Mau HAN ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION College of fht^irian^ and ^urgcon^ MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW YORK CITY, By J. MAURAN, A.M., M. D., etc., PRESIDENT OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, March 2d, 1869- " Hominem payina nostra sapit." PROVIDENCE : HAMMOND, ANGELL & CO, PRINTERS. 1869. OFFICERS OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OP THE FOR THE TEAR 1868-9. President ......Joseph Maukan, M. D, Providence, R. I. Vice-President.....John Torkey, M. D., New York. Secretary.......Ellsworth Kliot, M. D., New York. Assistant Secretary .John Siirady, M. D., New York. Treasurer.........William H. Draper, M. D., New York. councillors. Cornelius R. Bogert, M. D.......................New York. Richard T. Underbill, M. D................Croton Point, N. Y. Jared Linsly, M. I)......................•.....New York. Gurdon Buck, M. D........................New York. Henry A. Dubois, M. D....................New Haven, Conn. Alfred S. Purdy, M. D.....................• -. New York. John R. Van Kleek, M. I)......................New York. Thaddeus M. Halstead, M. D.....................New York. George C. Blackmail, M. D...................Cincinnati, Ohio. Oliver W. Gibbs, M. D............... ... Cambridge, Mass. John L. Le Conte, M. D....................Philadelphia, Penn. Henry W. Buell, M. D.................... Litchfield, Conn. George Peck, M. D.....................Surgeon, U. S. N. J. King Merritt, M D........................Flushing, L. I. Joseph Edwin Culver, M. D.....................Hudson, N. J. James F. Hibbard, M. D.............. .... Richmond, Ind. Edwin M. Snow, M. D.....................Providence, R. I. Julius S. Thebaud. M. D .....................New York. John J. Milhau, M. D.................. Surgeon, U. S. A. Isaac A. Nichols, M. D........... ..........Newark, N. J. Cornelius R. Agnew, M. D.......................New York, Ezra M. Hunt, M D......................Metuchen, N. J. Albert Luthar Voss, M D........................New York. Henry D. Noyes, M, D. ......................... New York. Gouverneur M. Smith, M. D.....................New York. James L. Banks, M. 1).......................... New York. Robert Watts, M. D...........................New York. Francis Delafield, M. D...........................New York. committee ox prize essays. William H. Draper, M. D....................New York. William C. Roberts, M. D.......................New York. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Mkp of §hjj0faiatt0 and $fat$mt, MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW YORK CltfY, By J. MAURAN, A.M., M. D., etc., PRESIDENT OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, March 2d, 1869- " Hominem pac/ina nostra sapit." w LIBRARY..* . ->✓ v> PKf) VfItiE^lfE : HAMMOND, ANGELL & CQ., PRINTERS. 1869. CORRESPONDENCE. Alumni Association, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Medical Department of Columbia College, New York City, March 4th, 1869. Joseph Mauran, M. D. :— At the Eleventh Annual Meeting of our Association, the following resolu- tion, proposed by Samuel T. Hubbard, M. D., was unanimously adopted:— Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered to its President, Dr. Joseph Mauran, for the able and interesting address he has delivered, and that a copy of it be requested for publication. Respectfully yours, ELLSWORTH ELIOT, M. D., Secretary. Providence, May 3d, 1869. Ellsworth Eliot, M. D., Secretary, &c.:— Dear Sir,—Having received numerous requests, from distant States, for copies of my late Address before the Alumni, I feel constrained, though reluc- tantly, to waive my objections, personally expressed to you, and permit its publication in accordance with the unanimous desire of the Association. Trusting that the hints therein suggested may eventually assist in leading to the adoption of acts for " General Registration of Vital Statistics" throughout all the States, I remain, my dear Sir, Respectfully yours, Sec, J. MAURAN. ADDRESS. Alumni :—It was justly said by a scholastic enthusiast, that among the numerous anniversaries, there are none more inter- esting than those in which we come up from the cares, and the turmoil, and the contentions of the world, to the sacred halls of learning, to witness the proficiency, and, to do honor to the merit of our youthful brethren,—who, having com- pleted their collegiate course, are about entering on the duties of society,—and to welcome them, as we do most cordially, as fellow-laborers in the field of life. This occasion, being the semi-centennial of my own gradua- tion, carries me back a full half-century, to the period when, standing, as they do, on the threshold of existence, I gazed eagerly into the future ; not with clouds and darkness resting on it, but glowing with the sunshine of hope, and peopled with the brightest visions of youthful expectation. It carries us all forward to the day, when they will look back, like us, on real- Hies :—Alas ! to many how different from their dreams ! It is good for us both to contemplate the past and the future,— to look round on our actual position, and forward to the task before us ; and, personally to consider in what manner we may best favor its perfect accomplishment. And, from the extra- ordinary march which our profession has made in the past quarter of a century, we are naturally led to the conclusion that the generation now rising into active life, in this country, 4 is destined, through the increased facilities of the present age, to exert a great and salutary influence upon the whole human race. In an " Address " which, through your courtesy, I had the privilege to deliver before this enlightened association, on their sixth anniversary, after narrating