SENKLER
357
SENN
years yellow fever came, and in 1832
there occurred one of Asiatic cholera,
so-called. His success as a practitioner
was remarkable, as was well evinced in
the latter epidemic, as is shown by the
fact that while there were hundreds of
deaths from the disease in Washington
and Georgetown, there were only about
thirty in almost an equal number of cases
in Alexandria.
In 1808 he married Sophia Wilson, the daughter of John P. and Eliza Ramsey, and six children survived their parents.
Towards the close of his life he was attacked by a wasting disease, the result of incessant toil, and in July, 1833, was taken with a fever which he was unable to successfully combat, and on the last day of that month (July 31, 1833) he passed away.
A. portrait of Dr. Semmes is now in the possession of a grand-daughter.*
- Mrs. S. M. Slaughter, Mitchells, Culpepper
County, Virginia. There is also a portrait of him in the collection in the library of the surgeon- general of the United States Anny.
" R. M. S.
An unpublished sketch by one of his daugh- ters. Amer. .lour. Med. Scs., vol. xvii. William's Medical Biography.
Senkler, Albert Edward (1842-1899).
Albert Edward Senkler was an Eng- lishman by birth, having been born at Docking, Norfolk, England, March 8, 1842. When he was still a boy his father, a clergyman of the Church of England, came to Brockville, Ontario. His early education was obtained under the tute- lage of his father, who was a fellow of Caius College, Cambridge and a scholar, one who gave him at home an education and an intellectual start in life, such as few boys have. Being naturally of a scientific bent, Albert decided to study medicine, and at an early age entered Mc- Gill University at Montreal, where he re- ceived, when only twenty-one, his M. D., and that of Master of Surgery in 1863. Two years later he began to practise at St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he soon had a large clientele. From 1873 to 1876 he was a member of the Minnesota State
Board of Health and made the first
meteorological observations in the State
of Minnesota. 1880 saw him at St. Paul,
where he lived up to the time of his
death. He was president of the Minne-
sota Academy of Medicine, and professor
of clinical medicine in the medical depart-
ment of the Minnesota State University,
also at the time of his death on the staff
of every hospital in St. Paul. Indeed it
may be said that his profession, recog-
nizing and appreciating his character and
distinguished ability had conferred upon
him every honor within its power. He
married Frances Isabella Easton, at
Brockville, Canada, August 28, 1867.
Two children were born; the son, George
E., became a doctor.
Dr. Senkler, after a lingering illness, which for nearly a year prevented him from attending to his practice, died at his home in St. Paul, Sunday morning, December 10, 1899. A gentleman of the noblest type; a scholar in medicine, an accomplished physician who loved his profession and all that was best in it.
B. F.
Senn, Nicholas (1844- 1908).
Nicholas Senn, justly termed by his contemporaries the greatest surgeon, medical authority and writer the West had ever produced, was born in Buchs, Canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, on Octol)er 31, 1844, but his parents came to the United States in 1852 and settled in A.shford, Wisconsin. Nicholas became a student at the Chicago Medical College in 1868, and after graduating there returned to Europe and devoted his time to research and pathological studies. His early experimental work on abdomi- nal surgery, later carried into practice, made him foremost in this field. His decalcified bone plates for intestinal anastomo-ses, given to the profession after an astounding number of experiments, revolutionized intestinal surgery and were the forerunners of all modern mechanical intestinal devices. His re- searches on intestinal perforation, especi- ally by gunshot wounds, in which he
