MEMORIAL MEETING OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1906, IN HONOR OF THE LATE DR. LOUIS MACKALL.

Dr. Jas. Dudley Morgan, the President, said that this meeting had been called for the purpose of honoring the memory of a distinguished member of the Society, now deceased, Dr. Louis Mackall, and introduced Dr. S. S. Adams, Chairman of the Committee appointed to arrange the program.

Dr. Adams said that on March 28 the Society had adopted a resolution presented by Dr. D. S. Lamb in compliment to Dr. Mackall upon the attainment of his seventy-fifth year of age and the fiftieth year of membership in the Society. A committee, consisting of Drs. G. Wythe Cook, D .S. Lamb and himself, had been appointed at the same time to arrange for some fitting celebration by the Society of these anniversaries. It was found that Dr. Mackall's health was such as to preclude the immediate consum

mation of these plans, and soon thereafter the sad news of his death was announced to the Society. The same Committee which had hoped to arrange to do honor to Dr. Mackall himself was instructed, April 18, to arrange for this meeting to do honor to his

memory.

The President, said: The rupture of the ties by death of one generation from another poignantly sharpens the acuteness of the grief and loss and cruelly separates us from an old friend and counsellor who had become wise through learning and through years.

Dr. Louis Mackall had just celebrated his golden jubilee in the practice of his noble profession when the summons of his Creator came. He was a man of exceptionally kind and gentle manner, well trained and wise in the profession of his choice, a most agreeable and cultured associate, possessing great skill in physical diagnosis. He was ready to work and uphold the dignity of his profession, and in former years we found him often present with us in our debates, being a ready, pleasant and instructive talker. One of the many notable special committees of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia upon which he served and which was composed of Thomas Antisell, Thomas Miller, Louis Mackall and J. M. Toner, issued a report which was published in 1871 by the Society "Upon the claims of irregular practitioners for professional recognition in the medical service of the United States Government. * *

It may be said of him, as of the evangelist, he was a "beloved physician," and his name and reputation will live on to be honored and referred to as a man who led a Christian and noble life and who went about helping and healing the sick-" To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

Dr. A. A. Snyder spoke as follows of Dr. Mackall as Man and Citizen It is indeed fitting that the Medical Society of the District of Columbia should take recognition of the death of Dr. Louis Mackall, late its oldest surviving active member; a more than passing notice of one who has taken a keen and active interest in the doings and welfare of this Society through such a long period of years, seeking always to advance its interests for good, coercing its progress along planes to higher scientific attainments and the improvement of its members professionally, socially, and in friendly affection.

It will take a keener wit than I possess to do justice to the memory of Dr. Louis Mackall, but to recall the many attributes of the quiet, courteous gentleman is a pleasure which many of us present have. Having lived all my life a close neighbor to Dr. Mackall, I have been fortunate to witness the influence this quiet, genial man has had on those about him, and which was extended through the community in which he lived and worked. The love and affection of his home life, with its tinge of romance, was ideal, because no husband could have been more true, more tender, more considerate; no father with his high sense of integrity and his strict regard for uprightness could have held his family about the hearth-stone with a warmer love of the family ties. Though mild and inoffensive in his manner, he inherited from his Scotch ancestors a firm sense of right and a hard sense of justice; though always open to argument and conviction, his strong mind once made up was with difficulty changed. He was never light-minded or frivolous himself, he considered all men to be serious as himself; still, at the same time, a pleasant expression or a happy event brought a smile to his face that gave a glow to those in his pres

ence.

He was not a man of effusive cordiality, and on that account his friendship was the more highly prized by those who possessed it, and any praise spoken in his low, mellow tones was merited, and the receiver felt the reward.

Having descended from a long line of educated persons, his father before him being a man of note in the medical profession, Dr. Mackall was a studious and a remarkably well read man, particularly in the line of his profession, in which he always kept thoroughly abreast of the times, and this, with his remarkable diagnostic faculty, rendering the diagnosis clear and the lesions plain, made him a strong man in his own locality and extended the knowledge of his abilities far beyond the sphere of a more than ordinary practitioner.

