January 17, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



75 



trated by specimens. Dr. F. J. Brockway, 

 New York City. 



11. ' Note on the Appearance of a Unilat- 

 eral Tuberosity in Place of the Trochanteric 

 Fossa.' Illustrated by specimen. Dr. D. 

 S. Lamb, Washington, D. C. 



12. * A Case of Polyorchis.' Illustrated 

 by specimen. Dr. D. S. Lamb. 



13. ' The Cerebrum of Phoca Vitulina.' 

 Illustrated by specimen. Dr. P. A. Fish, 

 Washington, D. C. 



The members of the Association were 

 entertained by Dr. Horace Jayne, of Phila- 

 delphia, who gave a reception on the night 

 of the 26th; were lunched on the 27th and 

 28th by the University authorities, and on 

 the 28th by Mr. W. B. Saunders at the Art 

 Club. 



The courtesies of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society were also extended. On 

 the evening of the 26th they also listened 

 to a lecture by Prof. W. B. Scott, of Prince- 

 ton, N. J., on the 'History of the Lacu- 

 strine Formations of North America and 

 their Mammalian Fossils.' 



A banquet by members of the affiliated 

 societies was given on the evening of the 

 27th at the Hotel Lafayette and was well 

 attended. D. S. Lamb, 



Secretary. 



OUR CONTEIBUTION TO CIVILIZATION AND TO 



SCIENCE — PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BY 



DR. THOMAS DWIGHT, HARVARD 



MEDICAL SCHOOL. 



It had not been my intention to inflict 

 upon the Association a Presidential address; 

 but at a late moment, impressed with the 

 gravity of the matters that are to come be- 

 fore us, far transcending as one of them 

 does, the importance of purely scientific dis- 

 cussion, I felt it a duty I owe to the posi- 

 tion I have the honor to hold, to introduce 

 them to the Association with the best sug- 

 gestions concerning them I can offer. It is 

 not too much to call them our contribution 



to civilization and to science. Easily first 

 in importance is the report of the committee 

 on procuring and using anatomical material. 

 Though both branches of the question are 

 of interest to anatomists, the first rises be- 

 yond the sphere of the specialist. It is a 

 social question of the first importance. I 

 shall not anticipate the report of the com- 

 mittee, of which I am a member. I wish 

 merely to lay down briefly certain principles 

 which, I conceive, should guide us. We 

 know only too well that dissection is an 

 abomination to the popular mind. The 

 aversion to it is well nigh universal, con- 

 fined to no class of society, nor to any creed. 

 This horror seems to be founded chiefly on 

 two points, one the deprivation of sepulchre, 

 the other the idea that the remains are sub- 

 mitted to wanton insult. The idea that re- 

 spect is due to the dead body is so deeply 

 rooted in the human mind as to be almost 

 instinctive. I am far from calling these 

 feelings superstitious. We know, indeed, 

 that no violence can harm the dead, but, 

 though reason is convinced, the heart is not 

 satisfied. We anatomists, no less than 

 others, shudder at the thought of the dese- 

 cration of the remains of those who have 

 been near and dear to us. The mad wrath 

 caused by the feeling that graves are not 

 safe is a well justified one. It is a disgrace 

 to our civilization that in some parts of the 

 Union body-snatching is still practised, and 

 that in others there exists an illicit trade 

 in human bodies. Should any of my col- 

 leagues think me indiscreet in alluding to 

 these matters, I must remind them that I 

 am saying nothing which has not been made 

 notorious through the public press. 



It is idle to hope, while human nature 

 remains what it is, that aversion to dissec- 

 tion will ever disappear. Our wisest course 

 is to recognize it, and to soften it by re- 

 moving all just cause of complaint. It 

 should be made clear to the public that dis- 

 section can and should be followed by 



