A DISCOURSE 
COMMEMORATIVE OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
OP 
HUGH L. HODGE, M.D., LL.D., 
LATE EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS AND DISEASES 
OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN 
IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
BY 
R. A. F. PENROSE, M.D., 
PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS AND DISEASES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 
DELIVERED OCTOBER 6th, 1873, 
BEFORE THE 
TRUSTEES, PROFESSORS, AND STUDENTS OF TIIE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET. 
1873. A DISCOURSE 
COMMEMORATIVE OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
OF 
HUGH L. HODGE, M.D., LL.D., 
LATE EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS AND DISEASES 
OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN 
IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
BY 
R. A./F. PENROSE, M.D., 
PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS ytND DISEASES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 
DELIVERED OCTOBER 6th, 1S73, 
BEFORE THE 
TRUSTEES, PROFESSORS, AND STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET 
1873. CORRESPONDENCE. 
At a meeting of the Medical Class of the University of Pennsylvania, held Oct. 
10th, 1873, for the purpose of requesting a copy of Prof. Penrose’s Introductory 
Lecture, Mr. John Ivison, of Philadelphia, was called to the Chair, and Mr. M. 
Frank Kirkbride, of Philadelphia, appointed Secretary. 
On motion it was 
Resolved, That a committee consisting of a representative from each State and 
country be appointed to carry out the intention of the Class. 
University of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia, Oct. 13th, 1873. 
Dear Sir: The undersigned, a special committee, to whom the duty has been 
delegated of requesting for publication, a copy of your able and eloquent eulogy 
upon the life and character of our late lamented Professor, Hugh L Hodge, while 
communicating the wish of the Class, desire at the same time to add our personal 
solicitation that you will accede to the request. A compliance with the wish ex- 
pressed through us will be not only a manifestation of your kindness to us but a 
gratification to the relatives and friends of him whose merits have been commemo- 
rated by you. 
With high esteem we remain 
your obedient servants, 
James T. Priestley, Pennsylvania. 
H. Turner Bass, North Carolina. 
Dan’l M. Guiteras, Cuba. 
Geo. L. Eyster, Nebraska. 
Wm. McD. Mastin, Alabama. 
Dr. Penrose. 
1331 Spruce Street, 
Philadelphia, Oct. 20th, 1873. 
Gentlemen: The Introductory Address which the Class, through you, has re- 
quested for publication, was written not only to illustrate the works and virtues of 
our lamented professor, but also that the instructive and noble lessons they conveyed 
might not be lost to us. I place the Lecture, therefore, with much pleasure at your 
disposal. Accept for yourselves as well as for each member of the Class, my kindest 
wishes, and believe me Your obedient servant, 
R. A F. PENROSE. 
To Messrs. Jas. T. Priestley, II. Turner Bass, Dan’l M Guiteras, Geo. L. 
Eyster, Wm. McD. Mastin. 
Committee on Publication. 
James T Priestley, Pennsylvania. 
H. Turner Bass, North Carolina. 
Granville E. Dickinson, Maryland. 
Wm. McD. Mastin, Alabama. 
Guilherme Ellis, Brazil. 
Dan’l M. Guiteras, Cuba. 
Wm. Gamble, Connecticut. 
Thos. H. Cooper, Delaware. 
Chas. E. Matteson, Illinois. 
Thos. W. Moorhead, Indiana. 
Austin L. Fullenwider, Iowa. 
Alex. M. Stout, Kentucky. 
Jas. C. Merrill, Massachusetts. 
V. Gonzales Salinas, Mexico. 
Abr. A. McDonald, Minnesota. 
Edwin D. Farrow, Missouri. 
M. FRANK KIRK BRIDE, 
Secretary 
Geo. Hayward Coburn, New Brunswick. 
Albion D. Weeks, Maine. 
Frank W. Stebalts, Austria. 
A. Eldribge Carpenter, New Jersey. 
Geo. L. Eyster, Nebraska. 
Chas E. McKelvey, New York. 
John H. Morrison, Ohio. 
R. Wilmot Deaver, Pennsylvania. 
Joel G. Justin, Rhode Island. 
Robt. Pillow, Tennessee. 
Jos H McDaniel, Texas. 
Chas. B. Rust, Jr , Virginia. 
Fred. T. Able, Philadelphia. 
Wm. Barton Hopkins, Philadelphia. 
Lion Revork Gulisyan, Turkeys in Asia. 
Richard J. Metcalfe, Nova Scotia. 
JOHN IV ISON, 
Chairman. Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., LL.I)., Emeritus Professor of Obstet- 
rics and Diseases of Women and Children in the University of 
Pennsylvania, died at his late residence, 901 Walnut Street, 
Philadelphia, on Wednesday morning, February’ 26th, 1873, at 
half past one o’clock. 
His funeral took place from the Second PresbyTerian Church, 
southeast corner of Twenty-first and Walnut Streets, on Satur- 
day, March 1st, at one o’clock, the interment being at Laurel Hill. 
Special meetings of the various societies and associations with 
which he had been connected were held, and resolutions of con- 
dolence, sympathy, and eulogy were passed. 
At a special meeting of the Medical Faculty of the University 
of Pennsylvania, held on February 28th, 1873, the following reso- 
lutions were adopted:— 
Resolved, That the Faculty have heard with sincere sorrow of the death 
of one who stood in the relation either of preceptor or of colleague to all 
the members of this body, and that it is due to his memory to express their 
high appreciation of his character as a man, and of his distinction as a 
professor. 
That the pure and elevated principles of Dr. Hodge were illustrated in 
a life devoted to the service of his fellow men, and to the promotion of all 
efforts to benefit and ennoble humanity, while liis disinterested, gentle, and 
humane prosecution of his profession placed him as an example before his 
brethren, and endeared him to the community in which he dwelt, as well 
as to those who sought his counsel from abroad. 
That his efficient services as a teacher of his art, placed him in the front 4 
rank of tlie eminent men wlio have shed lustre on the Medical Department 
of the University of Pennsylvania. 
That, by his lectures and publications, he has contributed to the advance- 
ment and improvement of his special branch of medicine, and aided in the 
dissemination of sound doctrine in medical science, and although for many 
years retired from the more arduous duties of his profession, his influence 
has been deeply felt and cordially acknowledged. 
That the Faculty, gratefully remembering the many manifestations of 
his personal kindness and interest, sincerely condole with the family of Dr. 
Hodge in their bereavement, and feel that consolation for the loss sustained 
by them and by ourselves is found in the belief of his eternal gain. 
R. E. ROGERS, M.D., 
Dean of tlie Medical Faculty. 
At a subsequent meeting of the Medical Faculty it was Re- 
solved, that the Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women 
and Children, Dr. Penrose, be requested to prepare an address 
on “ The Life and Character of Dr. Hodge,” to be given as the 
Introductory Lecture at the opening of the school in October 
next. A DISCOURSE. 
