NovVEMBER 10, 1899.] 
the chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, and 
later became professor of these branches, an 
appointment which he then held until his 
early death. 
Bailey was one of the very first in this 
country to apply the microscope to the 
study of minute formsof life, and his work 
on infusorial fossils and the algze gained for 
him a high place among contemporary scien- 
tists. He was a pioneer on the examination 
of the deep-sea soundings made by the 
United States Coast Survey, and his report 
on that subject is given in one of the early 
volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions 
to Knowledge. This series of publications 
also contains his papers on terrestrial micro- 
scopical organisms. His name is associated 
with many improvements in the construc- 
tion of the microscope, and the indicator 
devised by him is one of his most valuable 
contributions to science. 
He died too soon, but not until his work 
had ‘won the approval of naturalists 
throughout the world.’ * 
The vacancy created by the death of 
" President Bailey was filled by Alexis Cas- 
well, who was the first vice-president of the 
Association. It is a matter of record that 
‘he sustained the credit of his country on 
a foreign soil by his dignified presence and 
his manly eloquence to the great satisfac- 
tion of his associates.” + 
CASWELL. 
Caswell was born in Taunton, Massachu- 
setts, in 1799, and his ancestors were among 
the first settlers in that place. His paternal 
grandmother was a direct descendant of 
Peregrine White, who was born on the May- 
flower in 1620. He was graduated at Brown 
University in 1822, standing first in his 
class, and then passed to Columbian Uni- 
*Smithsonian Report for 1857, p. 74. 
ft Memorial of Alexis Caswell, D.D., LL.D., with 
an engraved portrait on steel, p. 29, being a reprint 
of the Memoir by Joseph Lovering, presented before 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
SCIENCE. 
673 
versity in Washington, where for five years 
he taught both the classics and mathe- 
matics. It was in Washington that he made 
his special studies in theology under the 
direction of Dr. William Staughton, Presi- 
dent of the University. 
In 1827, having resigned his chair, he be- 
came pastor of the Baptist congregation in 
Halifax, Nova Scotia, but a year later he 
relinquished that charge to return to Provi- 
dence on an invitation from the First Bap- 
tist Church there. The chair of mathe- 
matics and natural philosophy in Brown 
becoming vacant, it was at once tendered 
him, and promptly accepted. For thirty- 
five years he continued in charge of the 
scientific instruction in the college of his 
choice, and then after a few years’ rest he 
was chosen its president, which place he 
held until 1872, when, on the fiftieth anni- 
versary of his graduation, he resigned. 
It was the development of the various 
departments of science in Brown University 
that gave Caswell his high reputation among 
his contemporaries, but he had other claims 
that were also worthy of recognition. Dur- . 
ing the winter of 1858-59 he delivered four 
popular lectures on Astronomy before the 
Smithsonian Institution that were deemed 
of such importance as to warrant their in- 
sertion in the annual report of that year. 
His contributions to the young science of 
meteorology were of permanent value. Be- 
ginning with the year 1831, he instituted a 
series of observations in Providence which 
he continued until 1868, that were “ precise 
as regards temperature and pressure; and 
including also much information on winds, 
clouds, moisture, rain, storms, the aurora,” 
ete.* 
I have spoken of his career as a teacher, 
and I have referred to his contributions to 
science. In closing this brief sketch it must 
be added that he was prominent in many 
walks of life, taking ever an active interest 
*Joseph Lovering in Memoir, p. 27. 
