.^v^WH^i"^ ^ * fl 3lilf £4 ^ ?•# '4 *-■ \ ADDRESSES COMMEMORATIVE OF JAMES L, CABELL, DELIVERED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, JULY 1st, 18 5)0. PUBLISHED BY THE FACULTY. CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.: Chronicle and c. m. brand, steam book and job printers. 1890. Kn iUerooriam* The Faculty of the University of Virginia, at the Regular Meeting of December 2nd, 1889, make Record of the "Death of Professor James Lawrence Cabell, M. A., M. D.. LL D. he died August 13h), 1889; ^geb, ?6 gears. In the year 1833 he attained the degree of Master of Arts of the University of Virginia; in 1834 he graduated as Doctor of Medicine in the University of Maryland ; in 1873 he received the title of Doctor of Laws from Hamp- den-Sidney College, Virginia. In December of 1837 he was called from professional study in Europe to the chair of Anatomy and Surgery in the University of Virginia, afterwards changed to the chair of Physiology and Surgery, which he occupied until a few weeks before his death, thus fulfilling nearly fifty-two years of professorial service. During the last thirty years of this service he was the senior professor of the Univer- sity. As a member of the Faculty of the University he was conservative in spirit, wise and weighty in counsel, just and firm in judgment. As a teacher of Physiology and Surgery he was diligent and successful, constantly imparting the latest results of science, and contributing to its advance. As a physician he was skillful and sympathetic, always ready to relieve suffering in hospital or home. 4 IN MEMORIAM. As an associate he was a friend to each one of us, a a private counsellor and a peacemaker. His scholarly attainments and the great dignity of his character inspired profound respect, and ever aroused our earnest emulation, In his death the University has lost a strong support. the church a sincere Christian, the State an upright citizen, the world a rare man. It being impossible, within the present limits, to do jus- tice to his worth or to the services he rendered in his day, it is proposed to hold memorial exercises on some suitable occasion in public, which shall more fully emphasize and proclaim the excellence of his character, and the value of the work of his life. Report of the Committee:— Professor William C. Dabney, M. D., Professor Francis H. Smith, Professor Noah K. Davis. The following resolutions were passed by the Faculty : 1st. That exercises in commemoration of the life and character of our late colleague, Dr. James L. Cabell, be held on Tuesday afternoon of the closing week of the present session at the University of Virginia. 2d. That Professor Wm. S. Forbes, M. D., of Philadelphia, be invited to preside and make the introductory address ; that Dr. George Tucker Harrison, of New York, be invited to deliver an address on Dr. Cabell's University life and work, and that Professor Stephen Smith, M. D., of New York, be invited to deliver an address on his scientific work, and espe- cially on his work in connection with the National Board of Health. Address of WM. S. FORBES, M. D., Professor of Anatomy in Jefferson Medical College Philadelphia, Pa. My Friends: — Reverent affection for the character of Dr. Cabell has drawn us together. In his life he has given us the highest example to follow, in that he used all his talents for the benefit of his fellow- man and to the glory of God. We do well, therefore, to assemble in this devoted place, the scene of his exertions and the witness of his success ; and it is entirely fitting that the Faculty of this University, his colleagues at this seat of learning and of education, should hallow his memory and seek to give expression to their admiration of his character as a man who lived among them ; as a professor who taught with them, and as a philosopher and trusted public officer who pointed all his countrymen to the laws of health and to the way of life. He is gone ! After the victory he has hung up his shield in the temple, deeply graven with the marks of the strife of life, and disappeared behind the veil. What shall we say of him now that he hcts left us ? There are occasions in life when one is so interested in the subject of which he would speak that the better part of his nature renders it almost impossible for him to ex- press his feelings. This is to me such an occasion. My long-continued acquaintance with Dr. Cabell, and the close friendship that existed between us, tell me that it is better that I should leave to others to do justice to his character and to his abilities as a professor and a philosopher. If I speak, it must be of the man who for the last forty 6 commemorative addresses. years of his life was my warmest friend. He, of his own accord, sought me a sick youth in yonder dormitory, and took care of me. By the unconscious force of his nature he drew me towards him, as he did others, and made us strive to follow him, though in the distance. In the long years that have passed, when cares and troubles thickened about me, in my greatest trouble and affliction, he was ever present in comforting and counsel- ing me. How he loved this place, where he worked for more than half a century, and how he loved you, my friends ! The memorials of his tender care and thoughtfulness are all around you. Witness the bountiful supply of wa- ter he labored so well to bring from the mountains to your doors, and to the doors of all the people of the neighborhood. See yonder infirmary, where he worked so lovingly over the beds of the sick and the wounded, to whom he ever stood in loco parentis. To his intimate young friends, in the retirement of his closet, he set les- sons of personal religion. He taught a Bible class for years, with the door open to all. Behold this Chapel, tne object of his latest care ! May it ever remain a shining memorial of his work in directing the weary soul to heaven, his home. His very presence impressed the observer as power in repose. His earnest and forceful attention appeared re- strained until reflection moved it ; then he was ready, then he was untiring, sleepless in his endeavors and mas- terly in his knowledge of men and things. By the strength of his cultivated intellect, by the care and attention he gave his professional duties, by his prac- tice and by his writings, he made for himself a well de- served fame at home and abroad. By the graces of his heart he won and he retained the affection of the young, COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 7 especially of little children. It was touching to see them run to him with all the abandon of innocence. At the call of his voice they would leap to him in the dark, as it were, with nothing to fear. There was a devotedness about Dr. Cabell's friendship of which the world knows but little. Perhaps his most distinguishing trait was the intense earnestness with which he entered into every cause he loved and every principle he advocated. I dare not attempt to magnify the character of Dr. Cabell. I may be permitted to speak of him as I knew him and as others knew him. He was a man of the highest sense of honor ; a man who had the courage of a lion tempered with the tender- ness of a woman. He was a man full of sympathy for all suffering ; indignant and haughty in the presence of tyr- anny or oppression. He was a man of great personal independence of character ; a man of dominating traits of character ; a man made and ordained by nature to be a leader of men. I valued him for those good traits wherein true great- ness lies. He walked his path as ever in his great Task- master's eye. I believe he never remembered an enemy, he never forgot a friend. What Tacitus said of Agricola is now true of Dr. Cabell. The great qualities which he possessed and which chiefly attracted our love and our admiration, can never perish. They will dwell in the memories of his friends for years, and will always live in the records of his fame. To Dr. Cabell was given the benediction which Euripi- des makes Alcestis breathe for her son. For in his native land he lived a lengthened life and died in honored age. And now, in a loftier view and under the Christian dis- pensation, we believe his living soul has received the supreme ordination from his Master and his Judge—Well 8 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Let us cherish the example of such a life. Let us tell our children of it, and teach them that it is their noblest heritage. Let us declare that he has not lived in vain. It is now my privilege to introduce Dr. George T. Har- rison, who will address you on Dr. Cabell's University life and work. Afterward you will be addressed by Dn Stephen Smith on Dr. Cabell's scientific work, and espe- cially on his work in connection with