Thursday, May 14, 2020

Death in American Literature - 2425 Words

Essay 2 05/07/2012 Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe (writing a few decades prior to Dickinson) ask us to explore a consciousness that doubts and questions its own reflections. They employ death as the focal point of self-consciousness, the unknowable center around which our thoughts inevitably swirl (whether we are aware of it or not). Compare Dickinson’s poem #315 and Poe’s â€Å"Ligeia† on the topic. Philosophy of the death The theme of death has always been a presence in American writings – from early colonial diaries and through the nineteen century – because death was perceived to be ever present in people’s lives. Descended from the tradition of Puritan religion and also influenced by sentimentalism and Romantic views of death, Emily†¦show more content†¦Someone destroys himself and someone has been pushed to violence and has become a victim. There is only one end – death that can come from nowhere, but before it happens, there are levels to go through. In its turn â€Å"Ligeia† is Poe’s most successful attempt to merge the Gothic grotesque with the traditional love story. Ligeia is the name of the story and she is the object of the narrator’s love. Ligeia preserves death and light that Poe places in her way. And even when she dies, her memory remains the primary fixation of the narrator’s mind. She becomes his obsession, and he doesn’t want to get rid of it. Whereas the blonde-haired Rowena, who is absolutely opposite to Ligeia, replaces her as the narrator’s wife, but the darkness of the marriage bedroom suffocates the blonde, and Ligeia returns in Rowens’s body, imbuing the blonde’s body with her darker tones. It is as a black victory of death that concludes the story. Poe contrasts light and darkness to symbolize the conflict of two philosophical traditions. Ligeia and Lady Rowena represent the irrational and the rational respectively; it is a battle of heart and mind. Lige ia wins this fight. And her ultimate victory is her return from the dead. It confirms that the narrator has lost his power of rationality and lost touch withShow MoreRelated Death and the African American Literature2497 Words   |  10 Pagesinnocent African Americans. It has also robbed a whole race of their identities, heritages and cultures. Throughout the myriad of novels, excerpts, poems, videos and other forms of literature that we encountered in this course, it is unmistakable that the African American literary tradition demonstrates that the past (the unbelievable sufferings of African Americans) can never be arrested and forgotten. The many that have perished at the feet of racism are the history of African Americans themselves,Read MoreTheme Of Symbolism In Edgar Allan Poe1164 Words   |  5 PagesSymbolism Throughout the Works of Edgar Allen Poe The American author, Edgar Allen Poe, had a life filled with much hardship, such as, death and loss, these hardships often reflected in his poems and story’s as the topic of most of his works seemed to revolve around those subjects. Poe used extensive symbolism in his works, symbolism is usually defined as something such as an object, idea, place, or person, used for or regarded as representing something else. The most common symbolism regarding toRead MoreDeath Is Death And The Idea Of Death1290 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout American literature there are several themes that one can find and explore. All you must do is to look and interpret what you are reading. One such theme is death and the idea of death. Death has always been in the collective conscious of Americans because, it is, well, inevitable. It is most certainly coming for each and every one and is inescapable. A common phrase in today’s culture is â€Å"only two things are certain in this world; death a nd taxes.† Death has always stirred mysticism andRead More A Comparison of the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost1062 Words   |  5 Pagesand Robert Frost The poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost contains similar themes and ideas. Both poets attempt to romanticize nature and both speak of death and loneliness. Although they were more than fifty years apart, these two seem to be kindred spirits, poetically speaking. Both focus on the power of nature, death, and loneliness. The main way in which these two differ is in their differing use of tone. The power of nature is a recurring theme in the poetry of Emily DickinsonRead MoreFall of the House of Usher Literary Analysis Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis As with many of Edgar Allan Poes pieces, The Fall of the House of Usher falls within the definition of American Gothic Literature. According to Prentice Hall Literature, American Gothic Literature is characterized by a bleak or remote setting, macabre or violent incidents, characters being in psychological or physical