THE INCORPORATORS ey 
In 1850 Dr. Alexander published a “‘ Universal Dictionary of 
Weights and Measures, Ancient and Modern” which was “ one 
of the most complete and exact works of the kind ever pub- 
lished.” (Hilgard.) 
In 1855 he issued a pamphlet entitled “‘ International Coinage 
for Great Britain and the United States,” in which he explained 
his plan for equalizing the pound sterling and the half-eagle. 
He went to Europe in 1857 as the representative of the United 
States for the purpose of effecting arrangements for the unifica- 
tion of coinage, but his labors were unsuccessful, owing, as he 
believed, to the opposition of the bankers. 
At the request of the Lighthouse Board, Dr. Alexander re- 
ported on Babbage’s numerical system of lighthouses, on steam 
whistles as fog signals, and on illuminating oils. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War he tendered his services to 
the Government and was appointed an engineer officer, in which 
capacity he aided in planning and constructing the defences of 
Baltimore. He also contributed largely from his own means 
for organizing and equipping a field battery of which his eldest 
son became the commander. He was about to be appointed 
Director of the Mint in Philadelphia in 1867, when he was 
attacked by pneumonia and died in his 5sth year. 
Dr. Alexander’s published works include, besides books and 
pamphlets on scientific subjects (the more important of which 
have been mentioned above), two volumes of religious poems; 
and he also left behind a considerable number of manuscripts, 
among which was “a Dictionary of English Surnames” in 12 
volumes, and “a Dictionary of the Language of the Lenni- 
Lenapé, or Delaware Indians.” 
(From J. E. Hitcarp, in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of 
Sciences, vol. 1, 1877, pp. 213-226. See also WM. PinKNEY, “ Memoir of John 
H. Alexander,” Maryland Historical Society, 1867. 8°. Pp. 31.) 
