SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
OF 
PROFESSOR SAMUEL D. GROSS, M.D. 
By J. EWING MEARS, M I). A 
SKETCH 
of the life of 
PROFESSOR SAMUEL D. GROSS, M.I). 
BY 
J. EWING ME AES, M.I). 
READ BEFORE 
The Philadelphia County Medical Society, 
may 13, 1885. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
WM. J. DORNAN, PRINTER. 
1 885. SKETCH OF THE FIFE 
OF 
PROFESSOR SAMUEL U. GROSS, M.D. 
In contemplating the life and character of one who has achieved 
eminence in his profession or calling, it is of interest to examine into 
the conditions which surrounded his early life—to observe their pecu- 
liarities, and to study the influence exerted by them upon his develop- 
ment. It is the custom to-day, in speaking of self-made men—as those 
who have accomplished all in life without assistance from others— 
to ignore those impressions stamped upon the individual in his early 
life, which, becoming part of his nature, direct and control his career. 
The effect of such impressions is to be observed in the life of the 
subject of this memoir, the conditions of whose early life and train- 
ing were of such character as to develop great industry, a desire for 
knowledge, and a noble ambition to achieve distinction in his calling. 
Samuel David Gross was born July 8, 1805, in Forks Township, 
Northampton County, Pennsylvania, five miles from the city of 
Easton. His parents were Philip and Johanna Juliana Gross, and 
he was the fifth of six children—two girls and four boys. His father 
belonged to the class of people so well known in this State as Penn- 4 
sylvania Germans, coming originally from the Palatinate, an old 
division of Germany. He was a well-to-do farmer, owning a farm 
of one hundred and sixty-four acres, which, at the time of his death, 
in 1813, was sold for $12,600. This farm, the birthplace and early 
home of young Gross, was situated in one of the most beautiful re- 
gions of Northampton County, on an elevated tableland, overlooking 
the junction of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers, with the Blue Ridge 
range of mountains on the north, and South Mountain in view on 
the south—the whole forming a landscape of never-ending beauty— 
changing with the changing seasons, presenting always to the eye 
an inviting picture of activity and prosperity in the well-cultivated 
and well-kept farms of the inhabitants; such a scene, moreover, as 
would deeply impress a thoughtful young man, and inspire him with 
energy and a love of industry. 
Young Gross was in the ninth year of his age at the time of the 
decease of his father, and was, with his brothers, by direction of his 
father's will, placed in the care of guardians, who, as stated in the 
will, “were to take the boys into their own care, and bring them up 
in a decent manner, and get them instructed in reading, writing, 
etc., and also in the Christian religion as taught by the Lutheran 
Church; and, whenever my sons shall arrive to a proper age, the 
same guardians shall put them out to trades of their own choice.” 
In obedience to these injunctions of the last will and testament of 
the father, Samuel, with his brothers, passed under the guardianship 
of two worthy men of an adjoining township, Philip and Henry 
Claus, who received from the executors of the estate, settled March 
31, 1815, the sum of $1976.15 as his share. 
In fulfilment of the instructions given by his father he was sent 
to the Academy in Wilkesbarre, at that time under the charge of 
Mr. Joel Jones, afterwards a judge of one of the courts of Philadel- 
phia, and subsequently President of Girard College, being the first 
to occupy this position. Judge Jones was a gentleman of elegant 5 
manners and fine classical attainments, and gave to the institution 
over which he presided a reputation for excellence in the character 
and thoroughness in the methods of instruction, which placed it in 
the front rank of institutions of its kind in the State. 
After a course of instruction of a few years in this school, it 
is reported that young Gross entered the office of a physician, 
whose general and professional attainments were not of a high 
order ; and that, shortly after taking this step, he made the dis- 
covery that his preceptor, into whose hands he had placed him- 
self for instruction and guidance, knew very little. Moreover, as he 
himself gained some information of the vast field of inquiry to be 
explored in the acquisition of professional knowledge, he became 
painfully impressed with the consciousness of his own incomplete and 
defective preparation, and wisely determined, ere too late, to retrace 
his hasty steps. In the execution of this prudent decision he con- 
sulted Dr. Joseph K. Swift, of Easton, who commended the wisdom 
of his action, and encouraged him by kind words of advice to pursue 
further his preparatory education ; and in this he no doubt laid the 
sure foundation of his subsequent professional success. In accord- 
ance with the advice given he entered the High School at Lawrence- 
ville, New Jersey, a private school of instruction, in charge of Dr. 
