JANUABT 13, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



57 



came ill. Among the results of his scientific 

 work none is more fundamental than his 

 proof of the real course of descent of the 

 pigeons. He showed that Darwin had been 

 mistaken in believing the barred type of 

 pigeon to be primitive. The evolution was in 

 reality from the checkered to the barred type. 

 This discovery led him to the evidence of 

 orthogenetic development in the pigeons and 

 filled in, provisionally at any rate, one of the 

 most puzzling gaps left by Darwin in the 

 problem of evolution. A correct understand- 

 ing of the direction of evolution of the pigeons 

 gave him, also, the key to the interpretation of 

 the phenomena of inheritance, enabling him 

 to escape the pitfalls which b^et the steps of 

 those who do not know the past history and 

 direction of evolution of the forms with which 

 they are working. In addition to this 

 splendid and fundamental work there were, 

 also, long years of study of the embryology 

 and phylogeny of the leeches, the results of 

 which were in part published in his papers on 

 metamerism, the inadequacy of the cell theory 

 of development, and embryology, but in large 

 part remain unpublished, preserved in notes 

 and exquisite drawings. It is probable 

 that much of this work and that on the pig- 

 eons will be found in such form that it can 

 be published. As a scientist. Professor Whit- 

 man was painstaking, self-critical, patient 

 and profound. 



It is not, however, of his work as a scientist 

 upon which I wish to dwell, but rather to re- 

 call his personality that the memory of it may 

 remain always with us. His white hair; his 

 kindling, eager, but thoughtful eyes; his 

 tender, gentle smile; his reticence of speech; 

 his consideration for others; his generosity 

 and courage; his hospitality and graciousness 

 as a host; these endeared him to us aU. We 

 shall never forget his simple, unassuming, 

 modest manner; his encouraging sympathy; 

 his ripe and sane judgment. If when he was 

 alone he lived simply, the absorbed student of 

 science, when with his guests in his home he 

 was the embodied spirit of hospitality. 



His great influence as a teacher was due in 

 part to his fine example and noble ideals, and 



in part to his habit of picking out young men, 

 who showed any love for science, inviting 

 them to his home, drawing them out, en- 

 couraging them and giving them his friend- 

 ship. Many of them he helped financially, 

 and all of those fortunate enough to work near 

 him owe him a debt of gratitude for his 

 sympathy and inspiration. Probably no 

 teacher in zoology since Louis Agassiz has ex- 

 erted so great an influence on young men. 



His uncompromising loyalty to principle 

 and his high ideals of work and conduct were 

 among his strongest characteristics. The 

 "Woods Hole Laboratory represented his ideal 

 of a laboratory in its organization and spirit. 

 Again and again he stood almost alone against 

 his most intimate friends and associates who, 

 frightened at the financial outlook, wished to 

 sacrifice those ideals. He invariably prevailed 

 in the long run and events have proved his 

 judgment to have been sound. He was a rock 

 upon which all plans which were not shaped 

 in accordance with ideals but rather in ac- 

 cord with opportunity, were sooner or later 

 wrecked. This loyalty to ideals was shown, 

 also, in his struggle for a biological farm at 

 the University of Chicago. Having outlined 

 an ideal biological farm he refused firmly to 

 give up any feature of it which was essential 

 to that ideal. He preferred to wait until the 

 ideal could be had, rather than to compromise 

 on some less perfect scheme. 



He was always loyal, also, to his ideals of 

 science and no amount of criticism or pres- 

 sure could induce him to publish one word 

 until he was sure that word was the truth and 

 nothing more or less. 



He had also an uncompromising and out- 

 spoken hatred of shams and haK-truths of all 

 sorts. Unreliability in any particular he 

 could never tolerate. He was slow to con- 

 demn any man, but once he had weighed him 

 and found him wanting, he never afterwards 

 trusted him. In common with many biologists 

 he had no belief in a future life, but his own 

 life demonstrated in the highest degree, how 

 unnecessary such beliefs are to a truly noble 

 soul. 



If there was any one characteristic which 



