308 
OBITUARY NOTICES. 
His great gift of sympathy brought him near the Indian. 
He was almost the first to appreciate the Indian philosophy 
of life and able to put himself at the Indian point of view 
sympathetically. In my judgment, his contributions to the 
understanding of the Indian, though largely developed 
through other workers, are his best gift to the store of mod¬ 
ern science and that upon which his scientific reputation 
will chiefly rest. 
His clear view of the relations of concrete things made 
him a really great administrator and organizer of institu¬ 
tions—like Bache for the Coast Survey, or Baird for the 
National Museum and Fish Commission. His profession 
and official positions called him frequently to public speak¬ 
ing. Of what is called “ literary training ” he had none ; 
but when emotion, a strong sense of duty, or the necessity 
of clearly stating some question with which his mind was 
charged incited him to speech he was often really eloquent. 
His quick and cordial sympathy on due occasion made 
him a man beloved of those who knew him best. To them 
it will seem that in him they lost a brave and true comrade, 
a generous chief, and a leader of high aims and sturdy soul. 
William Healey Dall. 
WILLIAM THOMAS SAMPSON. 
1840-1902. 
[Read before the Society, May 23, 1903.] 
William Thomas Sampson has furnished another instance 
in which the American village public school has served the 
nation well. It has been nowhere found how many of his 
forebears, falling short of the aims of a lifetime of endeavor, 
had gone down to make the mold from which grows the 
laurel wreath; but it is known that James Sampson and 
Hannah Walker, out of whose union grew this colossus of 
