520 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



were most enjoyable, the beauty of the views being enhanced by his 

 vivid descriptions and comments. His own pleasure in these exhibi- 

 tions must have been as great as that of his audiences, since he was 

 never tired of giving them, in spite of the very considerable amount of 

 trouble and labor which they involved. 



The manifold employments which I have tried to sketch left Cooke 

 little time for original investigation, and this, combined with the too 

 exaggerated conception of the dignity of research wliich he had formed 

 in early life, as I have already said, prevented him from publishing 

 before 1874 very many or very important jjapers, if we except his 

 discoveries of minerals in Rockport. All this time, however, his 

 chemical ability and insight were slowly ripening, and in 1874 the 

 harvest began with his paper on the Vermiculites, which was closely 

 followed by his researches on Antimony and on Oxygen, so that from 

 this time till 1889 his scientific production was continuous and 

 important. 



This scientific activity did not interfere with his other occupations. 

 During this period the number of chemical electives was increased, 

 new laboratories were fitted up, and the growth of the Mineral Cabinet 

 was incessant. This collection of minerals was an object of such 

 affectionate care to him that no account of his life would be complete 

 without a sketch of its history. Starting in comparative insignificance 

 both in quantity and quality at the time he was made Professor, it 

 grew at first slowly, principally by the collections which he made in 

 vacation excursions, and by occasional purchases, until during one of 

 his earlier journeys to Europe he succeeded in buying the collection 

 of Count Liebener, rich in uncommon minerals from the Tyrol. 

 After this it increased steadily by quiet purchases, often paid for out 

 of his own pocket, until in 1875 it crowded Comparative Anatomy, 

 which originally shared Boylston Hall with Chemistry, into other 

 quarters; but in 1891 Mineralogy in its turn had to yield to Chemis- 

 try, which was left in undisputed possession of the whole building. 

 To provide new quarters for the minerals, a division of the University 

 Museum was built largely through bis exertions, and here the collec- 

 tion was installed, which in the mean time had risen to be one of the 

 first in the world so far as meteorites are concerned by the addition ot 

 the J. Lawrence Smith collection, partly left to the College by its 

 original owner, and partly bought with money raised or subscribed by 

 Professor Cooke. Since then the generous gifts of Mr. J. A. Garland 

 of New York and Dr. W. S. Bigelow of Boston have given the col- 

 lection a similar commanding position in regard to precious stones. 



