SKETCH OF DR. WILLIAM PEPPER. 839 



was largely through his efforts that the Babylonian Exploration 

 Fund was formed.* It was Dr. Pepper's ambition to have at the 

 university well-equipped laboratories that would offer an oppor- 

 tunity for original investigation in medical science. The establish- 

 ment of the Laboratory of Hygiene, in 1892, was the first step in 

 this direction, soon to be followed by Dr. Pepper's gift of the 

 Laboratory of Clinical Medicine. This laboratory was founded in 

 memory of his father, the late Dr. William Pepper. The gift is 

 unique in that it is made for the purpose of promoting and stimu- 

 lating original research, and improving the methods of diagnosing 

 and treating the diseases of human beings. Another field of work 

 in the laboratory is that of giving advanced and special instruction 

 to men who have already obtained the degree of Doctor of Medi- 

 cine. At the opening of the laboratory in 1895 Dr. William H. 

 Welch, of Johns Hopkins University, said, " To the small number 

 of existing clinical laboratories the William Pepper Laboratory of 

 Clinical Medicine is a most notable addition, being the first labo- 

 ratory of the kind in this country, and it is not surpassed by any in 

 foreign countries." f 



Dr. Pepper realized more and more every year that the vast 

 extent of the university interests demanded the undivided activity 

 of its head. In 1894 he resigned the office of provost, stating at 

 the time that, as it became necessary for him to choose between 

 administration work and medical science, his devotion to the latter 

 determined his choice. His administration was an eventful one, 

 during which the university evolved from a group of disconnected 

 schools to a great academic body. In 1881 its property in land 

 amounted to fifteen acres, while in 1894 it controlled fifty-two 

 acres in a continuous tract. In 1881 the university property was 

 valued at $1,600,000; in 1894 it exceeded $5,000,000. The teach- 

 ing force in 1881 numbered 88 and the students in all departments 

 981; in 1894 the former were 268, and the attendance had reached 

 2,180, representing every State in the Union, as well as thirty- 

 eight foreign countries. 



Dr. Pepper became well known as an author on medical sub- 

 jects. He founded the Philadelphia Medical Times, and was its 

 editor for two years. In 1885 he edited a System of Medicine by 

 American Authors, a work that has been considered a leading au- 

 thority on medical subjects. He also edited a book of medical 

 practice by American authors, and, with Dr. J. F. Meigs, issued 



* See the article on Science at the University of Pennsylvania, in Popular Science 

 Monthly for August, 1896. 



f Proceedings at the Opening of the William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine, 

 December 4, 1898. Philadelphia, 1896. 



