Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  19 17. 
Martin  I.  Wilbert. 
man.  I  met  him  for  the  first  time  when  I  was  about  sixteen  years 
of  age  and  was  quite  impressed  with  the  great  fund  of  information 
that  he  possessed  and  the  kindly  manner  in  which  he  would  place 
it  at  the  disposal  of  whoever  might  be  in  need  of  some  of  it.  In- 
deed, I  have  never  met  a  man  who  was  so  willing  to  help  others. 
And  he  possessed  in  a  great  degree  the  virtue  of  patience,  almost 
unlimited  patience ! 
Dr.  Wilbert  proved  himself  to  be  a  most  valuable  addition  to  the 
hospital  in  many  ways.  He  possessed  the  faculty  of  criticism  in  a 
large  degree  but,  unlike  most  criticism,  it  was  of  a  constructive  na- 
ture; what  he  tore  down  he  replaced  with  a  better  structure.  He 
never  seemed  to  be  at  a  loss  for  ideas.  In  fact,  he  was  that  most 
useful  oi  men,  the  man  with  ideas !  There  is  always  room  in  the 
world  for  such  a  type  of  man,  and  especially  so  in  a  modern  hospital. 
Just  previous  to  his  departure  for  Philadelphia  to  further  his 
studies  in  pharmacy,  amateur  photography  became  very  much  the 
fashion  and,  with  his  usual  avidity  for  knowledge,  he  provided  him- 
self with  a  camera  and  the  necessary  books  on  this  absorbingly  in- 
teresting subject.  To  one  of  his  studious  nature  and  research  mind, 
the  fundamental  principles  of  this  delightful  science  and  art  were 
soon  mastered.  Unlike  many  amateurs  he  performed  every  detail 
of  the  work  necessary  to  obtaining  the  final  picture.  Every  phase 
of  the  work  was  to  him  a  great  delight ;  from  the  ramble  in  the  fields 
or  woods  in  order  to  get  some  interesting  bit  of  landscape  or  other 
view  of  glorious  nature  to  the  developing  and  printing  of  the  ex- 
posures he  made. 
This  proficiency  in  photography  which  he  acquired  stood  him  in 
good  stead  in  after  years  at  the  hospital.  He  became  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  use  of  the  X-ray  in  this  country.  It  was  very  shortly 
after  Roentgen  had  announced  to  the  world  his  epoch-making  dis- 
covery, that  the  German  Hospital  began  giving  its  patients  the  benefit 
of  this  additional  aid  in  diagnosis  and  treatment. 
Dr.  Wilbert  himself  made  the  first  X-ray  machine  used  in  this 
institution  and  operated  it  himself  with  great  success  for  some  time 
We  still  have  it  here,  but  only  as  an  interesting  relic.  It  would  now 
he  regarded  as  a  very  crude  affair  compared  to  the  magnificent  mod- 
ern plant  in  use  at  the  German  Hospital  at  the  present  time. 
Naturally,  to  a  man  of  his  exceptional  ability  and  all-consuming 
acquisitiveness  for  knowledge,  work  of  this  kind  was  most  congenial 
and  interesting.    In  recognition  of  his  work  along  this  line,  and 
