# m? '&) PROFESSOR GILBERTS VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 3- PHILADELPHIA: KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 0 GEORGE STREET. 184(5. r t VALEDICTORY ADDRESS GRADUATING CLASS % MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA C0LLECE; FOR THE SESSION OF 1845-46. v/ BY D. GILBERT, M.D. PROFESSOR OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF SVRCERY. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CLASS. iifttjk PHILADELPHIA: KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 9 GEORGE STREET. 1846. CORRESPONDENCE. Philadelphia, March 4, ll346. Sib: ment of Pennsylvania College, held in the Reading-room, Dr. Wm. B. Baker, of "Pennsylvania, having been appointed Chairman, and Dr. H. S. Huber, of Illinois, Secretary; we were appointed a committee to solicit of you a copy of your inter- esting and instructive valedictory address for publication. In complying with this request, we cordially unite with our fellow graduates in expressing our high sense of its merits, and sincerely believe that its publication would tend greatly to enhance the reputation of our Institution, and to dignify the character of the medical profession. Very respectfully yours, &c. BENJAMIN F. CHATHAM, New Jersey. CLAYTON A. COWGILL, Delaware. F. D. DELLINGER, Missouri. BARTON C. LLOYD, Pennsylvania. DAVID B. HAYS, Virginia. HENRY S. HUBER, Illinois. BENJAMIN MIESSE, Ohio. WILLIAM TERRY, Connecticut. N. CHAPMAN SKINNER, North Carolina. JARED LERCH, Pennsylvania. To Professor Gilbert. Philadelphia, March 4, 1846. Gentlemen : Your polite communication requesting a copy of my valedictory address for publication has been received. The approval by the class of the sentiments which it embodies, and your desire " to enhance the reputation of" your Alma Mater, constrain meto waive any objections which I might have, and I therefore herewith send you a copy. Accept for yourselves, gentlemen, as well as for your fellow graduates, ardent wishes for your success, usefulness and happiness, from Yours respectfully, D. GILBERT. To Drs. Benj. F. Chatham. Clayton A. Cowgill. F. D. Dellinger. Barton C. Lloyd. David B. Hays. Henry S. Huber. Benjamin Miesse. William Terry. N. Chapman Skinner. J ABED LERCH. ADDEESS. s. Gentlemen: The last event which connected you with us, your pre- ceptors, and the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College, as pupils, has passed. You have complied with the usual requisitions and earned the honors of graduation. The long cherished consummation of your arduous prepara- tory course is now attained. The interests and honor of our profession have this day been committed into your hands; these are high and important, and demand the entire concen- tration of all your powers for their preservation. Your life is now devoted to works of benevolence and mercy. New ob- jects of mental anxiety and care begin to occupy your atten- tion. Whatever the character of your hopes or fears may be, in regard to the diversified prospect of the future, you have before you the stimulus of a good object in life in the faithful discharge of your professional duties. Pursue this object with sincerity and fidelity, and it will sustain you in struggling with difficulties, if need be, and in pressing forward to secure the honors of the arena of professional life. In taking leave of you, as a Faculty, on this occasion, it has been made my duty to say a few words to you in refer- ence to your future course, and the duties which pertain to the labours and responsibilities of professional life. The first source of anxiety to the young physician springs from the supposed difficulty in finding an eligible location. The opinion is too prevalent, that our profession is more densely crowded than the other learned ones. The popular press will soon issue its stereotyped announcements of the large num- bers graduated by our medical Colleges. But were all who are admitted annually into the ranks of the other professions brought together, and introduced by classes, would our jour- nalists not have occasion to notice them also ? These are, however, admitted singly, at all times, in every part of the country, and hence their far-exceeding numbers do not appear —are not known. An examination of the census of the United States shows a smaller number of members in our profes- sion than in either of the others. And did time permit, we could show you, from undoubted statistics, that the number admitted by all our medical Colleges, does not exceed the 4 demand created by vacancies from death, and the increase of population. It should be remembered in connection with this, also, that a large proportion of our graduates never prac- tice medicine; others were practitioners for years prior to graduation, and return to fill their own places, whilst not a few come here for their medical education from the neigh- bouring