= he Meilical Society TEA Dak as Ee SEF SS saad me MIDDLETON MICHEL, M. D., - {ON RETIRING FROM ITS PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR. sas Hee . Medical ‘Society of the State of. South Carolina, with brief Notices of some of the brilliant men of the Profes- sion whose names illuminate — . A Sketch of the Origin and History of the | hes ~ its records. CHARLESTON, §.-C.: _ Epwakp Pass & Co., Pian AND STATIONERS, epee No. ou Meeting Street, Opposite Charleston Hotel. my 1889. : ; ADDRESS TO The Wedical Society ) a MIDDLETON MICHEL, M. D., ON RETIRING FROM ITS PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR. A Sketch of the Origin and History of the Medical Society of the State of South Carolina, with brief Notices of some of the brilliant men of the Profes- sion whose names illuminate its records. —s se EE CHARLESTON, 8S. C.:: Kpwarpd Perry & Co., PRINTERS AND STATIONERS, No. 217 Meeting Street, Opposite Charleston Hotel. 1889, © At the request of many friends and members of the Medics 7 time of its delivery, the following address, with certait additions, will be read with interest as bearing up Centennial Anniversary. NOILOSTI00 SH4MO14 FHL ADDRESS. (GENTLEMEN : In fulfilling the obligatory duty which devolves upon each retiring president of this Society, an appreciative sense of the exceptional partiality received at your hands admon- ishes me that I am not engaged, on this particular occasion, in the simple discharge of a perfunctory performance; for T cannot but recall the friendly solicitations at the time, which, invited and urged me to preside over your delibera- tions; nor can I forget the yet more flattering request, when my term of office had expired that I should continue as your presiding ofticer for yet another term. This compli- mentary nomination, to which it pleased you all so readily to respond, I need not assure you was as unexpected as it was touching. For so courteous an evidence of your esteem I can only beg you now to accept the thanks of one who finds himself so largely indebted. Especially do I appreciate the honor which my _ col- leagues were not unwilling to bestow since we should regard it no inconsiderable distinction to have presided over a Society that enrolls among its members most distinguished names; and whose early foundation, nearly one hundred years ago, confers upon it the prestige of an antiquity almost coeval with our republic. Indeed, when this home of our childhood and of cur riper years was essentially a city of wooden buildings, with scarcely twenty brick residences through a line of one mile’s extent—when old Charlestown wore the aspect of a primeval town, tra- versed by creeks, intersected with marshes, defaced by narrow lanes and unpaved streets—reminiscences of the past, erased forever now from the memory of our genera- tion in the steady march of municipal civilization; [ say, in those almost immemorial days for us, in the year 1789, among the fifty odd physicians whose names we read in some antiquated directory as we would their tombstones in | a grave yard, it occurred to two or three of their meen ee that there was talent enough among the profession to organ- ize a Medical Society, the better to establish harmony of feeling, concert of action, and to communicate and diffuse knowledge. The initiative in this movement seems to haye been taken by Dr. Peter Fayssoux, since it was at his residence that Dr. David Ramsay and Dr. Alexander Barron met in De- cember, 1789, for the fulfilment of this commendable pur- pose. With the distinguished pen whose services on such an occasion must have been called into requisition in the person of our renowned historian, biographer, and physi- cian, David Ramsay, it is reasonable to infer that the very by-laws and constitution of our Society were drafted, which invests this document with historic value, should this con- jecture be true; while we are led at once indulgently to condone any of its imperfections which the changes of time and circumstances may have wrought. The primordial meetings of this ancient organization were held in alternate succession at its member's residences until the Society increased in numbers too considerable to trespass further upon private hospitality. They then sought natu- rally the unrestrained and more comimodious resorts; first of Harris’ Tavern, then of William’s Inn—places diffientt to locate now that old Charleston may be said to have “gone out of town,” but fitly suggestive, in those days, of powdered wigs, with cues, and knee-breeches; and of the English love of sueh retreats, where freedom of debate and the irre- pressible mirth of convivial meetings are ever realistic of Shenston’s declaration, that: “Who’er has travelled life's dull round, Where’er his stages may have been, May sigh to think he still has found The warmest weleome at an Inn.” The syvmiposiac reunions and disputations of this memora- ble little band of a few congenial spirits, assembled in those days of yore when no novitiate was considered fully equipped for such occasions until he carried his bottle