A year ago, to-day, the Medical Class of the University 
of Pennsylvania assembled to listen to the Introductory lec- 
ture delivered by my colleague, Professor Carson, commem- 
orative of the life and character of Dr. Samuel Jackson, our 
late professor of the Institutes of Medicine. There sat with us, 
at that time, Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, who, as professor, and pro- 
fessor emeritus, for more than a third of a century, had been 
a tower of strength to our school; who had been a pupil or 
a colleague of those great men whose names and works we 
prize as part of our richest inheritance; his name had 
become a household word throughout the land; his earnest 
devotion to his profession; his unselfish sacrificings to 
his patients; his strong faith, munificent liberality and 
beautiful life had gained for him the love and respect of all 
men. Alas! gentlemen, his place to-day is vacant. Our be- 
loved professor is dead, and I have been appointed, by the 
medical faculty, to deliver this introductory lecture, com- 
memorative of his life and character. 
Dr. Hodge was born in Philadelphia, on June 27th, 1796, at 
his father’s house in Water Street. At that day Philadelphia 
was comparatively a small place, numbering about 50,000 
inhabitants, and Water Street, now occupied solely for com- 
mercial purposes, then was considered desirable for residences 
—indeed, the whole city was built along the Delaware Eiver 
front, and farm-houses and farms were to be found east of 
Broad Street. 
Dr. Hodge’s grandfather was Andrew Hodge, who emi- 
grated to this country in 1730, and became a successful mer- 
chant of Philadelphia. Andrew Hodge came of that Scotch- 6 
Irish Presbyterian stock that contributed so large a portion of 
the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and whieli has given so many 
great and good men to our country. This Scotoh-Irish Pres- 
byterian stock is so peculiar, and its influence on the earlier 
development of this country so marked, that it deserves more 
than mere passing notice. When we consider “that moral 
and intellectual traits follow down a race from father to son, 
reappearing often in remote descendants exactly as peculiari- 
ties of feature or disease do,” we can readily perceive the vast 
influence of hereditary antecedents. This race came from 
the Saxon population of the south of Scotland and the north 
of Ireland. In reflecting on its origin, it would seem as if 
Providence had subjected it, for generations, to stern treat- 
ment and severe discipline, in order that those traits of cha- 
racter, which are so strongly marked in the stock, might be 
developed to the full measure of vigor and strength neces- 
sary for the accomplishment of the great work for which it 
was designed. 
Great races and great men do not come by accident. They 
are the results of antecedent conditions and circumstances 
reaching often back for centuries. To adopt a style of ex- 
pression, which would have well pleased the subject of this 
notice, we may say that Providence does not, as a rule, appear 
to work by miracles, but by regular, fixed, well-established 
physical laws; and one of these physical laws, now univer- 
sally recognized, is that so admirably and scientifically enun- 
ciated and illustrated by Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace, called 
usually the “Law of Natural Selection,” or the “Law of the 
Survival of the Fittest;” that “ wise and beneficent law by 
which the improvement and perfection of the human race 
alone can be secured; that law in consequence of which the 
best specimens of a species survive, and become the progeni- 
tors of generations more perfect than those preceding them, 
thus tending to propagate an ever-improving and perfecting 
type of humanity.” I have said that this great principle con- 
trolling the development of our race, has been enunciated 
and illustrated by Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace, but the law 
is no discovery of theirs; it was first proclaimed by the inspired 
pen of the great Jewish lawgiver, who frequently declares, in 7 
the most solemn and emphatic manner, the righteous and 
beneficent law of the survival of the fittest; a law which 
visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 
third and fourth generation, and shows mercy unto thousands 
that love God and keep his commandments. 
The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, for generations, had been 
subjected to hardships, persecutions, and trials which had 
tended to secure in their descendants those physical and moral 
qualities that, pre-eminently, fitted them to be among the best 
of those hardy pioneers, who flung themselves, in successive 
waves of immigration, into the unexplored wildernesses of the 
North American continent. The striking qualities of this race 
were great powers of physical indurance, with corresponding 
energy and firmness of purpose; a clear and vigorous intel- 
lect; a faith as fixed as the rocks of that land from whence 
it came, and an all-pervading religious spirit, not always at- 
tractive or beautiful (how could it be, when the agent which 
had made it so strong, was bitter, unrelenting persecution ?); 
but an all-pervading religious spirit, precisely what seemed 
to be required, to fit the race for the stern work that an All- 
Wise Providenee, for many generations, had been preparing 
it. Looking back for several hundred years, we can see (I 
speak with all reverence) how the Most High seems to have 
prepared, through the formative influence of the law of natu- 
ral selection, the earlier settlers of our country; the Puri- 
tans, the Huguenots, the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the 
Quakers, and the Roman Catholics under Lord Baltimore. 
Trial and persecutions were the sifting of Providence. None 
but the vigorous, none but the earnest, none but the strong 
of faith, none but the pure of purpose came in those early 
days. But these all were the chosen seed—the fit progeni- 
tors of the men who, one hundred years ago, founded our 
government. 
Our friend, Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, came then of a vigorous 
and a godly race ; his father, Hugh Hodge, a son of Andrew 
Hodge, preferring science to the commercial pursuits of his 
parent, studied medicine, and served as a surgeon in the Con- 
tinental army during the War for Independence. After peace 
was declared, Dr. Hugh Hodge practised his profession in 8 
Philadelphia; he married Maria Blanchard, of Boston, a 
descendant of the French Huguenots, a woman who after- 
wards proved herself worthy of her ancestral antecedents. 
In the dreadful epidemics of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 
1793 and 1795, Dr. Hugh Hodge was distinguished for his 
heroism, and like so many other noble men in our profession, 
he fell a victim to his philanthropy, and died in 1798, leaving 
a widow and two sons; one of these sons is Professor Charles 
Hodge, of the Theological Seminary of Princeton; the other' 
was our Professor, Dr. Hugh L. Hodge. 
Medical men, as a class, are not rich, but the medical men 
of ’93 and ’95 were poor—their sublime self devotion did not 
receive, neither did it seek, gold as its reward. Poverty is 
not, however, always an evil, and, if honorable, is usually the 
best inheritance a father can leave his sons. The doctor of 
the American Revolution, the martyr of the yellow fever 
epidemics, left his children but little of this world’s goods, 
and yet he left them an inheritance more precious than untold 
thousands. Firm in faith, he left them to the mercies of that 
God he had served, and the histories of his two sons show 
how literally true the Mosaic declaration of the righteous 
law of natural selection is, how the best and noblest inheri- 
tance a young man can have, is an honorable descent from 
a race of good and true men. 
I may be addressing some young men who are poor, some, 
perhaps, who have been compelled to practise the strictest 
self-denial to secure the means necessary to enable them to 
pursue their professional studies. To such, let me repeat 
the remark I have made, that honorable poverty is not an 
evil, but usually is a great blessing to every young man. 
When we study the lives of great men, we almost invariably 
find that, no matter how much they may have differed in 
other respects, yet they almost all began life poor; in other 
words, with them all, poverty was that essential school in 
which were acquired, or were strengthened, those qualities 
without which they could not have become great. To be a poor 
young man, then, means to be a young man to whom a kind 
Providence gives the noble opportunity of becoming great. 
Such was the school, such the moral and intellectual gym- 9 
nasium that blessed the infancy and youth of our professor, 
and which, undoubtedly, were the means that made him what 
he was. His ancestral qualities, those of the Scotch-Irish 
Presbyterian and the Huguenot, hardened and strengthened 
by the wholesome discipline of poverty, moulded and directed 
by the tender care of a mother, whose only object in life was 
the education and moral development of her sons, and whose 
earliest teaching to these young athletes she was rearing, was 
the sublime answer to the first question of their dead father’s 
confession of faith, that the “chief end of man is to glorify 
God.” 
