July 14, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



49 



of whose work little need be said. There 

 are times when brevity is not only the soul 

 of wit but also the essence of discretion. 



Upon Henry Smith Pritchett, astron- 

 omer and son of an astronomer, fell the task 

 of making a complete reorganization of the 

 hydrographic operations of the Survey. 

 From the earliest days these operations had 

 been carried on almost entirely by naval 

 officers detailed for that purpose, but dur- 

 ing the war with Spain such details became 

 impossible. The difficult problem thus pre- 

 sented was solved with marked success by 

 Pritchett and this reorganization, though 

 but one of many notable things accom- 

 plished during his comparatively short 

 term from 1897 to 1900, must be regarded, 

 I think, as the most important act of his 

 administration. 



The appointment of Otto Hilgard Titt- 

 mann, as successor to Pritchett on the resig- 

 nation of the latter, was an event predeter- 

 mined by his long connection with the 

 service, which began in 1867, when he was 

 seventeen years old, and continued without 

 interruption for almost a half century, to 

 his resignation in 1915. Inheriting through 

 his mother the scientific tastes and special 

 talents of the Hilgards, with successful ex- 

 perience in nearly every one of the various 

 operations of the Survey, including many 

 years as assistant in charge of the office 

 and assistant superintendent, his remark- 

 able career ended with the longest term as 

 superintendent since the time of Hassler 

 and Bache. Under his direction the Sur- 

 vey has advanced with great strides and so 

 many important things have been accom- 

 plished that it is difficult to select even one 

 for mention in this brief review, but among 

 those of first rank will surely be found his 

 personal and official services in represent- 

 ing the United States on numerous inter- 

 national commissions and boundary tribu- 

 nals. 



I am tempted to overstep the bounds laid 



down for me, to pay my tribute to the abil- 

 ity, faithfulness and loyalty with which 

 the assistants of the superintendent have 

 almost invariably supported him in the 

 discharge of difficult and often disagreeable 

 duties, and I use the term assistant as in- 

 cluding not only those employed in the 

 field, but also the office force; the com- 

 puters, engravers, printers, mechanicians, 

 clerks, etc., through whose hands all of the 

 work of the field officers must pass before 

 it becomes useful to the public. Without 

 this support the ablest chief could accom- 

 plish little or nothing. I would like espe- 

 cially to speak of a few of the veterans of 

 my own time who have passed away; of 

 Whiting who, beginning with Hassler, had 

 served for more than a half century and 

 under every superintendent up to the day 

 of his death ; of Davidson, the oracle of the 

 Pacific coast, whose service was nearly as 

 long; of Schott, the severe but just judge 

 at the head of the computing division; 

 of Mosman, Fairfield, Eimbeck, Ogden, 

 Grauger, Preston, Mitchell, Smith, Rodgers 

 and others ; it is a long roll but it is a roll 

 of honor in the annals of the Survey. To 

 them, and to many others, happily still liv- 

 ing, I owe a debt of gratitude for their 

 loyal cooperation and support. 



I desire also to testify to the great im- 

 portance to the service, of the cooperation 

 of the army and navy, especially in the de- 

 tail of officers from the army in the early 

 days and from the navy during many years 

 for special duty under the superintendent, 

 to whom they were almost, without excep- 

 tion, unselfishly loyal. 



I should like, also, to speak more than 

 briefly of some of the famous men who were 

 at various times attached to the Survey for 

 longer or shorter periods, some of whom in 

 this service laid the foundation of their fu- 

 ture careers in which they achieved great 

 distinction; of the great artists, Whistler 

 and Alexander ; the great scholars, Agassiz 



