Wislizenus and every physician in St. Louis worked hard to relieve 
the suffering of the epidemic’s victims. Some of the doctors contracted 
the disease and died themselves. Wislizenus survived, however, and 
was among those who called for the construction of adequate sewers 
to fight the spread of the malady. He and his St. Louis colleagues 
suspected that the disease might be transmitted by human sewage, though 
it would be fifty years before Robert Koch discovered the responsible 
bacterium. !7 
After the medical crisis in St. Louis became less severe, Wislizenus 
traveled to Istanbul to marry Lucy Crane, a woman he met in Washington 
when he was overseeing the publication of his second book. He and 
his new bride honeymooned in Europe. They came to Washington in 
1851 and to St. Louis a year later. His marriage mellowed Wislizenus’ 
urge to roam. After 1852 he never again displayed the roving spirit 
that had taken him to so many places. He remained in St. Louis, deep- 
ly immersed in his medical practice, scientific studies, and cultural and 
educational organizations for the rest of his life. 
Like his friend and colleague George Engelmann, Wislizenus was 
an earnest observer and recorder of the weather. He kept detailed records 
which he published in various journals. He also authored medical papers 
and works on archaeology, entomology, and natural philosophy. In ad- 
dition to his writing and his practice, Wislizenus found time to help 
establish numerous organizations in St. Louis, including a school for 
midwives, a lying-in hospital, and the Missouri Historical Society. 
The other ten doctors who founded the Academy of Science of 
St. Louis were also avid amateur scientists. Benjamin Shumard, who 
worked as a field paleontologist on the United States survey of Wiscon- 
sin, Minnesota, and Iowa, arrived in Missouri to undertake the state’s 
first exhaustive geological study. He later moved to Texas to work on 
a geological survey of that state. Moses Linton taught at the St. Louis 
University Medical School. He established the St. Louis Medical and 
Surgical Journal, the first medical journal published west of the 
Mississippi River, in 1843. 
William McPheeters taught at the St. Louis Medical College and 
at the Missouri Medical College and served as chairman of the 
Academy’s first standing committee on entomology. Moses M. Pallen 
came to St. Louis to teach at St. Louis University in 1842. Pallen 
developed a profound interest in the study of fishes and reptiles and 
during the Asiatic cholera epidemic of the 1840s served as the city’s 
health officer. Simon Pollak emigrated from Poland, arriving in St. Louis 
in 1845. Pollak helped found, in addition to the Academy of Science, 
the Missouri School for the blind. 
Charles A. Pope chaired the Academy’s first standing committee 
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