Isaac Brown, an alumnus of Princeton College. This institution 
enjoyed a high reputation as a school of preparation for those who 
desired to complete their education with a collegiate course in Prince- 
ton, and many received their early education within its walls who 
subsequently became distinguished as scholars and professional men. 
On the completion of his course of instruction in this school, at 
the age of nineteen, he entered the office of Dr. Swift as pupil, 
where he remained under tuition until he became a student in Jeffer- 
son Medical College. In Dr. Swift he found a most able instructor, 
a man of fine attainments in classical and English literature and 
science, and a physician and surgeon of the highest reputation. In 6 
the selection of Dr. Swift, as his preceptor in medical studies, he 
was most fortunate, acquiring, no doubt, under this physician's in- 
struction, his fondness for scientific studies, and his systematic 
methods of investigation. 
At the expiration of his term as office student with Dr. Swift 
he came to Philadelphia, and matriculated in Jefferson Medical 
College—at the same time becoming an office pupil of Professor 
George McClellan, the founder of ‘the College and its active spirit. 
Again, his selection of a preceptor was judicious, as it placed him 
under the instruction of one of the most eminent surgeons of the 
day—a man of great energy and originality—inspiring those about 
him with his love of labor and investigation, and a successful teacher 
in his office and in the classroom. His surgical practice was large, 
and the facilities offered to his office students for practice as assist- 
ants, and for observation were very great, and of all of these Dr. 
Gross availed himself to the utmost. Recognizing in the surgical 
operations he witnessed the great value of anatomical knowledge, he 
devoted himself zealously to work in the anatomical room, laying the 
foundation of a knowledge of the branch which he pursued with such 
ardor and advantage in after years. 
In 1828, at the age of twenty-three, he received his degree in 
medicine, the subject of the thesis, presented by him on that oc- 
casion, being “Cataract.” The graduating class numbered twenty- 
five, and his thesis was one of three which discussed a surgical sub- 
ject. After his graduation he undertook the practice of his profes- 
sion in Philadelphia, but with such meagre success as to pecuniary 
results that he returned to his native place after two years’ effort. 
During his sojourn in Philadelphia, however, he married. Un- 
daunted by the discouraging prospects of financial success in his pro- 
fessional work he assumed, in the spirit of true manhood, the respon- 
sibilities of the care of a partner of his joys and sorrows. In the 
accomplished and charming lady chosen for his wife he found, in- 7 
deed, a helpmate,—one who, with hopeful courage, lightened the 
burden of care during the struggles of his early life, and enriched 
the glories of his triumphs in the meridian of his manhood. On his 
return to Easton he soon acquired practice, being regarded as a very 
promising physician, although the fees were quite far from ade- 
quate for the services required and rendered. Among his patients 
was a man who sustained a fracture of the lea; while at work in a 
quarry, a short distance from the town. He reduced and dressed 
the fracture on the spot, and sent the patient home, some three miles 
distant, where he visited him a number of times until the cure was 
complete. The fee charged and received for his services in this case 
was six dollars, quite in contrast to fees received later in his life 
for such services. 
On the appearance of Asiatic cholera in New York, in 1832, he 
was sent by the authorities of the town to that city to study its 
nature and treatment. On his return he made a report, which was 
published in the papers of that time. He was also appointed ex- 
amining surgeon of the United States recruiting office, a position 
which he held until his departure West. 
In 1838 Dr. Gross decided to remove to the West—a portion of 
the country at that period offering great inducements to young men 
of energy and industry, especially in the profession of medicine. 
Declining the Professorship of Chemistry in La Fayette College, in 
October of that year he took his departure from Easton, stopping at 
the city of Pittsburg, where he thought he might take up his resi- 
dence. The attractions of the smoky city were not sufficiently 
great, and, leaving his family here, he journeyed on to Cincinnati. 
There he found a field of work more congenial to his tastes, and his 
family soon after joined him in the home he had selected. lie re- 
mained in Cincinnati seven years, during which time he held the 
position of Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical College of 8 
Ohio for two years, and the Chair of Pathological Anatomy in the 
Cincinnati College during the remaining five years. 
His devotion to the subject in which he was so deeply interested 
interfered, to some extent, with the acquisition of a very lucrative 
practice, although some of his patients were among the most promi- 
nent citizens, and he enjoyed the reputation of a successful practi- 
tioner of medicine. 
