National Academy Of Sciences Of The United Stattes Of American Biographical Memoir Of James Furman Kemp 1859 1926 Volume XVI

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925

This Volume Is for
REFERENCE US60NLY

NATIONAL
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOL. XVI

CITY OF WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

1936

CONTENTS

Page

JAMES FURMAN KEMP Frank Dawson Adams i

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY Bailey Willis 23

FRANKLIN PAINE MALI, Florence R Sabm 65

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM Alfred M Tozzer 125

JOHN FILLMORE HAY^ORD William H Burger 157

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI . Ernest P Lane 295

THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL. Henry Crew 331

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA W W Coblentz 355

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED ST\TES OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

\OLUME XVI FIRST MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

or

JAMES FURMAN KEMP

1859-1926

BY

FRANK DAWSON ADAMS

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEM\ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1933

JAMES FURMAN KEMP
August 14, 1859 November 17, 1926

BY FRANK DAWSON ADAMS

James Furnian Kemp was born in the City of New York on
August 14, 1859, and passed away at Great Neck, Long Island,
N Y , on November 17, 1926, m the sixty-seventh year of his
age He was .stricken down suddenly and without any previous
warning as he was about to enter the tram leaving Great Neck,
where he resided, for New York, to meet his morning classes at
Columbia University Only thirty-six hours previously he had
been the speaker at a largely attended meeting of the New York
Section of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical
Engineers, where he described certain mines in Spain and Portu-
gal which he had visited during the preceding summer when
attending the 14th International Geological Congress which met
at Madrid in 1926, to which he had been appointed an official
delegate by the President of the United States, and at which he
also represented several important scientific societies

His great grandfather, Joseph Alexander Kemp, came to
America from Perth in Scotland in 1797, and settled in Albany,
where he married Elizabeth Jillson Later this great grand-
father left Albany and took up his residence at Newburgh-on-
Hudson. Professor Kemp's father, James Alexander Kemp,
was born in the City of New York in the year 1831 and became
a partner in a firm of wholesale grocers in that city. He married
Caroline Anna Furman and they had three children, of whom
James Furnian Kemp was the youngest, the two other children
having died before his birth While he was yet a young boy
his parents moved to Brooklyn, N Y , where they resided during
the remainder of their lives

When this boy James, who was destined to attain marked
distinction m the world of science reached school age, he was
sent by his parents to Lock wood's Academy in Brooklyn and
later to Adelphi Academy, now known as Adelphi College, in
the same city, from which he graduated in 1876 From the first
he took a keen interest in natural history and was an industrious

NATIONAL, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

collector, especially in the field of botany From Adelphi Col-
lege he went to Amherst, from which he graduated as Bachelor
of Arts in 1881 To Amherst about this time came a notably
large number of men who subsequently attained distinction in
one branch or another of the geological sciences Among these
were George H. Williams, W. B. Clarke, Whitman Cross, John
M. Clark and others, all of whom came under the inspiring in-
fluence of that excellent teacher, Professor B K Emerson, a
man having a wide knowledge of many subjects as well as a
thorough mastery of his own Emerson's infectious enthusiasm
and his magnetic personality were important factors in deter-
mining the course and current of the lives of these men, and of
Kemp's among them. After leaving Amherst he entered the
Columbia School of Mines where he followed a course of more
technical training, graduating in the year 1884 with the degree
of Engineer of Mines Once again, at Columbia, he had the
good fortune to come under the influence of an inspiring teacher,
Dr John Strong Newberry, the distinguished geologist and
palaeontologist, and it was through Newberry's influence that
his attention was directed definitely to the study of geology as
his life's work

He then took the wise course of going abroad to continue his
studies and thus see the geology of other countries and the
problems of geology from other viewpoints than those of his
nati e land, excellent as these may be He made a wise selection
in choosing the German universities and spent the next two years
at Leipzig and Munich, attending more especially the lectures
of Von Zittel and Von Groth at the last mentioned university.
He did not, however, proceed to a degree at either of these seats
of learning

F G Corning in his interesting httle book on early student
days at the Freiberg Royal Mining Academy, says that Professor
Kemp was also at Freiberg and although not enrolled as a reg-
ular student there he visited the Academy and took part in the
field excursions

While in Germany he became acquainted with Henry Shaler
Williams, Professor of Geology in Cornell University, who was

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

The Storm King crossing of the Hudson River by the new Catskill
Aqueduct ot New York City Amer Jour Sci (4), vol 34, i~u

Pre-Cambnan formations m the State of New York. Int Geol Cong
XI, Stockholm, 1910, Comp Rend , 699-719, map

Notes on garnet zones on the contact of intrusive rocks and limestones
Can Mm Inst , Trans, vol 15, 171-186

1913

Field and office methods in the preparation of geological reports (dis-
cussion, geological field methods) Econ Geol , vol 8; 171-176

The ground waters Bull Amer Inst Mm. Hng , 76, 603-624, Trans,

vol 45, 3- 2 5 (iQH)

The appeal of the natural sciences Science, n s , vol xxxvui, no. 983,
pp 603-612

Artificial vein formation m the Tomboy mill, Telluride, Colo. Econ.
Geol, vol 8, 543-550

Contact zones (discussion) Econ Geol, vol 8,597-610.

Water m veins Mm. Sci Press, vol 107 , 938-939

The influence of depth on the character of metalliferous deposits. Int.
Geol Congr. XII, 1913, Comp. Rend; 253-260 (1914; advance copy,
1913) Can Mm Jour, vol 34, 543-546. (abst.) Mm. World, vol. 39;
591-593

1914

Platinum and allied minerals Mineral Industry, vol xxni, 1914, pp
602-610

The newer theories of ore deposition Bull Mm Met Soc. Amer., 79
(vol 7, no. 12) ; 188-197

Secondary silicate zone (discussion) Econ. Geol , vol 9; 282

New point in the geology of the Adirondacks (abst. with discussion)
Bull Geol Soc Amer., 25 ; 47

1915

The Mayan iron ore deposits, Cuba. (Includes description of Orbitoides
kempi n sp by Mar j one O'Connell ) Bull. Amer. Inst. Min Eng., 98,
129-154, Bull 103, 1461-1462, ill ; Trans., vol. 51, 3-30, ill. (19*6).

The geology of the iron ore deposits in and near Daiquiri, Cuba.
Bull Amer Inst Min. Eng. f 105, 1801-1836, Trans, vol. 53, 3-39 (1916).

Buried river channels of the northeastern states. Wyo. Hist Geol

Soc, Proc 14; 35-54

1916

The outlook for iron. Int Eng. Cong 1915, Trans, vol 5; 365-389
Smithsonian Inst, Ann Rp, 1916, 289-309 (1917)

W J McGee The McGee Memorial Meeting, Wash. Acad. Sci., Dec
5, 1913, PP- 70-72 (pub, 1916).

19

XVTIONAI, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

1918

The human side of mining engineering Bull School Mines & Metal-
lurgy, Cmv of Missouri, vol x, no 3, 3-13

Williams as a tnend big ma Xi Quarterly, vol vi, no 3, 60-6 1

John Duer Irving Bng Mm Jour , vol 106, 260-263, port

John Duer Irving Science, n s , vol 48, 255-256

(and Billmgsley, P) Notes on Gold Hill and vicmit}, Tooele Co,
western Utah luon Geol , vol 13, 247-274, map

Geology and mineral deposits In Peele, Robert, Mining Engineer'
Handbook, 73-116, New York

1919

Memorial ot John Dutr Irving Bull, Geol SOL, A mo , vol 30, 37~4^.
port

Observations on a Florida sea beach with reference to oil geology
Eton Geol t vol 14, 302-323, 4 pis

(with Frederick K Morns ) Section 3, Engineering Geology In
Blanchard's American Highway Engineers' Handbook Jno Wiley &
Sons

1920

Structural and petrographic geology Bull Geol Sot Amet ., vol 31,

351-356

Geology in the law EC on Geol , vol 15, 259-265

Memorial of Alexis Anastay Julien Bull Geol Soc Amei , vol 31 ,
81-88, port

Memorial of Gaillarcl Sherburne Rogers Bull Geol Soc Amer vol
31, 97-100, port

(and Billmgsley, Paul) Sweet Grass Hills, Montana (abst ) Bull
Geol Soc Amer, vol 31, 158-159

1921

Geology of the Mount Marcy quadrangle, Essex County, N Y Bull
IV Y St Mus , Nos 229-230 , 86 pp

(and Billmgsley, Paul) Sweet Grass Hills, Montana Bull Geol Soc
Amer, vol 32, 437-478, maps.

The zonal distribution of ores Hcon Geol , vol 17 , 46-48

New features in structural geology of the anthracite basins, Wilkes-
Barre, Pa Arner Inst Mm Eng Trans (preprint No 1112) ; vol,
66, 303-317 (abst ) Mining and Metallurgy, No 181, Jan, 1922, 29-30

Memorial of Henry Platt Gushing Bull Geol Soc Amcr t vol 33;
44-55, port

After-effects of igneous intrustion Bull Geol Soc Awcr,, vol 33 ;
231-254

Isostasy and applied geology. Bull Geol Soc Amer, vol 33, 327-331.

20

JAMKS FURMAN KEMP ADAMb

1923

Hill text of Kemp address Laramie (\Vyo ) Republican, June 14,
1923

Albert Reid Ledoux Mm and Met , vol iv, 603-605

On veins from intrusive magmas with contrasted contents of metals
Hcon Geol , vol xvni, no 8, 77 2 ~774

Memorial of Levi Holhrook Bull Gcol Soc Amer , vol 34, no i,
51-5-2,

1924

The march of human life Col Ahtmni Neivs, Jan iR, 1924, 4 pp
Memorial of Horace Vaughn Wmchell Bull Geol Soc Amer, vol
36, 46-56

Edmund Otis Hovey Nat Hi* , vol xxiv, no 6, 704-709
The pegmatites Hcon Gcol , vol xix, no 8, 697-723

1925

The first award of the Penrose Medal Science, vol Ixi, no 1580, 380-
382

Geology as a career Nat Res Council, Wash , 5 pp

Memorial of Edmund Otis Hovey Bull Geol Soc Amer , vol 36,
85-100

(and Knight, S H ) Pre-Cambnan Geology North of Laramie, Wyo.
(abst) Bull Gcol Soc Amer , vol 36, 159-160, Pan Amer Geol , vol

43, 153

Review of the first one hundred years of American geology, by George
P Merrill Amer Hist Review, vol xxx, no 3, 616-620

New methods for the study of granitic mtrusives Hcon. Geol , vol xx,
no 6, 597-601

(with Ailing, Harold L ) Geology of the Ausable quadrangle. Bull
N Y $t* Mus , No 261, 124 pp

Recent physiographic observations in the Laramie Range, Wyoming
(abst ) Science, n s , vol 62, 520

1926

Introduction and review of the literature on the geology of the Virgin
Islands Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands N
Y, Acad ScL, vol. iv, 1-69

Professor Chandler and Columbia College Columbia Alumni News,
vol xvn, no, 14, 315

General geologic relations of platinum Bug & Mm Jour -Press, vol
121, no 1 8, 717-725

The International Geological Congresses Hcon Gcol , vol 21, no 7,
708-711

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

impressed by his character and ability. When Williams returned
to Ithaca he requested the authorities of Cornell University to
establish an assistantship m the department of geology and
allow him to select the person who should be appointed to fill
this position. The Trustees granted this request and Professor
Williams selected young Kemp for the place. Kemp put his
foot on the first rung of the ladder of success in this appoint-
ment to a junior position on the staff of the department of geol-
ogy at Cornell University in 1886. He eventually rose to the
position of assistant professor at Cornell, where he remained
until 1891. In this year he received a call from Columbia Uni-
versity to the position of adjunct professor of geology under
his former teacher, Professor Newberry. He accepted this
and upon the death of Professor Newberry in the following year
he became head of the department of geology, which position he
continued to occupy until the time of his death.

