Joseph Warren Freer, M. D., President and Professor of
          Physiology  and Microscopic Anatomy, in Rush Medical Col-
          lege, died, at his residence in Chicago, April 12th, 1877.
            He was born at Fort Ann, Washington Co.,  N.  V., on the
          10th of July, 1816.
*"*V         His father, Elias Freer, was of Hollandish descent, the an-
          cestry being among the early Dutch settlers on the Hudson.
          His mother was of the Paine family—early settlers of l\ew
v>        England.   Both families have numerous representatives in the
          West, including many  well-known and  estimable citizens.
          His educational advantages  were those of the common school,
          until  fifteen years  of  age, after  which he attended for two
          years  Avhat was then termed a High School.  At eighteen he
          entered the office of Dr. Lemuel C. Paine, then of Clyde, N.
          Y., as a pupil of medicine,  and, in  order to pay his wTay, at-
          tended the doctor's small drug store.   During  this period, he
          took a course of three  months instructions in the French lan-
          guage, but the  teaching being furnished  by a  New England
          lady, he afterwards  found that he had scarcely become an fait
          in pronunciation.
            In his nineteenth year, June 14th, 1836, he came to Chicago,
          Avhere for  a few weeks he was  employed as a clerk in a dry
          goods store ; then being seized with the prevailing anxiety to
          acquire land, he invested in a " mud claim " on  Calumet river,
          about four  miles from any neighbors, except  Pottawatomie
          Indians.    He remained there about two months, and,  in  the
          meantime,  nearly died of filth, bad food, and ultimate sickness.
          Duriiiij' the latter he became unconscious, and in this condition 
0
 he Avas carried back to Chicago, and received into the residence
 of Mr. John Dye,  then standing  on the corner of State and
 Clark streets.  In the fall of the same year, his parents having
 immigrated West, he concluded to follow their fortunes.   Thev
 settled on  " claim land," at a place called Forked Creek, near
 Wilmington, 111.   There he  remained until July  1th,  1S46.
 During  this time  he formed  several valuable acquaintances,
 particularly Hon. Richard  L.Wilson,  formerly editor of the
 Chicago Evening Journal, and Dr. Hiram Todd, to the  latter
 of whom he was ever grateful for valuable advice, and the use
 of his excellent literary and scientific library. In later years he
 often spoke of Dr. Todd in affectionate terms, characterizing
 him as  " a gentleman of the old school, of liberal education
 and culture."
   Aside from incidental advantages of this sort, he had little
 opportunity to educate himself, for with the earlier settlers the
 material man  demanded more  than the moral or mental.
 Nevertheless, he did burn some midnight oil over a  little  Dub-
 lin  Dissector, an  ancient work  on chemistry  and  sundry
 literary  works, borrowed from his cherished friend, Dr. Todd.
 While sojourning in this region, he opened, and brought under
 cultivation, three farms,  on one of which he made his home
 after his first marriage.    This is now one  of the finest farms
 in the Kankakee valley.  There are trees on it, of his  own plant-
 ing, now nearly two feet in diameter.
   In  March, 1844, he married  Emeline, daughter of Phineas
 Holden,  Esq., of Hickory Creek, Will Co.   One child, Henry
 C, was the fruit of this  union.   He  is iioav living, and  won
 honor as a soldier  in the late war.  Mrs. Freer died in the
 autumn of 1845—a little less than tAvo years from their  mar-
 riage.
   This bereavement changed the whole course of his subsequent
 life.  It  happened that he was dissatisfied with the medical
 treatment of her last sickness, and expressed a  determination
 to know  whether there was any truth in, and reliance to be
 placed upon medicine.   In furtherance of this purpose, mount-
ing a  load of wheat, that he might not lose  any time, he drove 
3
to the  then village of Chicago, to  solicit Prof. Daniel Brain-
ard to receive him into his office.   By  a singular coincidence,
he was met at the door by Ephraim Ingals, then a student, and
afterwards for a number of years his colleague in Rush Medical
College.  It is sufficient here to say, that then commenced a
friendship which  continued throughout Prof. Freer's life, and
was  feelingly, as well  as  eloquently,  commemorated by the
survivor at the funeral exercises.
