Obituary of John Forsyth Meigs / by William Pepper.

Date:
[1883]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Obituary of John Forsyth Meigs / by William Pepper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    treated his junior colleagues, that in publishing these results he insisted upon the names of his collaborators, who were then the resident physicians serving under him in the hospital, being associated in the authorship. How many times have I heard him, when about to leave the hospital, after several hours enthusiastic work in the wards, in the microscope room, or in the pathological laboratory, exclaim that if it was only possible he would prefer infinitely to spend his life in a hospital, devoting himself to original researches upon the nature and treatment of disease, to any other conceivable plan of existence. I have mentioned these details because they illustrate the character of the man, and indicate the value of his public services, and especially of his influence upon all those who were fortunate enough to be brought into close contact with him in the discharge of these duties. It is no small tribute to the genuineness and disinterestedness of a man’s devotion to science that, year after year, when overburdened with lucrative professional work, he should forego pleasure and much needed rest to spend laborious hours in such eager study in hospital wards as would stamp with distinction a young and enthusiastic investigator. I have incidentally alluded to some of Dr. Meigs’ writ- ings, but it may at once be stated that, although not a vo- luminous author, he possessed admirable literary quali- ties and a most attractive style. The fact that he never sought any chair in either of Philadelphia’s great