110 GEORGE JAR VIS BRUSH— DANA. [MEMO,R fvoL. T xvn; 



of learning. The work of Prof. Brush in the original study of minerals began in 1849, when 

 he was only 18 years old. From then for 25 years he was active, and a series of about 30 

 papers gives a record of the results attained. In 1878, and later, he took time from his absorb- 

 ing administrative labors, and, in conjunction with a younger colleague, published a series of 

 papers on the newly discovered locality at Branchville, Conn. 



In 1S74 his "Manual of Determinative Mineralogy" was brought out; tbis contained a 

 clear summary of blowpipe methods and principles and also a series of determinative tables 

 adapted from the German tables of von Kobell. In the preparation of this work, especially 

 the latter part, Dr. Hawes took a prominent part. A revised edition was issued in 1878, and 

 later the work was entirely rewritten on an expanded scale by Prof. Penfield. The most impor- 

 tant editions of the book as thus revised were those of 1896 and 1898. Prof. Brush also made 

 important contributions to the System of Mineralogy of Prof. James D. Dana. Of the ten 

 supplements to the fourth edition of 1854, he prepared the eighth, ninth, and tenth. In the 

 preparation of the fifth edition of 1868 he took an important part; the statements of the blow- 

 pipe characters of the different species were written by him, and, in most cases, the facts given 

 were based upon his own independent experiments. His close knowledge of mineralogy also 

 enabled him to aid the author at many points in the prosecution of his task. The first appendix 

 to the fifth edition, issued in 1872, was prepared by Prof. Brush. Another contribution to the 

 science to which he was devoted was the presidential address before the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science at Montreal in 1882; this was a thorough and valuable summary 

 of the early history of American mineralogy. Prof. Brush became an associate editor of the 

 American Journal of Science in 1863 and retained that position until 1S79. The pages of the 

 journal contain about all of his papers on mineralogical subjects. 



It has been shown that the influence of his early life tended to turn Mr. Brush into an 

 active business career. Fortunately for the world this was not to be his life's work, but to 

 one familiar with him and what he accomplished, the influence of this early training is clearly 

 shown. He was distinctly a man of affairs, of quick, sure judgment, firmness of resolution, 

 and great energy. The successive steps by which the Sheffield Scientific School grew under his 

 guidance, from 1857 on, show at every stage his ability and his strong hand. Without discussing 

 this subject in detail, it may be stated that the success of this, the most important work of his 

 life, can hardly be overestimated. The school at the beginning had almost no funds, but it early 

 attracted the interest of Mr. Joseph E. Sheffield, and this interest was wisely and tactfully 

 guided and stimulated by Mr. Brush. As the result of this, the school received from Mr. Shef- 

 field a considerable endowment and, in 1861, was formally called the Sheffield Scientific School. 

 The endowment was still further increased later, especially by the provisions of the will of Mr. 

 Sheffield, who died in 1882. It would be difficult, without detailed historical discussion, to 

 give any adequate idea of the complexity and difficulty of the problems of the growing school 

 and of the skill and wisdom with which they were met and solved by Mr. Brush. One partic- 

 ular matter may be mentioned here. The school, in 1863, became the land grant college of 

 Connecticut under the land grant act of the Federal Government. The sale of the land yielded 

 an income which was most important to the school at a critical time in its growth. Later, in 

 1892, this fund was transferred by the State to the Storrs Agricultural College, but in the con- 

 test over the subject the interests of the school were so ably handled by Mr. Brush that in the 

 settlement it received outright a sum of $150,000, thus putting it in a better position than 

 that which it had before occupied. 



The financial skill shown in the management of the interests of the school was also used 

 for the benefit of the funds of the Peabody Museum, of which Mr. Brush was one of the original 

 trustees appointed in the deed of gift of Mr. George Peabody in 1866. It was largely through 

 his able management that the original $150,000 grew so steadily and surely that the $100,000 

 set apart at the beginning amounted to the $176,000 needed to pay for the building completed 

 10 years later. Mr. Brush sometimes alluded with satisfaction to the fact that he had the fore- 

 sight to exchange the 5 per cent Massachusetts State bonds of the original Peabody gift for the 

 "seven-thirties" of the Civil War loan, thus producing a rapid increase in the available funds. 



