6 
BD (Oct, 19, 
Pepper. ] 
upon the nature and treatment of disease, to any other 
conceivable plan of existence. I have mentioned these 
details because they illustrate the character of the 
man, and indicate the value of his public services, and 
especially of his influence upon all those who were 
fortunate enough to be brought into close contact with 
him in the discharge of these duties. It is no small 
tribute to the genuineness and disinterestedness of 
a man’s devotion to science that, year after year, 
when overburdened with lucrative professional work, 
he should forego pleasure and much needed rest to 
spend laborious hours in such eager study in hospital 
wards as would stamp with distinction a young and 
enthusiastic investigator. 
I have incidentally alluded to some of Dr. Meigs’ writ- 
ings, but it may at once be stated that, although not a vo- 
luminous author, he possessed admirable literary quali- 
ties and a most attractive style.. The fact that he 
never sought any chair in either of Philadelphia’s great 
medical schools, and that from an early age he was 
absorbed in the cares and fatigues of a large private 
practice, explain why he wrote no more and, why, with 
one notable exception, his writings were not of an 
elaborate character. He suffered also, as the sons of 
greatly distinguished men must do, from being viewed 
as an author in comparison with his gifted father, who 
was one of the most eloquent and facile writers ever 
produced by the medical profession of this country. 
But in fact the writings of Dr. John Forsyth Meigs 