provinces; for even this institution, though in com- parative infancy, has already sent its diplomas into the West Indies and British America. Look around you in every community, and you will find that every well qualified and worthy member of our profession is employed and ^up- ported. Yea, even the unskilled pretender, and, in some instances, the worthless profligate, is sustained. In deciding the question of location, always keep in view the great duty which devolves upon you, as set apart for the sacred purpose of alleviating the bodily sufferings and preserving the lives of your fellow-men. The desire for gain, the ambition of fame, and even the love of science itself, should be objects of secondary consideration. Influenced by such motives, and actuated by the principles which legitimately flow from them, you will succeed wherever there is a population to need your services. Should you select the crowded city, your wiorth will soon be known and duly appreciated; or should you prefer the east or north—the far-distant west, or sunny south— you will find human suffering enough to afford you ample employment. The ever-swelling tide of population is extend- ing in all directions; yesterday it reached the bases of the Rocky Mountains—to-day, it mingles its spray with the salt flood of the great Pacific—to-morrow, it may reach distent California; and thus it widens and spreads, whilst tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands are annually added to the population within, requiring a corresponding increase in the number of those whose duty it is " to heal the sick." Another ground of anxiety, and one which is often too much dreaded, is competition. This cannot be avoided, £ven in locations which, in the judgment of disinterested persons, present good openings; nor should it be feared. When your competitor is an honorable and high-minded man, there is no ground for apprehension, provided you maintain the same character yourselves. An honorable rivalship will prove beneficial to both parties. It will excite a praise-worthy spirit of improvement and emulation; and what is of equal importance, provides for the community the united counsel of enlightened men in all difficult cases of disease. If your opponent does all that he can for himself in an equitable manner, you have no right to complain:—if he labors in a 5 noble spirit for the honor and promotion of medical science, whatever his position in the profession may be, give place to neither envy nor jealousy, for he advances your interests as well'as his own. Should he, however, labor to magnify his own abilities, and stealthily to depreciate yours, do not oppose him, for he will do injury only to himself. The advantages which you have enjoyed give you, we trust, a degree of strength and qualification which will prostrate all his mis- chievous designs. The members of the profession, generally, are characterized by an observance of the acknowledged prin- ciples of professional courtesy, still, you may be brought in contact with men, who will disregard every friendly overture, and seize every opportunity when called to your patients, either in your absence or in consultation, by affected kind- ness and meddlesome attentions, to displace you. You will find such ever busy in conducting a system of espionage, in refer- ence to the patients and professional conduct of others. They will waste much of their time in idle gossip, vainly attempting to ingratiate themselves by a system of low cunning and vain boasting, and changing with chameleon aptitude, assume the sentiments of the supposed governing influences in the com- munity, no matter how erroneous, being ready for any thing, to obtain favour with the multitude. The reflecting and honest portion of the community, however, soon see through the thin veil with which they attempt to disguise themselves, and reward them according to their deserts. Young.men, as- sailed in this way, are often tempted to retaliate and thus fall into similar practices. Error seems to them to sway the world, and hence they the more readily embrace it. Against this we desire most impressively to caution you—let them alone—do not take the trouble to refute their calumnies too often—or you bring yourselves down to their level. If men will live by detraction and chicanery let them enjoy it with- out molestation. At most, decline all intercourse with these mercenary competitors after having given them the usual opportunities of reciprocal, friendly, and honorable relations. Let your policy, gentlemen, be honesty. Avoid all that is usually called management in getting into business. Let in- tegrity, free from all art and deceit, characterize your profes- sional conduct. Use no craftiness, trick, or stratagem, but in all cases, be guided by the well-established principles of medi- cal ethics, which were so fully discussed at our weekly meet- ings for