It is seldom that any one becomes as accomplished in all these divisions of practical medicine as was Dr. Scribner. His counsel was frequently sought by physicians at a distance, and in his own neighborhood he was the one always sent for when consultation was required in cases of prolonged illness or in emergencies. He was devoted to his profession and to the friends he had acquired in following it, and could seldom be induced to withdraw himself from his work for relaxation or amusement. During the last year of his life, while suffering from the acute pains of a malignant disease and from the depression naturally arising from it, he attended regularly to business day and night, without murmur or complaint, ministering unto hundreds who were far less in need of help than he was himself, until his force was all expended, and he laid down his labor and his life together. In all his professional relations he was pre-eminently a silent man, never gossiping about his cases in the sick room, and seldom indulging in conversation, even upon topics of general interest. Though dignified and courteously reserved in his intercourse with the world, among his friends he was always cheerful and fully enjoyed light amusements and harmless jokes.

PROFESSION. 593

Dr. Scribner's professional silence grew out of his hatred for shams of all kinds. His profession was to cure, not to amuse, and he never sought to win success by any means outside of his .skillful treatment of cases. Operations of a complicated nature and requiring the highest skill were performed by him; but his modesty kept him from rej)orting the cases, and they remain unknown to all except the ones who were directly benefited by his art.