SKETCH OF ZADOC TffOMPSOX. 267 



No account of the life and labors of Prof. Thompson is at all 

 complete without some mention of his wife, for without her aid 

 and sympathy he never could have accomplished what he did. 

 In childhood they roamed the fields together in search of interest- 

 ing objects, and later, as husband and wife, they pursued with 

 increased enthusiasm the same study of Nature ; and long after 

 Mr. Thompson's death his wife continued her observations of ani- 

 mals and plants. Moreover, being a very shrewd and efficient 

 manager in all household matters, she was able to carry the fam- 

 ily through financial difficulties which otherwise would have 

 frustrated many of her husband's scientific undertakings. Their 

 home was not only a home, but it was also a museum and a lab- 

 oratory. It was a very modest little white cottage, surrounded 

 by a profusion of flowers when the season permitted, and inside, 

 every available shelf or stand was crowded with specimens which 

 either had been or were to be carefully studied, while not seldom 

 there were in or about the house pens, cages, or tubs in which 

 were kept many living animals, whose daily life was under closest 

 scrutiny. Mrs. Thompson not only tolerated these inroads upon 

 her housekeeping, but delighted to assist her husband in his 

 work, and really deserves to be considered a colleague in many 

 of his labors. 



Personally, Prof. Thompson was tall, angular, of a very quiet 

 and sedate yet very pleasant manner, a man of most amiable and 

 sweet temper, loved by all who knew him, and respected for his 

 sound sense and accurate judgment. Though retiring by nature, 

 he was fond of long chats around the winter hearth with such 

 neighbors as were congenial. Prof. Joseph Torrey was his most 

 intimate friend, being an excellent botanist, and with him Mr. 

 Thompson's intercourse was most delightful. He was simple, 

 almost childlike in his tastes. Naturally somewhat conservative, 

 his training in science had given him an open mind to all new 

 truth. It is not improbable that the sober manner which he usu- 

 ally maintained came from the shadow of death which had long 

 rested upon him. He was affected by organic disease of the 

 heart, which finally ended his life, and for many years, knowing 

 the possibility of sudden death, he did not trust himself far from 

 home alone. Most often his companion was a Mr. Hills, who was 

 draughtsman and engraver of nearly if not quite all the cuts 

 used in his publications. 



The museum in the Vermont State House contains about three 

 thousand specimens collected by Prof. Thompson. He was one 

 of the most reliable correspondents of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, and corresponded also with many of the leading naturalists 

 both at home and abroad. His achievements won him a medal 

 from the French Exposition of 1855. 



