1884.] "^^ 



saved liim from protracted inaction and pain, from what Heine, in his 

 own case, has pathetically bewailed as the "mattress grave." By 

 special directions in Dr. Gross's will the body was cremated, and the ashes 

 have been placed beside the coffin of his wife in Woodlands Cemetery. 



Such is a sketch of the life of this prodigious worker. An original con- 

 tributor to the science for which he had a fondness ; a widely known prac- 

 tical surgeon ; an admirable, most learnfed writer ; a great teacher exert- 

 ing an influence which will long survive him, — Dr. Gross occupied the 

 foremost rank in the medical profession. It was evident from his student 

 days that he was to be a man of rare distinction : 



" Mens ardua semper 

 A puero, tenerisque etiam fulgebat in annis 

 Fortunte majoris honos." 



He, certainly, was of the men whose high fortune throws its shadows 

 before from the earliest years. The youth showed what the mature man 

 was ; the old man was but the youth with the promise fulfilled, and 

 with honors gracefully worn that no one ever doubted would be attained. 

 A part of his extraordinary fame is due to the circumstances under which 

 he worked. He was the first vriter on this continent who, with anything 

 like gift of expression, brought together and elaborated the truths of surgi- 

 cal science, and partly this, but chiefly the excellence of his labors, ex- 

 tended his reputation in all directions beyond his own country. In ac- 

 quiring fame for himself, he added to her fame. Conspicuous in raan}^ 

 ways, Samuel Dent Gross stands forth a marked personality among the 

 eminent men of our or of any generation. 



> Stated Meeting^ Dec. 19^ 1884- 



Present, 15 members. 

 President, Mr. Fraley, in the Chair. 



Letters of acknowledo-ment were received from the Univer- 

 sitj of California and the Royal Society of Victoria, Mel- 

 bourne (112, 113). 



Letters of envoy were received from the Argentine Obser va - 

 tory, the Department of Internal Affairs at Harrisburg, and 

 Mrs. John Biddle of Philadelphia. 



Donations to the Library were received from Mr. H. J. 

 Browne of Victoria ; the Bureau of Statistics at Stockholm ; 