personal reminiscences of our respected Alma Mater, her then professors, and of " Old New York" some fifty or more years since, soon after the permanent organization of the college in Barclay Street, I hinted summarily, to a few of the numerous practical results and advantages which would obtain from a perfect system of " Registration of Vital Statistics " throughout all our States and Territories; developing benefits not only to the Physician, the diligent observer, in furtherance of professional research, but through him indirectly, eventually, to the whole human family. I now propose, very briefly, to exhibit a few addi- tional practical results of its utility, drawn mostly, however, from the experience of foreign reports, (this country having but recently agitated the subject), thus hoping to enlist, through the efforts of the rising professional generation, an interest that will, at no distant day, secure Registrative Enactments throughout our wide-spread domain. This species of investigation concerns every individual in the community, relating, as it does, to the great subject of human life, its reproduction, developement, continuance and decay ; how far each is influenced, by seasons, locality, disease and other circumstances. Its object, it will be perceived, is two- fold,—-first, to preserve the name, and afford the means of identi- fying the connections, and some facts concerning the personal history of every person who is born, marries, or dies in the community; and, secondly, to determine how health, life and longevity are affected by age, sex, condition and occupation; by climate, season and place of residence ; and by the diseases to which, under any circumstances, man may have been pre- viously subjected. Through an examination of the early records of several States, I learn that they have attempted, though vaguely, by legal enactments, to secure a partial regis- 0 tration of births and mariages. These have been succeeded by various amendments, to adjust their supposed emergencies and defects, but all evidently abortive. In fact, from the published reports of attendant proceedings, it is presumable that these suc- cessive enactments were effected simply for municipal and not for those great sanitary and genealogical purposes involved in our present system of registration; their object being then directed simply toward the establishment of statistical data of the place of nativity of each inhabitant, and solely in connec- tion with the question of pauperism. As indicated by the following blank forms of returns, you will perceive that we now contemplate a wider, more extended object:— Form of Blanks used in Rhode Island. [No. l.] RETURN OF A BIRTH. Ward. 1. Date of Birth? - ...... 2. Full Name of Child?....... 3. Sex?- ....-..-.. 4. Color?.......... 5. Number of Child of Mother?....... 6- Place of Birtb, Street and No. ? ------ 7. Father's Name? --------- 8. Father's Age?- -....... 9. Father's Occupation? - - - - - - 10. Father's Birth Place? - - - - - - - 11. Mother's Name? - - 12. Mother's Maiden Name? ------- 13. Mother's Age? --------- 14. Mother's Birth Place?....... 15. Remarks? ---------- Informant. N. B.—At No. 2, give the full name of the child, and be particular to get middle names in full. At No. 4, state whether the child is white, black, or mulatto. At No. 5, state whether it is the 1st, 2d, 3d, &c, child of the Mother. At No. 6, give the street and number, if in the city ; the town and State, if elsewhere in the country. At Nos. 8 and 13, give the age at the last birthday. At Nos. 10 and 14, give the town and State, if in this country. If the child was still-born, or has died since birth, state the facts at No. 15, with any other facts of interest. In case of twins or triplets, a seperate blank is to be filled for each child. 6 [No. 2.] RETURN OF A MARRIAGE. 1. Full Name of Groom? - - - - - - 2. Place of Residence? - - - - - 3. Age in years ? - - - - - - - - 4. Occupation? - - - - - 5. Place of Birth? - ■ - - - • 6. Father's Name? - - - - 7. Mother's Maiden Name? - - - ■ - - 8 Full Name of Bride? - - - - - (Maiden Name if a Widow?) : - - - - - 9. Place of Rtsidence? - - - - - 10. Age in years? - - - ■ - - 11. Place of Birth ? - - - - 12. Father's Name? - - - - ■ - - - 13. Mother's Maiden Name? - - - - 14. Number of Marriage ? Of Groom? - - Of Bride? - 15. Color of the parties? - - - - - N . B.—At No. 15, state whether white, black, or mulatto. At No. 14, state whether this marriage is the 1st, 2d, 3d, &c, marriage of each. Give middle names in full. City or Town of - - - - 18 We, the Groom and Bride named in the above certificate, hereby certify that the information given is correct, to the best of our knowledge and belief. Groom. Bride. . Signed in presence of - and ------- N. B.—The above blanks must be filled, and the certificate must be signed by both Groom and Bride, and must be given to the person about to solemnize the marriage, before the marriage can be legally solemnized in the State of Rhode Island. [No. 3.] RETURN OF A DEATH. City of---------- 1. Date of Death? 2. Name in Full? 3. Age? - - Years - 4. Place of i Street and Number? 5. Death? ( Ward? 6. Sex? 7. Color? - - - . 8. Condition? - 9. Occupation? - 10. Where Born? 11. Father's Name? 18 - Mouths - - Days? i [No. 3—Continued.] VI. Mother's Name? --------- 13. Parents' Birthplace? Father's? - - Mother's? - 14. Where Buried?......... - Informant. N. B.—At Nos. 4 and 5, give the place where the person died. At No. 8, state whether married or single, widow or widower. At No. 13, state the country in which each parent was born. Date of Death? - Name ? - - Disease? 