we may be obliged to blindfold the mental 
eyes ol suffering humanity, lest, knowing the peril through 
which he is passing, the fainting patient, stricken with 
fear, loses his frail footing and falls into the last awful 
depth. In striving to combat disease we should be mind- 
ful that it is nqt our aim to search for more efficient drugs. 
We should be more ready to give advice than medicine, 
leaving reliance upon the latter to those who have neither 
the wisdom nor moral courage to profit by the former. 
The majority of you, during your course of evening 
lectures and morning studies, have had laborious official 
duties to discharge during the clay. Ail honor to our 
Alma Hater who gives the privilege; and all honor to 
that government and her officers in charge, who, recogniz- 
ing worthy ambition in young men, offer them the oppor- 
tunity to leave the counting desk, the workshop, the fields 
of ksweetly smelling clover, the waving grain, and the 
gathering of the harvest home, and grant them not only 
the opportunity but the means to endow their minds with 
learning, and train themselves to lives of future usefulness. 
Being the architects of our own fortunes, let us rely 
upon our own strength of body and soul; take for our 
motto self-reliance, faith, honesty and industry; inscribe 
upon our banner, “Luck is a fool, pluck is a hero;” con- 
sidering energy and invincible determination, with a right 
motive, th > levers that move the world; and that with 
these success is certain. Allow me, in closing, to express 
to ydu my warmest thanks for the high honor you have 
this day conferred upon me, the proudest day of my life; ADDRESS OF 
and rest assured I shall always remember it with feelings 
of joy and sorrow—joy at having attained the doctorate, 
and sorrow at parting with such a noble class—this day, 
the day we bid our Alma Mater, Fa.rewell. ADDRESS 
OF 
DR. R. D. DeL. FRENCH, 
Orator J£edical Society of the jUumni. 
Mr. President and Professors: 
The Medical Society of the Alumni of Georgetown Col- 
lege sends greeting to you, whom its members look back to 
with so many filial sentiments and kind regards; and, as 
their honored representative, I stand before you a connect- 
ing link between our Alma Mater and the youngest 
members of her family, who have to-day received the 
credentials which entitle them to take honorable rank in a 
truly noble and beneficient profession. 
We have watched your labors with great interest and 
pleasure, rejoicing in your success, and jealously guarding 
your ancient renown; ever Keeping before us the fact, that 
we are members of one family, and that your welfare and 
interests are not altogether separate from our own; hence 
we glory in the increasing success that year after year 
has crowned your labors. 
The good seed you have sown has not always fallen on 
barren ground, for to-day the graduates of this college 
may be found industriously and successfully following their 
high calling in every state of our own, and in almost every 
foreign country, reflecting credit on the institution that 
professional birth. To them you have confided, 
as a sacred legacy, the knowledge which has made them 
benefactors of mankind. ADDRESS OF 
You have not only taught them how to recognize and 
grapple with disease in all its various and multiplied forms, 
but, also impressed upon their minds the important re- 
sponsibilities and duties that devolve upon them in their 
several relations to society, morally and professionally. The 
liberal advances you have made in establishing chairs, and 
appointing professors for the more perfect education of 
students in the special branches of Medicine and Surgery, 
outside of the heretofore regular Curriculum, reflects high 
credit upon yourselves, and will be of incalculable benefit 
to those who may have the good fortune to sit beneath 
your teaching hereafter. In behalf of those members of 
your faculty, who have been appointed from our society to 
positions of trust, we extend to you such sentiments as are 
befitting the occasion, for we are proud of their preferment, 
feeling assured, that their merits and peculiar qualifica- 
tions for the responsible positions they fill, will redownd to 
the interests of the College, and the advancement of scien- 
tific knowledge. 
During the past year, through your industry and liberal- 
ity, a Dispensary has been opened under the auspices of 
Georgetown College, for the purpose of furnishing medicine 
and medical treatment to those who are so circumstanced 
as to be unable to pay for these absolute necessities in the 
restoration of health and preservation of life, thereby 
relieving and ameliorating much distress and suffering that 
would not have been reached by any other means. Many 
a worthy family, ground down by the remorseless heel of 
poverty, has been made glad by the kind attention of the 
efficient and intelligent staff’ of young physicians to whom 
you have judiciously committed this important trust. 
