NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



with his wife to Amherst, Mass., where he built a house in a beautiful 

 spot and resided until his death, March 15, 1886. In 1854 he was 

 appointed Lecturer on History in Amherst College, and until 1873 he 

 continued to give instruction in history, during a part of the time 

 filling the chair of Oriental History. In 1858 he was appointed 

 Professor of Botany, a position which he held during the rest of 

 his life, although during his later years he was relieved from class 

 instruction. He received from Amherst the honorary degree of 

 LL. D., was elected a member of this Academy in 1868, and was 

 connected either as an active or honorary member with numerous 

 scientific societies both of this country and of Europe. 



As a man, Professor Tuckerman was noted for his sincerity and 

 amiability. He is described by the surviving friends of his earlier 

 years as a most agreeable companion, one whose society was sought 

 by those who prized that good fellowship to which both the heart 

 and head contribute. If he was at times reserved he was also genial 

 when the occasion demanded; if he was often absorbed in his own 

 studies, he unbent when friends sought his society. The writer could 

 repeat many anecdotes told by his old Harvard friends to show how, 

 when students together, they respected his character and enjoyed 

 his companionship. After his removal to Amherst his life was 

 passed in the quiet pursuit of his favorite studies, especially botany, 

 and he rarely left home except to make some botanical excursion. 

 His family relations were most happy, and his wife was not only a 

 devoted companion but also a sympathizer with his work. By his 

 brother professors and, in fact, by the people of Amherst generally, 

 he was highly esteemed as a man and a citizen. As a teacher he in- 

 spired the better class of students with an enthusiasm which did not 

 cease with college life, but afterwards developed into an activity of 

 which science in this country has already in part reaped the fruit. 



From the first, Professor Tuckerman was of a retiring and sensi- 

 tive temperament, and, as years passed on, he was forced to become 

 more and more secluded in consequence of a deafness which gradu- 

 ally increased, and at last reached a stage at which conversation 

 became difficult. Although probably never very robust, in his early 

 life he possessed great bodily activity and a degree of venturesome- 

 ness and fondness for exploration hardly to have been expected. 

 He made numerous visits to the White Mountains and botanized 

 on the most inaccessible peaks and in the wildest ravines at a time 

 when the White Mountains were as difficult of access as the Rocky 



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