under his belt, 5 we may readily imagine were often continued until the wintry tread of the spontooned watchman was searcely heard, or not even his sonorous voice as it called the hour of one, perhaps of fro, on the “drowsy ear of night.” But curiosity sends us out in search of those historic sites where: “The windows of the wayside Inn Gleamed red with firelight through the leaves.” and thus we are able to state that William’s Coftee House was at the corner of Tradd Street and Beadon’s Alley, while Harris’ Tavern was in after years better known to us all as the French Coftee House, at the corner of East Bay and Union Alley. These quaint and ancient /osfeleries, which then served for social clubs and banquet halls, were thus made distinguished also for the scientific gatherings of our mem- bers once every month. “Built in the old colonial day, With ample hospitality ; A kind of old Hobgoblin Hall, Now somewhat fallen to decay, With weather stains upon the wall, And stairways worn, and crazy doors, And creaking and uneven floors, And chimneys huge and tiled and tall.”’ The Socicty needing a more permanent locality for its wrchives, books and meetings, were offered at a later period the South-west room on the second floor of the Court Ifouse, which was occupied as the Medical Society’s library and room until they removed to an appartment in the Medi- cal College. Here our meetings were held until transferred to the present specially prepared hall for our use within the Roper Hospital. But the advantages of this social gathering, and its con- templated utility to the profession were not the sole object with these gentlemen. A reference to the early circum- stances which also actuated them, discloses a project, the history of which is but little known in its details to the present generation, and to this let me call attention, as it is 6 eminently proper always to recognize and remember those who initiated the idea and planed the organization of a charity, that was ultimately carried out more effectually and perpetuated as a permanent public charity through the generous donations and bequests of others. It appears, as [ tind andas I have elsewhere stated,* that the establishmentof a Dispensary for dispensing medicines and furnishing medical attendance to the poor was one of the contemplated objects of those who founded the Medical Society of the State of South Carolina. . The plan of such acharity was dratted contemporaneously With the constitution of this Society and an elaborate ad- dress, very shortly afterwards, setting forth all the advan- tages that would attend upon its operations, was prepared, discussed, and being amended was presented in published form to our citizens. The members, in realization of their cherished design, organized themselves into a corps who were to officiate in rotation while the older imembers were to act as consulting Physicians, and for sixteen years the poor received the gratuitous counsel and kind ministrations of certain members of the profession. It was our benefi- cent profession, and the members of this Society, then, who followed the poor in their wretched retreats, and sought the secret pleasure of a generous act wherever they found that misery and want had retired to die. This truly was the origin of our public charities which antidated, and obvi- ously suggested the several memorable bequests which fol- lowed in its wake. Public attention was so often impressed with the benefi- cent results of this combined movement on the part of the Medical fraternity, that most gratifying resolutions were often published commending the skill and diligence and humane attention bestowed without recompense. It was the benevolent Alexander Shirras who, in 1810, bequeathed a number of houses and lots to the Intendent of Charleston, President of the Medical Society, and to the Charleston Year Book, 1880, 7 President of St. Andrew’s Society, in trust, for the benefit of the sick poor, declaring in his will that he was actuated . by a desire “to mitigate the sufferings of the distressed, ease the inhabitants, and assist the Medical gentlemen in their humane intentions.” Council honored this donation in 1813 by the establishment of the Dispensary known as Shirras’ Dispensary. The services of the physicians were continued until 1818, however, without charge. The subse- quent history of this bequest is well known, and in’ active operation with such changes as a lapse of eighty years have wrought, the Dispensary stands yet at the corner of Meeting and Society Streets, a monument to Caledonia’s generous son, and in the vault of the City Treasury are securities, the interest from which contributes daily to the wants and comfort of a large proportion of the indigent sick of our City. Again, under the friendly auspices of this Society, and quite within the memory of its present members, came the benevolent donation of Col. Thomas Roper. This bequest was given and devised to the Medical Society, which body constitutes the Trustees of the fund. Under their manage- ment, with such accessions to the fund