The past history of the Institution whose deservedly good 
name you have so ably maintained through many trying 
vicisitudes, is replete with interest to all of us, but more 
especially'to you who' despised not the day of small things, DR. R. D. DEL. FRENCH. 
hut with strong faith in the greatness of your enterprize, 
labored patiently and perseveringly for a higher and 
ncbler reward than immediate gratification, and its pres- 
ent stature and beautiful proportions is proof that you 
built on a sure foundation, and established yourselves in 
the hearts of an intelligent and appreciative community. 
While we congratulate you on this, as not the least of the 
many auspicious occasions over which you have presided, 
we heartily wish that your future may be crowned with 
even more abundant success, and the present may be but 
the prelude to a brilliant hereafter, whose accumulate 
glory shall endure while it gathers fresh laurels through 
all succeeding years. 
Gentlemen of the Graduating Class: 
After listening to the brilliant word-painting that has 
pictured the mind of this living landscape with glowing 
imagery, portraying, in completeness and beauty of design 
and execution, all the emotions and experiences of life, it 
is, with no affected diffidence, that I undertake to address 
you, feeling that little remains for me to say, save to ex- 
tend to you, in behalf of those who have passed on before 
you, a few words of fraternal salutation, and to wish you 
signal success in the onerous and responsible profession, 
a thorough knowledge of which you have had such ample 
opportunities of acquiring in a school which stands pre- 
eminent for the comprehensiveness of its system of educa- 
tion, and the rigor of its examinations. 
The severe application which has brought your studies 
to a triumphant issue, has been compensated lor and re- 
warded by this public recognition which is only awarded 
to successful students. 
To-day you have been commissioned by your Alma 
Mater, by whom you have been tried and found proficient, 
to go forth and fight valiantly against the common foes 
of humanity—disease and death, which you will frequent- 26 
ADDRESS 01 
ly find less obstinate under remedial agents, than the 
strong prejudices of the ignorant to the teachings of 
wholesome pliilsophy. 
Ignorance and superstition will be your most uncompro- 
mising opponents in the great work which has been assign- 
ed to you, and in many instances non appreciation and 
inadequate returns your only reward for hazardous services 
and arduous labor. 
Nevertheless, with hearts illuminated with the sunshine 
of truth, and minds richly stored with knowledge, you 
will be superior to all obstacles; therefore, press forward 
with tireless energy and unflagging zeal; for, if you would 
conquer the attractive heights of fame which glitter in 
the sunbeams of your dawning careers, you will have to 
climb the rugged hills of experience, and walk through the 
shadowy valleys of disappointment that intervene. 
The statesman may rise to eminence on the golden 
opinions of his countrymen, won in an hour by the 
successful execution of a national or political idea, and 
the warrior may win renown on a single glorious field; but 
he who would become immortal in science must picture for 
himself no downy couch, hours of ease or rosy pleasures. 
Patient, unremiting toil, combined with undying ten- 
acity of purpose are his helm and compass—fame his 
guiding star. 
The bright names, the illustrious pioneers of the past, 
which have been enshrined in the hearts of posterity, are 
those who have reached further into the hidden mysteries 
and explained the phenomena of nature more clearly than 
their fellows; and those who follow, must write their 
names in new and imperishable characters, work out for 
tlientselves a crown of jewels from the virgin mines of yet 
unfathomed mystery. You have the charts of past ex- 
plorations before you, and great examples to cheer you as 
step by step you move toward the goal of your ambition. DR. R. D. DEL. FRENCH. 
Having been educated in the science and art of medicine, 
you are henceforth priests to the sanctuary of the soul. 
We congratulate you, and welcome you into the ranks 
of a profession whose patent of nobility is of higher 
antiquity than that of any earthly potentate, and whose 
roll of honor is too long to be scanned by any eye less 
omniscient than that of the Eternal, whose self-denying 
devotees are found alleviating pain and sorrow, staying 
the death bolt, alike in the homes of the opulent and the 
dwellings of the poor, risking their own lives for the 
benefit of their fellow-men wherever the trail of the ser- 
pent has left its poison amongst men. 
The profession of your adoption requires great diversity 
of talents, versatility of genius and decision 'of character, 
acuteness of perception and promptness in action are dis- 
tinguishing features of the successful physician; for on the 
precision of his judgment in a great measure depends the 
lives of those who may be entrusted to his care. 
