788 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 411. 



salaries and positions of permanent dignity 

 shielded from the harm of the necessary 

 fluctuations which occur in our national 

 politics really accomplish something for 

 which the nation will be far prouder in 

 future times than it is or can be now. I 

 have found in Washington these years past 

 a remarkable set of men, men that are to 

 be met with at the Cosmos Club on one of 

 the Mondays of the month; a set of men 

 whose -names one finds in the scientific 

 archives of the world, whether he looks into 

 those archives in New York or 'Boston or 

 London or Paris or Berlin. These are 

 men who have made by original discovery 

 additions to their specialty in science and 

 I have often said that one may find in the 

 Cosmos Club on such an occasion the finest 

 set of scientific men that can be met with 

 anywhere at a club meeting. I should be 

 glad to learn where there is to be found a 

 more noteworthy company of scientific 

 men. A goodly number of the scientific 

 men in our government employ are cer- 

 tainly here through the influence of Major 

 Powell, and I believe that I am right in 

 thinking that other departments which 

 have a splendid array of talent in the way 

 of specialists and experts haVe found it 

 easy to obtain them because of the victory 

 first gained in the geological survey under 

 Major Powell. 



"These matters are known in whole and 

 detail by those present on this solemn oc- 

 casion, but to an entire stranger to Major 

 Powell and his work I should attempt to 

 convey some idea of the greatness of the 

 subject of our eulogiums to-day by saying 

 that he was one of the few who when our 

 nation was groping its way through dark- 

 ness assisted it in organizing and develop- 

 ing its scientific work and finding the 

 proper men to place in charge of its great 

 interests, and that each department that 

 has worked in this line has assisted and 

 strengthened the management of other de- 



partments to secure the light of science. 

 We who have known Major Powell and 

 his lovely and noble character have shared 

 in the blessings that his life has brought." 



Mr. Marcus Baker then addressed the 

 meeting as follows : 



' ' Many things are worthy to be said of 

 our dear friend who, is gone, but public 

 speaking at this parting hour is ill adapted 

 for such expression. It is better to be silent 

 than to speak. 



' ' It was my good fortune to be associated 

 with the Major (as everybody loved to caU 

 the dear old man) for a dozen years or 

 more, and during a part of that time very 

 intimately. The influence which he ex- 

 erted in the advancement of science, upon 

 legislation, in his work in anthropology, in 

 his work indeed in many lines, all these 

 sink down on an occasion like this before 

 the personal affection felt for the man him- 

 self. I count it as one of the peculiar 

 pleasures of my life to have been so long 

 and so intimately associated with the man, 

 whose fame must increase with the increas- 

 ing years.'' 



Mr. W J McGee spoke as follows: 



"It seems fitting, by reason of my asso- 

 ciation with Major Powell in his later 

 years, that I should ofi^er the final expres- 

 sion at this meeting. It is not an easy 

 task ; the sense of personal bereavement and 

 of public calamity is too strong upon me. 



"The old man was a soldier, a born sol- 

 dier. Not only when rumors of war arose, 

 but during the whole of his life he was ac- 

 tuated by the spirit of the soldier. His 

 life was a battle ; more completely than that 

 of any other man I have known was his 

 career one of ceaseless strife. 



' ' Powell was a great man. Twenty- four 

 years ago last month I first saw him. My 

 first impression was of the strength of his 

 grasp. Things large to others were small 



