WELLS 1217 WESBROOK an opportunity of experimenting. In 1847 he re- moved to New York and was arrested for throwing vitriol on the clothes of women in the streets. This aggravated a mental disorder he had and he committed suicide. "Wells was the first to take the step to which the finger of Humphry Davy had pointed forty-five years before and the results and claims of Wells were familiar to his friend and former partner, Morton." ("A Con- sideration of the Introduction of Surgical Anesthesia," W. H. Welch, Boston, 1906.) A History of the Discovery of the Application of Nitrous Oxide Gas, Ether, and Other Vapors to Surgical Operations, J. G. Wells, Hartford, 1S47. Discovery of the Late Dr. Horace Wells, Hart- ford, 1850. Dr. Wells, the Discoverer of Anesthesia, New York, 1860. An Examination of the Question of Anesthesia, Truman Smith, New York, 1858. Trials of a Public Benefactor (W. T. G. Morton) as Illustrated by the Discovery of Etherization, N. P. Rice, 1859. Appleton's Encyclop. Amer. Biog., 1889. WelU, John Doane (1799-1830) He was born in Boston, March 6, 1799, and graduated in the academic department at Har- vard, in 1817, afterwards entering on the study of medicine and serving an apprentice- ship with G. C. Shattuck (q.v.), who offered special advantages for the study of anatomy. "It was the custom among the young men, with whom he associated, for each one, having dis- sected a part, to give a lecture thereon to his fellow students. In this useful exercise Wells took much pleasure, and he would often give an exposition, which for accuracy of knowl- edge, clearness of arrangement and facility of expression would not have been discreditable to an older and much more experienced lec- turer." Wells received his M. D. from Har- vard in 1820, when his dissertation — on cancer — is said to have been a very good one. In 1821 he -went to Brunswick, Maine, as as- sistant dissector to Nathan Smith (q.v.). He frequently took Smith's place in the lecture room, and in the following May was appointed professor of anatomy and surgery. He then went to Europe, and visited France, England and Scotland to prepare for his work. He returned in 1822, and began work in 1823 at Brunswick, where his great success as a lecturer served to establish a high reputation for the school. He spent much time in build- ing up a library and a museum. The yearly course of lectures in medical schools in his day was short. After completing his course of lectures, he returned to Boston to establish a practice and in 1823 was appointed physi- cian to the Boston Dispensary, but continued his work each year at Brunswick, and became the most popular lecturer on anatomy in New England. In 1826 he was elected professor of anatomy and surgery in Berkshire Medical Institution at Pittsfield, in which the course of lectures was held at a different time of the year from that at Brunswick. In 1829 he re- ceived a call to the University of Maryland, at Baltimore, and in the same year the Berk- shire Medical Institution gave him her M. D. Overwork in connection with the two New England schools, as well as in Baltimore, is said to have sapped his strength so that tuber- culosis gained a rapid hold on him, and he died in Boston, July 25, 1830. Wells, while not gifted with an original mind, was both brilliant and eloquent. Charles R. Bardeen. Boston Med. & Surg. Jour., 1831, vol. iii. Bait. Month. Jour., Med. & Surg., Eulogium. Nathan R. Smith, 1830-31, vol. i. Wesbrook, Frank Fairchild (1868-1918) In the death of Dr. Wesbrook on October 21, 1918, the University of British Columbia lost its president and the medical profession one who had a distinguished scientific career before he devoted himself entirely to educa- tional work. Born in Brant County, Ontario, in 1868, he graduated in Arts and Medicine at the Uni- versity of Manitoba. Later, he studied abroad in Cambridge, London, Dublin and Marburg. For a time he was professor of pathology and bacterioIog>' in the University of Manitoba, and in 1S9.S was appointed to the correspond- ing professorship in the University of Minne- sota, which he held until 1913. He was dean of the Medical School from 1906-13. His work in public health was recognized as of the best, for many years being director of the laboratories and a member of the Minnesota State Board of Health. In 1913 he was ap- pointed president of the University of British Columbia and threw himself with energy and enthusiasm into the heavy work of organiza- tion of a new institution. It is not usual for college presidents to be chosen from the med- ical profession, but presumably Dr. Wesbrook's powers of organization and his ability in ad- ministration had much to do with the choice. The Great War added to his difficulties and in- terfered with the program of development which had been planned. He belonged to many societies both on this continent and abroad, and among other honors had held the presidency of the American Public Health Association and of the section on state and municipal hygiene in the International Congress of Hj-giene. The Universities of
