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MMIV BALTIM 
 L L.D.I I 
 
THE 
 
 Fiftieth Anniversary 
 
 GRADUATION IN MEDICINE 
 
 SAMUEL CLAGETT BUSEY, M.D., LLD. 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 GEORGE M. KOBER, M.D. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, 1899 
 
DORNAN, PRINTER, 
 PH It ADELPHI A. 
 
Introduction 
 
 "GOLDEN WEDDING DAY" in the practice 
 of medicine is an event so rare and full of 
 significance that it deserves commemoration, 
 and in this spirit the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Samuel 
 C Busey's entrance into the profession was celebrated. 
 
 The full meaning of a half-century of active profes- 
 sional work can only be appreciated by those who have 
 travelled over the rough and rugged path of duty ; who 
 have watched with anxious care over the sick and wit- 
 nessed the soul-stirring scenes of the death-chamber ; 
 who have faced the fury of a midnight storm to bring 
 relief to their patients ; who have gone to the haunts 
 of poverty, speaking words of comfort and alleviating 
 human suffering ; who have braved the dangers of the 
 battle-field and the more terrible but invisible foes of 
 infectious diseases. 
 
 What a life of incessant physical and mental toil ! 
 What a life of self-denial and devotion ! 
 
 In this glorious service, which claims the heart, mind, 
 and hand alike, and where, alas, ingratitude is often 
 
the only recompense for duties well performed, the 
 physician, in the midst of bitter disappointments, has 
 but two beacon lights to guide him — his conscience 
 and the example of the Great Physician. 
 
 Hence, what a gratification to receive upon the evening 
 of life evidence of good-will and approval from profes- 
 sional brethren — a reward far more cheering and endur- 
 ing than the plaudits of the multitude. 
 
 Dr. Busey, "a type of America's self-made men," has 
 always been the friend of the struggling practitioner, 
 and the following pages are respectfully dedicated to his 
 colleagues, by his friend and pupil, as an encouragement 
 in the hours of trial and despair, that they, too, may 
 hope to profit by the ancient proverb — 
 
 Non est vivere, sed valere vita, 
 
 George M. Kober, M.D. 
 
Congratulatory Resolutions 
 
 T a meeting of the Medical Society of the 
 District of Columbia, held March 30, 1898, 
 Dr. Thomas C. Smith, addressing the Vice- 
 President, Dr. Kober, said in part : 
 
 " Many of us are aware that our President, Dr. Busey, 
 will soon complete fifty years of active professional life, 
 and it will be a fitting compliment for this body to 
 acknowledge the event in a formal manner. I, therefore, 
 move that a committee of three be appointed to draft 
 suitable resolutions expressive of the esteem, etc., in 
 which he is held." 
 
 Carried. 
 
 The Vice-President appointed Drs. Thomas C. Smith, 
 J. Ford Thompson, and Joseph Taber Johnson as the 
 committee. 
 
 The resolutions were submitted to the Society and 
 unanimously adopted, at its meeting held April 6th, and 
 were transmitted to Dr. Busey on April 8, 1898, the day 
 of his fiftieth anniversary in medicine. 
 
SMEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 
 Washington, 1>. C, April 8, 1898. 
 
 Dr. Samuel C. Busey, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Dear Doctor : I have the honor and pleasure of 
 transmitting to you the following resolutions, adopted by 
 the Medical Society on the 6th inst. : 
 
 Whereas, Samuel C. Busey, M.D., LL.D., President 
 of this Society, will in a few days have passed through 
 fifty years in the practice of medicine in this community, 
 during which time he has faithfully served the Society as 
 President, Censor, member of important committees, and 
 in many other ways, and is now the only practitioner 
 among us who has been in practice so long a period. 
 He has always been prompt in maintaining the honor, 
 dignity, rights, and interests of the medical profession 
 before Congress and the community. His services in 
 securing needed legislation for the protection of the 
 public from ignorant and unlicensed practitioners ; for 
 the protection of physicians before the courts of law ; 
 
for the prevention of the spread of contagious diseases ; 
 and in advocating other measures which he has furthered 
 by his industry and influence, will ever be remembered. 
 His straightforward and honorable bearing have won for 
 him the respect and esteem of his brethren in the pro- 
 fession, and his example has inspired others to emulate 
 his fidelity. Therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That this Society takes pleasure in calling 
 the attention of its members to such a notable example 
 of a career passed in the honorable and conscientious 
 performance of its duties of life. 
 
 Resolved, That the Society trusts that many years of 
 health and happiness may be in reserve for our esteemed 
 President, to whom our best wishes are cordially ex- 
 tended. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Thomas C. Smith, M.D., 
 
 Corresponding Secretary- 
 
WASHINGTON, 1). C, 
 
 April 12, 1898. 
 
 Dr. Thomas C. Smith, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary of the Medical Society 
 of the District of Columbia. 
 
 My Dear Doctor : In response to your communi- 
 cation transmitting to me the Preamble and Resolutions 
 of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia 
 in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of my 
 graduation in medicine, I beg that you will convey to 
 the Society the assurance of my appreciation of the 
 distinguished honor conferred upon me, and of the 
 pleasure and gratification it gives me to know that 
 my conduct and bearing through so many years have 
 received the approval and commendation of my pro- 
 fessional friends and colleagues. 
 
 With great respect I am 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Samuel C. Busev, M.D. 
 
Anniversary Reception 
 
 N the evening of April 8, 1898, Dr. Busey 
 welcomed many friends at his residence, corner 
 of Sixteenth and I Streets, the occasion being 
 the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation in medicine. 
 The congratulations which were extended to the host 
 came from many of those who have been associated 
 with him in his career in this city during some portion 
 at least of the past fifty years. It is given to but few 
 men to continue for so many years in a position of 
 such marked prominence as has been the case with 
 him, not alone in his profession, but as a public-spirited 
 citizen, devoted to all that pertains to the best inter- 
 ests of the National Capital, whose history has been 
 enriched by his graceful pen, and its healthfulness and 
 material prosperity promoted by his untiring efforts 
 to secure a better water supply and more efficient 
 methods of sanitation. Those who joined with him 
 in the observance of this notable anniversary were, 
 therefore, not only professional brethren, but represen- 
 tative men of the city. 
 
 The large and spacious home was fragrant and 
 beautiful with floral offerings, sent by friends of a life- 
 
time, as a greeting of affection and esteem, while there 
 were notes and telegrams from distant friends, includ- 
 ing one or more from the Doctor's own classmates of 
 the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Among the out-of-town guests were Dr. A. Jacobi, of 
 New York ; Dr. Blackader, of Montreal, and Drs. Osier 
 and Hurd, of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, who had 
 come to pay special homage to the veteran physician. 
 Every branch of professional life was represented, one 
 of the most notable guests being Senator Morrill, of 
 Vermont, whose eighty-eighth birthday occurred a few 
 days later. 1 
 
 Among the laymen present the following may be 
 mentioned : 
 
 James G. Berret 
 
 Alexander Graham Bell 
 
 John B. Wight 
 
 Rev. Dr. T. S. Hamlin 
 
 Frederick L. Moore 
 
 Rev. Dr. Byron Sunderland 
 
 Rev. Dr. Pitzer 
 
 W. A. Gordon 
 
 Senator A. P. Gorman 
 
 W. B. Bryan 
 
 Judge M. F. Morris 
 
 Gen. John Moore, U. S. A. 
 