1 Primary - 2. Secondary Duration of Disease? - I certify that the above is a true return, to the best of my belief. Undertaker. To the casual observer, these may seem to be diffuse and somewhat complex. Our reasons, however, for these minutiae are, that individual identity cannot otherwise be obtained with any degree of success or precision ; and their propriety must be apparent to every reflecting mind upon the subject. A few, and very few only, of the States have, within the past quarter-century, secured systems, more or less perfect, of registration. Our sister State—Massachusetts—may be consid- ered the pioneer; her example was soon succeeded by my native State—Rhode Island—where we have now, under the personal supervision of our accomplished and highly efficient Superinten- dent and Registrar General, Dr. E. M. Snow, a perfect model of Vital Statistics.* The State of New York, some years since, *The large element of foreign population in all the cities and villages of the New England and Middle States, and the absolute inefficiency of earlier regis- tration returns, suggested to our Registrar, Dr. Snow, a highly important fea- ture in our mortality returns, that of parentage in contradistinction to simple returns of nativity, and for obvious reasons, viz :— "It is well known, that the foreign population, as a class, in this city and in other cities in this country, are under entirely different sanitary influences from the American population. The greater portion of the foreign population live in a miserable class of tenement houses, with all the want of conveniences, and positively injurious influences of such houses; their social habits are not calculated to preserve health; and a knowledge of the laws of hygiene is Physician's Certificate. .......18 T?Tl TTQ1/>1 O T\ 8 made strong efforts to procure like enactments, but, I regret to add, as yet, ineffectually. Your city, however, under the early untiring efforts of Dr. Oriscom, and since, through her highly efficient Board of Health and energetic Registrar, can now boast of an admirable municipal system ; although it is feared, judg- ing from your report of 1867, that ere long your goodly city may be depopulated, as nearly 100 per cent, more deaths than births are recorded. (Births, 12,569 ; deaths, 23,443.) How- ever, reports of births can only be secured, with comparative truthfulness, through domiciliary visitation. The importance of perfect records, in all our States, must be apparent to every reflecting mind, involving, as they do, the various civil relations of society ; securing to all classes nu- merous legal rights, now, wholly unenjoyed. They would not be the source of gratification to those who are fond of genealog- ical investigations merely, but would be a repository of facts and evidence to adjust questions touching the dearest rights and interests of individuals and communities. It has been well said by an eminent English jurist, that it is fully as necessary, for the preservation of the rights of individuals, to preserve a registry of births, marriages and deaths, as of deeds, as a right to a legacy may equally depend upon the date of a death or of a marriage contract. It is also a well known fact, that there are more changes of titles to property, by births, marria- ges and deaths, now wholly unrecorded, than through registries of deeds which are invariably recorded with the extremest care and precision. For its prospective results, I might adduce, as a further argument for immediate registrative action entirely wanting among them. Of course, the children of foreign parents are subject to the same injurious influences upon health, and sutler from them more than the parents themselves. "It is evident that any classification of mortality statistics should include the children in the same with their parents. This is done by the classification according to parentage; but the classification, according to nativity, would include nearly all the children of foreign parents with the American popula- tion."—From the " Fourth Annual Report on Births, Marriages, and Deaths," in the City of Providence, for the year ending December 31,1858, by Fdioin M. Snow, M. D. 9 in all our States, the countless millions of treasure of our ancestry lost! and now swelling the coffers of the British Crown ; which would have long since been distributed to rightful heirs in this country, but for our absolute inability, through neglect of early colonial registration, to exhibit such satisfactory evidence of consanguinity as is now contemplated. Here I would instance Jenning's estate which, in 1848, amounted to some 50,000,000 pounds sterling, and many others similarly circumstanced. Again, evidences of relationship are easily lost among the lower classes of society, and, indeed, among all classes. There are many individuals and families who know not their grand-parents, nor can they state their own age from any record, except that of the family bible, (if accessible or extant,) by tradition, or after calculating the date of some other remarkable family event, which has been associated with that of their own birth! In truth, the physician's day-book has presented the only source for such information, as my own long experience and that of my cotemporaries can assuredly testify. It is, in fact, problematical, whether one person in a hundred, over fifty years of age, of our immediate friends, in this city or elsewhere, could prove legitimately his own birth right through recorded evidence of the marriage contract of his parents. Such defects should not longer exist. Even the humblest individual ought to find, in the public records, the means of identifying his parents, and of tracing his connections and gen- ealogy. The wealthy can better afford the expense of obtaining other kind of evidence to establish their rights than the poor, but even to them the record that we contemplate