COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFS.1 1 1 HEALTH SCIENCES STANDARD HX00049670 RECAP Reception and banquet in honor of Dr. Levfis Stephen Pileher. - p/6-^P^4- :b34^ mtt)f€itpoflfmg0rk COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS LIBRARY * .\ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Open Knowledge Commons http://www.archive.org/details/receptionbanquetOOmedi // //u / RECEPTION and BANQUET in honor of by the MEDICAL SOCIETY of the COUNTY OF KINGS, U. S. GRANT POST, No. 327, of the Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic and the MONTAUK CLUB of BROOKLYN, in celebration of the comple- tion of his services of fifty years as a Doctor of Medicine, on FRIDAY EVENING, the TWELFTH of MAY, Nineteen sixteen, at HOTEL BOSSERT, Brooklyn, New York ^emt^Centenntal Committee Chairman Dr. William Francis Campbell Secretary Dr. Walter Airman Sherwood Treasurer Dr. John Osborn Polak THE HONORARY COMMITTEE Rev. Chas. Carroll Albertson, D.D. Dr. Oscar H. Allis Dr. George E. Armstrong Mr. Charles D. Atkins Col. Andrew D. Baird Prof. Dr. Raphael Bastianelli Rev. John L. Belford Hon. William Berri Dr. Arthur Dean Bevan Surgeon-Gen. Rupert Blue Mr. Edward C. Blum Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D. Right Rev. Frederick Burgess, D.D., LL.D. Rev. Joseph D. Burrell, D.D. Rev. S. Parkes Cadman, D.D., LL.D. Hon. William A. Calder Sir Watson Cheyne Hon. Frederick E. Crane Dr. George W. Crile Hon. William D. Dickey Dr. Charles N. Dowd Mr. Percy S. Dudley Mr. William H. English Mr. E. Ericksen Hon. John H. Finley Mr. Crighton B. French Dr. W. Stanton Gleason Dr. Frederick H. Gerrish Dr. Arpad p. Gerster Surgeon-Gen. William C. Gorgas Prof. Dr. Henri Hartmann Mr. Frederick E. Heitmann Rev. St. Clair Hester, D.D. Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D.D. Rev. James E. Holmes, D.D. Rev. Andrew C. Mr. Arthur Howe Dr. Thomas W. Huntington Dr. Henry M. Hurd Dr. Abraham Jacobi Mr. Henry C. Jahne Dr. Walter B. James Hon. Walter H. Jaycox Dr. William W. Keen Rev. W. V. Kelley, D.D. Prof. Dr. Theodor Kocher Rev. Nathan Krass, D.D. Dr. Robert G. Le Conte Dr. Frederick B. Lund Very Rev. Mons. E. W. McCarty, D.D. Very Rev. Mons. Joseph McNamee, D.D. Sir William Macewen Dr. Rudolph Matas Dr. William J. Mayo Rev. J. Howard Melish, D.D. Dr. Robert T. Morris Sir Berkeley Moynihan Dr. John B. Murphy Sir William Osler Hon. Lewis H. Pounds Hon. William A. Prendergast Dr. John B. Roberts Prof. Dr. Thorkild Rovsing Rev. Frederick F. Shannon, D.D. Dr. Stephen Smith Hon. Luke D. Stapleton Dr. Albert A. Vander Veer Dr. Victor C. Vaughan Rev. N. McGee Waters, D.D. Dr. William H. Welch Dr. J. William White Wilson, D.D. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Dr. L. G. Baldwin Dr. Calvin F. Barber Dr. Elias H. Bartley Dr. Bruce G. Blackmar Dr. Silas G. Blaisdell Dr. Arthur H. Bog art Dr. J. BioN Bogart Dr. William B. Brader Dr. William B. Brinsmade Dr. Samuel S. Brown- Dr. Glentworth R. Butler Dr. William Francis Campbell Dr. Charles N. Cox Dr. H. Beeckman Delatour Dr. John G. Dickert Dr. Robert L. Dickinson Dr. James M. Downey Dr. Warren L. Duffield Dr. Roger Durham Dr. Charles Eastmond Dr. Henry A. Fairbairn Dr. Mathias Figueira Dr. Edwin H. Fiske Dr. James W. Fleming Dr. Henry P. de Forest Dr. Russell S. Fowler Dr. Thomas R. French Dr. Charles P. Gildersleeve Dr. Charles H. Goodrich Dr. Onslow A. Gordon Dr. Burt D. Harrington Dr. O. Paul Humpstone Dr. John E. Jennings Dr. Albert M. Judd Dr. James C. Kennedy Dr. J. Richard Kevin Dr. John A. Lee Dr. William Linder Dr. John A. McCorkle Dr. John C. MacEvitt Dr. William H. Maddren Dr. Earl H. Mayne Dr. Henry B. Minton Dr. Burr B. Mosher Dr. Paul M. Pilcher Dr. John Osborn Polak Dr. Ralph H. Pomeroy Dr. John F. Ranken Dr. William H. Rankin Dr. Dudley D. Roberts Dr. John D. Rushmore Dr. John H. Schall Dr. Walter Aikman Sherwood Dr. Warren S. Simmons Dr. Thomas B. Spence Dr. John D. Sullivan Dr. Raymond P. Suxlivan Dr. Henry A. Wade Dr. James P. Warbasse Dr. Cassius H. Watson Dr. Henry G. Webster Dr. Rich.