[74-592b] DR. ISAAC OTT, same as above, m 2nd time, Oct. 14, 1886, KATHARINE K. WYCOFF of Belvidere, N. J. The will of Dr. Isaac Ott was probated Jan. 10, 1916, in which children are mentioned but they are not named.
Isaac Ott, A.M., M.D., was bornin Northampton Co., Pa., and died at his home in Easton, Pa. His early education was obtained in a boarding school located at Hackettstown, N. J., and Blair Hall at Blairstown, N. J. In 1865 he entered Lafayette College where he remained until the end of the Junior year. In 1876 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from the same institution.
Dr. Ott received his M.D. degree in 1869 from the University of Pennsylvania, and immediately thereafter continued his studies in the Universities of Leipzig and Berlin. He also attended the lectures of Prof. A. Flick, at Wiirzburg, and took a course in histological work with Prof. E. Klein in London. Upon his return from Europe in 1870 he became a resident physician in St. Mary’s Hospital, Phila., after which he settled in Easton, Pa., for general medical and surgical practice and soon created an unusual demand for his professional services. In 1874, Dr. Ott worked for several months with Prof. Bowditeh at Harvard.
In 1878, Dr. Ott was appointed lecturer in Physiology in the University of Pennsylvania, and one year later was elected a fellow in Biology in the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Ott’s reputation asa physiologist and an original investigator grew steadily, and in 1894 he was elected to the chair of Physiology in the Medico-Chirurgical College, Phila., a position which he held until his death. For several years, beginning with 1895, Dr. Ott held the office of Dean in the same institution. It is quite within the limits of truth to state that as the result of his incumbency of this office, the school received a decided impetus.;
Dr. Ott was a member of the Consulting Staff of Neurologists of the Asylum for the Insane at Norristown, Pa., a member of the American Physiological Society, the German Medical Society of New York, the Philadelphia Neurological Society, the American Society of Naturalists and many other local, state, and national medical societies. As an indication of his standing as a physiologist it is only nec-
essary to mention that he was elevated to the Presidency of the American Physiclogical Society a few years prior to his death.
To mention all of the contributions made by Dr. Ott to medicine and science would lead too far afield, but a few of his accomplishments should be enumerated. Perhaps the most noteworthy achievement of his professional career was the discovery of the Thermogenic Centers. He was the author of “Action of Medicines,” 1878; “Modern Antipyreties,”’ 1892; ‘‘Contribution to Physiology and Pathology of the Nervous System (in 20 parts); ” ‘‘Intestinal Peristalsis; ’’ ‘“Physiological Action of Drugs; ” “Internal Secretions,’’ 1910. In 1904 Dr. Ott issued a standard work entitled a ‘‘Text-Book of Physiology,”’ which was at once accorded a most favorable reception.
As a lecturer Dr. Ott was not eloquent, but perhaps no one ever taught physiology to more appreciative classes; this was due to the magnetic force of his personality and the feeling that he spoke with authority. His intellectual pewers were of the highest type and his personal magnetism drew to him all who came within his presence. It was, as often happens with racial benefactors, not given to Dr. Ott to see the fruit of his labors, or of his discoveries, beyond the limits of a few brief years. One of his marked personal qualities was gentleness, although he was capable of manifesting great firmness of character when the occasion seemed to demand it. Dr. Ott was a physician and scientist worthy of companionship of the greatest and the best. [James M. Anders, M. D.]