torment, or a supernatural or otherworldly involvement (311). A story containing these attributes can result in a very frightening or morbid read. In all probabilityRead MoreLiterature Review Of Capital Punishment910 Words   |  4 Pages8932 October 17th, 2017 Paper #2: Literature Review Please write a 1,000 word paper reviewing a set of literature displaying the various dimensions of research conducted in an area of your interests. What part does capital punishment/death row play in the American society? For my literature review, I decided to do it on capital punishment in America. I wanted to focus on exactly what part it plays within the society now days. I decided to choose this topic since it tights in with my research paperRead MoreLife and Death1191 Words   |  5 PagesIn â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants,† the author, Ernest Hemingway tells a story of an American man and his girlfriend, Jig, who have a disagreement in the train station on the subject of whether to keep the unborn child or to abort. However, the author uses binary opposition of life and death to portray the polemic argument a couple encounters regarding abortion. As a symbol for the binary opposition of life and death, he represents the couple’s expressions, feelings, and the description of nature. Read MoreInfluenced by Land and Man: Willa Cather and Catherine Porter, Writers of the Southwest1316 Words   |  6 Pagesidea of Southwestern literature is presented. The scene of a saloon shootout a nd John Wayne materialize. Southwestern literature is more than the O.K. Corral. Writers such as Willa Cather and Catherine Porter do not have the prototypical storyline stated above, but they are writers of Southwestern literature. In order to understand why Willa Cather and Catherine Porter should be considered a part of Southwestern literature, one must consider the difference between the American West and Southwest andRead MoreThemes in Early American Literature Essays1568 Words   |  7 PagesThemes of Early American Literature Early American literature does a tremendous job of revealing the exact conditions and challenges that were faced by the explorers and later by the colonists of the New World. From early shipwrecks to the later years of small colonies barely surviving through dreadful winters, the literary works of the time period focus on some very recognizable themes. The theme of any given work – being simply the unifying subject or idea – is a very important element of anyRead MoreGothic Literature : `` Tell Tale Heart `` And `` The Raven ``1698 Words   |  7 PagesBrendan Pulido American Lit Mr. Bartelt 2/21/17 Gothic Literature Gothic Literature has been around since the late 17th century, slowly progressing in popularity until the mid 19th century where it had much success demonstrated through Edgar allan Poe. Edgar Allan has a number of common Themes, motifs and structures that make his work easily recognizable and more importantly, fits his stories into the classification of the gothic. Among these elements, they include the theme of death and decay, which

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Expansion Of Western European Travelers - 1990 Words

The undeniable expansion of Western European travelers came with a toll that has stamped history books with pages of inhumane and unfathomable treatment of people. The slave ship saw the demise of many millions of people but for a few, a re-birth. The slave trade itself saw the destruction of not only families but of the individual human; their mind, body and spirit. The art of destroying the human starts at the root of which they would be most bound to, this being their family. The slave ship and its crew perfected the art of the destruction of the ‘kin’, also known as ones’ familial relations. With the destruction of kinship, a new type of kin was needed, otherwise the enslaved human would find their life meaningless. This thus sprouting†¦show more content†¦2017). The use of slave labourers to produce goods such as cotton and tobacco helped finance the colonial economy and advance the slave trade. This expansion of the slave trade would not have been s o successful if the familial ties between the slaves was not broken, without this disconnect, the slave trade may not have been what it was. The beginning of the destruction of the slave does begin with destroying the original kinship but is then further destroyed by the slave ship. The chances of you surviving alone or with total strangers is low which is why there was such a high suicide and death rate board the slave trade ships. Before the slaves boarded the ships for the new world, the slave owners mastered the art of destroying the family. An example of this is in Equiano’s writing as his sisters was â€Å"†¦torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Equiano, 47). Emphasis on the phrase â€Å"state of distraction† as this is what makes the sentence