Excerpt from The Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Vol. 16: A Journal Published Monthly in the Interest of Medicine and Surgery Gentlemen, - There are pinnacles to which we reach, to be hurled down from the dizzy height into the valley below, to be hidden from the storms of the world where peace and quiet and easy-going hum-drum pervades the spot, while the green grass grows under the feet. This is the well-known valley of the "Have-beens." Hills have only two sides, one going up and the other going down, and when one has reached such honor as you have conferred upon me, he has climbed the up-side and must begin to descend. One is elated with the honor, but grieved with a retrospect of all that led up to it; one is pleased with the evidence of the good-will of his fellows - and a better lot of fellows never lived in any profession - but subdued with that soul-shaking feeling that youth is fleeting and age approaching. Each man naturally looks forward to the day upon which he may occupy the presidential chair, but when the day comes he would give much to be able to postpone the honor for another ten years. And now it is time for the past-presidents to move up and make room for me; but I do not intend to be placed upon the shelf, if health and strength remain. We all like to mingle with youth, but unfortunately youth and age were never meant to mix. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.