The application of remedies to diseased conditions has 
increased with each succeeding year, until there is scarce- 
ly a tree, flower or mineral that is not successfully employ- 
ed in removing pain, and checking the ravages of disease. 
This is an age of progress, discovery and invention, an 
era of steam, electricity and restless activity, cities spring 
up like gourds in the wilderness, and wealth is accumu- 
lated with lightning rapidity. 
The love of luxurious ease and inordinate excesses that 
led to the downhill of empires in other ages by undermining 
the physical and moral energies of men, may be found in 
our own, producing the same evil results. 
The tendency of men to crowd together in utter 
disregard of hygienic rules, swells up the mortality list to 
alarming proportions. The subject of hygiene will nec- 
essarily engage much of your attention ; for in the practice 
of your profession, the wants of society in this particular ADDRESS Of 
will be constantly foroed upon your observation. Im- 
perfect drainage, lack of ventilation, crowded tenements 
with th eir attendant legions of evils, will meet you at 
every step. 
The work commenced by the immortal Howard, has 
engaged the minds of men of science and art ever since 
his day; and, although, vast improvements have been 
made, much remains yet to be accomplished. 
Ever bear in mind, that morbific agencies must find 
a resting place in order to reproduce themselves, and that 
neglect of sanitary measures in the dwellings of men is one 
of the chief causes of disease. 
Disease being a morbid change in previously healthy 
tissues or organs brought about by internal or external 
conditions which are subject to organic laws. It is highly 
' important that the student of medicine should possess an 
accurate knowledge of healthy or normal conditions, and 
a thorough acquaintance with the phenomena of life. 
Hence anatomy and physiology, linked together by the 
laws of nature, form the basis of all modern medical in- 
struction. 
The time was, when the hand of science was shackled, 
and the high aspirations of intelligent inquiry curbed by 
tyrannical laws that had their origin in the chimerical awe, 
that distorted the minds of men with regard to all things 
pertaining to the dead, and that settled like an impene- 
trable yloud upon the voiceless precincts of the tomb. 
But, little by little, as light broke through the gloom, 
the phenomena of nature assumed less of the mysterious, 
until the world, enlightened by an advanced civilization, 
has learned to regard the Dissecting Boom as the sanctum 
sanctorum of medical education, and the practical study 
of anatomy as the ground-work of all medical knowledge. 
We live in the brightest and best of all ages; an age 
in which all that is apocryphal, is submitted to the cruci- DR. R. D. DEL. FRENCH. 
ble of reason and analytical test. Freedom-of thought 
and action is the grand characteristic of our time; and 
Hygiea, no longer fettered by untoward influences, rises 
from the subsiding waters that so long submerged the 
beauties of a world, to which she was destined to dispense 
health and happiness. 
The studies through which you have passed have incul- 
cated broad cosmopolitan views, incompatible with the 
narrow mindedness or prejudice of the past, that in its 
opposition to Specialism, or a subdivision of labor, 
according to the adaptation of the individual, has so long 
retarded the progress of medical knowledge; and as the 
field of Medicine and Surgery has become coextensive 
with all others combined, you will recognize the impossi- 
bility of one mind embracing it in its fulness and doing jus- 
tice to all its parts. The more perfectly we become educated 
the greater becomes the necessity for this subdivision. 
The question as to whether Specialists should be recog- 
nized in this country as “Regular Practitioners,” cannot 
be much longer a debatable point: that they will be, is 
beyond a doubt. 
Year after year has been bringing us near to this de- 
sirable ultimatum. There is ample room in the profession 
for the Oculist, Aurist, Dentist, &c., and the sooner they 
are recognized as inside the pale of “regular practice,” 
the better it will be for the laity and ourselves. 
Being now regularly admitted into the profession, you 
will find little time for recreation or pleasure: yours is a 
calling that tolerates no trifling with foreign pursuits; it 
will demand your whale time and attention. 
The necessity for constant study increases with years, 
and the richer you are in experience, the more extensive 
will be your reading, if you would not be distanced in the 
race for professional preeminence. 
Unlike the lawyer, who has time to study his case, you ADDEESS OF 
must be prepared to act at a moment’s notice, having your 
armor always on and your weapons ready for immediate 
attack. 
Our tenure of life is at best, very uncertain.- The aged 
become weary under the burden of years that press upon 
them with mountain yweight, and retire calmly to rest. 
