46 PROCEEDINGS 01 THE BAETIMOEE MEETING 



personality. He loved Ms work and Ms enthusiasm was wntagions. He was 

 never too busy to help a friend, never too worried to listen to another's 

 troubles, or too absorbed to sympathize with him. This was the personal touch 

 wMeh endeared him to Ms friends. To him human life was the great thing, 

 and even Ms l:»eloved science got its value and its charm for him from the 

 light that it threw on life and on the world we live in. 



'It seeme^i to me that he was always busy with some piec-e of scientific 

 research. Early in the morning he was at Ms office or in his laboratory work- 

 ing. The afternoon found Mm still there, while the rest of us were out for 

 walks or si)ort. Often at mght the last that I saw of him he was sitting in 

 his study, half curtained off from the sitting room, still working, working. 

 That was in the days before mr»dem processes had simplified such labor. He 

 made Ms own experiments : he c-«3rrected Ms own proof : he made the illustra- 

 tions with Ms own camera or on Ms own drawing board. And he did all tMs 

 LQ moments snatche<i fi'om days already filled with c«3llege duties. 



"He was a kinsman and a<imirer of the famous Le Conte. I suppose it was 

 from him that he got Ms first enthusiasm for geology. Le Conte's Ge^jlogy 

 always had a favorite plac-e on his desk and a tender spot in Ms heart, al- 

 though he did not agree with all of Le Conte's conclusions. 



"Botany was, next to geology, his favorite study. I remember vividly the 

 infinite care and pains that he put on a study of the cotton plant. It was. if 

 I am not mistaken, made for the Paris Exposition. He was then Director of 

 our Exfveriment Station, and I believe that some other members collaborated 

 with him in their particular fields. The publication attracted wide attention : 

 but what impressed me was Ms method of work — Ms care in cross-breeding, 

 the beautiful microscijpic plates tl^at he made to illustrate the results in the 

 fiber, the careful photography of plants, bolls, and microscopic results, the 

 elaborate tables, and. atK)ve all else, the pleasure that he took in his work. 

 That always struck me as characteristic of the man — ^Ms delight in Ms work. 

 It did not seem to be drudgery to him. He worked, not grimly, as some do. 

 but in fine humor. He was blessed with a keen sense of fun. and he was able 

 to joke when things went wrong. 



"From this steady labor he found relaxation among Ms friends. I do not 

 think he c-ared for swiety in any formal sense, but in Ms own home he was 

 the princ-e of good fellows. Real ho.spitality went deep down into the marrow 

 of Ms bones. He was genial, unreserved, charming. He and his wife were 

 fond of music. They sang the old-time songs that were rich in sentiment and 

 melody, and Ms flute was full of mocking-birds and Southern moonlight. 



"Devoted as he was to scientific research. I think he regarded teaching as. 

 to use a fine old phrase. Ms calling. It was not just a way to make a living. 

 It was a Mgh and noble profession, with great opporttmities and equally great 

 resi)onsibilities. " 



Doctor Mell was a mem]>er of Kappa Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa fra- 

 ternities. He became a FelLjw in the Geological Society of America in 

 1889. He belonged to the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, the Southern. South Carolina, and Alabama historical socie- 

 ties, the Xational Geographic Society, and the Sons of Confederate 

 Veterans. 



