fallacy, we will find that what was hazarded as a hypothesis, is proved to be a law of phenomena. "To theory, then, in this sense, we owe all true progress in knowledge. If Columbus had not had a geographical theory of dimly conceived western lands, and the great kingdom of Cathay, he would never have set foot on his voyage of discovery." Without theory Harvey would not have unfolded the circulation of the blood. Without a theory, the grand laws of the Universe would not have been revealed to Newton. Without theory Le Verrier's name would not have been blazoned high on the scroll of Fame, to descend through all time as one who faithfully interpreted the immutable and perfect laws of the Universe. Supported by his theory from the stillness and quiet of his study, he foretold the appearance, indicated the exact point, and predicted the precise time that a planet, hitherto undiscovered and unknown, and unseen by mortal eyes, would make its appearance. There are several subjects closely concerning our profession, to which I wish to call your attention, as my own individual opinion has been asked about them by correspondents belonging to this association. In the first place, should not some action be taken by this association with regard to the proper medical supervision and care of the immense number of paupers thrown upon the State by the result of the late war. There is no community in this State that does not contain large numbers of shiftless, improvident blacks, who, when attacked by disease, must be attended to. It seems to be the universal conviction that the people have a right to the gratuitous attentions of the medical fraternity, which attentions often include food, medicine and money. Under ordinary circumstances, and in all communities, there is no doubt that the members of the medical profession are called upon and unreasonably expected to do more for charitable purposes than any other class; but I must enter my protest against the saddling upon the shoulders of our brethren the hundreds of thousands of paupers thrown upon us against our wishes, and I hope that this association will adopt some plan by which the members can be protected from imposition, not only by these people, but by those who aid and abet them in their idleness and improvidence. There is another subject to which my attention has been called by several letters, and that is the subject of the proper and timely remuneration of the physician for his services. I approach this subject with much hesitation, for it is one which, in this country, has never been properly settled. I feel myself free to say that it is now time that some general concert of action should be had, and I hope that this association will take the lead in the matter. When we look around us we find that the system of cash payments exists all over the world. Every article of produce or of manufacture, brings its cash price. Every artisan, professional man, (outside of the medical profession,) laborer, or workman in any capacity, are paid at regular intervals of short duration. Many avocations, as bankers, colleges, editors, receive their pay in advance of services rendered. This is all considered right and proper because it is the custom. The medical profession alone is expected to give its time, labor, and money for an indefinite time, and frequently for nothing. This is also nothing but custom in this country. Henry Taylor says: "The philosophy which teaches us a contempt of money does not run very deep, for indeed it ought to be still more clear to the philosopher than it is to ordinary men that there are few things in this world of greater importance. And so manifold are the bearings of money upon the lives and characters of mankind, that an insight which should search out the life of a man in his pecuniary relations, would penetrate into almost every cranny of his nature. He who knows, like St. Paul, both how to spare and how to abound, has a great knowledge." How often in our hours of study and research are we reminded that we are not free agents in a certain sense. How often is the mind, while winging its flight into the regions of scientific investigations, rudely brought back to the consideration of material requirements? What can we do? I believe that the United States is the only country where physi cians "keep books." In all other countries the physician is paid for each visit that he makes, and he has the consolation, when he goes home at night, to know exactly how much he can afford to dispense the next day. There is no doubt that this plan could be made to succeed everywhere, and it is now being generally adopted in the northern cities and States, and is found to succeed very well. advantages of this plan to the physician and to the patient are so obvious that I will not dwell upon it. In reply to the several communications which I have received on this subject, I can only call the attention of the association to it, and leave it to their wisdom to take action upon it if they see proper to do so. The There is one more point to which I have been requested to allude in my address to this association, and that is a plan for life insurance for medical men. I must confess that this is a subject which has occupied my most earnest consideration, and my deepest thought. For thirty years I have been engaged in the practice of my profession in this city, and I have carefully compared, during this time, the relative chances of medical men with others in the great battle of life. Starting out in life we find ourselves full of ambition, expectation, hope and rivalry with the friends and candidates for fame and fortune of our own age. In the exuberance of youth and health, like all persons of our age and strength and ambition in commencing life, we think that we will soon outstrip all competition in our ranks. Years pass by, long, weary, laborious, ill requited years. The friends of our youth, pursuing other avocations requiring less labor, have left us far behind in the race. Governed by the laws and customs of our profession as practiced in this country, the medical man is rarely able to retire from active life, even when old age and infirmities overtake him. But often he falls in the plenitude of his strength, a victim of his devotion to his profession, and leaves to his family a heritage of woe