MEMORIAL OF O. K. GILBERT 



43 



leat«t intros})ee-tive and the least reniiiiiscoiit of men, at least so far as he 

 revealed his thoughts to others, lie lived essentially in the present, and 

 while his primary interest, of course, was in his work, he also exhibited 

 a lively interest in the general alfairs of the world, about which he was. 

 always well informed. 



He l)ore his personal bereavements and adversities philosophically and 

 without complaint, and maintained always a serene and cheerful attitude 

 t(nvard tlie problems of life — an attitude thus epigrammatically ex- 

 pressed to a friend at the moment greatly depressed by a series of mis- 

 fortunes : ''There are two sorts of troubles about which it is not w-orth 

 wliile to worry — the troubles that we can help and those that we can not 

 help.*' He had a strong distaste for controversy, and his own writings. 

 and his own relations remained singularly free from it, during a period 

 when scientific writings too often were marred by personalities. His 

 fairness and generosity in matters of scientific precedence rendered it 

 impossible for even the most ebullient of contemporaries to find any 

 plausible basis for personal recrimination. 



Gilbert's amusements were very simple and wholesome. He disliked 

 formal functions of all kinds, but greatly enjoyed the company of con- 

 genial friends. He was fond of walking, of rowing and canoeing, but 

 did not care to be alone and usually invited some friend to join him in 

 the excursion. He was also fond of cards, and billiards became one of 

 the recreations of his later years. Of these Mr. Henshaw writes: 



"He jrave to the mastery of games much the same care and attention that 

 distinguished his scientific work. He w^as especially fond of euchre and whist, 

 but knew and liked to play all manner of games with cards. . . . Powell, 

 too, was a lover of cards, and from the early TO's on a card game at least once 

 a week was an established custom with us. ... I think it was chiefly on 

 Powell's account that Gilbert took up billiards, and in this, as in all other 

 things he elected to do, he soon came to be surprisingly proficient, considering 

 that he was no longer young when he began to play. . . . Toward the end 

 of his life, after the day's work was done, he could usually be found in the 

 billiard-room of the Cosmos Club, forgetful of all problems but the ones pre- 

 sented by this fascinating game." 



He derived much pleasure from guessing and rhyming games, and on 

 occasion amused himself by composing ingenious limericks or more am- 

 bitious rhymes. 



Reading aloud to a group of friends w^as one of his favorite diversions, 

 the purpose of the readings being relaxation and entertainment rather 

 than information. A good book or a good sliort story seems usually to 

 have been selected. Samuel ('rc>l]icrs is mentioned as one of his favor- 



