854 BENJAMIN OSGOOD PEIRCE. 



extravagant self-depreciation and for a frolicsome humor of speech and 

 action. His self-depreciation was partly caution, partly genuine 

 modesty, of which he had great store, partly an endeavor, not always 

 successful, to make others content with themselves, and partly it was 

 a humorous pose. A man of his intelligence could not be altogether 

 unaware of the scope of his own powers, and a man of his keen sym- 

 pathy could not be indifferent to the appreciation of his fellows. If 

 he found that his habitual professions of ignorance concerning matters 

 of which he was a master were being taken seriously, he speedily took 

 effectual measures to remove the false impression. 



His habit of humorously grotesque speech was the natural outcome 

 of abounding energy, lively invention, and an amiable desire to enter- 

 tain; but it was sometimes also a measure of precaution, intended to 

 prevent the discovery and invasion of his real thought. For, with all 

 his genuine and hearty good-fellowship, Peirce was a man of profound 

 reserve; he was wont to go into his closet and shut the door, and his 

 privacy was respected. Behind his superficial timidity and his abound- 

 ing kindliness there was always the suggestion of something formidable, 

 and he was not a man to be trifled with. 



Peirce's last scientific paper. The Maximum Value of ihc Magnetiza- 

 tion in Iron, June, 1913, was, like his first paper, printed in the Pro- 

 ceedings of this Academy. This was, indeed, his customary channel 

 of publication, and all the members of the Academy may well be proud 

 of this fact. 



Edwin H. Hall. 