  Notwithstanding  the  somewhat rustic  appearance of the
applicant, Dr. Brainard gave  him  a  hearty Avelcome  to his
office, Avhere he continued as a  student until his graduation at
Rush Medical College at the close of the session 1848 -9.
  As sagacious an observer as Dr. Brainard could not, and did
not, fail  to  mark in this  newT student an  ability and  deter-
mination, combined  with a zeal and untiring  industry, Avhich
Avere sure to result most honorably.  From first to last he was
invited to assist in all of Prof. Brainard's important operations,
and during the last years of his  pupilage was frequently sent
to perform such as he could not attend.   The warm friendship
and confidence thus commenced, ceased only with  the life of
that great surgeon and teacher.
  The last  winter of his  pupilage, Dr. Freer  was appointed
acting  Demonstrator of Anatomy by Prof. AVm. B. Ilerrick,
then professor of that department.   After graduation he con-
tracted a copartnership Avith Dr. John A. Kennicott, of Wheel-
ing, Cook county, in whose genial  society he passed some of
the pleasantest hours of his life.
  In June, 1849,  he  married Miss Katherine Clatter, of Wur-
temberg, Germany.   In a private note addressed to the writer
of this notice, he says: "Our union has been a happy and
prosperous one, and  in fact  I  believe I owe much of my suc-
cess in life to  my wife."  A daughter and three sons were the
fruit of this marriage, all of whom are now living.   The eldest,
Frederick W.  Freer, is a rising young artist of Chicago.
  In the spring  of  1*50, he received by concours the regular
appointment  of  Demonstrator of Anatomy in Rush Medical
College, a high honor, as the  place Avas very ably contested for, 
4
among others, by the late distinguished Prof. E. S. Cooper, of
San Francisco, California.  From this  time he gave a part of
Prof. Herrick's course, comprising the descriptive anatomy of
the bones and muscles, and during Prof. Herrick's absence in
Europe, he gave the entire course.
  In the summer of  1855, he was appointed  Professor of De-
scriptive Anatomy.
  His duties from the time of his appointment, in 1850, to his
final sickness, demanded and  received great activity, both of
mind and body.   Whilst Prof. Brainard occupied the position
of Surgeon of the U. S. Marine Hospital, Prof. Freer was  his
constant and invaluable deputy.
  It was at a clinical lecture given by  Prof. Freer, at  the old
Marine  Hospital that the writer  first met and formed  his  ac-
quaintance.  He  was forcibly impressed then  by Dr. Freer's
anxiety  for accuracy in diagnosis, rationality in therapeutics,
and perspicuity in conveying his ideas to his pupils.   An  in-
timacy of nearly a quarter  of  a  century has strengthened the
conviction  then entertained, that these were strong points in
his professional character.
  On the re-organization of Rush Medical College  in 1859,
Prof. Freer was  transferred to  the chair of Physiology and
Microscopic Anatomy, a position he occupied up to the time of
his decease.
  Prof.  Blaney retiring from the college in  1872, Prof. Freer
was elected to the Presidency.
  Aside from his connection with the college, he has  filled
many important positions.  He was formerly, for several years.
one of the  medical staff of Mercy Hospital,  and since the re-
opening of Cook County Hospital, soon after the close of  the
war, was appointed one of the Medical Board, which  position
was only vacated by his death.   He was also consulting sur-
geon of  St. Joseph's Hospital, of the Hospital for Women of
the State of Illinois, and many other public charities.
  Prof. Freer was appointed Brigade Surgeon  very soon after
the breaking out of the war, but after having  served  some
three or four months, was obliged to resign in consequence of
ill health. 
