In this communication I wish, in the first place, to pay a warm tribute to the splendid work that is being done in this country by the surgical profession; and I wish to emphasize particularly the value of the contributions from the country surgeon as distinguished from the metropolitan surgeon. That a populous community is not indispensable for the development of the best and the highest the little town of Rochester, Minn., has most brilliantly demonstrated. The educated, well-balanced, conservative man, considerate of others and of himself, will find in every community abundant opportunities for the highest professional attainments; and he will there make himself a power for good and an honor to his profession. It has seemed to me, especially in the past few years, as I have been brought in contact with physicians and patients in widely separated communities, that the time has come when we must consider