THE INCORPORATORS III 



In 1850 Dr. Alexander published a " Universal Dictionary of 

 Weights and Measures, Ancient and Modern " which was " one 

 of the most complete and exact works of the kind ever pub- 

 lished." (Hilgard.) 



In 1855 he issued a pamphlet entitled " International Coinage 

 for Great Britain and the United States," in which he explained 

 his plan for equalizing the pound sterling and the half-eagle. 

 He went to Europe in 1857 as the representative of the United 

 States for the purpose of effecting arrangements for the unifica- 

 tion of coinage, but his labors were unsuccessful, owing, as he 

 believed, to the opposition of the bankers. 



At the request of the Lighthouse Board, Dr. Alexander re- 

 ported on Babbage's numerical system of lighthouses, on steam 

 whistles as fog signals, and on illuminating oils. 



At the outbreak of the Civil War he tendered his services to 

 the Government and was appointed an engineer officer, in which 

 capacity he aided in planning and constructing the defences of 

 Baltimore. He also contributed largely from his own means 

 for organizing and equipping a field battery of which his eldest 

 son became the commander. He was about to be appointed 

 Director of the Mint in Philadelphia in 1867, when he was 

 attacked by pneumonia and died in his 55th year. 



Dr. Alexander's published works include, besides books and 

 pamphlets on scientific subjects (the more important of which 

 have been mentioned above), two volumes of religious poems; 

 and he also left behind a considerable number of manuscripts, 

 among which was " a Dictionary of English Surnames " in 12 

 volumes, and " a Dictionary of the Language of the Lenni- 

 Lenape, or Delaware Indians." 



(From J. E. HILGARD, in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, vol. I, 1877, pp. 213-226. See also WM. PINKNEY, " Memoir of John 

 H. Alexander," Maryland Historical Society, 1867. 8. Pp. 31.) 