\rd VJ. Westbrook THE U. S. GRANT POST COMMITTEE Mr. Crighton B. French AIr. Birt F. Parsons Mr. William C. Peckham THE MONTAUK CLUB COMMITTEE Mr. B. a. Greene Mr. James G. Shaw Mr. William H. English Mr. Jesse L. Hopkins Dr. J. Scott Wood RECEPTION COMMITTEE Former Presidents of the Kings County Medical Society James W. Fleming^ Chairman Elias H. Hartley John Richard Kevin William Browning John O. Polak Glentworth R. Butler Ralph H. Pomeroy William F. Campbell Jonathan S. Prout Walter B. Chase John C. MacEvitt Charles N. Cox John A. McCorkle Z. Taylor Emery Alexander R. Matheson Henry A. Fairbairn Frank E. West Russell S. Fowler Joshua M. Van Cott Onslow O. Gordon ' James MacFarland Winfield Coajstmajstet WILLIAM FRANCIS CAMPBELL, A.B., M.D. ^peaftcrjs VICTOR C. VAUGHAN, M.D., LL.D. Prof. WILLIAM C. PECKHAM, M.A. WILLIAM W. KEEN, M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng.) Hon. JOHN H. FINLEY, LL.D. WILLIAM J. MAYO, M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng.) Rev. S. PARKES CADMAN, D.D., LL.D. Presentation of Medal JAMES PETER WARBASSE, M.D. 10 Celebration The Inauguration of the Celebration Resolutions adopted by the Medical Society of the County of Kings,, December 21, 1915, by a unanimous vote: Whereas^ Dr. Lewis Stephen Pilcher will, in March, 1916, have completed fifty years of labor in the profession of medicine, and Whereas, During all these years he has stood among us an exem- plar of sturdy manhood, unflagging industry, rich scholarship and uncompromising integrity, and Whereas^ In his versatile attainments as soldier, surgeon, teacher, author and editor, he has received not only national but international recognition, Resolved, That the undersigned, deeply conscious of Dr. Pilcher's contributions to manhood and to medicine and believing that this unique event presents a rare opportunity for the medical profession of Brooklyn to honor itself by a public recognition of its most dis- tinguished colleague, do hereby request that the Medical Society of the County of Kings appoint a committee of three with power to arrange for a suitable celebration of the "Lewis Stephen Pilcher Semi-Centen- nial," that this committee be authorized to add to its number as many as may be deemed necessary to properly represent the various medical interests of this borough ; and further That the appointment of this committee be the first act of the President-elect for 1916. J. Bion Bogart, H. Beeckman Delatour, William Francis Campbell, W. B. Brinsmade, J. Richard Kevin, John Cowell MacEvitt, Walter A. Sherwood, J. W. Fleming, Russell S. Fowler, P. M. Pilcher, Chas. N. Cox, Henry A. Fairbairn, O. A. Gordon, Raymond P. Sullivan, John A. Lee, Ralph H. Pomeroy, William Linder, John Osborn Polak, A. M. Judd, O. p. Humpstone. 11 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORS OF THE MONTAUK CLUB November 28, 1915. My Dear Dr. Pilcher : At a meetin- of the Directors of the Montauk Club, held the 20th inst., it was unanimously resolved that a reception and dinner be ten- dered to you at our Ckib House on the evening of March 28, 1910, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of your admission to practice in the noblest and highest of all professions. It is needless to add, my dear doctor, that the Montauk Club, with its many friends in your profession and in Grand Army circles, will honor itself in honormg one whose skill has been working wonders in the past and creating new hope for to-morrow. Yours very truly, B. A. Greene, Secretary. ACTION BY U. S. GRANT POST, No. 327 Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic From Minutes of Encampment of March 14, 1916 The Commander stated that the Post had been invited to partici- pate in a testimonial dinner to be given May 12th to Comrade Pilcher by his professional friends, and that he had designated Comrades Peckham and Parsons to act with himself upon the Committee of Arrangements. Comrade Peckham moved that the Post co-operate in this dinner, which motion was carried by a unanimous vote. W. C. Peckham, Adjutant. 12 LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS FROM WILLIAM W. KEEN, M.D., LL.D. President Societe Internationale de Chirurgie 1729 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, March 30, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. Your request, I feel, is a command, when my dear friend Pilcher is to be honored. I will be on hand so far as I can now foresee on May 12th. Very truly yours, W. W. Keen. FROM SIR WILLIAM OSLER Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford, England 13, Norham Gardens, Oxford, 9th. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. I will do so with the greatest pleasure as I have always had a warm appreciation of Dr. Pilcher as a man and a surgeon. Yours, Wm. Osler. FROM WILLIAM J. MAYO, M.D., LL.D. Of Rochester^ Minn. March 31, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. I consider it a great honor to be named as a member of this special committee in connection with the celebration of Dr. Pilcher's fiftieth anniversary of his doctorate in medicine, and I shall be very pleased indeed to accept the appointment. ■ The surgical profession owes much to Dr. Pilcher. The editorship of the Annals of Surgery was for years a labor of love, as it is today, and much of the surgical knowledge I have been able to accumulate has come from its pages. My veneration for Dr. Pilcher is the result of many years' acquaintanceship. My early papers published in the Annals he corrected and edited so kindly and with such consideration as few great men show toward the young. I honor no surgeon in this country more than Dr. Pilcher. Yours sincerely, W. J. Mayo. 13 FROM VICTOR C. VAUGHAN, M.D, LL.D. Of Ann Arbor, Mich., Dean of the Medical School of the University of Michigan April 1, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. Dear Doctor: I shall be very glad indeed to assist you in any way possible in honoring Doctor Pilcher. Michigan University is certainly proud to claim Doctor Pilcher as one of its sons, and it will give me great pleasure to be the bearer to Doctor Pilcher of greetings from his Alma Mater at the time of his semi-centennial anniversary. Yours truly, V. C. Vaughan. FROM PROFESSOR DR. THEODOR KOCHER Of Berne, Switzerland, Professor of Surgery in the University OF Berne Professor Kocher, of Berne, wishes to express his warmest apprecia- tion of the services which Dr. Lewis Stephen Pilcher has rendered to the medical profession as Chief Editor of that excellent periodical the Annals of Surgery. The art of gathering in one journal such a lot of scientific work from the best men of a large country points not only to a great skill, but still more to great wisdom and kindness of the editor to the medical profession. I am sure that such work has been a great part in the wonderful progress of surgery, which has been accomplished in the United States and which will make it true what an excellent friend in Boston told me once : "Now we Americans come to see and study your work, but time will come when European surgeons will do the same in coming to see what we do." I can only say for myself, that the Annals of Surgery when they arrive have not to wait long on my writing table till I look through the many excellent articles they contain. May Dr. Pilcher continue for many years to contribute to the scientific progress of surgery by his own work and that of his col- leagues and friends. Th. Kocher. To the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Doctorate of Medicine of Dr. Lewis Stephen Pilcher, 26, 3, 1916. 14 FROM SIR WILLIAM MACEWEN Of Glasgow, Professor of Surgery in the University of Glasgow 3 WooDSiDE Crescent, Charing Cross, Glasgow, 9, 2, 1916. I rejoice to hear from your letter of 25th of Jan'y just received, that the Professional Colleagues and friends of Dr. Lewis Stephen Pilcher, Editor of the Annals of Surgery, who will have attained the Fiftieth Anniversary of his Doctorate on 28th March, 1916, are to honour the event by a Banquet. My present duties as Surgeon-General R. N. preclude me from being with you on that occasion, but, though absent in body, I join you in spirit as Lewis Pilcher is one of my oldest and staunchest American friends. I have known and admired his Surgical and his Literary work since the days of the Annals of Anatomy and Surgery, through all the struggles of the earlier volumes of the Annals of Surgery until, in the fullness of time, the Annals has emerged into the foremost rank of Surgical journals of the world. The labour involved in such an undertaking, only those who have attempted literary work can con- ceive, but the result attained is monumental. All honour to him ! It is unnecessary for me to refer to Lewis Pilcher as a distinguished Surgeon of world wide renown, especially at a meeting of his Sur- gical friends and Colleagues, though I see him now as I saw him twenty years ago, in the Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn, performing a gastro- enterostomy with the ease and elegance of an accomplished artist who, with a few deft strokes, produces a finished picture. Will you kindly give for me to your honoured guest a hearty hand- grip and a straight look through the fundus into his soul and wish him health and happiness and many more years of fruitful life and prosperity. Yours faithfully, WILLIAM