from private and public sources, the present Roper Hospital was erected. Beneath the shelter of this charity hundreds have received medical and surgical aid; while it has also served, under the professional control of the Faculty of the Medical Col- lege, to offer ample facilities for the advancement of medical education in all the departments of our science, particularly in the acquirement of that practical knowledge that can only be derived from the clinical instruction of its pro- fessors. No sooner was this Society established than the munici- pal authorities: consulted its members on all matters relating to public health and medical police; and it is interesting to note that as early as 1795 an able communication, emana- ting from this body to Council, enjoined the necessity of careful inspection of premises for the abatement of nuisances : advocating the planting of trees for purifying the atmos- 8 phere; that land be purchased beyond the corpe of the City as a burial ground, (advising evet mural interments); while, in a reply to the Go State, objections were incisively urged against | low lots and extension of streets with putrefying proposing, at the same time, the introduction 6 from the surrounding country as conducive to Ty potable and culinary uses. Mere, in the very con haustive report to which I refer, was obviou foundation of future Boards of Health among In connection with such a subject, as exhibiti interest in and knowledge of most matters ap Ilygiene as then understood, it is curious to rela dation again of a “Humane Society,’ which took in this body. Provision was herein made amon; bers to furnish immediate aid in all cases of | animation, especially among the drowned, and a) were purchased and distributed among the wharves City, with accompanying directions for their use. We have also to chronicle the foundation and — tion of another enterprise called the Botanical O in the vear 1805. For the furtherance of this Medical Society subscribed fifty dollars annualh nated a large lot of land belonging to them, th of Mrs. Turpin, and when the funds reached f $1176, the Botanical Garden, better known to perhaps, as old Tivoli Garden, went into efficien soon becoming enriched with many varieties of in and exotic planta systematically arranged upon. most approved scientific basis of classification. To was attractive within its graceful enclosure, the pu invited, as an agreeable resort, but more pa u profitable school of instruction. It was here that M st N. Nicollet, member of the French ‘Acadeng ae Scie the great explorer of our Western rivers and ickeua guest at my father’s house, made his astronomical ob tions. Such enlarged, such liberal views, consorted _ i) energy that invested them all with life and veritable exist- tanee could not fail to attract and impress the public mind throughout the country, as this Medical Society stood fore- most among the earliest organizations of the kind in the States after the Revolution. *That it cid indeed inspire many throughout our own State with a similar spirit of progress was manifested in a very few years by certain physicians from the adjoining counties assembling in Union District and organizing an association which they called the Esculapean Society of South Carolina. Now, it would be an office full of importance, and seduc- tively attractive, could we perpetuate the minor details and workings of our Society during its pristine days—its days of usefulness and reputation—by home sketches, were they ever so meagre, of those then most prominent: but unfor- tunately with few if any records before us the memories of our oldest inhabitants are the chief annals we have been able to consult. Yet, the rehearsal of the roll-call: Peter Fayssoux, David Ramsay, Alexander Barron, Chalmers, Matthew Irying, Dal- cho, John Budd, Andrew Turnbull, Alexander Garden, Robt. Wilson, Elisha Poinsette, James Lynah, Geo. Logan, Joseph Johnson, Joseph Glover,&c., recalls names of which we are not wholly ignorant. But this vocal summons comes to us like an echo through the vista of the past. It treasures pleas- ant memories only with their names, for we would ‘wish to know more of those to whose early labors we assuredly owe much. Holding the dead in everlasting remembrance, we desire to keep them before us as though they were still living. We would wish to know what they did and how they lived, what they said and how they looked. Contem- poraries at a period when individual life was little merged into the vortex of busy existenee, it is strange, it is to be regretted that no graphic pen recorded their deeds, their *New Jersey State Medical Society was founded—I 7606. Massachusetts Medical Society—1781. College of Physicians, Philadelphia—1787. Medical Society of South Carolina—1789. 