so powerful. When the strong kin were broken between him and his sister, he is left in this state, a state that then could be used by the captors to put the thoughts of despair and hopelessness in the enslaved mind. This disconnect of family helped weaken the enslaved to become more submissive and easier to capture, then later to control. Once this disconnect is established andShow MoreRelated European Travel and the Spread of Western Ideology Essay1192 Words   |  5 PagesEuropean Travel and the Spread of Western Ideology Humans began their existence as travelers, slowly making their way across the earth hunting and gathering. This travel was quite slow and gradual, and could be termed a period of â€Å"human expansion†, as traveling groups rarely encountered other humans. It really wasn’t until the sixteenth century that a new kind of travel developed, a kind that was more global, occurred rapidly, and was filled with many encounters with other civilizations. ThisRead MoreThe Legacy Of The Monroe Doctrine1195 Words   |  5 PagesThe Monroe Doctrine was established by U.S. president James Monroe and the U.S. secretary of state John Quincy Adams. Their plan of the Monroe Doctrine represented a solid line where the Americans will no longer tolerate interference from European powers in any way shape or form. For the most part, America was minding its own business until Imperialism started booming in the late 1800’s. Latin America was less developed and America saw South and Central America as perfect candidates to extract resourcesRead MoreThe Cold War And The Soviet Union1645 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough mutual distrust, and constantly competed for power. The Soviet Union wanted to spread Communism in Eastern Europe and the United States wanted to keep the peace. In 1946, an iron curtain separated Europe and Europe was divided into a West (western democracies and the United States) and East (Soviet Union and Soviet occupied territory). This event was an important turning point in history; can you imagine living in this country when this constant battle for power was going on? The after effectsRead MoreThe Age Of Exploration And Its Effects On Economic And Political Power1611 Words   |  7 PagesSummative As European economy grew, and became more reliant on a cash system, replacing the land-based system of feudalism. The power shift is prominent, shifting from the lords and nobles to the merchants of the middle class. The Age of Exploration has provided a framework for economic life around the world for several centuries while also shaping politics, social relations, cultures, and natural environments, changing the very nature of society. Of course the most important aspect of this modernisticRead MoreQuestions Of Travel : Questions Essay845 Words   |  4 Pagesimagining places at home or encountering ‘the tiniest green hummingbird in the world’ and ‘the sad, two-noted, wooden tune/ of disparate wooden clogs’ only known to the in vivo traveler. Throughout the poem, Bishop vacillates between apparently pro travel and apparently anti travel, undermining the aims of the traveler and therefore criticizing herself. Bishop questions, ‘Or could Pascal no t be entirely right/ about just sitting quietly in one’s room?’ in reference to Blaise Pascal , who wroteRead More Violence, Terrorism, and the Interactions between Cultures Essay1524 Words   |  7 Pagestechnological advancements. The spread of disease is possibly one of the most dramatic results of interactions between cultures. The different ways of living in Europe and other parts of the world caused very different illnesses to develop in each. Europeans lived in close quarters in densely populated cities, which allowed crowd diseases, such as measles, to develop. These diseases quickly result in death, or recovery and immunity. Thus, they do not remain relevant in smaller communities; by the timeRead MoreThe Mongols And Genghis Khan1704 Words   |  7 Pagesfirst expansion against Xiaoxia and The Chin Empire.1 Many believe they were barbaric and destructive but the were actually cultural patrons. The constant conquest and expansion of the Mongol Empire allowed them to spread their beliefs, along with others, throughout China; mainly through the routes of the Silk Road. By 1500 the Mongols made big changes in China, they eliminated the examination system and distrusted the scholar gentry greatly.2 They ins pired ethnographic writing in western EuropeanRead MoreGlobalization: A Continuation of Western Imperialism Essay examples1872 Words   |  8 Pagesbegan to wonder in what way the acceptance of past exploration and conquest by Europeans of land and people created a justification for todays exploitation of indigenous cultures and environments through tourism and other such devices as transnational corporations and trade.    