126 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [April, 



seeming to neglect in his own case the care that he was ever urging 

 upon others to conserve their strength and health. 



Even before his appointment as Health Commissioner those who 

 were closely associated with Dr. Dixon were aware of the inroads 

 that constant attention to his business and executive duties were 

 making upon his health, and on several occasions he had suffered a 

 temporary breakdown. His was a nature that must delve into all 

 the details of every matter under consideration, to make sure that 

 there was no possibility of mistake and that nothing had been 

 overlooked. Praiseworthy as is such a practice, probably no consti- 

 tution can stand it indefinitely, and in the work of the Department 

 of Health it reached the limit of huilian endurance. 



Even during his long illness, which began about the end of July 

 last, Dr. Dixon's indomitable will continued to assert itself; and for 

 a long while he continued to direct the affairs of his department 

 from his sick bed and to consider the more important matters con- 

 nected with the administration of the Academy. As time went 

 on, however, he became less and less able to make such effort and 

 the final rest from his labors came on February 26, 1918. Dr. 

 Dixon was married in 1881 to Miss Fanny Gilbert, and she and a. 

 daughter, Catharine H. Dixon, survive him. 



Dr. Dixon had held the office of President of this Academy longer 

 than any other incumbent, with one exception, having just been 

 elected for his twenty-third term, and no other President had seen, 

 during his administration, such a physical expansion and develop- 

 ment of the institution. These things speak for themselves and bear 

 testimony of his executive ability and his devotion to the Academy. 

 To the country at large his work as Commissioner of Health is his- 

 monument, and he will stand for all time as an example of the 

 highest ideal of faithful service in public office and as an unselfish 

 benefactor of the people in his campaign for public health. 



To those of us who knew him here in the halls of the Academy, 

 however, there will always be memories of the personal side of his 

 relations to the institution and to the staff — his kindliness and 

 sympathy, his interest in the work of every individual, and back of 

 it all that constant desire, ever present, ever conspicuous, to advance 

 the Academy's interests and to meet its need? as he saw them; a 

 service, like that rendered as Commissioner of Health, which brought 

 greater benefits to others than it did to himself. 