may present a consideration of vast importance. Municipal authorities and others conversant with our pau- per system, and questions of settlement, and the annoyances in determining the legal rights of those thrown by misfortune upon them for support, must have appreciated the gross defects of our present system, and the absolute necessity of a more efficient law. It will readily be perceived by all, that the 2 10 species of information now'sought embraces not only economi- cal but national and scientific objects. To the statesman, engaged in the study of political econo- my, these Reports are of vital importance, bearing, as they do, upon all questions connected with population—the source of a State or nation's greatness, and the evidence of its prosperity or decline. But to the physician they are peculiarly useful as through their close and philosophical investigation, he obtains light upon the intricate nature of disease, nowhere else to be obtained. To the philanthropist, they suggest the cause and the cure for those moral, physical and social evils which ever and anon affect alike individuals and the body politic. As official documents, they carry a weight and consequence upon the great subject of statistical research far in advance of indi- vidual effort, however judicially or efficently pursued. Again, while "Registration" thus adjusts man's affairs in a national, scientific and pecuniary point of view, it also secures those of a higher moment—his personal existence or well being, by furnishing an accurate statement of the degree of every one's predisposition to disease, whether the malady of which his ancestors died is susceptible of being inherited,—and in this manner contributes largely to illustrate the subject of mortal, hereditary diseases, and the remedy of their concomitant entail- ments of misery and wretchedness to posterity. A record of births and marriages also, by permitting the investigator to trace up the genealogy of a family and its col- laterals through several generations, would aid materially in determining the influence of consanguinity, constitutional peculiarities, social condition, &c, upon theprocreative faculty, and the hereditary transmission of disease. It would furnish data for determining, as in England, whether large families, the issue of early marriage, really increase the productive power of the State in proportion to their numbers, or, in other words, whether as a general rule, a numerous progeny is consistent with a high degree of physical or mental vigor. Finally, it would show the good or evil consequences of disparity of years 11 in the parties contracting marriage, and, various other interest- ing facts in the great, never-ending problem of life. In the plan of Registration now inculcated, a record of deaths shows not only the total mortality occurring in a given population, but the cause destroying life in every case; and consequently becomes of immense value to the physician, and through him of incalculable good, as heretofore remarked, to the community at large. I would not exhaust your patience, but cannot refrain to mention, in this connection, some curious facts now being developed both in Europe and some sections of this country upon the subject of reproduction. Those from rural districts are doubtless aware that experi- mental observations have shown that with sheep and some other inferior animals, certain measures pursued in coupling, have appeared to exert an influence in determining the sexes; so also in reference to our own species. An attentive inspection of the very extensive reports, made in several of the most enlightened countries of Europe, has proved, most conclusively, that every influence operating in a community to maintain a high state of physical health and energy, leads to an increase in the proportion of male births, whilst on the contrary, every agency, whether moral or physical, the effect of which may be to reduce the forces of organic life, will diminish such prepon- derance. In many parts of Europe, where the general popu- lation is over-worked and underfed, the excess of male births is very small. In Prussia and France, this excess is under six per cent, and in England about five for the Kingdom at large, whereas, in most sections of this country, where the general condition is so favorable, the male births generally exceed the the female about seven per cent. Except in a few States and prominent cities ; the aggregate, annual mortality of our popu- lation is entirely unknown, and the proportion due to different causes cannot even be conjectured, nor, know we the forms of disease which prevail; still less of the, relative mortality occur- ring in cities, towns, manufacturing villages, rural districts and •particular localities, and of that affecting persons of different 12- ages, sexes and social condition, nor is any more accurate information possessed in regard to the modifying influences exerted by Epidemics upon the average mortality of different places, and those of transitory medical constitutions upon ordinary diseases—all of this species of information the truly medical adviser requires and ought to enjoy. Again, a well kept registry of deaths would show that in certain places, and among certain classes of people, the mortality is either greater or less than that affecting the community at large, and would thus lead to the most salutary practical results, by enquiring into the causes which operate injuriously upon one place or class, and those which confer upon others a comparative immu- nity. Further, such a record would also reflect much light upon the laws of epidemic and endemic diseases, and medical constitutions, illustrating, by a careful research of the enquirer, their cause and proper