 A. R. Spofford 
 Charles F. Clagett 
 William H. Clagett 
 R. Douglas Simms 
 George F. Appleby 
 Worthington Bowie 
 W. F. Mattingly 
 John W. Ross 
 Beriah Wilkins 
 George W. McLanahan 
 General John M. Wilson 
 
 B. H. Warner 
 
 1 The Washington Post and Evening Star of April 9, iS 
 
Major Robert Craig 
 Charles Moore 
 Anthony Pollok 
 Jeremiah M. Wilson 
 Calderon Carlisle 
 D. R. McKee 
 J. K. McCammon 
 F. P. B. Sands 
 Senator J. H. Gallinger 
 Senator Justin S. Morrill 
 
 James Morrill 
 Monroe Hopkins 
 Charles Early 
 James H. Saville 
 F. W. True 
 Thomas M. Chatard 
 Frank Hacket 
 W. J. McGee 
 Mortimer Addoms, of 
 New York 
 
 The physicians present were : 
 
 G. L. Magruder 
 W. W. Johnston 
 Charles W. Richardson 
 
 F. B. Loring 
 George N. Acker 
 George W. Johnston 
 M. F. Cuthbert 
 
 G. Wythe Cook 
 Z. T. Sowers 
 
 P. M. Rixey, U. S. N. 
 
 R. A. Marmion, U. S. N. 
 
 L. W. Glazebrook 
 
 H. H. Barker 
 
 W. Sinclair Bowen 
 
 Robert Fletcher, U. S. A. 
 
 H. L. E. Johnson 
 
 A. F. A. King 
 Thomas E. McArdle 
 James Dudley Morgan 
 Francis S. Nash 
 Robert Reyburn 
 A. Rhett Stewart 
 John D. Thomas 
 Frank Hyatt 
 Jos. Taber Johnson 
 T. Morris Murray 
 Ralph D. Walsh 
 S. S. Adams 
 J. H. Bryan 
 E. K. Goldsborough 
 Leigh H. French 
 W. M. Sprigg 
 
James Kerr 
 
 T. Richey Stone 
 
 W. W. Godding 
 
 Francis B. Bishop 
 
 C. W. Franzoni 
 
 W. B. French 
 
 C. H. A. Kleinschmidt 
 
 G. M. Kober 
 
 Lewellyn Eliot 
 
 Surgeon- General George M. Sternberg, U. S. A. 
 
 Assistant Surg eon- General C. H. Alden, U. S. A. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon-General^ . H. Forvvood, U. S. A. 
 
 John S. McLain 
 George C. Ober 
 A. R. Shands 
 Thomas C. Smith 
 J. Ford Thompson 
 James T. Young 
 William C. Woodward 
 A. A. Snyder 
 
 In addition to the personal greetings, the Doctor 
 received letters from all parts of the country, con- 
 gratulating him upon the fiftieth anniversary of his 
 doctorate in medicine. The following may be named 
 from whom such letters were received : 
 
 Dr. William H. Welch 
 Dr. Howard A. Kelly 
 Dr. William Pepper 
 Dr. J. F. A. Adams 
 Dr. J. E. Atkinson 
 Dr. John S. Billings 
 Dr. John Byrne 
 Dr. James R. Chadwick 
 Dr. P. S. Conner . 
 Dr. J. M. Da Costa 
 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Pittsfield, Mass. 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 New York City. 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Cincinnati, O. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
Dr. W. H. Draper 
 Dr. George J. Engelman 
 Dr. Bache Emmet 
 Dr. R. H. Fitz 
 Dr. Thomas Flandrau 
 Dr. C. H. Mastin . 
 Dr. I. Minis Hays 
 Dr. Henry Hun 
 Dr. E. W. Jenks . 
 Dr. A. W. Johnston 
 Dr. Daniel A. Langhorne 
 Dr. R. B. Maury . 
 Dr. S. Weir Mitchell 
 Dr. Paul F. Munde 
 Dr. T. A. Reamy . 
 Dr. J. C. Reeve 
 Dr. T. M. Rotch . 
 Dr. F. C. Shattuck 
 Dr. A. J. C. Skene 
 Dr. L. McLane Tiffany 
 Dr. H. C. Wood . 
 Dr. Charles H. Stowell 
 Sir William MacCormack 
 
 New York City. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 New York City. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Rome, N. Y. 
 Mobile, Ala. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Albany, N. Y. 
 Detroit, Mich. 
 Cincinnati, O. 
 Lynchburg, Va. 
 Memphis, Tenn. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 New York City. 
 Cincinnati, O. 
 Dayton, O. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Lowell, Mass. 
 London, Eng. 
 
1848 1898 
 
 Complimentary ^Dinner 
 
 TO 
 
 SAMUEL CLAGETT BUSEY, M.D., LL.D. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 jfiftietb anniversary of bia (Srabuatton 
 
 BY MEMBERS OF THE 
 
 MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
 
 AT RAUSCHER'S, SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1898. 
 
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS 
 
 Dr. JOSEPH TABER JOHNSON 
 Dr. J. FORD THOMPSON 
 
 Dr. W. W. JOHNSTON 
 
 Dr. THOMAS C. SMITH 
 
 Dr. C. W. FRANZONI 
 
April 13, 1898. 
 
 Dear Doctor : 
 
 A number of members of the Medical Society deem 
 it a pleasure to tender to you the compliment of a 
 dinner at Rauscher's, on Saturday evening next at 
 eight o'clock. 
 
 Will you kindly signify to the Committee whether 
 the place and time indicated above will be agreeable 
 to you ? 
 
 This action is taken in view of the fact that you 
 have just celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of your 
 graduation in medicine, and is a spontaneous offering 
 from your friends in the Society, who wish in this 
 manner to manifest their appreciation of your services 
 to the Society and the profession generally. 
 
 Awaiting your reply, I have the honor to be 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Thomas C. Smith, M.D., 
 
 Secretary of the Committee. 
 
 Dr. Samuel C. Busey, 
 
 901 Sixteenth Street, N. W. 
 
901 Sixteenth Street, N. W., 
 
 April 13, 1898. 
 
 Dr. Thomas C. Smith, 
 
 Dear Sir : Your polite communication tendering to 
 me a complimentary dinner at Rauscher's, at eight 
 o'clock, Saturday, April i6th, has been received. 
 
 It will give me great pleasure to meet the friends 
 who tender to me the distinguished honor, at the time 
 and place named. 
 
 Accept the assurance of my highest regard and 
 appreciation of the compliment of the Committee and 
 other friends. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Samuel C. Busey, M.D. 
 
Present at the Complimentary Dinner 
 
 HN Saturday evening, April 16th, at eight o'clock, 
 the gentlemen present assembled around the 
 festive boards, which were arranged in the 
 
 form of a horseshoe, a token of good luck to the 
 
 guest of the evening. 
 
 Dr. A. F. A. King 
 
 Dr. J. Ford Thompson 
 
 Dr. C. W. Franzoni 
 
 Dr. C. H. A. Kleinschmidt 
 
 Dr. Mary Parsons 
 
 Dr. Z. T. Sowers 
 
 Dr. W. W. Johnston 
 
 Dr. Frank Baker 
 
 Dr. Robert Reyburn 
 
 Dr. Franck Hyatt 
 
 Dr. I. S. Stone 
 
 Dr. H. L. E. Johnson 
 
 Dr. Samuel S. Adams 
 
 Dr. Thomas C. Smith 
 
 Dr. George C. Ober 
 
 Dr. L. L. Friedrich 
 
 Dr. J. S. McLain 
 
 Dr. A. R. Shands 
 
 Dr. John F. Moran 
 
 Dr. A. A. Hoehling, U. S. N. 
 
 Dr. T. E. McArdle 
 
 Dr. G. Lloyd Magruder 
 
 Dr. P. M. Rixey, U. S. N. 
 
 Dr. Robert Fletcher, U. S. A. 
 
 Dr. J. H. Bryan 
 
 Dr. J. T. Young 
 
 Dr. L. W. Glazebrook 
 
 Dr. G. Wythe Cook 
 
Dr. W. M. Sprigg 
 Dr. J. D. Thomas 
 Dr. D. P. Hickling 
 Dr. A. E. de Schweinitz 
 Dr. T. V. Hammond 
 Dr. E. O. Belt 
 Dr. W. S. Bowen 
 Dr. James Kerr 
 Dr. Leigh H. French 
 
 Dr. H. H. Barker 
 
 Dr. J. Dudley Morgan 
 
 Dr. F. S. Nash 
 
 Dr. W. C. Woodward 
 
 Dr. J. W. Bovee 
 
 Dr. J. T. Winter 
 
 Dr. G. N. Acker 
 
 Dr. Charles W. Richardson 
 
 Dr. George M. Kober 
 
 Joseph Taber Johnson 
 
 Surgeon-General George M. Sternberg, U. S. A. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon-General C. H. Alden, U. S. A. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon- General W. H. Forwood, U. S. A. 
 