conversation. Place your reliance upon good sense, eminent professional attainments, and character; and never succumb to vice or error, but with true independence, in this day of empirical temptation and moral enterprise, 6 always dare to be found on the side of truth and right, no matter who fosters the wrong. A very considerable share of the errors and entanglements of professional men can be traced to idleness. Want of busi- ness is no excuse for this. Time, not occupied in professional duties, is precious to the young physician and should be carefully and methodically improved. The importance of this will appear when you reflect that your profession is for life, and that you may make its early cultivation not only the means of averting difficulties of this nature, but of intellectual and moral growth. The records of the medical profession everywhere declare this important truth; that her eminent men have been devoted students in their youth, and ceased not their application when they received their diploma. No unstudious or unreflecting mind, with the best collegiate ad- vantages alone, can become a Richter, a John Hunter, a Rush, or a Phtsick. The corner-stone and foundation, merely, of your professional edifice have been laid; the superstructure is to be erected by your own exertions; its form, symmetry, and dimensions will depend upon your own future industry. No brilliancy of talent, no strength of reason, will suffice for eminence, in any profession, without diligence. A deter- mined purpose and persevering industry can alone secure success. A contrary course will result in failure, and cause you to sink under the weight of conscious error, if possessed of ordinary sensibility; and truth, and all of the world which upholds the truth, will be your foe. Cultivate your profession, and it will give you a fair fame, and an honoured place amongst men. Keep pace with its advancements, and you will have the confidence of all; individuals will look to you as their defence against suffering; communities will ask you to investigate those influences which favour the existence and extension of epidemic diseases, and when the pestilence is among the people, " wasting at noonday and walking in darkness," governments will come to you for light and aid. This may seem to some of you, to add largely to the ordi- nary cares of life—but "Life's cares are comforts; such by heaven designed; He that has none, must make them, or be wretched. Cares are employments ; and without employ The soul is on a rack, the rack of rest." Your future studies, gentlemen, I will not presume, upon this occasion, to prescribe. I have, more than once, in the course of my lectures, urged upon you the importance of cul- tivating a thorough knowledge of all the departments of 7 medicine. On all these, works of acknowledged excellence abound in almost bewildering abundance. From these you can select such as your own judgment, perhaps aided by friends, may dictate. And whilst the American press is fur- nishing an abundant supply, you should not neglect to avail yourselves of the advantages which may be derived by read- ing foreign works of established character. Of these, the British and French receive marked attention from the lovers of medical literature, whilst those of Germany are still too much neglected. The world is, however, beginning to acknowledge the just claims of Germany. Being em- phatically the land of books in general literature, so in medicine, in no part of the world are all its departments cul- tivated with greater diligence and success. Hence it follows, that in England and in this country, a knowledge of German is beginning to be regarded as almost indispensable to tho- rough scholarship in medicine. It is not easy to commune, thoroughly, with the German mind, in its profound researches, simply by translation or report. Being a primitive language, and remarkably full, rich, and expressive, it is difficult to convey its full import in another tongue. That each one may avail himself of the rich stores which are locked up in it, as in an immense magazine, he should study this language; and it will open to him the thoughts and doings of men, who have accomplished whatever is brilliant in genius, or profound in medical philosophy. We need but recite the names of Schwan, of Chelius, of Miiller, of Stromeyer, of Liebig, and of Deiffenbach, already familiar to us all; but these are only isolated rays—individual stars of that magnificent galaxy which illumines the literary hemisphere of Germany. A great amount of ignorance and error has, however, especially in this country, prevailed in reference to the literary position of Germany. The debt of gratitude due to her is neither trifling nor unimportant. It is to her we are indebted for the art and foundation of all arts—the art of printing. Every department of literature and science has been adorned by her