JAMES POLLARD ESPY. 203 



his death, Prof. Bache pronounced his eulogy in the Board of 

 Regents, and the regents passed memorial resolutions, one of 

 which describes him as " one of the most useful and zealous of 

 the meteorologists co-operating with the Institution, whose 

 labours in both the increase and diffusion of knowledge of 

 meteorology have merited the highest honours of science at 

 home, and have added to the reputation of our country 

 abroad." 



Prof. Espy delivered many lectures in the towns, cities, and 

 villages of the United States, explaining his theories and the 

 results of his observations. These efforts were very success- 

 ful, and, according to Prof. Bache, by their originality attract- 

 ed more attention to his views than could have been obtained 

 in any other way. " He soon showed remarkable power in ex- 

 plaining his ideas. His simplicity and clearness enabled his 

 hearers to follow him without too great effort, and the earnest- 

 ness with which he expressed his convictions carried them 

 away in favour of his theory." He was also remarkably suc- 

 cessful in gaining the sympathy of public men, and, through 

 them, in obtaining from the Government continued opportuni- 

 ties for study, research, and the comparison of observations. 

 His reports to the Surgeon-General of the Army, to Congress, 

 and to the Secretary of the Navy, are mentioned as among his 

 latest efforts in this direction. 



Prof. Espy is charged with the one scientific defect that, 

 with his deep conviction of the truth of his theory, and the 

 enthusiasm it fed in him, he could not pass beyond a certain 

 point in its development, and for the same reasons his deduc- 

 tions were often unsafe. He was not prone to examine and 

 re-examine premises and conclusions, but considered what had 

 once been passed upon by his judgment as finally settled. 

 " Hence his views did not make that impression upon cooler 

 temperaments among men of science to which they were en- 

 titled, obtaining more credit among scholars and men of gen- 

 eral reading in our country than among scientific men, and 

 making but little progress abroad." But, toward the close of 

 his life, he was induced, by the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, to re-examine the various parts of his theories, 

 and to insert in his Fourth Report, while it was going through 

 the press, an account of his most mature views. 



Prof. Espy thought much on subjects of mental and moral 



