OCTOBEE 16, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



549 



tifie journals. The zoological portion of 

 Johnson's Universal Cyclopsedia and the 

 zoological text of the Century and Standard 

 Dictionaries were also prepared hy him. 



George Washington University recognized 

 his splendid services so freely given to that 

 institution by the conferment of the honorary 

 degrees of A.M. in 1865; M.D. in 1866; Ph.D. 

 in 1870, and finally in 1895 bestowing upon 

 him its highest doctorate, that of laws. His 

 many contributions to science were gladly 

 recognized by honorary elections to more than 

 seventy-five scientific societies. In the United 

 States he was a member of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American 

 Philosophical Society, and the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. To the last of these he was 

 elected in 1873, and at the time of his death 

 his length of membership was exceeded by only 

 five other members. He represented the acad- 

 emy at the International Zoological Congress 

 in 1898 and was its delegate and that of the 

 Smithsonian Institution at the 450th anni- 

 versary of the founding of the University of 

 Glasgow in 1901. In 1868 he was elected to 

 the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and in 1897 succeeded to the 

 presidency of that organization on the death 

 of his friend and colleague, Edward D. Cope. 



It has been said that literature and science 

 are not two things, but rather two aspects of 

 the same thing — they both deal with knowl- 

 edge, but the recorder of literature, the libra- 

 rian, deals with knowledge in its secondary 

 form, conclusions, which he files and reissues 

 from time to time, while the scientist perhaps 

 comes happily closer to nature itself through 

 his personal investigations, the results of 

 which he turns over to the recorder. Dr. 

 Gill, it may be said, therefore possessed a re- 

 markable dual ability, being both a librarian 

 and a scientist, and, ably combining his tal- 

 ents, he made researches, recorded them and 

 was able whenever called upon to present the 

 results. 



Having thus two distinct specialties, it may 

 be readily understood that Dr. Gill, unlike 

 many of our leading scholars, was not nar- 

 rowed by a sole point of view, but possessed 

 an exceptionally broad and generous mind. 



which he readily lent to divers purposes for 

 the advancement and diffusion of scientific 

 learning. 



To establish a touch of fellowship and 

 fratemalism among the men of the District 

 of Columbia who had common interests in sci- 

 ence, literature and the fine arts, he rendered 

 much assistance during the organization of 

 Washington's unique club. The Cosmos, and 

 was enrolled as one of the ten founders who 

 incorporated December 13, 1878. As a token 

 of the esteem and affection with which he was 

 held by the many members thereof, he was 

 given a banquet by more than a hundred mem- 

 bers of the club, on the occasion of his 75th 

 birthday, and the 56th year of his published 

 contributions to knowledge. This dinner was 

 held on December 13, 1912, and was made the 

 occasion for many valuable testimonials by 

 some of the most learned scientific investi- 

 gators and writers as well as numerous inti- 

 mate friends, to his long and faithful services 

 to science and literature. 



As mentioned above. Dr. Gill did not incor- 

 porate his matchless store of knowledge in 

 ponderous volumes of monumental dimensions, 

 but as one of the speakers at the memorial 

 meeting happily put it : " If you ask for his 

 monument look around " in the minds and 

 hearts of the scientific men who came into con- 

 tact with him. To them he was an inexhaus- 

 tible fountain both of inspiration and of infor- 

 mation. Many a learned dissertation, many a 

 brilliant combination or hypothesis, many a 

 lucid and critical exposition, emanating from 

 Washington biologists in almost every branch 

 of the science, originated from discussions 

 with Dr. Gill. They were in the habit of 

 coming to him with their problems and their 

 doubts and they seldom left him without re- 

 ceiving both ideas and information, no matter 

 what their specialty. His mind was a wonder- 

 ful combination of characteristics rarely found 

 together in one man. A keenly critical and 

 analytical power was paired with an unusually 

 fine synthetic tact, and an amazing memory of 

 details combined with a discriminating faculty 

 of seeing essentials. He also possessed tne 

 fortunate gift of divesting himself of precon- 

 ceived notions. Finally, no selfish desire for 



