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MEMOIR
OF THE LATE
    WILLIAM C. ROBERTS,  M.D.,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ETC.
BY
GOUVERNEUR  M.  SMITH,  M.D.
READ BEFORE THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE,
          THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL id,  1874-
•>,

               NEW  YORK:
ANSON D.  F.  RANDOLPH  & COMPANY,
         770 BROADWAY, Corner of 9TH Street.
                   l874. 
W"Z
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"R648^5 
 „^TTIT                                    New York, April 18th, 1874.
 GOUVERNEUR M. SMITH, M.D.
    Dear Sir :—
               We are desirous to preserve the Memoir of our cherished friend
 and family physician, the late Wm. C. Roberts, M.D., prepared by yourself with
 so much care and discrimination, and read before the New York Academy of
.Medicine on the evening of the 2d inst.   With this object, we beg to ask that
 you will give us the use of your manuscript for publication.

                                 We are, very truly yours,
                                               WILLIAM  F. OWENS.
                                               WILLIAM  H.  PRICE.
                                               L. P. BAYNE.
                                               JOHN  LEFOY BROWER.
                                               SYLVESTER BRUSH.
                                               F. F. GUNTHER.
                                               ROBERT DUNLAP.
                                               A. M. CLEISH.
                                               THOS. W. S. MIDDLETON.
                                          New York, April 27th, 1874.

      Messrs. WILLIAM F. OWENS, WM. H. PRICE AND OTHERS.
Gentlemen :—
  Your polite communication of the 18th inst., requesting for publication the
memoir of the late William C. Roberts, M.D., which, by appointment, I read
before the New York Academy of Medicine on the 2d inst., I duly received.
  The Academy reserves its Transactions for scientific papers.  Any Memoirs
of its Fellows are preserved in a prescribed manuscript form, in its archives,
and, if printed, are published at private expense.
  I consequently take pleasure in acceding  to  your request, which is prompted
by such affectionate regard for the deceased, and can only express regret that
a want of time has prevented the preparation of a more suitable eulogium.
                     1 am, Gentlemen, very respectfully yours,
                                          GOUVERNEUR M.  SMITH, 
 
ADDRESS.
 Mr.  President and  Fellows :—
   Reposing in the churchyard of an adjoining county
 —returning "ashes  to ashes, dust to dust, earth to
 earth "—lie the remains of one who  but a short time
 since was our active companion, co-operating with us
 in  our  various  medical associations, and who, at the
 time  of his decease,  held next to the highest position
 in the gift of this Academy;  I  refer to our friend, the
 late Dr. William Currie Roberts.
   No more  shall we  look upon  his well-known and
 venerable form—a form stooping, and thus prematurely
 bent—not so much by the weight  of an accumulation
 of years as by his  close application to study, and  by
 the crushing incubus of an early bereavement, and of
 later cares.  On a former occasion, we have gathered
 with his relatives and friends within the sacred edifice
 of old St. Mark's, and  have there paid the last  tribute
 of respect to his mortal remains. To-night we gather
 in our own hall; the shrouded bier is not visible ; the
 mournful dirge is not heard ; but, without these funereal
 concomitants,  we have  come together to pay a  tribute
 to those qualities of his head and  heart, which were
 imperishable, as compared with that  material form
which was of the " earth, earthy."
  I can but wish that the duty which has been assigned
to me of pronouncing his eulogium had devolved upon
some abler and older Fellow:—upon some  senior mem- 
6
ber of the profession, who had known him in his earlier
life, who had observed him when an  aspiring, adoles-
cent tyro, and watched him through the  progress of
his manhood and incipient old  age.  While my ac-
quaintance with  Dr.  Roberts  dates  back for quite a
number of years, nevertheless  my intimacy with  him
commenced when he had already passed the meridian
of life, and when his steps were turned toward sunset.
Time had already mellowed the  hopes of  his  youth,
and had tempered his earthly aspirations; but had in no
degree dampened the fervor of his medical enthusiasm.
We can all remember with what interest he listened to
the various papers read before this  Academy.  With
what  intensity did he follow the thread of each dis-
course—premises and  conclusions he eagerly caught,
and a smile  of approval indicated acquiescence with
the speaker—but if perchance either  illogical reason-
ings were presented, or errors  in  syntax and prosody
were apparent, his countenance  almost unconsciously
betrayed mental  uneasiness.  The ear of Beethoven
was neither more charmed by melody, nor  disturbed
by  discord,  than was the ear  of  our  brother re-
joiced by the harmonies of  logic and  rhetoric, and an-
noyed by  incorrect reasonings and  inelegancies of
expression.
  To depict  the  character of a friend, is a task most
difficult.   The description  should bear such impres-
sion that contemporaries cognizant of facts can sanc-
tion its verity; the  portrayal of mental qualities must
be as  truthful as  a likeness when it leaves the easel of
an accomplished artist.  But the limner, as well as the
biographer, has his difficult task to perform.   It is re-
corded, that an eminent painter was requested to make 
7
a likeness of Alexander the Great.  The Macedonian
conqueror in his wars, had received a sword wound up-
on his head, and on his forehead was a large  and un-
sightly cicatrix.   To give a representation of the scar,
would be an offense to the admirers of the monarch ;
to omit it, would be to place on record artistic inaccu-
racy.  Fertile  in expedients, the painter represented
the emperor leaning on his elbow, with his forefinger
on his brow, in a meditative mood, and covering the
scar.  Thus, by ingenious attitudinal means, a faithful
and happy portraiture was accomplished.
   Idiosyncrasies and defects in  character are natural to
every individual—to give a memoir without alluding to
them,, is to violate the truth; if omitted, as errors are seen
in all those who are living, the  impression is conveyed
that the good  have all passed away, and the  world is
only  inhabited by " miserable  sinners."  And yet, so
common is it to extol the dead, that it has come to be
a trite saying,  de morhiis nil nisi bonum.
   Adulation of  the dead is condemned  by many, and
has at times received striking  reprobation.  History
informs  us  that centuries  ago, Norman prelates, a
multitude of  clergy and  people, and  Prince Henry,
gathered in solemn concourse in the Cathedral of St.
Stephen, to celebrate the funeral rites of William  the
Conqueror.  The mass had been performed, the Bish-
op had  pronounced the paneygyric, when a voice from
the surging crowd exclaimed,  " He whom you have
praised, was a robber.   The very land on which you
stand is mine.   By  violence  he took it from  my
father, and in the name of God, I forbid you to bury
him in it."   After due consideration, the prelates paid
to the speaker sixty shillings as a  price for the grave, 
8
with a promise of future reimbursement for the entire
property, on which being done, the ceremony proceed-
ed uninterrupted.
  History affords few such  incidents as  the one just
given, but  how often  are satirical smiles excited on
hearing the virtues of the deceased, or on  reading the
epitaphs in cemeteries and churchyards.  To such an
extent has the latter means of eulogy excited derision,
that Fletcher, in his " Spanish  Curate," has ridiculed
the custom by representing Diego, the  sexton,  as
saying:

