THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MORRIS 



LOEB 



IN the untimely death of Morris Loeb our country lost a 

 man of rare quality. To serve mankind was the ideal of his 

 life, and loyalty was his guide in the fulfillment of this service; 

 few men in so short a span of years have been able to ex- 

 press so largely their desire by deeds. His helpful acts and 

 liberal benefactions were modestly carried out; they were 

 perhaps hardly appreciated in their fullness during his life- 

 time by any except those who came nearest to him. As an 

 ameliorator of the lot of the poor of New York he was in the 

 front rank; at the same time he was a farseeing enthusiast 

 in the cause of science, and one of the most faithful and 

 generous graduates of Harvard University. His devotion 

 to his Alma Mater makes it especially appropriate that this 

 volume of his writings should appear under her auspices. 



Among his various interests chemistry was foremost, al- 

 though the responsibilities of a great fortune and its attendant 

 demands prevented him from devoting as much time to re- 

 search as he would have been glad to give. The study of his 

 work as disclosed in the following pages will show a mental 

 attitude unusually thoughtful and philosophic, alive to new 

 ideas and yet wisely conservative. His conservatism was not 

 of a reactionary type, because he was ever altruistic in his 

 point of view. His constant aim was to support that which 

 seemed to him likely to contribute, either through the ad- 

 vance of science or in any other way, to the good of mankind. 



Morris Loeb was born fifty years ago at Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 on May 23, 1863, the son of Solomon and Betty (Gallenberg) 

 Loeb. His father was one of the founders of the great bank- 