 Supervising Surgeon-General ' W '. Wyman, U. S. Marine 
 
 Hospital Service 
 
@WI«nu 
 
 OYSTERS-BLUE POINTS 
 MUSCOVITES 
 
 CONSOMME DELICNAC 
 
 Sauterne 
 
 MOUSSE D'YORK 
 SALTED ALMONDS RADISHES 
 
 FILLETS OF STRIPED BASS, JOINVILLE 
 POMMES PARISIENNES CUCUMBERS 
 
 SPRING LAMB, MINT SAUCE 
 
 St. Jtxlien 
 NEW PEAS J 
 
 SPRING CHICKEN, A LA CHEVALIERE 
 
 -•— Cham.pa.gne, Louis Ifpderer 
 
 SORBET LALLA ROOKH 
 
 SNIPES 
 SALAD DE SAISON 
 
 ASPERGES NORWEGIENNE 
 
 TURBANS AUX FRAISES 
 
 FANCY CAKES BONBONS PEPPERMINTS 
 
 SALTED ALMONDS MARRON CLACES, ETC. 
 
 COFFEE 
 CIGARS 
 
Toasts and Responses 
 
 Dr. A. F. A. King, Toastmaster. 
 
 " Look ! he's winding tip the -match of his wit ; 
 By and by it will strike" 
 
 i . Dr. Busey, President of the Medical Society. 
 
 Dr. T. C. Smith. 
 
 " Whilst the trump did sound, or drum struck up, 
 His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field" 
 
 2. Dr. Busey, Citizen and Sanitarian. 
 
 Surgeon-General George M. Sternberg. 
 
 " Non sibi, sed patrics." 
 
 " Till tatight by pain, 
 Men really know not what good water's worth." 
 
 3. Dr. Busey, Physician, Author and Teacher. 
 
 Dr. George M. Kober. 
 
 " He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ; 
 Exceeding wise , fair-spoken and persuading." 
 
 4. Response by Dr. Busey. 
 
8111 
 
 &m. 
 
 ADDRESS BY DR. A. F. A. KING, TOASTMASTER. 
 
 Our Honored Guest and Friends : The occasion 
 which brings us together to-night is an extremely pleas- 
 ant one ; and I feel sure it is no less so to the dis- 
 tinguished guest in whose honor we have assembled 
 than to ourselves. 
 
 I beg to extend to you my grateful appreciation of 
 your kindness and good-will in selecting me to preside 
 over your deliberations on this festive occasion, and, as 
 you will see by the printed menu, I am indebted to the 
 Committee of Arrangements for a suggestion of brevity 
 in my remarks, in their intimation that I should " wind- 
 up " before I have begun. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to add to the general voice 
 of the Medical Society my own congratulations to Dr. 
 Busey on this fiftieth anniversary of his graduation in 
 medicine. 
 
 As years roll by we all like to indulge in retrospective 
 reviews of by-gone days, and this leads me to recall the 
 occasion on which I first saw Dr. Busey ; this was some 
 thirty years ago. 1 I was the Recording Secretary of the 
 Medical Society. We held our meetings in the lecture- 
 room of the Medical Department of Georgetown Uni- 
 versity. During the proceedings on this particular occa- 
 
 1 The incident referred to by Dr. King occurred soon after the reorganization of the 
 Society, in 1S66, which established the weekly meetings for the consideration of scientific 
 subjects. Dr. Busey had not taken an active interest previous to the occasion noted by 
 the Recording Secretary. — G. M. K. 
 
sion a gentleman entered the hall who was unknown to 
 me. Very soon he arose and addressed the Chair, and 
 I was so impressed with the grace of gesture and im- 
 perious oratory with which his remarks were embellished, 
 and which might well "command a listening Senate," 
 that after he had concluded his speech and resumed his 
 seat I jocosely remarked to the gentleman sitting next 
 to me, "What was that? " and he told me it was Dr. S. 
 C. Busey, whereupon I recorded his name among those 
 in attendance at the meeting. Since that time we have 
 all, on numerous occasions, listened with rapt attention 
 and pleasure to our distinguished friend's impressive 
 and finished oratory — one of the noblest gifts of God to 
 man. 
 
 But I must not anticipate the gentlemen who are to 
 respond to the regular toasts by enlarging upon the 
 numerous talents and abilities of our honored guest. 
 
 What a glorious thing is age, especially when it comes 
 to us ladened with the recollections of an honored and 
 useful career ! 
 
 When the noonday of life is passed, when its battles 
 have been fought with courage and victory, we all like 
 to see the evening with a sunset of gold and color and 
 splendor. Such a conception, I think, fitly typifies the 
 past career and present surroundings of our distin- 
 guished colleague, in whose honor we have assembled 
 to-night. 
 
 Once more extending my congratulations and best 
 wishes to Dr. Busey, with the hope that he may be with 
 us for many years yet to come, I now proceed to the 
 first of the regular toasts : " Dr. Busey, President of the 
 Medical Society,'" and call upon our genial Correspond- 
 ing Secretary, Dr. T. C. Smith, to respond. 
 
Dr, Busey, President of the Medical Society," 
 
 By DR. THOMAS C. SMITH. 
 
 Gentlemen : I am before you to fulfil a pleasant 
 duty, and will endeavor to express the sentiments which 
 animate the members of the Medical Society by this 
 testimony of our appreciation of the worth of the Presi- 
 dent of the Medical Society. 
 
 Seventy-nine years have passed since the Medical 
 Society was incorporated, and in that time thirty-three 
 men have served as President. What the Society has 
 done in all these years has, to some extent, been made 
 a matter of history by the address of Dr. XV. W. John- 
 ston, delivered at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 
 Society, in 1894. 
 
 In the list of names of Presidents I recall those who, 
 in days gone by, were powers in this community. I love 
 to think of those great men, for so I regard them. Hall, 
 Borrows, Lieberman, Miller, Wm. P. Johnston, Toner, 
 Tyler, Morgan, Johnson Eliot, Hagner, Palmer, Lee, 
 Garnett, the lamented Ashford were among the number ; 
 and I would ask if any society can produce a galaxy 
 which will surpass these men in the attributes which go 
 to make up character, ability, and usefulness ? Do we 
 not remember what active, useful, faithful public servants 
 
these men were until their work was arrested by sick- 
 ness or other disabilities. What an amount of work 
 was accomplished by Joseph M. Toner ! What a restless, 
 ever busy mortal was Johnson Eliot ! What a mine of 
 experience and reminiscence did we possess in Joseph 
 Borrows ! And of the others, can we not name them 
 with enthusiasm, because of their sterling worth and of 
 their labors to maintain the dignity and welfare of the 
 medical profession ? Truly, the Society was in good 
 hands when these men were at the helm. 
 
 But we are here to-night to do honor to the living. 
 We have not waited until Dr. Busey should have passed 
 away so that resolutions of respect might be adopted. 
 We salute him as the living, active, worthy President of 
 the Society, and propose to tell him to his face what we 
 think of him, for by so doing we may cheer him in his 
 advancing years, and have him realize from day to day 
 how his worth and work are appreciated. 
 