     " I give five hundred pounds to buy a churchyard,
      A spacious churchyard to lie thieves and knaves in:
      Rich men and honest men take all the room up."

  But, Mr. President, notwithstanding the difficulties
inherently  besetting a  biographer,  I  will attempt  a
short sketch of the life of our  friend, Dr. Roberts.
His character will bear scrutiny, and in many respects
was worthy of  our  emulation.  A brief recital of his
qualities will put on record why it was he gathered
about  him so many warmly-attached  friends, why  it
was we elected him to such an honorable position,
why it was that in such numbers  we gathered over his
bier, and why we have gathered to-night to give special
heed to his memory.
  The memoir presented this  evening, has been pre-
pared amid many interruptions.  A  want  of revision
in its order, thought, and expression, is apparent to my-
self, as it will be to  my auditors, but the haste to  com-
plete it, must be an apology for its imperfections. /
  Dr. William Currie  Roberts was  born in London,
England,  September  9th,  1810.  When about ten 
9
 years of age, he was  brought to this country.   His
. father here engaged in mercantile pursuits, but during
 the latter part of his life, was a  clerk with  Mr. J. J.
 Astor.  His mother kept a school for young ladies ; a
 school of high  standing, which  was patronized by a
 number of select New York families.  The subject of
 our memoir was so early accustomed to American as-
 sociations, that liberal and democratic ideas were readily
 engrafted upon  his nature,- and but  few knew that he
 was of foreign birth.   He was naturalized as a citizen
. of the United States, on the  5th of November, 1834.
 He  proved  a faithful citizen to the end of life, con-
 scientiously performing public duties in connection with
 city office and patriotically serving the general govern-
 ment  in  an  official position during the  civil  war.
 With interest he weighed the  political  issues which
 have agitated the country, and though not taking an
 active part in politics, nevertheless scrupulously pro-
 nounced his judgment with the ballot.
    As a citizen,  he  was  an example, not only to those
 of foreign birth, but also to ourselves.
    Dr. Roberts did not enjoy the advantages of a col-
 legiate education, but great attention was given to his
 mental training, and the facilities which he  had for ac-
 quiring knowledge, were of such a high order, that his
 mind was  early and  richly cultivated.   Having a re-
 tentive memory, he was enabled during his after life to
 enrich his conversation with many poetical, mytholog-
 ical and historical illustrations.  This he  could not
 have done had they not made an early impress on his
 thoughts.   Similar impressions  upon others  during
 youth, make but too often an evanescent mark, being
 obliterated  during maturer  years,  by  those  deeper 
IO
graven, which relate to the more practical matters of
life.
  To those who knew our friend only in his decadence,
when he  bestowed little attention to his toilet, and
was even negligent in this regard, it may be surprising
to learn that  during adolescence he paid much regard
to the neatness and jauntiness of his attire, and that the
ladies were objects of his special admiration.
  He  early manifested a preference  for  professional
life, and, while in his 19th year, selected the calling of
a physician  as his future vocation.  On the  4th  of
October, 1828, he commenced the study of medicine,
and entered  the  office of a distinguished surgeon, a
gentleman who since that time has presided  over this
Academy, whose reputation was  as  widespread as it
was deserving, and whose decease within the last de-
cade we have been  called upon to mourn.  I refer to
the late Dr. Valentine Mott.
  The date we have given was an epoch in the history
of the subject of  our memoir, for it brought him into
warm personal relations with one of the master spirits
of our profession.   The fire which animated  the bril-
liant surgeon, served to enkindle enthusiasm  in the
breast of  his medical pupil.   The same spirit which
subsequently  prompted  the  surgeon  while at  Epi-
daurus to sacrifice a cock to iEsculapius, had fostered
in young Roberts a love for his  profession, which in-
creased with his years, and which was only extinguish-
ed by death.   But while we here put on record that
the example  and teachings of  Mott helped to mould
the animus of Roberts, we should here also antitheti-
cally,  and as  strongly record, that Mott was subse-
quently indebted to his diligent pupil and devotee, for 
II
 accretions to his reputation.  The gifted pen of Roberts
 chronicled  the chirurgical exploits  of  his preceptor,
 and the  preceptor  was  glad  to consult on various
 occasions the  aesthetical taste of his pupil.  Thus it
 was that  reciprocal mental  advantages accrued  to
 both.
   Dr. Roberts may have felt that he had not been suffi-
 ciently appreciated by Dr. Mott as well as by others who
 were in a position to aid his professional advancement,
 and during the latter part of his life, he had, perhaps,
 become somewhat  weaned  from his earliest medical
 associate; but the love he bore his preceptor was  so
 deeply rooted, that  time could not  extract it, nor dis-
 appointment  smother it.  Dr. R., during most  of his
 early life, unselfishly lent his genius so freely in pro-
 moting the welfare of the general profession, of medical
 institutions and of his  friends, as  to partially eclipse
 his own  aggrandisement, and  this  fact, coupled with
 certain idiosyncrasies  of  character, prevented  his,
 attaining the full  measure of popular success,  to which
 he was entitled.
   During  the  years 1828, '29,  '30, young Roberts  at-
 tended medical lectures at the Geneva  Medical Col-
 lege,   Medical  Department  of  Rutgers University;
 during the  winter of 1830,'31, at  Philadelphia, and
 graduated at the New York College of Physicians and
 Surgeons, March 25th, 1832.  On the 9th of  May fol-
 lowing, he married Matilda, daughter of Martin Hoff-
 man, Esq., of this city.
   At the early age of twenty-two, we find  our  friend
fairly launched into medical and matrimonial life. With
a cultivated mind and congenial companion, the world
opened upon him  with prospects of success and pleas- 
12
ure.  In  1839, after seven  years of uninterrupted hap-
piness, he was bereaved of his wife, who had  borne
him two  sons and a daughter, and this daughter, at the
age of eleven years, he was called upon to part with
by a sudden attack of croup. The loss of his wife was
a blow from which Dr. R. never recovered.  He did not
re-marry, and those who knew him well, will remember
how constantly and sorrowfully he referred to his early
bereavement.  Again, in 1869, he was  sorely afflicted
by the death of a grandson, to whom he was ardently
and almost unduly attached.  But the love of his fam-
ily was not wholly expended upon the memory  of the
departed, for with  no less affection he regarded his
sons, whom he befriended in every way  it was possible
to the closing hour of his life.  Unfortunately, for  a
period of years before his decease, he  ventured each
annual surplus in a mercantile transaction, which prov-
ing disastrous, stripped him completely of means, for
he had no reserve upon which to draw, and at a time of
life when he could barely expect that annual receipts
from practice could cover  the annual expenditures of
living.
  It may here be stated that Dr. R. did not ever pos-
sess the faculty of  accumulating means.   This was so,
even when early and busily occupied in his profession.
He was  very moderate in his  charges, being exceed-
ingly lenient to the poor, and scarcely less so to those
in better circumstances.   The  pecuniary rewards for
his  services were altogether less than he deserved, but
these he  expended as he received them, lavishing them
as if a man of means upon those he loved.   Such im-
providence was  indicative  of  his unselfishness,  and
though prompted to it by  a generous and warm heart, 
13
 it nevertheless  was  a  detriment to him during his
 entire life, and was the  occasion to him of many hours