the National Board of Health, Address of GEORGE T. HARRISON, M. A, M. D., Honorary Fellow of the Medical Society of Vir- ginia, President of the New York County Medical Association, &c, &c. Dr. Harrison said :—Responsive to the flattering request of the Faculty, conveyed to me through my friend who so ably fills the chair of Practice of Medicine, I appear before you to-day, to try as best I may, to call back to your memory James L. Cabell as he lived in your midst and as he labored in the service of this great seat of learning. His connection with the University extended over a period of a little more than fifty-one years, from 1837 to 1889, in itself a most remarkable event. In the beginning of his professional career the duty devolved upon him of teach- ing Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery. To the young man of twenty-four, so recently himself a pupil, the task before him must have seemed Herculean. The wisdom of the Board of Visitors in his appointment was fully vindi- cated, as we know, but, at the time, it must have been with some misgiving when these gentlemen cast their suffrages for so youthful a candidate. What is true of this school is also true of others in the history of the University, it may be remarked in passing, the best and most successful teachers, as a rule, received their respective appointments in early manhood. The zeal-and enthusiasm displayed by young Cabell carried him through all difficulties, and his success was soon assured. He had found the work which he had to do in the world, and he was determined to do it with his might. Of singular appropriateness are the words of Carlyle as applied to him ; " Blessed is he who ro commemorative addresses. has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness ; he has a work, a life-purpose ; he has found it and will follow it." I can well imagine the impression produced on his colleagues and students by the young professor when he first appeared on the stage of his future career, from my knowledge of later years. Tall, well-proportioned, cast in the mould of perfect manhood, he was the impersonation of physical beauty. His was the form of an Apollo, the head of a Jupiter. His countenance was benign, frank and excessively attractive. The forehead was broad and high, the eyes beneath, overhung by heavy eyebrows, were bright and remarkable for their depth, and could kindle into anger or anon melt into tenderness in correspondence with the emotions uppermost. His frown was awful, and was well-fitted to strike terror into the hearts of evil-doers. The nose, mouth and chin were formed in beautiful har- mony with the rest of the features, and the expression of the whole was decidedly patrician. His manners were courteous and affable, but he had a certain stateliness and reserve which seemed to repel anything like undue famili- arity. There was never an effort at pose, but a composed dignity of mien was as natural to him as the toga to a Roman Senator. The whole appearance of the man be- tokened earnestness of soul, self-confidence, strength of character, and marked him as one fully equipped to battle with the difficulties and perplexities of human existence in general, and, in especial, of those belonging to the academi- cal teacher. Dr. Cabell's intellectual gifts were of a re- markably high order, and the analytical faculty he certainly possessed in full degree. The aesthetic side of His mind was well developed, and all that was beautiful in art and nature found in it a responsive chord. His character however, attained its full symmetry when rounded by the strength and beauty of Christian grace. With such a char- commemorative addresses. n acter and such gifts is it remarkable then that the fame of the Professor, as years went on, extended throughout the South, nay, throughout the whole land, and the Medical Department grew to such proportions that it became neces- sary to divide his chair. Accordingly, in 1856, a new school was created, and John Staige Davis was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Materia Medica. These two are always associated in my memory as incomparable teachers, who long labored side by side, twin stars in that constellation of illustrious sons whose fame has shed im- perishable lustre on their Alma Mater. Doctor Cabell possessed, in the very highest degree, the best attributes of a true teacher. No man can succeed in this most diffi- cult pursuit who has not a genuine love for it, who has not a kindling enthusiasm such as to awaken in the dullest intellect a thrill of responsive activity. But more than all the splendor of intellectual gifts and rich stores of knowl- edge, in trfe teacher, should be a texture inwrought and shot with the golden thread of exalted moral excellence, Need I remind you that Dr. Cabell fulfilled these condi- tions to the letter ? He was master of the art, too, of eliciting from the student all that he knew and suggesting to him new views of the subject in hand. His patience was unbounded, and he never condescended to snub an unfortunate young man who possessed a sluggish or dull intellect. For ignorance due to idleness and inattention, however, his darkening frown and look of scorn sufficiently rebuked the delinquent, and in a sensitive mind was well fitted to bring forth amendment. In those oral examina- tions which preceded his lectures what remarkable power did he show in his grasp of the subject, in the skill with which he presented the thought in new aspects, and ex- hibited unexpected relations, when using the opportunity for elucidating and simplifying what, from the reply of the 12 commemorative addresses. student, had been obscure or incomprehensible! As a lecturer Dr. Cabell was by no means fluent, he occasionally hesitated and seemed at a loss for a word, but when it did spring forth it was the most appropriate that could be used to convey his meaning. His diction was chaste and ele- gant, though he never made an effort at rhetorical grace. And what grand and inspiring themes was it his province to discuss, and with what zest did he seem to bathe in the fulness of his knowledge as in a summer sea ! It was my privilege to sit at his feet when he delivered a course of lectures on Comparative Anatomy, and the memory still abides with me of the interest with which he invested this important branch of Anatomy, by the graphic mode of his exposition. Passing in review the whole animal kingdom from the simplest protozoan organism up to man, he in- sisted that the structural features of the latter were such as to warrant us in placing him at its head in a separate order bimana containing the genus homo or mSn alone, of one species, though presenting many varieties. The sig- nificance of this view becomes apparent when it is borne in mind that Huxley, Carl Vogt and others, belonging to the so-called advanced school of working naturalists, have in recent years endeavored to obliterate the distinctions between the orders bimana and quadrumana and restore the Linnaean order Primates, which includes both man and monkeys. The ascendancy of such doctrines can have but one legitimate effect, and that is to land those who hold them in gross materialism. The ground occupied by Dr. Cabell is still firm and unshaken, according to the opinions of the highest zoological, authorities. In assigning man's zoological position the question of the unity of the Human Race naturally came up for consideration. Bring- ing to the discussion of this lofty theme ripe scholarship, masterly dialectic skill and a subtle intellect, Dr. Cabell commemorative addresses. 