1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pepper, William

PEPPER, WILLIAM (1843–1898), American physician, was born in Philadelphia, on the 21st of August 1843. He was educated at the university of Pennsylvania, graduating from the academic department in 1862 and from the medical department in 1864. In 1868 he became lecturer on morbid anatomy in the same institution, and in 1870 lecturer on clinical medicine. From 1876 to 1887 he was professor of clinical medicine, and in 1887 succeeded Dr Alfred Stillé as professor of theory and practice of medicine. He was elected provost of the university in 1881, resigning that position in 1894. For his services as medical director of the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 he was made knight commander of St Olaf by the king of Sweden. He founded the Philadelphia Medical Times, and was editor of that journal in 1870–1871. He was known particularly for his contributions on the subject of the theory and practice of medicine, and the System of Medicine which he edited in 1885–1886 became one of the standard textbooks in America. Among his contributions to the medical and scientific journals of the day, were “Trephining in Cerebral Diseases” (1871); “Local Treatment in Pulmonary Cavities” (1874); “Catarrhal Irrigation” (1881); “Epilepsy” (1883), and “Higher Medical Education: the True Interest of the Public and the Profession.” He died on the 28th of July 1898 at Pleasanton, California.