14 PROCEEDINOS OF THE PITTSBURGH MEETHSTO 



reference to outside reading, that I soon became deeply absorbed in the sub- 

 ject and have always maintained my interest in it. I shall never forget the 

 pride which I felt when, returning to me the notes which I had written up, he 

 sent with them a little slip of paper, upon which he had written, *I thank you 

 for your interest and support.' I still have the notes and the slip of paper. 



"Professor Niles won the affection of his students in an extraordinary de- 

 gree, and he impressed them at the outset with the fact that he was endeavor- 

 ing to help them and to interest them and to stimulate them to pursue the 

 subject further than he was able to carry it, and I think he succeeded better 

 than most teachers. He always had a kindly word for every one, took a broad 

 view, and did much, I believe, to broaden the scientific outlook of those who 

 were fortunate enough to attend his courses." 



The present writer first met Professor Niles in 1878, when he was 

 under his instruction at the Institute of Technology. At this time began 

 a friendship lasting through the student days, through life abroad, and 

 then through the close companionship of first assistant and then col- 

 league at the institute, that has been one of the most highly prized pos- 

 sessions of the writer's life. This close friendship gave a still deeper 

 insight into the character of the man than could be obtained even by the 

 most enthusiastic admirers among his students, for Professor Niles was 

 always reserved concerning himself. Underneath the genial exterior, the 

 ready laugh, and the habit of story-telling that sometimes was misin- 

 terpreted, lay the man of deep and earnest convictions and of very high 

 ideals. Nothing pained him more than to have a student manifest a 

 tendency toward low ideals, and his fatherly interest in such a case and 

 his kindly counsel were marked features in his character. He was a 

 constant and very active member of the scholarship committee of the 

 faculty and was exceptionally attentive to the needs of students strug- 

 gling against financial difficulties. Always considerate of every one, 

 always looking for the best in others, he was very sensitive to adverse 

 criticism when his own acts were misunderstood, but he bore the hurt 

 with a smiling face, and only his closest intimates knew how deep was 

 the cut which lurked below. 



Professor Niles married, in 1869, Helen M. Plympton, the daughter 

 of a prominent physician of Cambridge. Throughout their forty years 

 of wedded life she was his constant companion at home and on his jour- 

 neys abroad. Her life was largely devoted to a thoughtful care of his 

 needs, and her death was the severest blow of his life. Unfortunately 

 there were no children to bless the union, and her death left him to the 

 care of friends till the end came, but a short time after. 



