Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
January,  1904.  / 
Obituary. 
37 
OBITUARY. 
DR.  H.  M.  ALEXANDER. 
Dr.  H.  M.  Alexander,  who  had  achieved  a  national  reputation  as 
a  propagator  of  vaccine  virus,  died  at  his  summer  residence  at  Cone- 
wango,  Pa.,  On  October  13,  1903,  after  a  short  illness  from  angina 
pectoris. 
H.  M.  Alexander  was  born  at  Lewisburg,  Union  County,  Pa., 
May  17,  1 85 1 .  He  graduated  from  Bucknell  University  in  1873, 
and  then  took  up  the  study  of  medicine,  graduating  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  in  1876.  After  spending  a  short  time  in 
the  hospitals  studying  and  obtaining  experience,  he  located  at 
Marietta,  Pa.,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
soon  won  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  became  popular  and 
enjoyed  a  handsome  practice.  He  was  esteemed  as  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  and  upright  citizens  of  the  county. 
Dr.  Alexander  became  interested  in  the  subject  of  vaccination 
and  the  propagation  of  bovine  virus  which  had  been  introduced  into 
the  United  States  by  Dr.  Henry  A.  Martin  in  1870.  He  made  a 
careful  study  of  the  best  methods  and  the  proper  conditions  and 
surroundings  necessary  to  insure  the  production  of  safe  and  reliable 
vaccine.  He  fully  recognized  the  importance  of  the  subject  and 
was  convinced  that  all  establishments  for  this  purpose  should  be 
located  in  the  open  country,  where  pure  air,  perfect  cleanliness  and 
the  best  sanitary  conditions  can  be  attained. 
In  1882,  he  established  his  laboratory  and  vaccine  farm  at  Marietta, 
in  the  rich  and  fertile  county  of  Lancaster,  in  what  has  been  con- 
sidered an  ideal  spot.  This  farm  was  looked  upon  as  a  model,  and 
Dr.  Robert  L.  Pitfield  in  his  report  on  the  inspection  of  vaccine 
farms  made  to  the  Pennsylvania  Board  of  Health  commented  upon 
it  as  "  an  admirable  establishment  in  every  particular."  It  was  as 
proprietor  of  the  Lancaster  County  Vaccine  Farm  that  Dr.  Alex- 
ander was  best  known  and  gained  a  national  reputation  and  a  busi- 
ness that  was  international.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  stu  lent  of  the 
subject  and  an  energetic  business  man,  and  his  efforts  met  with 
deserved  success,  and  under  his  personal  supervision  his  biological 
laboratories  developed  into  an  important  industry. 
The  occurrence  of  epidemics  of  smallpox,  necessitated  the  pro- 
viding of  facilities  for  turning  out  at  such  times  of  enomorus  quan- 
