in other pursuits of life, especially in that precarious business, politics.

I believe it is true that medical men have attained high distinction in official position, and I have no doubt that if it were not for the fact that they are not disposed to dabble in outside pursuits, physicians would fill more positions of influence than they now do. But in my judgment it is greatly to their honor that they forego the temporary pleasure, if pleasure it be, to be derived from holding office. If a man is to be successful in the practice of medicine and discharge his duties therein to the fullest extent possible, it is absolutely necessary that his mind should be upon that and nothing else. He cannot engage in general pursuits and do justice to his profession; therefore it becomes a matter of necessity that the sphere of action of a medical man should be confined to his profession, and that he should be satisfied with the honor which necessarily falls to the share of those who do their duty well. The old words come to

mind:

"Honor and fame from no condition rise;

Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

I can think of no higher honor to any individual member of the community than that bestowed upon a doctor who is in every sense of the word fulfilling the duties which devolve upon him in the daily practice of his profession.

A great deal depends upon doctors. The responsibilities are great when human life is hanging, as it were, by a single thread and depending for its existence upon the skill of the practitioner. I think doctors, as a class, appreciate these responsibilities, and that they desire to qualify themselves to discharge their dutics as well as they can.

We are living in a day and age of progress. We want to clear away the cobwebs of the past. I believe rapid strides are being made in every profession, and especially in the profession of medicine, which, if you keep pace with, will greatly benefit your fellowmen, and will enable you to achieve high honors and to work in a higher sphere of usefulness. I am glad to observe that one evidence of what I might perhaps call old fogyism in your profession has passed away. I am assured, sir, that ladies are members of your society, and I am glad to know it. Why? Because I think a lady, when she sets out to study and practice medicine, will study it thoroughly and well, and we all know that of the two they have a little more practical common sense than the men have, and that they manifest it more often, perhaps, than men do.

A number of years ago, when the question of co-education was considered in the matter of admitting our daughters to the full course of the State University I was a doubter of the practicability of the plan; nevertheless, it was decided that the daughters should

be admitted to all departments of the University upon the same terms as the sons, and since that time they have gone forward side by side, or it may be that the ladies are a little ahead. They have certainly taken as high rank in scholarship. They have as frequently, more frequently, if I am not mistaken, carried off the honors of the institution. I have heard it said, "The girls are smart, bright, and can learn quickly and well, but if you extend to them the privileges of the higher education their health will break down; they haven't got sufficient strength." That has not been our experience at the University. The girls graduate with as good health as the boys do. I have taken pains to watch this subject carefully. The girls take exercise and preserve their health. They do not lose it by any kind of dissipation. There is where the girls have the advantage of the boys. The boys may keep late hours, but the girls never do (unless they have first-rate company.)

Mr. Chairman, I did not intend to occupy your time but for a single moment. You have important duties to perform, and I will therefore only say again, and in conclusion, in behalf of the city of Madison that I bid you, one and all, a most cordial welcome.

Dr. Gapen:

We expected to have our honored Governor with us this evening to receive you on the part of the State, but unfortunately he is unable to be here. I saw him this afternoor, and he told me to receive you cordially on his behalf, and that on the part of the State he cordially welcomed you here.

The orchestra then favored the society again with music, after which Dr. Gapen said:

The next thing on the programme is the annual address by our president, Dr. G. M. Steele, of Oshkosh. His subject is one which I hope will receive the gravest and most thorough attention, “Is Our Professional Growth Commensurate with Just Demands." It affords me great pleasure to introduce to you Dr. Steele, of Oshkosh.

Dr. Steele then delivered the President's address, entitled as above, which on motion of Dr. Whiting was referred to the Publication Committee, and the thanks of the Society were tendered to the President therefor.

President Steele now took the chair, and, after music by the orchestra, the Committee of Arrangements made its formal report through its chairman, as follows:

The Committee of Arrangements have made the following provisions for this meeting: The place of meeting is to be this room, known as the Senate Chamber. The hours of meeting have been

arranged to be from 9 A. M. to I P. M. The afternoon sessions to The evening sessions to begin at 8 hour for closing in the evening. The

begin at 2 and end at 6. o'clock. We have fixed no President wishes me to say that at the hours for opening the meeting the gavel will fall, and the gentlemen who are not present sharp on these hours will miss part of the proceedings. This railroad way of doing work, we hope, will not be objectionable to you, because it is thought this will best conduce to the advancement of the business of the society.

