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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 743 



he inspired in specialists of that department. In 

 1859 he published a paper that concerned itself 

 with the elevation of St. Louis above sea level, 

 which, aside from its general interest and scien- 

 tific value, was especially important in that St. 

 Louis was then the point upon which were based 

 the computations for determining the altitudes 

 of such places in the far west as were visited by 

 the early exploring expeditions of Nicollet, Fre- 

 mont, Owen and Emery. Engelmann, after a 

 series of barometric observations in 1853, de- 

 termined a directrix of 404.9 feet for the city of 

 St. Louis — a figure which differed by only 7.8 

 feet from the later 412.7 feet mark as determined 

 by precise leveling of government deparments, and 

 by only 2.2 feet from the original 410.5 of Nicol- 

 let which was made in 1841 by barometric de- 

 terminations based upon data furnished by 

 Engelmann himself. While the contributions 

 of Engelmann seem slight when compared with 

 his masterly work in botany and meteorology, 

 they are, nevertheless, a valuable index of the 

 breadth of the man, of the keen interest he took 

 in the natural sciences, and of his mental caliber 

 and scientific training. 



Professor Nipher, of Washington University, 

 in a paper, " Engelmann's Work in Meteorology," 

 told how Engelmann began his meteorological ob- 

 servations when he first settled in St. Louis, 

 and how he continued them for nearly fifty years. 

 Dr. Nipher explained how this long series of ob- 

 servations enables us to determine the normal 

 rainfall and temperature for St. Louis, and 

 how they, in turn, are useful in fixing extremes 

 of temperature and rainfall. In 1861, Engel- 

 mann published the results of his rainfall ob- 

 servations, which show that June is by far the 

 month of greatest precipitation; and he pointed 

 out that the June rise in the Mississippi is not 

 due to the melting of snows in the mountains, but 

 to heavy and wide-spread spring rains. The fact 

 that Engelmann gave attention to the rate of 

 rainfall is noteworthy because that is a quantity 

 which must be considered in the design of bridges 

 and other structures that are to carry flood 

 water. After remarking that Engelmann made 

 an early study of the difiFerenees of temperatures 

 and humidity in the city and in Shaw's Garden 

 (which was, he said, on an open prairie three 

 miles from the city), Dr. Nipher concluded with 

 the statements that Engelmann was continuously 

 in cooperation with the weather service in charge 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, and that in many 

 ways his aid was solicited by government officials 

 in charge of work in the far west. 



Dr. Trelease, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 

 which possesses Engelmann's invaluable collec- 

 tions, concluded the program of the evening with 

 a paper on " Engelmann as a Biologist." He 

 showed a number of drawings which exhibited 

 Engelmann's skill in picturing details of plant 

 structure, among them those made for his thesis, 

 which was published in 1832, as well as the large 

 quarto volume in which his botanical publications 

 were reprinted at the expense of Henry Shaw in 

 1887, under the editorial direction of the great 

 botanist Asa Gray, of Harvard University. To 

 these were joined specimens of the beautiful 

 prairie flower named Engelmcmnia in his honor, 

 and of the blue spruce of Colorado which also 

 bears his name. Tersely epitomizing Engelmann's 

 work, and analyzing the economy of time and 

 directness of purpose which enabled him to ac- 

 complish in the leisure hours of a busy physician's 

 life more than the average achievement of a 

 botanist whose whole efi'ort is directed to his 

 specialty, Mr. Trelease closed by quoting from 

 Engelmann's gifted biographer, Professor Sar- 

 gent, of Harvard University, the prediction that 

 " the western plains will still be bright with the 

 yellow rays of Engelmannia, and that the splen- 

 did spruce will still cover with noble forests the 

 highest slopes of the Rocky Mountains, recalling 

 to men, as long as the study of botany will 

 occupy their thought, the memory of a pure, up- 

 right, laborious and stimulating life." 



At the conclusion of the memorial session, the 

 members and guests of the Academy were invited 

 to pass into another room, where were displayed 

 a number of interesting objects connected with 

 or commemorative of Engelmann's life and work. 

 Under the guidance of Mr. H. C. Irish and Mr. 

 Chas. H. Thompson, who explained the several 

 objects, an interesting half hour was spent in the 

 inspection of this exhibit, which included the 

 manuscript and original sketches for Engel- 

 mann's thesis as well as the publication itself in 

 a copy with partly colored plates ; several volumes 

 of his many thousands of unpublished notes and 

 sketches; the simple dissecting microscope and 

 the elaborate compound microscope made by 

 Hachet; the jubilee medal struck by the academy 

 in 1906, bearing Engelmann's portrait; an illus- 

 tration of the Colorado Engelmann spruce; and 

 specimens and original descriptions of the three 

 genera of plants that have been dedicated to his 

 memory in the name Engelmannia. 



W. E. McCouET, 

 Recording Secretary 