13 endeavored to show that here Science and the Bible were in harmony both alike, when rightly interpreted, affirming the unity of the human species, or, as the apostle ex- presses it, that men are of one blood. It was because he believed, whether right or wrong, that the subject was of vital importance from its moral bearings, that he buckled on his armor and contended for his side of the contro- versy with all the zeal and ability of which he was capable. In consequence of the rapid development of the Science of Physiology as well as that of Surgery, in later years, Dr. Cabell had to give up the subject of Comparative Anatomy and devote all his time to these two branches of medical knowledge. As a teacher of Physiology he was unexcelled ; he knew how to explain the most abstruse and complex questions in terms comprehensible to all his class. And this is no mean praise. The difficulties which beset the teacher here are two-fold. In the first place, no branch of Natural Science exhibits such wonderful and uninterrupted progress as Physiology. He has, therefore, in order to keep abreast of the knowledge of the day, to recast his lectures from year to year, and statements made today must be modified by the discoveries made tomorrow. Again, some of the subjects with which this science deals are, in their nature, intricate, and to simplify, in order to make them plain, demands the exercise of the highest in- tellectual gifts. What theme, by way of illustration, is more recondite than the relation of life to other forces ? Huxley speaks of life as "a combination of natural forces," and one of the most recent Physiological writers, Landois, declares that "a peculiar vital force does not exist. The forces of all matter, organic or inorganic, are combined with their smallest particles—the atoms." But, on the other hand, in the opinion of other equally eminent Physiologists, there remains a mystery in the manifesta- 14 commemorative addresses. tions of feeling and consciousness, in association with mat- ter, which no physical hypothesis has ever cleared up. The functions of the cerebrum have of late years been the subject of experimental investigation, and a great number of valuable facts have been brought to light, yet what pro- found obscurity still overhangs this entire domain, like a mist over a lovely landscape, awaiting the illumination of future study. Are not these questions well fitted to put a man on his mettle and to test a variety of powers in their discussion ? It is a valuable testimony to Dr. Cabell's faithfulness that up to the last moment of his work, as a professor, he was able to give his class the latest develop- ments of science. In teaching the principles and practice of Surgery Dr. Cabell's talents were displayed in the most conspicuous manner. Recognizing the fact that inflammation was the most important pathological phenomenon interesting the surgeon, that it was the keystone of the entire arch of sur- gical knowledge, he discussed it with rare power and felicity in all its features. He dwelt more upon the Prin- ciples than the Practice of Surgery, in the course of his lectures, though the latter was treated with due detail, as he deemed it of paramount importance to make the facts of physiology and general pathology the foundations on which the surgical superstructure was to be reared. As a teacher he knew full well, as a recent writer expresses it, that " education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life ; * * * that knowledge is a process, not a tabular statement—the implanting of principles, not a short summary of points to be learned by heart." The great bar to progress in medicine nowadays is the eager haste of young men, en- gaged in medical studies, to rush into clinics, to witness operations before they have made themselves thoroughly familiar with physiology and pathology, and, hence, they COMMEMORATIVE addresses. 15 become largely empirics and not scientific thinkers. Let such bear in mind that the most brilliant discoveries in medicine and surgery, of modern times, we owe to men who were thoroughly trained in physics, besides possess- ing an accurate knowledge of physiology and pathology. In proof of this let me cite the work done by those illus- trious men Helmholz, Sims, Koch, Pasteur, Lister, names which will never die while history can record the golden deeds of the past. The most splendid achievement of recent times, in surgery, is, without a shadow of doubt, the antiseptic method of operating and of treating wounds, which we owe to the consummate genius of Sir Joseph Lister. Time would fail to tell of what it has done to mitigate suffering, to save life and prevent mutilation of the body. It is not too much to say that it has produced an entire revolution in modern surgery. Before it won its position in surgical practice the-so-called accidental wound diseases stalked through every hospital like grim and ghastly spectres, often unnerving the hand of the boldest operator, as they rose up before his imagination in all their appalling horror, to grow less and vanish away as the dawn of antisepsis broke into perfect day. With charac- teristic sagacity Dr. Cabell, at an early period of its his- tory, appreciated the value of this new discovery, and with enthusiastic ardor advocated its claims to his pupils ; and this, at a time, when the vast majority of surgeons, in this country, showed a marked reserve or else took ground against it. Besides expounding the facts of science, with such zeal and force, Dr. Cabell did not fail to impress upon his stu- dents the severe nature of the labors and the great respon- sibility which the practice of medicine involved. To demonstrate the success he achieved as a teacher it is not necessary to bring statistical proof, by a record of the 16 commemorative addresses. number of University graduates who have stood competi- tive examinations, successfully, before Army, Navy or Hos- pital Boards, however grateful this task might be, it is suffi- cient to point to the high estimation in which the Medical Department of this University is held by all well-informed men throughout the country ; the work which he did con- tributing, in the largest degree, to this consummation. In all matters pertaining to the general welfare of the Univer- sity the opinions of Dr. Cabell were regarded by his colleagues with profound respect. His mature wisdom and excellent judgment were often appealed to by them. He was a man singularly free from vagaries, and had a healthy understanding. He was never a truth-hunter, in the sense so cleverly satirized by Mr. Birrell, he did not indulge in speculative habits, but the duty that lay before him he en- deavored to do in a straightforward, loyal way. He was withal a brave man, fear of man he had not; and this trait is all important in the University Professor, and especially in this University, where order and discipline are so largely maintained by public opinion among the students, for it begets respect and admiration and wholesome awe. And here it is proper to state that when that method of discip- line, now the settled policy of the University, was inaugu- rated and developed to full success by my honored father, as so admirably told by Dr. Broadus*, it found in Dr. Cabell an earnest friend and advocate, who did all in his power to hold up the hands of the chairman. No picture of Dr. Cabell's life, at the University, can pretend to completeness which does not exhibit him at the domestic hearth. Here the gentle affections of his heart found free scope for expansion, and bloomed with refresh- ing fragrance. He had married in early manhood—and Vide Addresses and sermons by John A. Broadus. COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 17 wisely had he chosen. Out of the dim past rises up be- fore me a vision of rare loveliness, grace and beauty, I behold a countenance illuminated by a bright and culti- vated intellect, serving to enhance the attractiveness of person and manner. Such was Mrs. Cabell, of whom it should be said in addition, that deep and unaffected piety was her guiding star. No wonder, then, that this highly gifted woman was the object of his knightly devotion from the beginning of married life to the hour when she was borne away from his side, and that her memory was ever present with him to the last moment of existence. Off- spring was denied him, but he found in his two adopted daughters, Mrs. E. B. Smith and Mrs. Henry Auchincloss, appropriate objects on whom to lavish paternal love and tenderness. When he had completed fifty years of con- tinuous professional service in the University the happy thought suggested itself to his colleagues and a number of his former pupils to commemorate that event. It was decided to present him with a gold cup, appropriately en- graved, accompanied by an address on vellum. On the 21st of December, 1887, this notable scene was enacted. I need scarce remind you of his profound gratification at this mark of esteem and affection, and of his felicitous reply. Seldom has it fallen to the lot of a Faculty to congratulate one of its members upon fifty years service, and seldom has it been done with more heartiness. It is well worthy of comment that he had been a student of the University and won the highest degree conferred before he was elevated to the professorial chair he adorned so long. The history of this noble institution does not date far back in the remote past, 'tis true, but within this relatively brief period it has gathered traditions precious beyond comparison —of high heroic endeavor on tented field, of eloquence and learning, whether at the bar, in the pulpit, i8 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. Senate chamber or professorial chair ; and among the "most cherished of these will ever stand out in bold relief that which recalls the high-principled Christian gentleman, the elegant scholar, the