Election to the Chair of Surgery in the Louisville Medical Insti- 
tute—afterwards the University of Louisville—made necessary a 
change of residence to Louisville in 1840. Here he resided until 
1849, when he removed to New York, to accept the Chair of Sur- 
gery in the University of the City of New York, made vacant by the 
retirement of Dr. Valentine Mott. He remained in New Yrork but 
one year, returning at the expiration of this time to Louisville, to 
resume the professorship he had vacated at the time he had taken his 
departure, and which had been filled by Dr. Paul F. Eve, who with- 
drew in his favor. 
His occupation of the Chair of Surgery in this flourishing medi- 
cal school of the Southwest gave him an extensive reputation, and 
brought to him patients from a wide section of the country. Ilis 
residence in Louisville covered a period of nearly sixteen years— 
between 1840 and 1856:—when he was called to Philadelphia to take 
the Chair of Surgery in his Alma Mater—Jefferson Medical College, 
made vacant by the resignation of Professor Thomas D. Mutter. 
During his residence in Louisville he drew about him and his family 
a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and became identified 
with the interests of the place as one of its prominent citizens, as 
well as a distinguished practitioner of medicine, in the possession of 
a large practice. 
In his change of residence to Philadelphia, Dr. Gross was enabled 
to free himself from the care and labor of a large family practice, and 
devote himself to consultation practice chiefly. It afforded him, 9 
moreover, an opportunity, which he had long desired, of completing 
his System of Surgery, a work upon which he had been engaged for 
some time, the first edition of which was issued in the fall of 1859. 
As in Louisville, so in Philadelphia, his position as Professor of 
Surgerv in a flourishing medical school brought to him a large 
number of patients from this and the adjoining States, as well as 
many from the far West. He gave much time to his work in the 
College, delivering, during the regular session, four didactic lectures; 
and, during one-half of this season, two clinical lectures each week. 
Until the establishment of the present College Hospital, he also con- 
ducted two clinics each week during the spring and fall terms. He 
took part in the work of this /Society, as well as in that of the 
Pathological Society and of the Academy of Surgery, of both of 
which he was the founder. So that, from the time of his return to 
this city, in 1856, until his last days, he led a busy life, engaged 
actively as he was in professional work, College duties, literary labors, 
and Society proceedings. He was, moreover, always ready to par- 
ticipate in all movements which related to the advancement of the 
interests of his profession. 
In studying the life-work of Dr. Gross, we recognize the distinc- 
tion he attained in all departments of his calling—as an author, a 
teacher, an original investigator, and a practitioner. 
His literary work began soon after his entrance into the profession 
as the translator from the German and French of four works upon 
the four different topics of anatomy, medicine, obstetrics, and 
surgery. Then he entered upon the more important work of the 
author, and published his Treatise on the Anatomy, Physiology, 
and Diseases of the Bones and Joints. During his residence in 
Easton, after his departure from Philadelphia, he began, but did not 
complete, a work on descriptive anatomy. One of the chief features 
of this work was the change in nomenclature of anatomy from the 
Latin into English. His studies and investigations of morbid 10 
anatomy in connection with the duties of the chair of Pathological 
Anatomy in the Cincinnati College, gave him the knowledge which 
enabled him to compose his work entitled Elements of Pathological 
Anatomy, which was issued in 1839, in two large volumes. In 
1845, a second edition was published in one volume of eight hundred 
and twenty-two pages; and in 1857 the third and last edition 
appeared, revised and enhanced in value by the addition of material 
obtained through the more extended investigations into minute 
anatomy accomplished by the use of the microscope. In this portion 
of the work he received valuable assistance from Dr. J. M. DaCosta. 
In estimating the value of this, one of the most important contribu- 
tions to science from the pen of Dr. Gross, we must recall the 
comparative meagre opportunities for the investigation of morbid 
anatomy enjoyed by him at the time of the commencement of his 
work. How great the contrast between the laboratory of the worker 
in this country and abroad in that day and of the present time. 
Rokitansky, the distinguished pathologist and founder of the Austrian 
morbid anatomy school, had placed at his disposal an immense fund 
of materials reserved almost entirely for the elaboration of his great 
work on pathological anatomy, which was given to the world between 
the years 1842 and 1846, the number of bodies examined by him 
summing up at that time nearly thirty thousand. Dr. Gross could 
avail himself only of such post-mortem examinations as could be 
obtained through the kindness of his professional friends and such as 
the anatomical room furnished, in elaborating this the pioneer work 
on pathological anatomy in this country. 