0
  In 1864, he was appointed U. S. Enrolling Surgeon for  the
Chicago District.  In the discharge of the duties of this posi-
tion, he gave great offence to several irregular practitioners by
refusing  to receive as authoritative their certificates of disa-
bility.   They thereupon,  through  a  "committee,'' preferred
charges against Surgeon Freer, addressed  to Brig. Gen. Jas. B.
Fry, Provost Marshal General  at Washington.  On the basis
of  these  charges, a Court of  Investigation wa- ordered, and
great popular professional interest Avas excited as to the result.
  The trial  ended in a complete  discomfiture of the  com-
plainants, and largely increased confidence in Surgeon Freer,
both by the Government and the community.  [Yid. Chicago
Afedical Journal, March,  1865.)
  In  1867, Prof. Freer sent his  family  to Europe, folloAving
them a lew months after.   They remained until 1871, and he,
returning each year to give his course of lectures in the col-
lege, spent the  remaining months in  Europe.   He traveled
through the  British  islands,  France, Germany,  SAvitzerland
and Italy,  visiting all the  principal cities and points of interest.
taking ample time for observation.  He attended  the Medical
Congress in Paris during  the  Exposition of 1867, and  after-
Avards  spent a considerable period in visiting their hospitals
and medical schools.
  So also he visited the most  celebrated schools of England,
Scotland and Ireland  in 1868, and he had reason to be pleased
at the consideration and courtesy extended  by many of their
most eminent professional men.  On this tour he exhibited to
Prof. Bennet, of Edinburgh, and  others, his discovery of the
structure of the blood corpuscle, by means of direct light, using
a Wales Illuminator which he  carried with  him.
  In 1870, he spent four months in Vienna, familiarizing him-
self with its great hospitals.
  His last voyage was in 1871, Avhen, after a trip to Italy ex-
tending as far south as Naples, and a few months in the  Tyrol
and Munich, which latter had  been the family's place of resi-
dence since 1868, he  returned  home in  September, bringing
them with him. 
6
  On his several visits to Europe, he had secured many articles,
not only adapted to adorn his home, but of rare scientific and
professional interest.  These  and other souvenirs, of  his resi-
dence and tenements which had afforded him means to indulge
his tastes for study and travel, and which, earned by industry
and economy, he  had a Avell-won right to look  forward to as
affording ease and comfort in his declining years, in that ter-
rible night of October, a few short weeks only after his return,
were  swept aAvay in the general conflagration—himself and
family barely escaping with their lives.
  Younger men  than  Dr.  Freer,  might have  given  up in
despair, but he in nowise disheartened, returned with energy
to his practice, to  the College and the hospitals.
   Notwithstanding this terrible reverse, it is a  source of un-
mingled satisfaction to know that at  his death he left his fam-
ily  not rich, but comparatively free from debt and with a mod-
est competence.
  Although circumstances conspired to place Dr. Freer, as a
teacher in the elementary department  of Physiology, he  Avas
distinguished, not  only popularly but professionally, both  as a
physician  and  surgeon.
  The first eight or ten years  of his  professional  life, his prac-
tice was devoted largely to surgery.  He performed  nearly all
the operations of note from  that for cataract by  extraction, to
excision of knee-joint and elbow-joint with entire ulna and head
of radius, before Carnochan's case.
  Perhaps he did  not  originate much  in surgery, but he sug-
gested and practiced several things of A-alue.   He is  entitled
to priority in suggestion of the use of  collodion in erysipelas,
burns, etc.   So, also,  the first publication  of the use of adhe-
sive plaster in fractures of the clavicle,  a form of treatment the
advantages of which are not even yet fully appreciated by the
profession, is due  to him.
  However, it may be claimed for  him that he Avas decidedly
original in his application of  the general principles  of both
branches of the pofession.  He always seemed to feel degraded
when either operating or prescribing merely by rule. 