This question is undoubtedly broad, but perhaps through such a lens as a modern day tourist resort that is frequented by predominately European descendents and employs natives, we can explore the ethical origins of the mechanismsRead MoreTokya Disneyland , Disney in Asia1298 Words   |  6 PagesBeyond Tokyo: Disney’s Expansion in Asia DISNEY IN ASIA Early in 1999, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, voiced his opinions concerning potential markets for his firm’s entertainment products and services. A major thrust for the new millenium would be development in Asia. †¢ We could be getting close to the time for a major Disney attraction in the world’s most populous nation.† The Walt Disney Company, Annual Report, 1998. †¢ â€Å"I am completely confident that ChineseRead MoreThe Ottoman Empire1355 Words   |  6 Pagespopulation. This stopped their westward expansion. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was considered the most prosperous periods. As a result its population doubled. World War I had begun in 1914. The Empire joined forces with Central Powers along with Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. This loss came by the 17th century brought them to an end in 1918. The Ottoman Empire had lasted for more than 600 years. By 1919 the country was controlled by European Allied forces. Because of the Ottoman

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Fanny and Hesse Early Contributors to Microbiology free essay sample

Walther Hesse, a descendent of a Saxon family from Bischofswerda, was born on 27 December 1846 as the third of 12 children of Friedrich Wilhelm Hesse, the Bezirksarzt, or county physician, of Zittau. Friedrich Wilhelm was the first university-educated physician in the family and had received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Leipzig in 1842. Two of his forefathers were surgeons, one a military surgeon during the Napoleonic wars and the other a graduate of the Surgico-Medical Academy of Dresden. Hesse’s mother came from a cloth-weaving family that owned several looms. Two of the 12 children died in infancy; five sons and five daughters survived. Four of the sons became physicians, and the daughters were sent to a teacher’s college to make them independent. Walther’s older brother Richard became a successful practicing physician in Brooklyn, N. Y. Walther’s younger brother, Friedrich Louis, went to America on a visit, became very impressed by the Wolfgang Hesse, a retired internist from Karlsruhe, Germany, wrote this biography of his grandparents. Dieter Grlischel, a professor of pathology and internal medicine at the Department ofPathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, edited and translated the work. VOL. 58, NO. 8, 1992 advanced state of U. S. dentistry, and stayed for 3 years of advanced training. He founded the first university chair of dentistry in Germany, at Leipzig. Brother Georg became a surgeon and the director of a private surgical hospital in Dresden. Walther received his secondary education in Dresden, where he attended the famous Kreuzschule, a Gymnasium (high school) whose choir ,was founded in 1216. In 1866 he began the study of medicine at the University of Leipzig and received his doctorate in March 1870 after having publicly defended his thesis on the reaction of the epithelium to acute catarrh of the intestinal tract. In 1867, he volunteered for a l-year reserve-officer course with the army. As a Feldassistenzarzt (second lieutenant of the medical corps) in the Saxon army, he participated in the France-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871 and in the battles of Gravelotte and St. Privat. Right after the war, at age 25, Walther wrote a paper on the situation of military physicians that addressed the combatant status of front troop surgeons and proposed a new position for them. He also criticized the food and water supply system, the shortage of medical personnel, and the absence. of transport and field stations for the wounded and offered some advice about effective first aid. This paper-never published-is the first of his postgraduate professional . manuscripts. It not only demonstrates his concept of the physician as a socially engaged altrui. st but also signals the direction of his future professional life. The remainder of his active military service (until 1873) was spent as a staff physician -of the private insane asylum run by Dr. Lehmann in Pirna near Dresden. During this period Hesse also served as a ship surgeon of a German passenger liner on two 425 ’ Features round-trips to New York (November 1872 to February 1873). Upon his return, he published a paper about sea sickness that Professor Gavingel from Le Havre called the first rational, scientific publication on the subject. At home, he was recognized by the medical society of Zittau for his interesting observations and contributions. The trichinosis he had acquired during his travels healed without residual problems. ) The Eilshemius Family While Walther