His home life as a growing boy and a young man was not al-
together a happy one His parents were unsympathetic with his
ambition to enter college and fit himself for a professional
career, and it was only with great reluctance that they provided
him with the scanty funds which, with such additions as he could
himself secure by engaging in work during his vacations, would
enable him to meet his college and university expenses.

It was therefore with especial pleasure that he received his
first university appointment which provided him with adequate
means for his support and thus enabled him to devote his un-
divided time to the work of his chosen profession, without an
ever present consideration of the question of ways and means

In 1889, during his professorship at Cornell University, he
married Kate Taylor, daughter of John Nichols Taylor of Kings-
ton, R. I It was a very happy marriage and throughout the long
course of their married life Mrs. Kemp gave to her husband
such continuous and invaluable support and encouragement as
to contribute in no small measure to the success which he
achieved Had it not been for her unremitting care during his
long illness m 1915 and 1916 it is indeed doubtful whether he
would ever have survived. To this marriage three children were

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

born, two sons James Taylor Kemp, now technical adviser to
the American Brass Company at Ansonia, Conn , and Philip
Kittendge Kemp, rector of St. Marks Episcopal Church at
Glendale, Cal., and one daughter, Katherine Furman Kemp,
who married Chase Donaldson, Esq., and who died in 1929.

Professor Kemp loved teaching and pursued his work at the
University with a wholehearted enthusiasm which he communi-
cated also to his students. He had, moreover, the power of pre-
senting in a most lucid manner and in language which was
readily understood, even the most difficult subjects with which
he had to deal. His students were in consequence always deeply
interested in their work and this interest was felt by Dr Kemp
to be a rich reward for all the care and trouble which the prepa-
ration for his work entailed.

At Columbia his university work, as years went on, became
very heavy and exacting, for not only did the number of his
undergraduate students increase rapidly from a few tens to
several hundred, but the number of post-graduate students
going forward to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in geology
and the cognate sciences, also grew rapidly, and such students
working on difficult and advanced problems often in widely sep-
arated fields required an immense amount of individual attention
and assistance. But his labors were not confined to the work of
his department, for as his abilities, and what may be justly
called his wisdom, became known to his university colleagues
and to the officers of the many scientific societies with which
he became associated, he was called upon to serve on a multitude
of boards and committees, and was also chosen to fill many im-
portant executive positions. He was always interested in ath-
letics and among the university committees of which he was a
member at Columbia was that of the committee on athletics, the
work in connection with which he found especially trying, pre-
senting as it did year after year the everlasting problem of at-
tempting to harmonize the ever increasing demands of com-
petitive athletics with academic ideals. From its foundation he
also served as a member of the board of managers and as a

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

scientific director of the New York Botanical Gardens. He was
a member of the Columbia University Club, the Amherst Club,
and of the Century Association of New York. He also took
a very keen and active interest in many of the great scientific
societies. He was one of the group of thirteen men who in the
year 1888 organized the Geological Society of America. He
was a charter member of this Society and was its secretary for
many years and, having served in almost every capacity in it,
was elected as its president in 1921 He was president of the
New York Academy of Science, and of the Society of Economic
Geologists, and vice president of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. In 1912 he was elected president
of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America and re-
ceived its gold medal in 1914 and was made an honorary mem-
ber in 1917. He became a member of the American Institute
of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1891 and was on its
board of management from 1896 to 1898. He was vice president
of the society in 1903 and 1904 and president in 1912. He was
also a member of the American Philosophical Society and of
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. In 191 1 he
was awarded the blue ribbon of scientific attainment in the
United States by being elected to membership in the National
Academy of Sciences.

In addition to these he was elected a corresponding member
of the Geological Society of London, the Geological Society of
Stockholm, the Geological Society of Belgium, the Academy of
Oslo, and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
His Alma Mater, Amherst, in 1906, conferred upon him the
degrees of D.Sc, Honoris Causa, and in 1913 on the occasion of
the meeting of the Twelfth International Geological Congress
in Canada^ McGill University awarded to him the honorary
degree of IX.D,

He was an excellent after-dinner speaker and spoke very
frequently at the banquets given by the various societies with
which he was connected. For many years his former teacher,
Professor B. K Emerson of Amherst, was toast-master at tbte

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

annual banquet of the Geological Society of America and his
brilliant talks on these occasions will long be remembered by
the members of the Society who had the pleasure of being pres-
ent on these occasions. When in the course of time he was no
longer able to attend the meetings of the Society, Professor
Kemp succeeded him and discharged the duties of this rather
difficult position with admirable grace and remarkable ability.

Professor Kemp was a prolific writer. His work entitled
"Ore Deposits of the United States" was published in 1893
and passed through many subsequent editions. Three years
later, in 1896, his "Handbook of Rocks" was issued. But the
result of his work and investigation appeared chiefly in papers
presented to various scientific societies and printed in their
proceedings, or in reports to the United States Geological Sur-
vey or to the New York State Survey. During a portion of
each summer for a number of years he devoted his time to the
geological mapping of certain areas in the mineral bearing por-
tion of the State of New York, for the last mentioned Survey.
He was one of the founders and an associate editor of Economic
Geology and many articles from his pen appeared in this journal.

At the beginning of his career he took an especial interest in
mineralogy but later, although he worked over a wide field in
geological science, he devoted his attention more particularly to
economic geology and especially to the science of ore deposits,
in which subject he became one of the leading authorities in
North America. He also took an especial interest in the geology
of the great areas of pre-Cambrian exposed on this continent
and devoted much close study to the pegmatites which occur so
abundantly in many places in these ancient rocks.

The range of his studies can best be seen by an examination
of the accompanying bibliography of his published writings,
which has been prepared for the writer by Professor Berkey,
the able successor of Dr. Kemp at Columbia University.

His advice was also sought in connection with the develop-
ment of many important engineering works, and in the develop-
ment of many mining areas where difficult problems presented

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

themselves for solution. He acted as consulting geologist to
the Anaconda Copper Company, The Calumet and Heckla Con-
solidated Copper Company, the Spanish American Iron Com-
pany, The Port Henry Iron Ore Company (Mineville, N. Y.),
and the New Jersey Zinc Company, also in connection with the
new Croton Dam and to the Board of Water Supply of New
York City in the selection of a route for the Catskill Aqueduct.

His opinion was also sought in connection with many impor-
tant law suits relating to mines and mineral areas. His wide
knowledge of these subjects, his absolute honesty and his power
of clear exposition made his testimony of great weight and
value. But the great strain which these intense and manifold
duties and occupations entailed upon Dr. Kemp resulted in 1915
in a complete nervous collapse and for over two years he was
obliged to give up work of every kind, spending most of the
time in the open air on the coast of Florida. He eventually com-
pletely recovered his health and once again entered upon his
work with the same vigor and carried it on with the same inten-
sity as before. But while his brain withstood this renewed
strain, his heart could not, and, as already mentioned, he was
stricken down and died almost instantly in 1926.

It was very fortunate that during his prolonged absence from
Columbia University he had in Professor C, P. Berkey a very
able coadjutor, who together with the other members of the
geological staff at Columbia, which by this time he increased
from three to ten in number, carried on his work uninter-
ruptedly until he could resume it

But while Professor Kemp was a man of very marked ability,
wide knowledge, and widely recognized attainments, the out-
standing characteristic which impressed itself at once on every
one who met him, was his genial personality. Goodness and
benevolence seemed to surround him like an aura and he met
everyone with a display of interest which, as a matter of fact,
he actually felt. Thus he made a friend of everyone he met.
His students, who were naturally brought into close contact
with him and who were often in especial need of help and en-

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI,. XVI

couragement, came to regard him rather as a father than a
teacher and in after life, scattered as they were over every
known part of the habitable world where mines exist or geo-
logical work is to be done, they retained for him a very special
and peculiar affection. An excellent portrait of him, in oils,
was presented to Columbia University by his former pupils, on
the occasion of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of this
University, and now hangs in the library of the department of
geology in Schermerhorn Hall. Wherever he went engineers
or mine managers, former students of his, appeared and wel-
comed him. A past president of the Geological Society of
America in the course of a humorous address delivered at one
of the annual dinners of this Society some years ago, remarked
that it had been his fortune to travel through almost every part
of North America and while in the course of his journeys he
had visited many places which were "wild and woolly," he had
never yet found one which was "un-Kempt" !

Possessing this essentially generous nature, his help was asked
by many persons and freely given, as far as his time and means
allowed. In the great majority of cases this was requited, but
as tares are generally mingled with the wheat in the field of this
world, in some cases it was not. In these as well as in other
cases where his confidence had been abused, although he felt
such things very deeply, he never expressed any resentment at
such untoward acts but seemed to desire to sweep them from
his memory as speedily as possible and pass on to other and
more worthy things. It is very doubtful whether he ever used
a harsh expression in his life.

And so in passing away, Professor Kemp has left a fine record
of good work accomplished in the furthering of the knowledge
of the science which he professed and in passing the torch of
knowledge on to many younger men who are now carrying it
forward imbued with his spirit. He has also left the very fra-
grant memory of a fine, good and noble life as an example and
inspiration to everyone who knew him, each of whom will join
the writer and say in the words of Hamlejt, **He was a man,
take him for all in all, I shall not look upon fais like

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1887

Introduction to crystallography prepared for the use of students in
mineralogy Cornell Univ, Ithaca, N. Y.

The geology of Manhattan Island. N. Y. Acad Sci , Trans, vol. 7;
49-64

Notes on the ore deposits and ore dressing in southeastern Missouri.
School Mines Quarterly, vol 9; 74-81

On fossil plants from near Worcester, Mass. N. Y. Acad Sci , Trans.,
vol. 4, 75-76.

1888

A brief review of the literature on ore deposits School Mwes Quar-
terly, vol. 10 j 54-60, 116-123, 326-336, vol n, 359-370, vol 12; 218-235

A dionte dike at Forest of Dean, Orange Co, N. Y. Amer. Jour.
Sci. (3), vol. 35, 331-332.

On the Rosetown extension of the Cortlandt series. Amer. Jour. Sci.
(3), vol 36, 247-253; map

The dikes of the Hudson River Highlands. Amer. Nat , vol. 22; 691-

698

Notes on lead-smelting in southeastern Missouri. School Mines Quar-
terly., vol ix, No 3

1889

(and Marsters, V F). On certain camptonite dikes near Whitehall,
Washington Co., N Y. Amer Geol , vol 4; 97-102.

Bante from Aspen, Colo. Amer. Jour. Sci. (3), vol. 37; 236-237.

On certain porphyrite bosses in northwestern New Jersey. Amer Jour.
Sci. (3), vol 38, 130-134.

1890

On the dikes near Kennebunkport, Maine. Amer. Geol , vol. 5 ; 129-140.
(Abst ) Bull. Geol Soc Amer., i , 31-32.