At the age of fourteen, Hugh L. Hodge entered, as a 
Sophomore, Nassau Hall, Princeton, and graduated at the 
head of his class two years later. Beginning the study of 
medicine immediately, he became the private pupil of Dr. 
Caspar Wistar, and matriculated at the medical department 
of the University of Pennsylvania. He received the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine in 1818. Anxious to perfect himself 
in his profession, his great desire was to go to Europe, 
that he might continue his studies, but his means were not 
sufficient to accomplish his cherished wish. The young doc- 
tor, however, had too much firmness of will and fixedness 
of purpose to allow himself to be balked by such a trifle (to 
strong and earnest men) as poverty ; he belonged to that 
favored class who possess the power of compelling fortune 
to do their bidding. Not having the money, he did not su- 
pinely wait, lamenting his hard lot that he was not among 
the favored ones of this earth, neither did he crave nor accept 
assistance from his rich friends, nor indulge in rash specula- 
tions, as is so much the custom in our day, in hope that some 
lucky “Flyer” might secure him the money he required. 
No, not having the money, he set about getting it in the 
good old-fashioned way of working for it, and honestly and 
slowly earning it. And this, let me remark, is the only sort 
of money that is worth possessing; it is that sort of money 
that sticks to a man, the kind that, like a domestic animal, 
comes into a man’s house and becomes a willing member of 
his family. Money, acquired in any other way, is too apt to 
be like a wild and untamable animal, that cannot be domes- 10 
ticated; it is too apt to be that “riches that takes to itself 
wings and flies away.” 
Pursuing his manly purpose of conquering fortune, Dr. 
Hodge now sought and secured the position of surgeon on 
a vessel about to sail for India, hoping, by the ventures 
of the voyage, to realize enough money to enable him, on 
his return, to visit Europe, and there continue his profes- 
sional studies. He sailed a few months after graduating, 
and returned safely in 1820. The voyage did not prove 
a commercial success, and our young doctor failed to bring 
back with him the means necessary to enable him to carry 
out his projected plan. His labor, however, was not lost; 
honest, manly, purposeful labor, even though it do not secure 
the object hoped for, is never lost. The law of the preserva- 
tion and conversion of forces appears to be as absolute in 
morals as in physics. The young doctor came home light 
in pocket, but rich in a most varied and invaluable experi- 
ence of men and things, an experience he never could have 
secured had he remained at home and hoped for success, 
instead of working hard to obtain it. 
One of the most valuable of these experiences was that 
acquired by the study of the diseases of India, and more 
particularly by the study of Asiatic cholera, a disease at 
that time, viz. 1818, unknown both in Europe and America. 
Dr. Hodge saw and treated many cases of cholera, and thus 
obtained a knowledge of its symptoms and treatment which 
proved of inestimable value in the terrible cholera epidemic 
of 1832. During this fearful visitation, he was most active 
in the cholera hospitals, and was very successful in the plan 
of treatment he instituted. In commemoration of his faithful 
services, after the disappearance of the disease, the City pre- 
sented him a silver pitcher and a vote of thanks. 
On his return from India in 1820, Dr. Hodge, abandoning 
all hope of European study, began at once the practice of his 
profession in Philadelphia. He was elected about this time 
one of the physicians to the Southern Dispensary, and subse- 
quently to the Philadelphia Dispensary. A year later, in 
1821, he commenced his career as a teacher of medicine by 11 
taking charge of Dr. Horner’s anatomical class while Dr. 
Horner visited Europe. This anatomical training most prob- 
ably served to direct his attention more particularly to surgery, 
a branch for which he soon exhibited decided preference, and 
two years after, in 1823, he was elected a lecturer on the 
Principles of Surgery in the Association, which a few years 
later became the Medical Institute, lecturing in connection 
with Drs. Chapman, Dewees, Horner, Bell, Mitchell, Jackson, 
and T. Harris. About this time too he was appointed one of 
the Physicians to the Philadelphia Almshouse. 
There are epochs in every man’s history which determine 
his whole future ; and the critical epochs in the life of Hr. 
Hodge were his marriage and his election as a Professor in 
the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. 
The most solemn and important event in the life of every 
man who marries, is his marriage ; the assumption of this 
sacred relation, with its grave and lifelong duties and re- 
sponsibilities, is the one step on which will hang, in most 
cases, the whole future happiness of the individual. If this 
step be taken with wisdom and prudence, and with a due 
appreciation of all its weighty entailments, the results, other 
things being equal, almost necessarily will be the greatly 
increased happiness of the individual. If, however, the step 
be taken hastily, thoughtlessly, and in levity, the results 
almost necessarily will be the unhappiness, and often the 
destruction of both parties. 
We could scarcely expect a man of the character and ante- 
cedents of our friend, to marry without serious consideration 
of all the solemn consequences of his act; he did not rashly 
and hastily, as so many young men do, marry before reach- 
ing the age of complete manhood, and before he had secured 
such a position in his profession as justified him in assuming 
not only the responsibilities and duties of married life, but 
also the greatly increased expenditures inevitable upon it. 
At the age of thirty-two years, after having been established in 
a rapidly increasing practice for several years, on November 
12th, 1828, he married Margaret E. Aspinwall, a daughter of 
John Aspinwall, a well-known merchant of New York, and 
a granddaughter of Joseph Howland, of the same city, a de- scendant of John Howland, one of the May Flower pilgrims. 
The consequences of a step so wisely and prudently taken 
were most fortunate and happy. It would not be seemly 
here, however, to discuss the relations of domestic life ; seven 
sons were born of this union, five of whom survive their 
father. Mrs. Hodge died several years before her husband. 
About the time of, and shortly after his marriage, certain 
circumstances happened which entirely changed the direction 
of his efforts, and the character of his practice. These cir- 
cumstances were the failing health and advanced age of the 
two prominent obstetricians of Philadelphia, Dr. Thomas C. 
James, Professor of Obstetrics and of Diseases of Women and 
Children in the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Wm. P. 
Dewees. At the solicitation of these two gentlemen, he 
abandoned the specialty of surgery, to which he had for some 
years devoted himself, and began to apply himself to the 
practice and teaching of obstetrics. In consequence of this 
change in his plans of professional effort, when Dr. Dewees 
resigned the lectureship of Obstetrics in the Medical Insti- 
tute, Dr. Hodge retired from his lectureship on Surgery, and 
was given that of Obstetrics; and, about the same time, and 
in furtherance of the same views, he was elected one of the 
Physicians to the Lying-in Department of the Pennsylvania 
Hospital. 
As I have already remarked, the two great epochs in the 
life of our friend were his marriage, and his election to the 
Chair of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children 
in the University of Pennsylvania. This latter event oc- 
curred in November, 1835, and it may not be uninteresting, 
here, to recall some circumstances in the history of the chair 
to which he was now elevated. In 1810, after a long and 
animated contest, in which Dr. Dewees and Dr. Nathaniel 
Chapman were his most active opponents, Dr. Thomas C. 
James was elected Professor of Obstetrics and of Diseases 
of Women and Children in the University of Pennsylvania. 
