The progress of modern medical science has been almost bewildering. It has been a comparatively short time since the principles of antisepsis and asepsis were established by Lister. The plasmodium of malaria was described in 1880. It was not until 1882 that the tubercle bacillus was discovered by Koch. Diphtheria was rendered an almost harmless disease by the discovery of a specific antitoxin. The uncertainties relating to the diagnosis of typhoid fever were entirely removed when the Widal reaction came into general use. The Roentgen ray has revolutionized surgery. The diagnostic and therapeutic use of tuberculin has been of inestimable value to internal medicine. Schaudinn's discovery of the treponema pallidum in 1905 cleared up one of the greatest scientific mysteries of modern times. The introduction of salvarsan has added a new and important chapter to our history of therapeutics. The Wassermann reaction represents probably the most important diagnostic discovery of the century. The recent studies of the so-called ductless glands have opened up new and important fields of research which promise to be far-reaching in their results. Social service, unknown only a few years ago, is now an indispensable adjunct of the modern hospital organization. Training schools for nurses have become highly specialized educational institutions. What is to be said of the progress made in our knowledge of mental diseases? Certainly much has been accomplished during the last century. The earliest American contributor to this branch of medicine was Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), professor in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and one time physician-in-chief to the American armies. His "Medical Inquiries and Observations into Diseases of the Mind," which appeared in 1812 was the first publication of the kind in this country. It is interesting to note that he condemned the misuse of mechanical restraint, advocated hydrotherapy and recommended the appointment of instructors to direct the employment and amusement of patients. Incidentally he was the chairman of a committee appointed by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia to memorialize Congress and the legislature of Pennsylvania on the evils of alcoholism. Reference should also be made to the fact that he opposed capital punishment, advocated the abolition of slavery and objected to the study of the classics as a required part of the college curriculum. He even favored woman suffrage. In addition to his other activities this remarkable man was treasurer at one time of the United States Mint, vice-president of the American Bible Society, one of the founders of Dickinson College and associated for many years with Franklin in the work of the American Philosophical Society. Certainly he was many years in advance of his time. When his work on "Diseases of the Mind" appeared, the word psychiatry was