mode of treatment. I need riot add that many of the foregoing remarks and propositions are derived from the investigation of the experiences and observa- tions of other countries, our own, except in a few States and populous cities, having been, until very recently, almost totally neglectful of the subject,—but, we look forward with sanguine expectations, that, in this respect, a new and auspicious era is about to dawn upon science and society. A few of the West- ern and Southern States are attempting a revival of their former acts, impaired by the late rebellion, and we trust that, through the recent, efficient action of your medical society, the Empire State will ere long be enabled to secure a perfect Act of Registration. In illustration of the foregoing propositions, I might allude to the Report of the Commissioners to the British Parliament, wherein it appears that the statements made in succesive Re- ports of the Registrar General, of excessive mortality in vari- ous places, had induced the philanthropic to search out its causes. Their inquiries resulted in the removal of cess-pools, and accumulations of filth and putrid substances,—in the dig- ging of sewers, &c, and with the most happy results. In Manchester, by simply paving and draining twenty streets, so 13 great an amelioration in the health of those districts was obtained, that but an average of ninety deaths took place where one hundred and ten occurred before. During the cholera epidemic of 1866, this city, through the prompt and efficient action of your excellent Board of Health, experienced similar happy results. Instances of a like character might be multiplied indefinitely. Not unfrequently the received opinion of the healthfulness of a place has been directly contradicted by the evidence of successful registration. This, says the Registrar General, was the case in Liverpool. Its rapid prosperity and increase of popu- lation was supposed to be the result of its great salubrity, but successful registration disclosed the fact, that, at all periods of life, the chances of living there are actually less than in any other place of equal population; and while, in Surrey and other sections, a child at birth has a chance of living forty-five years, there its chance of living is reduced to twenty-five! There is too much reason for apprehending that Americans generally err greatly in their estimate of the healthfulness of this, country. It has been calculated, from statistics heretofore established, through our imperfect Census Reports, that while the average age of the whole living population of the United States is twenty-two years and two months, that of all living in England and Wales is twenty-six years and seven months. It has also been shown, that while but about fifty-six per cent, of the population of the United States survive the age of fifteen, and four per cent, only that of sixty, nearly sixty-four per cent, of the population of England survive the former, and more than seven per cent, the latter age. These facts are con- firmed mutually by statistical results and common observation. European travellers in this country wonder that so few old persons are to be met with! and Americans abroad are sur- prised at seeing so many persons, advanced in life, engaging still in active pursuits, and retaining the cheerfulness and vigor of middle age. We cannot conceive it possible that the mortality amongst the well-fed and well-clothed inhabitants of this country should so much exceed that of the compara- 14 tively wretched masses of the English people; or that so few amongst the former should survive the labors of active life, to guide and counsel their descendants, unless there is some radi- cal error in our habits of living, or some peculiarly noxious influences, of a general kind, were acting upon the population. Some of these evil habits and influences may indeed be con- jectured, and their malign effects in particular cases averted, but until the results of Registration demonstrate their existence and character upon a large scale, the people will not be induced to believe them real, or take pains to escape their influence. The degree of mortality in ordinary diseases depends chiefly upon two circumstances: the condition of the party, and his treatment. If therefore it is found that deaths from certain diseases are especially frequent amongst persons of certain ages, constitutions, habits, &c, or in certain trades, professions, or situations, the causes of such susceptibility may be traced and removed. Many other examples might be cited of the 4>&t~ results of perfect registration^olving the laws and problems of life; a few of which I will adduce from the evidence afforded through the History of Registration in other countries. "Among the first communities," says the Report to the Na- tional Medical Association, 1847, " to establish a perfect sys- tem, embracing births, marriages and deaths, was Geneva, where it began as early as 1549, and has since been continued with great care." The registers are there viewed as preappointed evidences of civil rights, and it appears that human life has wonderfully improved since they were kept,—its mean dura- tion having increased more than five times from 1550 to 1833. " Towards the close of the seventeenth century, the probable duration of life was not twenty years, at the close of the eighteenth it had obtained thirty-two years, and now it has arrived to forty-five, while the real, productive power of the population has largely increased, and rendered Geneva a State of high civilization." In Prussia also, where everything con- nected with life and its well-being is strictly enforced, there registration is perfected ; in England they commenced in 1753, and perfected their most admirable system, under the protec- 15 tive auspices of the leading statesmen of the times, in 1834.