840 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



other way. "He soon sTiowed remarkable power in explaining 

 his ideas. His simplicity and clearness enabled his hearers to 

 follow him without too great effort, and the earnestness with 

 which he expressed his convictions carried them away in favor 

 of his theory." He was also remarkably successful in gaining 

 the sympathy of public men, and, through them, in obtaining 

 from the Government continued opportunities for study, research, 

 and the comparison of observations. His reports to the Surgeon- 

 General of the Army, to Congress, and to the Secretary of the 

 Navy, are mentioned as among his latest efforts in this direction. 



Prof. Espy is charged with the one scientific defect that, 

 with his deep conviction of the truth of his theory, and the en- 

 thusiasm it fed in him, he could not pass beyond a certain point 

 in its development, and for the same reasons his deductions were 

 often unsafe. He was not prone to examine and re-examine 

 premises and conclusions, but considered what had once been 

 passed upon by his judgment as finally settled. " Hence his views 

 did not make that impression uj)on cooler temperaments among 

 men of science to which they were entitled, obtaining more credit 

 among scholars and men of general reading in our country than 

 among scientific men, and making but little progress abroad." 

 But, toward the close of his life, he was induced, by the Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, to re-examine the various parts of 

 his theories, and to insert in his " Fourth Report," while it was 

 going through the press, an account of his most mature views. 



Prof. Espy thought much on subjects of mental and moral 

 philosophy, and after his death his relatives in Cincinnati pub- 

 lished his short "Treatise on the Will," which is described as 

 embodying some original and striking ideas. 



Personally, according to Prof. Bache, " Prof. Espy was emi- 

 nently social, full of bonhomie and enthusiasm, easily kindling 

 into a glow by social mental action. In the meetings and free 

 discussions of a club formed for promoting research, and espe- 

 cially for scrutinizing the labors of its members, and of which 

 Sears C. Walker, Prof. Henry, Henry D. Rogers, and myself were 

 members, Mr, Espy found the mental stimulus that he needed, 

 and the criticism which he courted, the best aids and checks to 

 his observations, speculations, and experiments. But there was 

 one person who had more influence upon him than all others be- 

 sides, stimulating him to progress, and urging him forward in 

 each step with a zeal which never flagged — this was his wife." 

 Mrs. Morehead says that "he never seemed impatient or con- 

 cerned at the slow recognition of his discoveries as means of prac- 

 tical use in commerce or other national needs. He would say, * I 

 leave all this to the future, sure that its adaptation to the uses of 

 life must one day be seen and acknowledged.' " 



