Garcia the Centenarian and His Times / Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and Science

by M. Sterling Mackinlay

To the first investigator of the human voice by a new method which for all time has bestowed a signal service on art, on science, and on suffering humanity, the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences sends on his 100th birthday its most respectful congratulations. Waldeyer, Secretary.

An address was next read from the University of Königsberg, which in 1862 had conferred on Señor Garcia the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine. A hope was expressed that he would live to receive the fresh diploma which it is the custom to confer on doctors of fifty years' standing.

The next address was from the Victoria University of Manchester, presented by Professor Stirling, F.R.S., Dr Milligan, and Dr S. Moritz, followed by one from the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg.

The address from his old pupils was read by Mr Ballin. In offering their sincere congratulations they said: "The services you have rendered to the art of singing are very great, and the large number of your pupils who have become famous is incontestable proof of your genius." Madame Blanche Marchesi spoke in the name of her parents, who were unavoidably absent, expressing their gratitude for everything he had done for them. Their method and their success were due to Señor Garcia, who had laid the basis of their artistic career.

Mr Otto Goldschmidt, the husband of Jenny Lind, said that his late wife, to the end of her days, continued to have respect, regard, and veneration for Señor Garcia, who helped her to take the position in the musical world which she attained; and he was very happy indeed to be able to make that statement, and to congratulate the old master on what he had done for the great art of singing.

An address from the Royal Academy of Music was followed by one from the Royal College of Music.

Addresses and messages from Laryngological societies and associations were then read, the following being among the bodies represented: The American Laryngological Association; the Belgian Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology (Dr Delsaux, Dr Goris, Dr Broeckkaert); the Berlin Laryngological Society (Dr Landgraf, Professor Kuttner, Professor Gluck); the British Laryngo-Oto-Rhinological Association (Mr Chichele Nourse, Dr Percy Jakins, Mr Stuart-Low, Mr Dennis Vinrace, Dr Andrew Wyld); the Danish Laryngological Society; the French Laryngo-Rhino-Otological Society (Dr Moure, Dr Lermoyez, Dr Toxier, Dr Molinié); the Italian Laryngo-Rhino-Otological Society and Neapolitan School of Laryngology (Sir Felix Semon, hon. member, Professor Poli); the London Laryngological Society (Mr Charters Symonds, Mr de Santi, Dr Davis, and Mr H. B. Robinson); the Netherlands Laryngo-Oto-Rhinological Society (Dr Moll, Dr Burger, Dr Kan, Dr Zaalberg); the New York Academy of Medicine, Section of Laryngology (Dr Harman Smith); the Paris Laryngological Society (Dr C. J. Koenig, Dr Mahu); the Rhenish-Westphalian Laryngological Society (Dr Hirschland); the St Petersburg Laryngological Society; the South-German Laryngological Society (Dr Avelis); the Spanish Laryngo-Oto-Rhinological Society and Academy of Medicine and Surgery (Dr Botella, Dr Tapia); the Vienna Laryngological Society (Professor Chiari); the Warsaw Laryngological Society; the West-German Laryngological Society (Dr Fackeldey, Dr Lieven); and the Hungarian Laryngological Society. Congratulatory telegrams were received from the Laryngological Societies of Sweden, Moscow, and Cracow; from the Amsterdam Medical Society; from the Medical Society of Japan; from Professor Moritz Schmidt, as President of the New German Laryngological Society; from Dr Birkett of Montreal, in the name of the students of M'Gill University; from Dr French, of Brooklyn, and hundreds of others.

The next speech brought a touching note to the scene, for in it Dr Botella, of Madrid, as the official delegate of the Spanish Government and of the Spanish Laryngological Society, addressed the maestro in his mother-tongue. A new light came into the centenarian's eyes, and he bent forward in an attitude of the closest attention, as if he feared to lose a single note of the beloved speech, whose sound on such an occasion must have carried him back over that great gulf of years to the far-off days of his childhood.

Dr Botella said that before the discovery of the laryngoscope the sense of touch was the only means of knowing of the existence of tumorous growths in the larynx. The invention of the laryngoscope had opened immense horizons to science, had put within its range many diseases the existence of which could never have been suspected, had made possible their treatment, and had saved from suffering and death numberless lives. The Spanish Government sent Señor Garcia its enthusiastic congratulations, and the Spanish Laryngological Society begged his acceptance of the diploma of "President of Honour." He brought a kind greeting from Spain to England, from Señor Garcia's native land to his adopted one. If the former gave him birth, the latter gave him shelter, and on that occasion both felt equally proud to have him as a son.