7
  From the time of his entrance upon the profession, to use
his  oavii language, he "worshipped nature as fervently as ever
the Incas did the sun, and for this reason avhs never guilty of
knowingly putting brakes on her wheels."
  The highest eulogium that can be pronounced upon him  is
furnished by the record of his life.  That shows that whatever
he  undertook to do, he sought to do in the best possible way.
There was not a scintilla of sham  or  pretence in his nature,
and he Avas a vigorous hater of both.  What he could not tol-
erate in himself,  that he could not oATerlook  in others.   Hence
lie  was little loved by " irregulars," either outside or inside of
the scientific pale, and  was very frequently a target for their
attacks.   Commencing medical study when  his life was a little
more than half gone past, he commanded all his faculties by
an  indomitable will, to their uttermost of service.  He was
never idle, and  in  the height of  active practice  was never
heard to say he had no time to read and investigate.
   " Self-made  men," it has been said, are liable to be satu-
rated  Avith vanity at  the success  achieved.  But  up  to the
hour he  took his bed for his last  sickness, Prof. Freer never
boasted, or eATen wore for a moment the appearance of pride
for what he had done, but rather, lamented the imperfection
of  the past, and laid  out designs for  harder work  in the
future.
    Late in  life  he added largely to  his juvenile knowledge  of
the French language, and became a proficient  in the German.
   What he knew, he knew thoroughly.  His exact anatomical
knowledge made  him a safe operator, whilst his sound judg-
ment made him  a successful physician.
   Phvsiological  study and  experimentation led him, more
and  more, to distrust  the reported results of many  experi-
ments, instituted and commented on by  men whose names
have a certain  repute  in  the  scientific world, and  he was not
satisfied until, personally, he had confirmed or confuted them.
No "authority"  but Nature would content him.  A zealous
student  in this department, he did not shrink from the con-
clusions to which physiological research  led.   His practice as 
8
a physician was  thoroughly pervaded by  it.  Coming  some-
what slowly to a diagnosis, and  perhaps more  slowly still to
the therapeutics, every one who  has met him in  the clinic or
in  consultation, will  remember, with  highest  respect,  the
solidity of the reasons he was able and willing to give for the
opinion and the action.  As a medical  teacher,  the same
qualities of  mind  were manifest.   Not fluent of speech, yet
his language was always accurate and well  chosen.   Not de-
void of a certain dry  humor, he  rarely indulged,  while lectur-
ing, in anything beyond a clear and correct  statement of mat-
ters of fact.  New students, and  superficial older ones, did not
fully recognize  his worth, but those more advanced, and who
came to the  College solely to acquire knowledge,  yielded him
close attention, and learned to honor and venerate him as one
who was master of the subject, was  anxious to impart real
instruction,  and speaking, spoke  as one having authority.
  As an experimenter, Prof. Freer was eminently "at home."
He was remarkably successful.   Here his knowledge of both
human and comparative anatomy shone forth.  The diversities
of organization which too many  vivisectors  greatly disregard,
always received due  consideration, and, as usual with him, he
came to no generalizations with  undue haste.  His untimely
demise  has  prevented publication to the Avorld of many dis-
coveries of great value, that now are only  to be gathered up
from the note-books and memories of his pupils and intimates.
  As a citizen he was patriotic and public spirited.  Shrinking
from mere notoriety, he Avas, nevertheless, widely known and
generally beloved, and his loss is mourned by very many who
have been the grateful recipients of his solid  but unostentatious
beneficence.   His private life was ever stainless, and in all his
relations, whether  with  individuals  or the public, he was irre-
proachable.  By  his  colleagues  in  the faculty,  and  by his
friends he was earnestly beloved, and he reciprocated  their at-
tachment with all the warmth of his kindly heart.
