WADSWORTH 1182 WAGNER showed himself a broad-minded, liberal and energetic administrator, one ever keenly ob- servant of the best interests of his patients and the advancement of his institution. Institutional Care of the Insane in the U. S. & Canada, Henry M. Hurd, 1917. Cvclop. Canadian Biog., G. Maclean Rose, Toronto, '1888. Wadsworth, Oliver Fairfield (1838-1911) Oliver Fairfield Wadsworth, ophthalmolo- gist, son of Alexander and Mary Hubbard Fairfield Wadsworth, was born in Boston, April 26, 1838. His father, a civil engineer and surveyor, came to Boston from Hiram, Me., and was a descendant of Christopher W. Wadsworth who settled in Boston in 1632. Oliver was educated at the Boston Latin School and at Harvard College, where he re- ceived his A. B. in 1860, and an A. M. in 1863. Immediately after graduation he went to Colo- rado and engaged in farming for a year and a half, acquiring a love of out-door life that he was able to gratify later in many summers spent in camp in the Adirondacks. In March, 1862, he returned to Boston and entered Har- vard Medical School, completing his course there and an internship in the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1865, but before his degree was given him he had served as assistant surgeon of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry in Virginia and Texas, being mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of captain. He began the practice of medicine in his native city in November, 1865 ; he married Miss Mary Chapman Goodwin, of Boston, April 16, 1867, and in the course of time they had six chil- dren ; in February, 1869, with his wife and in- fant son, he went to Germany to study oph- thalmology, having previously, in the fall of 1865, spent some time in the same study with Professor Horner in Zurich, Switzerland. He returned to Boston in November, 1870, and practised ophthalmology there for the rest of his life. Appointments to ophthalmological positions were conferred on him soon, the first being ophthalmic surgeon at the Boston City Hospital, 1870, followed by ophthalmic surgeon to out-patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1874, instructor in ophthalmoscopy in Harvard Medical School, 1881, professor of ophthalmology, 1891, and Williams professor, in the same, 1899-1903. He was appointed ophthalmic surgeon to the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1892 and held the position until his retirement in 1903. Thus he was visiting ophthalmologist to all the hospitals of the city, in which there was a ser- vice for diseases of the eye, for many years. Dr. Wadsworth's skill in the use of the oph- thalmoscope and the accuracy of his ophthal- moscopic diagnosis were know'n to all his colleagues. As an operator he was cool, con- fident and skilful, following the safe and well- known methods. As the head of the depart- ment of the Harvard Medical School he was conservative and efticient. Under his admin- istration required clinical as well as written examinations were introduced, being the first department of the school to adopt this system, Dr. Wadsworth giving conscientious individual consideration to the marks awarded to each student and spending a great deal of time in teaching the advanced students. In his active years he was a frequent writer, publishing be- tween forty and fifty original articles, many of them appearing in the transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, of which he was president for five years, his best known paper being a description of the lovca cen- tralis retinae. One of Dr. Wadsworth's life interests was the Boston Medical Library which he helped organize under the stimulation of Dr. J. R. Chadwick (q.v.) in 1875. Dr. Wadsworth was the original clerk of the corporation and be- came secretary in 1904 after the reorganization made necessary by moving into the new build- ing on the Fenway. For thirty-six years he saw the library grow in size and influence and resigned only when forced to do so by a lin- gering illness due to carcinoma of the bladder. In Dr. Wadsworth there was a blending of unusual vigor of mind and bod' combined with an affectionate and lovable disposition. He had a wiry frame and a military bearing and possessed great power of work. He was fond of music and had a knowledge of it. Disputation was to him a diversion, but though disputatious, ieiiax propositi, there was no bitterness and no ill feeling. He took what came to him cheerfully and without complaint, and this was exemplified most markedly in the manner in which he departed this life, for dur- ing many months of suffering he refused to talk about himself even with his intimate friends. He died November 29, 1911, leaving to the Medical Library ten thousand dollars for a book fund. One of his sons, Richard Goodwin Wadsworth, became a physician in Boston. George B. Shattuck. Trans. Amer. Oph. Soc, Myles Standish. 1912- 1914, vol. xiii, 11-14. Portrait. Boston Med. & Surg. Journal. 1911, vol. clxv,. 931-934. Obit, and In Mem. Wagner, Clinton (1837-1914) Clinton Wagner, a scion of early settlers of Maryland, was born in Baltimore on October 28, 1837. He received his early education at