The report, after specifying the rooms which had been set apart for various committees, continued:

So far as the entertainment of the society is concerned the one idea that controlled us has been to provide an opportunity to become acquainted, so that you may go away feeling you have made pleasant and profitable acquaintances, and I, for one, insist upon it that this is one of the most important duties and privileges which we have in becoming members of a society like this. We have arranged, as a result of the invitation extended by the management of the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane, to visit that institution. They have very kindly tendered an invitation to the Society to visit that hospital, and also tendered a lunch-it the day be pleasant, on the grounds; and if the day should be unpleasant, in the halls of the building. The Madison Medical Club has taken it upon itself to invite the society to an excursion upon the lake, by means of which we hope to afford you an opportunity to enjoy yourselves, to become better acquainted in the meantime, and to see an institution of which we are all, I think, justly proud. We hope to-morrow afternoon to go to the hospital, visit the institution, take a lunch, afterwards have the boat call for us and continue around the lake, returning in time for early evening session.

One more point the committee has provided for, which was necessary in order to lessen the arduous task of the Secretary; they have provided for two assistant secretaries. And I make a motion to this effect: that the Secretary be permitted to select two gentlemen to act as assistants. The work of the Secretary, we have observed, has been very large and his various duties have been very exacting, so as to give him little time for individual duties and less time for enjoyment of the meetings, and so we have taken the liberty of making this selection of two gentlemen as assistant secre

taries, one to take charge of the return privileges on the railroads and the other to afford such assistance at his right hand as he can.

The report of the Committee of Entertainment, including the portion relative to assistant secretaries, was accepted, and the rules therein suggested were adopted for the government of this session.

Dr. Gapen: I will call attention to one other thing which I omitted unintentionally. The Committee of Arrangements feeling a desire to make this, the 40th anniversary, a very largely attended meeting, after due deliberation and consultation with the officers of the Society, sent out a circular to each member of the society requesting that the names of physicians in their neighborhood or of their acquaintance, entitled to become members of the Society be sent in, and we received something over four hundred names. The Society has about two hundred members. The fact that there are two eligible persons not members to one who is, was a surprise. We sent invitations to each of those four hundred individuals, and have had a very satisfactory response. We have received many letters from medical men who either intended to come, or who for some reason could not come, many expressing a sentiment of gratification that this amount of interest should have been taken. It has been,

so far as we are concerned, a very pleasant experience, and we hope it will be a profitable experience to the Society. I am told by the secretary this evening that about twenty-five persons have already presented themselves for membership, and we expect in answer to these circulars a much larger number to-morrow and next day.

The President: It seems quite Impracticable, in fact almost impossible, to follow the regular order of business as laid down in the by-laws. We will endeavor to arrange matters so as to perhaps improve upon that a little, and in the work of the Society I shall be pleased if each man that desires to speak will first obtain the notice of the Chair by announcing his name, for two or three reasons. the first place, to aid the stenographer in obtaining his name accuråtely, and in making the proceedings a little more accurate and generally more satisfactory.

In

The Censors then presented the following report, through Dr. Thorndike:

The Censors of the State Medical Society having carefully examined the credentials of the following named physicians, and

having found them to be satisfactory and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution of the Society, do respectfully recommend for membership therein :

John A. Winters, of LaCrosse; graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, 1883.

L. H. Hayman, of Boscobel; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1878.

Galen Rood, of Stevens' Point; graduate of Ohio Medical College, 1856.

L. M. Gregory, of Plover; graduate of Western Reserve Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio, 1869.

O. E. Larkin, of Deerfield; graduate of Chicago Medical College, Ill., 1884.

F. S. Wiley, of Fond du Lac; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1883.

George Kernan, Jr., of Stoughton; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1883.

D. L. Sauerhering, of Mayville; graduate of Chicago Medical College, Ill., 1886.

Andrew Munroe, of Green Bay; certified member of Brown County Medical Society, Wis.

F. L. Lewis, of Green Bay; a former member of the State Medical Society.

W. H. Oviatt, of Clintonville; graduate of Buffalo Medical College, N. Y., 1869.

H. M. Beck, of Green Bay; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1883.

E. M. McDonald, of Doylestown; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1883.

J. H. Dawley, of Antigo; graduate of Western Reserve Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio, 1879.

O. H. Martin, of Kewaunee; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1874.

Winfred Wylie, of Wausau; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1877.

C. H. Frissell, of Knapp; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1881.

J B. Trowbridge, of Hayward; graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., 1882.

Erastus Buck, Jr., of Platteville; graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., 1854.