176 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
of chemistry in the Jefferson Medical College. In 1884 he be- 
came professor emeritus, and died on September 6, of the same 
year. 
As indicating the practical side of Dr. Rogers’ mind it should 
be recalled that he was the inventor of a steam boiler, knowm 
as the Rogers and Black boiler, and also made improvements 
in electrical apparatus. 
His courage in an emergency is shown by the fact that three 
times he rescued persons from certain death. His success as a 
teacher was undoubted, due probably in large part to the love 
and respect he inspired in his pupils, his fine literary style, and 
his great cleverness in experimentation. 
(From Epcar F. SmituH, in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy 
of Sciences, vol. 5, 1905, pp. 291-309.) 
WILLIAM BARTON ROGERS 
Born, December 7, 1804; died, May 30, 1882 
The name of Rogers is a prominent one in the history of Amer- 
ican science. The son of Dr. Patrick Kerr Rogers, a native 
of the north of Ireland, William Barton Rogers was one of four 
brothers who attained celebrity in their chosen fields of research. 
He was born in Philadelphia and educated at William and 
Mary College, and delivered his first lectures at the Maryland 
Institute. He succeeded his father in 1828 as Professor of 
Chemistry and Physics in the college from which he was 
graduated. 
In 1835 he was called to the University of Virginia as Pro- 
fessor of Natural Philosophy and also appointed Geologist of 
Virginia. Professor Rogers gained the greatest popularity by 
his scholarly exposition of the subjects which he presented in 
public addresses, not only at the University of Virginia, but also 
before the British and the American Associations for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, and the other scientific bodies with which 
he was connected. His rare gifts of diction and poetic expres- 
sion, united with a voice of commanding quality and a distin- 
guished personal appearance, gave him preéminence among the 
