On the Educational Value of the Medical Society

Little of all we value here Wakes on the morn ot its hundredth year."All the more reason to honor such occasions as the present in tin appropriate manner.The tribute of words that I gladly bring -and that you may take as expressing the sentiments of your brethren at large -necessarily begins with congratulations that your society has passed into the select group of those that have reached a century of existence.Hut congratulations must be mingled with praise of the band of noble men who, in 1808, made this gathering possible.It is true they did but follow the lead of their colleagues of Litchfield County and their own example when, in 1784, the physicians of this county organized what is now one of the oldest medical societies in the land.'In the intro- duction to the volume of "Transactions of this Society," published in 1788, the following brief statements are made as to the objects of the organization, which may be transposed from the parent to thp child, and which I quote in illustration of the character of the men and as giving in brief the chief uses of a medical society: "This society was formed on the most liberul and generous principles, and was designed first to lay a foundation for that unanimity and friendship which is essential to the dignity and usefulness of the profession ; to accomplish which, they resolved, secondly, to meet once in three months; thirdly, that in all cases where counsel is requisite they will assist each other without reserve; fourthly, that all reputable under such circumstances, the diagnosis of aneu- 1Remarks made on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the New Haven Medical Association, New Haven, Jan. 6, 1903.