 What has he done as President of the Society? He 
 has never shirked the work that has been assigned to 
 him, and, in fact, which he has taken upon himself, when 
 it would have more fairly devolved upon younger and 
 physically stronger men. When it was proposed, in 
 1893, that the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Medical 
 Society should be properly celebrated, who was it that 
 was made Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, 
 and whose intelligence and industry made that meeting a 
 great success ? Samuel C. Busey. When it was deemed 
 essential that the President of the Medical Society of 
 the year 1894, whose duty it would be to preside at 
 the anniversary, should be one who possessed the dig- 
 nity, intelligence, patience, capacity, and ability to do 
 credit to the Society, and who had the confidence of all, 
 
who was unanimously chosen to fill that office ? Samuel 
 C. Busey. And the Society has shown its good sense 
 and appreciation of faithful service by keeping him in 
 office ever since. When important business pertaining 
 to the interest of the profession had to be prepared for 
 presentation to Congress ; when it was necessary to 
 stand between the tyranny of the courts of law and 
 the physician, jealous of his honor in maintaining invio- 
 late the confidences of his patients ; when the necessity 
 of protecting the public against the spread of contagious 
 diseases; when the "freaks" who infest the community 
 raised the cry against vivisection and appealed to Con- 
 gress to stop the work of the great humanitarians who 
 are striving, by experiments on the lower animals, to 
 devise means for protecting humanity from the fearful 
 ravages of disease, and it was necessary to antagonize 
 them and their work; when these and other measures 
 needed a champion, to whom did all turn, and not vainly, 
 for advice, support, and earnest work? Samuel C. Busey. 
 A few years ago when a fearful accident placed the life 
 of our friend in jeopardy, and we did not know whether 
 we should ever see him at the Society again, deep was 
 the sorrow of all ; but a kind Providence spared him, 
 and our joy was full when we saw him coming into the 
 meeting, walking on crutches. Pale, emaciated, feeble, 
 he was at his post of duty when many others were 
 resting at home, because they did not feel like coming 
 out. There are a great many men in the profession 
 who after reaching the age of fifty years, more or less, 
 conclude that there is nothing for them to do but lead 
 lives of "innocuous desuetude," so to speak, and they 
 settle down and wait for death to come along and knock 
 them on the head. Not so with our President. Good 
 
and bad weather finds him at the Society, encouraging, 
 by his presence and words, those who are trying to make 
 the meetings interesting and profitable. He is no drone, 
 and does not encourage such. As President of the 
 Society, he has looked after the interests of the young 
 men, and encouraged them to take an active part in the 
 work of the Society, by appointing them as essayists 
 and on committees. He is and has been the friend of 
 the young practitioner. 
 
 Time will not permit me to say more. I have not 
 indulged in fulsome flattery. I have spoken the truth, 
 and you are all aware that it is only facts that I have 
 given you. 
 
 Life is worth living if it is lived well. I believe the 
 life our worthy President has thus far lived has been 
 worth living, because it has been actively spent in doing 
 those things which were for the benefit of the profession 
 and the community. 
 
 Lacking physical vigor, as he now does, but with an 
 active mind reaching out to find ways and means for 
 furthering the interest of his fellow-beings, we can do 
 no less than admire the indomitable will which dominates 
 his frame. We extend to him our warmest greetings, 
 and I trust that when it shall be his turn to approach the 
 " Gates of the City," he may hear from another tongue 
 than ours the plaudits with which we greet him to-night, 
 "Good and faithful servant, well done." 
 
Dr. Busey, Citizen and Sanitarian/ 
 
 By SURGEON-GENERAL GEORGE M. STERNBERG, 
 U. S. ARMY. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to respond to the toast, 
 " Dr. Busey as a Public-spirited Citizen," because I 
 believe that the well-informed physician who interests 
 himself in the general welfare of the community in which 
 he lives may contribute more to the preservation of the 
 health of his fellow-citizens than by his ministrations 
 upon the sick. 
 
 The speaker then reviewed Dr. Busey's valuable 
 contributions to the literature of preventive medicine, 
 referring to his address on " The Gathering, Packing, 
 Transportation and Sale of Fresh Vegetables and Fruits," 
 delivered at the annual meeting of the American Public 
 Health Association, in Philadelphia, in 1874, and to his 
 excellent essay on "Washington Malaria," published in 
 the National Health Bulletin, in 1882, wherein he de- 
 scribes not only the unsanitary local conditions which 
 favor the development of malaria, but also indicated how 
 these factors can be abated by reclaiming the river flats, 
 providing subsoil drainage, and hastening the comple- 
 tion of the sewer systems and the grading and improve- 
 ment of streets, together with stringent regulations 
 against uncemented cellars and basements. In this 
 essay Dr. Busey advocated the extension of the Capitol 
 
Park south to the river shore, and its connection with 
 the reclaimed Hats along the Potomac, and many other 
 sanitary reforms, as shown by one of his characteristic 
 and terse sentences: "Straighten the channel of Rock 
 Creek by cutting across the horseshoe bend at P Street ; 
 hide its filthy shores by an arch and open a park along 
 its course ; empty the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal into 
 the Potomac above the limits of Georgetown, and destroy 
 the unsightly observation of this cesspool of filthy water 
 and unsavory stenches." 
 
 The speaker next referred to Dr. Busey's essay on 
 "The Mortality of Young Children, its Causes and 
 Prevention, and the Sanitary Care and Treatment of 
 Children," published in 1SS1 ; "The Influence of the 
 Constant Use of High-heeled French Shoes upon the 
 Health and Form of the Female and upon the Relation 
 of the Pelvic Organs," published in 1S82 ; " The Natural 
 Hygiene of Child-bearing Life;" his essay upon "The 
 Wrongs of Craniotomy upon the Living Fcetus," pub- 
 lished in 1889, and his contributions to "Morbific and 
 Infectious Milk," published in 1895. 
 
 The speaker then reviewed Dr. Busey's achievements 
 as President of the Medical Society and as Chairman of 
 the Committee on Public Health, his work in urging on 
 Congress the legislation necessary for placing the city 
 of Washington in a satisfactory sanitary condition, and 
 enumerated what had actually been accomplished in the 
 way of sanitary legislation. He emphasized the fact 
 that Dr. Busey's addresses before the Medical Society, 
 the Board of Trade and other meetings had awakened 
 the public and legislators to the necessity of an improved 
 water supply and the prompt completion of the sewerage 
 system. 
 
The speaker referred to Dr. Busey's deep interest in 
 the medical profession, as shown by his efforts to secure 
 a law regulating the practice of medicine in the District 
 of Columbia, and the law relating to the testimony of 
 physicians in the courts ; his zeal in opposing the anti- 
 vivisection movement, and his leadership in the correc- 
 tion of hospital and dispensary abuses. He also referred 
 to Dr. Busey's connection with the hospitals and other 
 public institutions in the city, as one of the founders of 
 the Children's and of the Garfield Hospitals, and one of 
 the staunchest advocates for the establishment of a hos- 
 pital for contagious diseases. 
 
 I have not attempted to give a complete review of Dr. 
 Busey's life-long labors as a public-spirited citizen, but 
 enough has been said to show that his fellow-citizens owe 
 him a debt of gratitude for the intelligent and zealous 
 activity which he has displayed in all matters relating to 
 the sanitary and material interests of the city of Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 [Unfortunately the manuscript of General Sternberg's address was lost, and it is 
 impossible to reproduce his remarks in full.] 
 
/^^ 
 
 <^2^y 
 
Dr. Busey, Physician, Author and Teacher/ 
 
 By DR. GEORGE M. KOBER. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Our Honored Guest, Friends and 
 Colleagues : There is something so remarkable in the 
 career of the man whom we honor to-night that it may 
 not be without a lesson to inquire into the causes of his 
 success as a physician, author and teacher. 
 
 Whoever takes up Dr. Busey's Sottvenir and looks at 
 his portrait, the original of which was taken just fifty 
 years ago, cannot fail to be impressed that the features 
 are those of a refined, studious young man, full of 
 seriousness, erudition and good sense — qualities which 
 had been carefully nursed by a Christian mother and 
 ripened under the guidance of the great teacher and 
 physician, George Bacon Wood. 
 
 Dr. Mastin, of Mobile, Alabama, in a recent publica- 
 tion, in speaking of his classmate, says : " Busey was 
 an especial favorite of Dr. Wood, and even in his 
 youth gave promise of the distinction at which he has 
 arrived." . . . "Although reserved and dignified, he was 
 liked and respected by all who knew him." 
 
 The concluding sentence of this character-sketch of 
 Busey at the age of twenty is true of him to-day. 
 
Gifted by nature with qualities which he carefully 
 cultivated, Dr. Busey, from the day of his graduation, 
 was imbued with the greatness and responsibility of 
 his calling, and fully realized that, apart from scientific 
 attainments, the successful physician must possess purity 
 of character, a high standard of moral excellence, and, 
 above all, "a conscience to adjudge the penalties of 
 ignorance and neglect." 
 
