ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.] BIOGRAPHY. 193 



that building. In 1S99 and 1000 Dr. Bowditch initiated in the faculty the movement for the 

 new buildings of the Harvard Medical School, and for securing the land for neighboring hospitals. 

 During the next few years he cooperated with Dr. John Collins Warren, his friend of Paris 

 days, iu raising the funds needed to complete the great project. The group of splendid structures, 

 which were completed in 1906, together with the hospitals now surrounding them, are a monu- 

 ment to the vision and faith and devoted efforts of these lifelong companions. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, HONORS, LAST YEARS. 



Everyone who came in close contact with Dr. Bowditch was impressed with his rare com- 

 bination of sure and sober judgment, vigorous will, and readiness for action — qualities which made 

 him a natural leader. His imagination was fertile with ingenious and effective ways to secure 

 the accomplishment of worth y ends. He was eminently single-minded; the matter in hand was 

 always the important matter to be attended to. Persons who knew hirn well for many years 

 recall that he seldom spoke of the past, almost never of his experiences in the Civil War, and 

 rarely of his earlier researches. The forward look to the fulfillment of plans already started was 

 typical of him to the last. 



The qualities of energetic leadership were tempered by unfading courtesy, fairness, and 

 good will. His conversation was not witty and lacked the light touch, but he had a keen sense 

 of fun, and his hearty laugh was rewarding to the humorous fancies of his fellows. These lovable 

 traits brought to him the friendship and lasting devotion of the foremost men of medical science, 

 as well as of his students and his associates in his various interests. The Bowditch Club, an 

 organization of active medical investigators in Boston, started during the late nineties and, 

 continuing until after his death, was a tribute not only to his eminence in science but to his 

 genial and wholesome spirit. Friendship was to him a blessing to be cultivated. He rejoiced 

 in having his friends with him at his beautiful home near Jamaica Pond in Boston, and in his 

 summer camp, or in going to be with them. Comrades of his Leipzig days visited him thus, 

 as well as Sir Michael Foster, Prof. Mosso of Turin, Prof. Gaskell of Cambridge, England, and 

 Prof. Waller of London; and he frequently renewed association with them in Europe. 



His interest in the physiology of vision may have been related to the fact that he was him- 

 self red-green color blind. He had no appreciation for music and could not sing, nor play any 

 musical instrument. It is said that he had little insight into any but the realistic qualities of 

 pictorial art. He loved outdoor life. Skating, mountain climbing, and kite flying were among 

 his diversions. He was skillful at the lathe and in glass blowing. His inventiveness and his 

 manual skill were put to use frequently in the laboratory and also in the rough life of the Adiron- 

 dack camp. The Bowditch chair, a remarkably comfortable piece of furniture, was the out- 

 come of these abilities applied to side interests. 



Numerous honors came to him in this country and abroad. Election to the National 

 Academy of Sciences has been mentioned. He was also a member of the American Philosoph- 

 ical Society and of many other scientific bodies. The Royal Society of Medicine and Natural 

 Science of Brussels and the Academy of Science of Rome enrolled him among their members. 

 The University of Cambridge made him doctor of science in 1S9S; and Edinburgh (189S), 

 Toronto (1903), Pennsylvania (1904), and Harvard (190G) gave him the degree of doctor of laws. 



When the new buildings of the medical school were dedicated in 1906, the disease, paralysis 

 tans, which five years later proved fatal, had already made serious inroads on his health. 

 Gradually his strength and his ability to take part in outside activities became more and more 

 limited. Aware of the hopelessness of his condition, he surrendered with patience and fortitude 

 to the confinement which was forced upon him. Almost to the last, however, he welcomed 

 the visit of friends, and manifested a keen interest in the affairs with which he had been asso- 

 ciated in his active years. On March 13, 1911, he quietly passed away. 



Dr. Rowditch's traits and achievements bring into prominence the transmission of excep- 

 tional qualities through the generations. His grandfather was a man of unusual originality 

 and force. His father's scientific interests were maintained along with a business career. A 



