Bradford County Medical Society Chester County Medical Society Delaware County Medical Society Fayette County Medical Society Franklin County Medical Society Lycoming County Medical Society 585 587 595 602 612 618 621 627 631 642 645 656 665 670 Members of County Societies 835 MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, AT ITS TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION, HELD AT POTTSVILLE, PA., JUNE, 1875. THE Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania met in Union Hall at Pottsville, June 9th, 1875, at 3 P. M. The President, Dr. WASHINGTON L. ATLEE, of Philadelphia County, occupied the chair, supported by the Vice-Presidents, Dr. GEORGE D. BRUCE, of Allegheny County, Dr. ROWAN CLARKE, of Blair County, Dr. P. B. BREINIG, of Northampton County, and Dr. ALEXANDER CRAIG, of Lancaster County. The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Wм. B. ATKINSON, of Philadelphia County, the Assistant Secretary, Dr. R. S. CHRISMAN, of Schuylkill County, the Treasurer, Dr. BENJAMIN LEE, of Philadel phia County, and the Corresponding Secretary, Dr. R. J. DUNGLISON, of Philadelphia County, were present. The session was opened with prayer by Professor TRAILL GREEN, M.D., of Easton. The Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, Dr. A. H. HALBERSTADT, of Pottsville, welcomed the delegates, etc., as follows: : MR. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA: Among the many varying events in the history of an individual, none can be more pleasant than to pronounce the voice of welcome to honored and distinguished guests. Not alone the medical profession, but the common intelligence of this people welcomes you, in your associate capacity, as representing the great profession. of a great State. Your mission here, this day, is of no ordinary import, enlisted as it is in the interest of humanity, not only in establishing hygi enic safeguards for the preservation of health, but for improving means for the alleviation of the suffering ills to which flesh is heir. Associations composed of men of science, whether social or devoted to arts, bear to the minds of the general public an individual interest, closely allied to all the various relations of life, but where the charge is of man's physical condition, upon which depends the moral, social, and general well-being of all his race, that interest is greatly intensified, such proceedings are closely watched, and much is expected by those who join with me in bidding you this welcome greeting. By the interchange of ideas, diversified, through the peculiar influences of our homes and the ever-changing character of our surroundings, as to subjects and local manifestations of disease, we should do much to arrive at conclusions of the true nature of maladies, and determine indications, as revealed by science and observation, for treatment to establish successful issues. From your self-imposed guardianship, as the custodians of public health, and the individual responsibility centred in so large a representation as that of an entire commonwealth, the public assume rights and demand your calm and deliberate action upon all matters presented for your consideration; and in no degree can you acknowledge your collective responsibilities and serve them more, than by positively and directly asserting your influence in an endeavor to elevate the standard of medical education. Trite and threadbare as this subject may be, the evil to be remedied is the stumbling block to all permanent advancement, either in the prosecution of knowledge, the observance of ethics upon which the morals of the profession depends, or the attainment to that position and influence that those who are so intimately connected with all the disordered phases of life should unquestionablyenjoy. In this land of reputed freedom, but really of quasi despotism, the repeated appeals to legislation have in no instance accomplished the passage of a law, the verbiage of which was not susceptible of an infamous interpretation, and its attempt at execution so besieged by the cry of persecution, as to virtually secure an immunity to that class of irregular practitioners whom the law, on the ground of public safety, was intended to apprehend. Physicians, as such, cannot take part in advocating legal measures without subjecting themselves to the charge of indelicacy, by urging restrictions upon men professing the same avocation, where competition is involved, and thus simply nursing their own pecuniary interests. Now, in what manner can this be obviated, the end attained, and such reproachful charges made improbable? We say let honorable members of the medical profession exercise their prerogatives in refusing to take students at the very threshold of the preceptor's door, who have not received the necessary training to enable them to comprehend the elements essential to a thorough medical education. Then the unsuccessful tradesman of to-day will not be the reci pient of a medical diploma to-morrow, from some legally recognized school, and institutions, for the mere sake of numbers, will fear temptation leading to betrayal of trusts, as evidenced by many diplomas issued from authoritative hands. Where legislation fails, and always has failed, in consequence of the corruption that pervades our petty law-makers in conception, and peace justices in execution, we shall have an educational basis, that will not only insure practical physicians, but scientific theorists, whose observations must result in combining the eminent characteristics peculiar to American and European practices. It is through you, gentlemen, as the representatives of the great body of the profession of this commonwealth, and through your county societies, that this State organization shall compel that advance by our Pennsylvania schools, as Massachusetts has done, not only by fixing an educational standard for matriculation, but by extending the terms of lectures from two years (notoriously too short) to three, and this done, with a determination on the part of physicians to guard the portals of our schools of learning, by restraining the incompetent, and directing sustaining patronage only to such institutions as exhibit due respect for themselves; then shall we find the doctor of medicine not a mere empty title, but an immediate passport to honorable recognition. Legislation now will be unnecessary, the evils resulting from the pernicious rivalries of schools nugatory, and the standard of graduation, once established, would be zealously guarded, for safety, comfort, and physical welfare, by the masses. The quack and charlatan, feeding like parasites, by comparison, upon the incompetent but recognized, would be obliged to seek other fields of labor for the deceptions of their arrogant impositions, and thus, by dignified merit, the general public would recognize its own interests, and, by its own unconscious, yet irresistible, moral weight, crush out the unprincipled abettors of the host of pathies, with their innumerable prefixes. It is in the interest of all who love their profession, and have zealous care for their country's reputation, that we enter this earnest plea for some deliberate action, by which so great a boon to humanity, social or suffering, may be realized. With the hope, then, gentlemen, that upon an educational basis the standard of our profession may be truly elevated, that attempts by law may be regarded as not only useless but undignified, that our proceedings may be marked by sincerity and harmony, and that the interests of the public good may be duly considered, we again extend to you, in hearty welcome, the freedom of this city and its surroundings, and implore such blessings as may attend such lives consecrated and faithful to trusts of professional duty. And now, gentlemen, a few words as to your local surroundings and the peculiar features of this region. It has been said, by a wise observer, that the great nations of the near future are those who have the most abundant supply of iron, and of fuel wherewith to reduce it, and it is not a little startling to find that our compeers in the short catalogue of the greatest nations are Russia and China. Assuming these declarations as true, and the importance of coal |