{//if; :': £■ ''____ ADDRESS: DELIVERED AT THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ft ftnrita taittu 3Piral Sirrota, HELD AT UTtCA, TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1856, BY B. G. THOMAS, M.N> UTICA-: N. D. JEWELL, PRINTER, NO. 132 GENESEE STREET, 18 56. vf ADDRESS: DELIVERED AT THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ONEIDA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY, HELD AT UTICA, TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1856. BY D. G. THOMAS, M. D. UTICA: N. D. JEWELL, PRINTER, NO. 132 GENESEE STREET. 1856. CORRESPONDENCE. ------■ i»> »------ Utica, July 9th, 1856. D. G. Thomas, M. D.— Dear Sir:—In conformity to a resolution of the meeting assembled on the 8th inst., to commemorate the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Oneida County Medical Society, we, who were appointed a Committee for that pur- pose, take great pleasure in the duty assigned us, of requesting a copy of the interesting address, delivered by you on that occasion, for publication. Very respectfully yours, N. H. DERING, M. D., C. B. COVENTRY, M. D., M. M. BAGG,—Committee. Utica, July 12th, 1856. Gentlemen— I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your note, requesting a copy of the address, delivered on the 8th inst., at the celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Medical Society of the County of Oneida, for publication. The address was prepared for those engaged and interested in the celebration, and, as such, properly belongs to them. I therefore cheer- fully plaee it in the hands of the Committee, to be disposed of as they think proper. Very respectfully yours, D. G. THOMAS. Messrs. N. H. Dering, C. B. Coventry, M. M. Bagg,—Committee At the Semi-Annual meeting of the Medical Society of the County of Oneida, held at Rome, January 8th, 1856, the following Preamble and Resolution was offered by Dr. Blair, and adopted : Whereas, the next annual meeting of this Society will be its fiftieth anni- versary; therefore Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to make the necessary arrange- ments for holding a Semi-Centennial Celebration. D. G. Thomas, N. H. Dering, John McCall, C. B. Coventry, Arba Blair, Samuel Beach, Thomas Goodsell, and Luther Guiteau, were appointed said Committee. To carry out the arrangements of this Committee, the medical men of the County of Oneida met at Bagg's Hotel, in the city of Utica, July 8th, 1856. Dr. Thomas, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, in their behalf, made the following remarks, preliminary to the organization for the festival: Gentlemen:—■ Fifty years have just passed the first of this month, since twenty-nine of the medical men of the county of Oneida, met at Rome and organized the Oneida County Medical Society. At the semi-annual meeting of the Society, held at Rome the 8th of January, 1856, a Committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for holding a Semi-Centennial Celebration. They have fixed upon this day and this place for the interesting ceremonies. In behalf of that Committee, gentlemen, I welcome you to this hall; not as strangers but as brethren; fellow laborers in the same calling; members of one and the same noble Profession. Yes, gentlemen, we have come here to-day to commemorate an important Professional movement; to do honor to the founders of this Society, and to extend to the survivors of that noble band a cordial greeting. For .the purpose of organizing to accomplish these desirable ends, 1 will Dominate Dr. Arba Blair, of Rome, for President of this meeting. He was conducted to the Chair by Drs. McCall and Coventry, 6 Dr. Blair, on taking the Chair, alluded to the fact that himself and Dr. Alexander Whaley were the only members of the Society then present, who took part in its organization. Drs. Alexander Whaley, Samuel Beach, Thomas Goodsell and Seth Hastings, were chosen Vice Presidents, and M. M. Bagg, Secretary. Letters were read in response to invitations to attend this anniversary, from Drs. Laurens, Hull, and H. Norton, and from Hons. P. Gridley, J. W. Williams, S. Beardsley, H. Denio, A. B. Johnson, Col. E. Jewett, E. A. Wetmore, and W. J. Bacon. ADDRESS. ----•-••---- Mr. President and Gentlemen :— We have met to-day on no ordinary occasion. The lapse of half a century tells fearfully upon the living. It leaves its impress of change on country government and society. It has been marked by extensive discoveries in Science, by im- portant improvements in the healing art. For these reasons, greatly should I rejoice, did I feel fully competent to discharge the onerous duties which the courtesy of my associates in the committee of arrangements has assigned to me. Fortunate would it be for this occasion, and the associations with which it is connected, if some abler individual could spread before your mental vision, the picture of the last fifty years. I see around me to-day many who have toiled longer in the Profes- sion, with their honors thick upon them ; I see others who have more recently been admitted members, to share its re- sponsibilities and duties, who are far more worthy this distinc- tion. My eye runs over a long catalogue of illustrious names— names of men who have adorned the Medical Profession, and been numbered among its bright and shining ornaments; and I feel oppressed with the memory of the dead. If I lift my eyes and look around me, I am awed by the genius of the living. My thoughts stretch on to the future; yes, to that future which alone bounds the hopes and aspirations of every true lover of our vocation ; when the self-sacrificing labors of medical men will be rewarded by a just and appreciating pub- lie sentiment; and the vast field depresses my spirits. In this -dilemma the bard of olden time reminds me of a never failing remedy, as appropriate for us as it was to those of the 13th century : Thou therefore rise; vanquish thy weariness By the mind's effort, in each struggle formed To vanquish, if she suffer not the weight Of her corporeal frame to crush her down. It is the will to do that has urged man on to his present high attainments in Science and in Art; that has given the sub- lime conceptions of his fancy and imagination as they have been revealed to us in the productions of the Sculptor, the Painter* and Poet. It is this power of the mental over the physical being, which has for all time been moulding and gov- erning man in his social relations, continually giving him an increase of power over mind and matter, filling his history with the broad contrasts between his ignorance and knowledge, his crimes and his virtues. It is therefore well for us, in a cor- porate as in an individual capacity, to review the past, that we may gain instruction from its lessons of experience, wis. dom from its successes, its disappointments, and its cares. In the midst of our daily toils, actively engaged with the present; eager in the pursuit of wealth, or places of trust and honor ; we are too prone to lose sight of those events which are only known as the records of history. It is fortunate then, that in the cycle of years and ages, days like this should recur and be remembered with becoming ceremonies, for every incident connected with this celebration, brings vividly before us the improvements that have been made in medical science ; the master spirits who have sacrificed life, and health, or for- tune, in the promotion of its great objects. Centuries have passed since its first rude discoveries and feeble combinations were made available in the treatment of disease. During all of this time, every year has added to its materials and in- creased its strength. But I cannot traverse this wide field 9 and detail to you, the slow progress, the gradual expansion and development of our noble Profession. To-day we have come together to commemorate events in its history, which had their birth in the needs and wants of the nineteenth century. The history of the early settlement of the northern and western portions of this State, furnish us a sad picture of the qualifications of those who assumed the responsibilities of physicians. Many men, stimulated by cupidity and avarice, who had never seen the inside of a scientific treatise of medicine, were suddenly introduced to extensive business. From the zeal of officious friends, they were recommended because they boasted of wonderful cures, and thus obtained a popular reputation, sufficient to control in the public mind, the judgment and opinions of the few educated medical men that were then scattered through the country. Will the time ever come when misguided credulity will lose its sway over the human mind? To-day, the credulous advocates of empiricism appeal to pre- cisely the same delusive assertions, as the ground of their belief. These enemies of our prosperity are still hovering about our path. They rise, full grown and mature, from all the pursuits of life. The old and the young, the learned and the unlettered, are almost equally lured by their bold asser- tions, their pretended mysteries. The lawyer has turned from his brief, the judge has descended from his dignified position on the bench, and clergymen have left the appropriate field of their labors, to elevate and commend to public patronage, the mere pretenders to science and skill. In 1796, an effort was made to organize a Medical Society in the county of Saratoga. But the year of its organization witnessed its death. In November, 1805, the effort was renewed, and a meeting held in Ballston, when Dr. Patrick, Dr. Stearns, and Dr. Powel, were appointed a committee to correspond with physicians in Montgomery and Washington counties, on the subject. The medical men from the three counties held a meeting the 16th R 10 of January, 1806, when a memorial to the Legislature was adopted, asking for its sanction to the formation of a Medical Society. Dr. Fitch, of Washington, Dr. Stearns, of Saratoga, and Dr. Sheldon, of Montgomery, were appointed a committee to present this memorial to the Legislature. The memorial adopted by the meeting at Saratoga, was only designed for the three counties, but the committee pro- posed a general law for the State. Dr. Sheldon had been elected Speaker of the Assembly. This memorial, with its proposed extension of privileges was reported to the House and referred to a committee, the majority of whom were phy- sicians. They matured and reported the general law for the incorporation of Medical Societies. It met with a powerful opposition, and what think ye were the grounds of objection? It was the danger that would ensue to the peace and tran- quility of the State ; to have forty distinct associations of phy- sicians, with the corporate powers conferred on them by this bill. They little thought this great boon to society and the profession, would in a few years be neglected; that those it was designed most especially to benefit would begrudge the time it required, and the small tax necessary to sustain it as a corporate body, and fail to comply with its requisitions.