The place of Dr. Meltzer in American medicine. 



By WILLIAM H. WELCH. 



It seems as though every side of Dr. Meltzer's life and work 

 has been already touched upon. There is little I can add. At the 

 same time I should regret very much not to have had the oppor- 

 tunity of coming here tonight and paying my tribute to the memory 

 of one whom I have held dear ever since the beginning of our ac- 

 quaintance, which dates from Dr. Meltzer's arrival in this country 

 in 1883. The bond that brought us together was one already re- 

 fered to; we were both pupils of Kronecker, I at an earlier time than 

 Meltzer, when Kronecker was assistant to Ludwig in Leipzig. I 

 had the good fortune of coming under the influence of Kronecker 

 and enjoying a friendship which continued until his death. Every- 

 one who had the opportunity of working with him, loved him. 

 He took a special and permanent interest in all of his pupils. 



When Meltzer came, or even before he came, I received a 

 letter from Kronecker informing me that Meltzer was contemplat- 

 ing coming to this country, and inquiring whether it would be 

 possible for him to secure some academic position. If Dr. Meltzer 

 desired to secure an academic position when he came here, he 

 was soon disillusioned when he saw what the conditions at that 

 time really were. 



Occasionally Meltzer would pour out his heart, and I have 

 had a letter from him within the year, a very intimate one, giving 

 the circumstances of his drawing out from his early environment. 

 He describes in a very graphic way the small city in Russia where 

 he lived with his family circle, a circle of very orthodox Jews 

 with a remarkable love of learning but at the same time a very 

 restricted horizon. There is no little pathos, and some romance 

 which I hardly feel free to tell here, of the circumstances which 

 led him, under the particular influence of one individual, to leave 

 his home and go to Koenigsberg there to enter into another life, 

 another spirit, another world of thought. 



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