.S 9 ..] 
367 
[Minot. 
the advancement of pure science, that is, to enter upon a career 
which involves for its success the attainment of the greatest per. 
fection of the mind possible. The seriousness of the man showed 
itself in the fact that he understood the nature of the undertaking 
upon which he was entering. In his college career he had 
never been quite satisfied with the opportunities for his de- 
velopment which he found there ; the interests were too many and 
too near ; neither did he happen to get upon that exact form of 
study, that precise department of science, for which he was pe- 
culiarly adapted. Such a department he found in his studies 
with me, and the opportunities which he had, he seized eagerly. 
It led to a great advance in the character and in the mind of the 
man. His first attempts with me were far from successful, and 
he was inclined to be discouraged, but he recognized presently 
that his difficulties were accidental mishaps, not due to any inher- 
ent deficiency of his, but to those miscarriages which come from 
a lack of experience. Soon after he began his work, he had a 
serious talk with me on the subject of his discouragement ; he 
recognized the full value of perseverance and resolution in a plan 
of study once definitely laid out and accepted, and I saw then the 
first marked evidence of the steadfast character of the man. 
The study of embryology, which he pursued with me, is a most 
difficult one, since it covers an immense range, taking in not 
merely the anatomy of the adult, — the whole structure as we 
see it in gross and the minutest details as we see them under the 
microscope, — but also a succession of changes so rapid that at no 
moment are we in the presence of any constant picture, but ever 
before a shifting development. The embryologist must not only 
understand the structure of the adult, but also bear in mind the 
rapid and ever changing succession of alterations, and this not for 
one species of animals but for many. It was the magnitude and 
the variety of mental efforts, which had to be made in the study 
of embryology, which awoke his whole enthusiasm and satisfied 
him, I think I may say from what he has told me, completely. 
He was a striking illustration to my mind of the value of offering 
individuals those opportunities for education, which are suited 
to their special temperament. I think that is not always done by 
any means so completely as we teachers might do it, but in his 
case I think it was at last done fully. He was a perfectly satis, 
tied student as to his subject. 
