Historical address : delivered before the Medical Society of the County of Albany in the state of New-York, November 11, 1856, being its semi-centennial anniversary meeting / by Sylvester D. Willard.

  • Willard, Sylvester David, 1825-1865
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Historical address : delivered before the Medical Society of the County of Albany in the state of New-York, November 11, 1856, being its semi-centennial anniversary meeting / by Sylvester D. Willard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    was sought throughout an extensive district.—But he found a country practice exceedingly laborious. He was accordingly in- duced to remove to Albany, which he did in 1810, and almost immediately formed a business relation with Dr. William Mc- Clelland ; this, however, was terminated in a few months by the death of the latter. Here in his native city, he soon became a leading practitioner, and so continued until advancing years led him to retire from the more active duties of his profession. Dr. Bay is known as a skilful accoucheur, and his has been a large and valuable experience, and in difficult cases his counsel has frequently been solicited by his medical brethren, and always held in high esteem. In point of professional seniority Dr. Bay ranked next to Dr. Eights, but since the death of the latter he has been by many years the oldest practitioner in this community. There are those present whose memory will revert with plea- sure to the Jubilee Dinner given by the medical profession to our venerable father, on the accomplishment of the first half century of his professional career. But this was nearly ten years ago, and, gentlemen, it is nearly sixty-one years since he was acting as Health Officer at the port of New-York. Who that sees him moving about the city with so much vigor and elasticity, would suppose this 1 [To Dr. Bay]—Patriarch in Medicine : We rejoice that you too have been spared to meet with us on this anniversary—not as an original member of our society indeed—but as one whose pro- fessional experience extends years beyond the period of its organ- ization. Yours, sir, has been an enviable career. You have achieved sufficient of fame, and now surrounded by a generation in your profession who delight to do you honor, may the evening of your life draw on, gently as lades the light of day. Intimately associated with those whom I have already men- tioned, and who for a period of years occupied a high rank in the profession here, and sustained honorable relations towards this society, were Drs. John Stearns and Piatt Williams. Dr. Stearns was State Senator from the district of Saratoga, and at the close of his Senatorial office he removed to Albany and united with this society, at the same time with Dr. Bay, Oct. 14, 1810. A favorable reputation had already preceded him here. He had acquired considerable celebrity in the profession by being the first to draw its attention to the wonderful efficacy of ergot, in promot- ing the contractile power of the uterus, and thus facilitating lin- o-erin- labor. His communication on this subject was published
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