Page:Harveian Oration for MDCCCXXXVIII; being a tribute of respect for the memory of the late James Hamilton, Sen. M.D (IA b30377353).pdf/3



has now existed nearly sixty years, and it is scarcely necessary to remind the Members that it was originally formed by twenty-three physicians and surgeons of this city,—not merely for the purpose of cultivating social intercourse and rational hilarity, hut also for the higher object of animating and guiding the efforts of those who are entering on the adventurous field of a professional life, by conferring honorary distinctions on such as have given proof of superior accuracy of observation and ingenuity of research,—and by recording the services of the eminent men, who have laid posterity under obligations, by the advancement of medical science, or the improvement of medical practice. The illustrious man, from whom our association derives its name, is peculiarly entitled to the