Man, in the pride of his strength, passes away, eclipsed 
like the sun in his meridian glory, and disease hangs over 
the head of buoyant youth, destroying the sweet har- 
monies of life. To-day, the smile of health sits on his 
brow, and his heart is joyous as a sunlit billow; to-morrow, 
the light has fled from his eyes, and those that loved him, 
weep beside his grave. 
The relationship existing between the physician and 
patient is necessarily of a very intimate and delicate na- 
ture; the most sacred truths are confided to his keeping: 
these he should guard with his sacred honor, overshadow- 
ing the weakness of frail humanity with the seamless 
vesture of peerless charity. 
Being upheld under all circumstances by a strong reli- 
ance in Him who has promised never to forsake you; and 
cheered in your darkest hours by happy recollections of 
grateful expressions from those whom you have benefited, 
which will swell as years roll on, from a rivulet to a 
mighty river, flowing around your hearts with the music 
of perpetual youth. 
“ The quality of mercy is not strained; 
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven . 
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes 
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes 
The throne'd monarch better than his crown-. 
It is an attribute of God himself.” DR. R. D. DEL. FRENCH. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 
On this, as on many similar occasions in years that have 
gone by and left their tide marks upon the pages of our 
lives, we are indebted to you for the kind countenance and 
generous appreciation manifested by your presence, and 
the fragrant offerings which in their profusion and beauty, 
seem to have been culled from the gardens of paradise by 
angel fingers, to brighten the paths that diverge from 
this, the grand starting point in the lives of those you 
have heretofore inspired by sweet words of encouragement 
during their period of probation. 
Some of you have looked forward to this day of fruition 
with bright expectancy in the success of your sons or 
brothers; and some lovely faces are radiant with light 
uprising from hearts brim full of joy, that takes a richer, 
prouder, more triumphant hue from glances that fling back 
the magic charm of love. 
We now commit them to your care, feeling assured from 
the happy augury of the present, that the darkest clouds 
that can overshadow their paths in the journey of life, will 
be scattered by sympathies that angels might envy; and, 
thank you for the great interest you have always evinced 
in our trusting, that in each coming year, we 
may be sustained by continued proofs of your favor. GRADUATES—-CLASS OE 1872. 
BOARDMAN, HERBPIRT, A. B., Trumansburgh, N. Y 
Tests for Arsenic in acute poisoning. 
BOGUE, A. P. - - - Grand Rapids, Mich. 
CLARK, EUGENE B. -atCima- Tiffin, 0. 
The Great Sympathetic. 
COUMBE, J. T. - - - Washington, D. C. 
Pneumonitis. 
COWLING, WM. W. - - Columbus, 0. 
Variola. 
CLEVERDON, J. S. - - Ohio. 
Remittent Fever. 
DONOHUE, FLORENCE - Trumansburgh, N. Y 
The Circulation. 
GATELY, M. J. Roscommon, Ireland 
Cholera Infantum. 
HICKMAN, G. WT. VINTON - Baltimore, Md. 
Variola. 
JONES, E. S. - Washington, D. C. 
Continued Fever. 
KEABLES, THOMAS A. - Mystic Bridge, Ct. 
Prophylaxis 
LEACH, HAMILTON E. - Washington, D. C. 
Cholera Infantum. 
MAUSS, RICHARD G. - Covington, Ky. 
Vital Force. 
MILLER, CHARLES H. - Quincy, Mass. 
The Function of Nutrition. 
McKAY, A. FRANK - - Washington, D. C. 
The effects of Alcohol on the Function of Nutrition. 
McCauley, Joseph a. - - Washington, d. c. 
Rubeola. 
O’LEARY, CHARLES W. - - Frederick, Md. 
Miasm. 
PORTER, HENRY R. - Utica, N. Y. 
Medical Diagnosis. 
SWEETMAN, JAMES T. - Philadelphia, N. Y. 
Tubercle. 
YOUNG, PARKE G. - - Washington, D. C. 
The Eye. 
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY. 
WELLS, GEORGE W. - - Havre de Grace, Md. 
Cinchona Barks and their Alkaloids. 
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR IN PHARMACY 
Was Conferred on 
FLODOARDO HOWARD, M. D. 
JOPINSON ELIOT, M. D. 
