of pharmacy, and in 1866 became professor of physiology and hygiene, and clinical professor of diseases of the throat and chest in the University of Maryland. He served as president of the medical and surgical faculty of the state of Maryland, and of the American climatological association. Dr. Donaldson published papers in the medical journals, principally upon diseases of the heart, lungs, and throat, and is the author of “The Influence of City Life and Occupations in Developing Consumption” (Cambridge, 1876).
DONALDSON, James Lowry, soldier, b. in
Baltimore, Md., 17 March, 1814; d. there, 4 Nov.,
1885. He was graduated at the U. S. military
academy in 1836, and became 2d lieutenant in the
3d artillery, serving in that capacity during the
Florida war in 1836-'8. He was transferred to the
1st artillery in May, 1837, and became 1st lieutenant
in July, 1838. Subsequently he was on garrison
duty until 1846, when he was stationed at Fort
Brown during the military occupation of Texas.
During the Mexican war he participated in the
battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, receiving the
brevets of captain and major. He was appointed
assistant quartermaster, with the rank of captain,
in March, 1847, and was on duty as such in
Coahuila, Mexico. Subsequent to the war he continued
as quartermaster at various posts until he
became chief quartermaster of the Department of New
Mexico in 1858-'62. During the civil war he held
a like office in Pittsburgh, Pa., with the 8th army
corps in Baltimore, Md., and in the Department of
the Cumberland. He was chief quartermaster of
the military division of the Tennessee in June,
1865, and of the military division of the Missouri
until 1869, when he was retired. Meanwhile he
had attained the rank of colonel on the staff, and
had received the brevet of major-general of volunteers.
He resigned on 1 Jan., 1874. During his
administration of the quartermaster's department
of the division of the Tennessee, he became a favorite
with Gen. George H. Thomas, to whom he
suggested the creation of cemeteries for the scattered
remains of soldiers who had fallen in battle, from
which has resulted the annual Decoration day. Gen.
Donaldson published “Sergeant Atkins”
(Philadelphia, 1871), a tale of adventure founded on
events that took place during the Florida war.
DONALDSON, Washington H., aeronaut, b.
in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1840; drowned in Lake
Michigan, 15 July, 1875. He was one of those apt,
energetic, restless individuals known as natural
geniuses. He could do anything he undertook to
do, and would undertake anything that came in
his way. He had enough education for his wants,
and an admirable physique, though a little short
in stature. Gymnastics were as second nature to
him, and there was little in this line in which he
was not an expert. Amiability was a chief
characteristic, which never failed to assert itself; his
rare good humor and pleasant manners won him
friends wherever he went, and there never was an
aeronaut more popular than he. His early life was
spent upon the stage as a gymnast, ventriloquist,
and magician. He was a graceful tight-rope
performer. In 1862 he walked across the Schuylkill
river on a rope 1,200 feet long, returning to the
middle and finishing by jumping into the river
from a height of 90 feet. He also walked across
the Genesee river at Rochester on a rope 1,800 feet
long, recrossing it with a man in a wheelbarrow
trundled in front of him. From 1857 till 1871 he
travelled through the United States, appearing not
fewer than 1,300 times in his various specialties.
It happened, in a western city, that his host
possessed
a balloon, left with him for a debt, which he
was anxious to sell. Donaldson proposed a trade;
he would teach the landlord the mysteries of the
black art and transfer to him all the paraphernalia
of his exhibitions, which was done, and Donaldson
found himself the owner of a balloon. Without
the slightest previous knowledge of balloon
management, he made arrangements for an ascension,
taking his first lesson in a failure, which happened
for want of lighter gas or a larger balloon, the
latter being too small to carry him except with pure
hydrogen. The balloon was enlarged and tried
again with coal-gas, as in the previous instance;
and this time, 30 Aug., 1871, it succeeded in getting
off after Donaldson had thrown away every
available thing, even his coat, boots, and hat. This
ascent was made from Reading, Pa., and the
descent 18 miles distant. Another ascent was made
from Reading, in September, upon a trapeze-bar.
On 18 Jan., 1872, he ascended from Norfolk, Va.,
and his balloon accidentally burst when a mile from
the ground. He said of it: “The balloon did not
collapse, but closed up at the sides, and, swaying
from side to side, descended with frightful velocity.
I clung with all my strength to the hoop. I could
not tell how badly I was frightened, but felt as
though all my hair had been torn out. I scarcely
had time to realize that I was alive, when, with a
crash, I was projected with the velocity of a catapult
into a burr-chestnut tree. The netting and
rigging, catching in the tree, checked my velocity,
but I had my grasp jerked loose, and was precipitated
through the limbs and landed flat upon my
back, with my tights nearly torn off, and my legs,
arms, and body lacerated and bleeding.” Shortly
after this he ascended again from Norfolk, but on
this occasion, in his haste to avoid being carried
out to sea, his balloon was wrecked among the
trees, although he himself escaped injury. He then
undertook the construction of a balloon which he
called the “Magenta.” It was made of fine jaconet,
held about 10,000 cubic feet of gas, and weighed
about 100 pounds. He made several ascensions
with this balloon, two of which were from Chicago.
On the first occasion he was carried out or Lake
Michigan and dragged more than a mile through
the water, bringing up against a stone pier finally
with such violence as to render him insensible. On
17 May, 1873, he ascended from Reading, Pa., in a
balloon made of manilla-paper enclosed with a light
network, the whole weighing but 48 pounds,
although it contained 14,000 cubic feet of gas. He
travelled ten miles before landing. Donaldson was
a convert to Wise's theory of a constant current
blowing from west to east at a height of three miles,
and, as the veteran aeronaut had said a balloon could
cross the ocean in this current, Donaldson was ready
to take the venture, and so announced his intention
of making the attempt. Wise offered to join
him, and they set out together to raise the necessary
funds, they went to New York and opened
a subscription, but while this was in progress the
proprietors of the “Daily Graphic” offered to
furnish the funds required for the construction of a
very large balloon and outfit, together with the gas
required. The proposition was accepted, and the
construction of an immense balloon of twilled cotton
was carried to completion. But before the
inflation some differences arose between the aeronauts
regarding the reliability of the balloon.
Donaldson's inexperience placed him in a secondary
position throughout the entire transaction, but
when the time for action came he found himself
the principal, Mr. Wise having withdrawn. Such
a balloon as Donaldson found himself possessed of
