SKETCH OF PROFESSOR S. S. HALDEMAN. 401 



and two mock-heroic poems. He was a contributor to Johnson's " Cy- 

 clopaedia " and an associate editor of the department of comparative 

 philology and linguistics in it ; and he left behind him in manuscript 

 two complete philological works ; one on " Word-Building," the other 

 on " English Prosody." The diversity of occupation of which this va- 

 ried bibliography affords evidence was in part a matter of principle with 

 him, for, says Dr. Brinton, "it was his taste and apparently also his 

 theory that a student should not be a specialist, but should devote his 

 mind to different branches, thus securing wider knowledge " ; and he 

 once said to Professor Barber, "I never pursue one branch of science 

 more than ten years, but lay it aside and go into new fields." That he 

 was able to acquit himself creditably in everything he undertook, we 

 have the word of Agassiz, who said of him, " That man Haldeman has 

 an idea behind every word he utters." Professor Le Conte has said 

 that "next to his valuable contributions in philology, the most impor- 

 tant work of Professor Haldeman was in the direction of descriptive 

 natural history. He was well versed in several branches of zoology, 

 and notably in conchology and entomology ; in both studies he per- 

 ceived latent possibilities of future philosophical development which 

 the then imperfect observations rendered impossible to do more than 

 dimly outline. . . . While his contributions in the two branches of 

 zoology above mentioned have contributed to their advance in this 

 country, what are to be especially admired are the zeal, the honesty of 

 expression, and the unselfishness with which he did everything he be- 

 lieved to be right, or to be his duty as the occasion dictated. ... At 

 all times he was an industrious and intelligent laborer, a warm and 

 sympathetic friend, and a thorough hater of pretense and empiri- 

 cism." 



Professor Haldeman was born of Protestant parents, but, not satis- 

 fied with the theology that was preached around him, made a study of 

 the evidences of Christianity for himself, and ended by uniting with 

 the Roman Catholic Church, in whose faith he died. 



His death took place suddenly on September 15, 1880, a few days 

 after his return from the Boston meeting of the American Association. 

 The immediate cause was heart-disease, following a period of consid- 

 erable fatigue. 



tol; xxi. 26 



