terest in this institution, and had given to it the fine site on which this building has been erected, and since so many thousands of our citizens had availed themselves of its advantages, we had hoped to have His Honor Mayor Matthews with us on this occasion, but pressing duties rendered it impossible for him to be present, yet the city was well represented in the chairman of the Board of Aldermen and three of his associates, as well as by members of the Common Council and other city officials. It therefore gave him pleasure to introduce Hon. John H. Lee, president of the Board of Aldermen.

Mr. Lee said:

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Ladies and Gentlemen.. In the name of Boston's city council let me congratulate the trustees on the success and prosperity of this institution in erecting so fine a structure. Let me also congratulate the city of Boston on its good fortune that in exchange for a lot of land which has lain idle for more than thirty years, bringing in no income, but a bill of expense, it has secured without further expenditure a noble institution which provides medical care for many thousands of the sick and indigent. Without question the city treasury has been thus saved many thousands of dollars, and many who have found relief here might otherwise have become a public charge. I therefore look upon it as true economy on the part of the city to encourage and even render municipal aid to such institutions ast this. Compared with the advantages received the city in this case gave only a small "homoeopathic" dose, as it were, [laughter], but if ever called upon to vote still more from the city treasury for needed aid to this Dispensary, I should be in favor of giving it in "allopathic," or large doses. [Laughter and applause.]

The President called upon Hon. Jos. H. Eaton, State Trustee of the Hospital, who said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Some men are said to be unconquerable, others irresistible, but when both qualities are combined in one person you have in him a powerful party with whom to contend. Now add to the unconquerable and irresistible the quality of irrepressibility, and you have an antagonist to whom you may as well surrender at one time as another. It was an unconquerable, irresistible and irrepressible man that asked me to speak to you at this time, consequently if you do not relish what may be said, please blame Dr. Talbot, the man possessing those traits, which have been often exhibited in overcoming difficulties in the erection of these buildings. This morning the new Hospital buildings were dedicated, and a great number of people gathered within those spacious walls. A flood of sunshine rolled through those large windows upon that gener

ous throng, and the very spirit of the occasion moved each heart with a strong desire to do more than in the past for earth's unfortunate children. Those ample halls and large rooms, so well finished, furnished, lighted, heated, and so perfectly ventilated will contribute to the speedy recovery of all who occupy those apartments. It is a rich blessing to the sick, and a credit to mankind that such liberal provisions are made for the afflicted. This afternoon we are assembled in this Dispensary to dedicate this building to charitable purposes. Here the people are examined and treated by skillful physicians free of charge, or for a merely nominal sum. This institution opens its doors to all persons needing assistance, and no matter how poor one may be, whenever he enters this room he will receive the most careful attention and the best remedies known to the profession. The Medical College will be dedicated this evening. It is a building which has nothing surpassing it in design and adaptability to the purposes for which it is used. The students have not only the very best instructors to direct their studies, but have access to the Hospital and Dispensary, where the theoretical is fully illustrated in the most practical manner. Such opportunities inspire these young men, and will result in greatest advantage to them, and those whom they may treat when they have fully entered upon their life's work. These sister institutions are situated near each other, and are equally as closely united in their generous purposes and lofty aims as in their location. The pure air and abundant sunshine of the Hospital, the excellent remedies of the Dispensary, and the skill of the medical and surgical officials, combined with the enthusiasm and zeal of the students, must tend to the recovery of every person receiving treatment at these institutions. Not only are the sick, the poor, and the students benefited by these institutions, but the entire community, in that it has an opportunity to bestow its gifts upon objects worthy of its charities. These institutions are in our midst, and are managed by men with whom we are acquainted, who have no object in view but to benefit and bless mankind. They show us their needs, and call upon us for assistance, and it ought to be considered by us a cause of gratitude that we may respond to their requirements. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. Let us remember that what we give away in the fear of God, and from love to mankind, is all we really have. What we do not give away we leave, and others get it when we die. Two rich men have recently passed to the other world, and all of their vast wealth which they will find on the other shore is just what they wisely disposed of in charities while living. All the balance of those fortunes they left behind in the possession

of others. No mortal can tell how the treasures of heaven increase, but doubtless the poor widow, who gave the two mites, has an untold fortune to her credit. The rate of increase depends upon the motive prompting the gifts. Let us therefore, by a cheerful and willing spirit, lay up for ourselves treasures in the next world by wisely and freely bestowing of our means as opportunity offers, remembering that we are plainly bidden to give, and promised that it shall be given us again, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

The exercises were closed by the singing of the doxology.

THE COLLEGE. — At 8 o'clock in the evening the crowd of visitors seemed even greater than it had been during the day, and the large chemical lecture room and galleries were crowded to the greatest capacity, while the great mass of visitors, unable to gain admission to these exercises, made the best use of their time possible to them by visiting and inspecting the new buildings.