 of solicitude, especially  during his later years.
   Dr. Roberts left no memoranda of the positions he
 had held, or the  papers he had written—for the facts
 in relation to them, I am indebted in part to one of his
 sons, to Drs. J.  B. Kissam, J. L. Vandervoort, and S.
 S. Purple—of a part  also I was personally cognizant.
   In 1835, m conjunction with several of his medical
 friends, he founded the " New York Infirmary for the
 Diseases of Women and Children," at 361  Broome
 street.  This was doubtless the first special institution
 of its character established in New York.  From lack
 of funds, its doors had finally to be closed, after a brief
 existence of great usefulness.  Dr. R. took more  than
 usual interest in the welfare of his patients, as well the
 poor and friendless, as those in a more prosperous con-
 dition.  As illustrating  this point, a quotation may not
 be inappropriate from  a communication recently re-
 ceived from a gentleman, a layman, to  whom Dr. R.
 was warmly attached.   He  says: " The suffering of
 women and children appealed to his good heart at
 once, and found a ready response in acts of sympathetic
 tenderness.  I think I have never seen  him  more af-
 fected than some four months before his death, by the
 case of  a servant girl who came to consult him at his
 office.   He discovered  at once that her trouble was
 cancer,  and death in a painful form inevitable.   He
 told me of it with tears in  his  eyes,  and his heart
 seemed to be wrung with the necessity laid on him to
 make known to her the heavy tidings."
   In  1839, he served as physician for some time  at
West Point. In  1844, he was physician to the North- 
14
ern Dispensary, having  charge of  the department,
" Diseases of Women and Children and Nervous Dis-
orders."  In 1852, he was appointed  physician to the
City  Prison,   a  position he  retained for  several
years.  On May 9th, 1864, he  was appointed by the
Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary  of War, as  a  Surgeon
of the Board of Enrollment, 8th Congressional  Dis-
trict.   His duties here in connection with the Provost
Marshall's Office, were to examine recruits, both those
drafted into the United States service, and those offer-
ed as substitutes.
  An  arduous and  double task was  imposed  upon
him.  The country had its claim on the citizen—the
citizen had certain  rights  of exemption from  various
physical  and  mental causes—Dr. Roberts stood  as
arbiter.  The citizen desiring to escape military duty,
and bounty brokers  desiring to press forward unsuit-
able substitutes, could find in a pliant surgeon, a tool
who could connive at their cunning and illicit  gain.
But the breath of suspicion was never lisped in regard
to our departed friend.  Had no other motive prompt-
ed  him, the love of his profession was sufficient  to
prevent him from ever tarnishing the name of a physi-
cian, when occupying either a  public or private posi-
tion of trust.   Though exposed to temptations while in
this position, I have  had  it from his own lips  a  short
time before they were sealed  in death, that  in  relin-
quishing the office at the close of the war, he did so
with clean hands and with a conscience void of offense.
A prominent  politician eulogized the  honesty of our
friend, by calling him a  fool, for having missed such
golden opportunities.  Dr. Roberts has reaped a richer
and higher reward. 
i5
  On the 16th of July, 1873, ne was unexpectedly ap-
pointed, through a Fellow of this Academy and Com-
missioner of Public Parks, as Surgeon to the Central
Park  Police.   In relation to this, it may be interesting
to quote a few sentences  from a communication  re-
ceived from one of his friends.  Mr. P.-writes: "For
some  months before his death, he was greatly troubled
by apprehensions of want, when  his sickness should
render him physically incapable of giving attention to
his practice, he longed  for some pecuniary certainty
that would relieve  him of  this harrassing care about
the future. Just at this time, his friend, Dr. Samuel
Hall,  came with an offer of the office of police surgeon
at Central Park.   I saw him the day after this position
had been tendered to  him; his first  words were that a
miracle had been performed, and that he was the subject
of it; ' to think,' said he,' that the very thing that I have
desired and prayed for by day and by night, should
have come to  me, is past all comprehension.  It must
have come from God.' "
   It would be impracticable  on an occasion like the
present, to enumerate the various positions  he  has
held in our local organizations.  He has presided over
the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, and been active in several of  our socie-
ties until the time of  his death.  At the organization
of this Academy, January  12th,  1847, he was elected
Domestic Corresponding  Secretary, and on the Com-
mittee of Publication, on which committee he has long
and  faithfully  served.  In  1859,  he was appointed
Orator.  During the last four years of  his life, he was
Vice-President.
   It  remains  for  us  to rapidly  review the  literary 
i6
labors of Dr. R.  In doing so, I will first briefly allude to
his editorial duties.  Before attempting this, it would
be of interest  to give quotations from the  letters re-
ceived by  Dr. R. from Dr. Mott,  during Dr. M.'s
absence in  Europe, in 1837-38, but time merely allows
this allusion to the correspondence.
  In  1841, for about a year, he was editor of the
" New York Medical Gazette," and in this journal are
to be found two papers from his pen, viz.: " Contribu-
tions to the Literary History and Pathology of Cholera
Infantum," and on " Thymic  Enlargement."
 ■ On October 1st, 1846, he established the " Annalist,"
a journal which he continued to edit until September,
1848.  It is interesting at the present day to read the
choice selection of  monographs  which  appeared in
this periodical, to be awakened by the spicy editorials,
and enlightened about the current news of that period
in his well digested  " Varia."  Dr. R. had  the happy
faculty of weaving polite literature into themes relat-
ing to  abstruse science, and his pen  impressed the
beautiful intercurrent  flashes of  thought which were
entwined in his medical  researches.
   In the " Annalist" for  January 15th, 1847, ne graph-
ically alluded to the organization  of this Academy, and
in concluding, said: "May its spirit be ever the same,
its course onward, and may it ever exist,  a  shelter for
the good, a warning and terror to the vicious, a stimu-
lus to, and a  reward for  high and holy purposes and
actions, a defender of the true faith, a decus et tutamen
of American medicine."
   In passing, it  may be  stated  that  other extracts
might be given relating  to  the  advantages which ac-
crued to the medical profession of this city, by the es- 
i7
tablishment of this Academy, which would stimulate
generosity and efforts at this time, to procure  for our-
selves a suitable building. This project was a cherished
one with the  founders of this Academy, and Dr. Mott,
at its first regular meeting, was its champion.   Dr. R.
has faithfully  chronicled the  teachings  of our  medical
forefathers—they gave to our profession in this city, a
status and moral endowment—if true to our ancestors,
we must add not only scientific  and  moral, but also
pecuniary endowments to the heritage.
   In retiring from editorial duties, in September, 1848,
Dr.  Roberts  carried  with him  the  warm  wishes of
many readers, and the regards and the regrets of  his
brethren of the press.  He received at this time the
following jeu d'esprit :
          " The editorial chair's vacated !
            A most unpopular recess ;
           Learning and wit stand half check-mated
              With one amanuensis less.
          " To 'lay the ghost of printers' devil,
             Dyed cap d pie in inky hues,
           'Twere sure unkind and most uncivil,
             To give us in his stead the blues.
          " To such a pen, in fair retort,
             We give our greeting, grateful, hearty—
           Refreshed by rest, be briefly short,
             Its otium cum dignitate."

