WEBSTER 1212 WEEKS of heart and his fidelity in friendship. His military career was an honor to himself and his Corps. Merritte W. Ireland. Alienist and Neurologist, 1916, vol. xvii, 98. Appleton's Cyclop. Amer. Biog., N. Y., 1888, vol. vi. Webster, William Bennet (1798-1861) William Bennett Webster, born at Kentville, Nova Scotia, January 18, 1798, was the son of Dr. Isaac Webster, a lineal descendant in the fifth generation of John Webster, one of the royal governors of Connecticut, and of Prudence Bentley. His father came to Corn- wallis in 1791, and was married in 1794. Although not a regularly educated physician he practised medicine at Kentville, and there acquired the reputation of being "a stern man and a skilful doctor." He died in 1851, at the age of 85. William Bennet Webster received his gen- eral education, partly at the Cornwallis Gram- mar School conducted by Rev. William Forsyth, and partly at Pictou Academy. It seems that one or more of his early instructors encouraged him to study nathral history, and to such investigations his energies were largely devoted throughout his life. His studies were taken in New York, where he graduated M. D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1824. After so graduating he spent a year in London and Paris, devoting his whole time to medical studies. Then settling in Kentville, he soon acquired an extensive practice which was maintained down to the date of his death in 1861. He was an able practitioner, skilful as a surgeon, and was especially noted for his success in performing delicate operations on the eye. Dr. Webster was well versed in natural history. His favorite studies were geology and minera!og>', and he devoted all his spare time to research work, mainly in his native country. He accompanied Sir Charles Lyell in that great geologist's tour through the west- ern part of the Province. Sir Charles after- wards corresponded with him, and sent him copies of his works as tokens of remembrance and esteem, and these Dr. Webster prized very highly. Dr. Webster made a very extensive collection of Nova Scotian minerals and fos- sils. This collection was generously donated bj' his widow to the provincial museum, but only a few of the specimens now remain, for most of them were seriously damaged and ultimately destroyed in transportation to various international exhibitions. Dr. Dawson was very favorably impressed with Dr. Webster's attainments in geology, and in his work on Acadian geology makes fre- quent reference to his discoveries. To a fossil plant which Dr. Webster found in the slates of Beech Hill, near Kentville, Dawson gave the name Dictyonema Websteri, in honor of the discoverer ; and no doubt Daw- son's influence had weight in securing the election of Webster as a Fellow of the Geolog- ical Society of London. Dr. Webster represented the County of Ivings in the House of Assembly from 1855 to 1861. In politics he did not distinguish him- self, and perhaps made some enemies. But he did some good work in the House, was ever a strenuous supporter of all measures intro- duced to improve the status of the medical profession, and, most notablj', was the intro- ducer of the Medical Act of 1856, which he supported by a carefully prepared and effective speech. The Maritime Med. News, Halifax, 1910. vol. xxii, 183-184. Weeks, Henry Martin (1850-1909) Henry M. Weeks was born at Irvington, New Jersey, October 26, 1850. He attended the public schools of his village during the early years of his life, and at the age of 13 moved to New York City, where he held a clerical position. At the age of 17 he began the study of medicine, and in 1873 he was graduated from ihe Medical Department of the University of New York. After his graduation he was associated with Dr. William A. Smith, of Newark, New Jersey, in the practice of his profession. In 1877 he settled in Falsington, Pennsylvania, where he actively engaged in the practice of medicine until 1881, when he moved to Trenton, New Jersey, opening there, in 1886, a private hospital for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases. Soon after his removal to Trenton he took an active part in the estab- lishment of the Trenton City Dispensary, the parent of the Mercer Hospital, and was a member of the surgical staff of that hospital. In 1897 he was elected to the position of assis- tant physician at the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane at Trenton, where he remained until 1899, when the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, at Skillman, was established, and he was chosen its superintendent. In 1907 he was elected superintendent of the Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble- minded and Epileptic at Pennhurst, Pennsyl- vania, and began his official duties on Decem- ber 1, 1907. He was thus called on to establish two institutions, and the success of both is largely due to his indefatigable energy during the formative period of these institutions.
