On next Tuesday, Feb. 15, 1909, the veteran American physician and author, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, will reach his eightieth year. In congratulating him the medical profession at the same time felicitates itself on the greatness and versatility of the achievements of one whose name is as a household word among us.
Two facts in Dr. Mitchell's career stand out with prominence: first, that success in any field need not be despaired of because it delays its appearance until well into middle age, provided only that the waiting period has been devoted to an apprenticeship of earnest and faithful work; second, that there is no essential incompatibility between sustained literary activity, on the one hand, and high professional distinction in science, with successful medical practice, on the other. In illustration of the first point it is worthy of note that, while to a considerable circle Dr. Mitchell's literary work had