— When these objections had been so greatly magnified that a decisive vote against the bill was hourly expected, William W. Vanness rose, its powerful and eloquent advocate. " He refuted the arguments of the opposition, portrayed the benefits to the profession and the public in such glowing colors and with so much energy and aeal, that the opposition became feeble, the friends of the bill increased, and from that moment the successful issue of the bill was rendered certain. To his memory do the profession owe a monument of marble, with their gratitude deeply engraven upon its tablet." It is not necessary now to enter into a discussion of the benefits of associated effort. It has been the strong motive power in society ever since the Great Lawgiver bound to- gether his chosen people, to the present time. The other pro- 11 fessions have become strong, powerful and progressive, in the proportion in which they have drawn themselves together and been united in their efforts. It has more fully developed the principles of science for their philosophic application, until now every element of the air, the earth, and the sea, has be- come man's vassal, ministering to his wants, to his pleasures, and to his social and moral elevation. The fault is not in the principle, but in the men who form the compact; not in the legal enactments forming Medical Societies, but among medical men. The provisions for the incorporation of this Society are not objectionable : its by-laws if imperfect, can be revised and amended to suit the most fastidious : its code of medical ethics the same as that which governs professional intercourse throughout the United States. One of the reasons for the want of interest not only in this Society, but in all the county Societies of the State, has arisen from a belief quite prevalent, that now we have no law in force regulating the practice of physic and surgery. Not- withstanding the changes that have been made, it remains substantially the same that it ever has been. All licensed practitioners are in duty bound to join the societies of their respective counties. They have power to exercise the same franchise over all their professional acts and obligations, now, that they had before the repeal of that section which barred the unlicensed practitioner from the collection of his fees. Then again, the act of repeal makes a broad distinction be- tween the licensed and the unlicensed practitioner, making the latter liable to a fine and imprisonment, for misdemeanor, for gross ignorance, for immoral conduct, and for mal-practice. Here perhaps it may be well to inquire who are legally licens- ed practitioners of medicine. First, the student must pursue his studies with a licensed practitioner of medicine and surgery. A certificate of the time of his commencing such study must be filed with the President of the County Society in which he pursues his studies. His term of study is four years, from which a deduction of 12 one year may be made for collegiate studies, or for attendance upon lectures. If the term of study shall be intended for less than four years, upon either the grounds of collegiate studies after 16 years of age, or for attendance upon medical lectures, the President of the County Society with whom the certificate is on file, shall, upon satisfactory proof that a deduction ought to be made, annex to such certificate an order specifying the time that should be deducted, not exceeding one year from the four year's study. He is then to be examined by the censors of the County Medical Society, or of the State Medi- cal Society, and, if found qualified, to receive his license. If he seeks for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, he must attend two full courses of medical lectures, be examined by his Pro- fessors, and recommended by them to the Regents of the Uni- versity, and receive from them his degree. After all this, he must file a copy of his diploma in the County Clerk's Office, and unite with the County Medical Society, after being notified by its President. It appears, from a careful examination of the statute, that these two last steps are as necessary as any, and that he is not a licensed practi- tioner until they have been taken. And now, gentlemen, do we require any modification of the law regulating the study and the practice of physic and sur- gery in this State ? My own impression is, that we have only to fulfill the letter and the spirit of the present law, to obtain from it all that we may desire. If, however, some changes