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National Eclectic Medical Association.

PART I.

TENTH MEETING.

THE NATIONAL ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA met in annual session, pursuant to adjournment, at Halle's Hall, in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 19th, 1879, at ten o'clock in the morning. The meeting was called to order by the President, John King, M. D., of Ohio, and prayer was offered by the Rev. T. M. House of Christ's Methodist Episcopal Church.

MAYOR'S WELCOME.

The Mayor of Cleveland, Hon. R. R. Herrick, advanced to the front of the platform, and addressed the Association :

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Cleveland is especially honored today by the presence of distinguished guests. Other conventions, composed, like your own, of distinguished members of different professions from all parts of the country, are now in session. We take it as a great compliment that our city is chosen as the place for holding these convocations, and trust we may be able to make the sojourn of our visiting friends so pleasant that they shall have no occasion to regret the choice they have made.

We pride ourselves upon the special adaptability of our city to occasions of this kind, and we are pleased to welcome our friends from abroad to a participation in its hospitalities and the enjoyment of the many attractions which it affords at this season of the year. We are pleased also to contribute, even in so slight a degree, to the advancement of the science and art of

healing disease. There can be no higher or nobler calling than that of the profession of medicine. To administer to the physical afflictions of mankind, to relieve their sufferings, to enter the list against Death, and reclaim from him those whom he has chosen for his own, is certainly a work which yields to no other in dignity and importance; nor is the knowledge required in the successful performance of that work less minute or profound than that required in any other of the learned professions. On the contrary, the necessity for a deeper and more intimate knowledge of all matters coming within the scope of its applications is greater by far than in any other, and the absence of it is fraught with more serious consequences. It has been correctly said that, "Of all studies that of the treatment of diseases ought to be the most accurate. With human life at stake, it saddens the heart to think that chance should rule, where law ought to reign."

In the legal profession ignorance of the law on the part of the attorney is followed at its worst by loss of client's property only, but ignorance on the part of the physician of the character and functions of the organs of the body or the nature and tendencies of the disease with which a patient is afflicted may be attended by loss of life.

The earliest history of medicine, we are told, is involved in the darkness of antiquity; that from the days of the fabled Cheiron and Esculapius down to within the last hundred years the growth and development of the medical science was slow, but that in the present century it has made greater advances than in any similar period. The particular school of medicine which you represent is, I believe, an outgrowth of the advancement of the present century. One of your distinctive doctrines is, as I understand, the selection of whatever may be thought the best practice of other schools. This seems to be in accord with the liberal and progressive spirit of the age, whose tendency is to break over the old, established rules and laws, which have nothing but age and general acceptance to commend them, and assertion of new ones based upon fact developed by more recent and scientific research. The propriety of holding stated meetings for the mutual interchange of thoughts and ideas upon medical subjects, and communication of results of private in

vestigation is manifest. The facts pertaining to the profession become thereby more generally determined, better known and diffused. The practice is systematized and developed, the science itself advanced, and the public sooner receives the benefit therefrom.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our city. Permit me, in concluding, to express the hope that your deliberations may be productive of much good to your profession, and that your sojourn among us may prove a season of enjoyment and profit to you all.

President King replied: "I cannot express to your Honor, at this moment, with sufficient warinth and emphasis, the glowing emotions which your words have inspired. A welcome so cordial and honorable deserves a fitting response, an acknowledgment equally cordial and reciprocal; and I hope that during our brief sojurn in your beautiful city, the ornament of this commonwealth, we, the members of this Association, shall evince our appreciation of the generous sentiments which you have uttered."

Then, turning to the Association, the President saluted its members, and welcomed them to their field of duty. Having done this, he proceeded to deliver his address, recapitulating the progress of medicine, the newer views of Eclectics, the importance of broader and more thorough study, the great call for Eclectic practitioners over the entire country, the treacherous endeavors of the Old School to entrap them by legislation artfully procured for that purpose, the fraternal obligation due between Reformed physicians, and the vital necessity of organization everywhere. (See Schedule A.)