genius and talent. In mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, and theology, she boasts of powerful names, whilst in medi- cine, as already stated, no field of inquiry has yielded more splendid results than " das Valerland." You will find it an important aid in the acquisition of know- ledge, to keep a record of every important fact met with in reading and practice, in the form of an "index rerum," and case book. This is a valuable means of perfecting your- selves in a science so full of fact and theory as ours. In this way you collect and retain knowledge, which is available 8 whenever needed. With these progressive attainments, you will build up a superstructure which becomes less laborious and lighter as it rises; and ascending with it, you will enjoy a purer atmosphere and a more extensive prospect of all that pertains to the domain of medicine. He that stores up and collates the greatest number of facts, will advance the most rapidly in the acquisition of all that is valuable to the prac- titioner. In this way can we account for the fact, that the young practitioner, with a comparatively limited experience, may be a much better physician than his aged colleague, who lets his facts go as they occur, and thus fails to profit by his experience. Thus may your time be occupied, during the intervals of professional duty—and thus it will be occupied by all that are ambitious of virtuous distinction, which is always attain- able, when a high standard of eminence is fixed, and perse- vering diligence and unremitting devotion characterize the efforts. This appropriation of your spare time may bring upon you various reproaches in reference to your social cha- racter ; some may represent you as too much of a recluse; or some doubtful professional friend, who considers himself of endless importance to the community, on account of his hap- hazard practice, low wit, and senseless ridicule, may represent you as slothful, or without practice, and devoted to theoretical fancies. The poet has, however, aptly said : "Not slothful he tho' seeming unemployed, And censured oft as useless; stillest streams Oft water fairest meadows; and the bird That flutters least, is longest on the wing." The encouragements to further inquiry are numerous. You have had furnished to you the results of the labours of the wise, for centuries, from every part of the world. The principles, thus established, by the experience and diligent investigations of preceding generations, we have endeavoured to teach you —they are your birthright. This increasing array of medical learning, this accumulating knowledge of centuries, (as on a superficial view might be feared,) has no tendency towards the introduction of confusion from the multiplicity of subjects upon which increasing light is shed; for arrangement and classification have simplified and reduced the chaos of iso- lated facts to order, which otherwise, would serve only to perplex and mislead the judgment. A true philosophy asks but few causes to explain its phenomena; refraction solves the problem of the endless variety of colours—attraction, of motion: and thus medicine is continually approaching per- fection in the reduction of the types of disease, through the 9 generalization furnished by pathological investigations. In anatomy, take as an example the seemingly endless compli- cation of the nervous system, which, by the towering genius of Sir Charles Bell, was arranged into five simple classes, presiding over the same number of distinct functions. Medi- cine has also progressed in the method of investigating dis- eases, by a more simple and philosophical analysis of symp- toms, placing the department of semiology almost upon an equality with the exact sciences. The phenomena and effects of disease are now the subjects of investigation. These are sure guides to knowledge, which made but little real progress so long as vain researches were had in reference to the proxi- mate causes of disease. The drapery of the schoolmen has been discarded, the nature of disease is sought for in altered tissue and function, and their cure committed to the appro- priate application of an equally sound system of therapeutics. Mere names, the remains of the old Galenic school, are no- thing ; they may lead to speculation, but to nothing tangible —nothing real—the chain of disease proceeding from the great first cause ; the error was, that men vainly sought to study the links next to the Deity, instead of those of the other extremity. From this it follows that disease is now better understood ; a vast number of local affections, formerly considered general, and involved in obscurity, are now detected with almost unerring certainty. This improved diagnosis leads to fixed principles in practice and uniformity of treatment. Another result is the less frequent employment of indiscriminate active constitutional treatment. Many