DAVENPORT PAST AND PRESENT

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CHAPTER XXVI.

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SCOTT COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

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Notice having been given through the public prints, that ameeting would be held for the purpose of organizing a Medical Society for theCounty of Scott, nine regular members of the profession met at the office ofDrs. Witherwax and Carter, (Third street, west of Brady,) on the 18th ofOctober, 1856.  Dr. Jas. Thistle presided, and Dr. Tomson acted asSecretary.  Committees were appointed to report upon the several subjectsof Constitution and By-Laws, Code of Ethics, and Fee Bill, and the meetingadjourned to meet ten days subsequently.  On the 28th of October, thirteenphysicians met at the office of Drs. Fountain and Adler, (Second street, betweenBrady and Main,) received the reports of the respective Committees, adopted aConstitution and By-Laws, as well as the Cod of Ethics recommended by theAmerican Medical Association, and preceeded to elect the following permanentofficers, to  serve for one year:

President, Dr. Egbert S. Barrows; Vice President,Dr. Lyman Carpenter; Secretary, Dr. J. J. Tomson; Treasurer, Dr.James Thistle, and Censors, Drs. T. J. Saunders, Jno. M. Adler, and J. W.H. Baker.

Although regular meetings four times a year had been agreedupon, calling this the Anniversary, yet the necessity seemed to exist for aspecial meeting, and the members agreed to meet again in two weeks.  TheSociety convened in the Young Mens' Literary Association Hall, (Post OfficeBuilding,) on the 11th of November, Dr. Carpenter, Vice President, occupying theChair.  At this meeting a Fee Bill was adopted, and the members generallysigned the Constitution.  January 27th, 1857, the first regular quarterlymeeting took place at the office of Drs. Fountain and Adler, the presidenttaking the Chair.  A resolution was adopted, and a committee appointedrelative to forming a union with the Rock Island County Medical Society. Drs. Barrows and Saunders were elected delegates to the American MedicalAssociation, to convene in Nashville, Tenn., the succeeding May.  Thesecond quarterly meeting took place in the Council Chamber, at the corner ofBrady and Third streets, April 28th, the President filling the Chair.  Themembers of the Rock Island Medical Society were admitted as Honorary members,and entitled to all privileges, save voting.  Dr. Patrick Gregg, former andfirst President of that Association, read an eloquent and instructive address,by special invitation.  Dr. Baker was appointed to deliver an essay at thenext, or a future meeting.  Drs. Fountain, Thistle, Carter, Pelton, andBarrows, were appointed delegates to the State Society, to meet at Iowa City thefollowing June.  The third quarterly meeting met at the Council Chamber,July 28th, the Vice President in the Chair.  The annual meeting convened atthe same place, October 27th, Dr. C. C. Parry presiding at the morning, and theVice President at the afternoon session.  Resolutions were adopted, makingthe annual meeting to occur the last Tuesday in January, and postponing theelection of officers until that period, and continuing the existingorganization.  A committee, consisting of Drs. Carter, Thistle, and Adler,was appointed to revise the Constitution and By-Laws.  The annual meetingassembled at the same place January 26th, 1858, Dr. Baker, the same gentleman inthe Chair.  Officers for the year were elected as follows:

President, Dr. Th. J. Saunders; Vice President, Dr. JamesThistle; Secretary, Dr. A. H. Ames; Treasurer, Dr. J. J. Tomson; Censors, Drs.J. W. H. Baker, E. J. Fountian, and Jno. M. Adler.  Dr. Baker read anEssay, agreeably to appointment.  Dr. C. C. Parry was appointed Essaylistfor the next meeting.

The number of members at the present time is about twenty,three-fourths of whom reside in the city of Davenport.  The object of theSociety is "to promote the diffusion of true Medical Science among itsmembers, and to elevate the character of the profession in the community." At the various meetings many interesting cases have been brought forwardand discussed, calculated to impart instruction, and a general basis of actionhas been instituted, the effect of which will be, to define the rights andduties of practitioners agreeably to the rules and regulations laid down by thehighest medical authority of the country.  Among a newly settled people,baneful irregularities are apt to be imputed to the profession generally, unlessthere is an organization, zealous in its guardianship of the portals ofMedicine.  Without there is a charmed line over which mere empiries cannotpass, and which is constantly kept visible to the public eye, the votaries ofScience have to suffer depreciation by being classed with irresponsiblepractitioners, noted only for the excess of their ignorance, and the audacity oftheir pretensions.  Already are the effects to be seen, of a closecombination on the part of those properly qualified for taking upon themselvesthe responsibility for practising the healing art.  Uniformity of action,courteous relations, and a keen desire to promote the general welfare, areapparent among the members, and the prospect now is, that the medical corps ofDavenport and vicinity will stand at no distant day pre-eminent in the valley ofthe Upper Mississippi.