Notes on a nephelme basalt from Pilot Knob, Texas. Amer. Geol,
vol 6; 292-294.

An ascent of Vesuvius. The Cornell Magazine, vol iii, No. i ; 1-8.

Notes on the minerals occurring near Port Henry, N. Y. Amer Jour.
Set. (3), vol. 40; 62-64

1891

The basic dikes occurring outside of the syenite areas of Arkansas.
Ark Geol Surv., Ann. Rp. 1890, vol. 2; 392-406.

(and Williams, J. F.) Tabulation of the dikes of igneous rocks of
Arkansas. Ark Geol. Surv., Ann. Rp. 1890, vol 2; 407-427.

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

(and Marsters, V F.) The trap dikes in the Lake Champlam valley
and the neighboring Adirondacks. N. Y. Acad Sci, Trans, vol n ,

13-23

The filling of mineral veins School Mines Quarterly, vol 13 ; 20-28.

Pendotite dikes m the Portage sandstones near Ithaca, N Y. Amer,
Jour. Sci (3), vol. 42; 410-412.

Gestreifte Magnetitkrystalle aus Mineville, Lake Champlam-Gebiet
Staat New York. Zs. Kryst , vol. 19 ; 183-187.

John Francis Williams, Amer Geol } vol 9, 149-153, port

Memorial of John Francis Williams. Bull. Geol Soc Amer, 3, 455-

45&

The classification of ore deposits. School Mines Quarterly, vol 14,

8-24.

The great shear zone near Avalanche Lake m the Adirondacks
Amer Jour. Sci, (3), vol 44, 109-114

The elaeohte syenite near Beemerville, Sussex Co , N J NY Acad
Sci, Trans., vol n, 60-71 (abst ) Bull Geol Soc. Amer, 3, 83-84

Petrographical notes N, Y Acad Sci., Trans, vol n; 126-131.

A review of the work hitherto done on the geology of the Adirondacks
N Y Acad Sci, Trans., vol. 13; 19-24.

1893

The ore deposits of the United States. 302 pp., New York 2nd ed.,
343 pp , New York, 1895 , 3rd ed , 481 pp , New York, 1900 , 5th ed ,
481 pp, New York, 1903

Memorial of John Strong Newberry. Bull, Geol Soc. Amer , 4>
393-406.

In memonam; Professor John Strong Newberry School Mines Quar-
terly, vol 14; 93-1 1 1, 251-252, port

Bibliography of Professor J. S. Newberry N. Y Acad Sci , Trans.,
vol. 12, 173-186

(and Marsters, V. F ) The trap dikes of the Lake Champlam region
U S Geol Stirv., Bull 107 , 62 pp , map.

A basic dike near fEamburg, Sussex Co., N J., which has been thought
to contain leucite. Amer lour. Sci (3), vol 45, 298-305, map

Notes on the lower coal measures of western Clearfield County, Pa.
School Mines Quarterly, vol. 14, 349-353

On an occurrence of gabbro (norite) near Van Artsdalen's quarry,
Bucks Co , Pa. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Trans., vol. 12 ; 71-77

Some recently discovered trilobites with appendages. Science, vol. 21 ;
344-345-

10

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

Preliminary report on the geology of Essex Co. ( N. Y.) N. Y. St
Geol , Ann Rp 13 , 431-472, maps N Y St Mus , Ann Rp 47 ; 625-
666, maps

Concerning matters geological. Columbia Literary Monthly, vol 11,
No 7, pp 305-308

A new intrusive rock near Syracuse. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. (abst),
vol 6, p 477 (Listed also under 1895 with N. H Darton)

Gabbros on the western shore of Lake Champlam. BulL Geol. Soc,
Amer, 5, 213-224 (abst) Amer. Geol, vol 13, 214-215

(and Hollick, A ) The granite at Mounts Adam and Eve, Warwick,
Orange Co , N, Y , and its contact phenomena. N Y. Acad. Sci , Ann ,
vol 7, 638-650.

The ore deposits at Franklin Furnace and Ogdensburg, N J. N Y
Acad Sci, Trans., vol 13, 76-96

An orbicular granite from Quonochontogue Beach, R. I. N Y. Acad
Sci , Trans., vol 12 , 140-144

Additional note on leucite in Sussex Co, N J Amer. Jour. Sci,
(3), vol 47,* 339-340-

The zmc mines at Franklin Furnace and Ogdensburg, N J. (abst )
Amer Geol , vol 14, 202 Amer Assn Adv. Sci, Proc. 43; 237 (1895)

The nickel mine at Lancaster Gap, Pa , and the pyrrhotite deposit at
Anthony's Nose, on the Hudson, (abst) Bull Geol. Soc. Amer., 6; 3.
Amer Geol, vol 14, 195, (1894) Amer Inst Mm Eng, Trans , vol 24,
620-633, 888

1895

The geology of Monah and Westport townships, Essex Co , N Y.
Bull N. Y St Mus., 14; 325-355, map.

Lecture notes on rocks School Mines Quarterly f vol. 17; 38-56, 128-
159, 267-295, 401-434-

Crystalline limestones, ophicalcites, and associated schists of the eastern
Adirondack^. Bull Geol Soc Amer, 6, 241-262, map. (abst) Science
n s , vol 1 , 63 Jour Geol., vol 3 , 983,

The Baltimore meeting of the Geological Society of America. Science,
n s , vol i ; 57-68

Seventh summer meeting of the Geological Society of America Science,
n s, vol 2; 277-283

The geological section of the East River, at Seventieth Street, New
York N. Y. Acad. Sci, Trans, vol 14, 273-276

The iron-ore bodies at Mineville, Essex Co , N, Y. (abst ) Science,
n s , vol. i , 669-670

ii

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Titaniferous iron ores of the Adirondacks (abst ) Bull GeoL Soc
Amer , 7, 15 Amer. GeoL, vol 16, 241-242 Science, n s, vol. 2, 281
Ottawa Nat , vol. 9; 153

(with Darton, N H ) A newly discovered dike at DeWitt, near Syra-
cuse, N. Y. Amer. Jour. Sci. (3), vol. 49, 456-462

(with Darton, N. H.) A new intrusive rock near Syracuse (abst.)
Bull Geol Soc Amer, 6, 477-478 Science, n s, vol. i; 65-66.

1896

A handbook of rocks for use without the microscope 176 pp , New
York. 2nd ed , 185 pp, N. Y., 1900, 3rd ed, 238 pp., N. Y, 1904; 4th
ed, 248 pp, N. Y, 1908; 5th ed , 272 pp., N Y, 1911; 6th ed, 300 pp ,
N. Y., 1927.

An outline of the views held today on the origin of ores Mineral In-
dustry, vol. 4; 755-766

The Geological Society of America (Eighth annual meeting, Phila-
delphia, December, 1895) Science, n s, vol 3, 46-57

Illustrations of the dynamic metamorphism of anorthosites and related
rocks m the Adirondacks. (abst) Bull Geol Soc. Amer, 7, 488-489
Amer. Geol, vol. 17, 92 Science, n s., vol. 3; 48.

(and White, T G.) Dikes m the Adirondack region, (abst.) Science,
n. s., vol. 3 ; 214

The great quartz vein at Lantern Hill, Mystic, Conn., and its decompo-
sition (abst.) N. Y. Acad. Sci., Trans , vol 15 ; 189 Science, n. s., vol.
3 ; 818. Amer. GeoL, vol. 18 ; 63.

The pre-Cambrian topography of the Adirondacks. (abst.) N. Y.
Acad Sci., Trans, vol. 15; 189-190 Science, n. s, vol. 3; 818-819.
Amer. GeoL, vol 18; 63-64.

Glacial or postglacial diversion of the Bronx River (abst.) Science,
n. s , vol 4 ; 696

1897

The re-calculation of the chemical analyses of rocks Columbia
Univ. School Mines Quart., vol. 22; 75-88.

Preliminary report on the geology of Essex Co (N. Y,) N. Y St.
Geol, Ann Rp. 15; 22-23, 575-6i4, maps N. Y. St. Mus, Ann. Rp.
49, vol 2, 22-23, 575-614, maps (1898).

Biographical notice of Gabriel Auguste Daubree Trans Amer. Inst.
Min Eng. (Colo Meeting, Sept, 1896), vol. 26, 1897.

The leucite hills of Wyoming. Bull GeoL Soc. Amer., 8 ; 169-182, map,
(abst) lour. Geol, vol. 5; 100-101. Science, n s., vol 5; 82

Physiography of the eastern Adirondacks in the Cambrian and Ordo-
vician periods. Bull. GeoL Soc. Am$r. f 8, 408-412, map. (abst.) Jour.
Geol , vol 5 ; 101-102 Science, n. s,, vol 5 ; 92.

12

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

The glacial or postglacial diversion of the Bronx River from its old
channel N. Y Acad Sci., Trans, vol. 16, 18-24, map.

Geological Society of America, ninth annual meeting, Washington, De-
cember 29-31, 1896. Science, n s , vol 5, 81-99.

Notes on the geology of the trail from Red Rock to and beyond Lees-
burg, Idaho (abst) Science, n. s, vol. 5; 891.

Geology of the Lake Placid region. Bull. N Y St. Mus., 21 , 49-67,
map

The geology of the magnetites near Port Henry, N. Y , and especially
those of Mineville Amer. Inst Mm Eng., Trans, vol. 27; 146-203,
map. (abst) Zs. prak. G, 1897; 318-321.

Geological occurrence and associates of the telluride gold ores. Mineral
Industry, vol 6, 295-320.

The Montreal meeting of the Geological Society of America Science,
n. s , vol. 7 ; 4&-53 79-85.

Some remarks on titaniferous magnetites (abst ) Amer. GeoL, vol
22; 62 Science, n. s., vol. 7, 812.

Minerals of the copper mines at Ducktown, Tenn. (abst) Science, n. s.,
f vol 8, 839-840.

A brief guide to the museum and laboratories of the department of
geology of Columbia University in the city of New York, Columbia
i Univ., 1898.

1899

(with Newland, D H , and Hill, B. F ) Preliminary report on the
r geology of Washington, Warren, and parts of Essex and Hamilton Cos,
(N. Y.) N. Y St. Geol, Ann Rp. 17, 499-533, maps; N Y. St. Mus.,
Ann. Rp 51, vol. 2; 499-533, maps.

(and Newland, D. H., and Hill, B F ) Preliminary report on the
> geology of Hamilton, Warren, and Washington Cos (N. Y ). N. Y.
St. Geol, Ann Rp 18; 137-162, maps; N. Y St Mus, Ann Rp. 52, vol.
2, 137-162, maps (1900).

The titaniferous iron ores of the Adirondacks. U. S. Geol Swrv*, Ann
Rp. 19, pt. 3; 377-422, maps

Granites of southern Rhode Island and Connecticut, with observations
on Atlantic coast granites in general Bull GeoL Soc Amer , 10; 361-
382, map. (abst) Amer Geol, vol 23, 105-106. Science, n, s., vol. 9;
140-141.

Eleventh annual meeting of the Geological Society o! America, De-
cember 28th, 29th, and 3Oth, New York. Science, n s, vol. 9; 100-106,

138-145.

A brief review of the titaniferous magnetites School Mines Quarterly,
vol 20; 323-356; vol. 21 ; 56-65.