visited New York, his brother Richard apparently introduced him to the Eilshemius family, including Fanny Angelina, whom he soon married. Fanny Angelina was born on 22 June 1850 in New York, the daughter of an import merchant, Henry (Hinrich) Gottfried Eilshemius, and hi s wife, Cecile Elise. The Eilshemius family was of Dutch descent and originated near Emden, Frisia. Hinrich Gottfried, Fanny Angelina’s father, emigrated to the United States in 1842 at age 24. He first settled in Hoboken, N. J. , and in 1849 married Cecile Elise Robert, who came from a French-Swiss family in Lugano. They had 10 children; 5 died in their early years, and Fanny Angelina was the oldest. Hinrich, now Henry, was a successful importer of goods and was Lina able to retire in his forties. In 1860 he bought a 70. acre property, Laurel Hill Manor in North Arlington, N. J. , near Kearny on the Passaic River. Here Fanny Angelina and her siblings grew up, and the girls learned from their mother and the servants the basics of housekeeping and cooking. When Angelina was 15, her parents sent her to a finishing school in Switzerland to study home economics and French. After the Civil War it was common for rich Americans to spend the summer in Europe. In 1872, the Eilshemius family visited Switzerland, and Fanny Angelina and her sister, Eugenie, went on to Germany and to Dresden, where they met again with Walther Hesse. Dresden, the capital of Saxony, was a major attraction with its buildings, museums, galleries, and opera and was called Florence on the Elbe River. In the next summer, Walther Hesse and Angelina Eilshemius were engaged, and the wedding took place in Geneva on 16 May 1874. Walther and Angelina Hesse in Saxony more recently, infamously known because of the bad working conditions in the uranium mines of the former Germ. an Democratic Repubiic. He spent more than 10 years there and was responsible for 83 villages. He visited these villages regularly by horse and bum-Y and occasionally also on foot. His main responsibility was the care of sick miners who suffered from Bergkrankheit (mountain disease), later recognized as lung cancer and also known as Schneeberger Lungenkrebs (lung cancer of Schneeberg). After some preliminary studies, Walther published a comprehensive, widely accepted paper about this malignant miners’ disease. Arsenic was considered the cause of the cancer at that time, as radioactive substances like uranium and radium had not been discovered yet. Minerals from the nearby St. Joachimtal/Jachymov mines later became the source of Marie Curie’s radium. Aside from the medical problems of the miners, Walther also concerned himself with the miserable working conditions in the mines and the substandard housing of the miners. He made numerous recommendations to the government to improve the miners’ conditions, including the protection of the very young workers, as child labor was common at that time. Again his findings were published in a number of articles Hesse To increase his ‘knowledge of environmental hypgiene, Walther went to Munich to study with the first chairman of a university department of hygiene, Max von Pettenkofer, in 1878 to-1879. With this experience, Walther worked for many years on the hygienic and public health aspects of the human environment and- published numerous articles. His primary interest was air quality, especially carbon dioxide content and dust contamination. The experiences in the mining villages turned his attention to the hygiene of habitations and schools, an interest that remained with him to his old age. His responsibility for mandatory smallpox vaccinations reflects his first professional dealings in the topic of microbiology. Bacteriological Studies with Robert Koch Walther Hesse practiced medicine in Zittau, where their first son (the author’s father, Friedrich Henry, later a surgeon in Dresden) was born in 1875. In 1877 Walther was appointed Bezirksarzt (county physician) in Schwarzenberg im Erzgebirge (mountains between Saxony and Czechoslovakia), a major mining area and, 426 Bacteriology initially interested Walther mainly because of its possible contribution to his environmental studies. In 1881 and 1882 he left his post as county physician to spend a sabbatical in Robert Koch’s Kaiserliches Gesundheitsamt (Imperial Health Agency). There Walther conducted elaborate experiments on the microbial contamination of air, completing a long report in which he demonstrated his dedication to detailed work and patience. This research experience also broadened his abilities in environmental hygiene, and he continued to contribute to the developing medASM News Features ical field of hygiene, using the newly acquired skills in bacteriology. To the studies of air quality, Walther added bacteriological examinations of drinking water, swimming pools, and treated wastewater. He made major contributions to the methods for quantitative bacteriological water