MACEWEN. FROM PROFESSOR DR. THORKILD ROVSING Of Copenhagen, Denmark, Professor of Clinical Surgery in the University of Copenhagen My Dear Doctor Lewis Stephen Pilcher: I am very sorry that my duties here prevent me crossing the ocean to bring you personally the homage and the warmest greetings in the name of European Surgery and in my own at the banquet, which I 15 learn shall be held on the evening of the Fiftieth Anniversary of your Doctorate in Medicine. Many years I only knew you through the Amials of Surgery, which I always found the best conducted, the most dignified surgical periodical in the world. From the qualities of the Annals I made at distance something like a diagnosis of the editor's character. As I met him the first time personally, having the pleasure of seeing him as my guest here in Copenhagen, I found my diagnosis confirmed, but I found much more, I did not dream about. I found a man of noble, gentle, utmost modest appearance, under which I discovered the most cultivated, scientific intelligence, fully laden with knowledge not only of modern medicine but as well of the entire history of medicine, interested in every scientific problem as well as in every problem of humane and ethical nature. In your presidential address, delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New York, 1893, "The Evolution of the American Surgeon," you said the remarkable words : "The surgeon of the present day, therefore, if we are correct in the statement of the conditions, that have attended his evolution, is necessarily a physician in the broadest sense." Even such a physician in the broadest sense are you and I con- gratulate your patients on having such a doctor, but still more I con- gratulate all the pupils, wdiom you have educated. For I diagnose in you a great teacher, a great educator. * * * As well as author as in your quality of editor of Annals of Surgery, you have had a great educating influence not only upon the American surgeons, but upon us European surgeons too. Through the always utmost critical selection of papers and authors, admitted to the columns of Annals of Surgery, you created a great, never shaken confidence in the readers and opened our eyes as to how much we have to learn from American Surgeons. Through the Annals we got a true picture, a vivid impression of the evolution of the scientific American surgeon up to this very high standing of today ! To this evolution you have sacrificed fifty years indefatigable, un- selfish and very important work and. therefore seems the demonstra- tion of honors, brought you today from your American colleagues most justified and well deserved. Allow me to join my American colleagues and in the name of all your European friends and admirers to bring you our most cordial thanks for the great and noble work, which you through fifty years have devoted to the development of Medicine in the broadest sense — to Surgery, the noblest of all professions ! 16 May you still for many years enjoy the same happiness in your work and in your wonderfully harmonious family-life ; may we, your friends and admirers, still for many years enjoy your friendship and your genius ! Truly yours, Thorkild Rovsing. Copenhagen, Julienne Mines, Vei 2. LETTER FROM PROFESSOR DR. HENRI HARTMANN Of Paris, France, Professor de Clinique Chirurgicale a Universite de Paris February 14, 1916. Mr. President: Allow me to join the pupils and friends of Dr. L. S. Pilcher and bring him, on the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, the homage of his French colleague. I need not recall the numerous publications that have made his name illustrious ; you know them better than I, and have been able to measure their value ; but, having been a constant reader of the Annals of Surgery for thirty years, I wish to say how much this work, directed by Dr. L. S. Pilcher since its inception, has meant to the surgeons of the whole world, by enabling them to know the important work of their Anglo-American colleagues. I am all the more delighted to join you in the present celebration, as the banquet of April 11, 1914, given by the University Club of Brooklyn, at which I had the honor of being present, has left in my mind the most charming recollections. It is therefore with sincere joy that I beg you to bring to Dr. L. S. Pilcher the most sincere regards and congratulations of Yours devotedly, Hartmann. LETTER FROM SIR WATSON CHEYNE Of London Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham, March 2, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. I am very interested to hear of Dr. Pilcher's anniversary on March 28th and I shall be glad if you will convey to him my sincere felicita- tions. In editing the Annals of Surgery he has carried out a very great work and one of the greatest value especially to the English speaking world. Owing to the great care and skill which have been 17 bestowed on it, the Annals has taken the premier place among journals of its kind and has done much to advance the Science and Art of Surgery. It must be a great pleasure to Dr. Pilcher to feel that he has done so much for our science and to know that his labours are highly appreciated to all the world. Yours sincerely, W. Watson Cheyne. LETTER FROM PROFESSOR DR. RAFFAELE BASTIANELLI Of Rome, Italy I am thinking with great pleasure of the day which will collect the Medical profession of Brooklyn and many fellow surgeons of U. S. A. to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. L. Stephen Pilcher's Doctorate of Medicine. His services to Surgery have been of such a kind that every one must feel deeply indebted to him. For many many years the Annals of Surgery have spread all the Medical world through the teaching and the experience of English speaking surgeons, contributing widely to the exchange of thoughts between America and Europe. The high scientific and moral character of this journal for which Dr. Pilcher deserves a great credit has given to it one of the first and permanent positions in the surgical literature of the world. Besides the high appreciation in which I hold the man through personal acquaintance, I feel as a constant reader of the journal a great indebtedness. I wish to send to him through you on this occasion my deepest feelings of appreciation and of gratitude together with the strongest certitude that his work will remain forever. He is a jolly fellow. May he live happy and long! With many thanks to you, I remain. Yours truly, Dr. Raffaele Bastianelli. Roma, March 5, 1916. FROM J. WILLIAM WHITE, M.D., LL.D. Of Philadelphia,, Pa., Professor of Surgery in the University OF Pennsylvania Philadelphia, January 28, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. Your note of January 26th finds me in the fourth month of an obscure lumbar spondylitis, with associated neuritis and excessive pain. 18 I am unable to leave my room and altogether unfitted for any duty of any sort ; but if you think it would in the slightest degree gratify Dr. Pilcher to have my name added to the Honorary Committee, and if it is really to be Honorary, so that I may not find myself in the position of leaving work for others to do, I shall certainly be glad to go upon it. Will you be good enough to explain the circumstances to Dr. Pilcher and at the same time to give him my very warm regards and best wishes, and my congratulations on his having completed a so distin- guished and noteworthy period of service to our profession and to humanity at large? Yours truly, J. William White. FROM RUDOLPH MATAS, M.D. Of New Orleans, La.^ Professor of Surgery in Tulane University February 1, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, I hasten to express my great appreciation of the honor of your invitation to form part of the Semi-Centennial Committee appointed to co-operate in the celebration of Dr. Lewis Stephen Pilcher's Fiftieth Anniversary of his Doctorate in Medicine. I rejoice at the opportunity to testify, in some way, to my admiration of his splendid accomplish- ments and his great career of inspiring activity in behalf of the medical profession and especially of the advancement of Surgery; and, in addition, my personal respect and friendship for him as a man, whose example is so eminently worthy of recognition as a model for the present and coming generations of American Surgeons. While it may not be possible for me to attend the celebration in person, I feel a deep and sincere interest in the success of so notable an occasion and you may count upon my good will and enthusiastic support at all times in any way that I may be called upon to co-operate with you. Again with heartiest and best wishes for a long continuance of Dr. Pilcher's career of exemplary citizenship and professional useful- ness, in perfect health and happiness, I am, Yours very sincerely, R. Matas. 