128 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



inal thinker. He was master of the | 

 German, French, Italian, and Spanish 

 languages, and also of ancient and mod- 

 ern Greek. He wrote one or two vol- 

 umes upon mathematics and astronomy, 

 and contributed numerous papers to the 

 proceedings of learned societies, and 

 to scientific periodicals at home and 

 abroad. An example of the wide range 

 of his studies and publications is afford- 

 ed by the following list of papers and 

 articles which appeared at different 

 times and in different publications : 



"The Doctrine of Gravitation," "The 

 Cause and Effects of the Tides," " The Eings 

 of Saturn," " The Light and Heat of the 

 Sun," " The Origin and the End of the 

 World," " The Advent and Appearance of 

 New Stars," " The Asteroids," " The Nebu- 

 lar Hypothesis," " The Secondary Planets," 

 " The Plurality of Worlds," " Stellar As- 

 tronomy," "Meteoric Astronomy," "The 

 Kemote Planets," "The Moon," "Earth- 

 quakes," " Volcanoes," " The Deluge," 

 " The Sources of Power accessible to Man," 

 " The Distribution of Metals," " The Geog- 

 raphy of Disease," " The Abuses of Sci- 

 ence," "The Absence of Trees from Prai- 

 ries," " Surface Geology," "The Primitive 

 Earth," " The Ancient Atmosphere," " The 

 Silurian Strata," " The Carboniferous For- 

 mations," " The Origin of Lakes," " Origin 

 of Mountains," " The Causes of Rain, 

 Winds, and Storms," " History and Nature 

 and Uses of Electricity, its Agency in 

 Nature," " Galvanism," " Magnetism," 

 "Ocean Currents," "The Life of New- 

 ton," " Of Laplace," " The Physics of the 

 Internal Earth," " Determination of Plane- 

 tary Distances," " Geographical Advantages 

 for National Ascendancy," " Physics of the 

 Internal Earth," " Discovery of Neptune," 

 " Revelations of Spectrum Analysis," " The 

 Theory of Probabilities in the Detection of 

 Crime," and " The Catastrophes in Celes- 

 tial Space." 



Professor Vaughan was a correspond- 

 ent of various eminent scientific men 

 abroad, who had a high opinion of his 

 abilities, and many of his papers, were 

 translated into the Continental lan- 

 guages. 



One might suppose that so learned 

 and accomplished a man, whose name 

 gave distinction abroad to the great city 



of his adoption, would have been favored 

 and honored by its intelligent and pub- 

 lic-spirited citizens, and placed in a 

 position so independent as to afford the 

 best play to his remarkable powers. 

 There is wealth to squander in Cincin- 

 nati on all projects and in all ways, as 

 becomes a boasting city of the West in 

 hot rivalry with St. Louis and Chicago, 

 so that one would think it might fitly 

 have taken decent care of its most il- 

 lustrious scientific man. But it turns 

 out that Professor Vaughan was most 

 scandalously neglected ; he led a life of 

 pinched privation, was left to get a pre- 

 carious subsistence by private teaching, 

 and was cheated out of his earnings by 

 the colleges in which he lectured and 

 who got the benefit of his eminent 

 name. We do not like to say that 

 Professor Vaughan literally starved to 

 death in Cincinnati, but he led a life of 

 suffering and want, which the past in- 

 clement winter brought to a close in a 

 hospital, and we are told that "an au- 

 topsy revealed the wreck of his vital 

 system and proved that the long and 

 dreadful process of freezing and starv- 

 ing had dried up the very sources of 

 life." 



We gather the main particulars here 

 given from an article in the "Cincin- 

 nati Commercial" of April 7th, written 

 by Mr. William M. Corry, a friend of 

 Professor Vaughan, and subjoin from 

 his communication the following ex- 

 tracts : 



For years some kind woman, whose 

 name we are sorry not to know, boarded and 

 lodged Professor Vaughan, and gave him 

 more sympathy than he got from all the rest 

 of the town, and more also of substantial 

 support. He was always sure of a pleasant 

 reception at her humble home, and was not 

 required to be punctual in his settlements. 

 The boarding-house was broken up n year 

 or two ago, and our poor friend was the 

 worst sufferer. He took a room which was 

 cheap, but every way cheerless, inaccessible, 

 and uncomfortable. A chair and a bedstead 

 with a pile of rags, a worn-out stove, and an 

 old coffee-pot, with a few musty shelves of 

 books, covered with soot, were all his fur- 