testing. As his knowledge in the new field of bacteriology increased, he studied bacterial metabolism and described several technical innovations, among others an anaerobe culture technique. Outbreaks of communicable diseases, such as diphtheria, typhoid, bacillary dysentery, and cholera, in the Dresden area challenged him as a public health physician and bacteriologist to study the diseases in his laboratory. His contributions to the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis were recognized nationally (e. g. , by Lydia Rabinowitsch) and internationally (by Theobald Smith) and were based on a new culture medium he had developed. both Schwarzenberg and Dresden had temperatures that caused liquefaction of gelatin, the solid culture medium used to coat glass tubes used for the studies. Furthermore, gelatin-liquefying bacteria often destroyed the cultures. One day the frustrated scientist asked Lina why her jellies and puddings stayed solid at these temperatures. She told him about agar-agar. . Agar-agar had been known as a gelling agent in warm climates. For example, East Indian swallows use agar for making their nests-the bird’s nests of the famous Chinese soup. Lina had learned about this material as a youngster in New York from a Dutch neighbor who had immigrated from Java. The practical application of this kitchen secret was to bring major recognition to the Hesses, more today than during their lifetime. It contributed to Walther’s success with his air studies, and it was an essential contribution to the development of modern bacteriology. The thermal stability of agar, its resistance to microbial enzymes, and the ability to sterilize the medium and store it for a long time Lina Hesse as Technician and permitted long-term cultures, espeIllustrator cially important in tuberculosis research and diagnosis. Walther’s wife, called Lina in the Walther reported this finding to family, was his major supporter in Robert Koch, who immediately inmany different projects. Aside from cluded the new medium in his studies her duties in the house and in the of the tubercle bacillus. Although education of three sons, she became Koch mentioned agar-agar in a short well acquainted with Walther’s scienWalther Hesse sentence in his 1882 preliminary note tific work and assisted him like a on the tubercle bacillus, he did so without giving credit present-day medical technologist. The profession was to the source. Walther soon developed a tuberculosis not then known. However, this period ushered in many nutrient agar with the firm of Heyden, Radebeul, that changes for women in Germany, and they were just permitted him to observe growth on solid agar plates starting to step out of the domestic environment into as soon as 2 to 3 days after inoculation. professional life. In the Hesse family, this contribution to bacteriolWorking with her husband, Lina soon played a ogy was hardly ever mentioned. Lina never spoke major part in the magnificent development of medical about it, probably because she was a very unassuming illustration. She was not the only talented artist of the person. She kept all of Walther’s papers and docufamily. Her grandfather was the-Swiss painter Leopold ments out of love and respect for her husband and as Robert, and her younger brother, Louis Eilshemius, part of her own contributions to his work. The Hesses achieved some fame as a New York painter. She used never received any financial rewards for their â€Å"invenher talent to prepare drawings of microscopic preparation,† nor did they ever consider exploiting the matter tions for her husband’s publications. The last publicacommercially. It would not have been â€Å"proper. † tion of Walther Hesse from 1908 described a quantitative method for the culture of intestinal bacteria with special attention to stools from typhoid fever patients. Walther Hesse and Public Health Lina drew pictures of the magnified colonies on agar In 1899 Walther went on a tour of northern Gerplates during different growth phases and colored many, England, and the United States to study public them with watercolors in a highly accurate way, i. ndihealth installations. In Hamburg and Bremen he viseating her thorough un. derstanding of bacteriology and . ited the waterworks and industrial and municipal microscopy. (The author is proud to possess his grandsewage treatment plants and discussed special quesmother’s original drawings. ) tions of domestic and industrial wastewaters. On 2 September he departed by ship to New York, where he The Introduction of Agar-Agar visited several bacteriological institutes in the Parker Hospital and in the laboratories of the College of Walther had major technical problems attempting Physicians and Surgeons. He also inspected the new to analyze microbial counts in air. In the summertime, VOL. 58, NO. 8,1992 427 Features water reservoir behind the Croton dam along with the aqueducts, comparing the project with