1885.] -I- 1 '-' [Ruschenberger. 



to write with his left hand and to use the right arm, beneath the 

 shoulder, in prehension with notable skill in his experiments 

 while lecturing. 



Soon after the loss of his hand a greater sorrow came to him. 

 His happy married life of twenty years was ended. His wife 

 died February 21, 1863. 



Under an attraction of speculative chances in petroleum, which 

 at the time shrewd men believed to be excellent, many friends, 

 relying upon his scientific judgment in the premises, were in- 

 duced to join Dr. Rogers in organizing the Humboldt Oil Com- 

 pany, February IT, 1864. They contributed a quarter of a 

 million of dollars. Land supposed to be richly stored with 

 oil was purchased, wells were sunk and work carried on for some 

 time without profit. The assets of the company were publicly 

 sold, February 4, 1873, for a sum not more than sufficient to 

 return the stockholders one cent a share. Dr. Rogers owned 

 one-fifth of all the shares, and lost more than any one who had 

 stock in the unhappy enterprise he had prompted. 



Miss Delia Saunders became his second wife, April 30, 1866. 



May 10, 1872, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 

 States appointed Drs. H. R. Linderman and Robert E. Rogers a 

 committee to examine the Melter and Refiner's Department of 

 the Mint at Philadelphia, and ascertain the extent and sources 

 of an alleged " waste of silver in excess of the amount tolerated 

 by law." The processes of assaying and refining the bullion 

 and converting it into coin were carefully investigated and 

 tested by numerous experiments at the Mint, and at the Assay 

 Office in New York. About two months were spent in the ex- 

 amination. The result of it was presented July 25, 1872, in a 

 well considered and elaborate " Report on the wastage of silver 

 bullion in the Melter and Refiner's Department of the Mint." 



This investigation, valuable in itself, was also valuable in its 

 consequences. His experimental trials to apply the principles 

 of chemical science to the improvement of an industrial process 

 of great importance, suggested modifications in the methods of 

 refining the precious metals which were subsequently adopted.* 



* "Some important questions of a chemical and metallurgical character hav- 

 ing arisen with regard to various mint manipulations of the precious metals, a 

 series of experiments to determine the same were made at the Philadelphia 

 Mint, in the latter part of the fiscal year, under the supervision of Professor 

 R. E. Rogers. The results obtained were conclusive of several points, and will 

 be of value in future minting operations." Report of the Director of the Mint, 

 November 1, 1873, p. 12. 



PR0C. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXIII. 121. Q. PRINTED NOVEMBER 11, 1885. 