cases, which a few years ago were combatted by bleeding, calomel and other heroic mea- sures, are now more properly and successfully treated by milder remedies. Again, instead of resorting to constitutional treatment, many diseases are now reached and subdued by means of a local character alone, or the use of such remedies, given internally, as exert a specific sanitary influence upon the organs or tissues implicated. Thus disease is less pro- tracted, treatment milder, suffering abridged, and recovery more certain—all because medicine is now studied as an in- ductive science, rather than as a mysterious medley of anti- quated jargon. Do not suppose, however, that we wish to convey the im- pression that medicine has attained perfection. It is far from it, and consequently, there remains much to be accomplished. It has however partaken largely, of the spirit of the age in which we live, which has been progressive and is still onward. We claim only a large share of improvement for our pro- 10 fession, in all its departments, and as a whole; admitting that great advancements yet remain to be made. In this laudable work you must participate. Future ages will look to the men of the present day for it. But the most exclusive devotion to your profession will not wholly protect you from trials. There will be joy and sorrow ; perhaps more sorrow than its opposite. There will be sleepless nights; posts of danger will have to be occupied by you in times of pestilence, whilst others are seeking safety in flight—there will be unrequited services; it may be a scanty income, envious competitors, and malignant slanderers. But yet it is a noble service, and he who resolutely and honestly determines to rise above these embarrassments of the physi- cian's life, seldom fails to accomplish it. He will have friends —the gratitude and confidence of the wise and good ; a com- petency, and the ever abiding luxury, which flows from acts of benevolence and mercy. Neither are trials at all times to be shunned. The lord of the forest needs storm and tempest, as well as the genial rain and sunshine, to plant his roots deep and wide, and to spread his arms aloft in the air. Some- times an apparent calamity eventuates in unexpected good, and an adversity proves a source of joy and satisfaction after- wards. ~ It is well to cultivate equanimity of temper, and en- deavour at all times, to act with fortitude. Make the best of every thing. Take life as it comes, with a storm to-day, and a sun to-morrow: and in this way you will wrestle suc- cessfully with the trials of early professional life ; feeling con- fident that, with the principles in view which we have endea- voured to inculcate, every obstacle will be overcome. ^ It is a sublime spectacle to behold an individual thus struggling against vicissitudes and misfortunes, conscious of rectitude of purpose and of conduct, and coming out of every fiery trial with the gold of professional character purer and brighter. The individual who thus wrestles and trusts will triumph. His name will live and flourish, when that of the indolent and time-serving has been forgotten. Your responsibilities, gentlemen, are of a momentous cha- racter ; your duty requires you to husband well your time and opportunities in obtaining knowledge, which, when ac- quired, is not your own, for it belongs to the world; rendering it obligatory upon you to disseminate it, as well as to apply it for the alleviation of suffering humanity. These responsibi- lities proceed from the dearest interests of society, and flow from its tenderest relations. They spring from the hopes of friendship, the love of parents, and from the holiest and purest affections of the social circle. They come to us from every position which man can occupy, from the humblest to the 11 most exalted station, and from him, as a being of time and of eternity. To meet these, what manner of men should you not be ? All knowledge, wisdom and goodness should be yours. Here, gentlemen, we might stop and pronounce the final word, but the position which you are destined to occupy in society, the duties and responsibilities which necessarily devolve upon you, and the interest which we cherish in your behalf as alumni of this institution, irresistibly lead us to crowd into this parting moment counsels of another nature. We desire that the exercises of this day may be more than mere ceremony, or any transient display; but that abiding impressions be made. And that the rising moral character of the profession may have your efficient co-operation—therefore, 1st. In your professional and other studies, fortify your- selves against every device of scepticism. Formerly, unbe- lief in a great first cause amongst medical men was com- paratively common. It constituted, for centuries, the foul blot, the moral opprobrium of the profession. We ought, however, not to be surprised, that the human