522 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



more technical than that in " Religion and Chemistry." It consists 

 in proving the thesis " that the inductions of natural theology are as 

 legitimate as the inductions of physical science." The illustrations 

 are drawn from astronomy and physics quite as often as from chemis- 

 try, and the strong metaphysical bent of his mind is very apparent. 

 Like all of his books whicli are not text-books, this one shows that 

 he was a devoted and appreciative student of Tennyson, " in whose 

 verses," he says, " he has discovered a truer appreciation of the diffi- 

 culties which beset " the relation of science and religion " than he has 

 ever found in the philosophy of the schools." 



In 1889 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard 

 University ; and now began the melancholy period when failing 

 health interfered with, though it could not stop, his various activity 

 and wonderful industry. Through it all he was supported by the 

 devoted help and affection of his wife's nephew, 0. W. Huntington, 

 who, as he often said, was in every respect the staff of his old age. 



A severe functional trouble, which would have thrown most men 

 into retirement, and a serious affection of his eyes resulting in the 

 loss of one of them, were unable to overcome his persistent energy. 

 It is true that he was obliged gradually to abandon his own original 

 work, but he still directed that of a few advanced students, and gave 

 several courses of instruction, including the lectures on general chem- 

 istry, to the whole Freshman Class, a labor which would tax severely 

 the powers of a young and sound man. These lectures had continued, 

 with only occasional breaks of not more than two years at a time, 

 ever since he began teaching chemistry in 1850. In the latter years 

 of his life they ceased to be a systematic course in chemistry, and 

 became rather an inspiring statement of the methods, aims, and needs 

 of the science, thus admirably serving their purpose by awakening an 

 enthusiasm for scientific work among the students in their first year. 

 The attendance on these later lectures was voluntary, and it was 

 astonishing to see the crowd packed in the aisles of the old lecture- 

 room, filling the vacant space before the table, and even extending 

 well out into the entry, often with men standing on the stair-rail, 

 and peering over the heads of those in front. As a college lecturer 

 his style was striking and luminous, and his experiments uniformly 

 successful, in spite of his tremulous hand, which one would have 

 thought must have precluded any delicate manipulations. He has 

 enriched the stock of lecture apparatus with many excellent contriv- 

 ances, notably his arrangement for the projection of spectra, his form 

 of the lecture-table eudiometer, and his vertical lantern. In the 



