Influence on American Physiology. 



35 



new truths, and the practitioners who must learn to apply these 

 truths to the preservation of health and the protection from disease. 

 No one in our generation, I venture to say, was more useful in 

 this country in bringing about a helpful and sympathetic under- 

 standing between the laboratory worker and the physician. As a 

 physiologist he enjoyed the best opportunities and training of 

 his period. He was equipped with the methods and technique 

 that the subject owes to the great masters of the latter half of the 

 nineteenth century. The more modern methods of physics and 

 chemistry which seem to be essential for the new generation of 

 physiological workers he did not possess, but he did not let this 

 deficiency discourage him nor diminish in any way his activity in 

 research. He had the wisdom to understand that the armamen- 

 tarium with which he was provided was adequate for the accom- 

 plishment of much important and necessary investigation. He 

 was no faint-hearted seeker after truth. There never was a time, 

 I fancy, in his active life when his mind was not full of problems 

 that he wished to solve and which he intended to solve in part at 

 least with the aid of his experimental methods. 



Dr. Meltzer was elected to membership in the American 

 Physiological Society at its first annual meeting held in Phila- 

 delphia in December, 1888. From that time until his death he 

 was perhaps its most faithful member in attendance, in the pre- 

 sentation of papers and in participation in the discussions and 

 social intercourse. Other less heroic spirits might weary under the 

 load of papers and seek respite and fresh air by frequent dis- 

 appearances between acts, but this was never the case with Melt- 

 zer. He loved the meetings, he loved to listen to the papers and to 

 take part in the discussions. He had something to say of value on 

 almost every paper that was read. It is small wonder therefore 

 that his position and influence in the society constantly increased 

 in importance. He served as president from 191 1 to 1913, but 

 the older members know that before that time and since his advice 

 was paramount in matters of policy as well as in the selection of 

 officers. He was sincerely and deeply interested in the welfare of 

 the society and believed in its importance as one of the major 

 agencies concerned in the advancement of the cause of physiological 

 research. What he had to say in regard to its policies was always 