accomplished teacher, united in the person of James Lawrence Cabell. Standing, as I do, in sight of that house, his late abode, the scene of so many years of tranquil domestic felicity, of that venerable Hall in which my love for medical knowledge drew its first in- spiration from his lips, of yon hallowed spot where his mortal remains now sleep, I feel -that I cannot frame a better wish for those who shall, hereafter, frequent these classics shades than to hope that as they gaze on that pavilion, so rich in associations connected with him, they will call to mind the beauty and excellence of his home-life, as a pat- tern, and that as often as they behold that Anatomical Hall the recollection will rise upon them of the splendor of his scientific attainments, and so quicken within them noble aspirations; and that when they enter yon quiet resting place of the dead they will pause a moment beside his grave and learn from him, who being dead yet speaketh, that no life is complete without that greatest of all gifts, an humble, abiding faith in Christ. Address of STEPHEN SMITH, A. M., M. D., Professor of Clinical Surgery in the University of New York. Dr. Smith said:—The University of Virginia has long enjoyed the reputation of being the seat of sound medical learning. Upwards of thirty years ago Bellevue Hospital, of New York, annually attracted large numbers of medical graduates from all parts of the country who desired to become members of its resident staff. Admission was by competitive examination, and as the list of candidates was always large, a high grade of qualification was required. As an examiner in surgery for many years, I had an opportunity of judging very accurately of the merits, not only of the methods of instruction in the various medical institutions of the country, but in no small degree of the teachers of surgical science and practice. It is a matter of record, in that hospital, that the graduates of the Medi- cal Department of the University of Virginia rarely failed to be recorded highest on the roll. The superiority of their training was at once manifest in all branches where technical knowledge was important. The students them- selves had an air of self-confidence which was conspicu- ously wanting in the graduates of other colleges. This personal self-possession evidently'had its basis in a con- sciousness of thorough equipment for the impending trial, and appeared in striking contrast with the diffidence, hesi- tation and painful embarrassment of the graduates of other schools. Although the examiners were required to discriminate in favor of the graduates of the local colleges, 20 commemorative addresses. " other things being equal," the graduates of this Univer- sity seldom failed of an easy success. It was at this time, and in this manner, that I received my first impressions of Professor Cabell, as a teacher of the science and art of surgery. All his pupils gave evi- dence of that personal and familiar contact with their teacher, which enables the student to thoroughly digest and assimilate scientific truths. It was evident also that the teacher impressed upon his students his own habits of study and thought, and that they had the most profound respect for his opinions. On every doubtful scientific question they quoted his dictum as the ultimate statement of their own belief. His pupi'ls were like those of the famous Pythagoras, who, when pressed for reasons for their opinions, replied, ''ipse dixit." During my subsequent acquaintance with Prof. Cabell we frequently discussed the subject of medical education, and my impression of his great abilities as a teacher were abundantly confirmed. It was his aim to bring himself into such living contact with each pupil that he was able to appreciate his difficulties, and give him necessary and timely aid. His systematic methods of analyzing subjects and presenting the important and essential facts, enabled students of even moderate capacity to grasp the matter in all of its details, and retain in memory the principles in- culcated. If, however, the student did not advance with his class he was compelled to repeat the course until his examination was satisfactory. By this means no incompe- tent student could be graduated. The systems of medical education in vogue at that period, in the various schools, were the most inefficient possible. The ordinary student entered the office of a practitioner to read medicine, so-called, in imitation of the law student. Though studying sciences that re- commemorative addresses. 2 1 quired daily demonstration, by a competent teacher, he acquired his knowledge-only from books, and by the laborious method of memorizing. Four months in the year he attended a medical college, where his only source of in- struction was that of listening to the lectures of professors, who were usually the more ambitious general practition- ers of the town. The lectures were more often the mere random talk of voluble medical gentlemen, and their value was estimated by the student on the basis of the number and piquancy of the anecdotes with which they illustrated and enforced their own peculiar opinions. Three years of such pastime legally qualified the student for the re- sponsible duties of caring for the health and lives of the community to which he should offer his services. At that time there was but one exception among the medical schools of this country, to the plan of education above outlined, and that was the University of Virginia. Here was conceived, I believe by Mr. Jefferson, and here has resolutely been maintained, for upwards of half a cen- tury, the true and only correct system of medical instruc- tion. The system has, as its fundamental idea, the con- tinuous training of the individual student, by a permanent teaching body, until he is thoroughly prepared for the discharge of all the duties of his profession. Time does not enter as a qualifying factor in graduation. The only test applied is educational qualification. Professor Cabell was not a large contributor to the literature of his profession. But his published papers exhibit the rare excellence of being instructive to the most advanced students of surgery. He was a ripe scholar in every branch of that science, and could always discuss with an inexhaustible fund of information every phase of the many new questions which have in these later years 22 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. crowded its field of observation, practice and experimen- tation. No one can fully appreciate this remark who is not familiar with the progress of surgery during the last decade. No science nor art has undergone such a com- plete revolution within that time. So completely have the old land marks been swept away that a surgeon in hospital practice, dying ten years ago, might, if he returned to-day to the scene of his former labors and cares, entirely fail to recognize the nature of the operations being performed, and of the dressings employed. To keep pace with this revolution has required, on the part of even the youngest and most enthusiastic students, incessant application to study and observation. It may well be presumed that few of the elder surgeons mastered this new science. On the contrary, it is a matter of history that, with rare exceptions, surgeons who had reached the age of sixty years when the revelations of the new system began, received the teachings of its exponents with derision. The bare allusion, in a surgical society at that time, to the claims of its great apostle, Lister, would elicit a storm of ridicule. Professor Cabell was a rare exception to the rule just mentioned. Though considerably past the age at which it is averred very few medical men grow old gracefully, he received the new doctrines with that intelligent en- thusiasm which characterizes a noble nature, a genuine lover of the truths of science, and a mind trained to the critical investigation of abstruse problems in physics. Instead of rejecting the remarkable revelations of the microscope and chemistry when applied to biological studies, as absurd and unworthy even of examinaton, these truths found in his mind a congenial soil, prepared not only to receive them, but to give them full opportunity for development. How receptive his mind was of scientific facts, and how COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 23 correctly he estimated their value, was demonstrated at the meeting of the American Surgical Association, held May 31, 1883. Professor Cabell read before this body, com- posed of the leading surgeons of the country, an elaborate paper, entitled, "Sanitary Conditions in Relation to the Treatment of Surgical Operations and Injuries." At this time the antiseptic system, as promulgated by