Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

10

The Committee on Nominations made the following report, which was received, to-wit:

PRESIDENT.

S. M. LINTON, M. D., Columbus, Indiana.

VICE PRESIDENT.

WILSON LOCKHART, M. D., Danville, Indiana.

SECRETARY.

WM. F. HARVEY, M. D., Plainfield, Indiana.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY.

WM. P. PARR, M. D., Indianapolis.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

R. N. TODD, M. D., Indianapolis.

TREASURER,

J. H. WOODBURN, M. D., Indianapolis.

Delegates to the State Medical Society of Ohio-B. S. Woodworth, M. D., and V. Kersey, M. D.

Delegates to the American Medical Association-All the members present, with the understanding that any who expect to attend will apply to the Secretary for credentials.

A motion prevailed that the election be viva voce.

On motion the persons named were all elected to fill their respective offices the ensuing year.

A motion was made and carried that when the Society adjourns it adjourn to meet at Richmond, Wayne County, on the third Tuesday of May, 1865.

Dr. Newland offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Code of Ethics of the American Medical Association be again published, with the transactions of this Society.

Which was, on motion, adopted.

11

By permission of the Society, Dr. Hibberd, and other gentlemen, called up, and further discussed Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis.

Dr. Lockhart read reports of a few cases of disease.

On motion all gentlemen who read volunteer papers were requested to place them in the hands of the Publication Committee.

Dr. Hibberd offered the following, which was adopted, to wit:

Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that Sec. 1st of Chap. 6th, of the By-Laws this day adopted, shall not be considered operative until the beginning of the next annual session.

On motion, the Society adjourned to meet in Richmond, on the third Tuesday in May, 1865, at 2 o'clock, P. M. JOHN MOFFITT, M. D., Vice Pres.

W. B. FLETCHER, M. D., Rec. Sec.

Members present, other than those elected at this meeting, who reported themselves at the Secretary's table, were the following:

[blocks in formation]

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

BY JOHN MOFFIT, M. D., RUSHVILLE, IND.

GENTLEMEN :-Unexpectedly it becomes my duty to stand before you on the present occasion. Owing to the failure of the President elect to accept, a press of official duties of others, and the death of our lamented brother in the profession-Calvin West-the chair has fallen upon me. Again as a society are we reminded of the mortality of our nature. A short year since there was one in our midst, in the vigor of riper manhood, whose zeal was unabated in the cause of science, and who earnestly and actively engaged in the discussions which took place during the meeting-with much assurance it would often in the future be his pleasure to enjoy these annual greetings in which he had so frequently participated-is now no more. He has been called away from sublunary things. Afflicted by an inscrutable Providence in the death of our honored brother, let us remember it is but a few days until the summons will be issued requiring our immediate presence in the same court of equal justice. Whilst we are saddened by this bereavement, bear in mind his virtues. Let us recur to his devotion, zeal, and self-sacrificing spirit in the promotion of the interests of the profession and the advancement of truth in medicine. His place was generally filled in medical associations with which he was connected, and whose highest honors were his to receive as a tribute to his attainments and worthiness as a man. To the position of a clever physician he united the qualities of a good citizen, an unwavering friend, and sympathizing neighbor. And now that he is gone from among us, may we not anticipate one succession more in that still future state in which he himself is again to appear in happier circumstances than when on earth, and a more glorious character.

This is the fourteenth anniversary of the State Medical Society of Indiana. As frequently you have heard the studied productions from the pens of so many worthy and able members, who have done so much to establish their names among the literary and scientific, and also to impart that spirit of manly emulation, dignity of demeanor, energy of discussion, fair and impartial criticism, punctuality in

14

attendance, and fraternal regard which have characterized the sessions of this association. The history of medicine has been reviewed from the days of the old man Cos,-ably and eloquently elaborated— the influence exerted upon medical science by the prevailing systems of philosophy in the various epochs of its development, the chains with which its progress was manacled for thirteen centuries by the dogmas of a single name. You have had a carefully prepared review of the specific accessions to the departments of physiology and pathology by such men as Hunter, Bell, Marshall Hall, and others.

Medical education has not been overlooked; the necessity of elevating the standard, both literary and scientific, has been urged with a fervency and earnestness equaled only by the imperious demands of society. Nor is this all. The trials and rewards of the profession have been graphically portrayed, with such suggestions as were presumed to be effective in distributing the benevolent burdens of society more equally among the producing population. Recently the study of man has been presented from a new, if not novel, stand-point for the consideration of the Association. Lastly, though not least, the progress of medicine has been most beautifully illustrated, in its evolution as the great law of its development, by analogy with the chief physiological law of all life. Such is a brief summary of the numerous themes chosen by those whose place it has been to fill the Presidential Chair in this Society.

It has been well and faithfully done, to the upbuilding of the medical profession in public esteem, and the diffusion of juster views of what constitutes the elements of legitimate medicine. It is not our purpose to make adventures into the unexplored regions of scientific inquiry, nor to diverge from the generally received opinions and established doctrines which compose the system of medical science. On the contrary, it is designed in what may be attempted, to exhibit some of the changes medical practice has undergone within the experience of a generation of practitioners, but few of whom now survive. Often is it repeated, by the professional and non-professional, that medicine has made great progress in the first half of the nineteenth century; that it has advanced pari passu with the branches of physical science; that it embraces a range of facts and principles, rightly understood and skillfully applied, fraught with greatly increased blessings to the interests of mankind. This may be admitted without controversy, still is it not oftentimes asserted, even by doctors, without any definite notion or fixed impression in the understanding of the particulars in which the improvement consists? One of the most difficult operations of the greater number of intellects, is to keep before the mind the elements of any branch of human knowledge; how much more embarrassing then it is to consider the relation of many sciences converging to a common and great end. Such is the condition of medical science. It is the union of several distinct objects of study into one grand system upon which is predicated the art of heal

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »