A MEMOIR OF ELTAS LOOMIS. 743 



of bis letters be coDgratulates bimself tbat all of bis bills that were 

 more t ban 2 years old bad been paid. lu another be says tbat there 

 was not eno'jgb money in the college treasury to take him out of the 

 state. When heleft Hudson tbccollege oflered to pay at once the arrears 

 of bis salary by deeding to bim some of its unimproved lands. 



In 1844 be was offered, and be accepted, the ofbce of professor of 

 matbemaiics and natural philosophy in the university of Kew York. 

 In this new position be undertook the prepaiation of a series of text 

 books in the mathematics, and for some years a large i)art of the time 

 which be could spare from his regular college work was given to the 

 l)reparation of these books. 



When Professor Henry resigned bis professorship at Princeton in 

 order to accept the oflBce of Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

 Professor Loomis was offered the vacant chair. He went to Princeton 

 and remained there during 1 year, at the end of which be was induced 

 to return again to bis old place in the university of New York. Here 

 be continued untd 1860, when be was elected to the professorship in 

 Yale College made vacant by the death of Professor Olmsted. For the 

 last 29 years of bis life be here labored for the college and for science, 

 passing away on the 15tb of August, 1889. 



Let us look now in succession at the different lines of hisactivity dur- 

 ing these 56 years, — 4 here in the tutorship and in Europe, 7 at Hud- 

 son, Oiiio, 16 in New York City and Piinceton, and 29 in New Haven. 



For the first year on returning from Andover to New Haven he was 

 tutor in Latin, although it seems that be might, bad be chosen it, have 

 been tutor of mathematics. I believe that at the beginning bis mind 

 was not yet definitely turned toward the exact sciences. In bis child- 

 hood he bad taken specially to Greek. In college be was equally pro- 

 ficient in all of his studies. He is represented to have led bis class at 

 Andover in Hebrew, and now on entering the tutorship be chose to 

 teach the Latin language and literature. During the second year he 

 taught mathematics and the third year natural philosophy. His later 

 success in scientific work was, I believe, in no small measure due to his 

 earlier broad and thorough study of language. 



I have made some inquiry in order to learn what it was that turned 

 bis attention and tastes toward science. One of his colleagues in the 

 tutorship, the Rev. Dr. Davenport, says that be recollects very dis- 

 tinctly the first indication to his own mind that Tutor Loomis was turn- 

 ing his thoughts in this direction. The great meteoric shower of 1833 

 came early in the period of bis tutorship, and the views of Professor 

 Twining and Professor Olmsted about the astronomical character and 

 origin of these interesting and mysterious bodies were a common topic 

 of conversation among scientific men in the college, especially when- 

 ever Professor Olmsted was present. The tutors were accustomed to 

 meet as a club from time to time in the tutors' rooms in turn, and Dr. 

 Davenport well recollects the occasion when Tutor Loomis brought in 



