REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 1914. 9 



concerned with the details of fiscal business. With respect to 

 the latter, indeed, he once remarked humorously to his colleagues 

 that he had never understood, and that he never expected to 

 understand, a formal financial statement. He was at his best 

 as a correspondent and in informal conference. As a physician 

 and as a humanist he had mastered the art of friendly counsel in 

 other fields than those of pathology, in which he so long occupied 

 a position of preeminence. He was wont to disclaim compe- 

 tence as a judge of men and their motives; it was his opinion 

 that he could more accurately interpret the minds of women; 

 but experience with him proved that he was an uncommonly 

 capable adviser with respect to all affairs peculiarly humanistic, 

 of which the Institution has naturally encountered a considerable 

 share. 



Socially, Dr. Mitchell was one of the most noteworthy per- 

 sonages in his native '^Red Cit}^" His home, on Walnut Street, 

 was an intellectual center about which clustered and from which 

 radiated the best traditions of American manners and customs, 

 so clearly delineated in his singularly elevated historical romances. 

 Here he and his wife, who survived him by a few days only, were 

 long graceful hosts to guests from near and far; here and at Bar 

 Harbor, Maine, his summer home, were wrought out his numer- 

 ous contributions to literature and to science which have long 

 delighted and instructed his readers; and here he continued his 

 activities in full possession of his faculties closely to the end of 

 his life, whose span was only a month and a half short of eighty- 

 five years. 



The services rendered by Mr. Cadwalader to the Institution 

 were quite different in kind from those rendered by his intimate 

 coadjutors Billings and Mitchell. His services were, indeed, 

 of a more fundamental character. He was legal counsel for the 

 Institution; he drew up its constitution and by-laws; and his 

 advice was always readily available in assisting the Institution 

 to secure a systematic and rational development. Naturally 

 enough, a novel establishment in whose origin and evolution 

 there has been an unprecedented popular interest, leading neces- 