Mr. Lister, had just begun to attract the attention of the more ad- vanced students of surgery, and the president, Professor Gross, selected Professor Cabell to bring the subject before that Association. The latter complied, and presented the arguments for and against, what was then known as Lis- terism, with judicial fairness. He also gathered a large amount of facts, from the profession at'large, to prove the comparative merits of the old and new systems of prac- tice. No paper was ever written in a more impartial spirit, but the weight of evidence was evidently decidedly in favor of the advocates of antiseptic surgery. Though this paper was read but eight years ago, it is difficult now to realize the intense opposition which it excited. One speaker declared, with great vehemence, that prejudice was stamped on every page, and that the author had regulated his statistics to sustain his theory. So violent was the opposition that the venerable president, though referred to, did not venture to express an opinion. Within that eight years the new system has been universally adopted, and not one of its opponents would presume to raise a doubt in that Association of the complete triumph of an- tiseptic surgery. This incident proves in a striking man- ner the great mental qualities of Professor Cabell. At nearly the age of three score years and ten he recognized the truths in the first few facts published by Lister, and rightly interpreted their significance, while others, less discriminating, received them with unbounded ridicule. 24 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. From the high vantage ground which he had attained as a scientist, he saw the earliest flush of the dawn of a new era in surgical science and art, and bespoke the coming day to those who occupied the lower levels, and were still groping in darkness. He lived to see the entire field of practical surgery illuminated by that sun whose first faint rays he detected. Great as have been Professor Cabell's services in the field of medical education and scientific surgery, his studies in physiology had qualified him for a most important work in the department of preventive medicine. And it was in this service that I first formed his more immediate personal acquaintance. The decade 1840-50 was the era of sanitary agitation in England. Through the influence of the writings of Mr. (now Sir) Edwin Chadwick, a civilian ; Dr. William Budd, a general practitioner ; John Simon, a surgeon ; Dr. Farr, a vital statistician, and many others, England had come to fully realize the enormous sickness and death-rate of its people from preventable diseases. Public opinion, thus, enlightened, concentrated its force upon Parliament, and the result was a body of health laws which have served as models for many other countries. So powerful and all-pervading was the agitation of sanitary questions among the English people, at different periods, that the issues of general elections sometimes depended upon them. Lord Beaconsfield, when Prime Minister, was so annoyed by the persistency with which health measures were pressed into the campaign that he exclaimed, on one occasion, " Sanitas sanitation, omnis sanitas." The agitation in England did not pass unheeded by the more advanced students of social questions in this country The startling revelations in regard to the sacrifice of health COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 25 and life, by neglect of public hygiene, had their full effect upon those who, by their studies or philanthropic tenden- cies, most thoroughly appreciated the principles which underlie preventive medicine. There are but very few in any community who will become earnest and persistent sanitary reformers in the early stages of the agitation. The people are not easily aroused in regard to matters relating to the public health, unless an epidemic exists or is impending. Hence, the person who persistently advo- cates preventive measures, in order to preserve and pro- mote the general health, soon finds that his words of warning fall on deaf ears. But there must be some who will take the initiative and persistently work, in season and out of season, until the reform is achieved. Among those who early entered the field of agitation for sanitary reform in this country, was Professor Cabell. His name appears with the few who were enrolled as members of the American Public Health Association in the first year of its existence. This body represents the first or- ganized effort of sanitary students in this country, and has effected and sustained public health reforms. Nor was Professor Cabell a quiet member of this body. On the contrary, he was always active and efficient, and much of the time was one of its officers. In 1879 ne was its presi- dent, and his annual address contains an admirable review of the progress of sanitary legislation, and especially of the events which terminated in the formation of the Na- tional Board of Health. In the closing, sentences of that address he expressed his sense of the obligation of the Association in terms which show the depth and sincerity of his convictions. " I trust," he remarks, " that there will be no relaxation of effort to make our Association avail as much in the future as in the past, or even far more so, to increase the common stock of knowledge by sanitary ■26 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. studies and investigations, to educate, the people in the principle and facts of private and public hygiene, and to promote organizations and measures for their practical application, until all shall have been done which in the scheme of Providence it may be possible to do to make ' life worth living,' as well in respect of that most desirable of all its accidental blessings, health of body and health of mind, as it essentially is worth living in respect of that deep, inherent moral worth of which no man can be de- prived except by his own sinful rebellion against his Maker." The great event in the history of the Association was the creation of the National Board of Health. The act of Congress, by which this most important piece of legis- lation was secured, required an immense amount of labor, on the part of sanitary workers, and of the most judicious character. As chairman of the committe on legislation, of the Public Health Association, Professor Cabell bore a conspicuous part in the management of the undertaking, which gave to the country a central health authority. As the history of that effort covers a most useful period of his later life it may not be improper to review, briefly, its more important events. The great incentive to correct sanitary legislation is an existing or threatened epidemic. Legislatures, whether national, state, or municipal, are remarkably indifferent to those preventive measures which, if adopted and enforced in the absence of epidemics, would prove to be safeguards against their recurrence. When, however, the pestilence is at the door, or has actually crossed the threshold, then the public authorities are all actively sympathetic and re- sponsive to every suggestion as to staying or mitigating the ravages which it creates. The policy of governments in relation to epidemic pestilences is, and always has been, COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. -> - -/ " millions to relieve the miseries and sufferings which they cause, but not one cent for protection." Fifteen years of agitation of the question of an adequate health law for the city of New York availed far less than an authentic rumor that cholera had appeared in Europe. So we should have had no National Board of Health had not the yellow fever, of 1878, made its appearance in the Valley of the Missis- sippi, and without let or hinderance, spread ruin and death over that immense territory, and finally literally decimated the doomed city of Memphis. The Public Health Assso- ciation, which now combined in its membership all of the sanitary workers and thinkers in the country, at once seized the opportunity of enforcing the lesson which Providence had so abundantly taught. In the autumn of that year the Association met at Richmond, and the story of the appalling sufferings, miseries and deaths, which the pestilence had caused were told by witnesses fresh from the field of devastation. They gave most harrowing re- ports of sickness and sorrow ; of the sudden breaking up and flight of whole communities ; of the universal destruc- tion of business ; of the sundering of family ties. And now, though the ravages of the pestilence had ceased, came the terrible apprehension that the epidemic would be repeated the next year unless some preventive measures should be adopted and enforced by competent authority. The last