JOHN DANIEL RUNKLE. 727 



Society of London. In 1898 he received from Brown University the 

 degree of Doctor of Laws. At the time of his death (Feb. 15, 1902) he 

 was the Vice-president of Class IL of tliis Academy. 



Endowed by nature with talents of a high order, he cultivated and, 

 to use his own favorite phrase, accelerated their development and increase 

 through his life. His strength of character is evinced by the forceful 

 influence he exerted both in scientific and educational channels. 



" Talent" says Baron Osten Sacken, the venerable diplomatist and 

 naturalist, " is a gift of nature, and does not, for that reason, constitute in 

 itself a merit; the merit lies in the character which makes talent fruit- 

 ful." And that profound genius and master in biology — Von Baer — 

 has said : "In the domain of Science, talent alone, coupled with 

 diligence and the "power of self-control,, is of any value." * 



We close this notice of our departed friend, who endeared himself to 

 his associates so closely by his amiable and manly qualities, feeling sure 

 that posterity will confirm the estimate here given of his worth as a man, 

 and of the secure place he will hold as a master in science. 



A. S. Packard. 



JOHN DANIEL RUNKLE. 



John Daniel Runkle was born at Root, N. Y., October 11, 1822, 

 and died at Southwest Harbor, Me., July 8, 1902, near the close of his 

 eightieth year. 



The early years of life on the farm offered little opportunity for study, 

 and he was already twenty-five when he entered the newly established 

 Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University. His name stands 

 alone in the catalogue of 1848-49 as " student in mathematics." John 

 W. Draper and James E. Oliver were fellow students ; Josiah P. Cooke 

 and William T. Harris, resident graduates. He was a member of the 

 first graduating class, of 1851, with Joseph Le Coute and David A. 

 Wells, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science, and at the same 

 time, for high scholarshii), the honorary degree of Master of Arts. 



Tlie work of computation for the Nautical Almanac was carried on at 

 this time in Cambridge by a staff including, among other men of subse- 

 quent eminence, Simon Newcomb, Asaph Hall, George W. Hill, T. H. 



* Quoted from " An Introduction to tlie Record of my Life-work in Ento- 

 mology." By C. R. Von Osten Sacken. lOOL 



