ptation to this branch of his profession, without which no amount of
study can make a great operator. While a student in the Old World, he
performed leading operations with a skill and natural readiness which
astonished his instructors as much as they delighted them. He was
possessed of a firmness and dexterity of hand, a calm, cool brain, a
quick, unfailing eye, a calmness of nerve, a strength of will, and a
physical endurance which were Nature's gifts to him, and which rendered
him a great surgeon even before he had received his diploma. He did not
trust to these natural gifts alone, however, but applied himself to the
theory of his profession with a determination and eagerness which
nothing could daunt. He was an enthusiast in his studies, and soon
became known as the most profoundly-learned _young_ physician of his
day. As he advanced in life, he maintained his reputation, keeping up
his studies to the last. The great men under whom he studied abroad were
delighted with him, and Sir Astley Cooper was loud in his praise. He
exhibited so much skill as an operator that he was often called upon to
perform operations which the professors would never have dreamed of
intrusting to any one else, and he went through each trial of this kind
with a readiness and precision which few even of his instructors
excelled.

His reputation was unusually flattering to one who had not yet entered
upon the practice of his profession, and upon his return to the United
States, in 1809, he was met with an offer of the chair of surgery in
Columbia College, his _alma mater_. He promptly accepted the position,
and held it until 1813, when the medical department of Columbia College
was merged in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was at once
called to the same chair in the new college, and occupied it until 1826.
In that year he resigned his place in the faculty, in consequence of a
misunderstanding between the professors and the trustees of the college
on the principles of college government. Withdrawing entirely from the
school, he united with Drs. Hosack, Mitchell, Francis, and several
others, in founding the Rutgers Medical College. This college, after a
short career of four years, was compelled by the Legislature to
discontinue its operations, in consequence of an alleged invalidity in
its charter.

In 1830, Dr. Mott returned to the College of Physicians and Surgeons as
Professor of Surgery, and in 1840 he became President of the F