EDITORIAL. 
93 
country  from  the  north  of  Ireland  in  1791,  and,  after  several  years  spent 
in  literary  engagements,  he  graduated  in  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1802.  Dr.  Rogers  died  in  1828,  at  Williams- 
burg, Virginia,  whilst  in  occupancy  of  the  Professorship  of  Natural  Phi- 
losophy and  Chemistry,  in  William  and  Mary  College,  which  he  had  tilled 
since  1819,  leaving  four  sons,  all  of  whom  have  distinguished  themselves 
as  teachers  of  science. 
Dr.  James  B.  Rogers  graduated  at  the  University  of  Maryland  in  1822, 
and  after  practising  medicine  in  Harford  County,  a  few  miles  from  Balti- 
more, for  a  few  years,  he  returned  to  that  city  with  the  view  of  relinquish- 
ing the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  soon  after  engaged  as  the  scientific 
superintendent  of  the  chemical  works  of  Messrs.  Tyson  and  Ellicott,  an  oc- 
cupation more  in  harmony  with  his  tastes  and  wishes.  He  subsequently 
left  this  post  to  accept  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  the  Washington  Medical 
College,  at  Baltimore,  in  which  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  reputation  as 
a  teacher  of  his.  favorite  science.  In  1830  Dr.  Rogers  married  Rachel 
Smith,  of  Baltimore,  who  with  two  sons  and  a  daughter  survive  him.  In 
1835,  when  the  Cincinnati  College  was  organized  by  Dr.  Drake,  the  ser- 
vices of  Dr.  Rogers  were  solicited  for  the  chemical  department,  a  situation 
which  he  honorably  filled  for  four  years.  During  this  time  he  assisted  his 
brother  William  in  the  geological  survey  of  Virginia,  and  subsequently  his 
brother  Henry  in  that  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1839  he  removed 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  continued  to  reside,  a  part  of  the  time  under 
those  depressing  difficulties  that  too  often  beset  the  deserving  votary  of 
science.  As  a  lecturer  in  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Institute,  the  Franklin 
Institute,  and  the  Franklin  Medical  College,  he  occupied  parts  of  the  time 
till  1847,  when  at  last  a  fitting  field  for  the  exertion  of  his  talents  was  af- 
forded him,  by  his  appointment  to  the  Professorship  of  Chemistry  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  rendered  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Professor 
Hare.  His  happy  efforts  as  a  teacher  in  this  scene  of  his  last  labors  are 
familiar  to  very  many ;  and  his  lucid  exposition  of  the  difficulties  of  his 
science,  and  the  apt  illustration  both  by  language  and  experiment  which 
marked  his  discourses,  have  gained  for  the  chemical  chair  of  the  University 
a  scientific  reputation,  second  to  none  in  our  country.  His  constitution, 
never  robust,  was  shattered  whilst  engaged  in  the  deleterious  atmosphere 
of  the  manufacturing  laboratory;  for  several  years  before  his  death  his  phy- 
sical powers  gave  evidence  of  gradual  decay,  until  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1852,  he  finally  succumbed  to  a  protracted  attack  of  albuminaria,  attended 
by  much  suffering. 
It  was  our  good  fortune  to  have  known  Prof.  Rogers  during  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  and  to  be  profited  by  his  instruction  as  a  teacher,  and  his 
advice  as  a  friend.  Ever  ready  to  communicate  knowledge,  he  took  equal 
pleasure  in  helping  the  student  over  the  roughnesses  of  his  journey,  or  in 
lending  his  compeers  the  aid  of  his  knowledge  and  skill. 