In 1834, Dr. James resigned his chair, and Dr. Wm. P. 
Dewees, who had assisted him for nine years, was appointed 
his successor. Dr. Dewees had aspired to this position for a 
quarter of a century, but was destined to hold it for a very 13 
short time—an apoplectic attack in 1834 greatly weakened 
his powers. In the autumn of 1835, he made an attempt to 
deliver his course of lectures, but found himself unable to 
continue, and he suddenly resigned his professorship on the 
10th of November, 1835. The contest for the vacant chair 
was very close and exciting, it was decided, however, in favor 
of our friend, and Dr. Hugh L. Hodge was elected the pro- 
fessor. 
At this crisis in his affairs, he was thirty-nine years of 
age—he had practised his profession for fifteen years, and 
had taught it for fourteen years; in other words, he was 
a fully matured man, thoroughly prepared, by study and 
experience, for the responsible and elevated position in which 
he had been placed, as well as peculiarly fitted for it 
by his antecedents and character. He entered now on a 
career of honor and usefulness, in which he was destined to 
continue for considerably over the third of a century. The 
classes of young men to which he lectured were very large, 
and were drawn from all parts of the United States, and soon 
his reputation as a teacher and as a practitioner became na- 
tional. Patients came to him in great numbers from distant 
places, and these, when added to a very extensive home 
practice, kept him constantly occupied. Year by year this 
professional pressure increased, until at last he was obliged 
to relinquish, almost absolutely, his obstetrical practice, and 
to devote himself exclusively to the treatment of the diseases 
of females. In the management of these diseases his success 
was very great—his cardinal principle was, that the chief 
cause, not the sole cause, but the chief cause of the so-called 
diseases peculiar to women, was due to, I quote his own 
words, “ a morbid irritation of the nerves of the parts, with 
or without congestion, but usually with no inflammation,” 
that the cause of this morbid irritation, in most cases, was 
displacement of the uterus and its appendages, and that its 
rational treatment consisted in obviating the action of this 
cause by the use of mechanical supports, called pessaries. 
Dr. Dewees, Dr. Hodge’s predecessor, had done much good, 
both by his teachings and writings, in directing the attention 
of the medical profession to the influence of uterine displace- 14 
merits in causing female diseases. Dewees also had made 
great improvements in the form and material of these instru- 
ments, recommending glass and metal instead of the perish- 
able substances then resorted to, as wood and cork. Indeed, 
the Dewees concavo-convex glass pessary is used even to 
this day, though now the glass is substituted by hard rubber, 
as a safer and better material. 
A friend has furnished me with some very interesting 
facts in connection with the mechanical treatment of female 
disease by Dr. Hodge. The case, which first attracted his 
attention to the value of mechanical support, occurred in 
1830, about the time he began to devote himself to obstetrics 
and the diseases of females. It was that of a woman, who 
had been admitted into the medical wards of the almshouse, 
supposed to be suffering from hepatic disease. This woman 
was subjected to the usual treatment for such affections, part 
of which treatment was a course of mercury; but in spite of 
everything done for her relief, she became rapidly worse. 
About this time, the resident physician who had charge of 
the patient, discovered, on making an examination, that there 
was decided retroversion of the uterus. He introduced one 
of the, then new, Dewees pessaries, and, to the astonishment 
of all, the liver complaint was cured, and the woman was 
speedily restored to health. The results of this case made a 
great impression on Dr. Hodge, and no doubt served to direct 
his attention more particularly to the teachings of Dewees, 
Gooch, and other writers of that day, who maintained the 
doctrine of distant sympathies long before the discoveries of 
Marshall Hall and later observers revealed to us the nature 
and cause of these sympathies. The lessons, taught by this 
instructive case of the almshouse patient, fell on good ground, 
and soon bore much fruit. 
His opportunities, both public and private, for observing 
female diseases at this time, were becoming very great, and 
the results of these observations served only, year by year, 
to confirm him in the views he had begun to hold, as to the 
consequences of uterine displacements and their rational treat- 
ment. 
When Dr. Hodge began, in 1830, the treatment of female 15 
diseases as a specialty, the mechanical appliances in use were- 
of the most limited character; there was no speculum, no 
uterine sound, no sponge-tent to aid in the diagnosis and 
treatment of these, in those days, necessarily, very ob- 
scure cases. Pessaries, though improved by Dewees, were 
still very imperfect in shape and arrangement. Dr. Hodge, 
for years, devoted himself to the discovery of the proper 
materials and shapes for these instruments. This investiga- 
tion required not only great intelligence, but the utmost 
patience and the most unwearied perseverance. Year by 
year he groped, as it were, in'search of these unknown quan- 
tities, viz., the size, the shapes, and the material of uterine 
supports; at last he found them, not all at once or all to- 
gether, but far apart and at long intervals, and only after a 
persistent search, the difficulties of which would have balked 
most men at the outset. He sometimes, to illustrate the 
character of this search and the nature of these difficulties, 
exhibited to his friends a number of large drawers containing 
hundreds, perhaps, thousands, of contrivances of every possi- 
ble shape and material, which he called his “collection of 
abortions;” and these were the implements he had used in 
his gropings after the sought-for unknown quantities. 
Dr. Hodge once told a friend how the idea of the lever pes- 
sary first came to him. He had been contemplating for a 
long time the subject of new shapes for pessaries, and, after 
many experiments, had found nothing satisfactory. One 
evening, while sitting alone in the room where the meetings 
of the medical faculty of the University were held, his eyes 
rested on the upright steel support by the fireplace, designed 
to hold the shovel and tongs; the shovel and tongs were 
kept in position by a steel hook, and, as he surveyed the sup- 
porting curve of this hook, the longed-for illumination came; 
the shape, apparently so paradoxical, revealed itself in the 
glowing light and flickering flame of the burning grate, and 
the Hodge lever pessary was the result. No discovery has 
ever been made in the treatment of female diseases which 
has done more good than this original conception of Dr. 
Hodge. The lever pessary is now universally recognized, 
abroad as well as in this country, as the instrument for the 16 
treatment, of most forms, of uterine displacement. Like the 
forceps of Chamberlen, it has received innumerable modifica- 
tions, none of which, however, are improvements, and the 
simple open and closed lever pessaries of Hodge must always 
remain the perfect types of the lever pessary. 
Dr. Hodge used at first, as the material for the new pessa- 
ries, very thin silver plated with gold, but, after the discovery 
of hard rubber, this material was found so perfectly adapted 
to the construction of such instruments that, save in excep- 
tional cases, it is now the only one used. At first the only 
lever pessary employed was th'e open lever, but, gradually, 
he perfected his discovery by giving the instrument its double 
curve and making it closed, and it is in this latter form that 
it is now generally used. 
The lever pessary, though an inestimable boon to suffering 
woman, is by no means the only gift of Dr. Hodge to his pro- 
fession and to humanity. The Hodge eclectic forceps is a 
most valuable instrument; this instrument does not profess 
to be an original conception as the lever pessary is, but is 
rather the result of a sagacious eclecticism, taught by long 
experience and thorough knowledge of the force and mechan- 
ism of parturition. The eclectic forceps is so well known, it 
is unnecessary I should*say of it more than that, in the great 
number of modifications which the obstetrical forceps has 
received, none are better and few as good as the Hodge modi- 
fication. 
