Friedrich Anton Mesmer

Friedrich Anton Mesmer, a German physician, the first promoter of animal magnetism, or "mesmerism," born at or near Meersburg, Baden, on the lake of Constance, in 1733 or 1734, died there, March 5, 1815. He studied medicine in Vienna, and took his degree of M. D. there in 1766, presenting on that occasion a thesis De Planetarum Injiuxu in Corpus Hu-manum, in which he held that the universe is pervaded by a subtle element exercising an extraordinary influence on the human body, and identical with the magnetic element. The means by which he brought his theory into notice, and the leading features of his life, are given under the head of Animal Magnetism.

Friedrich Augnst Wolf

Friedrich Augnst Wolf, a German scholar, born at Hainrode, near Nordhausen, Feb. 15, 1759, died in Marseilles, Aug. 8, 1824. He studied and gave private lessons at Göttingen, and in 1778 published an edition of "Macbeth." In 1779 he became a teacher at Ilfeld, in 1782 rector of the public school at Osterode, and in 1783 professor of philosophy and director of the pedagogic institute at Halle. When the university of Halle was closed in 1806, Wolf went to Berlin, and participated in the establishment of the university there, and for a time was employed in the ministry of public instruction. He stood at the head of German classical scholars, and was equally distinguished as a lecturer and a writer. His most celebrated work is Prolegomena ad Homerum (1795) (see Homer, vol. viii., p. 779), and he edited Homer, Demosthenes, Cicero, Plato, and other ancient authors. - See Arnoldt, Wolf in seinem Verhältnisse zum Schulwesen und zur Pädagogih (2 vols., Brunswick, 1861-'2).

Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch

Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch, a German designer, born in Dresden, Dec. 9, 1779, died near that city, June 11, 1857. He studied at Dresden, and in 1824 was appointed professor of painting there. His reputation rests upon his outline etchings illustrating "Faust" and the ballads of Goethe, Schiller, and Bürger, and Shakespeare's plays.

Friedrich Brugger

Friedrich Brugger, a German sculptor, born in Munich, Jan. 13, 1815, died there, April 9, 1870. He studied at the academy of Munich, and executed in Rome his first statues of mythological subjects. After his return from Italy in 1843 he was employed by the Bavarian government in commemorating distinguished persons. The mausoleum of the historian Johannes von Muller at Cassel is regarded as one of his masterpieces.

Friedrich Christoph Schlosser

Friedrich Christoph Schlosser, a German historian, born at Jever, Oldenburg, Nov. 17, 1776, died in Heidelberg, Sept. 23, 1861. He studied at Göttingen, and from 1817 till his death was professor of history at Heidelberg. His principal works are: Geschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts, continued to the overthrow of Napoleon I. (8 vols., 1823-'46; 5th ed., 1864-'6; English translation, with notes by D. Davison, "History of the Eighteenth Century," 8 vols., London, 1843-'52); Weltgeschichte in zusammenhängender Erzählung (9 vols., 1817-'24; 2d ed., 1839-'41); Universalhistorische Uebersicht der Geschichte der alien Welt und ihrer Cultur (3 vols., 1826-'34); and Weltgeschichte für das deutsche Volk, with the assistance of Kriegk (19 vols., 1842-54; new ed., 18 vols., 1870-'74).