Page:Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ser 03 vol 05).djvu/69

Rh leave the chair, and, taking his place on the floor, contribute by his cogent argument and lucid exposition to their disentanglement and solution.

His trusteeship of the University was marked by the interest and fidelity which were conspicuous in all his engagements. Cherishing a warm interest in its welfare generally, and particularly in that of the medical department, he would naturally be expected to take a principal share in the business of the trustees; and his judgment, to which in all matters great deference was deservedly accorded, would he regarded by his colleagues almost as law, in questions pertaining to his profession. There would thus be fostered a kind of paternal or personal rule over the branch of which he was so long the animating spirit, and still an honorary member, that might not always be compatible with a proper sense of independence and official equality. This autocracy, to which under the circumstances the inclination would be strong, must have required on his part constant watchfulness and self-control, and on that of the Faculty unbounded confidence in his generous and unselfish devotion.

Having purchased the ancestral mansion in his native State from a descendant of the original possessor, Dr. Wood was accustomed to spend in retirement there a part of the summer months of every year. He took great pleasure in agricultural pursuits; several fields were planted with peach and other fruit trees, and many improvements on the farm were made under his direction and superintendence. For the cultivation of cranberries as a business transaction, he had an especial predilection, and confidently expected rich returns from the large investments which he had made in that article. He bought waste and marshy lands from the neighboring farmers, of little or no value to them, and which they