the construction of the pyramids or the Tower of Babel. He was similarly impressed by the water filtration system of Lawrence, Mass. In Waltham, Mass. , near Boston, he met the physician Alfred Worcester, whose establishment of a school for nurses and introduction of Pfund’s infant formula he particularly praised. He liked the city of Philadelphia, Pa. and its Fairmont Park, and in Washington, D. C. , â€Å"one of the most beautiful cities I have seen,† he saw a small military hospital and the new experimental drinking water station with its gigantic reservoir. He commented on the tremendous water usage in the United States! In U. S. and English cities he reviewed the incidence and therapy of tuberculosis, typhoid, and diphtheria; looked at school systems; and inquired about dairy cattle, the milk supply, and sewage treatment. Walther was always very interested in the hygienic aspects of milk, mainly for controlling infant mortality. After the mothers had been saved by Semmelweis, it was time to look at the survival of their offspring and their nutritional development. The major problem was milk-borne intestinal infections. In 1900 Walther saw a publication by Theobald Smith from Boston concerning the pasteurization of milk and the possible control of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Upon Smith’s request Walther experimentally confirmed his findings and became one of the prime advocates of milk pasteurization in Germany. He convinced the Dresden dairy of Pfund Bros. o pasteurize their entire daily milk volume of about 15,000 liters by heating for 20 minutes at 60 °C. This collaboration with the Pfund dairy, a company with many stores in the city of Dresden, brought Walther’s grandchildren, even after his death, some advantage. During the time of starvation at the end of the first world war, they were provided with the rare commodity of milk in memory of the great services and efforts of their grandfather. In 1890 Walther moved to Dresden as the Bezirksarzt for the county around the city of Dresden. He purchased a house in Strehlen, a suburb of Dresden, where he lived until his death in 1911. Until he was given a laboratory building by the Chemistry Departement of the Technical University, he worked at home, and many of his publications were written in this house. He was honored by the government by being appointed Geheimer Medizinalrat (privy medical councilor). After his death, the laboratory at the university was burned because the virulent bacterial cultures, including plague bacilli, were â€Å"a danger to public health. † Walther left a large collection of minerals, collected during his many visits to mines. The author inherited the collection and donated it later to his high school. Frau Hesse ifi Dresden Lina survived her husband by 23 years. At first she stayed in the house in Strehlen, but in 1917 she sold it and moved into town to be closer to her children. Her American heritage was evident; she never lost her American accent, counted in English, and often used English expressions and commands. When her family home in New Jersey was sold, her part of the inheritance was kept as enemy property during World War I, and only many years later did she receive small sums of money that helped to enhance her small pension as the widow of a civil servant. She died on 1 December 1934. Since Dresden was completely destroyed by Allied air raids in early 1945, many of the mementos of the Hesse family were lost. However, letters, documents, and personal memories were collected from members of the family and added to my collection of Walther’s personal reprints held by my grandmother. All that plus my personal memories assisted greatly in the preparation of this review of Walther and Lina Hesse’s contributions to public health and microbiolEl WYTranslator’s Acknowledgment I am grateful to Wolfgang Hesse for allowing me to translate and edit this brief biography of his grandparents. A full and. verified list of Walther’s publications is available. Thanks are due to the staff of the University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, especially Joan Echtenkamp Klein. Suggested Reading Bibel, D. J. 1985. William Bulloch’s pioneer women of microbiology. ASM News X:328-333. Gildemeister, E. 1929. Allgemeine, besondere und differentialdiagnostische Nahrbiiden, einschleil3lich Trocken- und Konservennahrboden. In W. Kolle, R. Kraus, and P. Uhlenhut (ed. ), W. Kolle und A. . Wassermann’s Handbuch der pathogenen Mikroorganismen, 3rd ed. , vol. 9, p. 965. G. Fischer, Jena, Germany. Griischel, D. H. M. 1981. 100 years of agar use in microbiology. ASM News 47:39X592. Hitchens, A. P. , and M. C. Leikind. 1939. The introduction of agaragar into bacteriology. J. Bacterial. 37:485493. von Gierke, E. 1935. Zur Einfuhrung des Agar-Agars in die bakteriologische Technik. Ein Gedenkwort fur eine deutsche Arztfrau. Zentralbl. Bakteriol. Orig. 1 133:273. . 428 ASM News