72 William Henry Brewer. 



In 1858 he became professor of natural science in Washing- 

 ton College, Pa. From 1860 to 1861 he was first assistant on 

 the California State Survey and in the last of these years was 

 a professor of natural science in the University of California. 

 In 1864 he was appointed professor of agriculture in the Shef- 

 field Scientific School of Yale and served in this position until 

 1903, when he became professor emeritus. 



A catalogue of Professor Brewer's publications and a sum- 

 mary of the strictly scientific work which he did is left for 

 some fuller biographic notice than can be given here. We 

 choose rather to notice some of the public services which Pro- 

 fessor Brewer rendered freely and often at personal sacrifice, — 

 services which needed a man scrupulously honest, with scienti- 

 fic training, a careful observer, with strong common sense and 

 willingness to give time and strength freely to the public ser- 

 vice. Such a man was Brewer. He was of the noble race of 

 scientific men who were the forerunners of specialists in sci- 

 ence, — men with a clear knowledge of the scientific method, 

 inspired with the scientific spirit and not being called to the 

 profound study of some narrow specialty, yet were the apos- 

 tles of science and justified it by showing its help in practical 

 matters. No one connected with Yale University within the 

 last forty years has been called so continuously and iu so many 

 ways for service outside the college world as Professor Brewer; 

 and he has met these various calls with a mixture of scientific 

 knowledge and common sense which has commended science 

 to the laity and common sense to the specialist. 



Thus for seventeen years he was a member of the local 

 health board and for twelve years its president. 



For thirty-one years he was on the State Board of Health, 

 from the time it was organized, until he resigned because of 

 failing strength, and for sixteen years he presided over the 

 Board. 



This Board began its duties when the public had very little 

 understanding of the value of public health work. Violent 

 opposition developed through ignorance, as well as through 

 evil intent. There was little help at that time to be got from 

 the experience of other states. Brewer's knowledge of sani- 

 tary science, his vast fund of information on many related 

 matters, his influence as a public speaker and his common 

 sense were never more helpful than in guiding the growth of 

 a state health board from a distrusted experiment into an 

 indispensable public service. 



He was chairman of the Commission which managed the 

 topographical survey of Connecticut, from 1889 to its comple- 

 tion in 1895. His experience as a geographer in the survey 

 of California fitted him for this work and the popular knowl- 



