308 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1105 



PRESENTATION OF A PORTRAIT OF 

 J. PETER LESLEY 



The IJniversity Day program at the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, on February 22, in- 

 eluded the presentation of a portrait of the 

 late J. Peter Lesley, who was professor of 

 geology and mining from 1872 to 1890, and 

 subsequently professor emeritus of geology and 

 mining until his death in 1903. The portrait 

 is the gift of Joseph G. Eosengarten, and was 

 painted by Lesley's daughter, Mrs. Margaret 

 Lesley Bush-Brown. The presentation ad- 

 dress was made by Professor Amos P. Brown, 

 who said : 



Mr. Provost: I liave the honor to present to the 

 university, on behalf of the donor, this oil portrait 

 of J. P. Lesley, late professor of geology and min- 

 ing in the University of Pennsylvania; and it 

 seems as appropriate as it is fortunate that the 

 artist could be his own daughter, Mrs. Margaret 

 Lesley Bush-Brown. Peter Lesley, topographical 

 geologist and expert, characterized as "one of the 

 most distinguished and lovable men of science in 

 the United States," was born dn Philadelphia on 

 the 17th of September, 1819; he died at Milton, 

 Massachusetts, on the 1st of June, 1903. 

 Throughout a long life he was always, primarily, a 

 student of geology. He entered the University of 

 Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen, and after win- 

 ning high honors, including his Phi Beta Kappa, 

 he was graduated a Bachelor of Arts with the 

 class of 1838 C. In the same year he began his 

 geological career as aid, under Henry Darwin 

 Eogers, on the recently initiated First Geological 

 Survey of Pennsylvania. It was then that he 

 commenced those studies in Appalachian structure 

 in which he afterwards became so preeminent a 

 master, and which made him rank as the foremost 

 geological expert in his state. This position not 

 only brought him much employment in his pro- 

 fession, but also brought with it many honors; he 

 was selected as one of the original members of the 

 National Academy of iScienees at Washington, in 

 1863, given the degree of Doctor of Laws by 

 Trinity College, Dublin, in 1878, and he received 

 a gold medal from Paris ' ' for original investiga- 

 tions ' ' in 1889. When the university was removed 

 from the center of the city to West Philadelphia 

 in 1872, Dr. Lesley was appointed professor of 

 geology and mining, and dean of the science de- 

 partment; and when, three years later, the Towne 

 Scientific School was opened, he was made its first 



dean. But the crowning honor of his career came 

 with his appointment as director of the Second 

 Geological Survey of Pennsylvania in 1874, a 

 position for which he had no competitor. To 

 quote Sir Archibald Geikie, himself the head of 

 a geological survey: "The one hundred and 

 twenty volumes of this survey issued under his 

 direction, and the Summary Pinal Eeport, more 

 than half of it from his own pen, will form the 

 noblest monument to the genius of J. P. Lesley." 



In accepting the portrait. Provost Smith 

 said: 



J. Peter Lesley was indeed preeminent as a 

 geologist. His discoveries live because of their 

 fundamental character. The university in which 

 he received the academic training, and to which he 

 gave the best years of his life as a teacher, 

 deeply appreciated his successes and rejoiced in 

 the universal recognition accorded him as a scien- 

 tist. The trustees of the university are glad to 

 have this portrait and, through me, return their 

 sincere thanks to the thoughtful and generous 

 donors. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Sir F. W. Dyson, the English astronomer 

 royal, and Dr. C. S. Sherrington, professor of 

 physiology at Oxford, have been elected cor- 

 responding members of the Petrograd Imper- 

 ial Academy of Sciences. 



The Paris Academy of Medicine has elected 

 as foreign correspondents Professor Ladame, 

 of Geneva, and Sir Dyce Duckworth, of Lon- 

 don. 



At the Royal College of Physicians of Lon- 

 don, Sir Thomas Barlow is to be the Harveian 

 orator for the present year. Dr. H. W. G. 

 Mackenzie the Bradshaw lecturer, and Dr. W. 

 J. Howarth the Milroy lecturer for 1917. 



Dr. Ira Remsen, of Johns Hopkins Univer- 

 sity, addressed the Chemical Club of Princeton 

 University, on February 18, on " Reminis- 

 cences of Liebig and Wohler." 



The Vanuxem lectures at Princeton Univer- 

 sity are being given by Dr. Thomas Hunt 

 Morgan, professor of experimental zoology in 

 Columbia University, on February 24, March 

 1, 8 and 15. The subject is " A Critique of the 

 Theory of Evolution." Professor Morgan has 



