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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1368 



to tlie advantage of the public, wticli receives 

 thereby increasingly efficient service from the 

 individual members of the profession. It is 

 in this way that the interests flf the profession 

 and the laity are interwoven. 

 I Feeling, as we do, that the influence of our 

 profession in pnblic affairs just at the present 

 jtime is not so potent as it was a generation 

 lago, or as it should be, we have cast about to 

 discover the cause and, following the tradi- 

 tions of our profession, to apply the appropri- 

 ate remedy for the malady. After oft-repeated 

 discussions the general feeling has come to 

 prevail that the lack of professional solidarity 

 is the underlying cause which robs us of the 

 influence at the council table of our city which 

 unselfish devotion to the best interests of the 

 public appears to justify. 



Recognizing the gravity of this condition, 

 pur former president, Dr. Davidson, conceived 

 the cure, in leading the society to undertake 

 the erection of a commodious centrally located 

 home .of its own. To him the members of the 

 society are indebted for this beautiful edifice 

 ■and his name will go down in the history of the 

 society, and of this city, as one of the great 

 benefactors of his time. 



I The beneficial effects are already evidenced 

 in the enthusiastic loyal cooperation of the 

 members of the society and of its lay friends 

 who have made possible the completion of the 

 task, rendered more difficult by the disturbed 

 ;Conditions which prevailed in this city and 

 throughout the length and breadth of the land. 

 . ISTo profession has loftier traditions and aims 

 than have animated the medical profession 

 throughout all the ages. In the past the med- 

 ical profession has been interested in all the 

 great questions of the day, whether pertaining 

 to the health of the community or matters en- 

 tirely outside of the realm of medicine. 



Let us not be satisfied with the accomplish- 

 ment of scientific attainments, but ever keep 

 in mind our broader duties as citizens of this 

 great republic. 



. In fulfilling our duty to the public let us not 

 be unmindful of our sacred obligations to the 

 fellows of our own profession, especially those 

 who through misfortune need our aid, sym- 



pathy and encouragement. In this connection 

 may we not db well to borrow from the little 

 jpeople across the Pacific the motto which is 

 symbolized in those two little bronzes seen 

 [Upon the Temple of Nikko, which warn the 

 traveller to " see no evil, hear no evil, speak no 

 ,evil." In the consideration of our broader 

 duties as true physicians, let us lend our 

 earnest aid not only to those in whose keeping 

 the moral and spiritual welfare of the com- 

 punity rests, but to give in our daily work 

 ^uch council and encouragement along these 

 lines as lie within our power. 



In turning to a consideration of what the 

 Medical Society of the District of Columbia 

 has accomplished for our city we find achieve- 

 ments of which we may be justly proud. The 

 curbing of typhoid by securing an abundant 

 supply of pure water and pure milk; the med- 

 ical inspection of the school, by which nutri- 

 tional diseases, defective eyesight and in- 

 fectious fevers are reduced to a minimum; 

 providing for new hospitals, raising the stand- 

 ards of the older institutions; the practical 

 elimination of malaria through the reclama- 

 tion of the Potomac flats, which were the 

 breeding places of the mosquito; the effective 

 control of contagious and infectious fevers 

 through compelling quarantine, with report of 

 such cases to the Health Department; the in- 

 auguration of the crusade against tuberculosis 

 and the bringing the knowledge of its com- 

 municability and the care of the disease to 

 the attention of the public; the compulsory 

 registration of births and deaths and many 

 other questions pertaining to the welfare of 

 the public have been enthusiastically sup- 

 ported by one Medical Society. 



What I have said will convince you that the 

 best individual and collective efforts of our 

 profession as represented by the Medical 

 Society of the District of Columbia have 

 been and are being spent in the service of 

 the community and of our country. 



Perhaps in none of the professions does the 

 student by his mere entry accept such a bur- 

 den of responsibility; and, if achievement is 

 measured by opportunity, in no other pro- 

 fession is he so certain — whatever his accom- 