19 FROM FREDERIC HENRY GERRISH, M.D., LL.D. Of Portland, Me., Professor of Surgery in the Medical Department of Bowdoin College Portland, Me,, 7, February, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. My dear Sir : Your very kind letter, announcing the celebration of Dr. Pilcher's fiftieth anniversary of his doctorate, and expressing his wish that my name be placed upon the Honorary Committee, thrills me with sym- pathetic emotions. I wish that I could do a great deal more to show my genuine interest in the occasion than merely to grant this request, which, in itself, is so complimentary to me. I can never forget what I owe to Dr. Pilcher's personal regard and thoughtful kindness ; and I always remember him with gratitude and afifection. Long may he live to enjoy the blessings of the multitudes, to whom his skill has brought health, and his benign presence courage and strength. Of course, my cordial compliance is the only possible answer to his most friendly desire. Very sincerely yours, Frederic Henry Gerrish. FROM THOMAS W, HUNTINGTON, M.D., LL.D. Of San Francisco, Cal., Professor of Surgery (Emeritus) in the University of California San Francisco, Cal,, March 22, 1916. My dear Doctor Pilcher : I take this occasion to congratulate you upon having attained to the fiftieth anniversary of your doctorate in medicine. This event, in your life, is the more notable because you have come up to a ripe age, after a lifetime of earnest and devoted work in your chosen profession, while in the possession of all your faculties and with the prospect of added years of honorable usefulness. A host of friends, myself included, throughout the civilized world, join in the wish that your future, as your past, may be attended with prosperity and happiness. Very cordially yours, Thomas W, Huntington. 20 FROI\I ARTHUR DEAN BEVAN, M.D. Of Chicago, III., Professor of Surgery in the University of Chicago Chicago, 111., January 28, 1916. To the Chain nan of the Committee of Arrangements. Dear Doctor : Received 3^our letter of January 26th in regard to Dr. Lewis S. Pilcher. I shall be delighted to be one of the committee. Dr. Pilcher's work deserves proper recognition from the surgeons of the United States. He has done more than any other man to develop iVmerican surgical literature and secure for it international recognition. Very truly }'Ours, Arthur Dean Bevan. FROM ABRAHAM JACOBI, iM.D., LL.D. Of New York New York, N. Y., January 27, 1916. To the Chairman of tJie Committee of Arrangements. Dear Doctor : My thanks are due you for your invitation to join you in doing honor to our distinguished friend. I never thought he was old or getting old. I shall always be pleased to be mentioned in connection with him. Very truly yours, A. Jacobi. FROM ALBERT VANDER VEER, M.D., LL.D. Professor of Surgery, Albany Medical College, President of the ■ American Medical Association April 26, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. In reply to your kind letter would say it gives me great comfort to accept your invitation, and I am looking forward with much pleasure to being with you at the 50th Anniversary^ of Dr. Pilcher's practice. I am so happy to note you are paying him this tribute of respect, for no man is more worthy. With my very best wishes, Affectionately yours, A. Vander Veer. 21 FROM STEPHEN SMITH, M.D., LL.D. 260 West 76th Street May 5, 1916. My dear Dr. Pilcher : I regret very much that I shall be unable to attend your reception and banquet, owing to the fact that at the age of 93 I find it a matter of prudence to pass my evenings at home. I am thereby deprived of many enjoyable occasions of a professional and social character, as your banquet would be ; but I must yield to the inevitable. I am delighted that you are to receive this public honor, which has been richly earned by a life intensely devoted to conserving the welfare of the people. Believe me, dear Dr. Pilcher, as sincerely, Thy friend, Stephen Smith. FROM HON. LEWIS H. POUNDS President of the Borough of Brooklyn Brooklyn, February 3, 1916. To the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. I was very glad to receive your letter announcing that there would be a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Lewis Stephen Pilcher's Doctorate in Medicine, on March 30th. It is a celebration in which all good Brooklynites will be happy to join, and I accept with pleasure your invitation to serve on the Honorary Committee, and to co-operate with the medical profession in paying tribute of esteem to Dr. Pilcher. There is no doubt that the celebration will be one which will reach far beyond the borders of the city. Such a distinctive event should arouse interest in the medical profession throughout the entire United States. It is a fitting recognition of the excellent work that Dr. Pilcher has done. He has contributed, in a large measure, to the surgical advance in this country. I am happy indeed to be numbered among his friends. It will be most agreeable to me to be a part of this event, except that I cannot spare much, if any, extra time. I presume this will not be necessary. Sincerely yours, L. H. Pounds, President, Borough of Brooklyn. 