186 - Louis Valentine Pirsson. 



The power of accurate observation guided by a broad and 

 most intelligent interest permitted him to make the best 

 use of the opportunities afforded by extensive travel 

 in many countries and by wide acquaintance with profes- 

 sional people. He had a wonderful fund of experience 

 and information while a keen sense of humor ensured a 

 delightful flavor to many of his tales of experience. He 

 was fond of a good story and was himself a skilled 

 raconteur. 



Many of Pirsson 's friends will recall with great 

 pleasure evenings spent during the decade 1885 to 1895 

 with a group mainly of young instructors and associate 

 professors, in quarters they occupied in the attic of the old 

 Sheffield Hall. Among these " Attic philosophers/' as 

 they came to be known in New Haven, were S. L. Pen- 

 field, H. L. Wells, C. E. Beecher and Pirsson. After the 

 day's work was ended it was the custom of these men to 

 gather in the central hall under the roof with their chance 

 guests and talk on whatever the work or the events of 

 the day suggested, in serious or in lighter vein as the 

 case might be. It was good talk, too, of the kind that 

 helped or entertained. In these seances Pirsson 's talents 

 and resources showed to great advantage. His fund of 

 information and store of anecdote made him a leader in 

 the group of notable men named. 



Pirsson was a hard persistent worker. Many forms of 

 relaxation did not appeal to him. But there was one 

 sport which he enjoyed most heartily. He was a true 

 disciple of Isaac Walton. From boyhood through life 

 he rarely failed to devote several weeks of each year to 

 trout fishing. His keenest pleasure was in fly fishing for 

 the game trout of the Yellowstone, of Maine or of the 

 brooks and ponds of the Berkshires. Season after season 

 he returned to New Marlboro, where as a boy he had be- 

 come familiar with the pools and rapids in which the best 

 sport was to be found. With an accuracy and care 

 which were characteristic of the man, for many years 

 Pirsson kept a special record of his fishing trips, giving 

 exact dates, localities, companions, the spots where luck 

 was best, the number and weight of the fish caught. The 

 details of- specially exciting contests were given in full 

 and a tabular resume of the season's catch ended the 

 journal for each season. 



Stories of the rambling naturalist and fisherman al- 

 ways aroused his enthusiasm and he wrote a number of 