PRELIMINARY BUSINESS.

The Secretary called the roll of officers. Present: John King, M. D., President; John W. Kermott, M. D., Vice-President; Alexander Wilder, Secretary; James Anton, M. D., Treasurer. Absent: J. H. Bundy, M. D., Anson L. Clark, M. D., VicePresidents.

Fifty-two permanent members were ascertained on count to be in attendance,

The minutes of the Annual Meeting, held at Detroit, June, 1878, were read by the Secretary.

Dr. Robert S. Newton, of New York, called attention to the fact that the report contained no mention of the presence of delegates to the Association, last year, from the Eclectic Medical College of the city of New York.

The Secretary explained that he had not seen the credentials of such delegates. The course had been pursued at the last annual meeting of presenting all matters relating to credentials and other matters germane, at once to the Committee on Credentials. In this way there was no official knowledge of the matter, and opportunity was afforded for several irregularities. The omission in question was not intentional.

The journal of 1878 was then approved by the Association. On motion of Dr. A. J. Howe, of Ohio:

Resolved, that a Committee on Credentials, five in number, be appointed, to which shall be referred the cases and credentials of delegates and candidates for permanent membership, and such other business as may be ordered by this Association.

The President appointed the following persons as the committee, namely: Doctors E. Younkin, of Missouri; J. T. McLaughlin, of Ohio; Milbrey Green, of Massachusetts; John M. Mulholand, of Pennsylvania, and John C. Durgan, of New York.

The Secretary called the roll of auxiliary societies and medical colleges. The following responded with certificates and credentials of delegates, and candidates for permanent membership, namely:

THE ECLECTIC MEDICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, the Albany County (N. Y.) E. M. Society, the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Academy of Medicine, the Central (N. Y.) E. M. Society, the Genesee District (N. Y.) E. M. Society, the Eclectic Medical Society of New York City, the Eclectic Medical College of the City of New York, the West-Side (N. Y.) Medical Society, the ECLECTIC MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN, the PENNSYLVANIA ECLECTIC MEDCAL ASSOCIATION, the Central Eclectic Medical Society of Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna (Penn.) Eclectic Medical Society, the OHIO STATE ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the Mahoning Valley

(Ohio) Eclectic Medical Society, the E. M. Association of North eastern Ohio, the CONNECTICUT ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the MASSACHUSETTS ECLECTIC MEDICAL SOCIETY, the Boston Eclectic Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, the INDIANA ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the ILLINOIS STATE ECLECTIC MEDICAL SOCIETY, the WISCONSIN STATE ECLECTIC MEDICAL SOCIETY, the MISSOURI ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the St. Louis Eclectic Medical College, the ECLECTIC MEDICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI, the American Medical College, the Eclectic Medical Association of Kansas.

A memorial of members of the Eclectic Medical Society of Missouri, asking recognition and representation from the Association, was presented and referred. Also, a communication from the Indiana Eclectic Medical Association. (See Schedule B.)

TREASURER'S REPORT. (SCHEDULE C.)

Dr. James Anton, Treasurer, presented his annual report, and asked its reference to the Auditing Committee. Dr. Geddes being absent, Dr. J. M. Scudder was appointed. The committee reported as follows:

Your Committee on Finance have examined the accounts of the Treasurer, and find them correct.

The report was approved.

(Signed)

B. J. STOW,
JOHN M. SCUDDER.

COMMITTEE ON DRUGS.

Dr. Albert Merrell, Chairman of the Committee on Drugs and Pharmaceutical Preparations, appointed during the recess, presented the following report:

To the President and Members of the National E. M. Association. GENTLEMEN: At the annual meeting of your body, Detroit, June 20th, 1878, the following resolution was adopted:

Resolved, "That a committee of five be appointed to investigate and report to the Association the names of manufacturers vending genuine and those who make and sell spurious or adulterated medicines."

REPORT.

The undersigned, your committee appointed under this resolution, after careful consideration of the subject, have concluded that a report in accordance with the literal requirements of the

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