  The grief of his family and  immediate  friends, if capable
of any amelioration, may find it in  the thought that,  not only
the profession of  his choice, but the entire community have 
9
shown themselves anxious to pay just tributes  to  his worth,
and embalm his memory in heartfelt homage.
   Dr. Allen also read a paper containing a statement of Dr.
Freer's last illness, and the autopsy, as follows:
   Dr. Freer's sickness commenced during the last week of Feb.,
the primary sj^mptoms being those commonly observed during
the onset of a severe cold, aggravated by a profuse laryngeal
and  post-nasal catarrh  of an unusually distressing character.
This was speedily followed by intense paroxysmal pain in right
frontal and right lateral regions  of head.  At first  these par-
oxysms were  of short  duration, but became gradually more
prolonged until the 8th of March, Avhen the pain, though less
severe, continued during the day and night,  after which it did
not return.
   March 9th,  soon after the cessation of pain, vomiting  com-
menced, and continued, with irregular inteiwals of from  three
to six hours, accompanied by intolerable burning sensations in
epigastric  region, until March 29th, when it suddenly ceased.
   March 11th.  Divergent strabismus of the right eye, with
slight dilation of pupil. These continued more or less marked
until death.
   From March 9th until 29th, there was eAridence of great de-
pression of the nerve centres. The pulse varied from 58 to 70
per minute until the 20th, when it became  more frequent and
variable, at times being  too irregular to count.  Respiration
during sleep fell to 5-7-8, and was rarely 12 per minute;  while
aAvake it varied  as the mind was acted upon.   During this
period  there  was marked jaundice.  The  urine Avas loaded
with bile and  of a high specific gravity—the bowels persist-
ently constipated.   The  vomit  contained  large quantities of
changed bile  and  broken doAvn blood.  Temperature varied
slightly from  normal.   The  mind active, feeble and  confused
at times, until from the 22d to the 29th there was constant de-
lirium with periods of wild hallucination.
   On the 28th, an erysipelatous  blush appeared upon the scalp
and  advanced  over the forehead, finally involving both sides of
the  face and  head.  Simultaneously with  this, the vomiting
ceased, the mind cleared, the general svmptoms improved, food 
10
was taken in considerable quantities, and hope of recovery was
entertained.
  On the 7th of April there was a general relapse—the vomit-
ing returned, the respirations slow and at times labored, the
pulse irregular, the mind feeble and wandering.  The power
of life failed rapidly until the 12th of April, at 5 o'clock p. m.,
when he passed quietly away.
                         AUTOPSY.
  The autopsy made on the 13th of April by Drs. Bogue and
Wadsworth, in the presence of members of the Faculty of Rush
Medical College, showed the  cause  of death  to have been
meningitis, the  basilar portion of the brain having been the
seat of the greatest amount of inflammation.
  The heart and lungs, stomach, duodenum, liver and kidneys
being normal.
  A critical examination of the  brain, made by Drs. Dan forth
and Wadsworth, is  reported as follows; to wit, Aveight of brain
53 oz.
  The dura mater thickened and opaque, with extensive adhe-
sions in front and over the superior or convex portion of cere-
brum.  Falciform process ossified.
  An extensive exudation of gelatinous  material was found
covering the hemispheres.
  The pia mater and arachnoid  were not changed.
  Transverse sections of the cerebral lobes were made from
above downward to the base of the brain, but no abnormal ap-
pearances were  found.
  The sulci between the cerebral convolutions were very  deep
and complicated; and the limit b3tween the white  and gray
matter was strongly pronounced.
  The posteria  cornua of the right lateral ventricle was want-
ing.  The  cornua  of the  left lateral ventricle was filled  with
bloody serum.
  The base of the brain presented marked indications of recent
inflammation.  The third ventricle was distended by  plastic
lymph, which contained a vast number of protoplasmic  bodies.
The basilar arteries were l.alf filled by soft yelloAv clots, Avhich
must have been some day- in forming.
                                             \