398 E. w. HiLr;ARn. 



bestowed on him the Liebig gold medal " for distinguished 

 achievement in agrictilttiral science." The universities of Missis- 

 sippi. Michigan, Columbia, and California conferred on him the 

 flegree of LL.D., and the expositions of Paris. Rio de Janeiro 

 and St. Louis presented him with medals for collaboration in 

 agricultural research. 



Hilgard's father, Chief Justice of the Court of Apjjeals of 

 Rhenish Bavaria, emigrated to the United States when the boy 

 was three years old, and settled on a farm, where the lad acquired 

 a practical knowledge of agriculture. Judge Hilgard personally 

 prepared his son for a university career, and at the age of 16 

 Eugene returned to Europe, studying at Zurich, Freiberg, and 

 Heidelberg; graduating at Heidelberg with honours, and obtain- 

 ing a doctor's degree suuuua cinn laiidc. His thesis was the 

 structure of the candle flame, in which he was the first to define 

 four parts and to describe the chemical reactions proceeding in 

 each part. Two years later Dr. Hilgard became assistant state 

 geologist at Mississippi, and in 1858 state geologist, continuing 

 meanwhile detailed investigations of the botany and agriculture 

 of the State. It was then that he noted the sharp demarcations 

 in the indigenous tree and plant growth on tlie difi:'erent types 

 of soil, and there the foundations were laid of the views which 

 he afterwards developed in connection with agricultural investi- 

 gation and soil surveys — views which have ])ccn worked out in 

 detail in his many ptiblications, and especially in his classic 

 treatise on " Soils,"' published in 1906. Prof. R. H. Loughridge, 

 once Hilgard's pu])il and afterwards his colleague — who retired 

 from the professorial staff of California University simulta- 

 neously with his veteran friend and quondam teacher — says, in 

 this connection : — ■■''■'- 



While Hilgard was not the first to make a soil survey and chemical 

 analyses of soils, he was the lirst to interpret the results in their 

 relation to soil durahility, fertility, and crop production. He was the 

 first to maintain that the physical qualities and chemical characters of a 

 soil so hand in hand in determining its cultural value, and he maintained 

 that the complex character of a soil demanded an investigation into its 

 chemical, physical, mineral, and biological characters if vvc would under- 

 stand it fully. 



The present writer had the privilege of receiving at different 

 times from Prof. Hilgard many of his publications and the ad- 

 vantage of his criticism and counsel. He expressed himself on 

 one of those occasions — in 1908 — as greatly interested in the 

 chemical soil work that had been undertaken in South Africa, and 

 — two years later — as greatly pleased that in the initiation of 

 that work regard had been given to the views from which Dr. 

 Eoughridge now' quotes. 



At the close of the civil war in America, Hilgard became 

 Professor of chemistry in the University of Mississippi, and in 

 1871 his title was changed into Professor of experimental and 

 agriculttiral chemistry. In the following year he transferred to 



* Science ( 1016) 43, 452. 



