448 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1109 



Miss Bello and resumed his work in Missis- 

 sippi in ITovember of that year. During the 

 intervention of the Civil War he pursued the 

 chemical work required by the Southern Con- 

 federacy. In 1866 he was chosen professor of 

 chemistry in the University of Mississippi, 

 and later professor of geology, zoology and 

 botany. In 1872 he left Mississippi to take a 

 position on the faculty of the University of 

 Michigan, but remained there only two years, 

 when he was called by the regents of the Uni- 

 versity of California to California in 1874. 

 While developing agricultural instruction in 

 the university, he proceeded with research 

 work immediately after his arrival in Cali- 

 fornia and published his first results in 1877. 

 His work in the investigation of soils in con- 

 nection with their native vegetation, of the 

 inflaence of climate on the formation of soils 

 and especially of the nature of " alkali soils " 

 and their reclamation, a problem quite new 

 not only in this country but in other arid 

 regions, achieved for him a reputation as 

 wide as the world of science. It brought him 

 recognition on numerous occasions. Missis- 

 sippi, Columbia and Michigan universities, as 

 well as the University of California, have be- 

 stowed the Doctor of Laws degree upon him. 

 The Academy of Sciences of Munich presented 

 him with the Liebig medal for distinguished 

 achievements in the agricultural sciences and 

 the international exposition at Paris, in 1900, 

 gave him a gold medal as a collaborator in the 

 same research. 



Soon after coming to California he directed 

 the agricultural division of the northern trans- 

 continental survey. From 1879 to 1883, in 

 connection with his university work, he as- 

 sumed charge of the cotton investigation of 

 the census of 1880 which he projected and car- 

 ried out on a broader plan than ever before 

 undertaken. During the whole period of his 

 academic career Professor Hilgard was con- 

 stantly active in authorship. In addition to 

 formal reports and memoirs, he wrote much 

 for agricultural and scientific periodicals. His 

 greatest book is " Soils of Arid and Hiunid 

 Eegions." The simple form of this work is 

 " Agriculture for Schools of the Pacific Slope," 



undertaken in collaboration with Professor 

 W. J. V. Osterhout, formerly of the Univer- 

 sity of California. 



In 1892 he revisited Europe and was re- 

 ceived with distinguished honor by his col- 

 leagues in science in the German universities 

 and experiment stations, and by invitations to 

 deliver public addresses on the subjects in 

 which he had made the chief achievements. 



Since 1910 Professor Hilgard's advanced 

 age rendered him unequal to the pursuit of 

 extensive tasks. He maintained, however, his 

 membership in several scientific societies and 

 was vitally interested to the last in investi- 

 gations connected with his science. 



The greater part of Hilgard's career was 

 spent at the University of California. Of the 

 many and various problems which he faced at 

 the beginning of his work there, three seem 

 at this moment to give best clue to the master- 

 fukiess of the man and fullest understanding 

 of the breadth and depth of his success : 



First: the conciliation and conquest of his 

 farming constituency, by demonstration of 

 practical and indispensable value in the work 

 he could do. 



Second: the enforcement of recognition of 

 agricultural studies as entitled to the dignity 

 of higher learning and as possessed of peda- 

 gogic value. 



Third: the securing of funds to pursue re- 

 search which could alone yield truth about 

 natural conditions affecting California farm- 

 ing, and to increase his working force, with- 

 out which he could neither get the truth nor 

 teach it in its several branches and applica- 

 tions. 



I clearly recall an early instance of Hil- 

 gard's method. I was present at a farmers' 

 meeting in San Francisco in 1876, apparently 

 called to see just how far the college of agri- 

 culture at the University of California had 

 fallen. The room was not large and was 

 crowded with men of some prominence in 

 farming and hostile to the imiversity because 

 they really believed that the coUege of agri- 

 culture ought to be snatched from ruinous asso- 

 ciation with a so-called " classical institu- 

 tion." It was a stormy assembly, but when 