13

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

Metamorphosed basic dikes m the Manhattan schists, New York City,
(abst ) Science, n s, vol 9, 140. Amer. GeoL, vol. 23, 105.

1900

Pre-Cambnan sediments in the Adirondacks Amer As., Pr, Vol.
49, 157-184. Science, n s , vol 12, 81-98. (abst ) Bng. Mm. Jour., vol.
69; 769-770 Sci. Amer. Sup., vol 49; 20489 (1901).

The twelfth annual meeting of the Geological Society of America
(Washington, December, 1899). Science, n s., vol n; 98-106, 140-146

The re-calculation of the chemical analyses of rocks School Mines
Quarterly, vol 22, 75-88

Metamorphosed dikes in the mica schists of Morningside Heights,
(abst ) Science, n s , vol. n ; no.

Recent theories regarding the cause of glacial climate (abstract with
discussion) Science, n s., vol. n, no

Recent progress in investigation of the geology of the Adirondack re-
gion (abst). Science, n s., vol 12; 1006. N Y Acad Sci , Ann, vol

13; 506-507 (1901).

1901

(and Hill, B F ) Preliminary report on the pre-Cambnan formations
m parts of Warren, Saratoga, Fulton, and Montgomery Cos (N. Y )
N Y St Mus , Ann Rp 53 , i7-35 maps.

The Albany meeting of the Geological Society of America Science
n s,, vol 13; 95-iCO, 133-139-

Notes on the occurrence of asbestos in Lamoille and Orleans Cos , Vt
U. S Geol Surv, Mm Res., 1900, 862-866.

The Cambro-Ordovician outlier at Wellstown, Hamilton Co , N Y
(abst with discussion by A A Juhen). Science, n. s., vol. 13 , 710

A new asbestos region in northern Vermont (abst.) Science, n s ,
vol 14 , 773-774 Amer Geol , vol 28 ; 330. N Y Acad Sci Ann , vol.
14; 140-141 (1902)

Notes on the physiography of Lake George (abst ) Science, n s., vol
14, 774 Amer Geol, vol 28; 331-332. N. Y Acad Sci, Ann, vol,
14, 141-142 (1902).

1902

The geological relations and distribution of platinum and associated
metals U S G. S , Bull. 193 ; 95 pp., maps.

The role of the igneous rocks in the formation of veins Amer Inst
Min Eng., Trans , vol 31 ; 169-198 (abst ) Eng. Mm Jour , vol 71 ; 558,

The deposits of copper ores at Ducktown, Tenn. Amer. Inst. Min. Eng ,
Trans, vol 31, 244-265, map

Earthquakes and volcanoes , the great natural cataclysms. The Century
Magazine, vol 64; 593-609

14

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

Theodore G White (obituary) N Y. Acad Sci , Ann, vol. 14; 148-
149

The Cambro-Ordovician outlier at Wellstown, Hamilton Co , N Y.
(abst.) N. Y. Acad Sci, Ann, vol. 14; 113-115

Comments on the geology of Bmgham Canyon, Utah Science, n s,
vol 16, 906. (abst) N. Y. Acad Sci, Ann., vol. 15; 76-77, 1904.

1903

(and Knight, W C ) Leucite hills of Wyoming. Bull Geol Soc. Amer.,
*4, 305-336, map (abst) Science, n s , vol 17; 299, 505.

Igneous rocks and circulating waters as factors m ore deposition.
Amer. Inst. Mm Eng , Trans , vol 33 ; 699-714. Reprinted in Emmons,
S. F , Ore deposits (pub by Amer Inst Mm Eng ) ; 235-250, New
York, 1913

(and Grabau, A W.) The Washington meeting of the Geological
Society of America, December 30, 31, 1902, January i and 2, 1903
Science, n s , vol. 17 , 290-303

The anthracite situation and problem. Engineering Company of Amer-
ica, Bull, i ; 22 pp. New York.

Memoir of Theodore Greely White. Bull. Geol Sac Amer t 13; 516-
5i7

A new speroidal granite. Science, n. s , vol 18 ; 503-504

On the differentiation of igneous magmas and the formation of ores.
Eng Min. Jour., vol. 76; 804-805

The economic geology of the non-metallic minerals based on American
examples. 191 pp., New York

(with Finlay, G I ) Nepheline syenite area of San Jose, Tamaulipas,
Mexico (abst) Science, n s, vol 17; 295 Bull Geol $oc. Amer,, 14;
534-

1904

Graphite in the eastern Adirondacks, N Y Bull U S. G, S , 225 ;
512-514.

Platinum m the Rambler mine, Wyo. U S. G. S., Mm. Res., 1902;
244-250

The formation of veins , a brief statement of general principles. M^mng
Mag, vol to; 89-93.

Ores from igneous magmas. Eng. Mm, Jour., vol 77; 675

1905

The copper deposits at San Jose, Tamaulipas, Mex. Amer Inst Mm
Eng. f Bi-Mo. Bull 4, 885-910, maps; Trans 36; 178-203, maps (1906).
Reprinted in Emmons, S. F., Ore deposits (pub. by Amer. Inst Min
Eng.); S57-S8I, N. Y. 1913 (abst.) Sci Amer Sup., vol 59, 24326
(1905)

15

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Geological bookkeeping GeoL Soc Amer , Bull 16; 411-418.

Secondary enrichment m ore deposits of copper. Econ Geol., vol I ,
11-25

The problem of the metalliferous veins Hcon. Geol , vol i , 207-232.

What is a fissure vein? Econ. Geol, vol i; 167-169

Die Lagerstatten titanhaltigen Elsenerzes im Laramie Range, Wyoming,
Ver. Staaten Zs. prak GeoL, vol. 13 , 71-80, map

The titaniferous magnetite in Wyoming (abst ) Amer Geol, vol. 35,
64 Science, n. s, vol. 21 , 67. N Y. Acad. Sci, Ann, vol. 16; 353.

The Reflections of a Sub-Freshman's Father The Outlook, vol. 80,
PP. 572-576

The physiography of the Adirondacks. (abst ) Science, n s , vol. 21 ;
988-989

1906

The problem of the metalliferous veins. Econ. Geol , vol i ; 207-232,
699-700. Science, n s , vol 23 ; 14-29. N Y Acad Sci , Ann , Vol
17; 632-657 (1907) Smithsonian Inst, Ann Rp , 1906, 187-206 (1907)
The Physiography of the Adirondacks Pop Set Mo , vol 68 ; 195-210
On the formation of garnet zones at the contacts of eruptive rocks and
limestones Mm. Sci. Press, vol 92,220-221.

1907

Ore deposits at the contacts of intrusive rocks and limestones , and their
significance as regards the general formation of veins. Int. Geol Cong. X,
Mexico, 1906, Comptu Rendu; 519-531. Econ. Geol, vol. 2; 1-13

(and Gunther, C. G ) The White Knob copper deposits, Mackey,
Idaho. Amer. Inst. Mm. Eng , Bull. 14; 301-328, Trans., vol. 38, 269-296
(1908).

(and Ross, J G.) A peridotite dike'm the Coal Measures of south-
western Pennsylvania. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Ann. 17; 509-518. (abst.)
Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., i7J 691.

Some new points in the geology of copper ores Min Sci. Press, vol. 94 ,
402-403 Eng Min Jour , vol. 83; 119^-1193. Can. Min. Jour., vol. 28
(n s. i, No 9) J 274-275-

Physiography of the lower Hudson valley, (abst ) Science, n s., vol
25; 762

Physiography of the Adirondacks. (abst ) N. Y. Acad. Sci , Ann ,
Vol. 17; 589-59L ^

Recent interesting discovery of human implements in an abandoned
river channel in southern Oregon, (abst ) N. Y Acad. Sci , Ann., vol.
17; 606-608.

Dikes Min Set. Press, vol 94, 85-88

A review of the literature on ore deposits in 1906. Mineral Industry,
vol. xvi, 934-943-

16

JAMES FURMAN KEMP ADAMS

(Kemp, et al,). Report of a special committee on the correlation
of the pre-Cambnan rocks of the Adirondack Mountains, the "Original
Laurentian area" of Canada and eastern Ontario Jour, Gcol , vol xv,
No 3, 191-217.

1908

Geology, a lecture delivered at Columbia University, November 13,
1907 35 pp., New York School Mines Quarterly, vol 29, 125-148.
(abst ) Mm Sci Press, vol 96; 497-500, 533-536 Set. Amer. Sup, vol
65, 345-346

The Mineville-Port Henry mine group BulL N. Y. St. Mus , 119;
57-88.

The proper function of athletics in colleges and universities Edu-
cational Review, Feb. 1908, 170-177

Waters, meteoric and magmatic Mm Sci Press, vol. 96; 705-708

Buried channels beneath the Hudson and its tributaries. Amer. Jour. Sci
(4), vol 26, 301-323.

Present trend of investigation on underground water, (abst ) Science,
n s , vol 28 , 352.

The production of low-grade copper ore in the west (abst ) Science,
n s , vol 28 , 936.

A brief review of the mining industry of Mexico. (Translation of arti-
cle by Ezequiel Ordonez ) Hcon. Geol , vol. in, No. 8, Dec 1908, 677-687.

1909

What is an ore ? Min. Sci. Press, vol. 98, 419-423 Can Mm Jour.,
vol. 30; 692-693, 752-754. Mm World, vol 30, 1111-1114. Can Mm.
Inst Jour , vol. 12, 356-370 (1910).

Spheroidal weathering of dikes. Min. Sci Press, vol. 98; 443-444.

Our knowledge of the filled channel of the Hudson in the Highlands
and the submerged gorge on the continental shelf (abst.) Science, n. s.,
vol 29, 279

Review of the iron ores of the Iron Springs district in southern Utah,
by C K. Leith and E. C. Harder (Bull. 338, U S. G. S.) Jour. Geol,
vol. 4; 782-791.

Pri la antikvega disvolvigo de la terglobo, Internacia Scienca Revuo,
No. 57-58, pp. 293-300, No. 59, PP- 332-339; No 60, pp 365-370.

Vanadium deposits in Peru. (Discussion of a paper by D F. Hewett.)
Trans Amer. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. xl, March, 1900 291-316

A New Plan of University Development. Hng and Min Jour., March

13, 1909, 553-554-

1910

Charles Frederick Chandler. Columbia Univ. School Mines Quart,
vol. 31, No. 4.

17

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

William Fellowes Morgan Columbia Unvu School Mines Quart , vol
31, No 2, 113-115

Iron ore reserves in the United States (Int. Geol Cong XI, Stock-
holm, 1910) The iron ore resources of the world, vol 2, 755-778, map

Iron ore reserves of Central America (Int Geol Cong XI, Stock-
holm, 1910) The iron ore resources of the world, vol 2, 789-790

Iron ore reserves in the West Indies (Int Geol Cong XI, Stock-
holm, 1910 ) The iron ore resources of the world, vol. 2 , 793-797

Iron ore reserves of Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Chile
(Int. Geol Cong XI, Stockholm, 1910) The iron ore resources of the
world, vol 2, pp. 801-806

Iron ore reserves of the Philippines (Int. Geol Cong XI, Stockholm,
1910.) The iron ore resources of the world, vol 2, pp 985-986

(and Ruedemann, Rudolf) Geology of the Ehzabethtown and Port
Henry quadrangles, N. Y. Bull N Y. St. Mus , 138, 173 PP , maps

Memoir of John Henry Caswell (1846-1909) N Y Acad Sci , Ann ,
vol 19; 353-356.

