Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/454

 GEDDINGS

GENTSCH

1837 and filled it until that of surgery was made vacant by the death of his colleague Dr. Wagner. In 1847 Dr. Samuel Henry Dickson removed to New York and Dr. Geddings was transferred to the chair of practice of medicine. Here he remained discharging the duties with his accustomed ability until 1850 when Dr. Dickson returned and he re- sumed the chair of surgery.

Dr. Geddings received many offers on foreign service during his professional career: About 1S30, when Prof. Eberle removed to Cincinnati, he was chosen to the vacant chair of the practice of medi- cine in the Jefferson Medical College, and upon the organization under Chancellor Mathews of the New York University, was solicited to take the professorship of anatomy. When Prof. Drake seceded from the Medical College of Ohio and formed a new school Prof. Geddings was offered the chair of anatomy with a guar- antee, and on the organization of the Uni- versity of Louisville, was offered by Caldwell the choice of whichever chair he should desire.

Familiar with Latin, French, German and Spanish, with these languages at his command he performed an incredible amount of literary work. Previous to the civil war he had so far completed a work on " The Practice of Medicine " that the title page had been set up in Phila- delphia, but the stirring events of 1860- 1865 put an end to all that.

Dr. Geddings first married Mrs. Gray, nee Wyatt, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. His sons all became physicians. Dr. Geddings next married Laura Postel, but had no children. He died in Charleston, South Carolina Octo- ber 9, 1S78, eighty years old.

An excellent portrait is in the hall of the Medical Society of South Carolina and a steel engraving with a biographical sketch was printed in the "Charleston Medical Journal" for 1857. W. P. P.

la Memoriam. Eli Geddings, Charleston,

1878.

Tr. Am. Med. Ass., Phila. vol. xxx, 1879

(J. M. Toner).

Gentsch, George Theodore (1850-1S80). This brilliant, legal physician — "whose budding manhood was untimely blighted by the frost of death" — was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, August 22, 1S50 and was distinguish- ed, even in early boyhood for his love of learning and his generous and affec- tionate disposition. At the age of four he lost his father, but his interest in study was fostered by his mother con- tinually. At seventeen he graduated from the New Philadelphia High School and for a number of years acted as clerk in the drug store of William Rickert, at Canal Dover, Ohio. In the intervals of work, and by self-train- ing merely, he acquired, under the circumstances, an extraordinary knowl- edge of analytical chemistry, and was often called upon to make analyses of ores and make other chemical tests. In this way he thus earned sufficient money to defray his expenses when later he studied at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor where he grad- uated in 1871 with the degree of phar- maceutical chemist, in 1S76 becoming professor of chemistry at Wooster University, Cleveland, Ohio, where in 1878 he received his M. D.

The following year 1879, was spent in study at Vienna and London, and on his return he was engaged as ex- pert in a number of poisoning cases, notably that of the Charles family, which was tried at Findlay, Ohio, and which excited national comment.

He wrote very little but his articles were full of promise of great achieve- ment; his lectures were simple, clear, and interesting.

Dr. Gentsch died unmarried when only thirty years old. He passed away on the night of March 3-4, 1880. Upon going to bed he had complained of headache to the family with whom he was living, and had bade them a cordial good night. In the morning he was found dead and cold, evidently having died early in the night, probably of apoplexy. T. H. S.