14 



vessel of the late Capt. Gushing and given to him, led 

 him into the study of comparative anatomy. He calcu- 

 lated the orbits of comets ; he engraved ; made for him- 

 self a microscope ; was the first in this country to follow 

 Daguerre in his remarkable discovery ; was a student of 

 meteorology ; and after he was sixty-five years old learned 

 the German language, that he might translate a work of 

 Dr. Ernst Hallier, entitled, "Parasitical Investigations 

 upon the Vegetable Organisms found in Measles, Typhus 

 Abdominalis, Small Pox, Kiue Pock, Sheep Pock, Chol- 

 era, etc." To this translation the doctor added an appen- 

 dix, giving his own observations continued for months, 

 confirming those of Professor Hallier. He was scholarly 

 in all his habits, and kept up a familiarity with the classics, 

 but the book of nature was his special delight. 



Dr. Perkins was highly esteemed for his scientific and 

 other attainments, and was frequently called to offices of 

 honor and trust. He was for two successive terms Presi- 

 dent of the Massachusetts Medical Society ; a member of 

 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences : President 

 of the Common Council of Newburyport during the years 

 1858-59, and a representative of that city in the state 

 legislature several times ; and during many years previous 

 to his decease a trustee of the Putnam Free School, and 

 trustee of the Institute for Savings for Newburyport and 

 vicinity. He was appointed by Mr. George Peabody, in 

 1867, one of the trustees for the fund for the Promotion 

 of Science and Useful Knowledge in the County of Essex, 

 since incorporated under the title of "The Trustees of the 

 Peabody Academy of Science," and having its museum 

 and collections in this city. 



After remarks from Rev. E. C. Bolles, Dr. A. H. 

 Johnson and Messrs. F. W. Putnam and A. C. Goodell, 



