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improvement of processes or inventions which were brought 
before him in the course of the discharge of his numerous 
official duties, — among these was an instrument for ascer- 
taining the daily amount of evaporation from a given sur- 
face by means of the descent of water contained in an 
inverted graduated tube, the open end of which was im- 
mersed in the basin from which the evaporation took place. 
With a slight correction for variation in barometrical pres- 
sure, this instrument gives, with more precision than any 
other with which we are acquainted, the amount of evapora- 
tion, 
I have, Gentlemen, thus faintly and inadequately sketched 
the life and services of our departed friend and associate ; 
but, faint and inadequate as my sketch may be, I feel confi- 
dent that every one will recognize in it the lineaments of a 
great and true man. Labors so protracted, results so im- 
portant and varied, it is the destiny of but few to achieve, 
and for him who achieves them may justly be claimed 4 
high niche in the temple of Fame, and the grateful homage 
of the patriot and of the seeker after Truth. One of the 
oldest of the corporators of this Academy, it was permitted 
him only to contribute his past labors and his shining eX- 
ample. But these are indeed a rich legacy. Proud, indeed, 
may this youthful institution be that it éan enroll among its 
members the name of JosePpH GILBERT Torren, — proud, 
too, may each one whom I now address— each one of its 
members —be, if he shall achieve but a far less claim to rec 
ognition among men of science. To the aged among us, — 
those who were young with him, and like him have crowned 
a life of toil by honorable achievements, —I need not speak. 
They require no example, and they may feel in contemplat- 
ing his history an additional assurance that their own works 
4 