22 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA, 1845-1916 Lewis Stephen Pilcher was born in Adrian, Michigan, July 28, 1845, son of Elijah Holmes Pilcher and Phoebe Maria (Fisk) Pilcher. He entered the University of Michigan in 1858, at the age of thirteen; and was graduated as Bachelor of Arts in June, 1862, in his seventeenth year. He is the youngest graduate on the records of the institution. He pursued post-graduate studies at his Alma Mater and received his degree as Master of Arts in June, 1863, at the age of seventeen. He then took up medical studies at the University of Michigan. These were interrupted by his enlistment as a hospital steward in the U. S. Army in February, 1864. He served in that capacity in Virginia and in Missouri until September, 1865, when he was mustered out of service by reason of the close of the war. He then resumed his medical studies at the University of Michigan and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine on the 28th of March, 1866. After a brief period of service as House Surgeon in the Harper Hospital, at Detroit, Mich., he came to New York City and pursued post-graduate medical studies, until April, 1867, when he was commis- sioned as an Assistant Surgeon in the United States Navy. He remained in the medical service of the Navy until April, 1872, when, after having been promoted to the grade of Past-Assistant Sur- geon, he resigned to enter private practice in the city of Brooklyn. During his naval service he spent two years in the West Indies and received special commendation for service on board the United States frigate Saratoga during an epidemic of yellow fever on board that ship in the spring of 1869. While yet in the naval service, in June, 1870, he was married to Martha S. Phillips of Brooklyn. They have had five children. His oldest son, Lewis F. Pilcher, is State Architect of the State of New York. His two younger sons, Paul M. Pilcher and James T. Pilcher, both surgeons, are at present associated with him in his work. One daughter, Martha Eleanor, died in infancy; one, Mrs. Chas. I. DeBevoise, died in 1916. In 1872 he was appointed one of the attending physicians at the Brooklyn Central Dispensary, a position which he retained until the following year when he gave it up to become one of the surgeons in the Outdoor Department of the Long Island College Hospital, which position he retained for ten years. From 1872 to 1879 he occupied the position of Lecturer on Anatomy in the Reading Course of the Long Island College Hospital, and from 1879 to 1882 that of Adjunct Professor of Anatomy in the Long Island College Hospital. 23 In 1883 his first book was published under the title of "The Treat- ment of Wounds," issued by Wood & Co., of New York. In 1885 he was appointed Professor of Clinical Surgery in the New York Post Graduate Medical School and Hospital, which position he held until 1895. From 1879 to 1884 he maintained a private anatomical laboratory in collaboration with others of his medical confreres by whom the society termed the Brooklyn Anatomical and Surgical Society was formed. As the result of the activities of this society during the years 1880, '81, '82 and '83 a monthly publication termed the Annals of Anatomy and Surgery was carried on. In 1881 he was one of the incorporators of the hospital founded by the gifts of Mr. George I. Seney, under the name of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Brooklyn. He prepared the preliminary plans and instructions to the architects, that were adopted, and remained as a member of the Board of Managers from its organization up to 1907. Upon the formation of the Medical Board of the Hospital in 1887 he was made one of the attending surgeons and President of the Medical Board, a position which he occupied until 1907. In 1884 he began the publication of a monthly journal devoted to surgery under the title of The