April 4. 1873.] l^O LeCne. 



OBITUARY NOTICE OF JOHN F. PRAZER. 



By John L. LeConte, M. D. 



{Read before the American PJu'loxop/ticaJ Society, April ith, 1373.,) 



In accordance with the wish of the Society, expressed at the meeting of 

 October 18th, 1872, I have prepared the following brief memoir of John 

 F. Frazer, LL'.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in the 

 University, and who held successively the offices of Secretary and Vice- 

 President in this Society : — a man of eminent scientific and general cul- 

 ture ; of singular truthfulness of speech, and integrity of conduct ; a de- 

 voted lover of consistency in action, and strict performance of duty : 

 virtues which he exemplified in himself and sought for in others. 



He was therefore respected by his acquaintances, and beloved by his 

 friends, with whom he interchanged a strong and unselfish affection ; one 

 who will live in the memory of those admitted to his intimacy, as of those 

 who have had the good fortune to sit under his instruction. 



John Fries Frazer was born in Philadelphia, July 8th, 1812, in Chest- 

 nut street, nearly opposite Independence Hall. His father was Robert 

 Frazer, a brilliant and successful lawyer of that time, who married 

 Elizabeth, daughter of John Fries. 



He was grandson of Lieut. Col. Persifor Frazer, an active officer in the 

 Revolutionary war. 



During his childhood, being placed at school in Philadelphia, he was 

 always among the leaders of his classmates, both in the serious pursuits 

 of the hours of instruction, and in the athletic sports of the recesses. 

 After a year spent, about 1822, at the quasi-military school of Capt. Par- 

 tridge, in Connecticut, he completed his boyish education under Dr. 

 YVylie, and entered as a student in the University of Pennsylvania. 



His acute powers of observation, and the indications of true and manly 

 qualities soon attracted the notice of Prof. A. D. Bache, under whose 

 instruction he now came, and whose influence tended to the development 

 of those scientific tastes, which eventually became the foundation of his 

 continuous work in life. The relations thus established between profes- 

 sor and pupil, resulted, as is rare in the United States, in a tender and 

 permanent affection, which will be referred to at greater length hereafter. 



"While acquiring his scholastic education, he had the benefit of the 

 most thorough old-time training, which could be obtained in the family of 

 the Rev. S. B. Wylie, D.D., '"and in company with his sons, he had been 

 drilled in the classics and mathematics, in a style unknown to these de- 

 generate and superficial days.*" 



During his boyhood and adolescence, he was chiefly under the care of 

 his maternal grandfather, John Fries, and afterwards under the general 

 care of Charles Roberts, the father of our fellow-member S. W. Roberts, 

 and of his brother-in-law, the late John Rhea Barton, M. D. 



*Penn Moathlj'. Sov., 1ST2. p. tCO. 



