FROM THE NEW-YORK TRIBUNE, OCT. 7. 



PROFESSOR PEIRCE was the son of Benjamin Peirce, the librarian of 

 Harvard University from 1826 to 1831, the year of his death. Benjamin 

 Peirce, sen., was the first scholar in the class of iSor, and for some years was 

 a merchant at Salem, Mass. After his appointment as librarian, he wrote a 

 partial history of the University, bringing it down to the time of the Revolu- 

 tion: this work was published in 1833. Benjamin Peirce, jun., was born at 

 Salem, April 4, 1809, and was prepared for college under the instruction of 

 Nathaniel Bowditch and at Andover. lie entered Harvard in 1825, and 

 immediately distinguished himself by his devotion to mathematics. He was 

 graduated in 1829, and at once took a position as a teacher of mathematics 

 in Round Hill School at Northampton, Mass., then under the charge of 

 Joseph G. Cogswell and George Bancroft. 



In 1831 Professor Peirce returned to Cambridge to fill the position of 

 tutor in mathematics in the University. In 1833 he was made University 

 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, and in 1842 he became 

 Perkins professor of astronomy and mathematics. In 1867 Professor Peirce 

 was made Superintendent of the United-States Coast Survey, and held the 

 position for seven years. Since 1849 he had been consulting astronomer to 

 the American Ef>hemcris and Nautical Almanac, and for many years he 

 directed the theoretical part of the work. In 1855 Professor Peirce was one 

 of the men intrusted with the organization of the Dudley Observatory. For 

 many years before and after he took charge of the Coast Survey, he was 

 consulted frequently in the work of the office. . . . He received the degree 

 of LL.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1847, anc ^ from Harvard 

 University in 1867. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Astronomi- 

 cal Society of London in 1849, and a member of the Royal Society of Lon- 

 don in 1852. He was elected president of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science in 1853 (the fifth year of its existence), and was one 

 of the original members of the National Academy of Sciences. He was a 

 member of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and Gottingen, and Honorary 

 Fellow of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir at Kiev. . . . Professor 

 Peirce was married in July, 1833. His wife, three sons, and a daughter 

 survive him. His eldest son, James M. Peirce, is University/professor of 

 mathematics in Harvard ; Charles S. Peirce is a professor in the Johns 

 Hopkins University ; H. H. D. Peirce is connected with the firm of Herter 

 Brothers, of this city. 



