ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 5 



in science. Here he made acquaintances and formed friendships 

 that yielded pleasure, encouragement and assistance during the 

 remainder of his life. During the earlier part of his stay here 

 (1853) he was happily married to Miss Emma Hall, of Iredell 

 county, N. C. 



The work on the Nautical Almanac did not require all of his 

 time, and during the years 1853-'4 and 1854-'5 he is recorded 

 as a member of the Lawrence Scientific School, studying geology, 

 mathematics and engineering. During this time (1853-'56) 

 he also studied zoolooi;v under Professor Ai^-assiz, botanv under 

 Professor Gray, and chemistrv under Professor Horsford. 



These years at Cambridge were among the happiest of Pro- 

 fessor Kerr's life. In after years his face always brio;htened 

 when he referred to them. Naturally enough, Agassiz was the 

 central figure amon<»: those whom he admired and under whom 

 he worked. He often alluded to his first lesson in o;eoloii:y — 

 Agassiz's giving him a handful of sand and asking him to 

 report on its contents — and other incidents connected with his 

 great teacher. He was just beginning, under Agassiz, a piece 

 of original research in connection with some newly-discovered 

 species of fossil fishes, wliich was interrupted by his being 

 offered, and accepting, in February, 1856, the t)rofessorship of 

 chemistry and geology at Davidson College, in this State. How- 

 ever, he remained at Cambridge a year after this, continuing his 

 connection with the Nautical Almanac (until January 13, 1857), 

 and during his spare time preparing himself more fully for his 

 future work at Davidson College, where he begun the duties of 

 his professorship early in the year 1857. 



In speaking of Professor Kerr's work at Davidson, I cannot 

 do better than quote from a letter on this subject written by a 

 gentleman who was one of his students at the college during 

 1858 and '59, and whose name would be a sufficient guarantee 

 of the accuracy of his statements. He says of Professor Kerr: 

 "He was an ardent student, an enthusiastic and successful 

 teacher, and it seemed almost by contagion his students would 

 catch something of his spirit. He had little patience with dull- 