10 usages of speech, their personal characteristics or physic appearances: for in those days we had not then invoked fl Sun’s mystic handiwork in its prepotency as the artists. S scarcely know anything. The antecedents of ones rectly affiliated with our present professional atti public, our executive importance and influence i in through an incorporated and: chartered institution own creation, bequeathed to us, so to speak, as. a would be listened to, most assuredly, with peculiar We find him inaugurating a movement, whieh, places him in immediate relation with his p brethren for all future time—convening his — establish this Society: Tradition pointed for years to that antiquated building, with its oriel and its quaint old architecture as the very house 1 window of which General Marion, making his eseape the convivial restraints which interrupted his serious ¢ obligations, fell and fractured his leg. This house until recently, as a queer old monument to the epi its youth, but alas! the requirements of modern in ments in widening Friend Street, have, within the years, forever obliterated from our sight, this histor ‘i tige of a revolutionary incident. af Of Peter Fayssoux we do know that he possessed th vantages of an European education, took an active p our revolutionary struggles, was Surgeon-Geneaii if State, endured, as the record states, “ captivity with pa and exile with resignation; that at the close of 1 he became a member of the Legislature, and took an i quinone which arose in the settlenient of our iy affairs. ; Our second President was Dr. Alex. Barron, then President of the St. Andrew’s Society, an office whiel held for twenty-eight years. 11 Born in the County of Merus, Scotland, graduated in the Marechal College of Aberdeen, and taking his degree under Dr. Gregory in the Medical School of Edinburg, he carried with him a refined scholarship and urbanity of manners which could not have failed in making an impression upon the society of the country of his adoption. His general erudition and felicity of expression—the foundation of the eristic element in our nature—in his case permitted him to share in any and every topic of discussion without any sem- blance of self-sufficiency which was so couspicuous that it became the subject of encomiastie remark: while his cheer- ful dignity of manner contributed to endear his companion- ship to all around him. We may imagine him even in advanced old age partici- pating at the annual banquet of our Society, held in those days at William’s Tavern, and here, as at St. Andrew’s, taking the lead, as the venerable Mitchell King has recorded of him in the “ home-born verse” of his native country by lis favorite song, “The Lass of Pattie’s Mill.” Mr. King says: ‘‘there was something so delightful in his manner, so exhilarating yet so remote from levity in his mirth that gravity itself seemed pleased, the young gave freer scope to their merriment, and the old almost thought that they were young again.” We have always learned that none stood higher in the profession. lis acquirements and early training aptly fitted him tor the remarkable success in practice which secured a large income, and made his councils so valuable to his pro- fessional brethren, and to the recipients of his medical skill. Ifis memory should be cherished with us, his name always mentioned with veneration and respect. The announcement of David Ramsay endows this Society with amonuwmentalname. Recall his literary laborsalone amidst all of his other avocations: his hallowed zeal for historic work, whose engrossing demands never halted at the cafeh- word of practical, but with undivided devotion to the inter- ests of the future Hterally inseribing his name on the pages of history, biography and medicine; let us remember him, 12 during John Hancock's illness, for a twelvemonth officiating in Congress as President virtually of the Continental Con- gress: and, then, we need only say that once upon a time in the very earliest period of our Society's record David Ramsay was our President also. JOHN BUDD. We cannot pretermit, however brief, a notice of Dr. Ramsay's partner, the facetious Dr. John Budd, one of the earliest members of this Society. We are told, that while he was a prisoner with Mr. George Flagg and some fifty” others, in St. Augustine, Florida, when General Greene’s threatened retaliation for the execution of Col. Hayne en- dangered their own safety, Budd said: “ Well, Flagg, the British have resolved to hoist the “flag” and nip the rebel- lion in the “bud.” Again, one of the earliest papers read before the Society was Dr. Budd's dissertation on fermented liquors, in which he stated that London porter was justly preferred to all other kinds, and that it had never been successfully imitated, because it appeared to him it must be made with Thames water at low-tide, near the London sridge, just where the river was the receptacle of every immundicity drifted into it from that great city. The graphic description he gave of the probable constituents of this water was such that many who were devoted advo- cates of this favorite beverage forever afterward abandoned its use, ALEXANDER GARDEN. For scientific attainments and an European reputation Dr. Alexander Garden stood facile princeps anong his col- leagues. Born in Scotland, he came to Charleston an ae- complished graduate of the Aberdeen