384 
OBITUARY. 
burgh  University,  and  this  position  he  held  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  It  was  on  the  19th  of  January,  1847,  that  he  first  applied  anaesthe- 
sia to  midwifery  practice,  and  his  subsequent  investigations  in  the  same 
direction  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  antesthetical  properties  of  chloro- 
form. The  importance  of  these  investigations  can  scarcely  be  over- 
estimated, and  they  have  completely  revolutionized  some-  of  the  features 
of  medical  and  surgical  practice.  Dr.  Simpson  was  elected  President  of 
the  Edinburgh  Royal  College  of  Physicians  in  1849,  and  in  1852  Presi- 
dent of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Society.  In  1853  the  French  Academy 
of  Medicine  complimented  him  by  electing  him  a  Foreign  Associate,  and 
a  still  higher  compliment  was  paid  him  in  1856  by  the  award  of  the 
"Monthyon  Prize,"  of  2000  francs,  by  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences, 
in  consideration  of  the  benefits  conferred  upon  humanity  by  the  intro- 
duction of  anaesthesia  by  chloroform  into  the  practice  of  surgery  and 
midwifery.  About  the  same  time  he  received  the  Knighthood  of  the 
Royal  Order  of  St.  Olaf  from  King  Oscar  of  Sweden, 
Dr.  Simpson  was  the  author  of  numerous  medical  treatises  that  are 
well  known  in  all  quarters  of  the  world,  and  many  of  them  have  been 
translated  into  nearly  all  the  European  languages.  In  January,  1866,  he 
was  created  a  baronet,  in  recognition  of  his  services  as  the  discoverer  of 
the  anaesthetic  properties  of  chloroform,  and  in  the  same  year  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  from  the  University  of  Oxford.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1867,  he  was  President  of  the  Department  of  Health  in  the  So- 
cial Science  Congress  held  at  Belfast.  The  lectures  of  Dr.  Simpson  did 
much  towards  giving  the  Edinburgh  School  of  Medicine  its  high  reputa- 
tion, and  his  fame  as  a  physician  secured  him  the  largest  practice,  per. 
haps,  ever  enjoyed  by  any  member  of  the  profession  in  Scotland.  The 
claims  of  Dr.  Simpson  to  the  honor  of  being  the  first  discoverer  of  the 
anaisthetical  properties  of  chloroform  have  been  disputed,  but  it  is  gen- 
erally considered  that  he  is  entitled  to  it." — Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter. 
Heinrioh  Gustav  Magnus,  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  Prussia,  died 
on  the  4th  of  April,  aged  68  years.  He  occupied  the  Chair  of  Natural 
Philosophy  and  Technology,  and  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  among 
the  German  Naturalists. — [Fr.  Hoff.) 
William  Neergaard,  Jr.,  son  of  William  Neergaard,  Pharmaceutist 
of  New  York,  died  in  that  city  on  the  27th  of  April,  of  heart  disease 
arising  from  rheumatism,  at  the  age  of  21  years.  In  1866,  after  having 
received  a  good  education,  he  was  placed  by  his  father  as  an  apprentice, 
in  the  pharmacy  of  Prof.  Maisch,  of  Philadelphia,  during  two  years,  and 
attended  two  courses  at  our  College.  An  attack  of  disease  caused  his 
return  to  New  York,  where  he  subsequently  graduated  in  Pharmacy  in 
1869.  The  deceased  was  intelligent,  studious,  quick  in  perception,  clear 
in  judgment,  possessed  of  exemplary  habits  and  promised  to  become  an 
ornament  to  his  profession. 
