16 
WARD’S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
Lewis Henry Morgan. 
DIED IN THIS CITY DECEMBER 17th. 
Those who come after us will appreciate more 
fully than we can, what a truly great man has 
been among us. Mr. Morgan was one of those 
original thinkers, so far ahead of his time, that 
but few can comprehend sufficiently to appreci- 
ate the significance and value of his work. 
He had just completed his sixty -third year, hav- 
ing been born near the village of Aurora, in this 
State, Nov. 21, 1818. The best sketch of the man 
and his works yet published, is in the November 
number of Popular Science for 1880, by Prof. 
J. W, Powell. Mr. Morgan graduated at Union 
College, in 1840, and immediately commenced 
the study of law, and locating in Rochester, he 
devoted himself for a number of years success- 
fully to his profession. In 1861 he was elected 
a member of the Assembly, and in 1868 of the 
State Senate. 
From 1855 to 1872, he was actively interested in 
a railroad and iron mines upon the Michigan pe- 
ninsula, in which enterprises he was so successful 
that he was able to retire from business and de- 
vote himself almost exclusively to scientific 
work. 
Always a keen observer of what was going on 
around him, he became interested from his first 
visit to the wilds of Northern Michigan in the Bea- 
ver. He writes: “At the outset I had no expecta- 
tion of following up the subject year after year, 
but was led on by the interest which it awakened, 
until the materials collected seemed to be worth 
arranging for publication.” The result was the 
publication, in 1868, of “ The American Beaver 
and his works;” so perfect a model as a mono- 
graph that it is often referred to by critics as the 
standard by which to judge other works of its 
kind. Perfect as it is, it is, however, only a di- 
gression from his great life-work, and it is as the 
great pioneer ethnologist that he will be known 
and honored by posterity. 
Soon after he commenced the study of law he 
became interested in the habits and customs of 
the Iroquois Indians, and gave the subject much 
time and careful study, and published from time 
to time various articles in different periodicals, 
and finally, in 1851, “The League of the Iro- 
quois,” “ in which the social organization and 
government of this wonderful confederacy were 
carefully and thoroughly explained. The vol- 
ume also contains interesting accounts of the 
daily life, customs, and superstitions of these In- 
dians, and was the first scientific account of an 
Indian tribe ever given to the world.” 
While engaged in his railroad and mining en- 
terprises at Marquette lie discovered with much 
surprise that the Ojibwa Indians had essentially 
the same system of kinship and tribal organiza- 
tion as the Iroquois. This suggested to him that 
the system which he had heretofore considered 
as peculiar to the Iroquois might extend to all 
American Indians, and finally to the whole world. 
This was, indeed, a stupendous generalization, 
but years of patient, industrious labor, extensive 
travel and correspondence, enabled him to gather 
together the facts to justify it; these were care- 
fully systematized, and finally published, in 1870, 
by the Smithsonian Institution, which had all 
along greatly aided him in his work. This pub- 
lication, called “ Systems of Consanguinity and 
Affinity of the Human Family,” is a quarto vol- 
ume of 600 pages, and contains the systems of 
kinship of more than four-fifths of the world, 
and, we are told, is the most expensive work yet 
published by the Smithsonian Institution. 
Space will not permit us even to mention his 
various articles in North American Review, 
Johnson’s Cyclopcedia, and elsewhere. In 1877, 
“Ancient Society,” the greatest of all his works, 
was published. In this volume he has “ gathered 
together all the materials he had collected on 
tribal society into one philosophical treatise.” 
“ His main thesis is the development of the sci- 
ence of social and governmental institutions 
through evolution,” and he traces the origin of 
the family and nation back to the lowest com- 
munism, where men and women herded together 
like wild beasts. 
Mr. Morgan was President of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and presided at the Boston meeting, although 
then in feeble health. He continued to decline, 
and was unable to attend the last meeting, at 
Cincinnati. 