resort of the stricken people for relief in their emergency, was this congress of sanitary officials and scientists. The Association proved itself equal to the occasion. In his address of welcome, the Governor of Virginia, in a few eloquent words, alluded to the mission of the Association. He said, " One of the great and bene- ficient objects of this Association is to investigate the causes, and if possible to find remedies. This alone would justify such a convention as I now see before and around 28 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. me. Indeed, I am informed that the prime object of this meeting is to find out something about the dreadful plague that has but yesterday swept, with its bloody scythe, the fairest portion of our land. This is a noble work, worthy of such men." Professor Cabell introduced the President of the Association, and in his brief remarks alluded to the enormous waste of life by preventable diseases, and the tardiness of States to devote the public funds to preventive measures. He said, "There is a pressing desideratum to convince law-making authorities of their duty in the pre- mises. To this end we need the combined counsels of lawyers and statesmen to consider delicate and difficult questions which involve the rights of individuals and of States, and the constitutional limitations of State and federal authority. We need the aid of all educated classes to diffuse among the people a knowledge of the enormous expensiveness of disease, and of the wise economy of a judicious outlay for its prevention." The president of the Association, Dr. Elisha Harris, of New York, was one of the most eminent sanitary au- thorities of his day ; and of large practical experience in the administration of health laws. In his address on this occasion he spoke in no uncertain language of the obligations of the Association to meet the great emergency with measures adequate to give relief. He said, " In the anguish of the terrible scenes of the pestilence at New Orleans, Vicksburg, Grenada and Memphis, and in nearly a hundred of smaller cities and towns, in seven or eight of the States which were invaded by yellow fever this year, it was not surprising that the people cried to God for mercy, and that they fasted and prayed in the hope that the unseen Ruler of the world's affairs might save It is equally natural now that there should be thanksgiving and rejoicing as the scourge is withdrawn. The sympathy COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 29 of the good, and the gifts of the afluent, have been poured out without stint; all this was fit to be done. The golden bonds of friendship, the brotherhood and enduring frater- nity of the States of the Union, even the warm sympathy of Europe, thus have been evinced and beautifully illus- trated. But it is the mission of hygiene and of preventive medicine, while recognizing the gentle and loving expres- sions of the saved and safe to the suffering and dying, now to gather up all the resources of knowledge and research, and to command whatever means hygiene, public health laws, and sanitary measures can offer." The discussions of the Association led to the appoint- ment of a committee on legislation, of which Professor Cabell was chairman. At its next session, which soon followed, Congress entertained, for the first time, proposi- tions to create a central sanitary organization. Of the numerous plans submitted, that which proposed a Board of Health finally passed on the last day of the session. It was, as usually results where there is much contention, a compromise measure, but happily proved to be well- adapted to the existing state of public opinion, and per- haps the best that can be devised. Instead of a single officer at the head of a Bureau, as several of the bills con- templated, the law created a Board of Experts representing seven great geographical, and, in a sense, sanitary divisions of the country, and four departments of the Government, viz.. the medical service of the Army, Navy, and Treasury, and the Department of Justice. This provision of the law brought into the membership of the Board two yellow fever experts, two Presidents of State Boards of Health, three medical members of municipal Boards of Health, three medical officers of different branches of the public service, and the Solicitor General as the law officer. It would evidently be difficut to construct a Board more 30 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. thoroughly competent to organize a central sanitary ser- vice for the United States, to devise measures for the pro- tection and promotion of the public health, and to wisely and judiciously administer rules, regulations, and laws for the prevention of the introduction of foreign pestilences into the country. The members of the Board were soon after named by the President,* and Professor Cabell occupied the foremost position. On its organization he was unanimously elected its first president, a position which he retained, by repeated elections, during the active life of the board. There could scarcely be a more responsible position in the general government at that time, than the one which Professor Cabell was called upon to fill. No man, what- ever his ambition, could have envied him the meagre honors which the position would confer. Here was an entirely new department of the government, and sud- denly established to meet a great and pressing emergency. Like all similar health organizations when first created, the National Board of Health was regarded as an anomaly in our system of civil administration. Its duties were new and untried, and the powers conferred upon it were hitherto unknown. It was based on no precedent, and was deemed by many of the best jurists to be without the pale of the Constitution. Congress had, indeed, passed the bill creating it, only under the enormous pressure of public sentiment in the southwest which finally reached *The seven appointed members were as follows : Dr James L Cabell of Virginia ; Dr. H. I. Bowditch, of Boston ; Dr. Stephen Smith of N N . ; Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson, of Chicago ; Dr. Robert W. Mitchell of Memphis; Dr. Samuel M. Bemis, of New Orleans; Dr T S Verdi of Washington. The departmental appointments were as follows • Dr John S. Billings, of the Army ; Dr. Thomas J. Turner, of the Navy • Dr H P Ba.llache, of the Marine Hospital Service, and Hon. Samuel L. Phillips' of the Department of Justice. ' COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 3 I such a pitch of desperation that Congressmen were threatened with violence if they returned home without having enacted a law that would give the general govern- ment adequate jurisdiction over this roving pestilence. A board or department, thus created, was far more likely to meet with an early disaster than to survive a thorough trial of its power and capacity. Especially was this true when we consider the immediate trials which confronted it. On the one hand the people of the South, and of the Mississippi Valley in particular, were waiting, in breath- less expectation, the recrudesence of the germs of the pestilence of the previous year. The rapid development of events showed, indeed, that there must not be a moment's delay. It is a matter of record that yellow fever reappeared in Memphis within one week of the enactment of the law which gave the board the power and the means to take a single step in the direction of preventive measures. On the other hand, there were those in high places who op- posed the creation of the board, and who were now dis- posed to discuss its acts in a spirit of hostile criticism. To organize a new department, under such circumstances, so as to give it immediate efficiency, and with scarcely an error in administration, was a marvel of enlightened and judicious statesmanship. The power of the board extended only to giving aid to local health boards, on the applica- tion of the civil authorities. To render this aid most effective the first act of the National Board was to formu- late a series of sanitary rules and regulations covering every feature of the work to be done. These rules applied to the proper care and sanitation of all kinds of transpor- tation, as of railroads and steamboats ; of villages threat- ened with the pestilence ; of villages and cities where the fever prevailed ; and of the houses occupied by the sick. Elaborate rules were also prescribed for the sanitary care 32 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. of the sick, for the arrangement and management of hos- pitals, and for the location and organization of refuges for the well who left the stricken towns. These rules and regulations united all the health officials upon one common