Dr. Hodge made many other contributions to the surgery 
of his specialty ; among them, I may mention his instruments 
for embryotomy comprising his modification of Baudelocque’s 
cephalotribe, named by him “ compressores cranii,” and his 
craniotomy scissors; also, a modified forceps for extracting 
retained placenta after abortion, as well as a lever and crochet, 
in one piece, for use in abortion, and in removing certain 
forms of pessaries. 
Ho man of his generation, except, perhaps, the late Prof. 
Simpson, of Edinburgh, did so much for his special depart- 
ment of practice as our Professor; and, while we accord 
to the Edinburgh Professor all the honor due his great 
originality and his untiring efforts in the advancement of 17 
science, we still turn lovingly and admiringly to our dear 
friend, Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, and say he had not his peer. 
As a teacher of medicine, Dr. Hodge was most widely and 
favorably known. His style was characterized by great 
purity, dignity, and earnestness. His intellect was too strong, 
and his experience too great to permit him to follow, blindly, 
the theories and teachings of others, and hence his lectures 
were markedly original, and he never hesitated boldly to 
differ from doctrines, though almost universally accepted, 
when he believed them false. His relations with his classes 
were of the most pleasant character ; the students loved and 
revered him, and the old Alumni of the University will re- 
call, with tender recollections, the benign and intellectual 
countenance, the deep and manly tones of their beloved Pro- 
fessor, as he earnestly endeavored to impress upon them some 
point which he deemed of great importance. 
His teachings were of the most reliable kind, no crude 
theories or hastily formed opinions were given to the young 
men who received their knowledge from his lips. Every 
one who listened to him felt, from the first sentence they 
heard, how completely their Professor realized the great 
responsibility of his position, and how every opinion ex- 
pressed and direction given had been most carefully, and 
conscientiously reached, after years of study and experi- 
ence. His great desire seemed to be to instruct his class, not 
in what was most new, but in those things which his obser- 
vation told him were true; hence, the memories of his stu- 
dents were not crowded with ephemeral theories, supported 
by imaginary facts, but were stored with truth, which, like 
pure gold, is always treasure, and never becomes old-fash- 
ioned. 
It is now more than a quarter of a century since I, as a 
medical student, first had the great advantage of being taught 
by him. Since then, I have had much to unlearn, but I 
never had to unlearn what he taught me as true, and to 
this day, I profess myself, a believer in and an advocate of the 
views taught by Dr. Hodge twenty-five years ago. 
Dr. Hodge possessed an excellent constitution, his health 
was always extraordinarily good, and I have often heard him 18 
say, that he had not taken a dose of medicine for years, and 
that the only remedy he ever required or took was plenty of 
hot water. His uninterrupted good health, undoubtedly, was 
due to his naturally good constitution, as well as to his mode 
of life, which was strictly in keeping with the character of a 
man whose eating, drinking, and doing were always done, 
not for self-gratification, but with a conscientious regard to 
the duties and obligations of life. Hence, his personal habits 
were frugal, and he allowed himself none of those indul- 
gences which most men, especially when engaged in labori- 
ous and exacting pursuits, look upon as their right. He was 
sparing in the use of wine, and totally opposed to tobacco, 
against which he always expressed a most relentless and 
vigorous antagonism. 
But years of constant labor, grave anxieties, and weighty 
responsibilities will, at last, tell on the most perfect constitu- 
tion, and they found their expression in Dr. Hodge through 
his eyesight. His eyes had been severely taxed by his studi- 
ous habits as a youth and as a younger man, and now gradu- 
ally began to fail—the trouble appeared to be a weakness 
in the optic nerve, and one, therefore, which could not be 
relieved by surgical skill. With advancing years came 
increasing feebleness of vision, until at last he was unable 
to use his eyes for reading or writing, and was compelled to 
employ an amanuensis to conduct even his business corre- 
spondence. This infirmity finally determined him to relin- 
quish his professorial duties, and in April, 1863, he resigned 
his chair—a position which he had filled for twenty-eight 
years, with so much credit to himself and so much honor and 
advantage to this school. The Board of Trustees, on accept- 
ing his resignation, elected him the Emeritus Professor. 
When Dr. Hodge resigned his professorship, he generously 
presented to the Trustees of the University his very valuable 
museum, together with the whole of his collection of mate- 
rial used by him in illustrating bis lectures, obtained at great 
cost, and the accumulations of the twenty-eight years of his 
incumbency. In making this gift, he coupled it with the 
request that the collection should be kept distinct from the 19 
general museum of the school, and that it should always be 
under the curatorship of the Professor of Obstetrics. 
During the earlier years of his professional life, Dr. Hodge 
was so completely engrossed with the cares of practice and 
teaching, that he had no time to contribute much to the liter- 
ature of his profession. As a young man, he was one of the 
editors of the “North American Medical and Surgical Jour- 
nal,” which journal was organized and conducted by the 
members of the Kappa Lambda Association. His associate 
editors in this undertaking were Drs. Franklin Bache, Charles 
D. Meigs, B. H. Coates, and Rend La Roche, of which distin- 
guished corps, Dr. Coates is now the sole survivor. To this 
and other journals he contributed, at times, reviews and 
original articles, among which was a valuable article on 
Aneurism, which was contributed to the “American Cyclo- 
paedia of Practical Medicine and Surgery.” 
In 1860, he published his work on Diseases Peculiar to 
Women, including Displacements of the Uterus. The object 
of the author, and I use as nearly as possible his own lan- 
guage, “ was to present more at length and in detail those 
views on the nervous diseases of women, which he had for so 
many years taught in the halls of the University.” He wished 
to inculcate “ not merely what he deemed a more correct the- 
ory and practice in inflammatory disease of the uterus, but to 
insist that a very large proportion of the so-called cases of 
metritis are, in reality, but examples of irritation, where in- 
flammation has subsided, or where it actually never existed,” 
indeed, the chief object of the whole work is to exemplify 
the nature, consequences, and treatment of nervous irritation 
as distinct from inflammation. Convinced by long experi- 
ence, the author shows (I still use his own language) that the 
uterus is involved in most of these complaints, and that its 
disturbances are very frequently dependent upon displace- 
ments of the organ, and hence, the book is largely devoted 
to the subject of displacements of the uterus, and their me- 
chanical treatment. 
Dr. Hodge’s opportunities for observing and treating female 
diseases were unusually great. Large numbers of patients 
came to Philadelphia to consult him, and these, it must be 20 
remembered, were not ordinary cases of sickness, but in most 
instances were cases which had been under medical treat- 
ment for long periods without benefit. His success in man- 
aging these, heretofore, incurable cases, was often very strik- 
ing, and hundreds of women who came to Philadelphia 
helpless and hopeless invalids, returned to their homes 
restored, by our Professor’s skill, to health, usefulness, and 
happiness. After thirty years of this sort of experience, he 
produced this book—the result of a lifetime of observation, 
and he tells us in it how he brought about these wonderful 
recoveries. 
The work was not quickly or hastily composed ; its mate- 
rial had been thoroughly digested; for thirty years the fire 
had burned, and when he spoke, it was with a force and 
originality characteristic of the man. His sight at this time 
was so imperfect that all of his reading was done by the eyes 
of another, and this, no doubt, accounts for the almost entire 
absence in the volume of everything not original with him- 
self. In the introduction he gives the opinions of others; in 
the book itself he gives his own opinions, and every word 
and every sentence of it show careful thought. 
