IT IS an honor to serve as president of the Western Surgical Association, a major national surgical organization which has contributed much to the development of surgery in the United States. While our members come from widely separated localities, all feel a common pride and bond in what the word "Western' 'in our name implies. All the country north of the Ohio, all the Missouri Valley, a large part of the Mississippi basin and the whole Pacific coast contribute to our membership.
As president, I am expected at this meeting to present a paper, by courtesy called an address, on a subject of my choosing. In recent years scientific papers have been the rule, although the presidential addresses of Dr. Fred Bailey, Dr. Vernon David and Dr. Alfred Brown were notable exceptions to this custom. In a program of this size and caliber, the absence of one surgical paper will