The supply of iron Mm Mag t vol 3 ; 363-366

The conservation of mineral resources Econ Geol, vol 5, 765-771.

Further light on the gorge of the Hudson, (abst ) Science, n. s , vol
32; 1 86 (with discussion) Bull Geol Soc. Amer., 21; 760-761

The future of the iron industry, especially m North America Extrait
du Compte Rendu du XI e Congres Geologique International, 1910 , 321-
28

1911

Geology and economics (supply of the principal metals and its probable
duration) School Mines Quarterly, vol 32,* 126-148 Science, n. s,
vol 33, 1-16 N. Y Acad, Sci Ann, vol 20; 365-384

Contact deposits Mm. Sci Press, vol 103 ; 678-681 Reprinted in
Types of Ore Deposits (ed by H F Bam) , 190-201

Eleventh International Geological Congress Mm Sci Press, vol 102 ,
28-29.

Comparative sketch of the pre- Cambric geology of Sweden and New
York Bull. N. Y. St. Mus., 149, 93-io6 (abst.) Bull. Geol. Soc Amer ,
22; 719.

The balanced life. Mm & Sa Press, 102; 258, Feb 8, 1911.

The photophonic lector. Mm & Sci Press, 102, 745.

Geological problems presented by the Catskill aqueduct of the city of
New York. Quart. Bull Can. Mm. Inst., 16; 3-9; Jour. 14, 472-478
(1912).

1912

The mineral springs of Saratoga. Bull. N. Y. St. Mus., 159; 79 pp

18

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
VOIUME XVI SECOND MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY
18371923

BY

BAILEY WILLIS

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1931

MIJMUKIAL O* 1,'UMULL IM'Ml'hLIA l
1JY BAILFl \VILLlb

CONTENTS

Page

Foi eworcl .... 23

Bovluxxl . . ... 23

Fieibeig, 185(1 to 1SU) ... . .... ..29

Ooisica, 1856 to 1857 . . . . . , SI

Anzona, iStiO to 18C1 34

Japan and China, 1861 to 1864 . 36

Lake Superior, 1865 to 1877 42

Missouri, 1871 and 1872 . . . .... 47

Loess and Secular Disintegration, 1863 anil 1876 47

Official Surveys, 1879 to 1890 . . 49

(iioeu Mountain Studies .. . . . 52

Kxploiations m Central Asia, 1903 to 1904.. . 6

Dublin, New Hampshire 60

Bibliography . . . ... . . , . 6i

Pumpelly'b place is among tiie great explorers He inherited the
spirit ) his environment gave the motive , he achieved the career by virtue
of his physical endowment, his high courage, and his mental and moral
fitness.

His mteiest in geology was first aroused by his mother, an unusually
gifted woman, and was fixed by early incidental opportunities for ob-
servations in Germany and Corsica, followed by a chance meeting with
the German geologist, Noeggerath-, which led to his going to th6 mining
school at Freiberg He used his profession of mining engineer, but
never devoted himself to it. He served his adopted science, geology, but
not exclusively, yet his contributions to its principles and knowledge
remain unchallenged after thirty to fifty years of later intensive research
along the same lines. He cherished for forty years a dream of carrying
out investigations in the archeology and ethnology of the Asiatic and
European races anil at the age oC three score and ten realised it with that
same thoroughness and devotion to truth which characterized all oi his
scientific studies.

BOYHOOD

Pumpelly's paternal grandfather fought through the French and
wars and the Kevolution. At the close of the latter he moved

1 Reprinted from, the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America; vol. 36, 1925. 23

24 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. xvi

out onto the then frontier of New York, near Ithaca, with his four sons,
of \\hom John., the oldest, had spied out the land and William, a blond,
vi\ feet t\\o in height, became Raphael's father William is described
b) his bon as a man of noble features and fine presence, of equable and
kindly temperament, and with broad sympathies. He transmitted his
nobility of spirit, his optimism, and his kindly sympathetic nature to
his Kon,

UaphaeFh mother came of families that had ruled colonial Connecticut
He sajb of her She A\HS oL medium stature, erect and energetic, affec-
tionate, and artistic in temperament He was not trained, as she was,
to be an artist, but he inherited from her an appreciation of the beau-
tiful, which she cultivated, and it is evident from his reminiscences that
she exercised a dominant influence upon Ins intellectual and moral de-
velopment from boyhood on.

Raphael Pumpelly was thus born of English colonial stock, pioneering
on the forested frontier, engaged in surveying the boundaries of new
states and land grants, clearing the timberlands, exploiting the wealth
of the wilderness, and building up the young Commonwealth of New
York. Owego, his birthplace, was but forty-five years old when he was
born , yet such had been the energy of the settlers that the forest felling,
the rafting of lumber down the Susquehanna, the building of roads, and
other truly pioneer activities had begun to give place to the established
life of an American country town, with good schools and schoolmasters
whose wholesome, though stinging, discipline Raphael remembered after
threesome years and leu

N. P. Willis, writing when Raphael was ten or twelve years old, thus
described the scenes among which the boy grew up 2

"At Owego there is a remarkable combination of bold scenery and habitable
plain. A small, blight nver comes in with its valley at right angles to the
vale and stream of the Susquehanna, forming a star with three rays or a
plain with three radiating valleys, or a city (m the future, perhaps) with three
magnificent exits and entrances The angle is a round mountain, some four
or five hundred feet m height, which kneels fairly down at the meeting of the
two streams, while another mountain of an easy acclivity lifts gracefully
from ilie opposite bank, as if rising from the same act of homage to Nature
Below the town and above it the mountains foi the ftist time give in to the
exact shape of the liver's short ami capricious com he, and the plain on which
the town stands is enclosed between two amphitheaters of lofty hills, shaped
with the regularity and even edge of t coliseum and resembling the two halves
of a leaf-lined vase, struck apart by a twisted wand of silver."

- N P Willis* Rural letterb, letters fiom under a bridge, 1840

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS

25

Of the Susquehanna Willis wrote

"This delicious word, in the Indian tongue, descules its peculiar and con-
stant windings, and I \enture to say that on no river in the world are the
grand and the beautiful in sceneiy so gloriously mingled The road to
Owego follows the course of the \alley rather than of the river, but the silver
curves are constantly in view; and from every slight elevation the majestic
windings are seen, like the wanderings of a vein, gleaming through green
fringes of trees and ending the bright islands which occasionally divide the
waters It is a swift n\ei and singularly living and joyous in its expression "

We may not assume that the scenery impressed the boy as it did the
poet, but the river played an important part among the youngster's early
stimuli. Twice near-ly drowned, he feared to swim beyond his depth,
yet, fearing ridicule even more, he dared the boys to follow him on thin
ice, or to shoot a dam on a plank, or (most daring of all) to navigate
the river m flood on a cake of ice. This last, he records, found no takers
and twice nearly finished him. He afterwards looked back on this
"bravado" as a most valuable part of his training, for "it taught quick-
ness of perception, the instant cooperation in emergencies of brain,
hands, and feet, and that balance between caution and action that forms
a basis of judgment"

But it was not alone as a dangerous playfellow that the river entered
into the boy's life Its swift current, coming from who knows where and
flowing on into the unknown, became to his adventurous spirit a symbol
of life, leading him on, unconscious of its influence, to that career of
exploration for which he was so eminently fitted. He knew nothing of
the lands he was to visit Corsica, Arizona, Japan, China, or Siberia.
He had no idea of the geological and ethnical problems m which he later
interested himself. All that was around the bend. But the shxnmg
river, flowing swiftly westward m gleaming curves, can not but have led
his fancy on, as he watched the great timber rafts float out of sight, or
listened to stones of voyages beyond his ken.

He studied at the Owego Academy, perfunctorily apparently; his real
school was out of doors. There he trained his faculties, very much as
young Indians had done, m the same environment but a few decades
before him. His self-respect had not developed beyond the childish prin-
ciple that one should not be found out. But a piratical downward course
on which he and his youthful followers had entered was brought to a
sudden close by a serious ofiense, and he was led to a sense of responsi-
bility for his acts through the searching, though loving, reasoning of his
mother and the sound chastisement she gave him in due sequence. Fol-
lowing this, when eleven years old, he was sent away to school to General

26 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Kussell's at New Ha\en, where he spout the next M\ \eaus, developing
by his own account into a manly and honoiable, hut daring and uie-
spOnsihle, youth.

In the natural course of e^ent,s Raphael would ha\e followed the lead
of a majority of the scholars of Geneial IhusseIP,s Academy and have
entered Yale; it was therefore in keeping with the scheme of Ins hie that
he went to Europe instead The thought of so doing was first suggested
by his chum, who in the end did not go, but it was the cordial interest
taken by Ins mother in a European journey which made possible the
realization of the boy's unusual proposal It is evident that he and she
were comrades in initiative* congenial in spirit and in tastes, and that
she, no less than he, looked forward eagerly to the pleasures of a tour
abroad. In 1854 the parting on such a journey was a very different thing
from what it is toda3 r , but her eager, artistic spmt rose to the opportunity
without thought of consequences, as was ever his instant impulse.

The experiences of an American boy of seventeen or eighteen as a free
lance in Germany or France are the reactions of his character with his
environment, as definitely fixed as are chemical combinations. Pum-
pelly's were no exception. Frankly interested in everything about him
languages, social ways, or scenery he met every new impression eagerly,
instinctively gathered the good from it and passed on in search of' further
novelty. He acquired French, German, and Italian by listening and
talking rather than by study. He readily adopted the ways of congenial
companions and made friends among young and old ; but one exponent o
of students' carousing disgusted him. He turned rather to his independ-
ent life, attending lectures on all kinds of subjects for what lie could
learn of the language and wandering far afield among the picturesque
and romantic scenes of central Germany. Long afterwards he remem-
bered that.

"During the month of May (1855), wonderfully beautiful that year, I
tramped up and down the valley of the Rhine and into the interior on each
side To my young imagination that month was a delight The valley was as
yet untouched bj the wand of modern industrial desecration, the air was
still pure, the sky serene, and the castles 01 owning the lulls were still real
nioss- and plant-clothed ruins.

"Who can describe the effect of it all on tlie impressionable imagination of
a boy fresji from the land of modernity; the charm of the ever-varying
scenery, the vineclad slopes, the echoing cliffs of the Sieben&eMrge, tbe castles,
the LorHei-haunted Pinclirnfds, and the loimmco and Je^ucln of the iMutt?

"Then to me there was another interest which seem0d to intertwine itself
with the romance and poetry of the region. Here for the flrat time I came in
contact with eruptive rocks, the striking sanadtae txk<t*yt& diflfc of the

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 27

J>ia<hiMilxIs and the porous suiiphiiuie-beaimu lavas of the Laacher See
Tiuly I was euteimg, though giopmgh, into geology through the gate of
romance "

Thus Pumpelly gives us the clue to his interest in geology; but the
picture of himself is not complete without the added touch of interest m
his fellow-men, which was always the dominant one of the two He
continues.

"Bon Coeui (a Newfoundland dog) was always with me, sleeping on or
near my bed at night and tramping alongside by day Admired by all, he
introduced his mastei to many, so that I never lacked chances to talk with
men and women of every class, whether residents or travelers."