DANIEL P. HICKLING. 
I UNDERGRADUATES 
ADAMS, W. - - - - - Maryland. 
BEALL, BENJAMIN M. - - Washington, D. C. 
BITTINGER, CHARLES - - Washington, D. C. 
BOYCE, WALTER J. - - Washington, D. C. 
CARROLL, PHILIP - - - Savannah, Ga. 
CHRISTIAN, GEO. A. - - Cleveland, Ohio. 
CRANCIT, EDWARD -• - - Washington, D. C. 
DOWNING, TITOS. R. - - Washington, D. C. 
DEMPITY, JOHN F. Newburgh, N. Y. 
EATON, J. S. J. - - - Elkhorn, Wis. 
ELIOT, L. J. - Washington, D. C. 
FRANZ, C. F. L. - - - Philadelphia, Pa. 
FRENCH, W. H. - - - - Laconia, N. H. 
GENTSCII, CHARLES - - Washington, D. C. 
HAZEN, D. II. - Belvidere, N. J. 
HELLER, P. II. Washington, D. C. 
JACOBSON, C. - Denmark. 
JOYCE, J. WILLIAMSON - Washington, D. C. 
KOBER, GEORGE - - - - Germany. 
LAWRENCE, JAMES B. - - Sandisfield, Mass. 
LEACH, EDWARD W. - - Weymouth, Mass. 
MAJOR, T. EL WOOD - - Hillsboro’, Ohio. 
MARTIN, J. LOUIS - - - Philadelphia, Pa. 
MINNICK, WM. HENRY - Aaronsburgh, Pa. 
MURPHY, P. II. - - - - Georgetown, D. C. 
OFFUTT, GEO. W. - - - Georgetown, D. C. 
PETTEYS, CHAS. V. - New York. 
PATTERSON, JAMES B. - - Pennsylvania. ' UNDERGRADUATES. 
BAND, C. F. - - - New York. 
BOSS, F. W. - - - Washington, D. C. 
STBATTAN, J. T. - - - Strattanville, Pa. 
&CHLEIMEB, D. - - Washington, D. C. 
SEYMOUB, B. S. - - - - Pittsburgh, Pa. 
STEPHENSON, J. G. - - Washington, D. C. 
STOKES, GEO. W. - Marlton, N. J. 
STEBNE, WM. H. - Pittsburgh, Pa. 
THOMPSON, J. H. Washington, D. C. 
VEEBHOFF, WILHELM H. - Germany. 
WALLACE, M. T. ... Brooklyn, N. J. 
WHITE, WILLIAM - - Pennsylvania. 
WESTCOTT, J. B. - - - - New York. Ijnlifiii Dqiarlramt of jjforgf town Jjoifejt. 
TWENTY-THIRD MEDICAL SESSION, 1872-73. 
College (Building, Corner 10th & E Streets, 
WASHIUGTOU, JD. O. 
OFFICERS. 
NOBLE YOUNG, M. D., President. 
FLODOARDO HOWARD, M. D., Treasurer. 
JOHNSON ELIOT, M. D. Dean. 
FACULTY. 
NOBLE YOUNG, M. IX, 
Professor of Principles and Practice of Medicine, General Pathology, and Medical 
Ethics. 
FLODOARDO HOWARD, M. D., 
Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. 
JOHNSON ELIOT, M. D., 
Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery. 
JAMES E. MORGAN, M. D., 
Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. 
J. HARRY THOMPSON, M. D., 
Professor of Physiology and Operative Surgery. 
JOHN G. F. HOLSTON, M. D., 
Professor of Anatomy. 
W. C. TILDEN, M. D., 
Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology. 
WARWICK EVANS, M. D„ 
Demonstrator. 
G. L. MAGRUDER, M. D., 
Prosector. 
DANIEL P. IIICKLING, 
Professor of Pharmacy. 
The regular Course of Lectures will commence October 3, and terminate the 
following March. 
Fees:—For the Full Course of Lectures, $135; Matriculation, $5; Demonstrator, 
$10; Graduation, $30. For further particulars address 
JOHNSON ELIOT, M. D., Dean, F Street, bet. 6th and 7th. ERRATA: 
Page 7, 6th line; the word “unretiring” should read untiring. 
Page 29, 22d line; the word “near” should read nearer. 
Page 30, 16th line; the word “truths” should read trusts.