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295 Obituary THOMAS PERCY CLAUDE KIRKPATRICK B.A., M.D., Litt.D. Dubl., D.Litt. N.U.I., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.P.I. Dr. T. P. C. Kirkpatrick died in Dublin on July 9 at the age of 85. As registrar of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy, general secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, and physician to Dr. Steevens’ Hospital, a university lecturer on anaesthetics, and honorary professor of the history of medicine in the University of Dublin, he had served his profession dutifully and- devotedly for nearly sixty years. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a junior exhibi- tioner, in 1887, and he graduated with a first-class degree in arts, as a senior moderator in ethics and logic, before he took his medical degrees in 1895. Throughout his life, his literary interests were wide and scholarly, and his books, of which the best known are A History of the Medical School of Trinity College, Dublin (1912), The Book of the Rotunda Hospital (1914), and A History of Dr. Steevens’ Hospital : 1720-1920 (1924), gained for him the unusual double distinction of the degree of doctor of letters of the University of Dublin and of the National University of Ireland. Biographical details only reveal the skeleton of the man, and in himself Kirkpatrick epitomised a tradition, exemplified an equanimity, and embodied a spirit of friendliness that enriched and illuminated his circle. His professional reputation began as an anaesthetist in the first decade of this century, when new drugs and new methods were encroaching on the domain of chloroform and ether. I recollect nm- first surgical teacher. Sir Charles Ball, referring doubtfully to the innovations : " You might gain on the swings what you lost on the roundabouts, but the swings might carry you over the Jordan." Having had experience of an ether roundabout that seemed to carry me over the Jordan and, reluctantly, back again, it was comforting to be told : " If Kirk had given you the ansesthetic you would have enjoyed it." Years later, I attended Kirkpatrick’s lectures on anæsthetics, and discovered one reason at least for his success: in some subtle way lie was able to identify himself with his patient. This quality extended to the general walks of life. Like the Chinese sage, Kirk received and treated whoever approached him as an honoured guest. A bachelor, secure in the fortress of his library and his learning, he yet found time to keep old friendships in repair and to make new ones. He was equally at home in any of the three clubs to which he belonged, and with any group of people that chance or design might gather around him. Temperamentally and necessarily aloof from the vexations of contemporary Irish politics, he found serenity in shades of Berkeley and Burke : "We are born only to be men. We shall do enough if we form ourselves to be good ones." W. F. GEORGE WILLIAM KOSMAK M.D. Columbia Dr. George W. Kosmak, who died on July 11 at the age of 80, was best known in this country as the editor, since its foundation over thirty years ago, of The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Under him this journal has established itself as one of the most important periodicals in the specialty in the world and it is common knowledge that through his wise and inspired direction it has exercised a powerful influence in American obstetrics and gynaecology. The latest issue, a Festschrift in cele- bration of his 80th birthday to which many of his col- leagues and friends in America and throughout the world contributed, appeared only a few days before his death. There is, however, some consolation in the knowledge that this fine tribute was placed in his hands before he died. Dr. Kosmak was a pioneer in the movements for the reduction of maternal and infant mortality. As early as 1917 he strongly advocated a public-health effort to this end. Despite the general apathy which met his first proposals he persisted, and in 1928 an important sub- committee of the public-health relations committee of the New York Academy of Medicine was set up with Kosmak as a member. In 1932 this subcommittee issued its well-known report, Maternal Mortality in New York City—A Study of All Puerperal Deaths, 1930—32. Towards the same end Dr. Kosmak gave his enthusiastic support to the efforts which led to the foundation in 1930 of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and thus to the improvement in the standards of the teaching and practice of the specialty. He had many friends and admirers in this country, and in 1950 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conferred on him its honorary fellowship. JOHN ALEXANDER M.A., M.D. Pennsylvania Dr. John Alexander, professor of thoracic surgery in the University of Michigan, died at the University ’ Hospital at Ann Arbor on July 16. Doctors from all over the world had visited his unit to study his methods and technique, and his many British friends will remember his courage and courtesy and the hospitality he and his wife gave to overseas colleagues. He was born in 1891 and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1916. During his service in France in the first world war he contracted tuberculosis, and he suffered from this disease at intervals for the rest of his life. In 1920 he joined the faculty of medicine of the University of Michigan as an instructor, and in 1932 he was appointed to a full pro- fessorship. He was also head surgeon at the Michigan State Sanatorium at Howell. His publications included The Surgery of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (1925) in which he reviewed the experience of all the surgeons and physicians of the world who had interested themselves in thoracic surgery, extracting the pith of 500 books, papers, and personal communications. For this study he was awarded the 1925 quinquennial Samuel D. Gross prize of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery. His Collapse Therapy of Pulmonary Tuber- culosis told the story of this form of treatment up to 1937 and weighed carefully the pros and cons of each operation and its modifications. In 1941 he was awarded the Trudeau medal of the National Tuberculosis Associa- tion of America. He was also a president of the American Society of Thoracic Surgeons. A. J. R., who spent " an exceptionally happy year " at Alexander’s unit, writes : " His indomitable spirit fought a long battle with tuberculosis for his patients and for himself, and even in the end this disease did not conquer him. Characteristically, he wrote his book on collapse therapy whilst lying on his back, and invented a special book-holder to enable him to do it. His experi- ences with his own illness gave him great insight into the problems of his patients. A few years ago I sent a follow- up questionnaire on his behalf to several hundred patients of his, and I was astonished to read the many personal letters that came back asking affectionately after his own health. ’John A,’ was a fearless critic, of great intellectual honesty, who set the highest standard for himself, and expected it from his staff. He had gained many honours in his own land, but perhaps it would please him more that so many surgeons and physicians throughout the world are grateful for his teachings." THOMAS WILFRID LETCHWORTH M.A., M.D. Camb., F.R.C.S. Dr. T. W. Letchworth, consulting surgeon to the Royal Eye Hospital, London, died on July 22. He was born at Brighton in 1874, and he was educated privately and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. with honours in 1895 and he continued his medical training at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. He qualified in 1898 and his experience as house-surgeon to Vernon and,Jessop stimulated his interest in ophthal- mology. After a year as general house-officer at Win- chester he settled in general practice at Bournemouth in 1902. Here he remained until 1908 when he decided to break with general practice and return to ophthalmology. With characteristic purpose he set out to get his F.R.C.S., and after obtaining it with ease in 1909 he became house- surgeon at the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital,
