1895.] dbl [Brinlon. 



If we saw only the one-sided and narrow type of man, we should be 

 liable to have a false idea of the nobility to which we can hope to attain ; 

 and the pessimism which blights noble aspirations and checks the growth 

 of true moral ideas would seem to be sound philosophy. 



True culture cannot lead us higher than this : to a generous breadth of 

 view and uprightness of soul, to sturdy principle and a steadfast pursuit 

 of the noblest aims ; to sympathy with our fellows, and a ready helpful- 

 ness where our influence can direct, can stimulate and elevate. 



Obituary Notice of Dr. William Samuel Waithman Rusclienhtrger. 



By Dr. D. G. Brinton. 

 {Bead before the American Pliilosophical Society, May 17, 1S95.) 



The obituary notice which I have to present of our late Vice-President, 

 Dr. "William Samuel Waithman Ruschenberger, will be brief, not that 

 materials are deficient to make it longer, but that according to the opin- 

 ion of those who stood nearest him in life, it was his preference that it 

 should be brief, or even that none should be prepared. It would not be 

 proper for us, however, to permit so distinguished a member of this So- 

 ciety to pass from among us without at least some mention of his long 

 and fruitful activity in the cause of science and progress. 



His parents, Peter Ruschenberger and Ann Waithman, resided at the 

 date of his birth, which was September 4, 1807, on a farm near Bridgeton, 

 Cumberland county. New Jersey. The early education he received is 

 stated to have been "in New York and Philadelphia," and when not yet 

 twenty years of age, on August 10, 1826, he was appointed a "surgeon's 

 mate" in the United States Navy, the appointment being from the State 

 of New Jersey. He was immediately sent to the Pacific, and after his re- 

 turn entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, 

 from which institution he received the diploma of Doctor of Medicine, 

 March 24, 1833. The following year, April 4, 1831. he was commissioned 

 as surgeon in the United Slates Navy, and in a short time was again des- 

 patched on a long cruise in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 



From 1836 to 1839 he was Fleet Surgeon, and in that position visited 

 Southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf and various parts of the East Indies 

 and China, which at that time were rarely in the track of travelers. About 

 twenty years later, from 1854 to 1857, he was again Fleet Surgeon of the 

 Pacific squadron, which was his last service at sea. Between these dates 

 he was offlcially employed at the Naval Hospital at New York city, where 

 among other valuable developments, he organized the United Slates Naval 

 Laboratory, for supplying tlie service with pure pharmaceutical prepara- 

 tions and carrying on researches into medical questions. 