shall hereafter be thought desir- able, the profession have only to unite and act in concert, to get any reasonable provisions from the Legislature of this State, which may be required to advance the interests of medi- cal science. Then again, we should not forget that we have gained an act legalizing the study of Anatomy ; far more valuable to us than the dead letter of the statute. I have been thus full in giving the history of the origin and present condition of this taw. believing that a large majority 13 of medical men have an inadequate idea of its relations, and also of their own duties. Some of the reasons which have operated against the pros- perity of this Society, lies heavily at the door of its officers. The Presidents have not discharged their duties in notifying young men who have settled among us, as prescribed by the law. The payment of the annual tax has not been enforced by its Treasurers. A general impression has prevailed, that now the licensed practitioner and the empiric, stood precisely on the same footing. Those who have been influenced by such considerations, have placed no value on the benefits of the Association to themselves, to their profession, or to society at large. Many of the physicians of this county have received their Diplomas from this Society. By the corporate power which was born with this law, and which it still retains, they have been admitted within the pale of an honorable profession ; have assumed its responsible obligations, and, by an oath, bound themselves to the faithful discharge of its high trusts- How many of these have turned their backs with cold indif- ference and willful neglect, upon all its calls on them for sym- pathy and support? How many have been willing to see its interests sacrificed ; its existence destroyed, if it would save them from the necessary labor of its preservation. But it is • not those who have attained distinction among professional men, who seek shelter in exclusiveness. It is those who con- tent themselves with the popular applause of the crowd about them ; who practice medicine as a trade for the small rewards that can be wrung from its ceaseless toils; who are unwilling to make known to their brethren either how much or how little they have added to the common fund of knowledge. Men who have never written a dissertation or reported a case for its benefit are the men, who have never found its meetings interesting. The reason they have no interest is because they have made none. If they had employed their leisure moments collecting materials and preparing them lor the benefit of medical science, then they would have purchased their true 14 interest. They have had the laboratory for thought, but neg- lected to obtain the chemicals necessary for its evolution.— Every day materials were before them, but they were left ungathered. A young man, for instance, obtains his diploma. He may have shown evidence of zeal and interest in his profession during his pupilage, for then he was surrounded by those engaged in the same studies. He engages in practice perhaps where he has little or no competition. He lays aside his books and neglects or shuns intercourse with his professional breth- ren. He soon loses the enthusiasm with which he pursued his studies. Close mental application becomes distasteful, and a laborious task instead of a pleasure. His habits of correct observation become gradually blunted, and for want of the will and energy necessary for rigid investigation, he adopts a routine system of practice; and here he sinks to that repose and indolence, which will forever be a bar to either great usefulness or distinction. Such an one may become favorably known over a circuit of a few miles. He may begin to feel that he is one of the lights of science, for he has obtained popular applause. It is true, he has not been in the habit of measuring swords with « medical men, still he feels well satisfied with his own success. His weapons must be good, for they are efficient; they must have been well applied, for he is resting on his laurels—the applause of an illiterate crowd. Some have sacrificed the interests of our Society in the pursuit of wealth; others have been ambitious of public dis- tinction, and, to gain the goal of their hopes and aspirations, have turned from the ten thousand sources for greatness, which opened directly before them, and were intimately connected with all their previous labors and future usefulness, and joined some of the novel projects, which were just ready to reform society and government. They have become noted, as unsuc- cessful candidates for places of power and trust. I have thus hastily glanced at some of the causes that have 15 interfered with the prosperity of our Society. I doubt not they have had their influence among all communities of medi- cal men. We have too little intercourse with each other. In the legal profession, men are brought together and contest opinions face to face : in ours, men are seldom brought in con- tact, still less frequently in collision. In their practical duties, they must congregate: in ours, we are isolated. They have an appeal to constituted authorities, who sit in judgment over their opinions