Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/586

* WHOOPING-COUGH. 496 WICHITA. the child seizes some person or object for sup- port. These paroxysms occur at uncertain inter- vals, but usually about every two hours, and be- tween theiu the child returns to play, takes food with good appetite, and exhibits little or no sign of illness. The disease reaches its height at about the end of the fourth week, after which the paroxysms diminish in frequency, and the patient shows signs of improvement. The second stage may last from two to eight weeks, and is succeeded by what may be termed the convales- cent stage, the duration of which is very variable. Pathology has failed to throw any direct light upon its special seat. The proportion of deaths to recoveries in cases of wliooping-cough has not been satisfactorily determined, but when there is a severe epidemic the mortality due to this disease is often very great; the deaths, how- ever, in the majority of eases, occur among the poorer classes. This mortality is, in reality, due rather to the broncliitis and pneumonia which are frequent complications of whooping-cough than to the disease itself. The diet should consist of milk and unstimu- lating farinaceous matters. The bowels should be kept moderately open. If the weather is cold, the child should be kept in the house with the temperature of the room about 60°. Slight counter-irritants may also be applied to the sur- face of the chest. Nothing else is so serviceable in the last or convalescent stage as sea air. The medicinal treatment calls for the services of a physician. WHORTLEBERRY. See Huckleberry. WHYDAH, hwid'a or hwi'da. A seaport of Dahomey, Western Africa. It is on a lagoon 25 miles long and in a low region (ilap: Africa, E 4 ). It was formerly a centre of the slave traffic, and has declined in importance, having now only some 20,000 inhabitants. WHYMPER, hwlm'per, Edward (1840—). An English traveler, born in London. He was trained as a draughtsman on wood. In 1860 he was sent by a London publisher to sketch the Alpine peaks. In 1861 he reached the summit of Mount Pelvoux and in 1864 ascended the Point des Ecrins. In 1865 he scaled the Matterhorn, until then found inaccessible. In 1867 and 1872 he visited Greenland. One result of his explora- tions was the collection of rare fossil plants now in the British Museum. His discovery of mag- nolia cones demonstrated the former existence of luxurious vegetation in that country. He visited the Ecuadorian Andes in 1870-SO, and succeeded in reaching the summit of Chimborazo, a feat which had been niisuccessfully attempted by Humboldt and others. During this journey he discovered the Andean glaciers and made further collections of fossil, plant, and animal speci- mens. In addition to his Scramhlen Amonqst the Alps in the Years 1Sr,n-!l (1871; illustrated by liimself), he described his travels in Travels Among the Great Andes of the Equator (1892) : Chamonia and Mont Blanc (1896) ; ai)d Zemiatt and the Matterhorn (1897). WHYTE, A'loi-ET. See Stannard, Henrietta Ei.i/A Vmhiian. WHYTE'-MEL'VrLLE, Georce .Ioiin. See Mklvilijc, (i;orge .Iohn Whyte. WICHERN, viK'ern, .Joiiann IIeinkicii ( 1 SOS- SI). The founder of home missions in Ger- many. He was born at Hamburg, studied the- ology at Gottingen and Berlin, and, settling in his native city, devoted himself to missionary work among the poor. He started a Sunday- school which proved very successful, and in 1833 > opened his Rauhes Haus (q.v. ). Wichern traveled through Germany, preaching and establishing hospitals, schools, homes, and rescue stations. Through his exertions the Protestant synod at Wittenberg in 1848 appointed a central com- mittee for home missions. In 1851 the Prussian Government made him inspector of prisons and houses of correction, and in 1858 general super- intendent. In 1872 disease forced him to retire from office. He published: Die inncrc Mission der deutschen evangelischen Kirche (1849) ; Die Behandlung der Yerbrecher und eiitlassenen Striiflinge (1853) ; Der Dicnst der Frauen in der Kirche (1858). WICHERT, viK'ert, Ernest (1831-1902). A German dramatist and novelist, born at Inster- burg. With his play Vnser General York (1858) Wichert won his first success, and from that time produced both phays and novels which estal)lished his reputation as a sound playwright and interesting story-teller. Licht und HchaUcn (1861), Die Realist en (1874), and Im Dietist der Pflicht (1897) are among his dramas. Con- siderable success attended his comedy Ein Sehritt vom Wege (1871), also Biegen oder brechen (1874) and Als Yerlobte empfehlen sich. His volumes of fiction include: Ein hiisslicher Menseh (1868) ; Die Arbeiter (1873) ; Die Taube auf dem Daehe (1892); and Die Schnvestern (1896). WICHITA, wiehl-ta. A tribe of Caddoan stock ( (J. v. ), formerly ranging over the country between the Washita and Upper Red Rivers, in- cluding the Wichita Mountains, in southern Oklahoma, and now gathered in a reservation on the north side of Washita in the vicinity of Anadarko. According to tradition, they, as well as their confederates, the Waco (q.v.) and Tawa- coni, are direct oflfshoots of the Pawnee (q.v.), all these tribes speaking the same language with but slight dialectic differences. They call them- selves Kitikittsh and sometimes TawehasJi. of which their popular name may be a derivative. By the French they were called Pani PiquP, 'Tivttooed Pawnee,' their conunon designation among other tribes being 'Tattooed People.' in allusion to the tribal custom of tattooing upon the face, arms, and breast, particularly among the women. Like all the Caddoan tribes, the Wichita were :igrieultural and semi-sedentary, occupying villages of large dome-shaped houses built of gr:iss laid over a framework of polos. On temporary outings they used the ordinary skin tipi. They had a luimbor of interesting cercmoTiials, most of which they .still retain, including a gift d:ince, a thanks- giving or green corn dance, and a great cere- monial foot race in which every one al)Ie to run participated. They were peaceable and indus- trious and are one of the few tribes which have always kept peace with the whites. Their earliest migration appears to have been up the Red or Canadi;ui River from .Vrkansas or Louisiana. They arc i(l('ntic:il with the people of Quivira visit;ed by Corona<lo in 1542. About 1780 they were living about the present Wichita Falls, Tex. At a later period they fixed their