On his return from New York to Louisville, in 1851, Dr. Gross 
placed in the hands of his publishers in Philadelphia his Practical 
Treatise on the Diseases, Injuries, and Malformations of the 
Urinary Bladder, the Prostate Gland, and the Urethra. The 
materials of which the work consisted, as stated in the preface, had 
been accumulating for a long time, and he took advantage of the 1 1 
leisure afforded during his stay in New York to arrange them for 
publication. He was induced to write this work by the absence of 
any systematic treatise in the English language upon the maladies 
of the structures in question, the monographs of Sir Benjamin Brodie 
and Mr. Coulsen being very unsatisfactory in character and extent. 
A second edition was issued in 1855, and a third in 18T6, under 
the editorship of Dr. S. W. Gross, who, by careful revision and the 
introduction of new material, brought the work fully up to the state 
of the science at that time. 
In 1854, Dr. Gross published his Practical Treatise on Foreign 
Bodies in the Air-passages, an octavo volume of four hundred and 
sixty-eight pages. This work was based upon the full reports of two 
hundred cases, and at the time of its publication possessed the great 
advantage of being the first systematic treatise upon the subject. As 
stated by Dr. Morrell Mackenzie, in his work published thirty years 
later, the works subsequently published by Bourdillat and Kiihn 
“only confirm the conclusions previously arrived at by Gross.” 
Soon after Dr. Gross’s arrival in Philadelphia, in 1856, he re- 
commenced work upon his System of Surgery, the first edition of 
which was issued in 1859, in two large octavo volumes of twenty- 
three hundred and sixty pages. Succeeding editions were issued 
until the sixth and last, which came from the press in 1882. In the 
preface to the first edition he states the object of the work “that of 
furnishing a systematic and comprehensive treatise on the science 
and practice of surgery, considered in the broadest sense.’’ Although 
presented as a formal and systematic treatise, it was founded upon 
the course of lectures delivered by him during the twenty years past 
in the University of Louisville, and more recently in Jefferson 
Medical College. During that period he had been unceasingly 
devoted to the duties of an arduous practice, both public and private, 
to the study of the great masters of the art and science of medicine 
and surgery, and to the composition of various monographs upon a 12 
number of subjects discussed in his work. If, upon certain points of 
doctrine, he was obliged to differ from colaborers of acknowledged 
authority and of the highest professional eminence, it was because he 
found it impossible to do otherwise. As Luther said, at the diet of 
Worms, “ Ilier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders.” In the composi- 
tion of a work so extensive, no author could possibly rely entirely 
upon his own resources, and he therefore made free use, whenever it 
was necessary, of the labors of his contemporaries. In the last 
edition he presents the results of over fifty years’ experience as teacher 
and practitioner, and from this vantage-ground reviews the great 
advance made in the science and art of surgery—more especially 
during the past fifteen years, a brief but prolific period of the world’s 
history—the brilliant advances in abdominal and pelvic surgery, the 
wonderful results achieved by antiseptic methods of wound-treatment, 
the achievements of specialism, “ which, with its methods and instru- 
ments of research, has penetrated the innermost recesses of the human 
body, and achieved, in a comparatively brief period, triumphs which 
general surgery could not have achieved in half a century, if, indeed, 
ever.” He recognizes among the changes which fifty years have 
wrought, that to-day “ the world abounds in great surgeons, men 
accomplished in science and skilled in the art of healing, capable of 
interpreting the secrets of pathological processes, of diagnosticating 
disease, and of performing with ability and readiness all the great 
operations formerly the province of a favored few.” These were his 
reflections in sending forth to the world the last edition of his great 
work—the embodiment of his life’s labors. 
In addition to the treatises and text-books enumerated above, Dr. 
Gross, in 1861, wrote a brief Manual of Military Surgery, which 
was composed in nine days, and published in two weeks from the 
time of its inception. In conjunction with Dr. T. G. Richardson, 
lie established the Louisville Medical Review, in 1856, and on their 
removal to Philadelphia continued its publication under the title of 13 
the North American Medico-Chirurgical Review, which survived 
until the outbreak of the civil war. He made numerous contribu- 
tions upon various topics to the medical periodicals of the day, and 
faithfully performed his duty in reading papers before the local, 
State, and National associations of which he was a member. His 
dast contributions of this character were composed a few weeks before 
his death, and were read, one on “Wounds of the Intestines,” before 
the American Surgical Association, while he lay upon his deathbed, 
and one before the American Medical Association, on “ Lacerations 
of the Female Sexual Organs consequent upon Parturition, their 
Causes and their Prevention,” two days after he expired. 