* In France, however, we have, or rather had, previously to the last Revolution, a perfect system ; much more so than we, under our restless, migratory population and free democratic institu- tions can ever expect or omm hope to establish. In many 4sts^* other European States, facts in connection with this subject are registered and collated in a scientific manner, and with the most beneficial results ; while in this country, until very recently, in a few States, we have been, in this respect, culpably neglectful. A persona? instance (not, however, deemed to be exceptional) may here be cited in illustration of our national negligence in legal registration. Although I have recently, industriously sought by record and tradition, in my native birth-place, absolutely in vain, for the christian, maiden name of my mate?*nal grandmother, (who deceased many years pre- vious to my birth,) yet, while abroad, some few years since, we were enabled in Villa Franca, near Nice, Italy, my Father's birth-place, to trace back, with the utmost facility, precision and exactness of rninutice, my paternal ancestry, together with all the collateral branches of the family for nearly three hun- dred years! " The Registers of the ancient Romans, which were pre- served with great care, and recorded the births, sexes, periods of puberty, manhood, age at death, &c, kept by order of Domitius Ulpianus, prime minister of Alexander Severus, afford us even to this day, the means of ascertaining the mean duration of life in Rome nearly two thousand years ago! and by comparing this with the results of estimates made at the present day, in places where similar records are kept, we are thus enabled to establish the gratifying fact of the great extension of the average of human life in various cities and countries, "f *Since the delivery of this address, I had the pleasure to receive through the courtesy of Theodore James Jacques, Esq., Registrar General of Sydney, New South Wales, a highly interesting copy of their "Twelfth Annual Report on Vital Statistics," which exhibits, in its summary and details, great zeal, energy and perfection. fReport of National Medical Association, for 1847. 16 We will allude to but one other of the many advantages suggested by faithfully kept records throughout all the States ; the formation of "Life Tables" exhibiting the probabilities or expectation of life; upon which are based those beneficent institutions, now becoming quite popular in this country, (as they have long been in England and on the continent,) Life Assurance and Annuity Societies. It may not be generally known, that until recently in Massachusetts, we have hereto- fore been indebted wholly to foreign registration (the Carlisle and Northumberland tables) for their establishment/ such should not continue the humiliating fact. Again, from the very imperfect Registration now established in this country, our statistics represent human life, in the United States, of shorter duration than in England. " But as it might be expected,1'' says an English statistician, " from the similarity of the human organization that all classes would, ceteris paribus, live, on an average, the same number of years, " it becomes important to ascertain whether this be the case, and if it be not, to deter- mine to what extent life is shortened under unfavorable cir- cumstances. The Life Table answers this purpose, "and is," says the same authority, " as indispensible in sanitary inquiries, as the barometer or thermometer and other instruments in physical research. By this simple method, the mean duration of life, uncertain as it appears to be, and as it is with refer- ence to individuals, can be determined with the greatest accu- racy in nations, and in still smaller communities. Upon applying it to any number of well defined cases, the influence of any external cause or combination of causes, can be analyzed; while without its aid., and extended observation and calcula- tion, we are liable to be misled at every step by vague opinions or interested statements, in estimating the relative duration of life,—which can no more be made out by conjecture, than the relative diameters of the sun, moon and planets of our system." If these things are so, and of their truthfulness, no intelligent mind can doubt, it is obvious that with this measure are entwined the dearest earthly interests of the human family. When, therefore, our system of Registration shall have been 17 established, as we trust it, ere long, may be in all the States, a comparison of the duration of successive generations would eventually throw much light on the physical condition of our respective populations, and suggest to the scientific and phil- anthropic enthusiast, and to State governments, many measures for diminishing the sufferings and meliorating the condition of the people. I experience a peculiar pleasure and gratification, in the occasion thus courteously extended, to present the cause of the impoverished and diseased before this enlightened and appreciative assemblage of my professional brethren,—to show that by reducing the amount of sickness and death, the means of the poor, and consequently, the wealth and power of every State are increased ; while through our continued supineness and neglectedness, the opposite alternative would be the con- tingent. Now, (all appreciative minds admitting the manifold advantages of General Registration of "Vital Statistics in a genealogical and sanitary point of view, throughout our country,) as the subject to the masses is novel, and the requirements necessary to be enforced are, by the people, deemed to be arbi- trary and intrusive; how are their