THOMAS HILL. 435 



very considerable variety of natural curves ; while in the second, 

 mathematical reasoning was employed, not only for the demonstration 

 of elementary theorems, but for the solution of problems, some of them 

 such as are usually reserved for a later period of school or even college 

 life, but which he so simplified as to bring them within the compre- 

 hension of pupils of tender years. In 1849 he published " Geometry 

 and Faith," in which he exhibited in their close mutual relations, or 

 rather in their identity, the fundamental principles of mathematics and 

 of Christian theism. His sense of the primacy of mathematics among 

 the sciences found expression in his Phi Beta Kappa oration on 

 " Liberal Education," in 1858, and again in a course of Lowell 

 Lectures on " The Mutual Relation of the Sciences," in 1859. After 

 his removal to Portland he invented an instrument to which he gave 

 the name of " Nautrigon," for solving spherical triangles by construc- 

 tion. By its use there would have been a considerable saving of time 

 in nautical calculations ; but it was too expensive to come into gen- 

 eral use. I have already referred to his early reputation in practical 

 astronomy, in which he was probably as well versed as he could have 

 been, unless he had been directly concerned in the management of an 

 observatory. In physics he was not only familiar with the labors of 

 others, but made independent investigations of no little importance and 

 value. He kept even pace with chemistry in the successive stages of 

 its rapid progress, and would have found himself at home in a labora- 

 tory furnished with the latest apparatus. He was conversant with the 

 entire realm of organic life. In zoology he was closely associated 

 with Agassiz in his researches, and was constantly engaged in inde- 

 pendent observations of the phenomena of animal life, in which Science 

 was indebted to him for not a few discoveries. Botany was, next to 

 pure mathematics, his favorite science, to which he made frequent 

 contributions. He was an intimate friend of Dr. Gray, and a scien- 

 tific communication was forwarded in a letter to Professor Goodale but 

 a few weeks before his death. 



I have spoken of his lifelong interest in classical literature, of which 

 he was, if not a close student, a critical and discriminating reader. 

 He was a good Hebrew scholar, and was not unacquainted with other 

 Semitic languages. 



As to the studies specially appertaining to the clerical profession he 

 was among the most learned of our clergy. In the criticism of the He- 

 brew and Christian Scriptures he was thoroughly trained and skilled. 

 A course of Lowell Lectures on the " Natural Sources of Theology," 

 delivered in 1870, reproduced and greatly enlarged in a series of 