University, having studied medicine under Dr. John Gregory. His sueeess in this City of his adoption was marked by the accumulation of a fortune whilst among us, and his fame was so great that in 1754 a professorship in the New York College, just then established, was tendered him, which he declined, as he was too deeply engrossed in his botanical researches and 15 discoveries in the balmy and incense-breathing South. — It Was among us that he discovered the most delicious and fragrant of flowering shrubs to which the illustrious Linnzeus gave the name of Gardenia in honor of him. Many tropical and subtropical plants were described for the first time by him in his varied publications; and the entire genus Gar- denia was dedicated to him by Ellis. He returned, however, to London to die there in 1792. An active member of our body, adding lustre to this organization both at home and in Europe his reputation was as extensive as it was com- mendable: this merited renown seems to have particularly chated Dr. Mottet, the associate partner of Dr. Richard Savage, for, annoyed by the frequent laudatory references to Dr. Garden onevery side he amused his friends by declaring that he too iad discovered an herb which he called Lucia in honor of his cook Lucy. As a scientist, a successful physi- cian and botanist of renown, Dr. Garden’s reputation was acquired here while a member of this Society, we may say an immortality indeed which descends to posterity ‘en- shrined in the petals of a flower.” MATTHEW IRVING. If among our colleagues at this early period in our history We look tor that éelat which is so indetectibly blended with a military career, then shall we turn with pride to the brother of General Wm. Irvine—Dr. Matthew Irving, a graduate of Philadelphia under Rush and Shippen. He took a conspicuous part as Surgeon to Lee’s legion, sharing the hardships and dangers of the tented field with the bravest of the brave; rushing into the fight as a volunteer uid to Green with that enthusiasm and unrest which refused to remain in the rear, and that pointed to his inherited inilitary proclivities, until he was wounded seriously just above the elbow at Quimby. Beneficent in his prompt ministrations to the wounded, extemporizing surgical ap- plances under trying circumstanees, and performing skill- fully operations on every side, he seems to have covered himself with glory. For ten years after the war we find . ed bai? l4 aeiey. In 1808, Dr. Joseph Johnson was elected Pres served the usual term of two years. He has record familiar to all in his most interesting “ and Reminiscences of the American Revolutior South.” At his house the Board of Examiners for physicians, appointed by the Society, held their meetings. In charge of costly instruments pure the Society, in those days that antedated our present W ve bureaux, he kept for many years the most accurate th metrical and barometrical records which were repe each monthly meeting and were of great value. Whatever might be recounted of the practice and pi pr of medicine in those days, of surgery we have no 1 as this department of our science appears to have been ; ly in the hands of European practitioners—though the vess and daring spirit of our American people, W since so conspicuously developed itself in the perf of the most capital operations in surgery, was Som exhibited even in the hands of the w holly uninitiz Dr. Ramsay, in 1779, examined the stumps of a man fi Orangeburg whiose mangle leg had mee some ye common knife, ciate? Ss saw ne tongs—the toh told were used red-hot to staunch the. blood, as the no aid of any kind within sixty miles. Now it was department of our art so ignored and neglected th Joseph Glover, then avery young man, who had just ; ated in Philadelphia, became quite distinguished. skill in this direction must have been conspicuous is p D by this Society, in after years, having appointed a Com tee to report upon his most remarkable cases, of whieh late Dr. John Bellinger was Chairman, from which re published by the request of the Society we gather some teresting and important facts. One of his first capital oj 15 ations was the excision of the spleen, A negro of Major Pinckney was stabbed in the lett hypochondriac region, the cartilages of two of the false ribs were divided, some of the omentum protruded and part of the spleen, and much blood was lost. He was brought from Moultrieville, and the next day, August 12, 1801, at 11 o'clock, the operation was per- formed, as the parts presented a gangrenous condition. The’ protruded omentum and a very large part of the spleen were cut away, and a branch of the splenic artery had to be secured with needle and ligature, the wound closed by suture and plasters. The ligatures separated early and the healing process was rapid. This successful case attracted much. at- tention, since the only case familiarly known just then, was that reported by Cheselden, though three or four similar instanees had also been published by British Surgeons. Dr. Glover’s predilection for Ophthalmic Surgery gained him great fame. His reputation