servants, legislators (gen- erally equally uninformed) to be approached to establish the preliminary enactments? We answer, and advisedly so, by simple, individual, personal efforts,—County and State Medi- cal Societies should inaugurate the primary movement by the appointment of committees (which, by the wa}", rarely meet or cooperate) to memorialize, formally, legislative action ; but, further than that, collective appeal is useless, wholly nugatory and unavailing, their chairman alone (informing himself thor- oughly upon the subject) must take the laboring oar, and relax not his daily, indefatigable, personal efforts before the legislative committees and legislatures until the work is done,—the fact accomplished. Such was the experience in Massachusetts, and, through our individual, untiring labor, was the Act for Rhode Island established, and subsequently our admirable municipal institution, the " Superintendent of Health." This Metropolis, if we mistake not, is indebted largely, primarily, to individual ex- 3 18 evtion for its present, highly efficient system. Therefore, the circumstances being thus, shall we indulge the hope, that some statistical enthusiast may be induced, in each and every State, to take the initiative and secure, at no distant day, like results throughout our entire domain. Shall it be done 1 SUPPLEMENTARY. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE COLLEGE OF PHY- SICIANS AND SURGEONS. (Medical Department Columbia College.) Instituted March, 1859. The Officers and Graduates of the College compose the Associa- tion. The Anniversary Meeting is held on the evening succeeding the Spring Commencement of the College. OFFICERS ELECTED MARCH 2,1869. President...........William C Roberts. M. D., New York. J lee-President.......D. Tilden Browx, M. D., New York. Secretary.........John Shrady, M. D., New York. Assistant Secretary. . .A. Norton, M. D., Brockway, New York. Treasurer...........William B. Bibbins, M. D. COUNCILLORS. Richard T. Underhill, M. D................Croton Point, N. Y. John R. Van Kleek, M. D........................New York. Oliver W. Gibbs, M. D......................Cambridge, Mass. George C. Blackman, M. D...........-.....,.. Cincinnati, Ohio. John L. Le Conte, M. D..................Philadelphia. Penn. George Peck, M. D........................Surgeon, U. S. N. John J. Milhau, M. D........................ " U. S. A. Edwin M. Snow, M. D.......................Providence, R. I. Edwin H. Van Deusen, M. D................ Kalamazoo, Mich. Alexander N. Dougherty, M. D.................Newark. N. J. Mark Blumenthal M. D........................... New York. Joseph M. Cleveland, M. D............... Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Lewis Lane, M. D........................Jones River, N. J. Gouverneur M. Smith, M. D......................New York. Rufus W. Mathewson, M. D.....................Durham, Conn. Robert F. Weir, M. D........................... New York. P. Bowen Mauran, LL. B., M. D....................New York. Henry M. Field, M. D..................Newton Corner, Mass. Benjamin W. McCreacly, M. D................... .New York. 20 Homer L. Bavtlett, M. D.......................Flatbush, L. I. Alfred L. Loomis, M. D..........................New York. Robert A. Barry, M. D............................New York. James B. Murdock, M. D. . ......................New York. Alfred North, M. D... .....................Waterbury, Conn. George A. Peters, M. D........................ New York. Albert Lothar Yoss, M. D .........................New York. S. Augustus Arnold, M. D....................Providence, R. I. E. Barry Dalton, M. D............................New York. Duane B. Simmons, M. D..........................New York. Foster Swift, M. D...............................New York. Robert Watts, M. D...............................New York. Edward W. Lambert, M. D.........................New York. James C. Linsly, M. D..........................New Jersey. committee on alumni association prize. Ellsworth Eliot, M. D., William H. Draper, M. D, A. Brayton Ball, M. D. COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. (Medical Department of Colombia College.) FACULTY OF MEDICINE. Edward Delafield, M. D., Professor Emeritus and President of the College. John Torrey, M. D., LL. D., Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Botany. William Detmold, M. D., Professor Emeritus of Clinical and Military Surgery. Willard Parker, M. D., Professor of Surgery and Surgical Anatomy. Thomas M. Markoe, M. D., Professor Adjunct of Surgery. Alonzo Clark, M. D. Professor of Pathology and Practical Medicine. John C. Dalton, M. D., Professor of Physiology and Microscopic Anatomy. 21 Samuel St. John, M. D., Professor of Chemistry. T. Gaillard Thomas, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women and Children. John T. Metcalfe, M. D., Professor of Clinical Medicine. Henry B. Sands, M. D., Professor of Anatomy. Freeman J. Bumstead, M. D., Professor of Venereal Diseases. James W. McLane, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Cornelius R. Agnew, M. D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Eye and Ear. William H. Draper, M. D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Skin. Abraham Jacobi, M. D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of Children. I). Tilden Brown, M. D., Lecturer on Psychological Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence. Fessenden N. Otis, M. D., Lecturer on Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs. James L. Little, M. D., Lecturer on Operative Surgery and Surgical Dressings. Edward B. Dalton, M. D., Lecturer on Diseases of the Nervous System. Francis Delafild, M. D., Lecturer on Pathological Anatomy. Georgk G. Wheelock, M. D., Lecturer on Physical