MEMOIR OF D. P. PENHALLOW 15 



MEMOIR OF DAVID PEARCE PENHALLOW^ 

 BY ALFBED E. BARLOW 



Professor Penhallow, who for twenty-seven years (1883-1910) occu- 

 pied the chair of botany at McGill University, Montreal, died suddenly 

 at sea on October 20, 1910, while on his way to England. 



His passing away was, however, not altogether unexpected, for, follow- 

 ing a serious breakdown in October, 1909, he was obliged to take a com- 

 plete rest for many months. This enforced absence from professorial 

 duties, although not bringing about the result desired or expected, never- 

 theless gave promise that with a longer holiday abroad Doctor Penhallow 

 would finally regain his usual health and vigor. He had, accordingly, 

 sailed for England in company with Mrs. Penhallow with this object in 

 view. His sudden death has elicited expressions of the deepest sympathy 

 and regret both from his pupils and his colleagues who had been asso- 

 ciated wdth him both in the work of the university and in the activities 

 of the numerous scientific societies to which he belonged. 



During his twenty-seven years of loyal service to Canada, to Montreal, 

 and to McGill University in particular, he maintained his allegiance to 

 his native country and cherished the traditions of his early environment. 

 Doctor Penhallow was born on May 25, 1854, at Kittery Point, Maine, 

 on the opposite side of the Piscataqua Eiver from the city of Portsmouth, 

 New Hampshire. Descended from a long line of ancestors, many of 

 whom for over two hundred years had been prominent in the public 

 affairs of Portsmouth, he inherited their public spirit and love of enter- 

 prise, together with those habits of perseverance and tireless industry 

 which had made them to be included in the honor roll of its citizens and 

 helped him so materially in his palaeobotanical work, a branch of science 

 very little understood or studied, and possibly less appreciated. 



At the age of nineteen (1873) Doctor Penhallow graduated (B. S.) 

 from Massachusetts College. Later (1888) he received the degree of 

 B. S. from Boston University. In 1876 he was awarded the degrees of 

 B. Sc. and M. Sc. by McGill University, and in 1904 was made a doctor 

 of science (D. Sc.) of the same university. 



In 1876 he was appointed professor of botany and chemistry at the 

 Imperial College of Agriculture at Sapporo, in Japan, where he remained 

 until 1880, serving as acting president of the college in his final year of 

 office. Like many other young Americans to whom Japan turned in her 

 anxiety to learn everything possible of western thought and civilization, 



•Presented by title. 