and practices: we have no constituted and ac- knowledged tribunal to make public decisions of practical errors. Our only appeal is to the accumulated knowledge of medical science. We here see one of the great distinctions between the two professions, and the great advantages that will surety follow frequent public meetings, and the prepara- tions necessary to maintain their scientific character. Far too many who engage in the study of medicine, do so without- a just appreciation of the extent and variety of its labors and responsibilities. We all lack the enthusiasm of the devotee. A profession that lays under contribution almost all science and literature; whose practical duties require a con- tinual effort of mind and body, and an unceasing display of benevolence, instinct with human sympathies, is not the proper theater for the indolent or the mercenary laborer. Motives above the love of gold or worldly ambition, are necessary to raise a physician to an honored seat around her holy altar. For these ends, self-interest and amusement must be sacrificed. If wealth or places of distinction come to any or all from the legitimate and faithful discharge of its high duties, accept it as the reward of the gifted and true of heart; but if their acqui- sition require a compromise with professional position, discard them as vile, debasing things. It requires labor and toil to win the crown. Days of dis- quiet and sleepless nights ; wearying hours of study ; months and years of patient observation, of close comparison and ■critical analysis, are necessary to obtain professional distinction. • • 16 For not on downy plumes; nor under shade Of canopy reposing, fame is won ; Without which whoso'er consumes his days, Leaveth such vestige of himself on earth, As smoke in air, or foam upon the wave. Who in our profession have turned from downy plumes and the shady canopy, to leave behind them some memorial of their labors, if the pioneers of this Society have not done it ? Methinks I see them now, dragging wearily along over rough roads and broken bridges, floundering in snow banks, or driv- ing through untrodden fields, to attend its meetings.. Again I see them in 1810, as they turn from its fourth anniversary, dis- heartened by the fatigue and toil necessary to maintain its interests, and leave it for three long years, as a barren field, uncared for and forgotten ; and again I see them, in 1813, when, with strong wills and willing hearts, they again assem- ble to infuse into it a new vitality, to reanimate its lifeless re- mains, and give to its regenerated body the attributes of an enduring life. Did they succeed ? Let its history tell. It started on its new career with forty-seven members, and has continued up to the present time with a suspension of only three of its regular meetings. Its members have increased to 241. Of this number, as near as we can now ascertain, seventy-nine have died. Of these, some have fallen on the field of their early labors, some in distant climes, some amid the bright prospects in which youthful genius too often robes the future, and others full of years, and honors, have gone to their rest. It would be natural for many of these to take a deep interest in the prosperity of this Society. They had assisted at its organization; they had helped to frame its by-laws; they had held its places of honor and trust; they had examined students and given diplomas; they had written for its benefit; they expected from its influence a more rapid progress in the sci- ence and literature of their profession. Many of these were our personal friends. We have witnessed their devotion. • 17 For years we have seen them with an energy that never tired, a will that never faltered, an eagle eye that took note of every object, an intellectual vigilance that grouped, for practical purposes, every known principle of science, and collated the ever-varying phenomena of disease. In the history of each might be found deeds of heroism, disinterested labors, praise- worthy acts. They toiled amid the inconveniences of a newly settled country. In 1806, Utica, New Hartford, and Whites- town, contained about 4500 inhabitants, Rome about 1600, and the whole county about 28,000. It is easy for us to un- derstand the amount of fatigue that general practice, in such a scattered population, must produce. It is one of the condi- tions of an inhabitable country, that the disturbing processes of settlement and cultivation renders it unhealthy. Those causes, with the draining of marshes, gave rise to malignant endemic autumnal fevers, and the severe typhoid fevers of the winter. In the early medical history of the country, frequent allusions are made to these, and other diseases assuming an epidemic character ; but no particular description of any of them ap- pears to have been given, until Doctor Willoughby, in his address before the State Medical Society in 1813, speaks of the desolating typhoid pneumonia, which then prevailed with fearful mortality over the western and middle portions of the State. Within our own recollection, the common diseases of the country have, at times, become epidemic; and one to us before unknown, with its withering breath