Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/600

WILDE. 510 WILDES. trolysis and magnetism, devising many important methods used in electroplating, and inventing a magnetarlum for reproducing and studying the phenomena of the earth's magnetism. WILDE, Lady Jane Francesca Elgee ( 1826- 96). An English writer, wife of Sir William Eobert Wilde. She was born at Wexford, Ire- land, and after her marriage began to contribute both in prose and in verse to the nationalist newspaper. The yation. Indeed, an article from . her pen, signed Speranza, was the ostensible rea- son for the suppression of the journal in 1848. Her publications include: Poems by Speranza (1S71); Drift ivood from Scanditiaria (1884); Aiicioit Legends, Mystic CJuirins, and Supersti- tions of Ireland (1887) ; Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland (1890) :. Sotes on Men, Women, and Books (181)1) ; and Social Studies (1893). WILDE, Oscar Fixgall O'Flaiiertie Wills ( 185C-1900) . An English author, son of Sir Wil- liam Wilde, a distinguished surgeon, and his Avife, Jane Francesca, known as a writer of verse. He was educated at JIagdalen College, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1878, winning also the Newdigate prize for English verse. He went to London soon afterwards, and devoted himself to poetrv and to the exposition of a>sthetic cul- ture, of" which he was in a sense the apostle, though some exaggerations in his manner and that "of his disciples were keenly satirized by Du Jlaurier in Punch, and by Gilbert in the opera Patience. A volume of his poems was published in 1881, a tragedy, (Inido Ferranti. in 1890, and Intentions, a ceilection of brilliant essays, in 1891. From 1893 to 1895 he won considerable success as a writer of comedies, deficient in dramatic construction, but remarkable for their sparkling epigrammatic cleverness — Lady Win- dermere's Fan and The Importanee of Being Earnest among them; also Salome, a drama in the mediajval style. The most widely read of his books was The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel (1891). His talents were undoubtedly great, and his poems, of which a complete edi- tion was published in 1903, were usually marked by great beauty of style and theught. But the eiid of his life "was sad. Convicted in 189.') of a grave offense against morality, he was impris- oned for two years, during which he wrote one of his strongest poems, A Ballad of Reading Gaol. After his release he went to Paris, where he died November 30. 1900. WILDE, Richard Hexry (1789-1847). An American poet, born in Dublin, Ireland. He came to America with his parents in 1797, set- tling finally at Augusta, Ga. He .studied law, was admitted to the l)ar in 1809. rose rapidly in his profession, became Attorney-General of the State, and was three times a nu-niber of Con- gress, 1815-17, 1824-25, and 1827-3.5. He was a lyric poet of merit, and during a stay in Europe from 1835 to 1840 did considerable study in Dante and Tasso, and helped to discover Giotto's portrait of the first-named poet. On his return from Europe he attained success at the bar of New Orleans, and was nuide professor of consti- tutional law in the University of Louisiana. He is best known as the ailhor of the beautiful lyric, "My Life is Like the Summer Rose." A long posthumous poem, l/esperia. was published in 18G7, and during his life he issued The Love, Madness, and Imprisonment of Torquato Tasso (1842). WILDEBEEST. See Gnu; Antelope. WILDENBRTJCH, vil'den-briioK, Ernst VON (1845 — ). A (Jerman dramatist and novel- ist, horn in Beirut. Syria, where his father was Prussian consul, February 3, 1845. He served two years in the army, then studied law, and entered the Government service. He became privy councilor of legation in 1897. Of his earlier dramas the more successful were Yiiter und Siihne (1882). Harold (1882), Der Me7i- nonit (1882), all in a somewhat radical spirit. More significant are the series of national dramas. Die Earolinger (1882). Die Quitzows (1888). Der neue Berr (1891), Heinrich und Heinrichs Geschlecht (1895), Willehalm (lSd7 ), and Die Tochter des Erasmus (1900), all remarkable literary expressions of the new Prus- sia. In his short stories and novels, e.g. Der Meister von Tanagra (1880), Der Astronom' (1887), Dan edle Bhit (1893), Franzeska von Rimini (1893), Eifernde Liehe (1893), Schrces- ter-Seele (1894). Der Zauherer Cyprianus (1896), and Ticfe Wasser (1898), as well as in social drama. Wildi^nbruch has shown great orig- inality in tragic development. Among his Lieder tind Gesiingc (1877) and Dichtnngen und Balla- den (1884) are pieces, notably "•The Witches' Song." that have become widely popular. WILDER, wll'der, Alex. der (1823—). An American pliysician and author, born in Verona, X. Y. He was an editor of the Syracuse Star in 1852, and in 1856 of the Sea' York Teacher. From 1858 to 1871 he was on the staff of the Xew York Evening Post, and from 1878 to 1883 was professor of physiology and psychological science in the LTnited States Medical College. His publications include: The Worship of the Serpent (1877) : Vaccination a Fallacy (1878) ; and editions of T. Taylor's Elrusininn and Bac- chic Mysteries (1875) : R. P. Knight's Siimboli- cril Lanquage of Ancient Art and Mythology (1876):' Max Miiller's India: What Can It Tench Vsf (1883); and lamblichos. On the Mysteries. WILDER, Burt Green (1841—). An Ameri- can comparative anatomist, born in Boston. He graduated from the scientific department of Harvard College in 1862, and its medical de- partment in 1866: served as assistant surgeon and surgeon of the Fifty-fifth (Xcgro) Massa- chusetts Infantry. 1863-65: was assistant in com- parative anatomy in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoiilogy. 1866-67: curator of her- pctolog}' in the Boston Society of Natural His- tory and a university lecturer. 1867-68; professor of zoiilogy in Cornell I'nivcrsity since 1867: and lecturer on zoiilogy in the University of Michigan, medical department, 1876-77. His work since 1880 has been princiiially noticeable from his attention to securing a simple anatomic nomen- clature. In 1885-8(') he was president of the American Neurological Association. In 1892 he was honored by the presentation of a Fest- schrift written by his pupils, called The Wilder Quarter-Century' Bonk (Ithaca, 1893). Among his voluminous contributions to literature are: What Yonng People Should Know; Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene of the Human Repro- ductive Organs (Boston, 1875) ; Health Notes