The composition of memoirs and biographical sketches was a 
favorite task with him, and of these he prepared a number. It was 
a labor of love with him to record the lifework of a friend, and he 
esteemed it an act of justice to establish, in a record of their work, 
the claims of all who had labored to advance the welfare and interests 
of their profession. 
In this brief review of the literary productions of Dr. Gross, we 
can appreciate the vast amount of labor expended in their execution 
—labor performed in hours taken from those belonging rightfully to 
repose, or in the intervals of rest from the exacting duties of his 
profession. His methods of labor were so exact and systematic, that 
every moment of time was utilized. lie wrote with facility, always 
making himself master of a subject before he transcribed his thoughts 
to paper. Clearness of expression, rather than elegance of diction, 
characterized his style of writing. No doubtful meaning or obscurity 
of thought impaired his sentences. 
Dr. Gross’s work as an original investigator included, among other 
experiments, those made by him during his residence in Easton, to 
determine the temperature of the venous blood ; also upon excretion, 
in order to ascertain the rapidity with which certain articles, when 
ingested, passed into the blood, and were eliminated by the kidneys. 14 
He also tested, by experiment, the truth of Gendrin's observations 
with regard to the inoculation of an inferior animal with the virus 
of smallpox, disproving the statement that the disease could be 
thus communicated. In 1835 he published the results of his in- 
vestigations upon the temperature of the blood in the Western 
Medical Cazette. 
The most elaborate experiments conducted by him were those to 
determine the nature and treatment of wounds of the intestines, 
begun in 1841, and continued for two years. The results of his 
labors were published finally in an octavo volume of two hundred 
and twenty pages, illustrated by wood-cuts, entitled an Experi- 
mental and Critical Inquiry into the Nature and Treatment of 
Wounds of the Intestines. 
Dr. Gross began his work as a public teacher in the Medical 
College of Ohio, in connection with his duties as Demonstrator 
of Anatomy. The Chair of Pathological Anatomy, to which he 
succeeded in the Cincinnati College, afforded him a wider field for 
the display of his powers, and became a school of preparation for 
the successful performance of the very important duties imposed 
upon him as occupant of the Chair of Surgery in the University of 
Louisville. The sixteen years devoted to the preparation and 
delivery of a systematic course of lectures upon surgery, founded 
upon careful study and the experience derived from an extensive and 
varied practice, contributed largely to bis reputation as an able 
teacher of that branch, and rendered his name prominent throughout 
the country, so that on the occurrence of the vacancy in the Chair 
of Surgery in Jefferson Medical College in 1856, he was chosen to 
fill it. In 1882 he resigned his position, thus terminating his career 
as a public teacher after forty-nine years of continuous service. 
In performing his duties as a teacher, Dr. Gross always felt the 
grave responsibility which rested upon him. He never entered 
the lecture-room without due preparation, no matter how familiar he 15 
was with the subject which he proposed to discuss. The first lecture 
of the session was always one which he gave with more or less 
embarrassment. He described the sensation experienced by him as 
that of timidity, which he was never able to overcome. The subject 
matter of this lecture related to the duties and responsibilities which 
belonged to him as teacher and to the class as students. Friendly 
advice was given as to the care of health under the changed condi- 
tions of life which attended necessarily their entrance upon the 
college course. The cultivation of systematic methods of study and 
work was inculcated. In the lecture-room, order and decorum would 
be exacted. Punctuality, “the politeness of kings,” would be 
strictly observed by him and expected from them. Having thus 
established the most friendly relations with the class, he passed on 
through the course, taking up in order the various topics of his 
branch and expounding them in the most effective manner. He 
possessed in marked degree the power of imparting knowledge, his 
thoughts were expressed in clear and forcible language, and he 
inspired the class with the same enthusiasm which he himself felt in 
his subject. His teachings made a strong impression upon the 
College, giving it a reputation throughout the land as a surgical 
school of the first standing, and each year there went from its 
halls many of the class who made this branch of medicine their 
special study and practice. 
In his clinical lectures lie illustrated the subjects taught didacti- 
cally as far as possible. Patients were not brought before the class 
for the exhibition only of manual dexterity in performing operations. 
A concise history of each case was presented, including an exposition 
more or less full of the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and 
treatment. In his operations he never sacrificed care in the proce- 
dure to brilliancy of manipulation. In difficult cases his plan of 
operation wTas carefully prepared in advance, and he proceeded to its 
execution with decision and courage, ready for any emergency which 16 
might happen in its performance. His thorough knowledge of 
anatomy made the field of operation a “terra cognita ” to him. 