Dr. I. T. Talbot, Dean of the Medical School, presided at the evening exercises. Rev. Charles Parkhurst, D.D., made the invocation prayer. Dr. Talbot said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, — Although the present occasion is one for mutual congratulations and thankfulness for what has been accomplished, let us not wholly neglect the serious consideration of our future duties. The means now placed in our hands give us larger opportunities for usefulness, and if rightly employed will make this but the beginning of a new era for this medical school and for all these associated institutions. Now that our opportunities are enlarged our responsibilities are increased in greater proportion, and we can best be true to our past history by more and better work in the future.

Wm. F. Warren, LL.D., President of Boston University, was then introduced, who spoke as follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen, - Your presence at these exercises is a welcome proof of your sympathy with the aims and efforts which stand embodied in our new and commodious Medicalschool building. We sincerely thank you for your friendly interest, and we hope that in the future, not less than in the past, we who represent this school of medicine may show ourselves deserving of your continued good will. Felicitations, of course, are the order of the evening. Felicitations, first of all, to our indefatigable Dean, Dr. Talbot. But for his clear-eyed faith and ardent hope and generous charity, this building could not have been erected. To his wise and heroic leadership it, and the related Hospital and Dispensary buildings, stand a worthy monument. But it is also well that you to-night bring felicita

tions and thanks to the Faculty, and to every member of it. If the Dean has been the recognized and honored leader, none knows so well as he how helpless he would have been without the cordial and liberal and constant support of his colleagues in the board of instruction. Again, felicitations are due to the Trustees of the University, who appropriated toward the expense of the building $40,000; also to many a private benefactor, who, out of limited resources, has given time and money to supplement the original appropriation. A long succession of classes is to be congratulated on improved accommodations and instruction; science and art on new discoveries and improvements to be made in these laboratories; suffering humanity on victories here to be won over sickness, deformity and death. We do well to rejoice together, and to bring forth the cap-stone of our undertaking with shoutings. In the few moments that I have been asked to occupy I wish to direct your attention to certain facts connected with the history of the school, some of which are by no means as well known as they ought to be, and all of which seem to me eminently worthy of mention on this occasion. In the first place, it is probably well known to all who listen to me that this school of medicine has had two lives. The first extended from November, 1848, to November, 1873 — a full quarter of a century. The second has extended from November, 1873, to the present hour-a period of nineteen years. Its first life was lived under the name, "The New England Female Medical College;" its second under that of the Boston University School of Medicine. In each of these periods the institution has had a distinctive and widely recognized mission. In each it has been the foremost American champion of advanced ideas in medical education. In the first period, in the teeth of intense opposition, it had to battle year after year for a recognition of the right of women to receive a medical education. In the second, in the face of equally great difficulties, it has won memorable victories in favor of higher standards in the medical education of both men and women. In its first period it at one stroke broadened the traditional field of medical training a hundred per cent. ; in the second it laid strong hands on the low requirements then prevailing in the medical schools. of the country, and for itself lifted them fully a hundred per cent. higher than had been customary. The debt of the nation to the school is therefore twofold, and it is one whose magnitude is destined to wider and wider recognition. In studying the annual reports of the earliest years of the institution one is impressed, on the one hand, by the tenacity of the popular prejudices that opposed the project of admitting women to medical instruction, and on the other, by the courage and persistence of

the men and women who pioneered the new and finally victorious movement. Evidently the times were ripe for this and its related social reforms. The most advanced minds in New England, and far beyond New England, responded to the call. The society which started the school reports, in its second annual report, more than three thousand paying annual members and sixty life members. Somewhat later, the Board of Trustees includes, at one time, the Governor of Maine, an ex-Governor of New Hampshire, an ex-Governor of Vermont, an ex-Governor of Rhode Island, and an ex-Governor of Connecticut. Contributions of money, small in amount, but full of good-will, were received from every county in Massachusetts, from every State in New England, from New York State, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, from the District of Columbia, and the republic of Mexico. I have recently read over the names of several thousand of these subscribers, and have been delighted to see how many of the best and most honored of the men and women of their generation they represent. A few of them I may mention later. All of them deserve to be commemorated upon memorial tablets, but walls as vast as those of Egypt's temples would be needed were we to include them all.

The first class admitted to the school was organized in November, 1848. It consisted of twelve, and was the first class of women ever assembled in America for the purpose of qualifying themselves for the medical profession. For several months the instruction had to be given in private rooms gratuitously offered for the purpose. Then for two years, during the absence of its owner in Europe, the house of Dr. Winslow Warren, opposite the Common, corner of Boylston and Carver streets, was hired for the uses of the school. On expiration of that lease in 1853, rooms were hired at what at that date was No. 274 Washington street. Here the institution was carried on until 1859. In May of that year the trustees contracted to purchase of the city a building recently erected for a Maternity Hospital, situated on a fine, large lot lying between Springfield and Worcester streets, and fronting on both. Here the school had its quarters until 1863, when, in consequence of poverty and the distractions occasioned by the civil war, it became necessary to relinquish the attempted purchase and to remove to less desirable hired apartments at io East Canton street. Four years later, means were found to purchase a lot of 40,000 feet, between Stoughton and Newton streets; but before a building could be erected thereon, it was happily exchanged for one situated close by the newly erected City Hospital-the one on which our present buildings stand. In the fall of 1870, twenty-two weary and