Annals of Surgery, which has continued to appear without intermission from that time to the present and is now in its 62nd volume. He was elected President of the New York State Medical Society for 1892. He was a member of the Council of the Surgical Section of the Third International Congress of Medicine held in 1887. Was Honorary Chairman of the Section of Anatomy of the Pan- American Medical Congress in 1893. Was Vice-President of the American Surgical Association in 1893 and again in 1914. He was President of the Medical Society of the County of Kings in 1900. He has contributed chapters to the following Encyclopedic Medical Works : "American System of Diseases of Children," Keating, 1889. "Reference Hand Book of Medical Science," Wm. Wood & Co., 1887. "The American Text Book of Surgery," Keen & White, 1892. "The American System of Surgery," Dennis, 1895. "The International System of Surgery," Warren-Gould, 1900. "Text Book of Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment," Ochsner, 1916. Author of many monographs and pamphlets on medical and surgical subjects. 24 Has published two volumes of essays and addresses : "Odium Medi- cum," J. B. Lippincott Co., 1911, and "The Commander's Year," J. B. Lippincott Co., 1914. Surgeon to the German Hospital from 1900 to 1908. Consulting Surgeon since 1908. Consulting Surgeon to St. John's Hospital ; to the Norwegian Hos- pital; to the Jewish Hospital; to the Bethany Deaconess Hospital; to the Skin and Cancer Hospital of New York ; to the Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged of Brooklyn. Member of the Aertzliche Collegium of the German Hospital of Brooklyn, since 1900. Member of the Advisory Committee of the Greenpoint Hospital. Member of the Board of Medical Examiners of the State of New York since 1913. Was the Anniversary Orator before the New York Academy of Medicine in 1899. In 1900 was honored by the degree of Doctor of Laws both from his Alma Mater, the University of Michigan, and from Dickinson College of Pennsylvania. Fellow of the American Surgical Society. Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Honorary Member of the New York Surgical Society. Honorary Fellow of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery. Honorary Fellow of the National Association of Railway Surgeons. Associate Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Member of the Brooklyn Surgical Society. Member of the Societe Internationale de Chirurgie. Member of the New York State Medical Society. Member of the Medical Society of the County of Kings. Member of the American Medical Association. From 1900 to 1913 Member of the Borough Council and President of the Board of Education and of the Board of Health of the Borough of Hopatcong in New Jersey. Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. Comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. Commander of Grant Post, No. 327, Department of New York, G.A.R., in 1913. Surgeon-General of the Grand Army of the RepubHc, 1915. Member of the Montauk Club. Member of the Charaka Club. Has found time to travel and accompanied by his wife has traveled over Europe from Trondhjem, Norway, in the north, to Assouan, Egypt, in the south ; and in America from Miami, Florida, to Lake St. 25 John in Canada, and from Arizona to Alaska, and has made repeated visits to the West Indies. In 1908 after retiring from general hospital work, established with the help of his sons a private surgical hospital for their personal work, in which his work has been carried on to the present time and from which annual volumes have been issued giving the studies and observa- tions made in the institution. Retirement from general practice and devotion to surgery wholly, in 1890. Periods into which professional life has been divided: Military period, 1864-1872, eight years, excluding one year devoted to medical studies, 1865-66. General practice 1872-1890. Surgery exclusively 1890-1916. 26 r>r BROOKLYN EAGLE PRESS RECEPTION and BANQUET in honor of by the MEDICAL SOCIETY of the COUNTY OF KINGS, U. S. GRANT POST, No. 327, of the Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic and the MONTAUK CLUB of BROOKLYN, in celebration of the comple- tion of his services of fifty years as a Doctor of Medicine, on FRIDAY EVENING, the TWELFTH of MAY, Nineteen sixteen, at HOTEL BOSSERT, Brooklyn, New York anln ©abb Arrangement ALPHABETICAL LIST TABLE NO. en, Herbert C 1 derson, C. A 26 mstrong, George E 16 ;n, William L 1