His attention had been attracted, when he was still a mere boy, to the
fusils which are abundant in the strata of the gorges about Owego, and
a teachei with whom he had wandered along the Bronx near New York
had stimulated his interest in the minerals and metamorphic rocks o
that region While at Hanover he collected ammonites, ermoids, etcetera,
from the Deister Mountains, and, hearing that there was a geologist in
the neighboring town of Hildesheim, he made an unsolicited visit on the
well-known paleontologist Von Boomer in order to see his collection. He
wah kindly received, and the scientist then and afterwards gave him fur-
ther insight into the realm of geology and the line of relationships which
link extinct forms with the living Darwin had not then "hurled the
bomb of evolution," but the seeds of that understanding were planted in
Pumpelly's mmd by von Roemer.

More than a year was to pass, however, before his growing interest in
geology was to give a definite purpose to his education. Tn the meantime
he continued to develop the habit of observation, with special reference
to geologic phenomena and human nature. He made a summer excur-
sion in Switzerland, where the grandeur of the mountains dirt not Jail to
make an imperishable impression on his memory. He spent part of a
winter in Paris, and left there for Naples to recover from a cold which
attacked his lungs At Naples he resumed his roaming about the country

to satisfy his curiosity we had better call it, rather than interest in

the volcanic phenomena and in the romantic background of NatuVe and
people He wrote :

"I haunted Vesuvius, I liked to trace the destroying streams of lava that
Curing centuries had coursed down the slopes to the sea, and I noted as well
t$ I could their difference in structure, Then there wag the pleasure in
searching for the fragments of limestone hurled out from great depths They
toad l>een changed in the subterianean laboratory to marble, and often con-
tained a variety of beautifully crystallized minerals peculiar to Vesuvius.

28 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Of course, I did not know anything about these minerals, except that they
were beautiful in my eyes "

He visited Solfatara, where in the extinct crater he saw the rocks
undergoing decomposition by gases with the formation of new minerals.
He realized that rocks and minerals are not dead.

''Their stories were in process of forming before my eyes though to me still
unreadable Having as jet no knowledge of this alphabet, chemistry, I began
to diaw more i emote inferences from grouped observations, and to generalize
Here were two neighboring volcanoes, each showing a different kind of activ- >
ity, in one the activity was constructive, in the other it was destiuctrve"

Pumpelly thus was led by his own observations to the inference that
"heat and gas and water were active agents in building up one volcano
and destroying another," but that there was some other factor beyond
his reasoning. He traversed the volcanic formations around the bay of
Naples until he could have made a geologic map of them, had he known
how, and the field of volcamsm, with all its diverse phenomena,, became
correlated in his mind a's a whole

The invaluable character of this effort to unravel a skein of intricate
geologic relations, even though with one-eyed understanding, was later
fully realized by Pumpelly. It may have been with the kindest purpose
that m 1879 he sent a very young and wholly inexperienced geologist,
without assistance, to investigate the geology of the iron ores of the east-
ern United States. It is certainly a testimony to his kindliness toward
young men that he never uttered a word of criticism of the results.

But Pumpell/s interests were never smgle. Referring to his roamings
around the historic bay, he says .

"The stately lines of Virgil haunted me and, lying on the citadel mound of
old Cumfle and on the heights of Bawe, I reveled in daydreams the Trojan
wanderers and the Sibyl, the Phlegraem fields and Avernus, and the brilliant
life of Baise all became real. Those weeks are in my memory one continuous
happy dream "

There followed a summer in Corsica, of which more anon, and the
autumn of 1856 led the wandering youth and his mother, who had been
his constant companion wherever it had been practicable, to Vienna,
where he by chance strolled into a meeting of the Deutscher Natur-
forscher Verem. It was a turning point in his life.

Noeggerath was then a great name among German geologists and it
belonged to a kindly old man whom Pumpelly happened to address on
entering the meeting Their conversation resulted in an acquaintance
and excursion together and Noeggerath, recognising the boy's qualities

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 29

and enthusiasm, advised him to go to the Eoyal Mining Academy in
Freiberg, Saxony. His advice was accepted and thus the decision was
made between the interest in geology and the attraction toward a wider,
general education, which might have led to concentration on history and
ancient literature. Even so, Pumpell/s inclination toward studies in
those branches of science which deal more directly with men, such as
ethnology and the evolution of civilization, was never lost to him. It
led him during his first journey across Asia to grasp the problem of the
ancient migration of the Aryan race, and later, m his seventieth year, to
return to those deserts to search for buried cities in the kurgans of
Turkestan.

FRRIBKRO, 185G TO I860

Freiberg in the middle of the nineteenth century was approaching its
centennial (it was founded in 1765) and had great reputation, as well as
established traditions of training, for the professibn of mining It was
the foremost school of practical mining m existence. It drew students
from all countries To be a Freiberg graduate was to hold a diploma of
the highest grade m the profession. Having been established at Freiberg
because of the ancient mines still being worked there, it was an out-
growth of practical experience, and practice dominated the then rela-
tively simple theories of mining and metallurgy m the curriculum of the
school. Today the requirement of scientific knowledge of geology, chem-
istry, and physics, in their vastly more complex applications to the arts,
has wrought a change in the training of the mining engineer and metal-
lurgist. Although some great schools still use working models of ma-
chinery and other equipment for demonstration, even thase tools have
been subordinated ox abandoned in the more advanced cnrncula, and
training in practice has given place to founding in principles. Things
have changed at Freiberg als& The mines, after having been worked for
some years in order to maintain the school, which sprang from them,
have been &htit down, and with the growth of mining schools in other
lands, especially in America, the former center of the art has lost its pre-
eminent position. In Pumpelly's student days it had, however, no equal.

The ol4 IFreiberg held another tradition worthy of imitation and which
Pumpelly greatly appreciated. It was GemuetlicJikeit Militarism had
not yet elided the genial German spirit. Authority and learning, in-
stead of presenting a barrier to youthful aspirations, opened the flows
and pointed the way blazed by experience. Gotta, Weisbach, and Breit-
haupt met their students in the true fellowship of knowledge and became

30

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

in a sense their comrades while retaining their respect. Pmnpelly en-
tered readily into this comradeship. Eef erring to the frequent excur-
sions taken with Gotta, he says *

"During the years I was m Freibeig these tups covered not only the neigh-
boring region, but extended to Bohemia and Thurmgia, sometimes lasting
a week or even longer In some of these, m the holidays, several of the other
piofessors joined and the whole became a jovial picnic These men, old and
middle-aged, weie quite as good comrades as any of us Outside of the lectuie
room they were young as we were, we liked to mingle with them at the
restaurant tobies, dunking foeoi, smoking, or telling stories, 01 in senous talk;
and they joined us m the same spint. I hold this to have been an important
element in education It is a phase that seenis to be lacking m our univer-
sities and is only partially represented in our conferences on special subjects
Professor Shaler, of Harvard, was the only American instructor I can recall
who was a lepresentative of the type of these men m that respect Bless
them and him, for they are remembered with affection and gratitude "

It may not have been difficult for Pumpelly's generous spirit to learn
this lesson of encouragement for the young. That he did learn it and
practiced it in all lus relations with associates of every degree, none who
has come into contact with him would fail to testify. It was his influ-
ence, joined to that of Chamberlm, Gilbert, and Powell, which intro-
duced into American geology the habit of give and take in research. It
has become so general that he who does not exchange ideas with his
fellow or fails to give credit where credit is due achieves something of
the unenviable reputation ol a miser, as one who is to be condemned for
his avariciousness of thought and to be pitied for what he loses.

It was typical of Pumpelly's impatience of close thinking that he never
acquired a thorough knowledge of mathematics This was a great draw-
back to him, on entering Freiberg as well as later, but as a student he
took heroic measures to overcome his deficiency. Finding himself
obliged to take private lessons and having no time during the usual
wakmg hours, he hired a student to bring him a tub of cold water at
half past three in the morning, pull the bedclothes off him, and start the
fire in the big porcelain stove all under pain of quick dismissal if he
failed. This discipline was kept up during three years and was followed
each morning by a lesson in mathematics over the coffee cups. The pro-
cedure was, however, only partially successful. Pumpelly never devel-
oped a memory for detailed mmutia, such as the mathematician must
possess He saw the world as the condor sees it, yet could focus his
vision intently for the moment.

Cotta seems to have been the chief influence IB his studies at Freiberg
but Breithaupt interested frim m crystals and m their systematic rela-

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS

31

turns Teaching crystallography without mathematics and by the usf of
models, he pointed out the ^relationships, an understanding of which
transforms the barren description of figures into a fertile field of
thought. \ The study of paragenesis and pseudomorphs, pursued under
that able teacher, was developed later in Pumpell/s contributions to
metasomatism, especially of the Lake Superior copper ores.

Jt is difficult after threc-quaiters of a century to translate our thought
to the stage of development of the sciences m that day. We no longer
refer to the writings of the men who were then the ultimate authorities :
Humboldt, von Buch, Gotta, Lyell, Mureluson, Elie de Beaumont,
d'Orbigny. Science was then exceedingly simple, but it opened a vast
prospect, a fascinating opportunity to a young man with a genius for
exploration.

Pumpelly remained at Freiberg until I860, when, having completed
his courses of study, he returned via Paris to America. He had left
home as a boy of seventeen; lie came back not only grown to manhood,
but with a knowledge of the great world, unspoiled yet experience $
Among his companions at Freiberg had been James D. Hague and the
brothers Henry and Louis Janm, all three of whom achieved enviable
reputations in their profession. They, however, pursued its more tech-
nical opportunities, while Pumpelly, after a first essay at mining, struck
out into the broader fields of geological exploration.

CORSICA, 1856 TO 1857

Jt was foretold of Pumpelly, when he was but seventeen, ttmih& would
make long journeys by sea and through dangerous lands, but that lie
would escape, unless taken unawares from behind by some &$$ df his
companions. He tells us that the saying made him cautious as to con-
ditions in his rear' and elsewhere that is, it ptt Mm on the afert and
enabled him to pass safely through! various dangers. Whatever the effect
of the prophecy upon his imagination, he undoubtedly owed much to his
keen, highly developed habit of observation. Again and again in the
story of his life it happens that an incident, too slight to be commonly
noticed, gave him warning and enabled him to act effectively, m tune.

Two summers spent in Corsica, one, as a rambler on the lookout for
bandits, the other as ,a companion of the bandits on the lookout fo.
gendarmes, introduced hitn ? while still a youth, to the 1 thrilling /lolijrhtR
of a We of iroi!Eaiitic risks.

He first saw Corsica while en route from Marseille to Naples, and as
las steamer slowly passed the peaks, which rise to nearly ten thousand

32 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

feet above the Mediterranean, he longed to roam among them. The
realization of his desire came about in a manner so characteristic of him-
self that it can not be omitted.

One beautiful day nrMay, 1856, Pumpelly, having grown weary of
Florence, where he was with his mother, left her for a day or two at
most, not knowing whither fancy might lead him. His impulse took him
by tram to Leghorn ; then by a chance steamer to Bastia, m Corsica, and
on to an idyllic visit with a forester and his charming Parisian wife;
thence he climbed among the mountains, wandered carefree with the
Corsican shepherds, shared their primitive life, and steeped himself in
the wild beauty of the heights and in freedom. In September he re-
turned to his mother, to find that his occasional notes, sent back through
shepherds, had never reached her, and he was mourned as dead.

