Fraley.] 156 (Oct. 19, 
in an eminent degree as Chairman of the Committee 
on Science, to which place he was elected on the resig- 
nation of Professor Bache, in 1844, and the reports 
and records of that Committee illustrate in their vast 
fields of inquiry, and the valuable results to inventors, 
the fertility of his own resources and the wisdom of his 
selection of the sub-committees charged with the duty 
of making investigations. 
As a philanthropist, Mr. Cresson was equally dis- 
tinguished. He was for many years a Manager and 
one of the Vice-Presidents of the Pennsylvania Institu- 
tion for the Instruction of the Blind, one of the Mana- 
gers of the Episcopal Hospital, and of the Western 
Saving Fund Society, and a member of, and contribu- 
tor to, other charitable institutions. But his services 
in these respects were specially made available for the 
Institution for the Blind, for the Saving Fund Society, 
and for the Episcopal Hospital, his connection with 
them terminating only at his death, and the manage- 
ment of these great charities expressed their sorrow 
for his loss, in resolutions that truly declared his merits 
and services. 
In the year 1852, he was elected a Trustee of the 
University of Pennsylvania, which office he also held 
at the time of his decease. | 
In this body he was distinguished, as in all other 
places, by devotion to the best interests of the institu- 
tion, heartily co-operating and sometimes leading in 
the great improvements that have been made in the 
