The canals, bridges, rail-roans, buildings, water-works, mountain 

 roads and trails completed under his direction in Massachusetts, 

 Minnesota, Chile. South America, and in numerous other places, 

 are enduring monuments to his ability and his honor to the re- 

 sponsibilities which he assumed. 



After retiring from active work, in 1896, he came to Los 

 Angeles, and soon thereafter he joined this Academy, of which he 

 remained a member to the time of his death. He was a zealous 

 associate, and enthusiastic in our work. His voice was frequently 

 heard at our meetings, and those of us who enjoyed his friendship 

 join in sympathy with his widow in her great bereavement. 



A T the City of Los Angeles, on August 18, 1916, died Thomas 

 ■^-^ Powell, who, for many years had been a member of this 

 Academy. 



He achieved an extended reputation among the medical fra- 

 ternity of this portion of the State by his teachings in bacteriology, 

 the action of bacilli, and the cure of diphtheria, infectious and 

 contagious diseases, by electricity. He announced that "all dis- 

 ease is essentially the same — varying forms are different mani- 

 festations of the harmful effects of poorly digested and badly 

 assimilated food. To this imperfectly digested food substance he 

 gave the name 'pathogen.' and he blamed it for every human ill." 

 He was a Free Mason and a member of the American Health 

 League, the American Public Health xA-Ssociation, American Asso- 

 ciation of Infantile ^Mortality, and the Royal Societies Club of 

 London. 



~rX "The ^^"orld's Work" for January, 1917, a very interesting 

 -*- and cordial tribute is commended to George AV. Parsons, 

 who. for many years, has been a Director of this Academy. 



During his later years Mr. Parsons has been interested in 

 mining propositions in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Cali- 

 fornia, and his investigations have made him familiar with the 

 mining regions of these great States. In his explorations, he has 

 crossed and re-crossed those enormous desert wastes comprising 

 so large a territory of this western land, but which, unlike the 

 great African Sahara, have no oases, as refuge for the wearied 

 traveler. The hundreds of human skeletons bleaching in the 

 scorching sun, the remains of those who had perished far from the 

 life-giving water, and the necessity for a system of durable signs, 

 directing a road to safety, most profoundly impressed him. 



He was Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining of 