mind, at the dawn of the sciences, in its exclusive devotion to the study of material man, lost sight of spiritual existences, when we remember, that by a similar process of abstraction, in inves- tigating its own nature, it arrived at the equally absurd con- clusion, that the physical universe was all a delusion. In that day, the moral and physical sciences were in their infancy, and widely separated. Special anatomy, the principal ele- mentary study of the physician, stood alone ; embracing, com- paratively, a meagre view of the grosser organs of the body, destitute of the light, now so abundantly shed by micro- scopic and other minute investigations. Its associate sciences, Physiology, Histology, Comparative Anatomy, and the Physical Sciences in general, which now throw around us such a flood of light, had then no existence. Haller had not yet lived to reduce to order, the few isolated facts known respecting the functions of the organs composing the human body, considered, even then, a wonderful piece of mechan- ism. Bichat and his compeers, long after that, unra- velled the animal tissues, and constructed that simple, yet stupendous system, which embraces equally every portion of the animal kingdom. Owing to this condition of the fundamental sciences, and the embryo state of the collateral, the members of our profession had but an imperfect glimpse of that great book of the Universe, in which the exist- ence and character of its Author is displayed. But the times of this ignorance have passed away, and the light of Heaven is now so clearly shed upon all the studies of the physician, that there remains not a single dark nook or corner 12 in which scepticism may hide. The few points which then con- stituted the departments in the scientific world, widely sepa- rate in a vast unknown sea, have received numerous addi- tions since ; these have grown and spread, and coalesced into one vast continent, embracing knowledge from the microscopic animalcule to the most exalted spiritual existence, to the ex- clusion of that ocean of ignorance and error, which so long kept physical and moral truth asunder. Instead of the ob- scure omnipotency of chance, we now, every where, discover evidences of a designing Deity ; not less in the minute tex- ture and delicate functions of animal and vegetable tissues, than in the magnitude, order and symmetry of movements of the heavenly bodies. Hence the student of nature who doubts in the present day, is regarded either as very super- ficial in his attainments, or as under the influence of some one of the many forms of intellectual obliquity. 2d. In your studies, and in your professional intercourse, regard man as a moral being—contemplate him in his entire character, as a being, consisting not only of body and intellect, but also of heart or soul—with a destiny, which embraces time and eternity, earth and heaven. It is all idle to contemplate man without taking into the account his moral relations and responsibilities, and as amenable to a moral law. We all acknowledge the physical laws of the universe, usually called " the laws of nature," but these are not more fixed and certain than those of the moral universe, for they both emanate from Him who created both matter and spirit. These two great systems of law harmonize with each other most perfectly, and whenever there is any appa- rent discrepancy, the error is in the short-sightedness of poor, feeble humanity. The record of both is permanent and un- changeable ; the one, written on every atom of matter com- posing the material universe, the other, upon the heart of man, and in that wondrous book which alone professes to contain what God has spoken to man. Man by a knowledge of the one law, draws from the raging tempest that most subtle, and powerful, and terrific of all physical agents, and makes it his servant, to carry his commands, regardless of distance and without measurement of time; this is, however, but the near- est physical approximation to the nature and extent of the power which he draws from Heaven through intercourse held with the unseen and eternal, in the exercise of that sublimest affection, love, which is the fulfilment of the other law. That the present state of man is preliminary, or introductory, to a higher future condition of being, no one will deny, save the " Hopeless, dark, idolator of chance." 