Page:Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ser 03 vol 05).djvu/41

Rh part, of the narration of apposite and important cases, and of the practical lessons to be drawn from them.

Dr. Wood, on the contrary, was tall, slender, and stately, with features regular and well-defined; dressed like other people, and with faultless propriety; was precise and accurate in his address and elocution; sedate in disposition, and, though always courteous and polite, rather formal and distant, in his deportment. He was quite as much devoted to his vocation as Dr. Parrish, but his devotion, with equal earnestness, had a more calm and reserved expression. His mind, naturally logical, had been severely disciplined, and was therefore methodical and consecutive in its operation. His lectures—minute, comprehensive, and well digested— exhausted the subjects of which they treated. In their completeness and adaptation to the wants of the students, they were fully equal to those which he subsequently delivered at the University. It was here that the young eagle tried his pinions, and prepared himself for the longer and more adventurous flights which he afterwards so successfully essayed. It was one of his characteristics to do thoroughly whatever he undertook. He always made himself perfectly master of his subject, and was very exact in imparting what he knew to others. It sometimes happened that one of his colleagues would be absent for a while, and, acting as his substitute, it might be supposed that, teaching a class which had not advanced far beyond the elementary principles of medicine, he would have relied on his general knowledge, without refreshing his memory by renewed study. But this he evidently had not done. He left nothing to the moment or to chance; but carefully prepared himself for each particular occasion; even though the lesson, if not positively distasteful, was one in which he had no special interest. The topic, for instance,