266 STUDY <)1' i;rvATNS of STX eminent scientists and S("H0LA1!S. 



vincing. He perceived almost as by instinct the important and vital matters of an 

 issue and relegated the secondary and unimportant questions to their proper places. 

 He was always broad and philosophical in his conceptions and brought to bear upon a 

 given biological problem a wealth of physical, chemical and mathematical knowledge. 



His command of English was remarkable. He talked with great facility, and, 

 when occasion offered, as in after-dinnar speaking, he became eloquent to a degree. 

 He was always ready to speak, never paused for a word, and had a rich flow of 

 imagery. 



He acquired a reading knowledge of both French and German, but never took the 

 trouble to become proficient in either of these tongues. The explanation probably lay 

 in the fact that to him language was merel}' an instrument of communication and not 

 of itself interesting, and he never for this reason seriously applied himself All other 

 knowledge he acquired with extreme rapidity and facility and readily coordinated the 

 newly-acquired facts with those already in his possession. His method of thought was 

 systematic in the extreme, and his mind was a store-house in which everything was 

 well classified and arranged. In addition he possessed an excellent memory, which in 

 debate or after-dinner speaking served him to good purpose in rendering spontaneous 

 citations. 



His perceptions were very acute and his muscular coordinations were very accu- 

 rate. He was a remarkably good shot and was fond of out-of-door exercise. He was 

 exceedingly fond of music, of which he possessed not only a keen appreciation, but a 

 profound and philosophic comprehension. He not only enjoyed it thoroughly, but he 

 was especially fond of discussing its physics and mathematics. Art in its other forms 

 appealed to him in but an average degi'ee. 



He was diffident in manner, and while his acquaintance was large, he had but 

 few intimate friends. His tastes were rather Bohemian and unconventional, and 

 though not devoid of a feeling of reverence, he was an outspoken agnostic. 



As regards his scientific work, he was rather inditterent in the matter of publica- 

 tion. When he had satisfied his own mind as to a given question he would only 

 exceptionally publish the results. For this reason tlie numl)er of his published 

 articles is rather limited, the most important of them being the one on the cerebral 

 convolutions of the primates already mentioned. An important investigation which 

 he never completed was on the interaction of crj'stalloids and colloids and embraced 

 a large number of experiments of crystallizations in various colloid media. In talking 

 with his friends, he claimed that in the interaction of crystalloids and colloids is to be 

 sought an explanation of much of the mystery underlying organic forms. Unfortu- 

 nately his dilatory habits interfered with the publication of his experiments, and to 