13 He has a soul with capacities for indefinite progression ; an intellectual susceptibility of almost illimitable enlargement; a moral nature capable of God-like virtues and glory; sympa- thies and emotions that can embrace the infinite and the ever- lasting. Do not all these indicate a destiny that reaches into another world ? ii it the fitting end of a wonderful piece of mechanism to be dashed to pieces just when constructed ? is the eye created to be opened on God's sun, and then quenched in eternal darkness ? No: " God has never placed man as his child between this glorious earth and sky, and waked in him hope and faith that look beyond the sun's walk to the face of the invisible, merely to dash the infant archangel down the steep of everlasting nothingness!" Man then having a soul of wonderful powers, with a corresponding destiny, subject to the moral government of the Creator, it follows:— 3d. That he should recognize religion as an all control- ling principle and duty. Robert Hall, in his clear and forcible style, has said, " Apart from the religious aspects of man, time has no importance, eternity no glory: man is a shadow, his very existence a riddle, and the stupendous crea- tion around him, as incoherent and unmeaning as the leaves which the sybil scatters to the wind." There is, in the reli- gion of the Bible, a most perfect adaptation to the nature and capacities, and immortal longings of the human soul. It is the fountain from which streams issue to purify the moral world; bearing upon their surface those unalterable principles of right, which give life and vigor to every useful institution of man. Let your life then, gentlemen, be -devoted to its interests, and consecrated by its precepts. You will enjoy the greatest possible amount of happiness, become co-workers with those who exert a most salutary influence on the moral, social and civil interests of the world; an influence which, unseen and silent, is now preserving the peace of nations. Each one of you may be the centre of a thousand, for good or for evil, the whole amount of which cannot be developed this side of Eternity. Be assured that "Christian is the highest style of man." This will qualify you for the active benevolence which should characterize the good physician, make plain your duties and responsibilities, fit you for every work in society which promises to ameliorate the condition of man; and in your profession, when experience fails and judg- ment is at a stand, you can lift up the mind to its source, and there obtain the needed aid. When trials are to be endured, " His hand the good man fastens on the skies, And bids earth roll, nor fears her idle whirl." 14 With these desultory thoughts, thrown together, amidst the labors pertaining to the close of the session, we receive and welcome you into the ranks of your chosen profession, and to a participation of its honors and rewards. But in the very act of introducing you, and offering you our congratulations, a sense of sadness mingfes with the wonted joy, which the occasion is calculated to inspire, arising from the fact that we, who have met so often, as a Faculty and as a class, shall meet no more, as such, forever. It seems but as yesterday when we met you as strangers; daily intercourse soon united us in bonds of friendship. The hours which we have occupied in imparting instruction to you, will leave an impress, to which we will ever revert with unmingled plea- sure. You must also separate from each other. Coming from the several sections of this vast Republic, you met here and joined hands with each other. Actuated by the same motives, and cheered by the same hope, your sympathies soon mingled in the same channel when toiling together in ascending the steeps of professional eminence; which resulted, doubtless, in a most happy relation, now to be interrupted, but we trust not to be forgotten. But there are others here, from whom you must separate, who are entitled to a large share of your affectionate regard and abiding remembrance. In leaving the still valleys, the peaceful retirements, the gay circles, and many endearments of home ; its ties of friendship and of love, though severed for a season, were almost forgotten, amidst the kind hospitalities which charactertize the citizens of this your place of temporary sojourn. By these you were received with -all the confidence of friendship. They minis- tered to your enjoyments, supplied your wants, cheered you in despondency, sympathized with you in afflictions, watched at your bedside when overtaken by disease, and-are here present, to offer you their congratulations on entering the threshold of your professional career. Soon we must all part, but the triple cord of friendship between yourselves, between you and these honored representatives of this hospitable city, and between you and us, shall never be severed; no—never. Go forth then as good Samaritans, as ministering angels, blending a profound knowledge of your profession, with that cheerfulness which belongs to the consciousness of the pro- fession of right principles and the practice of virtue. And when you approach the close of your career, a course of virtuous prosperity will gild the retrospect of life, whilst before you will be the cheering prospect due to well-spent time. Indulging high hopes and earnest wishes for your honor, usefulness and happiness, in the name of the Faculty, I bid you an