and want. Cannot some plan be adopted by which the families of medical men can be provided for? Do we not owe it to our brethren to make the attempt? I take it for granted that the State owes a great deal to its Physicians. Why have we assembled here now? Why do our medical societies meet weekly and monthly? It is for the public good. All that contributes to the public good inures to the benefit of the State. The State has never sufficiently appreciated nor recognized the benefits conferred upon her by the medical profession. Why should we be expected to bestow a very large portion of our time in charity to the State, to be thanked by a direct tax for this privilege. I think that this professional tax should be turned over by the government to this association for the purpose, year by year, of insuring the lives of those in the profession who wish to avail themselves of the opportunity. ANNUAL ORATION. BY WM. H. ANDERSON, M. D., OF MOBILE. Gentlemen of the Association: It is just twenty years since I had the honor to fill this position. Then I was full of ardor and enthusiasm, being buoyed up on the one hand with youth and health, and flushed on the other with the hope of success, and the desire to attain a respectable position among the active practitioners of our State. During this long period which is more than half of my professional life, I have witnessed with satisfaction the gradual advancement of our calling. I have seen the streams of science fed by a thousand different sources, steadily flowing on to empty themselves into the great ocean of knowlege; and yet this vast receptacle has never been filled; ever deepening and widening as we add to its accumulated waters, it is still calling loudly for additional supplies, not disdaining to add to its store from the very humblest sources of human investigation. Wealth, power and fame, raise their proud heads to do homage only to the lofty and the great, but knowledge bows humbly to the lowliest source, and delights to place the peasant on a throne before which the prince feels proud to worship. During these twenty years, my professional brothers, what strides have been made in our profession! How its literature, its art, and its science have been improved! How many dark places have been lighted up! How many doubts have been cleared away! The master minds of Europe and America have been keenly on the alert and have appropriated for the benefit of suffering humanity, many of the precious truths that have been discovered in all the kindred sciences. Mechanical philosophy discovers some new application of force, and we seize it with avidity to turn it to practical account in medicine. Chemistry breaks up hitherto unresolved compounds, and we snatch a fragment here and there to utilize it for our purposes. Geology opens a new field for research, and the physician is there to appropriate his share of it for professional uses. merce with commendable energy pushes itself into new and unknown countries, and we follow in its wake to gather up something even from a barbarous people that will be conducive to the public health. Even war, with all its attendant horrors, furnishes to the physician new experience which he can apply towards the perfection of his art Com As this address is to be delivered before a mixed audience, and as we are honored by a large attendance of non-professional persons, allow me for a moment to leave the paths that are strictly medical, and to travel in the regions of general science, especially in those paths which lead to a proper understanding of the science of life itself. That physician's mind is narrow indeed, who confines his powers strictly to the treatment of disease. It is the business of our profession to prevent disease; to investigate deeply all those phenomena of the natural and moral world that cause disease; and medicine will never have accomplished its true mission until it teaches mankind how to live, so that the largest share of physical health may be enjoyed, until the final summons comes, in obedience to which we pass through the valley of death to another state of existence. The Science of life then is an important part of our studies, and some of the ablest minds of the present age have been closely investigating it. Foremost among these philosophers is the learned Darwin, probably the profoundest thinker and the most acute observer of the present age. Within the past few years this great man has awakened all of intellectual Europe, by the publication of his researches into the laws that govern life. His theory of progressive development, traced through the whole kingdom of living nature, startled the philosophers of every country, and although his conclusions may be wrong, his deductions may be false, yet still he opens to our eyes a world of knowledge, hitherto so hidden and obscure that it was of no practical value. It will bear its fruit. The more we know of nature the better we can subject her to our control. We believe that man with all his imperfections is still the master-piece of creation. Not only age by age, but year by year is he grappling with the material world around him, and ameliorating his condition by placing matter subject to his will. Even the mystery that overhangs invisible and so-called immaterial forces, is being yearly cleared away, and those things, the bare contemplation of which appalled our ancestors, are now the humble instruments of our power. It was not by accident that our own immortal Franklin brought the lightning from its airy seat in the heavens, to be a plaything that he could, in a great measure, make subservient to his will. It was sound, philosophic thought; it was that immortal principle within us which is part and parcel of the Godhead himself. It was mind working out the secrets of nature and unfolding them to the public gaze-not to make man proud and imperious because he could unveil the hidden mystery, but to make him lowly and humble, and to raise his heart in adoration that such great power should be given to one so perishable and so insignificant. The application then of the mind is the talisman of the modern scholar, and a host of observers are using this talisman for the social and intellectual development of our race. One philosopher, like Darwin, takes in the whole range of animal and vegetable crea |