Life and Character of Nathaniel Bowditch. 23 



he labored in early life for want of books, and was disposed to 

 obtain for others the advantages which had been extended to him- 

 self. 



Immediately after his election as Trustee of the Athenaeum, in 

 1826, Dr. Bowditch, perceiving the paucity and poverty of the sci- 

 entific department of the library, which might all be put into one 

 small compartment, — " dum iota donius rhedd componitiir una,'''' — • 

 declared that " it was too bad, and a disgrace to the institution 

 and to Boston." He accordingly set about supplying the de- 

 ficiency, by collecting subscriptions for this express purpose. Col. 

 T. H. Perkins gave |500, his brother James the same amount, 

 Dr. Bowditch himself |250, and other gentlemen f 100 apiece. 

 With this sum were purchased the Transactions of the Royal 

 Societies of London, Dublin, and Edinburgh, of the French 

 Academies and Institute, of the Academies of Berlin, Gottingen, 

 St. Petersburg, Turin, Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, and Copen- 

 hagen ; formirig, as Dr. Bowditch once told the librarian, " the 

 most extensive and complete collection of philosophical and sci- 

 entific works on this continent." 



Dr. Bowditch also took a deep interest in the "Boston Me- 

 chanics' Institution," which was established in 1826, and of 

 which he was elected the first President, January 12, 1827. In 

 1828, more than a thousand dollars was subscribed for the pur- 

 chase of philosophical apparatus, chiefly through his influence 

 with his friends, and he headed the list with the sum of one hun- 

 dred dollars. On resigning the Presidency, in 1829, he was 

 elected first honorary member of the institution. 



Dr. Bowditch was likewise an honorary member of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. On the 3d of April 

 a Eulogy on their departed associate was pronounced before that 

 body by the author of this Memoir, on which day the flags of all 

 the shipping in the port were hauled to half-mast by direction of 

 the Boston Marine Society, of which he was likewise a member. 

 His sense of the honor thus conferred on him by these elections, 

 and his affectionate regard for these Societies, and for the city of 

 his adoption, will be best seen by the following extract from his 

 Will :— 



" And, in respect to Boston, the home of my adoption, where, 

 as a stranger, 1 met with welcome, and where I have ever con- 

 tinued to receive constantly increasing proofs of kindness and re- 



