6i6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



After this he traveled in Europe, vis- 

 ited universities, English and conti- 

 nental, and thence returned to Japan. 

 There he arrived at an opportune 

 moment: the department of zoology 

 which had been organized by Morse 

 and given a second bent by Whitman, 

 was in a state of upheaval. Japan in 

 general was then beginning to assert 

 her intellectual rights: from the im- 

 ported foreigners it had learned nearly 

 all it felt the need of, and in this 

 instance there seemed no reason why 

 one branch of the educational work 

 should not be carried on entirely by 

 Japanese. Mitsukuri entered into the 

 work with his new training, and with 

 a knowledge of Japanese diplomacy 

 and breeding and obligations which no 

 foreigner, at least in those days, had 

 mastered. So it came about that the 

 department of zoology began a new de- 

 velopment, and in this work Mitsukuri 

 would be the first to testify how much 

 he owed to his trusted associate, Pro- 

 fessor Iijima, and his other colleagues. 

 Mitsukuri devoted much of his life 

 in Japan to his numerous pupils, sacri- 

 ficing to no little degree his research 

 work. He was tireless in his attend- 

 ance at the university, accessible at all 

 times, and with an affectionate friend- 

 liness which no one appreciates more 

 keenly than a Japanese. " I feel I 

 have lost a parent," writes Dr. M — . 

 And this is the common sentiment 

 among his pupils. His attitude was 

 ideal: he was frank, inspiring, uncom- 

 promising when a question involved 

 accuracy or scientific purpose. " How 

 different," he would say, " is the train- 

 ing of the diplomat and the scientist — 

 the one studies to dress up the truth, 

 the other to expose it naked." in 

 spite of his long years of foreign train- 

 ing " because of it," he would perhaps 

 have said), Mitsukuri was intensely 

 Japanese — patriotic to his finger-tips, 

 alert to point out the advantages of 

 his country's ways, but like Okakura, 

 so skilful in his dissection of the fail- 

 ings of his foreign friends that they 

 never minded the pain. None the less, 



I have still the feeling that the Jap- 

 anese looked upon him as somewhat 

 too progressive. He admitted foreign- 

 ers among his most intimate friends, 

 he had rooms in his house in foreign 

 style, and his family took its place in 

 social gatherings in the same informal 

 way as in America or Europe. And he 

 could think as a foreigner, and he cer- 

 tainly could write as one, for his Eng- 

 lish never betrayed him. And he had 

 a wide circle of correspondents for 

 whom he was constantly doing, and 

 with the greatest courtesy, troublesome 

 favors. 



For zoology in Japan Mitsukuri did 

 these things: He directed the upbuild- 

 ing of the zoological and, to a certain 

 degree ( as dean of the science college ) , 

 the scientific work of the university; 

 he organized zoology in Japan, making 

 his department its focus, not only in 

 technical matters but popular and 

 semi-popular as well; he was the mov- 

 ing spirit in sending zoological ex- 

 peditions throughout Japan from Saga- 

 halin to the Liu Chiu islands — even to 

 Tai Wan; he was conspicuous in 

 founding and developing the Misaki 

 Biological Station; he was potent in 

 building up a fisheries bureau, officered 

 it with his pupils and contributed to 

 its publications; he gave an important 

 stimulus to the pearl industry in 

 Japan and furnished numerous ideas 

 to the culturists who sought to pro- 

 duce natural pearls by artificial 

 means; and last of all he lifted up the 

 position of zoology throughout the 

 country by means of his many-sided 

 teachings and by means of the influ- 

 ence exerted in his behalf by many 

 friends in all stations. In this regard 

 it has often been said he had not a 

 few personal attributes of our own 

 Professor Baird. 



His researches cover many branches 

 of zoology. At the time of his death 

 he was completing a monograph of the 

 holothurians of Japan. " We must do 

 systematic work," he said in mock 

 apology, " for you know that nearly 

 everything we find here is new, and it 



