﻿80 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence. 
  

  

  Obituary. 
  

  

  Lewis 
  R. 
  Gibbes. 
  — 
  Dr. 
  Lewis 
  R. 
  Gibbes, 
  a 
  scientist 
  of 
  very 
  

   varied 
  learning, 
  died 
  on 
  the 
  21st 
  of 
  last 
  November 
  at 
  Charleston, 
  

   S. 
  C, 
  in 
  the 
  85th 
  year 
  of 
  his 
  age. 
  He 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  Charleston 
  on 
  

   the 
  14th 
  of 
  August, 
  1810. 
  He 
  entered 
  on 
  a 
  course 
  of 
  medical 
  study 
  

   in 
  1830; 
  but 
  before 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  1831 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  Tutor 
  in 
  

   Mathematics 
  in 
  the 
  College 
  of 
  South 
  Carolina, 
  at 
  Charleston. 
  

   At 
  the 
  revolution 
  in 
  the 
  College, 
  of 
  December, 
  1834, 
  when, 
  

   owing 
  to 
  opposition 
  to 
  the 
  President, 
  Dr. 
  Cooper, 
  all 
  the 
  officers 
  

   were 
  requested 
  to 
  resign, 
  he 
  was 
  set 
  adrift 
  with 
  the 
  rest. 
  But 
  in 
  

   the 
  new 
  organization 
  which 
  followed 
  the 
  next 
  day, 
  Mr. 
  Gibbes 
  

   was 
  made 
  Professor 
  of 
  Mathematics. 
  He 
  resigned 
  his 
  position 
  

   the 
  following 
  year, 
  and 
  in 
  1836 
  visited 
  Paris 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  

   completing 
  his 
  medical 
  education, 
  and 
  gratifying 
  his 
  desire 
  for 
  

   knowledge 
  in 
  other 
  directions. 
  In 
  1838 
  he 
  was 
  again 
  a 
  Professor 
  

   in 
  the 
  Charleston 
  College, 
  teaching 
  mathematics, 
  physics, 
  chem- 
  

   istry 
  and 
  mineralogy. 
  Botany 
  and 
  some 
  departments 
  of 
  Zoology 
  

   were 
  also 
  among 
  his 
  special 
  studies. 
  He 
  published 
  various 
  

   papers 
  on 
  the 
  Crustacea 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  coast, 
  and 
  showed 
  

   his 
  comprehensive 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  by 
  his 
  revision, 
  

   in 
  1850, 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  United 
  States 
  collec- 
  

   tions, 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  added 
  valuable 
  notes 
  and 
  descriptions 
  of 
  

   new 
  species. 
  His 
  encyclopedic 
  tastes 
  and 
  knowledge 
  are 
  further 
  

   shown 
  by 
  his 
  astronomical 
  work, 
  especially 
  between 
  1845 
  and 
  

   1854, 
  when 
  he 
  published, 
  besides 
  other 
  related 
  papers, 
  one 
  on 
  a 
  

   comparison 
  and 
  discussion 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  observations 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  on 
  the 
  transit 
  of 
  mercury 
  of 
  May, 
  1845, 
  and 
  in 
  

   1849-50, 
  while 
  engaged 
  in 
  observing 
  occupations 
  of 
  fixed 
  stars 
  

   by 
  the 
  moon, 
  devised 
  and 
  constructed 
  an 
  occultator 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  " 
  of 
  obtaining 
  the 
  approximate 
  times 
  of 
  disappearance 
  and 
  

   reappearance 
  with 
  less 
  labor 
  than 
  by 
  calculation." 
  

  

  As 
  President 
  Shepherd 
  in 
  his 
  tribute 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Gibbes, 
  says 
  : 
  

   Astronomy 
  was 
  his 
  passion, 
  but 
  he 
  cultivated 
  nearly 
  every 
  phase 
  

   of 
  our 
  complex 
  modern 
  science, 
  and 
  cultivated 
  none 
  that 
  he 
  did 
  

   not 
  dignify 
  and 
  adorn. 
  As 
  a 
  teacher 
  he 
  was 
  lucidity 
  itself. 
  He 
  

   not 
  only 
  taught 
  so 
  that 
  he 
  might 
  be 
  understood 
  by 
  the 
  pupil, 
  but 
  

   so 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  misunderstood. 
  He 
  ever 
  manifested 
  a 
  

   spirit 
  of 
  absolute 
  consecration 
  to 
  his 
  ideal 
  as 
  a 
  scientist, 
  an 
  insa- 
  

   tiable 
  quest 
  of 
  knowledge, 
  undiminished 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  

   death, 
  and 
  respect 
  and 
  reverence 
  for 
  the 
  eternal 
  verities 
  of 
  the 
  

   Christian 
  faith. 
  

  

  The 
  death 
  of 
  Father 
  Denza, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  Vatican 
  Obser- 
  

   vatory, 
  is 
  announced 
  by 
  telegraph. 
  

  

  