 We know by his biography that the moderate income 
 which he inherited was scarcely sufficient to defray the 
 necessary expenses of his education, and yet, at the age 
 of twenty-one, he assumed the responsibilities of matri- 
 mony and established a modest home. Realizing, how- 
 ever, his obligation to shield his helpmate from future 
 want, and evidently believing that every man can 
 hammer out his own fortune, he set out in life deter- 
 mined to accomplish this purpose. 
 
 His brilliant professional career and the distinction 
 which he has achieved are at once the badge and 
 reward of all the higher and nobler attributes of the 
 true physician. 
 
 In the practice of his profession he "united tender- 
 ness with firmness, condescension with authority," bore 
 in silence his cares, with dignity his responsibilities, and 
 with humility his disappointments. These qualities, 
 together with a steadfast devotion to humanity, secured 
 for him the confidence, gratitude and respect of his 
 patients. 
 
 When, fifty years ago, Dr. Busey stood on the 
 threshold of his professional life, he realized, too, that 
 to be worthy of the high calling he had chosen, study 
 must fill his every moment ; to be successful in life, 
 he must unceasingly study ; and to gain admittance into 
 
the Temple of Fame — study, honesty and truth must be 
 his watchwords. 
 
 How well he performed this task is shown by a list 
 of over 163 distinct contributions to medical literature, 
 besides his miscellaneous publications, such as his ad- 
 dresses, his Reminiscences and Souvenir. The world is 
 indebted to him for his work on Congenital Occlusion 
 and Dilatation of Lymph Channels, and his masterly ex- 
 position of The Wrongs of Craniotomy icpon the Living 
 Foetus — writings which have long since become classic. 
 Of his other contributions, many of which are encyclo- 
 paedic, I will only say that he never wrote unless he had 
 something to say, and he said it well. 
 
 His Pen Pictures of the City of Washington in the 
 Past, indited at the age of seventy, and while in feeble 
 health, is a monument to his literary industry, patriotism 
 and love for truth. 
 
 It was my good fortune to meet our honored guest 
 just twenty-five years ago as Professor of Diseases of 
 Children in a Post Graduate course then inaugurated. 
 One of the blessings which resulted from his connection 
 with this school and the Department of Diseases of 
 Children, at the Columbia Hospital, was the establish- 
 ment of the Children's Hospital in this city in 1870. In 
 fact, it may be truly said that he was the founder of 
 Pediatric Medicine in this city. Although this school 
 was characterized by some as an over-ambitious attempt 
 in medical education, history shows that the promoters, 
 of which he was one, simply planned many years ahead 
 of their contemporaries. Nor can I refrain here from 
 declaring that whatever success many of us have at- 
 tained is due to the precepts and example of Dr. 
 Busey as a teacher and a man ; while his steadfast 
 
purpose to keep abreast with the progress of medical sci- 
 ence, even now, is an example worthy of our emulation. 
 
 Our honored guest, notwithstanding his natural re- 
 serve and austerity, has always been the friend and 
 leader of the struggling young practitioner. Early in 
 the seventies he devoted his energies to the election of 
 young men as delegates to the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation. I was present at a meeting of the Medical Asso- 
 ciation in May, 1874, when he spoke on his motion to 
 revise the Code of Ethics and Regulations so as to con- 
 form to the Code of the American Medical Association. 
 He ably supported the effort of Dr. J. Ford Thompson 
 to secure consultations for female physicians and physi- 
 cians of African descent, maintaining that "consultations 
 were for the benefit of and belonged to the patient." 
 
 For similar reasons he advocated the removal of the 
 restriction placed upon professional intercourse with 
 army and navy surgeons stationed in this city. He 
 vigorously protested against the admission of medical 
 men employed as clerks in the departments, "not be- 
 cause they were necessarily incompetent, as had been 
 charged by some, but from the nature of their em- 
 ployment they could not be thoroughly identified with 
 the profession." At the same meeting he objected to 
 the establishment of a maximum fee, and insisted that 
 every physician should have the right to regulate his 
 charges by the amount, character, and importance of 
 the service and the ability of the patient to pay for 
 the same. 
 
 All these and other measures of reform he prose- 
 cuted with his characteristic vigor and tenacity, and 
 although his opponents, smarting at times under his 
 incisive sarcasm, were pleased to speak of him as 
 
" Busey, the dominant," no one questioned the justice 
 of his cause, and in 1875 he was elected President of 
 the Association. 
 
 We have simply to recall his leadership in the recent 
 movement toward the correction of abuses in medical 
 charities to appreciate that Dr. Busey, whether in the 
 Chair, in the committee-room, or on the floor, has uni- 
 formly contended for the rights, honor and dignity of 
 the medical profession. 
 
 There is no doubt that a large share of his profes- 
 sional success is due to a careful study and strict observ- 
 ance of the Code of Ethics of the American Medical 
 Association. He was present when it was first pro- 
 claimed in the city of Philadelphia, in 1847, an d his 
 youthful mind must have been deeply impressed with 
 the lofty tenets in which the duties of physicians to their 
 patients, to the profession and the public are prescribed. 
 
 That he has discharged his duties to his patients is 
 shown by the universal esteem in which he is held in the 
 community. That he has discharged his obligations to 
 the profession is evidenced by his sixth re-election as 
 President of the Medical Society, and that he has filled 
 every position of honor and trust which the profession 
 of this city and the Association of American Physicians 
 could confer upon him. That he has discharged his 
 duties to the public is evinced in his contributions to 
 preventive medicine, and the fact that during the past 
 eight years he, with his able lieutenants in the Commit- 
 tee on Legislation, has been instrumental in framing 
 and enacting seven laws in the interest of public health. 
 
 Indeed, the history of sanitation in this city is insepar- 
 ably connected with that of the Medical Society and 
 Dr. Busey as its President. 
 
Yielding now, however, to the resistless influence of 
 time and space, permit me, my loved and honored friend, 
 in the name of the medical profession, to renew our 
 hearty congratulations upon your golden wedding-day 
 of professional life, united with the fondest hope that 
 health and peace shall be yours till life shall end. 
 
 Hygeia will attend when years run trembling down 
 With honor's wreath your whitened hairs to crown, 
 
 and Minerva Medica will usher you through the portals 
 beyond, and proudly but reverently present you to the 
 Supreme Healer of the universe as a type of the true 
 
 physician. 
 
RESPONSE BY DR. BUSEY. 
 
 Mr. President, Friends and Colleagues : I have 
 addressed you as friends and colleagues that I might give 
 expression to the high regard in which I hold those who 
 have honored me. An occasion like this is so unusual 
 that one cannot fail to appreciate the distinction which 
 can only come to the few who may survive the fiftieth 
 anniversary of their graduation in medicine. When to 
 this are added the many expressions of the good-will of 
 my colleagues, I need not tell you how grateful I am. If 
 I should attempt to measure my gratitude in words I fear 
 a loosened tongue would run riot in the futile effort. 
 
 I am admonished that I must not trespass too heavily 
 upon my strength, but there are some things that I must 
 say even at the risk of unpleasant results. 
 
 When I came to the Presidency of the Medical Society 
 in 1 894 I made two resolutions : First, to make every 
 effort in my power to promote the scientific progress of 
 the Society ; and, secondly, to encourage the profession 
 to assert itself in all matters pertaining to sanitation and 
 preventive medicine. How far these purposes have been 
 accomplished history must determine. I cannot, how- 
 ever, claim all the merit which has been so generously 
 bestowed upon me for what has been done. To Dr. 
 Smith much is due. He has collected and arranged the 
 material and prepared the programmes for the weekly 
 meetings, which I have executed, so that to him must be 
 
given the larger share of the praise for the scientific 
 progress of the Society during the past four years. I 
 must also share with the Committee on Legislation the 
 success which has crowned our efforts in State medicine, 
 in securing for this community so much in the line of 
 preventive medicine. No one of that committee has 
 faltered in the good work or shirked his duty, but I can- 
 not omit mention of Drs. W. W. Johnston and Z. T. 
 Sowers, whose very valuable services have contributed 
 so much to promote the sanitation of the city. The 
 Medical Society has, during the past five years, accom- 
 plished more good in this line than had been done during 
 the previous one hundred years, and it is hoped, with 
 the same unity and force of purpose, the progress of 
 State medicine and public hygiene in this Capital City 
 will be coeval with the development of scientific sani- 
 tation. 
 