as an oculist is within the memory of the present day. So extensive was his practice in this branch of surgery, that patients from all parts of this und adjoining States journeyed to Charleston to avail them- selves of his skall. Among the capital operations which added largely to his fame was a case of successful Lithotomy; it was reckoned the third case which had occurred in this City, the two first cases, report ascribed to a Dr. Turner, of Connecticut, who visited this City by invitation for this purpose. Excision of an inverted uterus, possibly malignant, meas- uring eleven inches in length, eighteen in circumference, and weighing five pounds, with rapid recovery, must also be added to this list. . Tlowever, his reputation abroad was perhaps particularly secured by his advocating and performing the puncturing of the head for the cure of chronic hydrocephalus tollowed by compression. Commenting upon this operation, the New York Wedical Journal of July, 1818, remarks: ‘ We are indebted to that ancient and respectable institution, the Medical Society of South Carolina, for the publication of this case, one which 16 extends the practical domain of Surgery, discloses new physiological phenomena, and withal furnishes us with new and interesting facts respecting a fatal and frequent disease.” Published in varied directions we meet it again in the Ed. Med. Surg. Journ. and in the Arch. Gen. de Med,, in which dricheteau gives Glover priority over Sir Gilbert Blaine in the use of the bandage in the treatrnent of hydrocephalus. Dr. Bellinger, in an official report emanating from this Society, on the labors and life of Dr. Glover, expresses lis belief: “tbat at home he will long be remembered for his zealous promotion of the objects of our association, and for his boldness, dexterity, and snecess, as a Surgeon; whilst abroad his fame will rest upon his having fearlessly under- taken, and having skilfully accomplished operations for the performance of which the records of medicine furnish so few precedents.” SAMUEL HENRY DICKSON. In a long list of worthy names, the personal remembrance of those of a later date crowd around me as among the most pleasing memories of the past, but when [ recall the most important medical event perhaps connected with this Society, the name of Samuel Henry Dickson immediately presents itself. To speak of him is to speak of the Medical College. But to speak of him is also a privilege and a prompting of love. It is a happy thought that there are those among us still who will echo all that might be said of Carolina’s dis- tinguished son. The touching recollections of a bold, in- genuous, and sympathizing heart, soothingly affiliated with elegance of address and captivating manners, would alone declare the value everyone attached to his friendship and example; but the atHuence of his mental resources, and the chastened harmonies of his elocutionary utterances gave him a predominance in colloquial discourse which eom- manded attention while it enlightened and always pleased. Worshiped literally among those who knew him best, courted by the ambitious young, caressed by the favors of the en- lightened and influential: the seductiveness of the soeial W cirele where he reigned supreme, constituted for him natu- rally an attractive enjoyment: yet no one realized better than he that the adulations of friends and the blandishments of society were scarcely more permanent than pleasing re- laxations: that in the rapid current of the flood of time there was little rest from protracted work for those in the front rank, and indeed this pleasure in work was luis impulse even in early life, for he entered Yale College at thirteen years, and in order that he might graduate with his elder brother, a vacation spent in laborious collegiate work ac- complished the purpose, he graduating at the early age of sixteen. Even so young his dialectic readiness and ornate diétion made such an impress upon the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Yale, that he was called in 1842 to deliver the charming address which some of us so well remember. We have said that as the chief originator of our Medical College the name of Dickson becomes synonymous with the highest type of medical education in the South, in the svm- metrical and comprehensive culture which the establishment of a college afforded for the evolution and development of that systematized knowledge that descends to us through academic teachings alone. It is true that in 1803 Dr. David Ramsay in his resolution before the Society proposed that two of its members be elected to ‘‘read lectures” on Anatomy, Surgery, Midwifery and Chemistry; that Drs. Philip Prioleau and Benj. Simons were chosen; and that an address to the inhabitants of the State recommending them to encourage these lectures insti- tuted by the Society were carried into effect, but this germ- idea met with no success. It was to Dr. Dickson’s early and ambitious scheme, im- mediately after his graduation in Philadelphia, in 1819, made known to his friend, Dr. Isaac Motte Campbell, that we