For many years he took more than the usual interest in the public institutions of the District of Columbia, especially giving his interest, his abilities and his work to the hospitals-Providence, Columbia, Garfield and Emergency Hospitals-to which he was actively attached, aiding them with his knowledge and advice as well as with his hands and broad experience; and those institutions owe much of their success and advancement to the labors

of love of Dr. Mackall. Probably of more importance than these positions held by him was the fact that he was for a long period a professor in the Medical Department of Georgetown University, occupying the chairs of Professor of Clinical Medicine and also of Physiology. Not only was he an internist of mark but he was also a surgeon of ability—at one time was offered the position of surgeon to Providence Hospital; but for many years past he turned his back to the fascinations of surgery.

His interest in the younger men of the profession was perennial, and no young man ever met Dr. Mackall in consultation but he was cordially entertained, his history carefully listened to, his opinions thoughtfully considered and advice or suggestions freely and sincerely given him. He was never slighted, belittled or damned with faint praise by Dr. Mackall. It is also true that Dr. Mackall could differ in opinion and could object to a line of treatment, but it was done after the manner of a strong man with strong, firm convictions, and, backed by Scotch inheritance, there was no disguising it. When he had an opinion he possessed it!

or

No man ever accused Dr. Mackall of " commercialism,' ever thought that he would descend to such unprofessional business, for, as a gentleman and of the old school of the practice of medicine, he was without such traits.

The Medical Society of the District of Columbia has grown large, and many of its members did not know Dr. Louis Mackall, but I tell them that they have sustained a loss; that a man has gone from their midst; that I mourn for him! *

Dr. George M. Kober addressed the Society as follows upon Dr. Mackall as Teacher and Professor: We have met to pay tribute to one of the oldest, one of the best known and most distinguished members of our Society. I have been present on many occasions of a similar character during the past thirty years, but the death of few members has come to me as such a distinct personal sorrow as the loss of Dr. Louis Mackall, because he was my teacher in all that the word signifies-instructor, counsellor, friend.

Those who knew him personally must have been impressed as I was thirty-three years ago with his earnest, thorough and honest character and work. He taught physiology, and one of the

* It is worthy of especial note that Dr. Mackall formalized the plan of having the regular weekly paper read and the discussion.

first attributes of a successful teacher was his clear, scholarly and concise presentation of the subject, which he had mastered and hence had no difficulty in imparting his knowledge to others. Being engaged in active general practice, he was especially impressed with the importance of applied physiology, and many of his "own paths" remind me of the modern fermentations in the studies of pathologic physiology. He had no difficulty to hold the individual attention of the student body, by pointing out the attractive and fixed principles, and avoiding many of the debatable questions in the subject under discussion. As a result his pupils at the close of the term possessed a remarkable comprehensive knowledge of the fundamentals of physiology, quite free from false theories and half truths which so often perplex and mislead the student's mind.

Dr. Mackall was always kind and courteous, earnest and sympathetic, and inspired his students with the same spirit. It is needless to say that he always commanded respect, and I do not recall a single instance of inattention on the part of any of his listeners.

His charming personality and polished manner, his wonderful memory and well chosen language, uttered by a most attractive and impressive voice, made him an ideal teacher, and could not fail to interest and instruct his students. Nor can I refrain here from declaring that whatever success many of us have attained is due to the precepts and example of Dr. Mackall as a teacher and a man. It was the personality of the man as a friend, guide and counsellor which made a lasting impression upon our youthful and plastic minds. In March, 1873, he delivered the address to the graduating class, and I shall never forget how deeply I was touched by his eloquent and scholarly address, and as it reveals the true character of the man and his conception of the nobility of our calling, I may be pardoned for presenting some of the many striking passages of his masterful oration.

The address contained words of encouragement, words of soberness and seriousness, to impress us with the greatness of the responsibility and obligations, and words of warning lest this rich and honorable inheritance should not be perfected to fruition. He said in part :

The stern voice of duty bids me to tell you that even on this day you must not wholly lay your armor off, that the injunction is as imperative in medicine as in religion, forgetting the things