5 o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



To the Memory of Benjamin Thompson, 



Count Rumford. 



Born in 1753 at Concord (?) near Boston, in America; 



Died the 21st of August 1814, at Auteuil. 



A celebrated Physicist. 



An enlightened Philanthropist 



His discoveries in Light and Heat have made 



his name illustrious. 



His labors for ameliorating the lot of the 



poor, will cause his name to be cherished 



forever by the friends of humanity. 



— In Bavaria — 



Lieutenant General, Chief of State 



Major General, Counselor of State 



Minister of War. 



— In France — 



Member of the Institute 



Academy of Sciences. 



No mention is made of the honors won by him in England. 



In front of the government offices, in that great art center, the city 

 of Munich, is a noble bronze statue of Count Eumford. The figure, 

 clad in the uniform of a Bavarian general, stands ten feet in height. 

 It was modeled by Professor Zambush, and erected by the King of 

 Bavaria at his private expense. 



Eumford's income had been a liberal one, but he did not leave 

 a large estate. He was free with money and spent it profusely 

 wherever his interests were concerned. Cuvier said : " Eumford 

 lavished his own money to teach others how to save theirs." Both his 

 mother and daughter were, by him, supplied with annuities, and at 

 one time he sent his mother $10,000 to be used as she pleased. 



The Count's last will was executed in 1812. Lafayette signed it 

 as a witness. After providing for his daughter, he bequeathed to 

 Harvard University an annuity of $1,000, and also made that uni- 

 versity his residuary legatee. The bequest was for the purpose of 

 founding a professorship to teach the utility of the physical and 

 mathematical sciences. The capital sum received by Harvard Uni- 

 versity from the Eumford estate was $28,395. This has been increased 

 until the " Eumford Fund " is now $56,441. The professorship was 

 established in 1816. A fine portrait of Count Eumford hangs in the 

 room of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, No. 5, University Hall. 



In the summer of 1906 the writer made a pilgrimage to the grave of 

 Eumford. After passing the fine statue of Franklin, in the Place du 

 Trocodero, the rue Franklin was followed to the rue de Passy, thence 

 to the rue Mozart, which leads directly to Eumford's house in the 

 rue d' Auteuil. While ambassador to France, Franklin traversed these 

 streets many times to visit his friend Madame Helvetius, who then 

 lived in the house later occupied by Eumford. In his " Dialogue- 



