July 15, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



73 



It was during this period of recuperation, 

 spent almost wholly in the open air, that he 

 became interested in the vegetation of the 

 vicinity and began to acquire that intimate 

 knowledge of plants that was later to ripen 

 into an all-absorbing interest. As strength 

 gradually returned a systematic study of the 

 plants in his vicinity was carried on. In the 

 autumn of 1866 Professor Wheeler entered the 

 medical department of the University of Mich- 

 igan, but after one year he returned to Hub- 

 bardston, where for the following twenty-two 

 years he conducted a drug and book store. 



During this period he was the center of the 

 intellectual life of the village. The element 

 of gain in connection with the business appar- 

 ently entered very little into his consideration. 

 It was a mere incident. The real purpose, the 

 real interest of his life, was the study of his 

 beloved plants and the lending of inspiration 

 to others. He possessed to a remarkable de- 

 gree that rare ability to create an interest in 

 better things in all with whom he came in con- 

 tact, no matter how lowly the conditions of 

 their life might be. He formed many inti- 

 mate friends among young and old, gave them 

 an interest in science, and when they went 

 away he corresponded with them. He sought 

 out too people outside of his village who 

 studied botany, and helped them. It was dur- 

 ing this period that he laid the foundations 

 of that rare and peculiarly intimate knowl- 

 edge of plants that enabled him in his work 

 in the Department of Agriculture later to 

 name off-hand so much of the fragmentary 

 material that no one else could recognize. He 

 must also have become interested in the botany 

 of drug material, for he certainly possessed a 

 rare knowledge of this class of plants. 



It was during the first years of his life in 

 the drug store that he formed a lasting friend- 

 ship with Dr. Erwin F. Smith, now of the 

 Department of Agriculture, and together they 

 planned a flora of Michigan which was pub- 

 lished in 1881. This flora Professor Wheeler 

 revised twelve years later in cooperation with 

 Dr. Beal. 



In 1889 his reputation as a painstaking 

 systematic botanist was such that he was 



called to the Michigan Agricultural College 

 to be instructor in the botanical department, 

 then as now under the direction of Dr. W. J. 

 Beal, and 1895 he was made assistant pro- 

 fessor. 



The same qualities that endeared him to the 

 people of his village quickly made a place for 

 him in the new life and larger field he had 

 come to fill. One of his associates of that 

 time says : 



No one was endowed more highly than he with 

 that indefinable gift which arouses enthusiasm in 

 students, and this quality, combined with a deep 

 knowledge of his subject and a sympathetic, 

 lovable nature, will cause him to be remembered 

 and his memory loved by every student with 

 whom he came in contact. 



Professor Wheeler became a moving spirit 

 in the intellectual life of the college com- 

 munity. There existed among the faculty at 

 that time a literary circle, and whether the 

 study of one of the modern languages, the 

 reading of Moliere or Shakespeare, was the 

 object of their attention. Professor Wheeler 

 was always the life of the gathering. He was 

 extremely modest and shrank from participa- 

 tion in anything of a public nature, but among 

 those whom he knew intimately he was at ease, 

 and at these social gatherings of the college 

 faculty it was indeed a pleasure to hear him 

 read Shakespeare, for which he had a special 

 fondness. 



During the first years of this college life he 

 was associated with Gilbert H. Hicks, whose 

 death a few years ago was so keenly felt by 

 many department workers. These two men 

 working with Dr. Beal were responsible for 

 the development of the botanical garden and 

 the herbarium of over 100,000 specimens. The 

 latter was formed entirely after Professor 

 Wheeler's connection with the college, the old 

 one having been destroyed by fire. Both the 

 garden and herbarium are among the best, if 

 not actually the best, of any similar institu- 

 tion in America. While at the college Pro- 

 fessor Wheeler was occupied a part of the 

 time with regular college studies and was 

 graduated with the class of 1891, receiving the 

 degree of bachelor of science. In 1907 his 



