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WISSEMBOURG 396 WITCHCRAFT remain; but the numerous quaint old houses are a feature of the place, and several of the brick churches, as well as the Fiirstenhof, once a ducal residence, date from the 14th and 15th centuries. It was a Hanse town in the 13th cen- tury, passed to Sweden in 1649, was taken by the Danes in 1675, and by the Danes, Prussians, and Hanoverians in 1712, when its strong fortifications were destroyed, and in 1803 was pawned to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which secured it finally in 1828. Pop. about 25,000. WISSEMBOURG, a French town, 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 Strass- burg. 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 The Lines of Wissembourg, originally made by Vil- lars in 1706, are famous — a line of works .extending to Lauterburg 9 miles S. E. Like the fortifications of the town, those of the lines have now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. WISTAR, CASPAR, an American physician; born in Philadelphia, Pa. Sept. 13, 1761; received a classical edu- cation; was graduated at the Medical CASPAR WISTAR Department of the University of Penn- sylvania 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 Physi- ology at the College of Philadelphia in 1789-1792. In the latter year that in- stitution was united with the Medical Department of the University of Penn- sylvania, and he was there Adjunct Pro- fessor of Anatomy, Midwifery, and Sur- gery in 1792-1808; then became Profes- sor 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 symposi- ums were long continued after Dr. Wis- tar'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. WISTARIA, a genus of plants of the natural order Leguminosas; sub-order Papilionacex, 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 or- namental climbers known in British gar- dens. W. frutescens, a native of Vir- ginia, Illinois, and other parts of North America of similar climate, found chiefly in marshy grounds, attains the height of 30 feet, and has beautiful ra- cemes of fragrant bluish-purple flowers. W. chinensis or conseqiuxna, 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. 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," pre- sented remarkable pictures of the early days of the development of the far West. His published works 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 Uni- versity. WITCHCRAFT, the practices of witches; a supernatural power which persons were formerly supposed to ob-