February 16, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



31 



ogj' in the medical school. He retained this 

 post until 1873, when he resigned it, but con- 

 tinued to give the instruction in anal3-tical 

 chemistrj- in the academic department. At his 

 father's death he was appointed to fill the va- 

 cant chair, and accepted the position ; but onl}' 

 a few months before his death he resigned, and 

 finally severed 

 his connection i/^ 

 with the nni- 

 versitj'in order 

 to give himself 

 more entirelj' 

 to research. 

 At the time 

 when he ac- 

 cepted the 

 chair of phj'si- 

 ologj' in the 

 medical school, 

 and became its 

 manager, the 

 institution had 

 just lost its 

 building bj- 

 fire, with aUits 

 valuable col- 

 lections. The 

 young director 

 immediately 

 replaced them, 

 largely by 

 funds fur- 

 nished by him- 

 self, and partly 

 bj' assistance 

 secured from 

 others through 

 his indomitable energy and skilful tact. The 

 school, which seemed to be destroj-ed, was 

 rehabilitated, and brought to its present state 

 of flourishing prosperity. 



His resignation in 1873 was necessitated by 

 the heavj' labor and responsibilitj" imposed 

 upon him as managing trustee of the immense 

 estate of his father-in-law, the late Courtlandt 

 Palmer, whose daughter he had married in 

 1867. 



THE^TELESCOPES IN THE HASTINGS OBSERVATORY. 



As a lecturer and instructor he was emi- 

 nenth' successfal. Saj's a writer in the Uni- 

 versitj' quarterly (the ' college magazine ' of 

 the New- York universitj') , — 



"His lectures are so interesting and absorbing to 

 tiis bearers, tbat tlie question of order, wbicb in 

 some recitation-rooms assumes large proportions, 

 i s hardly even 

 thought of with 

 Mm. After class, 

 an eager group 

 surrounds him ; 

 and every tap 

 by inquiring stu- 

 dents is followed 

 by a rich stream 

 of information 

 from a mind 

 whose varied 

 treasures always 

 lie at instant 

 command." 



But he was 

 still more emi- 

 nent and suc- 

 cessful as an 

 investigator. 

 We have al- 

 ready men- 

 tioned his first 

 essay of the 

 sort, and it was 

 soon followed 

 bj' others more 

 extensive. 

 Immediately 

 upon his return 

 f r o m Europe 

 he began the 

 construction of 

 a fifteen-and-a-half inch reflecting telescope, 

 and carried the work to a satisfactory con- 

 clusion. With it he took a photograph of the 

 moon, fifty inches in diameter, the largest ever 

 made, and one of the finest. 



Encouraged bj- this success he aimed still 

 higher, and built another reflector of twenty- 

 eight inches aperture, which was completed in 

 1872. This, with its equatorial mounting and 

 perfect driving clock, was whollj' the work 



