270 H. BALDWIN WARD 



for natural liistory had been aroused by chance long before this 

 and had been cultivated to such an extent that he did not take 

 kindly to the restraints of gênerai practice, and much of his time 

 was devoted ot compai^ative anatomy. He himself related to a 

 private class that upon one occasion he became so absorbed in the 

 study of a worm that he completely forgot an obstetric case which 

 he had engaged to attend ! He had already acquired some know- 

 ledge of the microscope from an instructor at the University and 

 in Company with a friend had made the first daguerréotype in 

 Philadelphia. It was natural, then, that by virtue of his appoint- 

 ment as prosector at the University he turned towards a Univer- 

 sity career. 



During the year 1845, Leidy was elected amemberof the Boston 

 Society of Natural History and also of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences at Philadelphia, and a year later, although hardly 23 years 

 of âge, he was chosen chairman of the Board of Curators of the 

 latter, a position held continuously until his death. It was with 

 this institution that he was inseparably connected and in its publi- 

 cations appeared constant évidences of his scientific activity. At 

 the âge of thirty he became professor of anatomy at the University 

 of Pennsylvania and held this position with distinction for a period 

 of forty years. He was conceded to be the highest authority on the 

 subject in this country, and during the Civil War he served as 

 surgeon in a military hospital. In 1871 Dr. Leidy was chosen Pro- 

 fessor of Natural History at Swathmore Collège and in 1881 was 

 unanimously elected Président of the Philadelphia Academy, a 

 position which he held at the time of his death. On the establish- 

 ment of the biological department of the University of Pennsylva- 

 nia he was made its Director and was also elected to the position of 

 Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, an appointment 

 which was peculiarly pleasing to him. During his lifetime the 

 occasion of several trips abroad brought him in personal contact 

 with the distinguished anatomists and physiologists of Europe. He 

 continued his work until the last and died on April 30, 1891, 

 (( having lived nearly three score years and ten without having 

 made an enemy and having gained universal affection and esteem.» 



There are few naturalists who hâve done work in so many fields 

 and bave contributed so much of permanent value. A bibliography 