 To the many kind expressions of good-will and com- 
 mendation I cannot respond. They come to one who is 
 not free from disappointment, regret and sorrow ; to one 
 not free from mistakes, who has neglected and thrown 
 away opportunities. The chief regret of my life is that 
 I have accomplished so little. With a prosperous begin- 
 ning and fair success, I was so absorbed in the routine 
 duties of a busy practitioner that I failed to realize the 
 importance and magnitude of the duties of good citizen- 
 ship which are incumbent upon every practitioner of 
 medicine. If I have, during later years, sought to lead, 
 direct and unite my colleagues in efforts to discharge 
 their public duties, I have only partially fulfilled my obli- 
 gations to you and to this community. I live in the hope 
 that some successor will take up this line of work where 
 I may leave it, and prosecute it with vigor and energy, 
 
to the end that our beloved profession may never again 
 neglect or fail to assert its prerogative to advise, teach 
 and lead the people in all measures pertaining to the 
 preservation of health and the eradication of the causes 
 of preventable disease. 
 
 I recall with great pleasure the success of my efforts 
 to revise the regulations of the Medical Association of 
 this District ; the abrogation of the local Code of Ethics, 
 which in some respects was oppressive and antagonistic 
 to the Code of Ethics of the American Medical Associa- 
 tion ; the restoration of the entente cordiale between the 
 local practitioners and the Medical Staffs of the Army 
 and Navy, which had become strained, and the extension 
 of the privileges of consultation to female physicians and 
 physicians of African descent. The extension of this 
 privilege to the classes named was hotly contested by 
 many conspicuous members of the profession at that 
 period. In this controversy I followed the lead of my 
 distinguished friend, Dr. J. Ford Thompson, to whom is 
 due the credit of initiating the reform, which, after a pro- 
 tracted controversy, was accomplished. 
 
 I have referred to opportunities wasted and thrown 
 away, in that I failed to conceive the possibilities of a 
 long life in a scientific pursuit. I was born and passed 
 my boyhood life on a farm in a neighborhood of quiet 
 and frugal people, who accepted the conditions and cur- 
 rent events of life without discontent, free from the 
 struggles, aspirations and activities of business and 
 intellectual occupations. School-life, study, and, later, 
 professional duty, filled the measure of my coveted ac- 
 quirements. I failed to see the roadway open to all who 
 might strive to attain distinction and honor, and when, 
 through the partiality of professional friends, honors and 
 
opportunities came to me, I threw them away in fretful 
 discontent, because of the interruption to the plodding 
 routine of an active and busy life. Not until I had passed 
 middle life did I realize the possibility of some accom- 
 plishment in the line of scientific work that might entitle 
 me to a place among those who have contributed some- 
 thing to the common fund of useful knowledge. So that 
 whatever reputation I may have acquired and may leave 
 behind me has come through the labors of the later 
 period of my life, and I am here to-night, as your guest, 
 to accept the congratulations of those of my colleagues 
 who have assembled to commemorate the fiftieth anni- 
 versary of my professional life. 
 
 In conclusion, I again thank you for this graceful com- 
 pliment, and assure you of my gratitude for the many 
 kind words spoken to me to-night. 
 
 46 
 

 ,**ts=S. <y 
 
 Responses to the Invitation of the 
 Toastmaster. 
 
 _i2tG?'' 
 
REMARKS BY Z. T. SOWERS. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster, Our Honored Guest and Gen- 
 tlemen : You know, of course, that this call for a speech 
 is a great surprise to me, and has caught me without 
 any preparation whatever. I am greatly pleased, how- 
 ever, to be called upon, as I desire to express to you the 
 pleasure it affords me to be with you on this interesting 
 and memorable occasion. To celebrate the fiftieth anni- 
 versary of one's professional life rarely comes to any- 
 one. When such an event is reached in the life of one 
 whom we all love and honor so much as we do Dr. 
 Busey, it becomes truly both interesting and memorable. 
 During the past six or eight years it has been my very 
 great pleasure to be quite intimately associated with Dr. 
 Busey in a variety of ways, but more closely associated 
 in the work of the Committee on Legislation, of which I 
 have the honor to be a member. With the great labor 
 and the happy results reached by this committee you 
 are all familiar. The Doctor has been most kind and 
 considerate in attributing to us much of his success ; but, 
 although we did what we could, the credit of the result 
 should be awarded to him. He alluded to his failing 
 strength; but while we appreciate that he may not be as 
 strong as formerly, yet we who have been more closely 
 associated with him are glad to know and relate that he 
 
 D 49 
 
is not so debilitated as his remarks would lead us to 
 infer. For the comfort of those present I wish to state 
 that I have had an opportunity of testing his condition 
 to-night when I met him in the reception-room. He told 
 me how feeble he was becoming ; whereupon I thought 
 I would test his strength by asking something of the 
 Poison Bill now before Congress. If you could have 
 heard his reply, how he analyzed it as a bill, how he 
 related the different stages through which it had passed, 
 and the line of argument used by him in replying to the 
 opposition of the Pharmaceutical Association of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, you would, I am sure, agree with me 
 in thinking that he is far from feeble. It has been re- 
 marked by a number of those who have spoken how 
 much the Doctor has done to raise the Medical Society 
 to its present exalted standing among the medical 
 societies of this country. I fully appreciate how much 
 he has done in this direction, and how much we are in- 
 debted to him for his great efforts, and sincerely believe 
 that it will be greatly to the advancement of the Society 
 if we can induce him to remain its President so long as 
 he may live. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. JOS. TABER JOHNSON. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen : Being a member 
 of the Committee of Arrangements I was careful to leave 
 my name off the list of speakers in to-night's entertain- 
 ment, and, therefore, think the toastmaster has exceeded 
 his duties in calling upon me for a speech. While he has 
 
exceeded his duties in one respect he has not come up 
 to the requirements of the occasion in others, inasmuch 
 as he has called upon me, an unsuspecting citizen, to 
 reply to a toast without giving him any toast or senti- 
 ment to reply to. It is fair to suppose, however, that 
 those who have called upon me expect that the general 
 inspiration of the occasion will furnish the theme for 
 remarks. 
 
 Dr. Busey's abilities and reputation have been fully 
 discussed in nearly all the directions in which he has 
 been useful, except in the special field in which I have 
 known him most intimately. While I have not been a 
 member of those highly important committees which he 
 has led to victory over the Potomac and Anacostia Flats, 
 through the impure water supply and insufficient sewer- 
 age of the city ; while I did not accompany him on his 
 campaign against the quacks and impostors and in secur- 
 ing the Medical Practice Act, or in the bombardment 
 of the anti-vivisectionists and the food adulterers, and 
 various other campaigns for the upholding of the honor 
 and dignity of our noble profession and the protection 
 of the community — I say while I have not been a mem- 
 ber of the committees under the lead of Dr. Busey for 
 the accomplishment of these beneficent purposes — I 
 have been associated with him more or less intimately 
 for the past twenty-five years in the obstetrical and 
 gynecological branches of the profession. Dr. Busey 
 and I were together at the foundation of the American 
 Gynecological Society twenty-three years ago, and have 
 been side by side in many of the discussions and social 
 functions. He was at one time Vice-President of the 
 Society, and would have been President of it to-day had 
 he not resigned his membership. In consideration of 
 
his distinguished abilities the Society, at its last meeting 
 in Washington, upon my nomination, elected him an 
 Honorary Fellow. I was present with Dr. Busey and 
 others at the foundation of the Washington Obstetrical 
 and Gynecological Society. He was its first President, 
 was re-elected a fourth time, and has had much to do 
 with shaping its policy into a successful and useful 
 society. His known ability in parliamentary matters 
 obtained for him from Dr. Fordyce Barker, of New 
 York, the soubriquet of " Busey, the parliamentarian," in 
 the American Gynecological Society. I have often won- 
 dered what Dr. Busey and others did fifty years ago, 
 when he entered the profession, with some of the ques- 
 tions the successful settlement of which has added so 
 much to the renown of obstetrics, gynecology and ab- 
 dominal surgery. He practised for a number of years 
 without those means which we have at the present day 
 for bringing about an antiseptic environment in mid- 
 wifery and gynecological surgery. It could hardly have 
 entered his dreams fifty years ago that the mortality of 
 childbed would have been reduced to one-sixth of one 
 per cent., and that of ovariotomy to ten per cent, and 
 less during his lifetime, which he has actually observed in 
 the practice of obstetricians and gynecologists in this city. 
 He has had the satisfaction of seeing the unnatural and 
 abhorrent practice of craniotomy upon the living child, 
 which he was among the first to condemn, gradually but 
 surely give way in the onward march of abdominal sur- 
 gery, until Caesarean section has come now to be the 
 operation of election. 
 
