Brinton.] ^yju [Feb. 4, 



tern?" but seemed satisfied when the doctor, surprised, answered "No." 

 A few hours afterward, having risen from his bed without assistance, his 

 son, who was in tlie next room, heard a fall ; in a moment he was by his 

 side and had taken him in his arms, but though every means was resorted 

 to that animation might be restored, life had departed. Death was occa- 

 sioned by a disease of the heart, to which he had some hereditary predis- 

 position. 



I may add to the above some personal reminiscences illustrating Prof. 

 Haldeman's character, communicated to me by Prof. E. A. Barber, of this 

 city. 



Like most men of high impulse and native truthfulness, it was difficult 

 for him to suspect deceit in others. On one occasion he showed Prof. 

 Barber a small stone ornament shaped like a fish, and enthusiastically de- 

 scribed it as one of the "finds" in the famous "Chickies rock retreat." 

 With some hesitation his auditor pointed out certain suspicious marks about 

 it, and suggested the possibility tliat it had been manufactured by one of 

 the boys engaged in the excavation. For the first time the idea of such 

 an imposition crossed his mind, and further investigation led to a confes- 

 sion of the act by the perpetrator. 



It was his taste and apparently also his theory that a student should not 

 be a specialist, but should devote his mind to difl'erent branches, thus secur- 

 ing wider knowledge. In a conversation with Prof. Barber, he once said : 

 "I never pursue one branch of science more than ten years, but lay it 

 aside and go into new fields." 



As a correspondent, he wrote frequent letters, but brief ones, and gener- 

 ally was an enemy to prolixity. In one of his letters he Avrites, " You may 

 think the enclosure rather short, but I dislike palaver, and like to say my 

 say, then stop." 



This trait shows itself in his writings. His style is terse and nervous, 

 and his matter shows constant evidence of careful arrangement, so as to 

 secure the utmost condensation compatible with clearness. 



Professor Haldeman's religious views were fixed for many years before 

 his death. Born of Protestant parentage, he was led in early life to doubt 

 the theology which he heard taught in the schools and preached in the 

 pulpits of Central Pennsylvania, and for a term of years did not attach him- 

 self to any sect or church. Later on he took up the systematic study of the 

 evidences of religion, convinced that this is a subject on which every man 

 of intelligence should have definite and defensible convictions. The result 

 of his studies was that he united himself with the Roman Catholic Church, 

 which he stated he»had found to be the earliest historic form of Christian- 

 ity, and he remained a consistent member of that confession until his 

 death. 



Early distinguished as a devoted student of natural science, Prof. 

 Haldeman was selected to fill various public positions as an expert and a 

 teacher. In 1836 he was chosen an assistant in the New Jersey Geological 

 Survey, and the following year held a similar ofiice in Pennsylvania, and 



