April 28, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



651 



dents. Interest in his students, however, did 

 not cease with the lecture or the laboratory. 

 He was ever ready to listen sympathizingly 

 and indulgently to those students who were in 

 distress, and to all such he gave liberally of 

 his time and purse. This conscientious devo- 

 tion to duty and unselfish human interest en- 

 deared him to the students and alumni. It 

 came as a great shock to all when, after a de- 

 lightful summer of European travel and the 

 resumption of his academic duties, apparently 

 in his usual good health, he was attacked by a 

 slow fever which confined him to the house 

 after but a few days of activity. The trouble- 

 was diagnosed finally as tuberculosis. He re- 

 ceived his first warning that he had this in- 

 sidious disease in his system when he was a 

 student in Germany, but had apparently fully 

 recovered from this earlier attack. It was 

 hoped that a year's leave of absence and care- 

 ful nursing would restore him to health and 

 the resumption of a part at least of his former 

 activities. Toward the end of January, how- 

 ever, his heart became seriously affected, and 

 he failed rapidly until the end came peace- 

 fully on the morning of the sixth of February. 



Professor William T. Sedgwick, a lifelong 

 friend and one of the pallbearers at his 

 funeral, paid a fitting tribute to his memory 

 when he said, " His was a unique, lovable and 

 altogether charming personality. Kindness 

 and friendship such as his life exemplified 

 could no further go. He was critical, yet just ; 

 fearless yet considerate of others; honest to a 

 fault; a hard worker; and to a degree nowa- 

 days unusual, an accomplished and cultivated 

 gentleman." 



W. L. Jennings 



WoRCESTEK Polytechnic Institute 



SENB¥ PICKEBING BOWDITCE 

 The following memorial note on the life and 

 services of Professor Henry P. Bowditch has 

 been prepared for the American Physiological 

 Society by a committee of its members : 



At the death of Henry Pickering Bowditch 

 there passed away a man who had notable in- 

 fluence on the development of medical and 

 biological science in America. He was born 



in Boston, April 4, 1840, and was graduated 

 from Harvard College in 1861. As a graduate 

 he began the study of chemistry in the Law- 

 rence Scientific School, but left, in November, 

 1861, to become second lieutenant in the 

 First Massachusetts Cavalry, then starting for 

 the front. After loyal and chivalrous service 

 to his country during the remaining three and 

 a half years of the Civil War, he resumed his 

 studies in Harvard University and received, 

 in 1868, the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 

 Thereupon he went to France and Germany to 

 learn from the masters of his chosen science, 

 physiology, the aims and methods of research. 

 Filled with the spirit of Bernard and Lud- 

 wig, he returned to the Harvard Medical 

 School in 1871, and established the first Amer- 

 ican physiological laboratory for the use of 

 students, a laboratory which soon proved 

 hospitable to investigators in every phase of 

 experimental medicine. For thirty-five years 

 he was an energetic and inspiring teacher, and 

 a leader in investigation. His studies of the 

 peculiar functions of cardiac muscle, the in- 

 defatigability of nerves, the knee-jerk and 

 conditions affecting it, the force of ciliary ac- 

 tivity, and the growth of children, illustrate 

 the range and originality of his researches. 

 Apparatus invented by him and widely used 

 in physiological laboratories attest his mechan- 

 ical ingenuity. He was one of the founders 

 of the American Physiological Society and 

 was its second president. The traditions of 

 the society, particularly its character as an 

 association to encourage research, are largely 

 the result of his initiative. His example and 

 his genuine appreciation of new work as it was 

 reported at meetings of the society were a 

 wholesome stimulus to young men beginning 

 physiological investigation. 



To the larger interests of medicine he rend- 

 ered important service by promoting reforms 

 in medical education, notably by advocating 

 and helping to introduce the four years' re- 

 quired course, and later by strongly urging 

 greater freedom of election in medical study. 

 The Harvard Medical School he served as 

 Dean for a decade of important growth, and 

 the development of the school will long eon- 



