766 
oughly practical plan, but enough was done by 
the Legislature during the few years following 
to secure the chartering, in 1862 and the inaugu- 
ration in 1865 of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology of which Professor Rogers became 
the first president, devoting to it all the energy 
and enthusiasm of his impulsive nature and all 
the varied wealth of his accomplishments and 
-acquirements. For the rest of his life this was 
chosen work.* 
Rogers lived to transfer to a worthy suc- 
‘cessor the completed edifice—well estab- 
lished and equipped—an enduring monu- 
ment to the nobility of character and the 
consecration of talents. Honored and loved 
by his associates and students, he came to 
be recognized as ‘‘ founder and father per- 
petual, by a patent indefeasible.’’ + 
Of all the delightful memories of the 
Boston meeting in 1880 the meeting with 
Rogers is my pleasantest recollection. He 
was the central figure, losing no opportunity 
to make that meeting the greatest one in 
the history of our association. Never shall 
I forget when he rose 
Tall in stature, with a figure of the type 
known to us through the pictures of Henty 
‘Clay ; with a face destitute of all assumption or 
arrogance, was singularly commanding ; with a 
voice whose compass and quality were capable 
of producing at once the largest and the finest 
effects of speech. { 
and bade the Association welcome. He 
said : 
I thank my friends for the patience with 
which they have listened to one who does not 
like to call himself an old man, but who feels 
something of the spirit of the war-worn soldier, 
who likes at times to shoulder his crutch and 
fight his battles over again. 
Two years later, at the same place, he 
rose to address the graduating class of the 
Institute. 
* Biographical Memoirs, p. 11. 
t+ Cooke’s Notice of Rogers, p. 427. 
{ Biographical Memoirs, by Walker, p. 5. 
@ Proceedings, American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, Vol. XXIX., 1880, p. 739. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. X. No. 256. 
His voice was at first weak and faltering but, 
as was his wont, he gathered inspiration from 
his theme, and for the moment his voice rang 
out in its full volume and in those well-remem- 
bered, most thrilling tones; then, of a sudden, 
there was silence in the midst of speech ; that 
stately figure suddenly drooped; the fire died 
out of that eye, ever so quick to kindle at noble 
thoughts, and, before one of his attentive lis- 
teners had time to suspect the cause, he fell to 
the platform—instantly dead. All his life he 
had borne himself most faithfully and heroically, 
and he died as so good a knight would surely 
have wished, in harness, at his post ; and in the 
very part and act of public duty.* 
At the Buffalo meeting, in 1876, Simon 
Newcomb, ‘one of the most celebrated 
astronomers of our time,’ was chosen to 
preside over the Nashville meeting. New- 
comb still lives and is our senior past pres- 
ident. He marks the dividing line between 
our earlier and later presidents. + 
Marcus BENJAMIN. 
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
THE SENSE OF HEARING IN ANTS. 
For many yearsit has been the generally 
accepted opinion of naturalists that ants do 
not possess a sense of hearing, at least within 
the range of sounds perceptible to the human 
ear. This opinion has been based upon the 
failure of the experiments along this line to 
show any effect whatever of the loudest 
and shrillest noises upon the ants with 
which they have been tried. Foremost 
among the scientists who have investigated 
this subject may be mentioned Lubbock, 
Huber and Forel, whose results have all 
been negative. 
I am not prepared to explain why the 
results heretofore obtained have been so 
decidedly negative, while those described 
in this article are so decidedly affirmative, 
unless it may be that these particular 
species have never been experimented upon 
* Biographical Memoirs, by Walker, p. 13. 
+ Nature, Vol. LX., p. 1, May 4, 1899. 
