Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/703

w o o w o o 663 WOOLLETT, WILLIAM (1735-1785), engraver, was born at Maiclstone, of a family which came originally from Holland, on August 15, 1735. He was apprenticed to John Tinncy, an engraver in Fleet Street, London, and he also studied in the St Martin s Lane academy. His first important plate was from the Niobe of Hichard Wilson, published by Boydell in 17G1, which was followed in 17G3 by a companion engraving from the Phaethon of the same painter. After West he engraved his fine plate of the Battle of La Hogue (1781), and the Death of General Wolfe (1776), which is usually considered Woollett s masterpiece. In 1775 he was appointed engraver-in- ordinary to George III.; and he was a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists, of which for several years he acted as secretary. He died in London May 23, 1785. In his plates, which unite work with the etching-needle, the dry-point, and the graver, Woollett shows the greatest richness and variety of execution. In his landscapes the foregrounds are distinguished by depth and vigour, the distances by the utmost tenderness ; and his rendering of water is particularly excellent. In his portraits and historical subjects the textures are varied and well discriminated, and the rendering of flesh is characterized by great softness and delicacy. His works rank among the great productions of the English school of engraving. Louis Fagan, in his Catalogue Raisonne of tlie Engraved jfroi ks of William Woollctt (1885), has enumerated 123 plates by this engraver. WOOLSORTER S DISEASE (ANTHRAX, ANTHRAC- JEMIA, CHARBON, or MALIGNANT PUSTULE) is the term applied to a virulent acute malady occasionally occurring in workers in the wool or hair, as well as in those handling the carcases, of animals, chiefly sheep and oxen, which had been affected with splenic fever. The disease, as it is seen in animals, has been described in the article MURRAIN (q.v.}. The present notice refers only to the malady in man. For many years cases of sudden death had been observed to occur from time to time among healthy men engaged in woollen manufactories, particularly in the work of sorting or combing wool. In some instances death appeared to be due to the direct inoculation of some poisonous material into the body, for a form of malignant pustule was observed upon the skin ; but, on the other hand, in not a few cases without any external manifestation, symptoms of blood-poisoning, often proving rapidly fatal, suggested the probability of other channels for the introduction of the disease. In 1880 the occurrence of several such cases among woolsorters at Bradford, reported by Dr Bell of that town, led to an official inquiry by the Local Government Board, and an elaborate investigation into the pathology of the disease was at the same time conducted at the Brown Institution, London, by Professor Greenfield. Among the results of this inquiry it was ascertained (1) that the disease appeared to be identical with that known by the name of splenic fever or anthrax occurring among sheep and cattle ; (2) that in the blood and tissues of the body was found in abundance, as in the disease in animals, the bacillus anthrads, which is held to be the infecting agent in communicating the malady ; and (3) that the skins, hair, wool, &c., of animals dying of splenic fever retain this infecting organism, which, under certain conditions, finds ready access to the bodies of the workers. Two well-marked forms of this disease are recognized, external anthrax and internal anthrax. In external anthrax the infecting agent is accidentally inoculated into some portion of skin, the seat of a slight abrasion, often the hand, arm, or face. A minute swelling soon appears at the part, and develops into a vesicle containing serum or bloody matter, and varying in size, but seldom larger than a shilling. This vesicle speedily bursts, and leaves an ulcerated or sloughing surface, round about which are numerous smaller vesicles which undergo similar changes, and the whole affected part becomes hard and tender, while the surrounding surface participates in the inflam matory action, and the neighbouring lymphatic glands are also inflamed. This condition, termed malignant pustule, is frequently accompanied with severe constitu tional disturbance, in the form of fever, delirium, perspira tions, together with great prostration and a tendency to death from septicaemia, although on the other hand recovery is not uncommon. It was repeatedly found that the matter taken from the vesicle during the progress of the disease, as well as the blood in the body after death, contained the bacillus antkrads, and when inoculated into small animals produced rapid death, with all the symptoms and post-mortem appearances characteristic of splenic fever. In internal anthrax there is no visible local mani festation of the disease, and the infecting material appears to gain access to the system from the air charged with it, as in rooms where the contaminated wool or hair is unpacked, or again during the process of sorting. The symptoms usually observed are those of rapid physical prostration, with a small pulse, somewhat lowered tem perature (rarely fever), and quickened breathing. Exam ination of the chest reveals inflammation of the lungs and pleura. In some cases death takes place by collapse in less than one day, while in others the fatal issue is postponed for three or four days, and is preceded by symptoms of blood-poisoning, including rigors, perspira tions, extreme exhaustion, itc. In some cases of internal anthrax the symptoms are more intestinal than pul monary, and consist in severe exhausting diarrhoea, with vomiting and rapid sinking. Recovery from the internal variety, although not unknown, is more rare than from the external, and its most striking phenomena are its sudden onset in the midst of apparent health, the rapid develop ment of physical prostration, and its tendency to a fatal termination despite treatment. The post-mortem appear ances in internal anthrax are such as are usually observed in septicaemia, but in addition evidence of extensive inflammation of the lungs, pleura, and bronchial glands has in most ca.es been met with. The blood and other fluids and the diseased tissues are found loaded with the bacillus anthrads, and inoculation experiments, such as those already referred to, produced similar results. Treatment in this disease appears to be of but little avail, except as regards the external form, where the malignant pustule may be dealt with early by strong caustics to destroy the affected textures. For the relief of the general constitutional symptoms, quinine, stimulants, and strong nourishment appear to be the only available means. As preventive measures in woollen manufactories, the disinfection of suspicious material, or the wetting of it before handling, is recommended as lessening the risk to the workers. WOOLSTON, THOMAS (1669-1731), English deist, born at Northampton in 1669, was the son of a "reputable tradesman," entered Sidney College, Cambridge, in 1685, studied theology, and was made a fellow of his college. Winston states that he " was in his younger days a clergy man of very good reputation, a scholar, and well esteemed as a preacher, charitable to the poor, and beloved by all good men that knew him." After a time, by the study of Origen, he became possessed, to fanaticism bordering on insanity, with the notion of the importance of an allegorical interpretation of Scripture, and advocated its use in the defence of Christianity both in his sermons and in his first book, The Old Apology for the Truth of the Christian Religion against the Jews and Gentiles Revived (1705). For

many years he published nothing, and was left to pursue