THEODORE WILLIAM EICHARDS 



By Gregoby P. Baxtee 



[With one plate] 



On April 2, 1928, the scientific world was shocked by news of the 

 death, after a short illness, of Theodore William Eichards, Erving 

 professor of chemistry in Harvard University. Until within three 

 weeks of his death he performed his usual duties, but from that time 

 he failed rapidly. His father, William Troost Eichards, noted 

 marine arti.st, as well as his mother, Anna Matock Eichards, were 

 natives of Pennsylvania, and it was in Germantown, Pa., on January 

 30, 1868, immediately after the return of his parents from a European 

 trip, that Theodore Eichards, the fifth child, was born. 



Childhood was passed under stimulating surroundings. His father 

 was a very wise and far-seeing man as well as an artist ; his Quaker 

 mother an author of both prose and poetry; his three brothers and 

 two sisters as well as he possessed a rich intellectual inheritance; 

 artists, authors, and scientists were intimate family friends at his 

 father's Germantown and Newport homes; two years were spent in 

 Europe, jlargel}^ in England. By a wise decision on the part of his 

 parents Eichards' early education up to the time of entering college 

 was obtained at home from his mother. His quick intelligence was 

 impatient of delay, and to conform to normal educational speed 

 would unquestionably have been irksome if not disastrous. Although 

 he was prepared to enter Haverford College at the age of 131^5 

 because of his youth entrance to college was postponed for one year. 

 But in the meantime he undertook the studies of the freshman year 

 at home, still under the tutelage of his mother, and joined the 

 sophomore class at Haverford in the fall of 1882. 



Scientific interest showed itself earjy. As a boy he lived through 

 two " boughten " sets of chemicals unharmed, and while still at 

 home was taken into the chemical laboratory of the University of 

 Pennsylvania Medical School by Doctor Marshall and given special 

 instruction in qualitative anal3^sis. In Haverford College, under 

 Prof. Lyman B. Hall, he laid a firm foundation for his future work 

 in chemistry, although his interest at that time was divided between 



1 Reprinted by pormission from Science, Vol. LXVIII,, No. 1763, Oct. 12, 1928. 



737 



