Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/423

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WATSON
WATSON

Will Case Critically Examined in Reference to the Mental Competency of Mr. Henry Parish to exe- cute the Codicils appended to his Will ; and Notes in Reply to an Article entitled ' The Parish Will ' " (1857); "The True Physician" (1860); "Obscuri- ties of Disease " ; " Clinical Acumen, or the Sources of Misjudgment in the Study of Disease " ; and a " History of Medicine " (1862).


WATSON, John Tadwell, British soldier, b. in London, England, in 1748; d. in Calais, Prance, 11 June, 1826. He entered the 3d foot-guards in April, 1767, and became captain and lieutenant- colonel in November, 1778. In the spring of 1781, with 500 picked men, he undertook the destruction of Gen. Francis Marion's brigade. After several skirmishes, and being constantly annoyed by the wary partisan, whom he could not bring to a con- flict except on his own terms, he fled to George- town, complaining that Marion " would not fight like a gentleman or a Christian." He became colonel in 1783, and general in April, 1808.


WATSON, John Whitaker, poet, b. in New York city, 14 Oct., 1824. Pie was educated at the University of the city of New York, and studied medicine, but became a journalist and engraver. He has written forty-eight serials for a weekly pa- per, some of which have been dramatized, notably the story of " Thirty Millions," under the title of " The World." He has published " Beautiful Snow, and other Poems " (Philadelphia, 1869).


WATSON, Paul Barron, author, b. in Morris- town, N. J., 25 March, 1861. He was graduated at Harvard in 1881, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1885, and practises in Boston. He has pub- lished a " Bibliography of the Pre-Columbian Dis- coveries of America " in the " Library Journal " (1881), which was reprinted in Rasmus B. Ander- son's " America not Discovered by Columbus " (Chicago, 1884), and is the author of a " Life of Marcus Aurelius " (New York, 1884).


WATSON, Sereno, botanist, b. in East Wind- sor Hill, Conn., 1 Dec, 1826. He was graduated at Yale in 1847. From 1867 till 1871 he was botanist to the U. S. geological exploration of the 40th par- allel under Clarence King. In 1874 he became curator of the herbarium of Harvard, which place he still holds. The degree of Ph. D. was conferred on him by Iowa college in 1878. He is a fellow of the American academy of arts and sciences, and of the American association for the advancement of science. Besides numerous contributions to scien- tific journals on American botany, he is the author of vol. v. on " Botany " in the series of " Reports of the Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel" (Washington, 1871) ; " Bibliographical Index to North American Botany, Part I., Polypetalae " (1878); and, in connection with William II. Brewer and Asa Gray, " Botany of California " (2 vols., Cambridge, 1876-80).


WATSON, William, educator, b. in Nantucket, Mass., 19 Jan., 1834. He was graduated at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard in 1857, where he was then instructor in differential and integral calculus until 1859, meanwhile taking a second degree in 1858. From 1859 till 1863 he was in Europe collecting information on technical education, which he communicated to William B. Rogers, who made it the basis of the scheme of or- ganization of the Massachusetts institute of technol- ogy in Boston. He also took a partial course at the Ecole des ponts et chaussees in Paris, and re- ceived in 1862 the degree of Ph. D. from the Uni- versity of Jena, Germany. In 1865 he became pro- fessor of mechanical engineering and descriptive geometry in the Institute of technology, which chair he held until 1873. He was a commissioner to the World's fair in Vienna in 1873, and served on the international jury of that in Paris in 1878, during which year he was honorary vice-president of the Paris congress of hygiene, and honorary president of the Paris congress of architects. He held the same relation to the French association for the advancement of science in 1878, 1881, and 1883. Prof. Watson is a member of engineering societies in this country and abroad, and was elected secretary of the American academy of arts and sciences in 1884. In addition to papers that he has read before learned societies, he has pub- lished "Technical Education" (printed privately, Boston, 1872); "Course in Descriptive Geometry for the Use of Colleges and Scientific Schools (1873) ; " Report on the Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture of the Vienna Exhibi- tion" (Washington, 1876); and "Course in Shades and Shadows " (Boston, 1885).


WATSON, William Robinson, politician, b. in South Kingston, R. I., 14 Dec, 1799; d. in Providence, R. I., 29 Aug.. 1864. He was graduated at Brown in 1823, studied law in Providence, and was admitted to the bar, but engaged little in the practice of his profession, devoting his life chiefly to politics. From 1827 till 1833, and again in 1835, he was clerk of the court of common pleas for the county of Providence. In 1841-'5, and 1849-54. he was collector of the port of Providence. In 1854 he was chosen secretary of state of Rhode Island, but he lost his election the following year, when the Native American party carried the state. In 1856 he was appointed by the general assembly state auditor, serving until May, 1863. He frequently edited political journals, and wrote for the press, vindicating and explaining the doctrines of the Whig party with great vigor. The most elaborate of his writings was a series of papers that was first published in 1844 in the Providence "Journal," under the signature of " Hamilton," and which were afterward printed in pamphlet-form. — His son, William Henry, physician, b. in Providence, R. I., 8 Nov., 1829, was graduated at Brown in 1852, studied medicine in Providence, and, after receiving his degree in 1854, settled in Utica, N. Y. He also received the honorary degree of M. D. from the University of the state of New York in 1878. He travelled extensively in Europe to study the various systems of medical education, and on his return delivered an address at the 23d convocation of the University of the state of New York on 9 July, 1885, in which he insisted that it is the prerogative of the state to determine the educational qualifications of physicians, and that there must be an entire separation of the teaching from the licensing interests. This address received the unanimous approval of the convocation, and widely attracted public attention. He was examiner in diagnosis and pathology in the State board of medical examination from 1872 till 1881, U. S. examining pension surgeon from 1875 till 1881, surgeon - general of New York state from 1880 till 1883, and since 1882 has been regent of the University of the state of New York. Dr. Watson has been active in establishing homoeopathic societies and institutions, was a founder of the Homoeopathic medical society of Oneida county, N. Y., and was its president in 1860— '1, and in 1868 became president of the Homoeopathic medical society of New York state. He was a founder of the New York state homoeopathic asylum for the insane at Middletown, and was a trustee in 1873-'6. He was appointed a commissioner of the state reservation at Niagara in 1888. In addition to