On resigning the duties of. his professorship, Dr. Hodge 
devoted himself to the completion of a work he had contem- 
plated for years. In this work he proposed giving (I again 
use his own words) “the results of his experience and re- 
flection on the theory and practice of Obstetrics, fulfilling, 
by so doing, an imperative duty he owed to the Alumni and 
Trustees of the University, by presenting in an extended 
form, the peculiar doctrines and practice inculcated by him 
while Professor of Obstetrics;” and he deemed this duty, he 
tells us, “the more binding, because thirty-eight years had 
elapsed since the first edition of Dr. Dewees’s Midwifery.” 
This great work on Obstetrics was completed in a year 
after relinquishing his professorship, and was published in 
1864; it was dedicated to the memory of Thomas C. James 
and Wm. P. Dewees, the first and second Professors of Ob- 
stetrics in the University of Pennsylvania. In the preface 
to this book the writer assures us that, “he does not inculcate 
the opinions merely of others; that, though the reading of 21 
authors has been of use to him, nature has been of much 
more;” he gives, therefore, he tells us, without reserve, “his 
own opinion on all points;” and “consequently, he is often 
in opposition to the most admired authors.” 
Dr. Hodge had devoted himself, for a long time, to the 
careful study of the mechanism of labor; and, in his book, 
a considerable space is occupied by this important subject, in 
the discussion of which he displays great originality, both in 
the singularly excellent illustrations which he has devised, 
as well as in the new and valuable conclusions which he has 
reached. 
This “System of Obstetrics,” whether we estimate it by 
the learning, research, and care which its pages display, or by 
its original teachings and illustrations, or by the philosophical 
character as well as great force and clearness of its instruc- 
tion, must be ranked among the very first works on Obstet- 
rics ever issued from the American or foreign press. Dr. 
Hodge, in this book, gives us his teachings as Professor of 
Obstetrics in the University of Pennsylvania for twenty-eight 
yrears; and the thousands of the Alumni of the University, 
who, during this long period, had the good fortune to be in- 
structed by him, as well as those who have graduated since, 
will always turn with pride, pleasure, and profit, to this noble 
work of their old Professor. 
After resigning his professorship, in addition to the prepa- 
ration and supervision of his books, Dr. Hodge contributed 
valuable papers on obstetrical subjects to the medical jour- 
nals; and, at the same time, was engaged in a very extensive 
practice in the treatment of diseases of females. In 1872 
the title of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Nassau Hall, 
Princeton. 
A recent and highly esteemed writer on psychology says: 
• “the history of a man is the true revelation of his character; 
what he has done indicates what he has willed; what he has 
willed marks what he has thought and felt, or the character 
of his deliberations; what he has thought and felt has been 
the result of his nature, then existing, as the developmental 
products of a certain original constitution, and a definite life 
experience.” In the history of our friend, which I am now 22 
giving you, I have endeavored to trace out the elements, both 
inherited and accidental, which contributed to form his cha- 
racter. I have tried to show that great men and great deeds 
are not the results of accident, but are the direct and neces- 
sary consequence of certain and numerous antecedent condi- 
tions. 
That I might be able to exhibit our friend’s character in its 
truest and, therefore, in its best light, so that none of its in- 
structive and noble lessons might be lost, I requested Dr. 
Caspar Morris, who was his lifelong and most intimate friend, 
as well as his family physician, and who, if ever man knew 
his fellow, knew Dr. Hodge, to furnish me with a sketch of 
his character. This he did, in a letter to me, which is so 
admirable that I feel I should be doing injustice both to Dr. 
Morris and to my subject were I not to give it almost ver- 
batim. With Dr. Morris’s consent, therefore, omitting mainly 
a.few lines referring to points already discussed, I introduce 
here his letter as I received it. 
“It was through the intervention of Dr. James and Dr. 
Dewees that I was thrown into the intimate relations with Dr. 
Hodge, which, thanks to his unvarying character, continued 
to become more and more close and unreserved to the day of 
his death. Few outside the sacred precincts of the nearest 
domestic relations, have ever enjoyed an equally favorable 
opportunity for knowing the true character of another, and 
in the clear light of this near approach, I do not hesitate to 
describe him as more justly entitled to the character of a 
‘perfect man’ than any man I have ever known. Appa- 
rently incongruous elements were in him harmoniously 
blended; perfect integrity in his own dealings was united 
with the most lenient view of the deviations of others; and 
unflinching courage in his own adherence to what he believed 
to be right, with the most delicate recognition of difficulties 
which turned aside from the path of duty those who did not 
possess the same inflexible principle. In describing his cha- 
racter, I know no better course than the presentation of the 
germ from which the whole was developed; the corner-stone 
on which the edifice reposed. Regarding him in his relations 23 
as a man to his fellow men, a citizen to his fellow country- 
men, as a physician to his patients, in all these varied relations 
of life, he acted under the sense of strict integrity and duty. 
If it were proper to penetrate into the more sacred precincts 
of domestic life, we should there find the same influence con- 
trolling the most delicate relations of husband and father. 
Beyond this no one dare intrude, yet the rays of a still deeper 
life burst through the veil by which the holy of holies was 
screened from outward observation, and proved that in it was 
the fountain of light'which gave energy to the whole; hence 
arose the entire harmony of his character. No man was 
ever more justly entitled to the honor of the description of 
the perfect man, given by the poet nearly twenty centuries 
ago, the gem-like purity of which never suffers from the fre- 
quency of handling, nor allows it to become trite by repeti- 
tion. He was ‘ Propositi tenacem,’ well rendered by 
‘ He holds no parley with unmanly fears, 
Where duty calls incontinently steers. ’ 
Yet this fixedness of purpose and perseverance in action, 
which when dissociated from careful circumspection, sound 
judgment, and high principle degenerates into mere obstinacy, 
rarely betrayed Dr. Hodge into error. It was his highest 
merit that he never failed to examine carefully, laboriously, 
and diligently whatever subject claimed his consideration; 
and it was not until he had viewed it in all its relations, and 
examined its bearings with the utmost scrutiny that he adopt- 
ed his opinion. This once done, that opinion became to him, 
on that point, the symbol of truth, and as such was built into 
its appropriate place in the structure of his mind—became an 
integral part of himself. There were no subsequent ques- 
tionings on that point; he never incurred the risk of over- 
turning the entire superstructure by removing, or taking out 
to dress over again, a stone already placed; he would rather 
doubt the truth of a new observation than that of one already 
thoroughly examined, carefully tested, and accurately ad- 
justed; and he never laid anyone in its position until it 
had been thus prepared. The success he achieved in his 
various undertakings was mainly owing to this peculiarity 24 
of his character. If a difficulty presented itself, it was not 
as an obstacle to arrest, but as an opposition to be overcome. 
He never knew what it was to be defeated, nor though his 
feelings were as sensitive, and his sympathies as acute as 
those of a woman, did he ever shrink or quail before any 
suffering which was to be encountered by himself or his pa- 
tient in the conflict with disease. 
