I deem it my duty to acknowledge before this scientific body the obligation under which all mankind, professional or non-professional, has been placed by that brilliant galaxy of men who were the pioneers in the establishment of this great operation. To Kroenlein, who in 1884 did the first appendectomy, 1 placing a double ligature (material not stated) on the base of the appendix, which was removed, with fatal result; 2 to Dr. Reginald H. Fitz, of Boston, who in 1886 published his classical article on this subject; to the late Dr. Richard Hall, of New York, who in May, 1886, in that city, did a successful appendectomy, ligating the stump with a catgut ligature; to the late Prof. T. G. Morton, of Philadelphia, who operated on the first case for which the diagnosis had been made and operation done with the intention of removing the appendix, in which the stump