Wissembourg
a close to the frontier of the Bavarian palatinate; until 1919 a town in the German district of Lower Alsace; on the Lauter, 42 miles N. N. E. of Strassburg. It grew up round a 7th-century Benedictine abbey, and in 1677-1697 was ceded to France. Here was fought, on Aug. 4, 1870, the first great battle of the Franco-Prussian War, in which the Germans were victorious. The Lines of Wissembourg, originally made by Villars in 1706, are famous a line of works extending to Lauterburg 9 miles S. E. Like the fortifications of the town, those of the lines have now disappeared. Pop. about 7,500.
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Wistar
CASPAR, American an physician; born in Philadelphia, Pa. Sept. 13, 1761; received a education; was graduated at the Medical CASPAR WISTAR Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1782; spent several years in England and Scotland; and returning to the United States in 1787 he began practice in his native city. He was Professor of Chemistry and Physiology at the College of Philadelphia in 1789-1792. In the latter year that institution was united with the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and he was there Adjunct Professor of Anatomy, Midwifery, and Surgery in 1792-1808; then became Professor of Anatomy and held the chair till his death. He was the first to show that the posterior portion of the ethmoid bone was attached to the triangular bones. He opened his house once a week for meetings of students, travelers, scientists, and citizens. These symposiums were long continued after Dr. Wistar's death, being known as the Wistar parties. Dr. Wistar became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1787, and succeeded Thomas Jefferson as president in 1815. He was the author of "A System of Anatomy, for the Use of Students of Medicine." He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 22, 1818.
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Wistaria
a genus of plants of th natural order Leguminosæ; sub-order Papilionaceæ, having pinnate leaves and flowers in terminal racemes, the pod leathery. The species were formerly included in the genus Glycine. Some of them are among the most magnificent ornamental climbers known in British gardens. W. frutescens, a native of Virginia, Illinois, and other parts of North America of similar climate, found chiefly in marshy grounds, attains the height of 30 feet, and has beautiful racemes of fragrant bluish-purple flowers. W. chinensis or consequana, a native of China, has larger flowers in pendulous racemes, and its branches run to the length even of 90 feet. These plants are generally trained on walls.
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Wister
OWEN, an American writer, born in Philadelphia, in 1860. He graduated from Harvard University in 1882. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1889, but in 1891 engaged in literary work. His novels of the West, especially "The Virginian," presented remarkable pictures of the early days of the development of the far West. His published works inc include: "Red Men and White" (1896); "Lin McLean" (1898); "Lady Baltimore" (1906); "Mother" (1907); "Members of the Family" (1911); "The Pentecost of Calamity" (1915). He also wrote a biography of General Grant. He was a member of several literary societies and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University.
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Wister, Owen
Owen (1860-), an American novelist. He was born in Philadelphia. Having been graduated from Harvard, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1889. He practiced his profession a short time only, preferring to devote his time to literature. His writings include The Modern Swiss Family Robinson, Lin McLean, The Virginian, and The Jimmy John Boss and Other Stories. Wister has produced successful work in the line of biography; Oliver Wendell Holmes was published in the "American Men of Letters" series, and Benjamin Franklin in "English Men of Letters" series. He wrote also a biography of U. S. Grant.
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Witch Hazel
an ornamental American shrub six to thirty feet in height. Yellow flowers appear late in autumn. Later the handsome green foliage assumes autumn colors. It is not a hazel at all. The witch of the name is said to be allied to weak, and is often spelled wych, meaning feeble or drooping, as in the case of the wych elm. Formerly forked or Y-shaped branches were used to find water. The operator seized a branch in each hand and went about holding his divining rod straight in front of him. When he came over a supply of water the stem of the hazel was supposed to become agitated and to point downward toward the water. There the well must be dug. In a well watered country the diviner seldom failed to locate a good well. The notion may not have died out yet. A decoction of witch hazel bark is used as a remedy and is a grateful lotion for the face, especially after shaving. The botanical name of the witch hazel is Hamamelis Virginiana. The witch hazel is not related to the nut-bearing hazels.
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Witenagemot
or WITENAGE- MOTE, in English history, among the Anglo-Saxons the great national or genwhich met annually or oftener, whenever the king kept his eral assembly Christmas, Easter, or Whitsuntide, as well to do private justice as to consult on public business. It was composed of the athelings, or princes, ealdormen, or nobles, the large landowners, the principal , etc. They formed the ecclesiastics highest court of judicature in the kingdom, and their concurrence was necessary to give validity to laws, and treaties with foreign states. They had even power to elect the king, and if the throne bas passed to the heir of the late king, the new sovereign had to be recognized formally by the witenagemot at a meeting assembled for the purpose.
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Witherspoon
JOHN, an American educator; born in Yester, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, Feb. 5, 1722. He became president of Princeton College in 1768; delegate for six years from New Jersey to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independ- He wrote; "Ecclesiastical Charence. acteristics" (1753); "Nature and Effects of the Stage" (1757); "Essays on Important Subjects" (1764); "Considera- Vol. X 26 tions on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament" (1774); etc. ("Works," 9 vols. Edinburgh, 1804). He died near Princeton, N. J., Sept. 15, 1794.
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