PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 131 



other localities of the greatest interest to the naturalist. No gen- 

 eral report on the voyage has yet appeared, and Stimpson's report 

 on the Crustacea with its beautiful illustrations still remains in 

 manuscript. 



He began to work up his materials at Washington, and for pur- 

 poses of study visited Europe, dredged on the British coast, and 

 made hosts of friends across the Atlantic. 



His preliminary studies of the radiates and Crustacea of the ex- 

 pedition ensured his place among the most promising of the 

 young naturalists of the day, and were expressed in elegant Latin. 

 He prepared and published the investigations into marine life 

 made at Grand Manan, and was the leader of an enthusiastic 

 band of students who gathered in the museum of the Smithsonian 

 Institution for work under the influence of Henry and Baird, kept 

 bachelor's hall together under the sobriquet of the Megatherium 

 Club, and instituted the first biological society in Washington 

 under the name of the Potomac-side Naturalists' Club. Most of 

 them subsequently reached distinction m the pursuit of science. 



About iS6o, Stimpson received the honorary degree of M. D. 

 from the Columbian University. He was afterwards a member 

 of the National Academy of Sciences, instituted while the country 

 was in the midst of its fiercest military struggle. On the twenty- 

 eighth of July, 1864, he married Miss Annie Gordon, of Ilchester, 

 Maryland. 



Robert Kennicott, of Illinois, whose name rouses affectionate 

 remembrance in the minds of all who knew him, was Director of 

 the Chicago Academy of Sciences, whose establishment and pro- 

 gress wxre for the most part due to his enthusiasm, ability, and 

 persistence. He had been a member of the Megatherium Club, 

 and was a devoted friend of Stimpson. He was about to under- 

 take those explorations in Alaska from which he never returned. 

 He knew that his undertaking was arduous, and its outcome un- 

 certain. His child, the Academy, must be provided for, and its 



