CORRESPONDENCE 215 



Although he devoted much time to the study of the natural 

 sciences, for which he had great taste, I think he did uot do this 

 to the neglect of his medical reading. He was a man of great 

 industry and activity, and an early riser; and by a systematic use 

 of his time was able to gratify his tastes without neglecting his 

 duties as a physician, lie took a lively interest in his patients, 

 was prompt and faithful in his attendance, kind and gentle in his 

 manner, warm in his sympathies, and evidently earnest in his 

 endeavor to do them good. In this way he merited and won the 

 confidence and esteem of the many families who, in times of 

 peril, were willing to trust their health and their lives in his 

 bauds. As a citizen, he was interested in all that pertained to 

 the best interests of the community in which he lived; was a 

 member of the Congregational Church and for thirty years 

 leader of its choir in music, being rarely absent unless when 

 compelled by urgent professional duties. He was a most agree- 

 able person to meet at his home or elsewhere. He was a good 

 talker and had a large fund of anecdotes ; could tell a good story 

 and enjoy a hearty laugh. He was naturally domestic in his 

 tastes and was most happy in his domestic life. 



Dr. Wood died, after an illness of but three days' dura- 

 tion, August 9, 1885, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

 An obituary notice in the Hartford Daily Times of 

 August 10, 1885, said : " He was a well-informed orni- 

 thologist and quite an artistic taxidermist. His collec- 

 tion of specimens of native and foreign birds is large. 

 Dr. Wood's opinion was taken as authority by ornitholo- 

 gists of distinction, and his writings on the birds of this 

 region will beheld as valuable in the future." In an 

 obituary notice in the editorial columns of the Ornitholo- 

 gist and Oologist, for September, 1885, Volume X., No. 

 9, occurs the following tribute : " Few names are better 

 known in the ornithological world than that of Dr. 

 Wood. A well-known physician in the state to which 