“As a teacher he had rendered himself perfectly familiar 
with all the elemental forms, as well as the more complicated 
connections, of professional knowledge; and, having made 
them his own, he brought them to bear, for the benefit of his 
patients, under circumstances where the conviction of the 
soundness and perfection of his knowledge gave him sup- 
port. It was not only in the emergencies of unnatural labor, 
but, in the equally trying difficulties of the gynsecologist, that 
he found the benefit of this support, which enabled him to 
persevere, in ever-renewed efforts, until he achieved results 
which fully rewarded his labors, as well as justified the sound- 
ness of his principles. 
“No better illustration of his character can be presented 
than that afforded by the history of his treatment of cases of 
chronic uterine disease. Confident that congestions, inflam- 
mations, and so-called ulcerations were more generally, if not 
always, the results of displacements of the uterus, he early set 
himself to the discovery of some apparatus to support that 
organ, and one had but to look at the vast collection of in- 
struments of various material and infinite variety of form, 
which accumulated in his drawers, to recognize how earnestly 
and patiently he strove to accomplish his object. Who ever 
knew Dr. Hodge to abandon a case as hopeless? Who ever 
knew him to hesitate to make new efforts for relief or cure 
when disappointed by failure? If one form of pessary was 
found inappropriate, another was to be tried, and if one in- 
strument was not sufficient, a second, or even a third, would 
be added to afford the support needed. Day after day he 
would return, and hour after hour he would spend at the 
bedside in unwearying efforts to secure the desired adjust- 
ment. Hundreds of patients were promptly relieved from 
chronic ailments and prolonged suffering by his well-adapted 25 
treatment, and many a wretched invalid blesses his memory 
for the unwearied patience which he gave to that mechanical 
adjustment, which, when at last secured, brought her health 
and happiness. The picture would not be complete, however, 
did it not represent the gentle forbearance with which he 
met discontented complaints and irritating fretfulness some- 
times displayed by patients and friends unable to comprehend 
the difficulties to be encountered. No one ever witnessed the 
failure of that forbearance or heard from Dr. Hodge one ex- 
pression of discontent, even when most unjustly censured. 
‘As patient as Hodge,’ became, among his professional 
friends, the expression of a degree of possession of that great 
virtue which was not to be surpassed. 
“ To Dr. Hodge’s well-founded convictions that he designed 
to do what was right, and, before acting, always endeavored 
to ascertain what was proper to be done, may be referred his 
absolute freedom from petty squabbles with his patients, or 
more serious strife with professional friends or rivals, which 
was a marked peculiarity of his character. While holding 
his own views on the doctrines of medical science and the 
ethics of professional relations, as positively as man can hold 
opinions, he never failed to recognize the rights of others to 
be equally positive in holding and acting on their own con- 
victions. In looking back on my long intimacy with Dr. 
Hodge I can recall no instance of personal quarrel with either 
professional rival or competitor. This did not arise from any 
weakness on his part, or failure to express his dissent from 
what he regarded as erroneous opinions. The dearest friend- 
ship never led him to withhold the clearest and simplest 
expression of his own opinions, widely divergent as they 
might be, from those of his colleagues or friends, and no one 
could feel hurt by the clear expression of views so honestly 
and firmly held. He esteemed truth sacred in all its applica- 
tions, and neither fear nor hope of favor could influence him 
to any deviation in his conduct from its clear dictates. An 
ever-present influence, stimulating to constant effort, was his 
desire to do what he believed to be right. The following in- 
cident will exhibit the extent of its power:— 
“Among his college friends were some who attained great 26 
eminence as ministers of the gospel, and with whom he ever 
maintained the intimacy of early association. On one occa- 
sion, when several of these friends were sitting with him, in 
the abandon of friendship, the subject of the use of tobacco 
and its effects on the nervous system was brought up; the 
discussion took a jovial turn—one of the reverend gentlemen 
present defended its use, and declared his contempt for those 
who made apologies for it on the score of its medical proper- 
ties; he said ‘he used tobacco, not because it was good for 
him, but because he liked it.’ Dr. Hodge expressed his opinion 
that tobacco was decidedly depressing to the nerve force, as 
well as exhausting to the vital energy, and thus its use became 
an incentive to a resort to alcoholic beverages; and, rising 
from his seat in the midst of the discussion, he advanced to 
his friend, laying his hands on his shoulders and looking him 
solemnly in the face, said, ‘I adjure you, in the name of the 
Saviour you love, to lay aside this indulgence.’ The right 
reverend gentleman, to whom this admonition was addressed, 
has told me that, at the moment, he felt much hurt by Dr. 
Hodge’s manner, but that the appeal was so solemn and 
so powerful, he could not get rid of its impression, and he 
never was able to use tobacco afterwards; and this, he said, 
was the harder, because he had just received a valuable pre- 
sent of a large supply of excellent quality. This same earnest- 
ness and decision marked his relations in domestic life, and 
gave tone and power to his religious character. 
“His faith in the simple fundamental principles of the Christ- 
ian religion was as firmly fixed as his conviction of the truth 
of a demonstrated problem in mathematics. He was not in 
the habit of talking much on the subject, and never about his 
own feelings or experience. There was nothing obtrusive in 
his religion ; like the light which gives beauty to the foliage, 
color to the flower, and nutriment to the fruit, it inspired and 
gave beauty and strength to all his actions, and needed no 
blowing of trumpets to announce itself, fie was a devout 
attendant on the means of grace, whenever the duties of his 
profession did not oppose insuperable obstacles, and was pro- 
fusely liberal in his pecuniary contributions to the support 
of the ministry of the gospel, while in quiet unostentatious 27 
alms-giving he was most munificent. The claims on Dr. 
Hodge’s charity were great and unceasing, and many a suf- 
ferer, poor in this world’s goods, who sought relief from his 
professional skill, found that, instead of thinking he had per- 
formed his part in giving his time and labor, he willingly 
embraced the opportunity, afforded by the intimacy of pro- 
fessional relations, to contribute to their pecuniary necessities, 
and these contributions, in some instances, he always after- 
wards kept up. 
“ Dr. Hodge was a very laborious student, and notwithstand- 
ing the loss of his sight, which obliged him to resort to the 
assistance of an amanuensis and a reader, he continued to the 
last to devote many hours daily to the revision of his works, 
and the careful study of those topics which were embraced in 
them. Few would suspect that his great work on obstetrics 
was produced under circumstances so disadvantageous. We 
have been accustomed to think of Milton’s blindness as add- 
ing to the value of his immortal poem, and that of Prescott, 
as a serious obstacle to the acquisition of the knowledge dis- 
played in his histories, which have added lustre to American 
literature, but neither of these encountered difficulties so great 
as those overcome by Dr. Hodge in the production of his 
works, marked, as they are, by such minute accuracy in detail, 
in forms, shapes, and measurements, and illustrated as they 
are by photographs of subjects and specimens he could not 
see, and for his acquaintance with which he was dependent 
on the eyes and descriptions of others. His will, indeed, was 
indomitable, and led him never to admit any apology for 
abandoning, neglecting, or escaping from the performance of 
any duty on account of the difficulties involved in doing it. 
