DEXTER 312 DICK the remedy in England and in 1892 opened a house for the cure of inebriates in the west end of London. Patrons flocked to him. Offi- cers of the army and navy, members of Par- liament and many from the ranks of the nobility were his patients. He met the Prince of Wales and he prospered beyond his dreams. Ha received many letters from people of rank who regarded his work as a philan- thropy and he so regarded it. He never knew the formula, but used it as Dr. Keeley, at Dwight, Illinois, directed. In 1903 Dr. DeWolf sold out his place and practice for a fortune, returned to America and took up his residence in his old home at Chester Center, Massachusetts. Here he gave a handsome library to the town and lived the life of a country gentleman, until his death, which occured March 28, 1910. Dr. DeWolf was married to Miss Harriet Lyman of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1867. They had no children. Bull, of The Soc. of Med. Hist, of Chicago, vol. i, August, 1912, No. 2, 109-113. A. R. Reynolds. Portrait. Dexter, Aaron (1750-1829). Aaron Dexter, first professor of chemistry and materia medica in Harvard College and founder of the Harvard Medical School, was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, November 11, 1750. His people came from Dedham, Massa- chusetts, but lived in Maiden near Chelsea when he entered Harvard College in 1772. He graduated in 1776 and studied medicine with Dr. Samuel Danforth, a chemist, in Boston. Towards the close of the Revolutionary War he married Rebecca, daughter of Thomas- Amory, of Boston, and began to practise in that city. He is said to have made several voyages to Europe as a medical officer during the Revolution and to have been captured by the British. His name does not appear among the medical men of the Revolution (Toner) and it is probable that he has been confused with William Dexter, who was surgeon's mate from Massachusetts. Aaron Dexter was an incorporator of the Massachusetts Medical Society and its first treasurer and one of the first five to plan the formation of the Massachusetts Humane Society, a society still in existence. He was also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Massachusetts Historical Society. On May 22, 1783, Dexter was chosen professor of chemistry and materia medica in the newly formed Harvard Medical School, and he, with John Warren and Ben- jamin Waterhouse, formed the entire faculty. In 1786 Harvard gave him her honorary M. D. and in 1805 Dartmouth did the same. In 1791 his professorship was endowed by Major William Erving (Harvard, 1763) as the Er- ying Professorship of Chemistry and Materia Medica. Dr. Dexter became emeritus pro- fessor in 1816, to be succeeded by John Gorham (q. v.). He was remarkable for his urbanity and kindness, and gave long and valuable service to the school he helped found and to many liter- ary and charitable institutions as well. He died of old age February 28, 1829, at his home in Cambridge. Dr. O. W. Holmes relates the following incident of one of Dr. Dexter's lectures in chemistry: "This experiment, gentlemen, is one of re- markable brilliancy. As I touch the powder you see before me with a drop of this fluid, it bursts into a sudden and brilliant flame," — which it most emphatically does not do as he makes the contact. "Gentlemen," he says, with a serious smile, "the experiment has failed, but the principle, gentlemen, the principle re- mains as firm as the everlasting hills." Walter L. Burrage. History Harvard Medical School, T. F. Harring- ton, N. Y., 1905. O. W. Holmes' address at one hundredth anniver- sary of Har. Med. Sch., 1883. Amer. Med. Riog. S. W. Williams, 1845. Dick, Elisha Cullen (1762-1825). Elisha Cullen Dick, the elder of two sons, only children of Archibald and Mary Barnard Dick, was born on his father's farm in Dela- ware County, Pennsylvania, about 1762. His father was a farmer of abundant means, a man of influence and culture who contributed large- ly to the fund for the support of the Penn- sylvania Hospital in 1771. A slave owner, he emancipated and made provision for his slaves by his will. He was assistant deputy quarter- master general of the army during the War of the Revolution. The boy's educational advantages were ex- cellent, as he continued at school until he be- came a good classical scholar. He studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Rush, and later with Dr. William Shippen, attending lectures at the University of Penn- sylvania, and graduating B. M. March 21, 1782, receiving later his M. D. Two days after this his father died and he fell heir to one-half the paternal estate. Dr. Dick selected Charleston, South Caro- lina, in which to practise, but stopped over in Alexandria on his way, and was persuaded to remain in that city. After the organization of the Medical So-
