CROSBY 261 CROSBY anatomy in the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. But this crowning honor of his life he also declined, because he could not leave his other engagements nor spare the time. It must, however, have been a tre- mendous task of travel and responsibility to follow out, as he did, one course after another, to operate upon so many patients at various schools, and to leave them with others for after-care, and then to come back to Hanover and go the rounds of the patients his father still retained in his clientage during his son's absence. Not contented, however, with all these labors he delivered at the Cooper Institute in New York a series of public health lectures, in which the most attractive were those on "the hand" and "the foot." The most valuable of his medical papers were those entitled "Seven Cases of Foreign Bodies in the Knee Joint," "A Successful Case of Ovariotomy," done when that operation was a rarity, another on "Abscesses," one on "Diabetes ;" all with a wealth of illustrative cases, and a charming brochure "A Month in a Volunteer Camp." The crowning paper of his career was his address as president of the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1877, entitled "The Mutual Relations of Physician and Patient," for in a brief two months his work had ended forever. Perhaps he had even then a premonition of early death, for those who were present had occasion soon to recall his closing words, his fervent exclamation, "And so goodbye, gentle- men, and God bless you all." As a surgeon "Dr. Ben" was dextrous, his results were good, and this speaks more plainly than rapidity or style. He did many excellent lithotomies, amputations at the hip joint, had many cases of necrosis, and had the reputation of a great surgeon^ throughout the country. As a public speaker, he possessed the exquisite art of extempore speaking, he had a large fund of anecdote, could tell a story ti the point, or cap another; his voice was clear and resonant and whenever a speech was wanted for an occasion, or an anniversary, everybody said : "Ask Dr. Ben." As a teacher, he possessed the rare gift of making friends with the students, then of at- tracting their attention with genial anecdotes, and finally of pushing home his emphatic points of instruction. Dr. Crosby married in July, 1862. at Balti- more, Maryland, Mildred Glassel Smith, daughter of Dr. William Smith of Galveston, and bringing her to Hanover they built up a centre of widespread hospitality. Nor did they ever forget to include within it college boys living far from home and needing social cor- rection of their boyish enthusiasm. When he died, all Hanover mourned, and more than that, many physicians throughout the country were sad at heart; young men who had listened spellbound to his lectures, others who followed him enthusiastically from bedside to bedside in hospitals ; older men who knew what good surgery was, and those who knew him as a friend and as a public speaker lamented his departure. James A. Spalding. Transactions New Hamp. Med. Soc. Centennial Anniversary, 1891, N. H. Med. Soc. Personal Recollections. Crosby Family, by Alpheus Crosby. Dartmouth Graduates, Chapman. Crosby, Dixi (1800-1873) When a member of the Class of '66 in Dart- mouth, I often met Dr. Dixi Crosby, always called "Dr. Dixi" to distinguish him from his son, "Dr. Ben" (q. v.), and I recall him as he walked to and fro in the village as a short, compact, well-dressed man, firm on his feet and rather ponderous in his gait. He had a large head and wore a curly reddish beard, shaggy as if never a comb had touched it, and his hair reached his coat collar behind. His upper lip was clean shaven so that, as he said, no hair should obstruct his voice in his lectures in the medical school. His face had a winning expression and he liked to talk as he walked. The whole effect of his appearance was majestic and impressive. I used to call at Dixi Crosby's house, to chat with visiting girls, but being a callow youth, it never oc- curred to me to forsake the girls and enter into conversation with the old man concerning his adventures in surgery. Fifty years later, it happens to me to be asked to give some account of the commanding figure who domi- nated New Hampshire surgery for thirty years. Just before the child of Dr. Asa and Betsey Hoit Crosby of Sandwich, New Hampshire, was born there was a friendly dispute between the parents concerning the possible sex of the infant, the father wanting a boy and the mother a girl. When it turned out to be a boy, the happy father shouted "Dixi" (Latin Dixi, I told you so), and Dixi he was named. The date of his birth was February 7, 1800, and that of his death at Hanover, September 26, 1873. Young Crosby studied in the village schools and then ventured in business, traveling as far south as New Orleans, but he failed from lack of experience. He studied then with his father, who was by this time practising in a
