394 
WILLIAM WHITNEY GODDING. 
should fall to the lot of the superintendent of a hospital for 
the insane. It would seem better that such a man should 
be able to devote himself exclusively to the care of his 
patients, to the study of the varying phases of insanity, and 
to the perusal of the writings of his confreres in such pur¬ 
suits. Instead of these lofty occupations, he is in fact obliged 
to serve, in military phrase, as quartermaster and commis¬ 
sary for a small army of patients, attendants, and skilled and 
unskilled laborers. He must understand the running of the 
powerful engines required to supply the water and to keep 
the great fans moving which pump fresh air into the hospital. 
If new buildings are to be erected and old buildings repaired 
and altered, the superintendent must oversee the work as it 
is done. It can be imagined that with such constantly re¬ 
curring claims for his attention there can be but little time 
available for his intellectual work. The attempt to separate 
these purely administrative duties from those of the physician 
in charge has been tried, but, it must be admitted, with no 
satisfying result. The functions of the administrative official 
have been found to clash with those of the scientific superin¬ 
tendent. The latter is undoubtedly the best, indeed the only, 
judge as to what is needed for his patients. In spite of theory, 
therefore, our great hospitals for the insane are still managed 
on the old plan. It is true that in most cases the man who 
has reached the high position of superintendent is one whose 
force of character and long experience has fitted him for his 
arduous task. Dr. Godding was one of these, and notwith¬ 
standing the heavy drafts upon his time from his adminis¬ 
trative duties, he found leisure for professional studies and 
for the lighter elegancies of English literature, of which he 
was a diligent student. He had a warm love of poetry, and 
indeed had a happy faculty of composing graceful verses. 
Of the many societies which elected Dr. Godding to member¬ 
ship, I think perhaps he enjoyed the meetings of the Literary 
Society of Washington more than any others. It was a relief 
and a happiness to throw off the cares of his great office and 
listen to essays on pure literature. He took a ready part in 