owe the Medical College in Charleston. Dr. Campbell was urged to take the chair of anatomy, but declined in favor of Dr. J. KE. Horlbrook. This College, under the auspices of the Medical Society went into operation in 1822, in a little wooden building of modest dimensions that 18 not many years since stood within the College Campus in the present site of onr Janitor’s rooms, where among the first to attend and register his name as a student was Eli Geddings, from Abbeville. ; In 1823, the Legislature granted the power of conferring diplomas, It must be remembered that this individual en- terprise was self-sustaining in its early struggles, (and these were great and many, had we time to recount them), as neither the State nor the Society shared expenses. Yet, se completely was this progressive institution regarded as an outgrowth of the Society, that upon this rests a bit of his- tory, the consideration of which we must pretermit for the present. Dr. Dickson was born in 1798, in this City, on King Street, the site where Mr. Poppenheim’s store now stands, and died March 31, 1872, in Philadelphia. THe was called to the New York University in 1847, remained three years and returned again to his professional chair in this College. In 1858, in response to another call to the Jefterson School, in Philadelphia, he reluctantly left us again never to return, [lis beautiful style as a writer made his volume of Medi- eal Essays the most attractive specimens of medical litera- ture in America. His work on Practice served as his text- book to his classes, and his journal contributions are valua- ble and original records. A collection of all his introductory addresses, publie ora- tions in one volume, called Varia, furnish illustrations of a pure and elegant style. J. LAWRENCE SMITH. Of one whose notable death has just been announced, who Was once an enthusiastic member of this Society until an ampler field of labor called him to a distant State I must most affectionately speak. What a rush of memories flows out in tender love to the companion of my former years, to the exemplar of my then ambitious dreams, to the friend of my student days, when | pronounce the name of .J. Lawrence Smith. Associated with him for years in Paris, in that 19 vortex of attraction, amidst the allurements of dissipation - and the blandishments of vice, | would bear attestation to the purity of his character and the generosity of his nature. A lite consecrated from boyhood to the pleasant paths of science, his only obvious aim was an earnest and determined search atter truth. His researches in the domains of science, with a genius that knew no rest; that would not if it could evade its destiny, won for him in early hfe the admiration of a Pelouz and the commendation of a Liebig. Ilis varied discoveries in chemistry, mineralogy and ge- ology, placed him in the front ranks of distinguished scien- tists; but of these labors Prof. Silliman will record their worth in the proposed memoirs to the National Academy of Science, when we shall learn the value set upon them by those appointed to speak, though we well know already that they served to load him with honors rarely attained by any other American, when the final discovery of a new mineral mosandum—caused his election as successor to Sir Charles Lyell, to the Institute of France, the highest honor within the gift of the scientific world. It gives me emotions of pain mingled with pride in ofter- ing this inadequate tribute to the memory of a frieud and of this Society’s former associate. The brief tribute Hows from my heart as it does from my pen as the mournful dream of a day, a day long gone by, when we wandered to- gether with happy hearts through the wide domains of science, LIBRARY. Of our Library we should surely say something, for it Was among the earliest public medical collections in this country, indeed it stood third in the order of succession of such as ranked foremost among the valuable archives of our science. The nucleus of our cuce well-known and impor- tant library was the joint donation of Drs. Robert and Samuel Wilson, at a meeting held at the house of Dr. Budd on the twenty-sixth of February, 1791, The library of the Penn- sylvania Hospital was first in point of time, for this was founded in 1760; the second was that of the College of 20 Physicians in Philadelphia, founded in 1788. The Library of the Medical Society of Charleston, as above stated, may be said to have begun in 1791, while the New York Hos pital Library, fourth in order, was not established until 1796. Countless manuscripts and old volumes, donations from various sources, together with such classic and foreign works of standard authority as were purchased also by the society, continued for years to enrich our collection: whieh, betore- the ravages of war disorganized and in part destroyed by losses the numerous volumes that composed it, constituted an accessible field for bibliographical research ; since in an empirical and progressive science like that of medicine, books of ancient date soon become obscure on many and