 Dr. Busey was among the first to recognize sepsis as 
 the chief cause of puerperal septicaemia, or puerperal 
 fever, as it was then called ; and in a public address, when 
 
Chairman of the Obstetric Section of the American 
 Medical Association, called attention to the great bene- 
 fits sure to follow from the more thorough practice of 
 antiseptic midwifery. I remember hearing him read 
 before the American Gynecological Society, in Sep- 
 tember, 1879, a most elaborate paper on the " Pathology 
 of the Cicatrices of Pregnancy." He was also among 
 the first to discuss on the affirmative side the unity of 
 membranous croup and diphtheria. 
 
 I have known many instances of the most absolute 
 confidence of Dr. Busey's patients in his advice. He 
 has also enjoyed to a remarkable degree the confidence 
 of his professional brethren, who have often sought his 
 counsel. I am very glad to be here to-night and to join 
 with the numerous friends and admirers of Dr. Busey in 
 congratulating him upon his already long life of useful- 
 ness and many well-earned honors, and to wish for him 
 good health and happiness for many years to come. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. W. W. JOHNSTON. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen : There is one 
 phase of Dr. Busey's public work that has not been 
 alluded to this evening, and it is one which is well de- 
 serving of record. I mean the part he has played in 
 connection with the various hospitals of the District. 
 Looking back over many years I can now see more 
 clearly than ever that Dr. Busey's efforts were always 
 directed to increasing the influence of the medical man 
 in hospital management. 
 
There have been many contests in the history of hos- 
 pital work in this city, but in all of them Dr. Busey stood 
 fairly and openly for the rights and dignity of the medi- 
 cal profession in hospital control. 
 
 It is necessary and unavoidable that hospital boards 
 should be largely composed of non-medical men, but it 
 is not right, in the discussion and decision of matters 
 requiring expert knowledge, that physicians should have 
 little or no part ; matters of administrative detail that 
 deal with the medical work of the hospital can only be 
 properly understood by physicians, and it is they who 
 should decide all questions that concern the care of the 
 patients, their medical and surgical treatment, the divi- 
 sion of labor in the wards, and every matter that is of a 
 purely technical nature. In mixed boards, where the 
 medical staff is represented, the opportunity is given for 
 the presentation of the medical aspect of medical ques- 
 tions, and the board can decide with knowledge ; but in 
 boards composed exclusively of laymen no such oppor- 
 tunity is afforded, and only confusion and mismanage- 
 ment result, to the great detriment of the hospital. It 
 is natural that there should be differences of opinion, but 
 in the free discussion of such differences, where every 
 side can be heard, the true and best course is apt to be 
 followed. 
 
 It is in furtherance of the best interests of hospitals 
 that Dr. Busey has a clear record, and he deserves the 
 thanks of the medical profession for his unswerving 
 efforts to secure a just and fair measure of control for 
 the physician, and for his opposition to all faulty methods 
 of management. 
 
 But much remains to be done. It is for the men of the 
 present and future to agitate this question until justice 
 
is secured, until the man who is most clearly interested 
 in the beneficent work of the hospital has a just recogni- 
 tion of the dignity and importance of his position. 
 
 REMARKS BY ASSISTANT SURGEON-GENERAL 
 C. H. ALDEN, U. S. ARMY. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I had no idea you would call on me 
 to-night, and I am therefore quite unprepared to speak 
 fittingly on this occasion. One word I would like to say, 
 however, in regard to our distinguished guest, in which I 
 am sure I voice the sentiments of my colleagues of the 
 medical service — a word of sincere appreciation for the 
 part he has taken in making the members of these ser- 
 vices in the city feel at home among you, and in bring- 
 ing together the civil, military and naval members of the 
 profession. 
 
 Dr. Busey has told us in his interesting memoirs (if 
 I remember rightly) that military and naval surgeons 
 were among the founders, or at least the early members, 
 of the District Medical Society. Gradually, in the 
 course of time, there grew up, I will not say a less cor- 
 dial feeling, for the relation between the civil and mili- 
 tary physician has always been friendly, but I may say a 
 less intimate professional association. But I am inclined 
 to think the fault, as well as the loss, has been chiefly on 
 the part of the members of the two services. To Dr. 
 Busey is largely due a change in this respect. The mili- 
 tary and naval surgeons have been made members by 
 invitation of the District Medical Society, encouraged to 
 
read papers and join in discussions, a privilege which I 
 assure you has been most heartily appreciated. Social 
 intercourse is, I think, freer than it used to be. 
 
 Dr. Busey, helpful in every measure that promises to 
 advance his beloved profession, has taken a kindly in- 
 terest in the Army Medical School, and honored us by 
 delivering the address to the class a year ago. 
 
 I join most heartily in wishing Dr. Busey long-contin- 
 ued health and happiness. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. A. A. HOEHLING, U. S. NAVY. 
 
 Gentlemen: As a representative of the Navy Med- 
 ical Corps, I indorse most heartily the sentiments 
 expressed by Dr. Alden, and I thank you for the oppor- 
 tunity of saying that I am proud to be an alumnus of the 
 same medical school which graduated Professor Samuel 
 C. Busey half a century ago ; and I wish to state that, 
 while the venerable University of Pennsylvania reflects 
 honor upon her graduates, Dr. Busey confers honor 
 upon her. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster : I had congratulated myself that 
 this would be one meeting of the Medical Society when 
 the Secretary could keep still ; but, as you have called 
 on me, I cannot refrain from saying a few words in praise 
 of our guest. 
 
 56 
 
Dr. Busey was my preceptor, and I had ample oppor- 
 tunity for learning how to work. Soon after my gradua- 
 tion at the West Virginia University, in 1875, I entered 
 Dr. Busey's office as a student. During my college life 
 it seemed as if I had learned to study; but this belief was 
 soon dispelled when I was brought face to face with my 
 preceptor's untiring energies and methodical ways. 
 Whatever capacity I now possess for hard work I attrib- 
 ute to the schooling received under Dr. Busey's guid- 
 ance. That Dr. Busey has been an earnest worker, and 
 that his labors have always tended toward the elevation 
 of our profession, need no emphasis from me. I trust 
 that his just and guiding hand will not soon cease to 
 direct the younger men of the profession in that road 
 which leads to success. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. ROBERT REYBURN. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster : I am heartily glad to have been 
 called on to say something on this occasion, for I say it 
 from an entirely different stand-point from any of the 
 speakers who have preceded me. Most of those who 
 have spoken have been either pupils of Dr. Busey or 
 at least intimately connected with him during the early 
 years of their professional lives. 
 
 It was not so with me; in fact, our first acquaintance 
 was made when we were direct antagonists. The Doctor 
 and I differed very widely on political and other questions 
 from 1872 to 1880 ; in fact, we do not agree on all things 
 now. But this world would be a very stupid place if 
 
everybody agreed in everything with everybody else ; and 
 whatever antagonism we once mutually felt has long been 
 converted into sincere and warm friendship. On this 
 happy occasion there is but one point I wish especially 
 to dwell upon, and that is the efforts and labors of Dr. 
 Busey in the direction of the elevation of the medical 
 profession of the District of Columbia. 
 
