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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 363. 



scientific and artistic life. Meantime, his 

 two brothers had become famous, the one 

 as artist, the other as architect, and aided 

 in making the new life beautiful and profit- 

 able. 



In 1876 Hirsch was appointed to the 

 chair of ' The Steam Engine,' at the Ecole 

 des Fonts et Chaussees, and, until his retire- 

 ment at the age limit in 1898, he steadily 

 added to the fame of that great institution. 

 After those twenty-two years of service, 

 the Inspector- General reported : 



" To great scientific knowledge he added 

 from the first extensive practical informa- 

 tion, the fruit of personal experience, which 

 enabled him to conduct his course as a prac- 

 titioner, as well as a savant, and thus to give 

 it the character most appropriate to the 

 Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees.^^ 



At his retirement he distributed a con- 

 siderable sum, 10,000 fr. for ten years, in 

 prizes for students ' les plus meritants et le 

 moins fortunes. ' He ' gave much but with 

 discretion ; he took the trouble to give use- 

 fully.' Riches, in his view, created an in- 

 debtedness to his country and his people 

 which he was always willing and glad to 

 discharge. 



Hirsch added to his work at the Fonts et 

 Chaussees that of the department of Me- 

 chanics at the Conservatoire des Arts et Me- 

 tiers (1886), and took great pleasure in di- 

 recting its evening classes and teaching the 

 crudely educated, as well as the well-pre- 

 pared, pupils at the government school. In 

 1879 he was on the ' State Commission of 

 Steam Engines '; in 1880 he had charge of 

 the office of engineer-in- chief of the de- 

 partment of purchase and inspection of 

 materials for the state railways. He was 

 on the international juries of 1878, 1889 

 and 1900 in Paris, and in 1878 received the 

 cross of Chevalier de la Legion d^honneur and, 

 in 1900, that of Officier. 



M. Hirsch published his course at the 

 Fonts et Chaussees in the ' Encyclopedic des 



travaux publics,' and, in its first volume, on 

 the steam engine, had the assistance of M. 

 Debize. His reports upon the machinery 

 exhibited at the International Expositions 

 appeared in the volumes officially issued 

 from the government press. 



As M. Dartein says : " Telles sont He les 

 principales occupations et les travaux le plus no- 

 toires du savant ingenieur, du professeur accom- 

 pli, du chercheur original, de Vhomme de hien 

 dans la plus haute acception de ce mot, qxi'une 

 mort subite vient d'' arraeher a la tendresse de sa 

 famille et a Vaffection de ses amis. * * * 

 Adieu, camarade et ami, ou plutot au revoir : 

 ta memoire nous demeurerera chere et ton exam- 

 ple nous restera utile.'''' 



An acquaintance of many years' duration 

 permits the writer to speak with confidence 

 in confirmation of the testimony given by 

 his professional colleagues at the meetings 

 of various societies after his death. In his 

 home and in his private capacity he illus- 

 trated the noblest attributes of the gentle- 

 man and the scholar ; serious yet always 

 kindly and affectionate, giving and eliciting 

 respect and afiection, sweet reasonableness 

 accompanying correct judgment and clear 

 views of right and wrong, familiar yet dig- 

 nified, provident yet liberal, as husband, 

 father, friend, he was invariably and com- 

 pletely admirable. Professionally he was 

 a leader. Practically experienced, technic- 

 ally learned, cultured and efficient, he was 

 a reliable adviser and director in his whole 

 wide field of special work. He was ad- 

 mired, respected and honored by every 

 client, as by every colleague. 



His record, official, professional and pri- 

 vate, stands a permanent memorial to the 

 man. E. H. Thurston. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 Les Variations de Longueur des Glaciers dans les 

 Regions Arctique et Boriales. By Chaeles 

 Rabot. Archives des Sci. Phys. et Nat. 

 Geneva, 1897, 1899 and 1900. 



