ADDRESS OF ALDEN MARCH, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION. GENTLEMEN OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: PRECEDENT, and long established usage, have well nigh rendered it of binding authority for the presiding officer to address you on the present occasion: and as we are assembled in this great commercial metropolis to transact business of the greatest importanceno less than that which concerns the life, health, and well-being of the great family of man-let it be our first, as it is our highest and most sacred duty, to lift up our hearts and voices in thankfulness to a kind Providence, from whom we derive our being, to whom. we are indebted for our continued existence, and for the privilege vouchsafed to us of gathering together in numbers this day equal to those of similar occasions, even in the palmiest days of this august Association. May we not then, in a spirit of Christian faith and true philanthropy, invoke the guidance and example of the great Physician, whose mission, while on earth, was to heal the sick, to restore the blind to sight, to unstop the ears of the deaf, and to raise the dead from their graves? With these high and holy aspirations deeply impressed upon our hearts, shall we not be encouraged to hope that all of our deliberations, while engaged in consulting upon those interests which are best calculated to disseminate comfort and happiness to humanity, may be characterized by the same brotherly love and social ties of professional friendship which have on all former occasions pervaded our ranks, and which have been the chief element by which we have been held together, emphatically, as the great organization of medical science-"The American Medical Association ?" I appear before you this morning, gentlemen, in the double capacity of presenting you with what may be called an inaugural and a valedictory address. It hardly need be explained how it becomes my duty, and, I may very well say, my distinguished privilege to address you on this interesting occasion. It was the spontaneous will of my professional brethren when convened at the last anniversary meeting of this Association. The office of presiding over your deliberations was unsought and unexpected; and unprepared as I was to discharge the duties --delicate and responsible as was the task--nevertheless, to promote and to preserve harmony in our organization, and to comply with the repeatedly expressed wishes of over-partial friends, I have made an effort to fulfil them, according to the extent of my ability. I regret that this distinguished honor had not been conferred upon one who had older and higher claims to it--upon one with whom the idea of a medical convention originated, and to whom we are, in a great degree, indebted for the organization of our present delightful association. I trust the time will yet come when all local and sectional jealousies, and all suspicion of disloyalty shall have been dissipated, that the originator of this grand and truly noble association will be remembered and duly honored. It is meet and proper that a full share of credit should be awarded to the prime mover of any great scientific or benevolent enterprise -any movement that is designed to extend the blessings of the healing art as broad and as free as are the maladies "to which flesh is heir." An appropriate share of honor may also be attributed to those who may have aided in a work so noble, so glorious-and it is exceedingly gratifying to the speaker to know that he has been thus historically and honorably identified with the origin of this great enterprise.2 When the first President of this Association3--the Nestor of American Medical Science-was inducted into the presidential chair, he remarked, "I can find no language to express the depth of my gratitude--it is the most precious of all the honors I have ever received, as spontaneously conferred by my own brethren." If such deep gratitude filled and swelled the bosom of the veteran of other high official and professional honors, how much more 'Dr. N. S. Davis. 2 See "History of the Am. Med. Assoc.,” by N. S. Davis, M. D., p. 23. 3 Nathaniel Chapman. befitting will it be for me to render unfeigned thanks for this mark of confidence and respect! When we take a glance at the names of my illustrious predecessors in office-of Chapman, of Pennsylvania, Stevens, of New York, Warren, of Massachusetts, Mussey, of Ohio, Moultrie, of South Carolina, Wellford, of Virginia, Knight, of Connecticut, Parsons, of Rhode Island, Pope, of Missouri, Wood, of Pennsylvania, Pitcher, of Michigan, Eve, of Georgia, Lindsley, of the District of Columbia, Miller, of Kentucky, Ives, of Connecticut; and last, though not least, of the gem of a Jewell of Pennsylvania, I fear that such a constellation of medical lights may be quite too imposing for me to attempt to imitate, or even to make an effort to follow. There is, however, some consolation to be derived from the fact that all true pictures are made up of lights and shades; and that the latter only aid in developing the excellency and beauty of the former. It is in this respect that the background of the picture may be regarded as performing a subordinate, although an essential part of the representation. It will be perceived that all sections, at least the cardinal points of what we were once proud to call the United States-the East and the West, the North and the South-have been represented in the Presidential chair of this Association; showing, therefore, that, in former days at least, there was with us no political, no social North or South, East or West; but that we were one then and indivisible. And may we not devoutly pray to be one now and ever more, in our political, professional, and social relations? The indications of the times, we think, encourage us to hope for a happy reunion, ere long, as broad and as cordial as in any of our former gatherings. Without doubt will be remembered by many who are here to-day, the hearty welcome and spontaneous demonstration in the clapping of hands, when the names of delegates were called from the States of Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Maryland, as we were last year convened in the great Prairie City of the West. Located, as I am, one hundred and fifty miles north of this great commercial emporium, in what might be called a country village. in comparison with the teeming population of the London of America―a city not less distinguished as the patron of the arts and sciences--nevertheless, I can but feel that some historic interest attaches to the seat of government of the Empire State. Frigid and inhospitable as our location might lead one to infer as |