Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/798

NAME MEIGS 776 MEIGS In 1882 Dr. Meigler was appointed to the staff of the Cook County General Hospital, in 1886 one of the attending surgeons at the Woman's Hospital in Chicago and in 1890 gynecologist to Wesley Hospital. She held the last two positions till the time of her death. In 1895 she was appointed head physician and surgeon of the Mary Thompson Hospital. In this appointment Dr. Meigler received the unanimous support of the Chicago Gynecolog- ical Society and a large majority of the mem- bers of the medical profession of Chicago. In 1897 she was elected dean of the Northwestern Woman's Medical School, having previously served as its secretary for many years. For several years she was professor of gynecology in the post-graduate Medical School of Chicago. Dr. Meigler was a member of the state med- ical society and Chicago Medical Society. She gained great distinction as a diagnostician and surgeon. At the time of her death the Gazette Medicate de Paris referred to her as celebrated for her success in abdominal sur- gery and said that Europe had no such woman operators of this stamp. She died of pernicious anemia in California on her fiftieth birthday, May 18, 1901. Dr. Meigler had editorial connections with the Woman's Medical Journal of Chicago. She wrote: "A Guide to the Study of Gynecol- ogy," 1892; "History of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago," 1893; and in collaboration with Charles W. Earle, "Diseases of the New- born." ("American Text-book of Obstetrics.") Alfreda B. Withington. Jour. Amer. Med. Asso., vol. xxxvi. Les femmes medecines professeurs de Chirugie a I'etranger. Mile, le Dr. M. J. Meigler (Chi- cago). ^Si-J Gazette Medicale de Paris. 1901, 12 Serie. Woman's Journal, Boston, vol. xxxii. Meigs, Arthur Vincent (1850-1912) Artliur Vincent Meigs, pioneer investigator of the chemistry of milk, was born in Phila- delphia, on November 1, 1850, and lived in that city throughout his life. He was of the eighth generation, in direct descent, from Vincent Meigs, who came to this country from England about 1647 ; both his father, J. Forsyth (q. v.), and his paternal grandfather, Charles Delucena (q. v.), were physicians. As a boy he attended the Classical Institute of John W. Faires and entered the academic department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1866, but his father was im- patient to have him begin his medical course and took him out of college at the end of two years. He began his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania immediately and finished in the spring of 1871, but did not get his degree until some months later, on account of the rule that degrees were not given to students under the age of twenty-one. Parts of the years 1871 and 1872 were spent abroad, largely in studying medicine at Vienna. From 1872 to 1874 he was a resident at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and immediately after- ward began the practice of medicine, which he continued until his death, January 1, 1912. During this period he published a number of scientific articles, a monograph on milk analysis, and two books dealing with diseases of the bloodvessels. In 1878 he married Mary Roberts Brown- ing, by whom he had three sons who survived him. One son, Edward Browning Meigs, M. D., was attached to the Dairy Division of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Arthur Meigs was attending physician at the Chil- dren's Hospital, at the Sheltering Arms, and at the Pennsylvania Hospital; at one time a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and of the Wistar Institute; an active member of this College, and its president from 1904 to 1907. He was also, at one time, president of the Pathological Society, consulting physician at the Penitentiary and at the Pennsylvania In- stitution for the Instruction of the Blind. In 1899 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. Such is, in very brief form, the outline of his life. Of his scientific work, that on the chemistry of milk is, perhaps, the most important. His first article on this subject is entitled "Milk Analysis" and was published in the Philadel- phia Medical Times in 1882. From 1882 to 1886, most of the time which he could spare from his practice was devoted to the milk question ; the fruit of this labor was a num- ber of other smaller articles and a monograph entitled "Milk Analysis and Infant Feeding." For a period of twenty-two years Dr. Meigs devoted himself chiefly to other scientific ques- tions, but in 1908 he again took up the chem- istry of milk and worked at it until his death. The work of this latter period was carried out in the Hare Chemical Laboratory of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, largely under the supervision of Dr. John Marshall, and with the help of several trained chemists. The re- sults of the earlier work were, to a large ex- tent, confirmed and a number of interesting new points were brought out. A brief account of some of the aspects of this later work appeared in an article published on December 30, 1911. A satisfactory proof that his work was ap- preciated is given by Dr. Winters, professor