   As indicating the relationship which existed between
the present distinguished incumbent of our Presiden-
tial Chair and Dr. Roberts at this time, I  will  offer a
quotation from  a letter sent to  him  by Dr. Flint, in
November, 1847, and  dated Buffalo: "Excuse the
liberty which  I take  in  presuming so far upon co-
membership  of  the corps  editorial  and  upon  the 
i8
many instances of your editorial  kindness (for which
I beg you to accept my sincere  thanks),  as to ask
you to do me a favor.  Your notices of Prof. Agassiz'
lectures have given me a great desire to hear him, and
as the ' Mountain  cannot  go to  Mahomet,' I should
be glad to induce ' Mahomet to come to the Moun-
tain,' etc., etc." This paragraph must suffice to indicate
the regard with which he was then esteemed.
  Subsequent to the time we have given, Dr. R. did
not assume editorial duties, with the exception of edit-
ing four or five numbers of " Wood's Addenda to the
Medico-Chirurgical Review," between July,  1847, an<^
April, 1849.
  I will now glance at his other  literary productions.
In 1834, in conjunction  with  Dr. Jas. B. Kissam, he
translated Bourgery's " Minor Surgery," the work being
affectionately dedicated by the  translators to their pre-
ceptor, Dr. Mott.  In 1835, he translated the work of
the Chev. J. Sarlandiere, ex-Surgeon,  French Army,
and of the Military Hospitals of Paris.  It is entitled,
" Systematized  Anatomy; or, Human  Organography,
in Synoptical Tables, with  numerous Plates for the
use of Universities, Faculties, and  Schools of Medicine
and  Surgery, Academies of Paintings, Sculpture, and
of the Royal Colleges."   This  is a large folio volume,
very beautifully illustrated with fifteen folio  plates.
  Dr. R.'s first monograph  appeared in April, 1835,
and  was  a  popular essay on " Vaccination."  Its  au-
thorship was designated by the signature," A Physician."
It doubtless was a potent adjuvant in  bringing into
favor  among the people an  important prophylactic
measure.  His subsequent papers, so far as I  have been
able to gather them, are as follows : 
l9
        American Journal of Medical Sciences.

