The Days of a Man 1895 



Congress, I believe, would in time have acted 

 favorably had it not been for the confusion of new 

 issues incident to the war with Spain. 



In the fall of 1895 I was elected president of the 

 California Academy of Sciences. This useful in- 

 stitution, dating from the earliest 'SQ'S, struggled on 

 for years with inadequate support until endowed 

 by James Lick in 1876. Its funds were then mainly 

 invested in a large office building in San Francisco, 

 the museum occupying cramped quarters at the 

 Faction in rear. For some time previous to my election the 

 snence academy membership had been divided into two 

 warring factions - - one led by Dr. Davidson, the 

 other by Dr. William Harkness, a physician of 

 prominence and an expert in the study of fungi, 

 especially of the group known as truffles. Both men 

 were vigorous and rather intolerant, a combination 

 of qualities v/hich was not rare in pioneer days, and 

 had disrupted more than one California organization 

 even as it affected the famous "society on the 

 Stanislow." Indeed, it is reputed that the dis- 

 cords in the institution furnished the motive for 

 Bret Harte's satirical verse. 



At the time of which I write Harkness had for 



some years been president of the academy, with 



the rival group more or less shut out from the 



Election as management. He now expressed a desire to retire 



president ' m mv f avor) an j j was unanimously elected by the 



vote of both factions. I then endeavored, with fair 

 success, to put an end to the old feud. Twice for 

 different reasons I declined reelection, holding the 

 position, however, from 1896 to 1898, again from 

 1901 to 1903, and for a third time from 1908 to 



C 5403 



