HOWELL. 276 HOWITT. November 24. 1881, was retired with the rank of rcarudmiral. HOWELL, William Henry (I860—). An Anicricaii physiologist. He was born in Balti- more and graduated in 1881 at .Johns Hopkins, where he became associate professor of physiol- ogy (1888). and in 181I3, after teaching in the University of Michigan and for one year at Har- ard. was promoted to a professorship. He was made dean of the Medical School in 1809. Dr. Howell contributed to the London Journal of Physiology, the Trunsaclions of the Royal Society, the Johns Hopkins liiolorfical Studies, the Journal of Morphology, and the Journal of Experimental Uedicinc. In 1890 he eilited An American Tcxtm Book of Physiology. He contributed articles on physiology to the Sen- International Encyclo- pedia. HOWELLS, William Dean (1837—). An American novelist, editor, poet, and critic, born at Martin's Kerry, Ohio. .March 1, 18.'}7. of well- to-do Welsh-Quaker ant-estry. Howells spent his youth among books. He began making verses almost as soon as he could read, serving a lit- erary apprenticeship in his father's printing- office, afterwards as compositor on the Ohio State Journal and other newspapers, and still later as correspondent and editor. He first attracted marked attention by poems published in the Atlantic Monthly. In ISCiO he published Poems of Tico Friends with .lohn J. Piatt (q.v.), and in the same year wrote a campaign Life of Lin- coln, in recognition of which he received the enctian consulate (18til-6.5), as a fruit of which we have Venetian Life (1866), a work of vivid realism, llexihle .style, and genuine charm, which was followed by Italian Journeys (1867). On his return to -America Howells was connected editorially with the Trihune, the Times, and the Salion of New York, and. from 1800 to 1881, the .itlantic Monthly of Boston, of which he was the editor from 1871. Their Wedding Journey (1871), his first attempt at fiction, v«is followed, during his Boston residence, by .1 Chance Acquaintance (1872): A Foregone Conclusion (1874) : Out of the Question (1876) ; A Counterfeit Presentment (1S77) ; The Lady of the .-iroostook (1878); and The Undiscovered Country (1880). A Fearful Responsibility (1882)": Dr. Breen's Practice (1883) : A Modern Instance (1883); .1 IIohioh's Reason (1884); Three Villages (1885) ; and The Rise of Silas Lap- ham (ISS.";) were written during a residence in England and Italy. On his return in 1886 How- ells assumed an editorial function for Harper's Magazine, developing strong critical powers, and steadily opposing the romantic or pseudo- historic in modern fiction, though he is himself given to fanciful thoughts. He was also for a short time editor of the Cosmopolitan Magazine. The more noteworthy volumes of fiction in this period are: The .Minister's Charge ( '[HHd) : Indian Summer (1886) ; April Hopes (1888) ; Annie Kil- hurn (1888) ; A Hazard of .Vcic Fortunes (1889) ; The World of Chance ( 1803) ; The Coast of Bohe- mia (1803) : The Story of a Play (1809) ; Ragged Lady (1899): Their Silver Wedding Journey (1899) ; .4 Pair of Patient lovers (.short stories, 1901): Heroines of Fiction (1001); The Flight of Pony Raker (1902) : and The Kentons (1902). Howells has written also many farces, of which The Sleeping-Car. The Mouse-Trap, The Elevator, and Out of the Question, are charaeteriatic. Noteworthy also arc Tuscan Cities (1885); Modern Italian Poets (1887); Criticism and Fiction (essays); .1 Boy's Town (1800); A Traveler from .iltruria (1804); Impressions and Experiences (1896); and Literary Friends and .ic<iuaintancc (1900). His poems were collected in 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills appeared in 189.5. Perhaps of all the books named above. The Rise of Silas Lapham and .1 Hazard of ctr Fortunes represent their author at his hest. He is the founder of the school of -Vnierican realists who derive through the Rus- sians from Balzac, and has little sympathy with any other form of fiction, although full of en- couragement for new writers in whom he dis- covers a fresh note. His style is admirable, and his knowledge of the details of life accurate and mintile. Like all innovators, he has probably had in full measure the defects of his qualities, and has in consequence alienated many readers; but it can hardly be doubted that his has been the most inlluential work done in .mcrican fic- tion during the last quarter of a century. HOWELL'S STATE TRIALS. See State Trlvls. H0W1S0N, CKoiioK Holmes (1834—). An .merican scholar, born in Montgomery County, Md. He graduated at Marietta College in 18,52 and at the l.ane Theological Seminary in 185.'>. After holding positions at Hars'ard and other universities, he was appointed Mills professor of philosophy at the University of California in 1884. His publications include: Treatise on Analytic Geometn/ (1869) ; and The Conception of C,<id (1897). HOWITT, WiLLLAM (1792-1879) and Mary (17091888). Two English authors, who may well be treated together. William Howitt was born at Heanor. Derbyshire. His parents were Quakers. Though he attended several schools, he educated himself mostly by reading. From his youth he was fond of outdoor sports, and he cele- brated in verse the scenery with which he was familiar. In 1821 he married Mary Botham. daughter of a prosperous Quaker of Uttoxeter. Staffordshire. After living for a year in Staf- fordshire, they settled in Nottingham, where William set lip as a druggist. Here they n'- mained for twelve years. They subsequently lived at Esher in Surrey. London, Heidelberg, and Rome. William spent two years in .us- tralia (lS.52-.54). Somewhat after middle life they became spiritualists. Both died in Rome and were buried there. Soon after their mar- riage they began to write in collaboration, and then independently. Among their joint works are contributions in verse and prose to annuals and periodicals; The Forest Minstrel (1823); The Desolation of Eyam. and Other Poems (1827): Literature and Romances of Xortheru Europe (18.52) ; and Ruined .ibheys and Castles of Great Britain (1862). Among William's in- dependent works are: Bonk of Seasons, or Calen- dar of yature (1831): Popular History of Priestcraft ( 1833) ; Pantika, or Traditions of the Most Ancient Times (183.5) : Rural Life of Eng- land (1838); Visits to Remarkahle Places (1st series, 1839; 2d series. 1841); Boys' Country Book (1830) : Rural and Domestic Life of Ger- many (1842); Popular History of England