There are no more fascinating chapters m Pumpelly's reminiscences
than those which describe his two summers among the Corsican shep-
herds, in whom he found the stern character and virility of ancient
Rome, the piety of the early Christians, and the fierce spirit of the Ital-
ian vendetta. But only the geologic observations which he made inci-
dentally axe appropriate here.

During his early excursions he penetrated to the heart of the island and
saw for tiie first time the core of a granitic massif laid bare by the pro-
found gorges. Later he reached the porphynes of Monte Bagha Orba
and observed the variations of color and texture which distinguished the,
to him, still unknown rocks. He recognized them, however, as the same
that he had seen in the ruins of the palace of j:he paesars in Rome. Not-
ing that one dike would cut through another led him to infer differences
of age between the two, and he became interested in tracing out these
relationships. The sketches he then made in his notebook (he was but
nineteen) afterwards helped to introduce him to Noeggerath, and thus to
open the way to Freiberg. During his second visit to the islands he made
a systematic study of the porphyries and correlated the dikes according
to their differences in age and the rocks they traversed.

Pumpelly also recognized evidences of glaciation in the mountains of
Corsica, and thus established the fact that the Glacial Period had left its
traces there. His account, published in tH0 Neues Jahriwch fur Mme-
ralogie, describes the polished and striated surfaces of the Shard porphy-
nes, the transported blocks of rocks not found in place on the slopes
where the erratics lie, and a terminal moraine. Kefe^nii^ to three g?eat
fragments, 30 to 40 feet through, which were so piled w each other &s to
form a cave m which he camped with shephexds, he axgues:

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 33

"Now that one no longer beheveb in floods of boulders, what transporting
agent other than glaciers can have operated here to carry these great rocks
down a vallej wheie the aveiage slope is not far from 8 degrees, and to have
left them 111 their pi'eseut positions without liaxing rounded them off m the
least "

We murtt remember that Agassiz'h hypothesis of glaciation was then in
its infancy, and what is today a commonplace of elementary science was
an unfamiliar, somewhat daring inference, but, accepting the facts he
observed, Pumpelly ranged on into the realm of hypothesis, as was ever
the habit of his far-reaching imagination. He reasoned that glaciation
should depend on heavy precipitation, as it does, and he sought for geo-
graphic conditions to which a greater precipitation in Corsica at an
earlier epoch might be ascribed It was generally believed that the
Sahara Desert had formerly been covered by a sea, and he found in that
hypothetical water body a source of moisture which the southerly winds
should have carried to the Pyrenees, the Alps, and Corsica He sought
confirmatory evidence, not without success, and he was encouraged b)
Cotta and Reich, his instructors, to write out his hypothesis. They even
suggested that it was worthy of the degree of Ph D. from Heidelberg.
Nevertheless, when he came to write down his observations he excluded
the theory, because he had no definite evidence that there ever had been
an inland sea covering the Sahara. Thus an instinctive caution charac-
teristic of the true scientist withheld the young investigator m his first
original essay from falling into error.

In these his earliest steps in geology Pumpelly employed two methods
which afterwards characterized his geologic .studies and which he has
passed on. He graspbd the salient facts in bird's-eye view, and from
them framed an explanation, an hypothesis. This he tested, modified,
proved, or discarded, as additional facts appeared, going on, pan pas$u f
to another hypothesis if the first was proved wrong. It is the method of
Sequential hypotheses in contradistinction to that of Multiple hypotheses.
The former is as essential and as appropriate to reconnaissance work as
the latter is to exhaustive research. The capacity to- seize essential facts
and to detect their correct relations at a glance is vital to success in
exploration and is an attribute of the great explorers. But it requires
to be held in chect Tby detailed studies of key phenomena, of thoBe details
m which the true relations are demonstrable on a small scale, perhaps,
or for a single locality. Only thus can the observer avoid superficial and
probably* erroneous conclusions. The power thus to guard against fake
inferences by painstaking investigation of details of key facts is too often
lacking in meq of the eagle eye, but Pumpelly had it. It was demon-

34 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

strated even in his earliest work by the care with which he sketched the
relations of the porphyry dikes of Corsica.

ARIZONA, 1860 TO 1861

Arizona m 1860-1861 was a land of hell and sudden death. A ma-
jority of its white inhabitants cared little what came after. They knew
no law save their own caprice, were exiles from that portion of the
frontier where laws could be enforced. Mexican peons constituted an-
other part of the population, indispensable laborers, dangerous cut-
throats. The small body of United States soldiers, who had kept a
semblance of order, were withdrawn in the spring of 1861, leaving the
ranchers and miners to that extermination which had been sworn by the
Apaches, whom outrages of every sort had driven to desperation

Into this lawless land came Pumpelly as mining engineer in charge of
the Santa Rita Mine. He was twenty-four Behind him were Freiberg,
Vienna, Rome, and Pans, Corsica also, and if m that far island he had
lived among outlaws, they were so only in opposition to the established
order. Their own code they obeyed implicitly. Here was a land without
law, where a man's only safeguards were physical strength, cool courage,
and alertness. Pumpelly possessed these qualifications in high degree.
He could ride and shoot, but, most important^, he let nothing escape his
observation. His cat, sniffing the breeze, warned him of Indians who
had just killed his associate, Grosvenor. He himself was one of the very
few mining engineers who escaped massacre

The problems presented by the geologic structure of the mine and the
smelting of the ores fully occupied the young engineer during his first
few mouths at the mine. The Santa Rita was reputed to have yielded
fabulous wealth to the Spaniards. It was expected to yield accordingly
to the new American company, which, like many another, thought to
acquire riches for nothing The working capital was very limited, equip-
ment there was none beyond what the natural resources of the region
afforded The richness of the ores had been exaggerated or the richer
ores had been exhausted. The general facts of the geology, the existence
of two distinct groups of mineral deposits of which the older was the
more valuable, the general character of the ores and their proper metal-
lurgical treatment, none of these now well-known things had been worked
out. Pumpelly faced an intricate complexity of problems, which he
must solve unaided arid without essential materials Tie has put the
situation into a paragraph .

"We needed fuel, fireproof furnace materials, machinery and power, and the
supply of these furnished by Nature /in Arizona was of $ kind to necessitate

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 35

a great deal of trouble and experimenting when taken in connection with the
peculiar character of our ore. The season was promising to pass without our
hacienda being troubled by Indians, when one morning our whole herd of
forty or fifty fine horses and mules was missing. Several times during the
remainder of the winter and spring we were attacked by Apaches and our
mines were the scene of more fighting than any other part of the Territory."

When the Territory was abandoned to the Indians by the withdrawal
of the soldiers, those m charge of the few isolated mines winch had been
opened could only take such measures as might most speedily and safely
enable them to save the movable property and escape Money was needed
and could be had only from the ores The Santa Eita had no sufficient
supply, since the Indians had for some time made it impossible to work
the mine, but payment of a debt clue from the Heintselman Mine was
accepted m ore worth $2,000 a ton. It cost the lives of two Mexicans
and of Grosvenor to get the ore to the Santa Rita, where Pumpelly and
Robinson, the bookkeeper, were thus left to carry on with the aid of a
chance American and their unpaid Mexican peons. The Mexicans,
armed with rifles to withstand the Indians, were scarcely less dangerous
and were not allowed to cross a dead line. Wood had to be cut, hauled
in, and burned to charcoal. The furnaces, standing on a point between
two ravines, lighted up every object near them and exp-osed the workers
constantly to the fire of the Apaches. Pumpelly's chief smelter was shot
and he was obliged to finish the separation of the silver and lead almost
without sleep for fifty hours or more.

"The two other Americans, revolver in hand, kept an unceasing guard
over the Mexicans? whose manner showed plainly their thoughts. Before the
silver wits cool we loaded it We had the lemaining property of the com-
pany, even 'to the wooden machine for working the blast, in the wagons and
were on the way to Tubac, which we leached the same day Here, while the
last wagon was being unloaded, a rifle was accidentally discharged and the
ball, passing through my hair above the ear, deafened me for the whole
afternoon. Thus ended my expe-rience of eight months mining m an Apache
stronghold."

Truly he may be said to have borne a charmed life.

Geologic studies could not well be carried on satisfactorily under the
conditions which governed CPumpelly's movements during that adven-
turous eight months. Yet he assembled observations bearing on the
rocks with which the ores are associated, as well as on the mineralogical
nature of the ores themselves and on the sequence of the minerals. These
he laid befo're the California Academy of Sciences m August, 1861. In
view of the greut advances which have since been made in all branches
of miniag geology and of the development of the mining districts of

36 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Arizona, his essay is chiefly of historical interest, a milestone from which
to measure how far we have come and what a fruitful epoch in science
his long life covered.

JAPAN AND CHINA, 1861 TO 1864

At the age of twenty-four Pumpelly was a man of fine physique, com-
bined with a frank, easy manner and a record of achievement. He had
been a leader among the students at Freiberg, not because he sought
leadership, but through Ins native qualities initiative, courage, ability,
and good fellowship. His wide and varied associations with all classes
of society had given him the bearing of a gentleman of the world, a
gentleman without blemish. His unique experiences m Corsica, de-
scribed with the gift of a born raconteur, had early given him a reputa-
tion for daring and geologic understanding, and his success in salvaging
the property of the Santa Rita Company under desperate circumstances
had confirmed that reputation in America, He was already a prominent
figure in his profession.

Thus it happened that he was one of two experts appointed by our
Government m response to a request from that of Japan for a geologist
and a mining engineer to explore certain lands m southern Yesso and,
possibly, to introduce foreign methods of mining and smelting.

Feudal Japan pondered long and gravely the vital question of rank
before receiving the experts, Pumpelly and W. P. Blake, but upon as-
surances from our Minister finally accorded them distinguished stand-
ing, such that they were called upon first by the Governor of Yesso. It
would have been practically impossible for them to have executed their
commission otherwise, since they could hardly have escaped insuperable
opposition, if not death, from the natives, had they not been guarded
accordingly There was with very good reason a* strong anti-foreign
party m Japan, which opposed every move of the weak central govern-
ment toward opening the empire to the outside world, and the incident
of the engagement of the two experts was used as a ground of attack by
the great nobles. They accused the Taikoon of throwing the resources
of the country open to foreigners, and after a year forced the government
to bring the engagement to an end,

Pumpelly has left the record of hie observations in Japan in, his book
of travel, "Across America and Asia/' and in the work ^Q^eological Re-
searches in China, Mongolia, and Jap&cu" The former is a gtftpMc; de-
scription of the strange peoples, their lands, their cit^ea, customs, and
politics, sympathetic m feeling and liberal in altitude: t p^ latter.' con-
sists/ so far as Japan is concerned, of geologic itineraries <

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 37

of Yesso. The author describes them as hasty jottings, made during
reconnaissance journeys, at a time when he expected to make a much
more thorough study of the geology of Japan. They served, nevertheless,
to enable him to distinguish the foundation rocks of the island, a sor
quence of metamorphosed sediments penetrated by granitic and basic
eruptives, and the superjacent volcanic deposits of various kinds. His
studies in Corsica and of Vesuvius thus came to his aid on the other side
of the globe. He also noted the coastal terraces and identified them as
recently elevated, finding marine shells in which the organic matter was
not entirely decomposed. The distribution of the various rocks, so far
as he was able to observe them, is shown in a sketch map, one of the
earliest geological maps of Japan.

Driven out of Japan by the daimios, whose opposition to the more
liberal policy of the Tycoon led practically to a state of civil war, Pum-
pelly proceeded on his own resources to China, to gratify his taste for
exploration m that unknown land, so recently opened to modern travelers.

