WIELICZKA 364 (1768) ; and a prose translation of Shakespeare (8 vols. 1762-1766) ; while in the third and ripest period were writ- ten the romantic epic of "Oberon" (1781); "History of the Abderites" (1784) ; "The Republic of Fools" (1786) ; "The Secret History of Peregrinus Pro- teus" (1791) ; etc. He also published translations of Horace, Lucian, and the "Letters of Cicero." He died in Weimar, Germany, Jan. 20, 1813. WIELICZKA, a town in Poland; 9 miles S. E. of Cracow; famous for its wonderful salt mines, which have been continuously worked since 1250. They consist of seven different levels, or stories, one above the other, connected by in- tricate passages and flights of steps, and in some places by lofty bridges, measure from E. to W. 12,468 feet, from N. to S. 3,117 feet, and reach their greatest depth at 918 feet. The annual production of salt up to 1872 was 37,000 tons, but since that date it has gone up to 80,000 tons. Several of the disused galleries have been adorned with statues hewn in the rock salt, and two chapels have been excavated, in the larger of which the Mass is celebi-ated annually on July 3. The chapels were injured by the inunda- tion of 1868. Pop. about 8,000. WIEBTZ, ANTON JOSEPH, a Bel- gian painter; born in Dinant, Belgium, Feb. 22, 1806; studied at Antwerp and Rome. In 1836 he settled in Liege, and in 1848 at Brussels. His original artis- tic ideal was to combine the excellen- cies of Michael Angelo and Rubens; and his efforts in this direction are visible in his pictures of "The Fight of Greeks and Trojans Round the Dead Body of Pa- troclus," "The Disobedient Angels," "The Death of St. Denis," "Eve and Satan," "The Flight Into Egypt," and "The Triumph of Christ"— some of them very large canvases. As he could not persuade himself to sell such pic- tures, he maintained himself now and later by painting portraits. About 1848- 1850 he developed a new technical method which he called "Peinture Mate"; and now he began to paint totally different subjects — speculative and mystical pieces, dreams and visions, and the horrible out- come of a morbid imagination — pre- mature burial, suicide, madness, execu- tion, sensations after death. There were genre pictures also which were only eccentric — "Quasimodo," "The Young Witch;" and even pleasing and kindly pictures— "The Maid at Her Toilet," "The Confession"; and he also left some sculptures. In 1850 the state had built for him a large studio in Brussels, and at his death this became, by an arrange- ment between the state and his heirs, the WIGOIN Musee Wiertz, one of the sights of the city. He died in Brussels, June 18, 1865. WIESBADEN, a town of Prussia, proyince of Hesse-Nassau; until 18G6 capital of the independent duchy of Nas- sau; on the S. W. spurs of the Taunus Mountains, 377 feet above the sea; 6 miles N. of Mainz. It is well built, and contains a large number of splendid ho- tels. The chief buildings are the Gothic Protestant church (1853-1862), a noble edifice v/ith five lofty towers, containing colossal marble statues of Christ and the four Evangelists; the Roman Catholic church (1844-1849), in the Romanesque style; the English church (1863-1865); the synagogue, in the Oriental style; the Schloss (1837-1840) ; the museum, with a picture gallery, a collection of antiq- uities, a natural history collection, and a library of 100,000 volumes ; the Pauline palace (1842), in Moorish style; the gov- ernment buildings (1842), in the Floren- tine palatial style; the Greek chapel, erected by the Duke of Nassau as a mausoleum for his first wife, Elizabeth Michailowna; and the Kursaal, the prin- cipal resort of visitors, the largest hall of which is 132 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 48 feet high. Connected with the Kursaal by a long iron Trinkhalle is the Kochbrunnen, the principal of the 22 medicinal springs of Wiesbaden. Its wa- ters have a temperature of 156° F. The second spring is that in the garden of the Adler Hotel, 147° F. Wiesbaden is one of the most frequented spas in Eu- rope. The springs of Wiesbaden are spoken of by Pliny as the "Fontes Mat- tiaci," and on the Heidenberg, N. of the town, traces of a Roman fortress were discovered in 1838, which seems to have been connected with the town by a wall, the Heidenmauer ("heathens' wall"), in the ruins of which votive tablets and in- scriptions have been discovered. Pop. about 110,000. WIGAN, a municipal and parliamen- tary borough, Lancashire, England, on the Douglas, 21 miles N. E. of Liverpool. Wigan stands in the center of an exten- sive coal field, and its manufactures, which are important, consist chiefly of calicoes, fustians, and other cotton goods, linens, checks, cotton twist, etc., besides iron foundries, iron forges, railway car works, iron rolling mills, large breweries, chemical works, and corn and paper mills. Pop. about 90,000. WIGGIN. KATE DOUGLAS. an American author; born (Smith) in Phil- adelphia, Pa., Sept. 28, 1857. Her youth was spent in Hollis, Me., and she attend- ed Abbott Academy in Andover, Mass. She went to California in 1876, where