Aug., 1837.—"A case of Enlargement of the Thymus Gland, attended
              with unusual symptoms, and terminating fatally."  (Dr.
              Roberts was the first in this country to call attention to
              this disorder.)
Oct., 1841.—Same subject.
Aug., 1840, and Oct., 1841.—"On Diseases of the Foetus : a contribu-
              tion towards a better  acquaintance with Intra-Uterine
              Pathology."

    New  York' Journal of Medicine and Surgery.

1840, Vol. 3.—a Cases of Renal Disease occurring in early infancy, with
              remarks on  the connection between it  and some of the
              Cerebral Affections of Children."
     Vol. 2.—" Cases of Thymic Asthma."

    New York Journal of Medical and Collateral
                           Sciences.

       1844.—" Pyretological Inquiries—Gastro-Enteritis as a cause or
              concomitant of Fever."
       1844.—"On the Isolated Tumor (Tubercle) of the Uterus, com-
              monest in the posterior wall."  (An elaborate paper.)
May, 1845,  Nov., 1857, and May, 1858.—"On the Pathology of Leucor-
              rhoea, Fluor Albus, or  the Whites, with  a  detail of the
              opinions relating to it for the last 170 years, and a notice
              of the peculiar  appearance of the discharge, and an at-
              tempt to connect it more directly than has hitherto been
              generally done, with inflammation of the vagina, cervex
              and lining membrane of the uterus."  (This is an  ex-
              haustive series of papers, and may be regarded as very
              complete.)
Nov., 1849.—" An Eclectic Essay on the Non-Pediculated Fibro-Scirrhous
              Fibro-Cartilaginous and Fibro-Calcareous Tumor of the
              Uterus."  (2d part Jan., 1850.)
Nov., 1857.—"Remarks on  the use of  Compressed Sponge."  (A letter
              to Dr. J. P.  Batchelder.)

                American Medical Gazette.

              " Artificial Dilatation of the Os  Uteri in Labor."  (A
              practice advocated and followed by Dr.  Roberts with
              much success.) 
                            20

                    Medical Record.

Sept. 15, 1869.—"Pathogenesis and Treatment of Sterility in the Human
             Female."

             New York Medical Gazette.
      1870.—" Catarrhus ^Estivus."  (This was a disorder from which
             Dr. Roberts suffered annually for many years.)
      1870.—" Remarks on Syphilization."
           " On Vaccination as a Preventive of Small Pox from its
             present standpoint."
           " Thoughts on Digestion, as applied to  Paedo-Nosology."
           " Contribution to Paedo-Nosology, Encephalitis, Meningi-
             tis, Meningoencephalitis."
Sept., 1871.—"Antiphlogistic Treatment of Children."