obsolete on most points; though, deeply important and absolutely essential as references of the progress of thought, and as such therefore must ever serve to thread together the mazy intricacies of scientific theories and data, that are the material out. of which truth is ultimately evolved, Tere, still, these venerable volumes stand, in creased and seared leaves covered with dust—the unavoidable associate of protracted repose—and from these book-enconrpassed walls these at least autocrats of thought stand crowned immortal in the reverence we bear them, though of omin- ous Import to those of us who with our poet would ask; “Q! Sexton of the aleoved tomb, W here souls in leathered cerements lic, Tell mewach living author’s doom! How long before his book shall die.” In connection with the subject of books, it is noteworthy that from some of our collaborators in this Society emanated at difterent periods two medical journals: one of which was the earliest medical periodical published in the South. The Curolina Journal, edited by Drs. Thomas Y, Simons, and my father, Dr. William Michel, was published in 1822 and though — of brief duration, its volumes, now rare, contained among original monographs on various subjects from different sources, also many of the papers read before this Society by its members at their monthly meetings. zt The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal originated with Drs. J. Lawrence Smith and S. D. Sinkler in 1845. Under the editorship of these gentlemen this journal soon became the recognized representative monthly periodical throughout the South, and it certainly sustained this reputation through the energy and ability of its several successive editors when unavoidable circumstances of a very recent date led reluc- tantly to its abandonment. A SEAL OF THE SOCIETY. It was an inquiry among us not, long since whether our Society, in its corporate capacity, possessed any seal, motto, or deyice to ratify its acts. Now it appears they had been but a short time in existence when one of its inembers, Dr. Charles Lewis Seeger, informed the Society that he intended to leave the State, and reside in Europe, and therefore re- requested a “certificate” of his being a member. A com- mittee, consisting of Drs. Samuel Wilson, James Moultrie, Wm. Handy, and the Treasurer, Dr. D. Ramsay, were ap- pointed February 25, 1792, to draw up the form of a ‘“cer- tificate of admission,” to be given to those applying for the same, and to frame a device for a seal and motto. At the meeting in March the committee reported as follows : SOCIETAS MEDICA CAROLIN.Z AUSTRALIS, Anno Domint 1789 Insrirura. Omnibus ad quos hee pervenerint salutem. Ornate Viro—qui in numerum nostrum anno fuit admissus, (quique medicinam insigni cum commodo mortalium, suaque laude maxima fecit) hoc munus liberis sociorum suffragiis lubentissime conceditur. Diu vivat et floreat patriz, scientiarumque decus ; utque societas, haec semper- illius, sic ejusdem memor perstat. In quorum fidem communi societatis sigillo munito, nomina nostra subscripsimus. Carolopoli, anno salutis humane, millessimo octingentesimo, &c.. mensis, die. THE SEAL, HEAD OF DR. FRANKLIN. Sigillum Societatis Medice, Caroline Australis. This imperfect sketch of the past history with all the memories of its early ambition, its fulness of future fame, its conscious pride of ence and power, is pregnant with the admont glory of an institution is but the reflex of the- its individual members; and that to the present tm is transmitted the responsibility of perpetuating t perity of the Society. } LIST OF THE PRESIDENTS 1790 to 1792, 1795 to 1795, 1796 to 1797, 1798 to 1799, 1800 to 1801, 1802 to 1803, 1804 to 1805, 1806 to 1807, 1808 to 1809, 1810 to 1811, 1812 to 1813, 1814 to 1815, 1816 to 1818, 1819 to 1820, 1821 to 1822, 1823 to 1824, 1825 to 1826, 1827 1828 1729 to 1850, 1831 to 1832, 1833 to 1834, 1835 to 1836, 1837 to 1838. 1839 to 1840, 1841 to 1842, 1843 to 1844, 1845 to 1846, 1847 to 1848, 1849 to 1850, 1851 to 1852, 1853 to 1854, 1855 to 1856, 1857 to 1858, 1859 to 1860, 1861 to 1862, 1863 to 1865, 1866 to 1867, 1868 to 1869, 1870 to 1871, 1872 to 1873, 1874 to 1875, 1876 to L877. 1878 to 1879, 1880 to 1883, 1884 to 1885, 1886 to 1887. 1888 to 1889, OF THE Aledical Society of South A avolinis. ee ee = PETER FAYSSOUX. ALEXANDER BARON. TUCKER HARRIS. DAVID RAMSAY. ISAAC CHANLER. SAMUEL WILSON. JAMES MOULTRIE. PHILIP G. PRIOLEAU. JOSEPH JOHNSON. JOSEPH GLOVER. ROBERT WILSON. JOHN P. GOUGH. JAMES E. B. FINLEY. THOMAS AKIN. JAMES MOULTRIE, Jr. JOSEPH MANNING. THOMAS G. PRIOLEAU. MATTHEW IRVINE. GEORGE LOGAN. THOMAS Y. SIMMONS. ISAAC M. CAMPBELL. FRANCIS Y. PORCHER, E. W. NORTH. C. B. WHITRIDGE. ELIAS HORLBECK. ALEXANDER E. GADSDEN. SAMUEL P. JERVEY. HENRY WINTHROP. EK. H. DEAS. WM. T. WRAGG. T. L. OGIEK. H. R. FROST. P. C. GAILLARD. H. W. DESAUSSURE. JOHN L. DAWSON. J. D: CAIN, J. P. CHAZAL. . J. CHISOLM. R. A. KINLOCH. F. M. ROBERTSON. J. FORD PRIOLEAU. F. PEYRE PORCHER. J.F. M. GEDDINGS. F. L. PARKER. MIDDLETON MICHEI.. J. SOMER~ BUIST. H. W. DESAUSSURE. M. SIMONS.