372 JOSEPH LOVERING. 



kuew, with every chemist, that the determination of the coefficient of 

 condensation is a problem of the highest moment, — a problem which 

 had been neglected in the belief that it did not admit of solution. 

 When, therefore, in 1886, he reached what he regarded as a solution 

 of this insoluble problem, and propounded the theorem that "the 

 volume, not only of gases and vapors, but of all species, whether 

 gaseous, liquid, or solid, is constant, and that the integral weight 

 varies directly as the density," he rejoiced in the conviction that he 

 had realized and expressed one of the great laws of nature, after which 

 he had been groping all his life. 



While throughout all his maturer years he pondered over the deeper 

 problems of pure science, he was also actively engaged in practical pur- 

 suits. The papers he has written on technical subjects would fill well- 

 nigh as many volumes as his theoretical and purely scientific memoirs. 



It is proper to state that this notice has been, in the main, compiled 

 from those which have appeared elsewhere, and especially from the 

 extended biographical sketch read by Mr. James Douglas before the 

 American Institute of Mining Engineers last June, and published in 

 the current volume (XX.) of the Transactions of the Institute. 



JOSEPH LOVERING. 



Professor Lovering was born to humble circumstances at 

 Charlestown, Massachusetts, December 25, 1813, and received his 

 early education in the public schools of that place. His father, 

 a subordinate town officer, was a member of the Harvard Church, 

 then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. James Walker, sub- 

 sequently Professor in Harvard College and its President. At the 

 public school, young Lovering had proved himself an apt and 

 bright scholar, and this circumstance led to his employment by 

 Dr. Walker as a reader. The prophetic judgment of this wise man, 

 whom Harvard students so soon after learned to respect and honor, 

 recognized in the lad unusual promise, and he not only encour- 

 aged him to prepare for college, but also aided him with personal 

 instruction and advanced the money necessary to pay his college 

 expenses, a loan which he was soon able to repay. In 1830 Lov- 

 ering entered the Sophomore Class at Harvard, and was graduated 

 in due course in 1833. He was a distinguished scholar, standing 

 fourth in a class which furnished six Professors to the Alma Mater 

 and four to other institutions. At the Commencement he de- 

 livered the Latin Salutatory Oration, and three years later, when 