   In  the publications  of this  Academy,  are  to  be
found  the  following papers  from   the  pen  of  Dr.
Roberts:

                 Anniversary Oration.
      1859.—"The Eulogium of Medical Science."

                        Bulletin.

           " Infectio-contagiousness of Asiatic (Epidemic) Cholera."
           " On Menstruation, its Natural History and Physiology in
               its relation to Amenorrhcea."
           " On the Causes of Death and Disease in this Metropolis."
           " On Impregnation, Sterility, and Superfcetation."
           " On Scrofulosis."
           " On Pathology of Diabetes Mellitus."

   Besides these essays, Dr. Roberts  prepared  quite a
number of others.  A memoir  of  the late  Dr.  Joseph
Mather Smith, read before this  Society February 6th,
1867.   Others have doubtless  been read  before  this
Academy, or its sections, and have not  been  published.
Several  of  their  manuscripts  have  been  preserved.
Others were written for medical or  popular journals, 
21
. with a view of receiving for them pecuniary compen-
 sation.  Among these, may be  mentioned  those enti-
 tled  " Effects  and  Influences  of the  Imagination,"
 "Medical Charlatanry," "A Panoramic  Retrospect  of
 the History of Medicine, from the earliest ages to the
 present day, with notices of the doctrines which have
 prevailed in, and of the men who have  advanced the
 progress of the science," " The  School of  Salernum ;"
 and, in addition to these, an address  beiore the West-
 ern Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association
 of this city.
   Without presenting these as a complete record  of
 the writings of our  deceased  friend—the  record  is
 sufficient to show his industry and the range of his in-
 formation—some of the papers  of his latter years were
 somewhat diffuse in their style,  but this cannot be said
 to characterize his productions.   Those which he care-
 fully  prepared  were  marvelous  for their  rhetorical
 beauty, and oftentimes  his sentences were  so charm-
 ingly rhythmical that  it can truthfully be said of him
 that he was " a writer  of poetic prose."
   Dr. R. was not  an  original  investigator, either  in
 physiology or pathology, but was well versed in these
 subjects, and being a keen clinical observer, was pecu-
 liarly fitted to draw practical conclusions.   His views
 on the subject of gynecology were regarded as author-
 itative, and some of his papers on  this subject were
 novel  in their nature and early  gave him an extended
 reputation.  Did time permit cases might here be enu-
 merated,  which he had successfully  relieved of steril-
 ity, and which had baffled the treatment of  the highest
 medical experts.
   It would be an omission  if, in alluding to his char- 
22
acteristics, we failed to speak of his powers of extem-
poraneous speech.  With neither  voice nor  carriage
-typical of the orator, nevertheless at inspired moments,
without  premeditation, he could rise to his feet and
carry with him the feelings of his auditors.   Choice in
the selection of words, without hesitation, his lips gave
utterance to his passing thoughts and expression to his
ripe scholarship.   He was specially  happy in extem-
poraneous eulogy, and has in this hall, on  the  spur of
the moment, pronounced such panegyric as to  receive
from our Fellows the warmest encomiums.
   Dr. R. was an excellent general practitioner, accurate
in  diagnosis  and judicious  in his  use of remedial
agents.  In  emergencies his  action was prompt and
efficient.  In the diseases of women and  in difficult
cases of  obstetrics he was often called as the consulting
physician.
   During a considerable portion  of his  life  he was
busily employed  in professional duties, but  he failed to
acquire a very large or at least a very lucrative  prac-
tice.  Such failure was in part attributable to the fact
that he was  excessively conscientious.  Every day ex-
perience  shows the difficulty in making a diagnosis,
especially in the  early stages of disease.   Dr. R., very
properly  being unwilling to commit himself,  lest the
future should show his error, was led to give so many
reasons for non-commitalism that  it  impaired his use-
fulness, giving rise to the suspicion that he was unqual-
ified to treat the  case.  But, in  spite of such peculiarity,
he had a number of warmly-attached intelligent  pa-
tients; having become acquainted with his idiosyncrasies,
they learned that he had knowledge and judgment to
guide him in the management of their disorders. 
23
  The conversational powers of our friend were of an
unusual order.  We all remember how, at social gath-
erings, he could instruct and playfully entertain a group
of friends—for he was generally  a center on such oc-
casions. Who was quicker either in pun or in repartee ;
who could venture an anecdote or poetical, historical
or classical allusion, but in  the twinkling of an eye he
was ready with a fitting companion piece or a striking
antithesis.  Humor was an inherent part of his nature—
a smile nestled and sparkled in his eye, beamed in his
countenance, and  animated  his conversation.   While
specially worshipping at the shrines of Hygiaea and
iEsculapius he was  scarcely less a  devotee of Clio,
Thalia, Calliope, and the other muses.  Enriched by
inspirations from such divinities, his gifted mind was a
constant source of pleasure to himself  and to his asso-
ciates.
   It has been my  custom for several years, as it was of
several of the Fellows of this Academy, to visit him at his
residence.  Tapestried carpets did not  adorn his apart-
ment,  gilded  mirrors did   not reflect choice works
from the easel, or marbles from the sculptor's hands—
these we can find in many apartments where they form
almost the chief attraction.  But in Dr. Roberts was
to be found a warm friend, a genial companion, a living
object of  virtu.   You will remember him seated in
his arm-chair after his cordial salutation, with head bent
attentively forward.   Let his guest recite to him some
choice thought as  culled  from reading,  or perchance  a
novel original conception, in a moment his hands were
outstretched, his head elevated, his eye sparkled as he
exclaimed, how beautiful! and his visitor had but to wait
for an  instant  for his still  more  beautiful echo.  His 
24
cultivated  sense of the  beautiful, either in language,
landscape  or  work  of art  was  so  keen, that  on
contemplating them, his  frame fairly thrilled with emo-
tion, and such refined sensibility was a constant source
of delight.
   He was a rare combination, for  reclusion and con-
vivial gatherings both afforded him intense pleasure.
Unlike the cloistered book-worm, who reads without
appreciation, his mind  feasted  on literature, and he
could leave the secluded delights of his study to enjoy
the feast of reason and flow of soul at social reunions.
With varied intellectual tastes, we can easily appreciate
the grave difficulties which beset him in youth when
selecting his future vocation.  We can readily imagine
that the  muses  of  History  and  Poetry mourned
as they saw him join the retinue of iEsculapius, and that
these and  kindred spirits, though losing his chief al-
legiance, nevertheless failed not to  give him benedic-
tion and talismanic guidance through life.
  Dr. Roberts was a man sui generis.  We read of the
coteries which were held  at  diverse times during a by-
gone but not  forgotten period  of  English literature.
It has often struck me, in contemplating Dr. R., what a
genial companion he would have been at such gather-
ings.
  Cowley and Dryden, Prior and Pope, Burns, Addi-
son and Parnell, were centers around  whom clustered
the wits, geniuses, and titled of their times ; but these,
and many of their associates, were injured by their in-
temperate habits, while Prior was openly scandalous in
his lustful debaucheries.
  Dr.  R. possessed  many of the  mental  attributes