and unseen arm, has spread dismay and death over almost the whole of the populous regions north of the Equator. Amid all these dis- heartening conditions of country, society, and disease, our de- parted brethren have been exhausted by protracted labors, exposed to dangerous influences on health, to unseen malig- nant enemies to life. They have proved themselves heroes in the battle of life; worthy to be numbered with our large and gallant army, whose soldiers fall on their battle-field softly and still: to them no clarion notes of war herald the near ap- proach of the fatal messenger: no gorgeous pageantry accom- c 18 panies them to their last resting place : no national pseans sweep over these martyrs of professional duty. But it is not because theirs have been individual conquests, won in the midst of destitution and want, or in the dwellings of opulence and ease: not because they have been gained, un- guarded and alone, amid the fearful gloom of a plague stricken city; in the Lazar house, where erring man pays the price of unhallowed pleasures; or in the gleanings of the field of battle. It is because we ourselves have not made their burial an occa- sion for befitting ceremonials, and thus shown that we could render honors to the brave and good in death. In a few in- stances, those who have been rather prominent in our profes- sion, have been justly remembered in the grave: but how few are they of all that noble band; and he who falls to-morrow, what arrangements have been made by this or any medical association to bear him, as a kindred spirit, to his final home. It would be easy, if suitable arrangements were made; it would be appropriate, for we draw from the same sources our knowledge ; are engaged in the same pursuit; are bound to the same destiny. To-day we have come together to make some amends for our past neglect: but how inadequate is all this, for their numbers are great; they are scattered along the track of time for fifty years. They have been valiant soldiers. If a similar course is pursued for the future, how long, alas, how long, before a memorial will be offered for us, as one by one, we shall be called to give an account of our stewardship. Gentlemen, have we fully realised the lofty character of our mission ? Have we compared it with the other pursuits of life ? Have we carefully examined the object of its care, the sources of his danger, and relief. Vegetables grow in certain conditions of climate, temperature, and soil, and are conse- quently bound to certain geographical limits. Most of the animals below man are localised, by having an organization fitted to certain terrestrial conditions, beyond which they can- not live. But man, the object of our care, takes the range of the whole earth. In the north, wrapped in furs and sheltered 19 in ceiled dwellings, he resists the cold; in the south, he stretches himself under canvass, and sleeps in the open air ; he pitches his tents on the burning sands of barren deserts, and fans every ocean with the sails of his floating barks. With a system saturised with the highly carbonised food of a cold < limate, he rushes to the torrid zone where its super- abundance is death. He exposes his body to the intense heat produced by solar radiation in a high northern latitude, and glides with apparent unconcern within the tropics, where the same law requires a higher temperature of evaporation. He congregates in cities and breathes the tainted air of its narrow streets and crowded dwellings. He seeks for enjoyment in voluptuous pleasures, and is scourged by its scorpion lash to the grave. He engages in the career for wealth, and day and night bears witness to his anxious toil. He thirsts for knowledge, and wasted physical energies, and skeleton figures ; re moving records, of his close mental application, and of his long continued intellectual labor. With an organization so perfect, that it performs the most complicated movements, with senses tuned to the most delicate perceptions of pain or plea- sure, with mental powers capable of investigating every natu- ral law, of examining every material object, he is guilty of the most extraordinary excesses. For this careless violator of law and order, our profession has had to make provision to shield him from disease and death. From the time the Father ol medicine penned his aphorisms to the present day, every page of its history bears ample evidence of the fidelity with which she has discharged her mission. Her sanitary commissions have discovered the conditions necessary for the production of desolating epidemics; the most violent contagious affection has been made safe and mild ; the treatment of all diseases has become more plain and sim- ple ; and the field of surgical practice is now the theatre of bold and successful operations. She has greatly enlarged and enriched her Materia Medica by additions from the animal, mineral and vegetable kingdoms. She has unlocked the 20 chains of the maniac, and founded extensive and useful chari- ties. Her members have gained honorable positions in the domain of Science and Literature, and in the Departments of Government. These are her monuments of the past. The future, with all