Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/154

BOWDITCH member of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Medicine and Natural Sciences of Brussels, the Academy of Science of Rome and other foreign societies. The University of Cambridge made him honorary Doctor of Science in 1898. He was granted the degree of Doctor of Laws by Edinburgh (1898), Toronto (1903), Pennsylvania (1904), and Harvard (1906).

Dr. Bowditch possessed a rare combination of sober judgment and vigorous will—the qualities of a natural leader. His ingenuity and effectiveness were manifest not only in physiological research, but in matters of affairs. He possessed unfailing courtesy, fairness and goodwill, warmed by a delightful sense of humor. His friendships he cultivated in many happy ways, both at his home in Boston and in his summer camp in the Adirondacks.

Dr. Bowditch's last years were saddened by the gradual limitation of his vigor and activity through the advances of paralysis agitans. But throughout the gradual decline he accepted his fate with cheerfulness and with gentle consideration for those about him. He died at his home in Boston, March, 13, 1911, being survived by his widow, Selma Knauth, whom he had met in Leipzig, and a family of sons and daughters.

One of the last times that he appeared in public was in Sanders Theater at the ceremonies of dedication of the new Medical School buildings. The occasion was a memorable one, and Dr. Bowditch's impressive figure, clad in the scarlet robes of his Edinburgh doctorate, and seated at the front of the platform, side by side with Dr. Warren, made a fitting center to the striking scene.

Some of the important publications of Dr. H. P. Bowditch are:—

1871. Uber die Eigenthümlichkeiten der Reizbarkeit, welche die Muskelfasern des Herzens zeigen. Arb. a. d. physiol. Anst. zu Leipz., 1871, 139–176. Also: Ber. d. k. sachs. Gesellsch. d. Wissensch. Math. phys. Kl., 1871.

1875. A new form of inductive apparatus. Proc. Amer. Acad., Oct. 12, 1875.

1876. Force of ciliary motion. Boston Med. & Surg. Jour., vol. xcv, 159–164.

1877. The growth of children. 8th Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Mass., Boston, 1877, 275.

1879. A new form of plethysmograph. Proc. Am. Acad., May 14, 1879.

1880–82. Dr. Bowditch and Hall, G. S. Optical illusions of motion Jour. of Physiol., 1880–82, vol. iii, 297–307.

1883. Dr. Bowditch and Warren, J. W. Plethysmographische Untersuchungen über die Gefässnerven der Extremitäten. Centralbl. f. d. med. Wissensch., 1883, vol. xxi, 513.

1885. Note on the nature of nerve-force. Jour. of Physiol., 1885, vol vi., 133–135.

1886. Dr. Bowditch and Warren, J. W. Plethysmographic experiments on the vasomotor nerves of the limbs. Jour. of Physiol., 1886, vol. vii, 416–450.

1890. Dr. Bowditch and Warren, J. W. The knee-jerk and its physiological modifications. Jour. of Physiol., 1890, vol. xi, 25–64.

1890. Uber den nachweis der Unermüdlichkeit des Säugethiernerven. Arch. of Physiol., 1890, 505–508.



Bowling, William K. (1808–1885)

When Dr. Bowling, medical editor, was asked how old he was, he said, "When the Third Napoleon, Emperor of the French, Salmon P. Chase, Robert E. Lee, Andrew Johnson, and Jefferson Davis came into the world, and when the American slave trade terminated by a provision of the Constitution of the United States, I came—born when giant men came, and when a giant sin and outrage died." This event occurred in the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the county of Westmoreland, the native county of George Washington. Tradition and history represent his ancestors as planters, and, while remarkable for kindness and generosity, none of them filled any conspicuous place in church or state.

In 1810 his father moved to North Kentucky, where William Bowling—the fifth of ten children, was educated privately by excellent tutors, and among them three authors of books. He says "Like Clay and Drake, I was dropped down in the wilderness of Kentucky and left to fight the battle of life as best I could without education, family influence or patronage. To three vagabond authors, whom my father fed for my benefit, and a public library of five hundred volumes, which I devoured before I was fourteen, I owe the foundation of all I am or hope to be. I attended one course of lectures in the Medical College of Ohio, and practised five years, and attended another course at the Medical Department of Cincinnati College, known as Drake's School, and graduated. Drake was my medical idol, and his memory is yet. I was used to the society of authors. I had slept with them, roamed the