••^'•f- ^-^ Clarence Luther Jlerriek. 17 



profoundest thinking to the least initiated of his pupils. The 

 ability to do this without befogging the air was an exceedingly 

 rare gift and was stimulating even to a dullard. He knew the 

 philosophical classics thoroughly from original sources and the 

 trend of his thinking was very early foreshadowed in the trans- 

 lation of Lotze's Outlines of Psychology published in 1885 in 

 Minneapolis, with his own appended chapter on the structure of 

 the nervous system. 



Upon his removal to the University of Cincinnati in 1889, 

 with which the third period of his life may be said to begin, 

 the geological studies with which the preceding five years had 

 been so fully occupied were summarily brought to a close and 

 he threw himself with renewed energy into the study of the ner- 

 vous system. Extensive papers on the brains of different ani- 

 mals appeared in rapid succession, of which the most valuable 

 are two series, one on the brains of various fishes, the other on 

 those of reptiles. In 1891 the Journal of Comparative Neurology 

 was founded and served as the medium of publication for most 

 of these researches. The founding of this Journal can best be 

 designated as a piece of characteristic audacity. It was a purely 

 private enterprise, with no fund to defray the expenses and very 

 little outside cooperation promised. But without counting the 

 cost he plunged boldly in, expecting a. constituency to be devel- 

 oped as the work went on. In this he has not been disappointed, 

 though recognition of financial needs has lagged sadly behind 

 that of the scientific value of the Journal. 



At tb.e close of 1891 he resigned his chair in the University 

 of Cmcinnati to accept a chair of biology in the University of 

 Chicago, then being reorganized. The early part of 1892 was 

 spent in Europe, chiefly Berlin. Upon his return the adjust- 

 ment at the University of Chicago presented unexpected difficul- 

 ties and after a series of rrisunderstandings he finally withdrew 

 from that institution, declining an offer to return to Germany 

 for further study on full salary. He was immediately elected 

 to liis old post in Denison University with an assistant and the 

 privilege of devoting only a part of his time to teaching, the re- 



