Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-06-20
OUR DOCTORS.

The AiinHaI Contention of the state Medi-
cal AssOciGtiOI-The Spring ScssiOn-Dr.
McNnPdy DeIireys the ADDRESS of UeL-
come.
Yesterday morning the fifteenth annual
session of the State Medical society open
ed in Market hall with $50 delegates in
attendance. A noticeable feature
was the number of ladies among the dele
gates.
President D. H. Willard, of Saltwater,
called the meeting to order, and the Rev.
W. W. Satterlee conducted devotional ex-
ercises. This was followed by the roll
call.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
DR. McMurdy, of Minneapolis, delivered
the following address of welcome:
Gentlemen and Ladies! Members of the
Minnesota State Medical Society:
To me has been assigned the pleasant
duty in behalf of the medical profession
of Minneapolis of extending to you most
hearty and cordial welcome, and although
l have misimproved my oppor tunities,
and have not done what ought for the ad
vancement of medical science and art, if
in my brief address of welcome, can say
something that will excite an effort in 9TH
ers more favorably situated or more for
tunately endowed. 1 shall feel that this
opportunity may not be without result,
and l assure you it is a personal pleasure
for [ have always felt the importance, per-
haps necessity of more general and &C
tive concert of the members of the medical
profession, to accomplish the great pur-
poses of eliciting truth, preserving princi-
pies, and benefting mankind. We cannot
develop our physical mental or moral ca
liabilities alone. Neither can the great
purposes of life for which we are intended,
be accomplished, or the
COMFORT OR HAPPINESS.
which we are constituted to enjoy be real,
lied, without the cooperation and COM
partnership of others. The natural char
acteristics of man, being as various as
their faces, the comparison of diverse
minds results in their modification and i'm
proyement. And as no two persons are
placed in exactly the same position, or
surrounded by the same circumstances for
mental observation and discipline, inter
changing of experiences and acquisi-
tions enlarges the capacity and ehriches
the understanding of all. So generally
has the advantage, and even necessity of
the association for the advancement of
useful knowledge been recognized that
learned societies, consisting of intellect
ual men voluntarily united for this pur
pose, have been formed, and continued for
many years, under names Indicative of
the particular branch of learning they
han -
associations have not for their object only
the acquiring of knowledge, but the more
useful one of communicating tin an
nouncing discoveries, deducing general
laws from numerous facts, correcting
false theories, and rendering it accessible,
useful, and pleasing. All have been, to a
great or less degree useful to mankind in
general, by
ENHANCING THE BOUNDARIES
of learning, increasing the conveniences of
human life, and teaching US how to make
acqulsitio ns-but especially have, they
been of advantage to the various profess
sions for whose benefit they were organ
lied, and by which they have been sustain
ed. If such men as Abernethy, Brodie,
Bateman, Sir Ashley Cooper, Give, Law
renee and many others OF similar ability
and standing, OriginatorS and supporters
Of the London Medical and Chirurgical
society, thought association necessary for
mutual improvement and the advance
ment of medical science-the medical men
of this time might properly distrust their
judgment, were they to doubt the utility
of medical societies. But there are spe-
cial reasons why the medical profession
shnn1H a1,iO N fri hapaH4 of ia
talent, and feel the influence of a liberal
and earnest consideration of the various
topics which must claim the attention of
the physician.
The time in which we live demands an
enlightened and catholic spirit pervading
the whole body, so that improvement in
the science shall correspond with the
progress of our race in all that is great
and worthy of the age. And here, perhaps,
is one of the advantages-by no means the
least-which will attend the associating of
the members of the PROFESSIONALISM it will
elevate and enlarge the estimate of the
work in which we are engaged--and make
it appear, as it truly is, worthy of the time
and the energy of the most highly gifted
minds. Properly considered, no pursuit
has more direct powerful tendency to
call forth the mental powers and task them
to the utmost of their capacities. Com
prising, as the knowledge and practice of
medicine does,
BOTH SCIENCE AND ART,
it is highly important that there be union
and concentration of the various talents
within the precincts of the profession. This
can be done in no other way SO we'll as by
the combination of those who may be led
by their different tastes or habits or indi-
cations of duty to pursue one or another of
these branches with more zeal and earnest
ness. One man may have his mind direct
ed to a particular subject, to which his
peculiar mensal constitution is especially
adapted, and after having dwelt upon it
with assiduity for years-accumulated facts
and made generalization-he can in one
hour communicate the result of all this
labor to the assembled members of So
ciety, saving time and labor for each mem
Der equal to that which it has cost himself.
Thus are brought into the common stsck
the gatherings of each, and not only is the
sum total made larger, but a common in
terest is impaired; and truer sympathy
is awakened among all who arrive at the
same grand result. The effect, too, upon
personal character, of a we'll regulated.
we'll attended medical association l. not tn