His last work, “Houses and House-Life of the 
American Aborigines,” has just been published 
by the Bureau of Ethnology. We quote these 
prophetic words from the preface: “As it will 
undoubtedly be my last work, I part with it un- 
der some solicitude for the reasons named, but 
submit it cheerfully to the indulgence of my 
readers;” and one of his last conscious acts, as 
the completed volume was placed in his hands, 
was to turn the pages feebly and murmur, “My 
book.” 
And now he is gone, and the world mourns its 
greatest ethnologist. We cannot close this brief 
notice without bearing testimony to the qualities 
of his heart. He was always the kind, genial 
friend and true gentleman; always ready to rec- 
ognize the work of others, and no young man, 
however diffident and feeble his attainments, but 
was placed at his ease in his presence, and was 
treated as an equal. His was one of those large, 
noble natures, that felt it not beneath his dignity 
to stoop to the level of those with whom he came 
in contact. 
BUSTS OF EMINENT SCIENTISTS. 
Cuvier, linnaeus, 
BUFFON, St. HILAIRE, HUXLEY. 
We have on hand fine busts of these great 
scientists, intended for museums, public libraries 
and scientific societies. The busts are of life 
size, and carefully finished in either bronze or 
white. Price in white, $5; in bronze, $6. 
Also now ready Cabinet size busts of CUVIER, 
LINNAEUS and BUFFON. being the first issue of a 
forthcoming series. These busts are accurate 
copies of the works of prominent European 
sculptors and are designed for the library, draw- 
ing room or study, being made with great care 
and finished in a most superior manner. They 
are prepared by C. H. Ward, with the assistance 
of a Parisian artist, late of the Beaux Arts, and 
an experienced French moulder^ The average 
height of the busts is about -8^ inches. They 
are finished in a variety of styles: WHITE, ANTIQUE 
BRONZE, CLAY TINT, and ARTISTIC BRONZE. 
Price, packed, for White, Clay Tint or Artistic 
Bronze, $2, or the set for $5.50; Antique Bronze, 
$2.50, or the set $7. Also a bust of JAMES A. 
GARFIELD, 12 inches in height, same styles and 
prices as the scientists. 
OUR PATRONS. 
We give below a list of forty-six institu- 
tions to which we have furnished cabinets 
(including cases in several instances) at a 
cost of from $1,000 to $51,700. The aver- 
age cost of each of the forty-six cabinets 
is $4,217. 
University of Virginia. 
University of Rochester. 
Museum of Comparative Zoology. 
Vassar Female College. 
Princeton College, Princeton, N. J. 
Washington and Lee University. 
Lafayette College. 
Mt. Union College. 
Allegheny College. 
State Geological Cabinet, Albany. N. Y. 
Smithsonian Institution. 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 
Indiana State University. 
Vanderbilt University. 
Yale College. 
University of Syracuse. 
American Museum of Natural History, 
Central Park. 
Cornell University. 
Columbia College. 
Buffalo Academy of Natural Sciences. 
Ohio State Agricultural College. 
Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. 
Illinois State Industrial University. 
Chicago Academy, of Sciences. 
Buchtel College. 
Mt. Holyoke Seminary. 
University of Western Pennsylvania. 
Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. 
Detroit Scientific Association. 
Wilberforce University. 
Pittsburgh Female College. 
Alfred "University. 
Dartmouth College. 
University of Minnesota. 
University of Nashville. 
Washington and Jefferson College. 
Milwaukee Female College. 
Hobart College. 
Williams College. 
Union School, Titusville, Pa. 
Centre College. 
Olivet College. 
Medical College, Chicago. 
Iowa State Agricultural College. 
University of California. 
Wabash College. 
List of Institutions where Cabinet 
Cases have been sent and erected, at a 
cost of from $1,000 to $14,000: 
Smithsonian Institution. 
University of Virginia. 
Lafayette College. 
Vassar College. 
Alleghany College. 
Indiana State University. 
Princeton College, N. J. 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn 
Trinity College. 
Syracuse University. 
Vanderbilt University. 
Cornell University. 
Pittsburgh Female College. 