affectionate—farewell. PENNSYLVANIA MEDICAL COLLEGE, SESSION OF 1845-46. At a public commencement of the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College, held in the Hall of the Chinese Museum, Philadelphia, March 4th, 1846, the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon the following gentlemen, pupils of the Institution, they having deposited Theses on the subjects set opposite to their respective names, and undergone a satisfactory examination. NAME. STATE. SUBJECT OF THESIS. PRECEPTOR. William B. Baker, Pennsylvania^ ^^eeth^and some of JDr. wiltbank. James Brotherton, Pennsylvania, Gonorrhoea, d •. t, «~.u .v xt t C Phenomena and Theory") Benj'nF.Chatham,New Jersey, { of inflammation, S Clayton A. Cowgill, Delaware, Fred. D. Dellinger, Missouri, f Medical Topography of") \ Cantwell's Bridge, J /The Peculiarities of Wo- \ \ man, J James Brotherton. Jump. Dairach. J. R. Ward. ...,_. „ . . f Rel'nsofPhysiology.PaO « Alfred Earle, Pennsylvania, | tnology & TneUrapeutics / Alexander Frazier, Pennsylvania, Cholera infantum, Jacob S. Giltner, ' Pennsylvania, Pseudo-Arthrosis, David B. Hays, Virginia, Inguinal Hernia, John H. Helffrich, Pennsylvania, Leucorrhosa, Daniel Hershey, Pennsylvania, Typhus Fever, And. M. Hiestand, Pennsylvania, Scarlatina, John L. Hill, Ohio, Hysteria, Henry Hollemback, Pennsylvania, Sanguinaria Canadensis. .... . (Effects of Ergot on the") Illinois, £ Unimpregnated Uterus, j f Constitutional Effects of \ Henry S. Huber, John Johnson, Charles K. Ladd, Kellogg. " Darrach. Drs. Dale and Dougal. Dr. G. McClellan. " Zengerl. " John L. Atlee. " W. S. Maxwell. " D. Gilbert. " Allen. Wiltbank. Pennsylvania, | Local injury, Pennsylvania, Jaundice, Jared Lerch, * Pennsylvania, Blasenentziindung, John E. Lauer, Pennsylvania, Das Nerven-System, Joseph R. Layton, Delaware, Chorea, Abraham S. Long, Pennsylvania, Acute Dysentery, John B. Longshore, Pennsylvania, Abnormal Secretions, Barton C. Lloyd, Pennsylvania, Amenorrhffia, Edw. C. Luzenberg, Pennsylvania, Syphilis, Peter W. Malone, Pennsylvania, Erysipelas, Ohio, Allgemeine Pathologie. Ohio, Rheumatismus, Connecticut, Bright's Disease, Pennsylvania, Laryngitis Membranacea, Benjamin Miesse, Jonathan Miesse, Levi S. Pease, George I. Pfouts J. Gegan. Drs. Huston and Mason. Dr. D. S. Cooper. " J. M. Leon. " G. S. Layton. " W. A. Barry. " G. Spackman. " Barton Evans. «' C.M.Griffith. " G. B. Kerfoot. " G. Miesse. " C. Bluser. Drs.Hamilton & Strickland " Davison & Reed. Chris'n. S. Picking, Pennsylvania, Retroversion of the Uterus, Dr. W. R. Stewart. Benjamin Rohrer, Pennsylvania, Alusia Hypochondrias, N. Chap'n. Skinner.N. Carolina, History of Cinchona, William Terry, Richard Walton, Jacob I. Weaver, John L. Winters, Connecticut, Encephalitis, „ \ Reciprocal influences Of ") Pennsylvania,} Habit and Disease, 3 Pennsylvania, Morbus Coxarius, Pennsylvania, Congestive Fever, W. L. Atlee. Darrach. H. A. Hamilton. McCloskey. D. Gilbert. Isaac Winters. At the same time the Honorary Degree of M. D. was conferred upon the following gentlemen: Dk. Nathaniel Watson, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Dr. Barton Evans, York County, Pennsylvania. APPENDIX. The Medical Faculty of Pennsylvania College, at Philadelphia, is constituted as follows: WILLIAM DARRACH, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. JOHN WILTBANK, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. WILLIAM R. GRANT, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. HENRY S. PATTERSON, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy. DAVID GILBERT, M.D., Professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery. WASHINGTON L. ATLEE, M.D., Professor of Medical. Chemistry. The course of instruction commences on the first Monday in November of each year, and continues until the succeeding first of March. The pre-requisites for graduation are, three years study in the office of a re- spectable practitioner of medicine ; an attendance on two full courses of lectures, one of which must be in the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College; attend- ance on one course of clinical instruction in some institution approved by the Faculty, and a thesis written in the English, German, French, or Latin languages, on some medical or surgical subject. The Fees are as follows:—Matriculation fee, $5 00. Fee for admission to each course, $15 00. Graduation fee, $30 00. Dissecting ticket, $10 00. The buildings of the College, in Filbert Street above Eleventh, are spacious and commodious, containing two large and convenient Lecture Rooms, a Museum and Reading Room, a Chemical Laboratory, and large and commodious Anatomical Rooms. Pupils attending a second course in this College, are entitled to a ticket of admission to the Clinical instruction of Drs. Wood & Randolph at the Pennsylva. nia Hospital. HENRY S. PATTERSON, M.D., Registrar, No. 61 North Fourth Street. w ^V