352 
ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
treat questions in economics and psychics and even wrote a novel. No 
matter how many tools he had in the fire, he was always ready to add to 
them. His journeys to observe total solar eclipses, transits of the interior 
planets and to collect scientific data from the observatories and libraries of 
Europe are too numerous for mention. 
With almost universal consent, it is admitted that, for the last forty years 
of his life, Professor Newcomb stood at the head of the cultivators of the 
astronomy of position. And he did not have to complain of lack of apprecia¬ 
tion by his fellows; after he had,got fairly started in his scientific career, a 
continual flow of medals, prizes, degrees and honorary memberships in 
scientific societies came for his reception, till the possibilities were exhausted. 
His departure leaves a great gap in the band of astronomers. It will be 
long before we again have one of equal untiring energy. 
MEMOIR OF KAKICHI MITSUKURI. 1 
By Bashford Dean. 
We are to record to-night, and with sincere regret, the death of Professor 
Kakichi Mitsukuri, the most distinguished zoologist of Japan, honorary 
member in the Academy since 1908 and a corresponding member since 1900. 
He was to us who are zoologists more than an honorary member, for he was 
with us at our meetings on several occasions, and to a number of our acad¬ 
emicians he was a close and valued friend. Thus to Professor Wilson, one 
time chairman of the Biological Section and president of the Academy, 
he was a fellow student at Johns Hopkins and at Yale. To those of us who 
have visited Japan, he was literally the best of friends, for there was no favor 
which he left undone, and this is to say much, for his influence reached far 
and wide, from the Hokkaido to remote Tosa. Everywhere he seemed 
to have effective friends, from Governors of Provinces whose suite would 
come in state to the railroad station, to fisher-people vdiose personal property 
appeared to begin and end with a sampan. 
Mitsukuri owed his training in large part to the United States. He came 
here as a youth of fifteen, went to Sheffield Scientific School and later to 
Johns Hopkins. There he was appointed fellow r in zoology in 1881. In 
1883 he v r as given his degree. Before this, however, he had returned to 
Japan and had become head of the department of zoology in Tokyo Uni- 
1 Dr. Mitsukuri died 12 September, 1909, having been an Honorary Member of the Acad¬ 
emy since 1908. This memorial was read at the Academy meeting of January 3, 1910. 