 There can be no questioning the statement that Dr. 
 Busey has done far more toward this than any other 
 member of the medical profession in the District. These 
 labors will always remain as his monument, and that he 
 may remain with us many years to see the good results 
 of his work is my sincere desire and prayer. 
 
 REMARKS BY DR. C. H. A. KLEINSCHMIDT. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : The eloquent and pre-eminently truth- 
 ful remarks to which we have listened with so much 
 pleasure and the heartiest approval are the sentiments 
 that are harbored in the breast of every member of our 
 local society now gathered around the festive board in 
 honor of our distinguished and beloved guest. But they 
 are also shared by hosts of eminent professional col- 
 leagues in our country and abroad. Far be it from me 
 to try the impossible, to add one iota to the expressions 
 of high appreciation and devotion made to-night. But I 
 would ask leave to recall a scene of long ago, so long 
 that I do not care to confess to the number of years since 
 passed. My first acquaintance by sight with Dr. Busey 
 happened during my student days, in front of the office 
 
 58 
 
of my preceptor, the late Dr. John M. Snyder, who was 
 out on the pavement ready to make his daily rounds. 
 Somehow, during the conversation between the two gen- 
 tlemen, I was strongly attracted by the stranger, and 
 began to form certain conclusions. The brief conver- 
 sation ended, and after the parting Dr. Snyder turned 
 to me, and perhaps noting the questioning eyes, said : 
 "That is Dr. Busey. What a great pity that a man 
 of such prominent parts and professional ability should 
 have retired from a successful and active career to the 
 quiet life of a country gentleman." 1 
 
 These remarks impressed me greatly, because spoken 
 with earnestness and conviction ; and somehow or other 
 the thought of Dr. Busey and his voluntary retirement 
 and relinquishment of professional success would again 
 and again rise in my mind. 
 
 There is, however, one point, not broached upon by 
 any of the speakers to-night, which, to my thinking, 
 affords the best proof, if indeed proof were wanting, of 
 the indomitable energy always displayed in any scientific 
 or other work, and, of course, carried to a definite and 
 successful end. I refer to the extensive and critical in- 
 vestigation into the lymphatic system, from the physio- 
 logical and pathological stand-point, undertaken by him 
 a number of years ago, resulting in two monographs, 
 embodying a collection, classification, description, and 
 grouping of striking diseases and anomalies of the lym- 
 phatic system, a subject which at that time was receiv- 
 
 1 Dr. Kleinschlnidt's reference to the interview between Drs. Busey and Snyder may be 
 misleading in the suggestion that Dr. Busey had retired from the practice of medicine. 
 It is true he had changed his residence from the city to one in the suburbs north of 
 Georgetown, on the Woodly Lane Road, known as Belvoir, but he was actively engaged 
 in the practice of medicine in the neighborhood and contiguous country, which became 
 so onerous that he was induced to return to the city, where the exactions of a busy pro- 
 fessional life were less so.— G. M. K. 
 
 59 
 
ing rather scant attention by the general practitioner. 
 This extensive inquiry, of the most searching character, 
 originated in his observation of a congenital case of a 
 rare form of lymphatic disease, which was followed closely 
 during life and cleared up and verified by necropsy. 
 
 Dr. Busey then conceived the idea of collecting from 
 the medical literature of all countries cases of lymphatic 
 diseases having a similar bearing to the one observed by 
 himself. The task, deemed at first comparatively easy, 
 soon became almost Herculean, in view of the class of 
 literature found necessary to be sifted, and might have 
 appalled many an ardent investigator. Not so with our 
 friend. As the task grew and difficulties doubled and 
 trebled, energy and zeal increased in direct ratio, until 
 final success was gained in the production of the two 
 works mentioned, embodying practically all recorded 
 cases, but also teeming in important critical deductions 
 and suggestions by their author. 
 
 The work of Dr. Busey is of special personal interest 
 to me, because his kindness placed me in a position in 
 which a better insight to his indomitable energy in scien- 
 tific pursuit was afforded than would otherwise have been 
 possible. 
 
 While in course of time the admirable characteristics 
 of our honored guest unfolded themselves to me more 
 and more, our acquaintance grew into friendship. There 
 is one episode which deserves the undying gratitude of 
 our profession. As a witness — perhaps the only one here 
 to-night — of this striking incident, it seems eminently 
 proper that it should be referred to on this occasion, 
 especially as it seems to have been forgotten by many. 
 
 In the years of local confusion and strife succeeding 
 the late war between the States our Medical Society 
 
 60 
 
became involved in a very serious feud with the then all- 
 powerful Board of Health, resulting in a schism which 
 endangered its existence, because of the determined 
 attempts on the part of our enemies to induce Congress 
 to repeal our charter. Defeated in this through the 
 defence offered by Dr. Busey, as a member of our Com- 
 mittee, they still, nothing daunted, continued the heated 
 controversy, and carried the contention to the American 
 Medical Association, as the court of last resort, at its 
 meeting in Washington in 1870. Charges, that would 
 have been serious if well founded, were preferred against 
 the Society, and a most determined effort made, and all 
 means in their power were employed, to have our dele- 
 gation excluded from membership in the Association. 
 
 Although prevented by service on one of the local com- 
 mittees from witnessing the struggle in the session of the 
 Association, and therefore only an anxious and deeply 
 concerned outsider, I yet did not fail to be informed by 
 eye-witnesses of the prominent and leading part taken by 
 Dr. Busey in that action, which again led to the defeat of 
 the opposition ; but in the light of subsequent events this 
 was rather a preliminary skirmish to the final battle, for 
 the attack was renewed in Philadelphia, where it remained 
 for the meeting in 1872 to cause the final overthrow of 
 the factional opposition by refusing to admit to mem- 
 bership those who had proved enemies of our Society 
 and attempted to destroy it by a repeal of its charter. 
 
 They came to Philadelphia apparently sure of success, 
 and, if appearances did not deceive, it seemed to our dele- 
 gates that the case would be decided by a body by no 
 means favorably inclined txnvard us. Said one of my col- 
 leagues, the late Dr. Boyle, judging from what he had 
 heard in conversation of and with members of the Asso- 
 
ciation, "I am afraid they will beat us ;" and in very truth, 
 as the case was presented and discussion went on, his 
 words seemed to be verified, for the temper of the meet- 
 ing seemed to favor the opposition. But things were 
 changed, and how completely was indifference or worse 
 transformed ! Can those who composed our small and 
 anxious delegation at that decisive meeting ever forget 
 the moment when our then Chairman, our guest of honor 
 to-night, ascended the platform to address the vast audi- 
 ence. A hush fell on the house. Then he began quietly, 
 calmly, and with a mien that spoke of a righteous cause. 
 His speech was clear, incisive, and logical, and at every 
 point presented our case with a force as convincing as 
 truth alone can proclaim, and fairly demolished and an- 
 nihilated the accusations laid against the Society, and 
 any and all so-called facts brought forward to sustain 
 them. How can the witnesses of that scene, which raised 
 our spirits from despondency to hope, ever forget the 
 storm of applause when our leader closed his speech 
 and the overwhelming vote by which the delegates of 
 the opposition were refused admission, nor the feeling 
 of relief and enthusiasm which hailed a victory verily 
 snatched from the very jaws of defeat by the matchless 
 argument of Dr. Busey ? 
 
 In harmony with his undaunted spirit, which urged him 
 to defend single-handed an almost forlorn cause and de- 
 feat its enemies in a fair, square, and successful struggle, 
 is the magnanimity which he extended to them later, 
 when, convinced of their errors, they applied for re- 
 admission to fellowship. Forgiving the past, he was the 
 first to smoothe the way to their rehabilitation. These 
 two striking incidents have been to me" always the bright 
 particular spots to which my mind turned when review- 
 
 62 
 
ing any personal reminiscences of Dr. Busey, for they 
 illustrate most positively the brave, noble and generous 
 qualities of his character. 
 
 Closing, I can only express the sincere wish, re-echoed, 
 doubtless, by us all, that he may still be with us for 
 many a year to come, an honor and ornament of our 
 noble profession, a useful, ever alert, public-spirited 
 citizen. 
 
 63