which history accords to  these authors, but he eclipsed 
25
 them, for he was free from their vices.  In regulating
 the actions of his life, any undue bibulous propensity
 was checked by temperance, any lecherous tendency
 was restrained by chastity.
   Early in his career acquiring studious habits, and pre-
 vented for a long period by business from prosecuting
 his researches during the day, he became accustomed
 to employ hours "In the  silent watches  of the  night,
 calm night that breedeth thoughts."
   Refreshed by his  favorite draught, a cup of coffee,
 and calmed by  the fumes  of tobacco, if  pressed for
 time, or if his theme was of interest, he heeded not the
 call for rest which his weary body demanded.   This
 custom, early established, he continued late in life.
   Dr. Roberts was warm  in  his attachments, and in-
 capable of entertaining bitter  animosity.  There was
 one class of persons, however, toward whom  he felt  a
 sovereign  contempt, and in  speaking  of such he was
 choice  in  the selection of  opprobrious  epithets.   I
 refer to medical charlatans, or to those who, while still
 within the pale of the regular profession, are its mere
 parasites and are guilty of unbecoming conduct.   The
 code of medical ethics, like the Decalogue, was written
 indelibly on the tablets of his mind, and as guides to
 him they were almost alike sacred.
  Regarding Dr. R. in whatever aspect we  may, either
 for  rectitude, learning  or affability, we cannot fail to
 recognize that he was an extraordinary man.   Could
 Dickens have portrayed his character to  the world,
 the world would have admired his industry and genius,
 been amused at his  idiosyncrasies  and sparkling wit,
 have wept at his tenderness to the  poor and friendless,
and mourned at  his death as for a friend. 
26
  We have thus, Mr. President, briefly passed in review
the principal events in the life of our departed friend:
too briefly,  indeed,  for  a  life  which  had reached a
period  of nearly three-score  and ten years.   It must
be remembered, however, that his writings will be his
enduring monuments; few  extraordinary occurrences
were conspicuous in his career, and the duties incident
to the  routine of daily life, though they were so faith-
fully performed as to endear him to his family and
friends, are not fitting subjects for extended  public re-
cital.
   It remains for us to allude to his religious character,
and to the closing scenes of his life.   Many years ago
Dr. R. was confirmed, and became a communicant  in
the Episcopal Church.   He made no ostentatious dis-
play of his religious feelings.  His philosophical mind
weighed as  thoughtfully theological matters, as  it did
subjects relating to science.  In both he had an abiding
faith.  For some months  before his decease he felt that
death was approaching.  Secluded from female society,
missing the gentle ministrations of wife and daughters,
Dr. R., in the solitude of his office, spent many hours,
pensively meditating on the past and on the mysterious
eternity; but  he was strengthened by his meditations,
and cheered by one of his warm  personal friends and
patients with  such bright hopes and  anticipations for
the future, that death was coveted  rather than  feared.
   As showing how he communed in thought, the fol-
lowing memoranda, found after his death among his
private papers,  may be   very  properly   inserted:
" Sept. n, 1871.—Enter 61st year in good health, but
suffering from my  catarrh of forty years ; thankful to
God for past favors, and  hopeful for the future." 
27
  " Feb. 11 '73.—Visible weakness, pulse 160 and ir -
regular, great oppression in breathing, frequent palpita-
tion, asthma and complete despondency as to the future.
I thank my merciful Creator for His mercy in reliev-
ing me so soon, and I pray to Him for yet some length
of days and usefulness without suffering.  Amen.   I
have been very ill / perhaps I have the seeds of a mor-
tal  disease,  but my recovery has been prompt and
promising, and I  offer my  most devout and  grateful
thanks  to Almighty God."  Again, referring to  the
distressing symptoms from which he was suffering, he
concluded :  " Finis appropinquet—sed haud timeo, in
Salvatore meo confido"
  It was  in  February,  1873, that I was called to  see
him professionally in conjunction with Dr. Cheesman,
and it was but too evident he was suffering with an or-
ganic affection of  the  heart.   Dyspnoea was urgent,
and  insomnolency  from such suffering was most  dis-
tressing.  For  quite a  period before this time  he had
partaken  irregularly of  his  meals, had drank perhaps
inordinately of strong  coffee, and had indulged  too
freely in smoking.  Inquisitive about his condition, it
became necessary  at an  early  period to  inform  him
that a cardiac bruit was distinctly audible; but for
reasons we have just stated, he at first regarded such
souffle as  indicative rather of anaemia than of organic
disease.   By regulating the  habits of his life, etc., Dr.
R. was again placed in  a  decidedly more comfortable
condition.   Repeated  attacks of  dyspnoea and  con-
tinued irregularities  of the heart's action doubtless
early convinced him that  he was suffering from an or-
ganic affection, and he  came to the same view of his
case as had been early entertained by his medical at-
tendants. 
28
  For most of the time from February to December,
Dr. R. was enabled to attend to his practice, to his du-
ties as Police Surgeon, and to the sessions of several
of the medical societies to which he was attached. The
prospect of confinement to the house, with protracted
suffering from his organic disease, was often the occa-
sion of  mental  anxiety; but it was ordained that his
evil forebodings were not to be realized.
  On the  30th of November he attended  a case of
midwifery, and was detained over night.   On the fol-
lowing day he reported at  the Central Park, and re-
turned to  his office completely overcome from extreme
exhaustion.   From here he was taken to the residence
of a son who had just removed to New York.  Here,
in the course of a few days, his life gently ebbed away.
Sons and their families affectionately watched  him
and ministered to his wants, and a number of his med-
ical friends took pleasure in uniting with his relatives
in kindly  offices.   No agonizing throes  or paroxysms
of dyspnoea  disturbed his  final  hours.   While more
comfortable, and choosing the sitting posture, the dis-
tress  he experienced was  incident simply to extreme
exhaustion.   On the 9th of December, 1873, the final
gasp was  given, and the heart gently ceased to  beat,
the  departing spirit giving a kindly farewell to  its
tenement  of  clay.    His earnest desire for a euthana-
sia was  granted.
  Thus passed away  our  friend  and associate, Dr.
Roberts.  He had but few ties of kindred, but  at his
funeral was gathered a company as remarkable for its
respectability as for its goodly number—his sorrowing
family, a large representation of the medical profession
of this  community,  warmly attached patients—while 
29
the Police of the Central Park  requested that they
might  be represented, which request was  granted by
the Commissioners, and their deputation, with love and
regard, bore the coffin of their benefactor.
   Another asterisk has been added to our list of mem-
bers to indicate the  death of a Fellow—another star
has been added on high  to the galaxy of  the  " Gath-
ered Fathers."
   This Academy has had its large proportion of those
who have finished their careers at a ripe period, exem-
plars of learning, exemplars of pillared rectitude.  We
possess no sacred edifice in which  to gather the  dust
of our cherished dead, but our hearts  are abbeys, in
which  are  embalmed hallowed memories  of our  de-
parted worthies. 
30
   RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  NEW YORK
           ACADEMY OF  MEDICINE.

