Brinton.] ^t)2 [May 17, 



After his return in 1857, he was appointed to special duty in Philadel- 

 phia, and during the Civil War passed most of its years at the Navy Yard 

 in Boston. For a time he was President of the Examining Board for the 

 admission and promotion of assistant surgeons of the Navy ; and after the 

 close of the war, had charge for a time of the Naval Hospital at Philadel- 

 phia. 



He was retired in 1869 with the rank of Commander, and when the 

 grade of medical director, United States Navy, was established in 1871, he 

 was at once promoted to that position with the rank of Commodore, on the 

 retired list. The last active duty whicli he performed was at the Naval 

 Hospital, Philadelphia, from 1870 to 1873. 



At the time of his death, which took place at Philadelphia, March 24,. 

 1893, he had been sixty-eight years and eight months in the Naval service 

 of the United States, forty-three years of which had been in active service 

 and twenty-six years on the retired list. 



Such is a condensed statement of Dr. Ruschenberger's official life. 

 Although ever earnestly devoted to its duties, they by no means occupied 

 his whole attention. From early youth he had cherished a love for the 

 natural sciences and a pleasure in literary composition. The results of 

 these remain in several volumes narrating his voyages and observations, 

 and many scientific papers. The variety of these may be judged from 

 the following chronological list, which is by no means exhaustive. 



1833. A List of the Plants of Cliili. In Silliman's Journal. 



1834. Three Years in the Pacific. 2 Vols. 



1835. The same work in London. 



1838. A Voyage around the World. Republished in London the same 



year. 

 1838. Meteorological Observritions on a Voyage from Peru to the United 



States, around Cape Horn. In Silliman's Journal. 



1845. Hints on the Reorganization of the United States Navy. (One of a 



number of pamphlets and articles written by him on this subject.) 



1846. Elements of Natural History. (Short popular introductions to a 



number of the natural sciences, appearing at various dates 

 between 1846 and 1850.) 



1850. A Lexicon of Terms used in Natural History. 



1850. An edition of Mary Soraerville's "Physical Geography." Re- 

 edited in 1853. 



1852. A Notice of the Origin, Progress and present Condition of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Second edition in 

 1860. 



1854. Notes and Commentaries during Voyages to Brazil and Cliina. 



1856. On the Mercury of New Almaden, California. In American Jour- 

 nal of Pharmacy. 



1867. Statistics of Human Growth. 



1873. On the Value of Original Scientific Research. 



1873. On the Origin and Properties of Cundurango. 



