JOSEPH LOVERING. 379 



science to serve two masters, the Kingdom of Nature and Mammon. 

 It is a dangerous thing for him to be thinking of the utility of his dis- 

 coveries, or of the pecuniary profit which may be made out of them." 

 And in the second he adds : " Science is not destructive, but pro- 

 gressive ; while its theories change, the facts remain. Its general- 

 izations are widening and deepening from age to age. We may 

 extend to all the theories of physical science the remark of Grote 

 which Challis quotes in favor of his own : ' Its fruitfuluess is its cor- 

 rectibility.' Instead of being disheartened by difficulties, the true 

 man of science will congratulate himself, in the words of Vauve- 

 nargues, that he lives in a world fertile in obstacles. Immortality 

 would be no boon if there were not something left to discover, as 

 well as to love." 



Professor Loveriug was also for some years one of the trustees of 

 the Tyndall Fund for the endowment of research in physics, and 

 during the last few years of his life he was one of the Trustees of 

 the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology. 



Professor Lovering was long and intimately associated with our 

 Academy. He was elected Fellow on January 30, 1839, and the only 

 surviving member on our list whose election antedates his is our 

 honored colleague, Dr. O. W. Holmes. From 1851 to 1872 he was 

 a member of the Committee of Publication. From 1847 to 1868, 

 and again from 1878 to his death, he was a member of the Rumford 

 Committee, and during the greater portions of these periods its chair- 

 man, directing its deliberations and inspiring a proper caution in the 

 expenditure of the funds as well as in the bestowal of the medals 

 under its charge. From 1852 to 1863, and again from 1865 to 1868, 

 he held a place on the Council of the Academy by annual election, 

 and during the rest of his life ex officio. From 1869 to 1873 he 

 was Corresponding Secretary. From 1873 to 1880 he was Vice- 

 President, and from 1880 to his death President. Thus our late col- 

 league's membership has covered fifty-three of the one hundred and 

 twelve years which have passed since the Academy was incorporated, 

 under the Presidency of Governor James Bowdoin, in 1780. During 

 this long period, nearly one half of its whole history, Professor Lov- 

 ering through his force of character and commanding knowledge 

 exerted a controlling influence in its affairs. For many years he 

 superintended its publication, and the prosperity of our society during 

 the second half-century of its life was in no small measure due to his 

 fostering care. Mr. Lovering W as also a member of the National 

 Academy of Sciences, of the American Philosophical Society of 