   At a special meeting of the New York Academy
of  Medicine, held in  the  lecture-room of  St.  Mark's
Church,  December 12th, 1873, a committee, consisting
of Drs. G. M. Smith,  Oliver White,  and John L. Van-
dervoort, presented the following preamble and resolu-
tions, which were unanimously adopted :

  Whereas, It has pleased an all-wise Providence, to remove by death,
William C. Roberts, M.D., Vice-President of the New York Academy of
Medicine, therefore,
  Resolved,  That the Fellows of the Academy are called upon to mourn
the loss of an associate, loved for his social qualities, respected for his
courtesy and rectitude, and honored for his erudition.
  Resolved,  That the Fellows will ever pleasantly recall  the brilliancy of
his wit, the  readiness of his  anecdotal illustrations, the richness of his
poetical and classical learning, and the happy fluency of his extempore
speech.
  Resolved,  That the numerous productions of his pen  will not only be
an enduring monument of his industry, but will also permanently per-
petuate the clearness of his acumen, the force of his logic, and the  ripe-
ness of his scholarship.
  Resolved,  That the  Fellows attend his funeral in a body, and that a
copy of these resolutions be engrossed in the minutes of the Academy,
be presented to the. family, and be printed in the medical journals of this
city.

                     Austin Flint, M.D., President.
W. T. White, M.D., Secretary. 
 
 
 
 
 
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