756 DR. CHARLES FOLLEN FOLSOM. 



then in the old familiar grounds at Somerville, and this he kept until 

 the autumn of 1873. He threw himself, indeed, at this period, with 

 great energy into the study of diseases of the mind, and came near to 

 selecting this branch of medicine for his life work. Even as late as 

 1877 he writes to Mr. Gannett: "The bill has passed the Legislature 

 requiring the Governor to appoint trustees, etc., to Danvers, and the 

 question has been asked me square, whether I w'd be Supt. Although 

 I said no more in reply than that I would not say no, I have since de- 

 cided not to take it, and very largely because , who knows me for 



generations back, has convinced me that I am in many respects un- 

 suited for that kind of work." 



In the autumn of 1873 he went abroad for the sake of "seeing what 

 asylums are there, etc." He was away about a year, studying mainly 

 in Vienna and Berlin, but visiting also the hospitals of England and of 

 Scotland and making valuable acquaintances. The full letters from 

 Europe during this period (1873-1874), both to the various members of 

 his family and to Mr. Gannett, show sound observation and an active 

 mind. He found the English asylums the best, though by no means 

 above criticism. The brutal manners of the Viennese doctors towards the 

 poorer patients disgusted him, but did not prevent him from appreciating 

 the splendid opportunities of these physicians for study nor their qual- 

 ity as teachers. Man for man he liked his own countrymen the best. 



While he was still away an event occurred which proved to be for 

 him of great significance. This was Ins selection for the secretary- 

 ship of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, just then thrown 

 open by the regretted death of Dr. George Derby, a position in which 

 an able physician could do more for the health of his fellow-citizens 

 than in any other way whatever. The State Board of Health had 

 then been in existence just four years. It had owed its life to the 

 imagination and splendid zeal of Dr. Bowditch, and its remarkable 

 development and career of usefulness at once to his labors and those of 

 his public-spirited and able colleagues, and to the energy and spirit 

 of Dr. Derby, fresh from service as army surgeon in the war and full 

 of interest in matters relating to the public health. The Board as a 

 whole was one of the best that ever served the State. Dr. Bowditch 

 had been chairman from the first, and when the question came up of 

 the appointment of a successor to Dr. Derby it was natural that his 

 thoughts should turn to Dr. Folsom, young, free, of approved character 

 and ability, and possessed already of experience in administrative 

 work.* Dr. Derby died in June, 1874, and Dr. Folsom was appointed 



* Dr. Bowditch's personal friendship for Dr. Folsom is testified to by the 

 following note, evidently written at a period when observers had had a chance 



