6 William Keith Brooks 



DR. HENRY M. HURD 



It has seemed to me proper to speak of the personal 

 side of Professor Brooks's character. Others can better 

 estimate his scientific work, and I would ask your indul- 

 gence when I present some details of a personal character. 

 Many others here, in fact, have known him much longer 

 than I, and all are much better fitted to do justice to his 

 special attainments. I made his acquaintance soon after 

 I came to Baltimore, about eighteen years ago, and I 

 have wondered ever since how it came about, he being one 

 of the most retiring of men and we two not being thrown 

 together in our work. I am sure, however, that he made 

 the first advances out of pure kindness of heart to me, 

 a stranger in a new field of work, and our relations for 

 many reasons became intimate. I learned to know him 

 best when, some time afterwards, at a Commencement 

 time, when his family had left the city, he came to reside 

 with me for a week or two. He was busy with his draw- 

 ings and I was amazed at his method of working and the 

 amount which he accomplished. At times he rose at 

 dawn and worked with little interruption until late in 

 the day. At other times he would work for a few hours, 

 then lie down for an hour's rest without removing his 

 clothing, and afterwards, upon awaking, renew his work, 

 to lie down again when exhausted. This habit of continu- 

 ous, yet interrupted, work I think must have been due to 

 his congenital heart trouble, which did not permit of too 

 long periods of work without what may be termed a rest- 

 ing stage. Generally, after an evening's work he came 

 from his room, and for an hour or more he would converse 

 in a most graphic and illuminating way upon the topics 

 which were uppermost in his mind. He told me of his 

 new studies in morphology and his views as to the future 

 of the cultivation of the oyster. He gave vivid descrip- 

 tions of his work in Nassau, Jamaica, and the West 



