556 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



SKETCH OF PROFESSOR DANIEL VAUGHAN. 



WE have already printed in our May number a brief sketch of the 

 life of Professor Vaughan, with the particulars of the painful 

 circumstances attending his death, and a list of his more important sci- 

 entific papers. That sketch comprises the history of Vaughan's life, 

 so far as it is known, and there remains nothing more to add to it. 



It is not a little singular that among the property which he left 

 only one piece of unpublished MS. was found. Remarking on this 

 fact, Mr. Richard Nelson writes in the " Cincinnati Commercial " : 

 "As early as 1857 he had occasion to complain that one of his discov- 

 eries had been claimed by a prominent scientist. That made him sus- 

 picious, and, as a result of his solitary life, suspicion, like a disease, 

 grew upon him to that extent that at one time his intimate friends 

 feared it would overpower his giant intellect. To prevent the recur- 

 rence of the annoyance he afterward chose to store away in his won- 

 derfully capacious and retentive memory facts, principles, and figures, 

 till the opportune moment of publication arrived, and then, instead of 

 sending his manuscript to the publishers, he had his articles printed 

 and simultaneously mailed to the publishers and distinguished scien- 

 tists in various parts of the world. These are the printed articles 

 found among his effects." 



The unpublished MS. mentioned above was on " The Origin of the 

 Asteroids," and is marked by all the best characteristics of the author's 

 style. While extremely brief, it treats the subject thoroughly. This 

 paper is printed in our August Miscellany. 



We have been called upon to qualify somewhat the statements 

 made in the " Monthly " reflecting upon the citizens of Cincinnati for 

 neglecting this man in his poverty, and leaving him to die in want. 

 It turns out that Vaughan was a man destitute of common sense in the 

 matter of taking care of himself, and that he was perverse in not allow- 

 ing others to assist him. With his penury he was eccentric, and care- 

 fully secluded himself from attention, so that it was difficult to find 

 him. It is said there were many who would gladly have assisted him, 

 and that, too, in a way not to wound his feelings, if he had given them 

 the opportunity, but that he obstinately refused to receive assist- 

 ance. He was probably intractable in this respect, for which there 

 may have been much excuse, for he may have felt that he was entitled 

 to something better than charity, and, if he could not get what was his 

 due, he would not take pittances. Perhaps, if there had been more 

 solicitude about him, more might have been done for him ; but it is 

 quite probable that Cincinnati is not worse than other cities in its want 

 of active sympathy for the suffering. 



