DEWOLF 311 DEWOLF pital a system of treatment which was free from the restraint, seclusion and abuses even at that time still common, and he soon estab- lished for the Nova Scotia Hospital the rep- utation of being one of the most advanced in- stitutions in the world for treatment. He de- voted himself to his calling with a rare de- gree of unselfishness, and conscientiously la- bored in season and out for what he con- sidered would lead to better the conditions of the insane. After twenty years of active work of this kind he retired to private life, but never lost interest in their cause. Up to the very last he continued to keep in touch with the literature of insanity and to follow closely the work of the hospital with whose history his name is so honorably associated. Dr. DeWolf's mission was undoubtedly the care of the insane, and the memory of his faithful labors will not perish. He died at Halifax in 1901. He always took an active interest in the organization of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia, was its first secretary, and was chosen president in 1866. Dr. DeWolf married Eleanor Reid Sandifer, of Cambridge, England, and had four chil- dren. His son, George H. H. DeWolf, studied medicine, and practised in England and also for a short time in Nova Scotia. Donald A. Campbell. DeWolf, Oscar Coleman (1835-1910). Oscar Coleman DeWolf, Chicago sanitarian, eldest son of Dr. Thaddeus DeWolf and grandson of Captain James DeWolf of the army of the Revolution, was born August 8, 1835, at Chester Center, in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts. After a two years' course, he was graduated from the Berkshire Medical College, of Pittsfield, Mass., in 1857. He took another course of study at the University of the City of New York in 1858. After two years further study in Paris in the clinics of Nel- aton, Trousseau and other great teachers of the time. Dr. DeWolf returned to America at the opening of the Civil War and offered his services to his country. He was appointed assistant surgeon of the first Massachusetts Cavalry in 1861, and in 1862 became surgeon of the second Massachusetts Cavalry and served throughout the war. In 1866 he began the practice of medicine in Northampton, Mass., where he continued until 1874. During this time he delivered a course of lectures in a medical college in Cleveland, Ohio, and was given an honorary degree of Master of Arts by Williams College. He removed to Chicago in 1874 and en- gaged in active practice there. On July 19, 1876, the city council of Chicago passed an ordinance creating a department of health, to take the place of a board of health. This ordinance created the office of commissioner of health and placed the entire authority of the department in that official. Dr. DeWolf was appointed to this position by Mayor Heath, on the suggestion of Dr. Bowditch of Boston, and filled the position with conspicl.i- ous ability until 1889. His administration was characterized by courage, progress, intelligence and dignity. It gained for him a national and international reputation. When Dr. DeWolf became commissioner of Heahh the Chicago River was very foul. Thousands of cattle were housed and fed at a distillery in the vicinity of Chicago Avenue and the north branch of the river. The offal was either dumped into the river, or carried in scows onto the lake and dumped there. The population was increasing at a rapid rate. Immigration was large, and Chicago, being a distributing point for the West, north- west and south-west, the immigrants here, for the first time since leaving their homes in Europe, unpacked their baggage and liberated any concealed contagion they carried with them. Small-pox was traced to this source and contagious diseases were rife. Health laws were limited in scope. Dr. DeWolf faced all these problems with rare courage, intelligence and method. He undertook a thorough ref- ormation of the slaughtering and rendering business in the city. The fight with the pack- ers was bitter and prolonged, but the final result was that all were driven outside the limits of the city and that healthful, sanitary measures were established. In 1882 Dr. DeWolf was made professor of state medicine and public hygiene in the Chicago Medical College, now the medical department of Northwestern University, and filled the chair until 1892, when he resigned. In 1882 the British Association for the Ad- vancement of Science made Dr. DeWolf an honorary member of their body, a compliment that had previously been paid to but two of his countrymen. When Dr. DeWolf retired from the office of commissioner of health, after more than twelve years of service, his practice was gone and his means limited. He was fifty-four years of age. His efforts to regain a practice were not immediately successful and he became in- terested by the claims of the "Keeley Cure" for drunkenness. He secured the right to use