method of work, and harmonized the operations of the general and local boards. The effect of this systematic and cooperative method was at once apparent. Municipal and State Boards united their forces, and whenever there was any lack of men or means the National Board stood ready to give the needed aid. Limited as was the power of the Central Board for aggressive action against a pesti- lence already in full operation over a large field, its aid within these limits proved of immense value in the epi- demic of 1879. Everywhere throughout the Valley of the Mississippi and along the Gulf Coast, health boards and health officers were energized and stimulated to the great- est efforts. The powerful and well-directed support of the central board was felt in every city and village, giving expert officers where needed, and financial aid where this was required. For the first time in the history of yellow fever, in this country, that pestilence met, in 1879, an organization capable of coping with it, and of finally stamping it out. This organization was the combined and harmonious action of Municipal, State and National health authorities. Had this combination of forces existed in 1878 there would have been no epidemic of that year to record. If such a combination can permanently exist, yellow fever will have completed its life history in the United States, and will, hereafter, be know only to the historian, as are the frightful pestilences of the mediaeval period in the history of Europe. When the campaign against the epidemic of 1879 was over, the board regarded its actual and necessary work as just begun. That work was one of prevention. In devis- COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 33 ing measures by which the existing germs of yellow fever should be destroyed, and the importation of this, and all contagious and infectious diseases, be hereafter prevented, Professor Cabell brought all the resources of his great knowledge of public hygiene into the councils of the board. He had labored indefatigably, day and night, during the summer, in order that every possible resource of the board should be faithfully and efficiently employed to control, limit, and prevent the fever. When the season was over he did not relinquish his efforts, but concerted measures by which every vestige of the recent epidemic might be destroyed, and that adequate defences against a new importation might be fully provided before another season. Two plans of operation were perfected. The first required a visitation to every locality and every house where yellow fever had existed, with directions to burn all waste materials used about the sick ; to cleanse every room with disinfectants ; and to ventilate every house freely, during the winter months. This was a great undertaking, but it was very fully carried out, and with the effect of com- pletely eradicating all the remaining germs of disease. No new case of yellow fever has, after a period of ten years, appeared in those districts. A part of this scheme was the sanitation of cities and villages. Local authorities were visited and urged to improve their drainage, sewer- age, water supply, and to secure cleanliness of unhealthy quarters. The city of Memphis is a notable example of thorough sanitary reconstruction, in all that pertains to drainage and sewerage, and good water supply, under the stimulus of the National board. The second plan of prevention consisted in formulating rules and regulations to secure the good sanitary condition of ships arriving at American ports, and to create certain island refuges along the coast to which every infected 34 COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. vessel should proceed, and be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected, before it was allowed to enter any port on the main land. It would be difficult to estimate, even approxi- mately, the value of these great reform measures. The first was the beginning of the new era of ship sanitation, which has resulted in bringing to our ports healthy pas- sengers, healthy crews, and healthy ships. This reform has revolutionized our quarantines. It is no longer a question of time of detention of a vessel, but rather one of cleanliness of the ship, and the proper care of the health of passengers and crew. Not less important are the refuge stations on the South- ern Coast, in the prevention of the invasion of foreign pestilences. These stations are equipped with every con- venience for the care of the sick, and every appliance for the cleansing and disinfection of the ship and cargo. When properly cleansed and disinfected, the vessel resumes her voyage—a healthy ship. The board created four such stations, three on the South Atlantic Coast and one on the Gulf Coast, all of which, in due time, were opened for the reception of vessels. While this work was in progress the board sent a com- mission of experts to Cuba to study yellow fever, in its native habitats, with a view to secure the cooperation of the officials of that island in efforts to exterminate the pesti- lence from its very sources of origin. Experts were also sent to all of our seaport towns, with directions to investigate their sanitary conditions and to stimulate local health authorities to perfect their quaran- tine establishments. Elaborate scientific investigations were organized in different laboratories of the country to determine accurately unsettled sanitary problems, as those relating to foods, soils, waters, air, disinfectants. This statement gives but a meagre view of the work which the COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 35 board engaged in during the first year. In every branch of that work the hand of Professor Cabell was visible, either in aiding in its organization, or in its execution. The board closed its first financial year and rendered its report to the Secretary of the Treasury. In his annual report the Secretary, Hon. John Sherman, through the first comptroller of the Treasury, Hon. A. G. Porter, the present Minister to Italy, complimented the National Board, by stating that no department of Government had performed its duties and transacted its business with greater accuracy and precision. This compliment was all the more gratify- ing to the members of the board because of the difficulty of giving pecuniary aid to the health authorities of so many localities without, in some instance, falling into error. During that first, and most trying, year Professor Cabell devoted nearly all of his time and energies to the work of the board. While the membership of the board was exceptionally well chosen, being selected from among the ablest and most experienced physicians and sanitarians in the country, and the departments at Washington, it may be stated, as by common consent, that the success of the board, and the reputation it gained for honest, intelligent and efficient work, was due in large measure to the pecu- liar qualifications of its president for his high and respon- sible office. In the following year, 1881, Professor Cabell was called to the performance of public duties of a still higher order, and which required no small degree of diplomatic skill. At the suggestion of the National Board, Congress passed a joint resolution, authorizing the President to call an In- ternational Sanitary Conference to meet at Washington, to which the several powers having jurisdiction of ports likely to be infected with yellow fever or cholera should be invited to send delegates, properly authorized, for the purpose of securing an international system of notification 3^ COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. as to the actual sanitary condition of ports and places under the jurisdiction of such powers, and of ves^-vls sail- ing therefrom. Twenty-three nationalities, in addition to Canada and the United States, participated in this Congress. Professor Cabell was selected by the President to represent the United States in this conference as its senior delegate. Although there had been several International Sanitary Conferences in Europe, this was the first in which the United States had taken an active and controlling part. The responsibilities of its delegates were, therefore, greatly enhanced, for they were to initiate the proceedings by the introduction of subjects, and to take a leading part in the discussions. Upon Professor Cabell fell the chief manage- ment of the conference on the part of the United States, and it was the testimony of the delegates that he discharged this duty with admirable judgment and discreteness, and in a spirit of conciliation that led to the adoption of nearly all of the propositions originally laid before the confer- ence. Next to the creation of the National