The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-20
Monument to be Erected in Birmingham by Doctors
HAS VERY FEW PRECEDENTS
Resolution Passed By Southern surgi- cal and Genealogical Association Was Introduced By pr.
 Douglass of Nashville.
BY ANNIE kENDRIcK WALKER.

"HE resolutions passed by the South
 ern Surgical and Genealogical
 Association to erect monument in this city to the late Dr. w. D. B. Davis, founder of the association, have no par allel in the history of any society In this country. The action of the association in honoring the dead surgeon is most un- usual, and without precedent in another way, for it is rare that such recognition is accorded a man whose career was as brief as was that of this great teacher and thinker These two reasons alone are sufficient to make the Davis memorial sig nificant in historical annals. That it will commemorate the work of one of the most eminent men of this century, will give 1t a significance in the worlds events.
 It is most fitting that memorial should be erected in the city which is the birth place of the association, and where the great surgeon lived and died and where he was personally known and beloved by thousands. The announcement that the memorial will be completed by the next meeting of the Southern Surgical and Genealogical Association and will be unveiled at that time, has been received with wide interest. People in every walk of life have expressed their gratihcation at the action of the association. Hun dreds, without realizing how well the work of Dr. Davis will be preserved In the annals of the organization which he founded will feel that the memorial is to one who made complete the history or surgery, while a still larger class who know of this remarkable organization VIII realize that the memorial is recognition of his work by the medical profession Of the south.
 Resolution by pr. Douglass.
 The resolutions were presented imme- diately at the close of the memorial ad- dress by Dr. Richard Douglass of Nash vile. Dr. Douglass is himself one of the foremost men in the medical profession. He was formerly professor of gynecology and abdominal surgery in the medical de- partnent at Vanderbilt university; ex- president of the Southern Surgical and Genealogical Association; Fellow of American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and a member of the British Genealogical Association. As a contributor to surgical literature, ne ranks with the leading men of the day His recent work on Surgical Diseases of
 
 text book in the Columbian University.
 Dr. Douglass was, therefore, peculiarly fitted to speak of the life work of So great a surgeon as Dr. Davis His me- morial address. which is printed in full below, paints with truth that great life to whom the world is indebted for one Of the greatest discoveries in the annals Of surgery.
 To Dr. Davis is due the recent advance in gall bladder surgery. His treatment of the liver by drainage is endorsed by the most eminent men in America, and in Europe, and his name will be as closely associated with this operation as vaccin- ation is with that of Edward Jenner. pr. Davis gall bladder surgery, alone. will make him immortal. As early as 1892, he read a paper before the surgical sec- tion of the American Medical Association on peritonitis from gall stones, In which he reported some experiments on dogs where he had tested the value of gauge in draining the bile after wounds Of the gall bladder and ducts. He concluded that if an animal could get well, by pack ing with gauge. without any stitches, that it would be safe to depend upon the gauge and a glass drainage-tube in opening the common duct and removing the obstruc- ton in the human subject
 SllOuIC iNot hSSoik " O1sS'''S'
 He took the position that suturing should not be resorted to In such cases from the fact that the patient requiring such an operation was nearly always in very serious condition from cholemia, and that time was an important factor In such cases; that an incsion should be made in the duct, the obstruction removed, glass orainage-tub introduced down to the in- cision and gauge packed around it.
 The crushing of stones through the duet with foreeps, as recommended by Law son Tait was pronounced risky proced- ure. as injury to the duct might be pro- duced and sloughing afterward result, being followed by extravasation of bile into the abdominal cavity. The method of puncturing with needles was also con- demned. The plan of dislodging the stone either into the intestine or back into the gall bladder was advised, if it could be accomplished.
 The history of the Southern Surgical and Genealogical Association is indelli- bly, linked with the name of Dr. Davis. He was one of the organizers of the Ala bama Surgical and Genealogical Associa- ton, from which he developed the South ern organization. In 1886, Dr. Davis and