2o8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The precious gift it is my privilege 

 now to offer to the hospital is but 

 another reminder of him who, thougli 

 •absent in person, has been with us and 

 in us and around us in spirit from the 

 beginning of this gathering. What 

 have been his contributions to medical 

 science, what his inspiration and efforts 

 and example have been to this institu- 

 tion, are so familiar to us all that it 

 would be impudent to mention them. 

 Would that we could put into words 

 the influence that the man has had 

 upon our lives ! How much of thai; 

 which is best in us is due to him and 

 to his example ! In all the fifteen 

 years of my close and constant associa- 

 tion with him I never knew him to do 

 a hasty or an inconsiderate act, and I 

 never heard him speak an unkind word 

 of any man. Of how many can one say 

 this? He is like Maeterlinck's true 

 sage, in whose presence discord and 

 strife and misunderstanding are impos- 

 sible. In losing him we felt that we had 

 lost our best friend and adviser, but he 

 left us a legacy of tolerance and forbear- 

 ance and charity that is among the rich- 

 est of our possessions. This whole in- 

 stitution is replete with memories of the 

 man; and no statue, no tablet, no por- 

 trait can bring him more vividly to our 

 minds. But there will be others who 

 follow after to whom our poor words 

 will convey but a faint picture of that 

 which is a part of us. And so his old 

 disciples welcome with heartfelt grati- 

 tude every new image which may help 

 better to fix for posterity the presence 

 of our dear chief. The value of this 

 new possession is greatly enhanced in 

 that it comes to us through the thought- 

 ful generosity of her who shares with 

 him our lasting love and affection. 

 Lady Osier, of her own initiative, has 

 induced Mr. Sargent to make this 

 replica of the portrait drawn by him 

 for the College of Physicians in Phila- 

 delphia, and has sent it to us to-day. 

 And so after all he is with us! We 

 shall gain new inspiration from his 

 counterfeit presence. Let us wait pa- 

 tiently in the hope that, four years 



hence, when the heavy clouds of the 

 hour shall have rolled away, we may 

 give him that welcome which our hearts 

 hold for him to-day. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 



We record with regret the deaths of 

 Samuel Benedict Christy, professor of 

 mining and metallurgy in the Univer- 

 sity of California; of Charles Martin 

 Hall, the American eleetrochemist; of 

 Professor N. C. Duner, the Swedish 

 astronomer; of Dr. Charles Perier, one 

 of the most distinguished surgeons in 

 France, and Dr. A. Van Geuchten, 

 professor of anatomy and neuro-pathol- 

 ogy at Louvain University. 



SiGNOR GUGLIELMO MaRCONI haS 



been appointed a member of the Italian 

 senate by King Victor Emmanuel. — 

 It is one of the privileges of the Span- 

 ish Academia de Medicina that it is 

 entitled to a seat in the senate. The 

 member of t'le academy recently elected 

 senator in this way is Dr. B. G. Al- 

 varez, one of the editors of the Pedia- 

 tria Espafiol. — The gold medal of the 

 Geographical Society of Chicago has 

 been awarded to Colonel George W, 

 Goethals. It will be presented to him 

 at a dinner to be given by the society 

 on January 23. 



Several large bequests are reported 

 I this month for educational and public 

 purposes. Dr. Charles M. Hall, known 

 for his work on aluminum, bequeaths 

 $3,000,000 to Oberliu College; Miss 

 Grace Dodge, who during her lifetime 

 was active in educational and charitable 

 work, leaves $500,000 to Teachers Col- 

 lege, Columbia University, $700,000 'o 

 Young Women 's Christian Associations 

 and other public bequests. Large be- 

 quests for public purposes are made 

 by the will of Mrs. Mary Anna Palmer 

 Draper, to whom in her lifetime sci- 

 ence was greatly indebted for intelli- 

 gent and generous support, including 

 $150,000 to the Harvard College Ob- 

 servatory and $450,000 to the New 

 York Public Library. 