its promises of high attainments, of perfection and greatness, belongs to our successors. The responsibilities and labors of the present are ours. The master builders in the Temple of Medical Science have left us examples, rich in their lessons of experience, and in the garnered lore of all the ages that have passed. To this temple every century has made important additions, often simple in conception and design, but of unsurpassing symmetry and beauty, when genius ranged them in her ample halls. We are laborers engaged in rearing, perfecting and adorning this magnificent edifice. The toils and disappointments, the hard- ships and dangers of this vocation, should only stimulate us to greater exertions. Let our gathering to-day, gentlemen, be an earnest of our future devotion to the welfare and prosperity of our profession. Its foundations are laid broad and deep in the necessities of our mortal being. A long line of martyrs attest the elevating character of its duties. It encloses in its embrace knowledge which has been drawn from every de- partment in Science ; from all that man has achieved in art from all that humanity has suffered. Shall this fractional part of the great whole, the Medical Society of the County of Oneida, to whose beginnings we now look back with pride, and pleasure, which has survived the changes of half a cen- tury, fall and die from our neglect? Our gathering to-day gives promise of a brighter page in its history; of another day when its members shall gather around its old and musty records ; after another fifty years has passed away, with more ample means, and with acquisitions far beyond our present conceptions, to render a more fitting tribute to its care-worn veterans, its honored dead. • On motion of Dr. Dering, a vote of thanks was extended to Dr. Thomas for his interesting and eloquent discourse, and a copy was requested for publication. Drs. Dering, Coventry and Bagg were appointed a Committee on its publication. the dinner. At this point the Society sat down to a sumptuous dinner, including the delicacies and substantials of the season, and quite worthy of the occasion. A table extending the entire length of Churchill's dining hall, was filled with the guests and members of the Society. The venerable Dr. Blair presided, supported on his right by His Honor the Mayor, and on the left by several of the Committee of Arrangements. The ven- erable Dr. Whaley, first Vice President, acted as croupier^ supported on either side by the attending Vice Presidents. After dinner had been discussed, the regular toasts were read by Dr. Thomas, and responses were made as follows: toasts and responses. 1. The First Meeting and Organization of the Oneida County Medical Society. Dr. Blair responded. 2. The Survivors of the First Meeting of the Society. Dr. Sturdevant, of Rome, responded. 3. The Memory of our Co-Laborers who have gone to their reward. Drank standing. 4. The Medical Profession; Past, Present and Future. Dr. Goodsell responded. 5. Medical Education. Dr. Coventry responded. 22 6. The State Medical Society. Dr. McCall responded. 7. The Public Press. John B. Miller responded, closing with the sentiment: The Physical Sciences and those who practice the Art of Physics—The Press will always cheerfully chronicle the pro- gress of the one and the triumphs of the latter. 8. The American Medical Association. Dr. Dering responded. 9. Invited Guests. C. H. Doolittle responded. He closed by giving this senti- ment : The Medical Profession—Its benevolent actions, its arduous duties and weighty responsibilities, its relation to man's tem- poral condition and the broad field of scientific investigation it embraces, not only secures to it the respect and confidence of mankind, but should secure it a remuneration commensurate with its dignity, intelligence and exacting duties, and should give it that protection from empiricism which an intelligent people can give. 10. Medical Hygiene. Dr. Thomas responded. 11. The Responsibility of Medical Men. Dr. Gardner responded. 12. The Clergy. The gentleman expected to respond to this sentiment not being present, Dr. Coventry spoke tastefully and forcibly of the relations between the clerical and medical professions. 13. The Ladies. Dr. McCall responded. Dr. Coventry proposed: Our Distinguished Guest—The Mayor of the City of Utica. 23 Mayor Hubbell said he was no speech-maker; but expressed the satisfaction he had felt in the exercises of the occasion.— He gave as a sentiment: The Family Physician—The most confidential relation that can exist in society. Dr. Bissell offered the following: Legitimate Medicine—The True Application of Science to the Art of Healing. Col. Jewett sent the following: The Doctor—God bless him. When armed with science, skill and kindness, he is ever a ministering angel to the afflicted. Dr. McCall read a sketch of Medical Character. Dr. Copeman added greatly to the interest of the exercises, by his fine microscopes and great variety of preparations. Dr. Maltbie read an address, concluding with: The Old Medical Gentlemen,of Oneida County—Who have grown grey in relieving human agony and promoting human health and happiness. And thus the Celebration closed.