MEMOIK OF PER.SIFOR FRAZER 9 



ment both in this country and abroad. In 1906, in connection with these 

 researches, he was awarded the John Scott medal by the city of Philadel- 

 phia for his invention of a colorimeter, or an instrument by which, with 

 the help of certain prisms, he could determine the relative intensity and 

 color value of ink marks in handwriting. Later on he took up the study 

 of the Bertillon system of identification, and visited Bertillon in Europe 

 to discuss his methods with him. He was actively engaged in this work 

 at the time of his death, and in fact his last public address was on this 

 subject in the winter of 1909. His friends noticed at that time that he 

 did not seem well, but he was not considered seriously ill until within a 

 few days of the fatal attack of heart trouble that carried him away. 



In 1871 Doctor Frazer married Miss Isabella N"evins Whelen. They had 

 four children — three sons, Persifor, Lawrence, and John, and a daugh- 

 ter, Charlotte. Mrs. Frazer and all the children except Lawrence, who 

 died in childhood, survive him. During the whole of Doctor Frazer's 

 lifetime, after the death of his father, he kept up the Sunday evening 

 gatherings in which the latter had taken so much pleasure, and they were 

 attended both by his father's and his own friends. His intimate friends 

 were not numerous, for he did not court popularity. He was self-reliant 

 and a hard worker, as is shown by his many publications and accomplish- 

 ments, and most of his time was spent either in the field or in his study. 



Dr. John L. Le Conte,^ in writing in 1873 about the father of Doctor 

 Frazer, described him in the following words, which are also singularly 

 applicable to the son: 



"A mail of eminent scientific and general culture ; of singular truthfulness of 

 speech, and integrity of conduct ; a devoted lover of consistency in action, and 

 strict performance of duty, virtues which he exemplified in himself and sought 

 for in others." 



One of Doctor Frazer's most marked traits was his respect for the 

 truth, and when once convinced that his opinion was right, he would 

 brook no opposition, and often caused offense to others by the vigor with 

 which he defended his opinions. But there was no malice in his methods 

 of controversy; he always fought in the open, and the more bitter the 

 argument in which he was involved, the more his opponents realized that 

 they were contending with a strong man, strong in his intellectuality, 

 strong in his convictions, strong in his capacity to fight, seeking for truth 

 as he saw it. Hence, no matter how much they may have differed from 

 him in opinion, they respected his virility and sincerity. 



2 rroceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 13, 1873, pp. 183-190. 



