2o6 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



ness, and patience, and chivalrous ideas of honor, widi whom he has at 

 last answered "Adsum." 



His mental equipment was of the highest order, and the vast stores 

 of his mind had been gathered from an omnivorous reading, pursued 

 under all kinds of circumstances. It was an idea of his own that per- 

 haps his deafness had allowed of a greater concentration on his reading 

 than would ha^-e been possible in one whose hearing rendered him 

 more sensible of external disturbances. However that may be, his 

 reading always seemed more profitable to him than that of less favored 

 mortals, and all he read seemed to remain and take orderly shape in 

 his wonderful memory, With all this, his opinions were never given in 

 positive or offensive form, and the modest and retiring habit of his 

 nature revealed itself in the expressions of his ideas and beliefs. Aside 

 from a simple scientific desire for accuracy, there was a profoundly re- 

 liable and truthful character in all the utterances of the man, a remark- 

 ably high sense of honor appearing in all his intercourse with his 

 fellows. To him any evasion, or anything short of clear and explicit 

 honesty, was disgusting, and many opportunities of self-advancement 

 had been lost to him from inabihty to color his conceived notions of 

 right and truth. His value to science lay in this strict regard for 

 veracity, and in a singularly keen faculty of observation, which had 

 been sedulously cultivated from boyhood — probably from those early 

 times when we find him aiding the old Dr. Troost in his work amongst 

 the hills of Tennessee. 



Having traveled much, read much, and found plenty of time for 

 reflection, he was possessed of a fund of 'varied information seldom 

 equaled, and in conversation and among his friends he was a rare man. 



A deep spring of humor constantly welled up in him, and flashes of 

 a kindly wit that never wounded illuminated much of his communica- 

 tion with those with whom he came in daily contact. He was essen- 

 tially kindly and sympathetic, full of that charity which is so marked a 

 feature of his profession, and, "not ignorant of misfortune, he knew 

 how to pity others." 



In his domestic reladons he was singularly happy, and no more 

 beautiful family circle ever existed than that of which he was the head, 

 as all can testify who have been privileged to visit his home. A kindly, 

 chivalrous gentleman, a fond husband and father, a delightful compan- 

 ion, a constant friend, a ripe scholar, and a faithful votary at the altar 

 of science, we deeply regret that greater length of days was not granted 

 him, that his work might have been full and rounded up with, the honest 

 effort which he had found to be the key to all mysteries but that into 

 which he has passed. 