Board of Health the calling of this International Sanitary Confer- ence is the most important step ever taken by our Govern- ment to protect the country from the periodical invasions of pestilences of foreign origin, as cholera and yellow fever. Had the main conclusions to which that Conference came been ratified by treaty obligations, all nationalities exposed to these epidemics would have been united in a common and, we doubt not, successful effort to control their spread, and to stamp them out at their very origin. On the 2nd of June, 1883, the Act of Congress, giving to the Board of Health its powers, expired by limitation, and the law was not, re-enacted. This closed the active life of the board. For the two years preceding, its useful- ness had been greatly curtailed by the gradual withdrawal of appropriations for its support, and their diversion into COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 37 other channels. For a long time secret agencies had been at work in Congress against the board, quite unknown to, or even suspected by, its members. On several occasions Professor Cabell, with other members, appeared before committees of both houses and explained the operations of the board. His speeches on these occasions were digni- fied presentations of the importance of maintaining an active and efficient central public health service. But his arguments were, unavailing, and he ceased, as did the other members of the board, to approach Congress on the sub- ject. He always after spoke of the work of the National Board with much enthusiasm, and alluded with pride and great apparent satisfaction to the part which he had per- formed. He regarded the failure of Congress to sustain the Board as a national calamity, for he had implicit faith in the power of preventive medicine to relieve the country forever of such foreign pestilences as yellow fever and cholera. In 1881, Professor Cabell read a very valuable paper before the American Public Health Association " on the Rise and Progress of International Hygiene." This paper contained, in addition to its historical review, an interest- ing summary of the acts of the Washington Conference. In 1882, he delivered an elaborate address before the same Association, at Indianapolis, in which he fully reviewed the work of the National Board. He had often expressed the fear that he was giving time and effort to the board that belonged to the University, and on this occasion he closed his speech by submitting to the Association, the parent of the National Board, the question, whether it should not relieve him, and the other members, of these duties. But the Association did not approve of any change, and he was induced to continue in the position. Though the active life of the board ceased on the expiration of the law giving it adequate powers, some good work was accom- 3§ COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. plished, with limited means, during the following two or three years ; but the official duties of the president now became merely nominal, and Professor Cabell practically retired from the public service. I have spoken of Professor Cabell in a threefold charac- ter, viz., as teacher of Physiology and Surgery; as a scientific surgeon and writer; as a sanitarian and public officer. In these several capacities he was best known to the world, and will be longest remembered. As a teacher he realized the ideal of Mr. Jefferson, as given by his recent biographer: "A Professor," he says, " who is what he should be, may sometimes be an unspeak- able blessing to youth. He needs to be possessed of many gifts. He ehould possess at once a certain gentleness and firmness of character. He should instinctively cause youth to realize that he is their friend, and that he pos- sesses treasures of knowledge worthy of their respect. He should be prepared, by a noble heart and true wisdom, and sometimes by indescribable characteristics, to kindle in youth elevating, and, in various ways, noble aspirations ; and to sometimes, in a most delicate manner, introduce them to sciences. A worthy professor will often be en- abled to make his instructions fascinatingly interesting ; and, at the same time, teach students in one hour more than an inferior instructor could teach them in a day. Youth are thus not only saved much valuable time, but are taught the art of studying and making researches them- selves ; they catch a certain kind of enthusiasm and love for their studies. When under a less gifted instructor they would become disgusted with their work. He may even intuitively, and in the happiest manner, instil the truest and noblest greatness into the character of his students. By holding intercourse with such a preceptor the minds of students may be elevated for life." COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. 39 As a scientific surgeon and writer he took rank among the foremost members of the Surgical Association. Though the field of practical surgery was to him very limited, yet he brought to bear upon questions of practice such an ex- tensive acquaintance with the literature of these subjects, and such sound reasoning, that his opinions were always valuable. But his scientific attainments are best seen in the character and qualifications of his pupils, and the rank which his few published papers hold in the estimation of the profession. As a public officer, in the organization of sanitary work. and in the administration of health laws, he achieved his greatest success. He was capable, he was honest, in the highest sense of Mr. Jefferson's ideal public officer. He was, indeed, an ideal officer in the discharge of the high public trust committed to his care. It would have been impossible to have selected from the medical profession a man more completely qualified for the positions which he held. His previous studies had made him master of the whole range of sciences bearing on preventive medicine. He was President of a State Board of Health which, though inactive, had led him to study the best methods of organizing sanitary work, and of administering health laws. As a native of Virginia he was conservative, and represented a powerful element of opposition in Congress ; an opposition based on the belief that the power of the board encroached upon the reserved rights of the States. To these qualifications must be added habits of great industry, a high sense of duty, extreme conscientiousness, and withal a dignified personality that won the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. And during the long period of his incumbency of the office of presi- dent, though the board was at times assailed by parties exceedingly hostile to it, yet there never was a breath of suspicion raised against its chief officer. Everywhere, and 4° COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES. at all times, he was regarded with the most profound re- spect, and even veneration. For the great public services of Professsor Cabell in the field of medical education and State Medicine, we cannot express too high an appreciation, nor too profoundly honor his memory. But no memorial, however created, can per- petuate, beyond the present generation, the memory of those qualities of the heart which were best known to those who enjoyed his more intimate personal acquaintance. He was a man in whom there was truly no guile. He had the highest sense of honor, the most tender regard for the sensibilities of others, and the highest appreciation of the amenities and obligations of friendship. He was never weak and vacillating in his opinions, but always expressed them, on proper occasions, with firmness and decision. And yet such was his respect for the feelings of others, and his desire to.be just in his judgment, that I have often found him in much distress after a sharp contention with another, lest he may have done injustice to his opponent by his hasty speech. But the ennobling feature of his character was his deep and abiding religious faith. This was the inspiration of all his thoughts and acts. It filled his private life with charity and benevolence, and gave to all his public labors the' stamp of fidelity to conscientious convictions of duty. Nor did it fail to soothe and sustain him in his later days. In the last letters which I received from him he speaks of "the glorious hopes of blissful-reunions in the world to come," and of the sustaining power of "the consolations of that Divine Friend who knows the sorrows of his peo- ple." Thus that faith which had been the guiding star of his life, shone more and more brightly as his footsteps approached its farthest limits, and ceased not to illuminate his pathway until its rays were lost in the effulgence of the perfect day. 1 r «'f4i r 1 55 J