16 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



John Coit Spooner, distinguished lawyer and ex-Senator of the 

 United States, was born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, January 6, 

 1843, and died at New York City, June 11, 1919. He was one of 

 those virile Americans who were disciplined in the great Civil Con- 

 flict of 1861-1865 and who have figured so prominently, if not 

 predominantly, in all national developments of the fifty years 

 following that war. He was conspicuous for his independence 

 and courage in the political life of his times. During his long 

 term of 16 years of service as Senator he displayed remarkable 

 constructive capacity, especially in dealing with the legislative 

 problems resulting from the Spanish-American war and from 

 other national and international compUcations following that 

 disturbed period. Like all his colleagues of the Board of Trus- 

 tees, he was busily preoccupied with other affairs; and it is not 

 surprising that along with a few others he should not have found 

 time to take a very active part in the administrative proceedings 

 of the Institution. He regretted this fact, and on resigning his 

 senatorship, in 1907, in order that he might resume the arduous 

 tasks of his profession, he relieved himself also of the duties of 

 his trusteeship. 



W. Max Miiller, eminent orientalist and a Research Associate 

 of the Institution since 1904, was born at GHessenburg, Germany, 

 May 15, 1862, and died from drowning at Wildwood Crest, New 

 Jersey, July 12, 1919. He was an indefatigable student of 

 Egyptology and made three archeological expeditions under the 

 auspices of the Institution to that country. He was one of the 

 last to make competent observations on some of the temples of 

 the upper Nile. His studies at Philse, especially, present him as 

 a pathetic figure seeking to save from oblivion the inscriptions 

 on those ancient temples when the waters of the Assouan Dam 

 were gradually rising to obhterate them. Thus, in a letter to 

 Dr. S. Weir Mitchell dated September 26, 1910, Dr. Muller writes : 



"I am sitting on the highest temple tower of Philae and looking down on 

 the rocky island, on the wonderful scenery along the Nile, and on the incom- 

 parably beautiful temple. What a charming place! All out of the water 

 now, the temple seems to be in a better state of repair than ever; even a little 

 green vegetation of desert character now spreads over the island, once so 

 green with trees and shrubs, but now having only three date palms left. It is 

 as though Philse appeared once more before its death, a coquette with the 



