MEMOIR OF W. H. NiLES l3 



Although Professor Niles has left little literature to recall his name to 

 succeeding generations of scientists, he has left an impress upon every 

 earnest student that came under his instruction that has broadened that 

 student's life. It is in this way that the world is especially richer that 

 Professor Mies has lived and been a part of it. Very many of his 

 former students might be quoted, but two quotations must suffice. Each 

 of the following testimonials is from a man now of high rank in the work 

 of the world and in scientific circles : 



"Professor Niles lives in the memory of the men and women who, as stu- 

 dents, came under his influence, and his ideals are reflected in their acts. It 

 is not so much through his writings that he molded opinions and character 

 as by daily cheering contact with his pupils and his colleagues ; by the hearty 

 zeal and willing energy with which he took up and carried through the in- 

 numerable details which fell to his lot, or which he gladly assumed, because it 

 appeared that no other person could or would give the needed attention. . . . 

 In looking back over a period of many years of personal acquaintance, ripening 

 into friendship, we may not recall the title of a single article or scientific 

 paper by Professor Niles or any particularly striking or original work of his, 

 yet the memory retains the impression of a long series of acts of kindness, of 

 sound advice, of cheering, yet direct, criticism, founded upon a full knowledge 

 of many subjects, all of which in the aggregate has been of indescribable value 

 to the students who came in contact with him. . . . His attitude towards 

 scientific work was conspicuously that of a fellow-student and instructor. 

 Whenever he acquired any item of interest his first impulse was not to hoard 

 this, to build up into a book or article, but it was his delight to discuss it with 

 his friends, and especially to put the matter in a form attractive to students 

 and to others who might share with him the enjoyment of the added informa- 

 tion. 



"As an instructor and lecturer, he rose above the dry technical presentation 

 of a subject, and clothed the otherwise uninteresting details in language such 

 that none but the most inert could fail to appreciate. . . . Yet, in spite of 

 the attractive form, the real solid information was there, properly clothed or 

 pictured. 



"I first knew Professor Niles when I took his course in physical geography, 

 in 1875, at the Institute of Technology. I think I may say without exaggera- 

 tion that this course was one of the most inspiring and suggestive courses 

 which I ever attended ; indeed, it set me thinking and studying in a direction 

 which, through all the subsequent years, afforded me much pleasure as well as 

 profit. 



"Professor Niles did not use any text-book, but we were required to take 

 notes and were expected to write them up. I had always had a liking for 

 topics of this kind, and under his stimulating assistance I did a great deal of 

 outside reading in connection with his course and took pains to write up the 

 notes as carefully as I could. There is, of course, little mental training in- 

 volved in a lecture course ; each student gets what mental training he receives 

 by himself in writing up the notes and studying the references. But Professor 

 Niles's lectures were so suggestive, and he was so willing to give advice with 