Diagnosis. Erskine Mason, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy. Thomas T. Sabine, M. D., Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy. 2^ James L. Little, M. D., Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Surgery. John T. Kennedy, M. D., Gerardus H. Wynkoop, M. D., Clinical Assistants for the Surgical Clinique. Robert F. Weir, M. D., Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Venereal Diseases. Samuel B. Ward, M. D., Cuiator of the College Museum. Edward B. Dalton, M. Dv Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Practical Medicine. James L. Brown, M. D., Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Obstetrics. Robert Watts, M. D., Francis Delafield, M. D., W. DeForest Day, M. D., Woolsey Johnson, M. D., Clinical Assistants for the Medical Clinique. R. J. Southworth, M. D., Assistant to the Professor of Chemistry. Edward T. Boag, Clerk of the College. Andrew Laughlin, Janitor. The Regular Course of Lectures, for the session of 18G9 70, will be- gin Monday, October 4th, 1869, and will continue until March, 187Q. Fees. Matriculation Fee, So. Fees for the full Course of Lectures by all the Professors, $140 ; for each separate ticket, $20. Tickets of the Demonstrator of Anatomy, $10. Graduation fee, $30. Letters requiring information should be directed to James W. McLane, M. D., Secretary of the. Faculty, ('allege of Physicians and Surgeons, corner of Twenty-third Street and Fourth Acenue, New York. 28 PRIZES. Faculty Prizes. Two prizes are annually awarded by the Faculty, at the College Commencement in March, for the best two Graduating Theses pre- sented during the year, viz.:—A First Prize of Fifty Dollars, and a Second Prize of Twenty-five Dollars. The Theses competing for these prizes should be handed in to the Dean of the Faculty, in the Autumn, by the 1st of September; and in the Spring, by the 1st of February. Harsen Prizes. Founded, in 1859, by Jacob Harsex, M. D., an Alumnus of the (College. Three Annual Prizes are offered for the best three written Reports of the Clinical Instruction in the New York Hospital, during any four months of the year immediately preceding the Annual Com- mencement in March, which shall be prepared and presented by Students of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, viz.: A First Prize, of One Hundred and Fifty Dollars. A Second Prize, of Seventy-five Dollars ; and A Third Prize, of Twenty-five Dollars. With each prize there is conferred a Harsen Prize Medal, in bronze, of elegant design and workmanship, and an ornamental di- ploma on parchment. Stevens Triennial Prize. A Prize Fund of one thousand dollars has been established by Alexander H. Stevens, M. D., deceased, Ex-President of the College, for the improvement of medical literature, on the following plan : Each prize, to be awarded triennially, is to consist of the interest yielded by the principal Fund during the preceeding three years, and will amount to about two hundred dollars. The administration of the prize is intrusted to a commission, con- sisting of the President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (ex-officio) ; the President of the Alumni Association (ex-officio) ; and the Professor of Physiology (ex-officio), in the same Institution. The following subjects have been selected, at the request of Dr. Stevens, for the first triennial prize under this fund: 1st. The best means of preventing death after Surgical Accidents. 24 2d. The History of Improvements in the Medical Art, and the means by which they are attained. 3d. The use of the Thermometer in the Study of Disease, and the advantages to be derived therefrom. 4th. The Sphygmograph; its Physiological and Pathological indi- cations. The competing essays, on either of the above subjects, must be sent in to the President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, on or before the first day of January, 1870. Each essay must be designated by a device or motto, and must be accompanied by a sealed envelope, bearing the same device or motto, and containing the name and address of the author. The envelope belonging to the succesful essay will be opened, and the name of the author announced, at the Annual Commencement of the College, in March, 1870. This prize is open for universal competition. Prize of the Alumni Association. The Trustees of this fund (now amounting to $3,150.00) have notified the Prize Committee that $200.00 will be at their disposal for a prize to be awarded at the Commencement in March next. This prize is open for competition to the Alumni of the College, and competitors select their subjects. It is desirable that essays contain original observations or experiments, directly or indirectly connected with the science of Medicine or Surgery. Each essay accompanied by a sealed envelope, bearing a motto corresponding to that of the essay, and containing the name and address of the author, must be sent to the Chairman of the Committee on Prize Essays, Dr. William H. Draper, 37 East 12th Street, on or before February, 10, 1870. The attention of the Graduates is called to the following resolution adopted at the last meeting of the Association : Resolved : That, in order to secure the enlargement of the Prize Fund, the Trustees of the fund, or the Prize Committee, be instructed to call upon all graduates of the College to contribute to the fund, either individually, or by classes. By the adoption of this course the Fund will in time attain such proportions that the Association will be enabled to offer several prizes of different degrees annually, and so encourage, among the Alumni, a spirit of emulation and devo- tion to scientific research that must eventually redound to the honor of the College, and the progress of the Medical Art. s