this country and the work is numbered by its fortunate possessors among their greatest treasures" (F. P. Henry).
Norris's first publication was "Dislocation and Fracture of the Astragalus" (Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., 1837, vol. xx, 378–383); other papers, particularly dealing with statistics of operations, appeared in the same journal; he collected the chief of these and published them in one volume, "Contributions to Practical Surgery," Philadelphia, 1873. Of this work Henry says, "Dr. Norris conferred a favor upon his surgical contemporaries, to whom he thus made readily accessible a series of observations that had previously been widely scattered." The paper on "The Occurrence of Non-Union after Fractures" is called by William Hunt "an exhaustive masterpiece," and by Frank Hastings Hamilton "the most complete and reliable monograph upon this subject contained in any language."
Norris was tall and imposing in appearance and had a low, well-modulated voice; it was said that "he never flattered and he never sneered." He was in frail health for years, having chronic pulmonary trouble, and in 1872 suffered an attack of prostatic and cystic abscess; on March 4, 1875, he died.
Dr. Norris married Mary Pleasants Fisher, daughter of William W. Fisher, in 1838; they had two children, William Fisher (q. v.), who became a physician, and Mary Fisher (Mrs. James Parsons).
Norris, William Fisher (1839–1901)
William Fisher Norris, born in Philadelphia, January 6. 1839, was the son of Dr. George W. Norris (q. v.), an eminent surgeon. The son took the degree in arts at the University of Pennsylvania in 1857, and the medical one in 1861, afterwards spending eighteen months at the Pennsylvania Hospital as resident physician. Some phases of his character are well illustrated by a stirring episode occurring during his residency, which he related to me many years later. Hearing an unusual commotion in one of the wards, he entered and found the nurses and many of the patients fleeing in dismay before a stalwart and violent lunatic who had entered the opposite end of the ward with a huge cleaver in his upraised hand. No sooner did he see the young doctor dressed in his ward coat, than he ran violently with this weapon raised to brain him. Dr. Norris awaited calmly his rapid approach and, as the blow descended, with quick eye, firm and accurate hand, grasped the wrist with the unyielding, paralyzing grasp of the trained athlete, and at the same time tripped the feet of the man, pinioned his arms, and so held him until help arrived and he was placed in a straightjacket.
After this service he became assistant surgeon in the United States Army, and was in charge of Douglas Hospital at Washington, where he served until 1865 with distinguished merit. He visited Europe in 1865, spending most of his time with Arlt, Jaeger, and Mauthner in Vienna. He also worked with Stricker on experimental pathologic histology of the cornea, the results of which were published jointly. In 1870 he returned to Philadelphia, became lecturer in ophthalmology and otology at the University of Pennsylvania, and soon devoted himself exclusively to ophthalmology, becoming clinical professor of this branch. Later he was honorary professor, and in 1876 full professor of ophthalmology. In 1870 he was elected a member of the American Ophthalmological Society; in 1884, its president, and in January, 1872, a member of the staff of Wills Eye Hospital. His writings are not numerous, but have scientific merit. His largest work was his "System of Diseases of the Eye," published conjointly with Dr. Oliver, and his greatest influence can be seen in the large number of distinguished ophthalmologists who owe their training to him. From one point of view—that of the medical historian—the most important of Dr. Norris's publications is the "Early History of Medicine in Philadelphia," issued in 1886. Dr. Norris was not its author. The manuscript was found among the papers of his father after his death in March, 1875, and was printed "exactly as it stood." The work is extremely rare and very valuable, as only one edition consisting of 125 copies was printed for private distribution.
When he was thirty-three years of age, he was of massive frame, well rounded, not corpulent, with a large dome-like head, the blonde hair of a Norseman, trimmed in the conventional form, a full beard, light in color, fine in texture, a complexion ruddy with the tints of perfect, vigorous health, and a calm benignant manner, striking in one of his age, which found expression largely through his clear blue, unhesitating eyes.
He died November 18, 1901, in Philadelphia.
A list of his papers is given in the Surgeon--