“lie delighted in the exertion of his powers, and might 
daily be seen groping his way from his carriage to the doors 
and chambers of his patients, refusing the proffered arm of 
those who saw his almost absolute blindness. Within twelve 
hours of the attack which so abruptly terminated his labors 
I had earnestly remonstrated with him against His exposing 
himself on one of the coldest days of a winter of noted severity, 
only, however, to elicit from him, in playful response, a re- 
proach of my own indulgence in yielding to the influence he 28 
so successfully resisted. No one who knew the man, and who 
could estimate the value of the principles by which he was 
actuated in everything he did, could do otherwise than rever- 
ence the inflexible perseverance in doing his duty to God and 
man, which marked his entire life; obstinacy, if it had arisen 
from any meaner motive, it became sublime self-devotion in 
his beautiful character.” 
After this admirable picture of his friend’s character, which 
Dr. Morris has furnished, there is left but little for me to add. 
When Dr. Hodge resigned his professorship, he was in the 
sixty-seventh year of his age; he had reached and passed the 
period when most men cease to work, and yet, save his infir- 
mity of vision, his faculties were perfect. His form was erect, 
his step elastic, his hearing acute, while his intellect was as 
clear and his sympathies as quick as ever. It was my good 
fortune to meet him in consultation a few weeks before his 
death ; as we went from the parlor to the bed-chamber of our 
patient he ran lightly up the stairs. I remarked upon his 
agility, when he playfully replied, “ Oh ! I am too young to 
walk up stairs.” 
He took great interest in all the religious and philanthropic 
movements of the day, and was active in the affairs of the 
church, of which he was a member, and was most generous 
in his benefactions to it, and to other good causes. He gave, 
however, something of incomparably greater value than 
money. He enriched the medical profession, and did good to 
the world, not only by the books which he wrote, and the in- 
struments he devised, but, by a life and an example that will 
not soon lose their influence. This great doctor—this learned 
professor—this munificent giver—this man who was looked up 
to by the community in which he lived, and by the profession 
which he adorned, was, at the same time, the devout and hum- 
ble believer, with the spirit and the faith of a little child; and 
though his praise was in all the churches, yet he esteemed 
himself among the least of the brethren. It might be im- 
agined, perhaps, that such a man was a stern man—one who 
viewed with disfavor everything that was bright and cheer- 29 
ful; but, the very reverse was the case; an earnest religious 
spirit, indeed, was the pervading principle of his life—a spirit 
entirely incompatible with levity or frivolity, and yet, a spirit 
which made him uniformly cheerful, serene, and happy. No 
one approached him who did not see and feel this in his genial 
and gracious smile, or hear it in his tender and sympathetic, 
or in his kind and gentle tones. To him life implied work, 
progress, constant improvement, and he held, as has been well 
expressed, that 11 to the brave man this world is full to the 
brim of happiness, and that the future is as certain as the 
truthfulness of God.” Thus he lived. 
Thus he died. The day preceding his last illness he ap- 
peared to be in his usual excellent health, and he was occu- 
pied, until late in the afternoon, with his professional engage- 
ments. On this very day, too, he spent some hours preparing 
an article on Cephalotripsy, at which he had been working for 
several weeks. He retired to rest at his usual bedtime, seem- 
ing perfectly well, and in good spirits. Near midnight he was 
seized with nausea, faintness, failure of the heart’s action, and 
of respiration, and died twenty-six hours after—sustained, to 
the last, by that faith he had learned at his mother’s knee, that 
strong faith he had inherited from a pious race, which, gene- 
rations before, had sacrificed country and home for religious 
freedom. 
The setting sun, as he sinks, into apparent oblivion, behind 
that jealous horizon whieb receives him after his work is 
done, illuminates, with an indescribable splendor, the very 
mis£s and clouds that help to obscure him, and as his light 
at last goes out, celestial bodies appear in the heavens, look- 
ing down, as it were, upon the field of their departed brother’s 
work and usefulness. The splendor of the sunset is of the 
earth, and only tells of a passing day ; but the celestial forms 
that come after, speak of the Infinite and the Eternal. Our 
friend, as he sank into apparent oblivion behind that jealous 
horizon, which bounds our mortal vision, illumined its dark 
cloud with a truly heavenly glory, and though they, who 
lovingly waited and watched, until the light faded and the 
darkness came, though they did not see celestial forms, yet 
we may feel sure that, if ever, human soul was met by re- 30 
joicing throngs as it entered the portals of the blessed, his 
was so met. 
The following is a list of the chief articles and books pub- 
lished by Dr. Hodge :— 
Observations on Expansibility as a Vital Property, and on the Influence 
of the Capillary Tissue over the Circulation of the Blood. By Hugh L. 
Hodge, M.D., Lecturer on the Principles of Surgery in the Medical Insti- 
tute. North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, No. xi. 1828. 
The Article on Aneurism, in the American Cyclopaedia of Practical 
Medicine and Surgery. 
Cases of Peritonitis, with Remarks. By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., one of the 
Physicians to the Almshouse. North American Med. and Surg. Journ., 
vol 7, ‘No. xiv. 1829. 
Cases and Observations regarding Puerperal Fever, as it prevailed in the 
Pennsylvania Hospital, in February and March, 1833. By Hugh L. 
Hodge, M.D., one of the Physicians of that Charity. Amer. Journ. Med. 
Sciences, August, 1833. 
On the Pathology and Therapeutics of Cholera Maligna. By Hugh L. 
Hodge, one of the Physicians of the Almshouse Infirmary, and late Phy- 
sician to the City Cholera Hospital, No. 4. Amer. Journ. Med. Sciences, 
August, 1833. 
Introductory and Valedictory Addresses. Published 1835, 36, 38, 39, 40, 
47, 50, 52, 59. 
Memoir of Thomas C. James, M.D., read before the College of Physi- 
cians of Philadelphia. By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics, 
etc. etc., in the University of Pennsylvania, June, 1841. 
An Eulogium on William P. Dewees, M.D., delivered before the medi- 
cal students of the University of Pennsylvania, November 5, 1842. By 
Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics, etc. etc. 
Diseases Peculiar to Women, including Displacements of the Uterus. 
By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women 
and Children in the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia : Blanchard 
& Lea. 1860. 
The Principles and Practice of Obstetrics. Illustrated with one hundred 
and fifty-nine lithographic figures, from original photographs, and with 
numerous wood-cuts. By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., Emeritus Professor of 
Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children in the University of Penn- 
sylvania, lately one of the Physicians to the Lying-in Department of the 
Pennsylvania Hospital, lately one of the Physicians to the Philadelphia 
Almshouse Hospital, Consulting Physician to the Philadelphia Dispensary, 
Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Member of the Ameri- 
can Philosophical Society, etc. etc. Author of a Treatise on “The Pecu- 
liar Diseases of Women.” Philadelphia: Blanchard & Lea. 1864. 31 
“ Foeticide” (being a reprint, with some additions, of Introductory Lec- 
ture on Criminal Abortion). By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D. Philadelphia: 
Lindsay & Blakiston. 1869. 
On the “ Synclitism of the Foetal Head in Natural Labor.” By Hugh L. 
Hodge, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women 
and Children in the University of Pennsylvania. Amer. Journ. Med. 
Sciences, October, 1870. 
On the “ Synclitism of the Equatorial Plane of the Foetal Head in Pelvic 
Deliveries.” By Hugh L. Hodge, M.D., Emeritus Professor, etc. etc. 
Amer. Journ. Med. Sciences, July, 1871.