Errors in diagnosis were rare with him. Careful examination fortified 
by extensive experience gave him knowledge of the distinguishing 
characteristics of a wide range of morbid conditions. The explor- 
ing needle was a well-used instrument in his operating case. With 
the exception of some of the more recent operations performed upon 
organs of the abdominal cavity, he performed all of those included 
in the domain of surgery. Mishaps upon the operating table 
occurred to him as to other surgeons of extended practice. He was 
prepared to meet them when they came. In one, which came under 
the observation of the writer of these lines, death took place during 
the administration of the anaesthetic agent (chloroform), and his 
action in assuming the entire responsibility of the accident gave 
illustration of his noble character. 
Dr. Gross was not only a great surgeon, but he was a good phy- 
sician ; he was very earnest in his declaration that the surgeon 
should have a thorough knowledge of general medicine. The after- 
treatment of the patient was to him as important as the performance 
of the operation. 
He was a man of strong convictions, and while he adhered tena- 
ciously to his opinions, he was always ready to accept that which he 
found, after careful examination, to be entitled to acceptance. He 
did not adopt new things hastily, or because they were new. The 
pronounced manner in which he speaks of antiseptic surgery and 
specialism, in the last edition of his System of Surgery, shows what 
changes had been wrought in his views upon these subjects. He 
possessed in an eminent degree what may be called a progressive 
conservatism, the outcome of his early training impressed by the 
great progress of the day. His viewTs upon medical teaching were 
such as it is natural should be held by one whose life had been 
devoted to the didactic methods of instruction. While he did not 17 
advocate the system of advanced education more recently established 
in some of the medical schools of the country, he was most fully 
impressed with the inestimable value of preliminary education. He 
felt that some systems of instruction were overweighted and cumber- 
some ; too much importance and too much time being devoted 
to certain topics to the exclusion of others. In systematic, careful, 
and honest instruction he always believed, as he was, in himself, its 
greatest exponent. 
Dr. Gross always took a deep interest in the medical societies of 
which he was a member, and with a few exceptions received at the 
hands of the members the highest honors. He was founder of a 
number of societies: among them the Pathological Society of this 
city, the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, and the American 
Surgical Association. He was an honorary member of many native 
and foreign societies as well. 
His distinguished attainments in the science of medicine brought 
to him the high honors of some of the most renowned institutions of 
learning of the world, including the University of Oxford, which, in 
1872, conferred upon him the degree of D.C.L. The degree of 
LL.D. he received from the Jefferson College of Canonsburg, Pa., 
in 1861; the University of Cambridge, in 1880; the Universities 
of Edinburgh and of Pennsylvania, in absentia, in 1884. 
Of the distinguishing traits of character possessed by Dr. Gross, 
none was more marked than the great interest he took in the younger 
members of the profession and in those who had been associated with 
him as student or assistant. He took great pride in their success, 
and was always ready to extend the helping hand in the time of 
their trials. They knew that they had in him a kind friend and a 
wise counsellor. 
Dr. Gross enjoyed in the fullest manner the social pleasures of 
life. His house was the centre of true hospitality, and about his 
table have been gathered the most distinguished persons of all pro- 18 
fessions and countries. No rigid formalities restricted the enjoyment 
of these occasions—all Avere made to feel thoroughly at home. 
Those Avho Avere honored with his intimate friendship, and Avho 
Avere received within the circle of his home-life, saAV in the great 
surgeon the devoted husband, the kind and indulgent parent, the 
affectionate friend. 
During Dr. Gross’s residence in the West, he suffered from con- 
ditions which were caused by exposure to the malarial influences of 
that climate. Still, by careful attention, he maintained his health, 
and it was indeed rare that during his whole service as a teacher he 
missed a lecture on account of sickness. Ilis last illness Avas fortu- 
nately not prolonged, although his sufferings at times were very 
painful. On May 6, 1884, he died, in the 78th year of his age, 
his last moments being comforted by the presence of all of the 
devoted members of his family. In accordance with his wishes, his 
body was cremated, and the ashes were deposited in the family vault 
at Woodlands, Avhere rested the remains of his Avife. 
I have not attempted, Mr. President, to pronounce a eulogy upon 
the life and character of Dr. Gross. The record of the work of his 
life is in itself the highest eulogy which can be pronounced. He 
has by his work so impressed his name upon the pages of the history 
of his profession in the day in which he lived, that it will endure 
throughout all time. 
Truly could lie say, 
“NON OMNIS MORIAR.”