In speaking of the reopening of China, we are apt to forget that
between 1541 and 1720 Jesuit missionaries penetrated to every part of
the Empire, that they exercised an important influence at the court, and
almost succeeded in converting the Emperor himself to Christianity.
China was then open to Europeans, but was closed by the anti-Christian
agitation about 1720 and remained so for more than a century. During
that time China stood still, while Europe advanced by leaps and bounds.
America stood in the vanguard of that advance, and Pumpelly, coming
from the frontiers of America^ yet equipped with the science of modern
Europe, looked upon the ancient people through youthful eyes, the eyes
of hope and fair play. "Across America and Asia" contains a chapter
on the Chinese as emigrants and colonizers, in which the author analyzes
the relations of the Chinese and Caucasian races with, an intimate under-
standing of the social and economic problems, and the dedication of that
work, written in 1870, expresses the optimism with winch he character-
istically regarded the long future :

"As so many of the following pages relate to experiences illustrating the
wisdom of that diplomatic policy which, in bringing China into the circle of
interdependent nations, promises good to the whole world, I dedicate them to
the chief author of that policy to Anson Burlingame "

Fifty years have passed since that was written, and the impartial ob-
geneir anust admit that much evil lias developed from the meeting of the
races, 'as well as good. Nevertheless, one who has trodden in Pumpell/s
footsteps, ntfhp knows how often the patient, long-suffering Chinese have

38 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

risen Phcenix-like from chaos, and who believes in the inevitable supre-
macy of justice and fair play among Americans, must agree with Pum-
pelly in his faith in the ultimate preponderance of good to flow from the
establishment of mutual relations among the races of men.

Pumpelly was the pioneer geologist of China. The scientific labors of
the Jesuits were purely geographical and could not, in view of the lack
of geological knowledge at that time, have yielded any understanding of
the rcteky structure ot the country. They did serve, however, to furnish
that mdipensable prerequisite to geological research, a base map on which
to present the geographic relations of the facts. From the Jesuits down
to Pumpelly^s day certain diplomatic missions had been permitted to
traverse the interior, and it had not failed that botanists and zoologists
had in a few instances penetrated the land; but such journeys were
undertaken only by special permission OF at very great personal risk.

From 1860 to 1862 there had been in China a German diplomatic
mission, attached to which was a young geologist, Ferdinand von Bicht-
hofen, who was eager to explore. He found the conditions so unfavor-
able, however, that he confined his movements to the coast. Completely
thwarted in his efforts, he visited the Bast Indies and finally crossed the
Pacific to California, where he remained until 1868. He had then de-
veloped a plan for a systematic exploration of the Chinese Empire and,
backed by Professor Whitney, he secured funds for an expedition from
the Bank of California. Eeturning to China, he entered upon his task,
to which during four years he devoted all his energies, with the result
that his name, Von Elchthofen, is identified hi the annals of science with
the unveiling of the "Middle Kingdom." His researches into the
physical geography and geol^y of the country continued throughout his
life, and he left a third volume of his great work, "China," unpublished
afc the time of his death, in 1905.

In 1863, after Eichthofen had left for California, Pumpelly arrived
in Shanghai, where he remained some weeks. Seeing on the Yangtze
river a boatload of excellent coal from far in the interior, he was seized
by a longing to explore. In his "Reminiscences" he says :

"Excepting missionaries, few travelers had penetrated far into the interior.
Hue had descended the Yangtze from Tibet Blaleston had described that
river The geology of the Empire was absolutely unknown, for Richthofen
had not yet undertaken his monumenM work So here, as in Corsica, yield-
ing to the call of the unknown, I engaged passage on tfre steamer Surpnae,
bound for Hankow, the end of steam navigation up the

Thus, like a boy starting on a pfeasure trip, Pumpe r y struck out into
a country devastated by nine years of rebellion and scarcely less lawless,

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 39

>o far as foreigners \\ere concerned, than tlio Arwoim from which he had
so recently escaped He was not in search of adventure Danger was
merely incidental to satisfying that interest he felt in the strange people
and their unknown land. But neither did danger deter him, either out
of regard for his safety or because it would interfere with the attainment
of that knowledge which ho sought. In tjiis latter respect he differed
from Rich tho fen

It is interesting to contrast these two great explorers, who had so much
in common, yet pursued their ends so differently. It was the writer's
privilege to know them both. They were equally bold in conceiving their
plans, equally broad m their interests in the Chinese as a people and in
China as a land They differed radically, however, in their ultimate
purposes. Pumpelly sought knowledge for knowledge's sake He wished
to know the as yet unknown, but he felt no impelling desire to inform
others, nor any special obligation to clo so. In his generosity he gave as
freely of his thoughts as of things material and always with the desire
that others should; derive the greatest possible benefit from the intellec-
tual largesse that he scattered so liberally. It might contain the seed of
a vital contribution to science, he who could cultivate it was welcome to
the reward of its harvest With liichthofen it was otherwise. He was a
guardian of learning He felt responsible for it In its pursuit he was
farsighted, systematic, patient, and persistent What he acquired he
cultivated. His harvest he shared with those whom he deemed worthy.
To do so and to welcome any contribution. of fact or of right inference,
these" were part of the obligation laid on him by his station and his
standing

The difference between the two was temperamental and not merely
individual, but racial Pumpelly derived from the roving- Vikings, hap-
piest when driving care-free down the winds of opportunity beyond the
ken of men. Richthofen was a modern Eoman, obedient to the system
m which he had been drilled, and of which he knew himself to be a lead-
ing exponent. They typify the spirits of America and Prussia

Pumpell/s excursions m China were limited as compared with Richt-
hofen's journeys. He did not wait for favorable conditions, but even he,
when low with fever, could be turned back by a Chinese mob. Thus it
happened that he and his companion, the Rev Josiah Cox, cut their
houseboat adrift before the charge of thirty thousand and abandoned the
examination ol the coal fields of Hunan, the province m which the
natives were most violently opposed to loreiguera They were not de-
terred, however, -from pioceeding on their voyage up the Yangtze, which
they ascended to the head of the Lower Gorges. Pumpelly was deeply

40 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

impressed by the superb scenen, where the huge rner coils through the
narrow pass between towering cliffs of limestone. He watched with
intense interest the progress made by a hundred and fifty coolies, who
dragged the ]unk up against the tumultuous current, as had been the
custom for thousands of years. He probably felt a thrill not unmixed
with delight when the bamboo ropes parted and they went swirling down-
stream, for who could know what would happen ne'xt ?

Eight cla}s were required to warp up through the Gorges, and Pum-
pelly observed the vast arch in which the strata, that at Ichang emerge
from under the plain of the Yangtze, rise and descend again, after arch-
ing to such a height that the underlying granite is exposed in the center.
The axis of this arch, or anticline, trends northeast-southwest, as Pum-
pelly noted. Subsequently he connected it with the marginal ranges of
the Mongolian plateau and other features having the same trend and
thus identified a major structural feature of the Asiatic continent. He
gave it the name of "Smian" trend or axis, from the ancient Hebrew
name 8imm for China. He thus recognized and named one of the cor-
nerstones of the geology of Asia, both the structure and the name having
been accepted by all later observers.

The limestone formation which constitutes the walls of the gorges im-
pressed Pumpelly with its extraordinary thickness. The grandeur of the
cliffs suggested the vastness of the seas in which the strata had been
deposited and made an impression that influenced his views on the area
covered by it. He estimated the thickness of it at 11,600 feet. It has
since been determined to be about 8,800 feet, including a parting of
shale. He found no fossils, but thought that certain Devonian forms
which had been identified from China must represent it, and therefore
assigned the entire thickness to that period. We now know that the
lower part belongs to the Cambrian and Ordovician agesy while the upper
limestone pertains to the Carbpmferous.

The recognition of the Siman trends and the assumption of la wide-
spread Devonian limestone gave a cine to the general structure of China,
which Pumpelly embodied in the first geological map of the empire ever
attempted. Beneath the "Devonian^ limestone he grouped all the rocks
in a "gramto-metamorphic series/* The Goal Measures he placed in the
Triassic on the evidence of plants idenfafiei for him % Dewberry,. The
alluvium of the eastern plains he assigned to the 'Tertiary nd post-
Tertiary." He traced the distnbutiofi of tJiese few fomafew by the
occurrence of characteristic minerals, as reported to binu by OMnese
scholars whom he employed to search the record for ftat pnrppe. Tlras
he expanded his own meager observations to a sketch, wftili, if I

RAPHAEL PtTMPELLY WILLIS

41

erroneous in many ways, nevertheless contains a large proportion of
correct inference.

In turning to Chinese records for information regarding the distribu-
tion of mineral resources, Pumpelly was not deterred by the volume of
the material, which was enormous, nor by his ignorance of the language.
He found natives to glean the scanty data from the huge volumes of
ancient and recent writings and missionaries to translate them. It was
a characteristic effort, due rather to his German training than to any
personal inclination toward exhaustive research, but one which was fre-
quently repeated in the course of his career. He appreciated the value
of details, even though he himself would only reluctantly go through the
drudgery of digging theto up. He willingly left to others both the labor
and the credit. Van Hise, a master of detail, whose volumes outbulk
Pumpelly's writings a thousand to one, presents an interesting contrast.
He also etnployed others to work with him, but very differently. MetiGu-
iously accurate and systematic, he planned his work far in advance, estfc
mated his own ability to execute the more essential part, and availed
himself of the aid necessary to secure completion within tl*e allotted
time. Single in purpose, he completed each task according to a preeoi^
ceived plan. Pumpelly, on the other hand, conceived a fruitful thought
as lightly as a boy sees a vision in the sunrise, as lightly he gave it
wing, and he was happy if another thought it worthy of attention. Hc
congratulated himself that there were others trained and more than
willing to follow out the line's of investigation which he spontaneously
suggested, leaving him free to turn to any one of the manifold interests
which claimed him*

Pumpelly's journeys in China during the autnmji of 1863 were accom-
plished under official escort in search, of coal for naval use. They erved
to broaden his understanding of the relations of the Coal Measures with
the great limestone formation and gave him the foundation upon which
he expanded his observations m the Yangtze Valley to northern" China.
They also aforded him. material for amusing chapters in A&ro$s America
and Asia. He spent 1864 partly in CMna^ partly in Japan, and in No-
vember of tfcat year ^started to return to America by crossing Mongolia
and Siberia to Europe, On this journey he- made those observations of
the inland basins of Asia, and of the disintegration of rocks in an arid
climate which appeared subsequently in his theory of the loess* as a
lacustrine deposit*

In his scientific contributions' to the geology of Asia, Pumpelry apofo*
gkes for the often meager results on the gtouncf that tfye expeditions
were carried out wiili private funds aad were attended with dinlcnlties

42 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL, XVI

due to the hostility of the natives. He also mentions the intense cold of
a winter journey across the plateaus of Tibet as a limitation to geologic
observation. To these we may add, the very inadequate state of geologic
knowledge and theory when considered as a key to the problems he had
to face. Thus he reasoned regarding the origin of the rock-rimmed
basins of central Asia Having no outlet, they could not be stream-
eroded valleys. Wind, however, was an obvious eroding agent which
could excavate basins, and so he attributed to the wind effects whose
magnitude surpasses its reasonable activities. There was thon no hint
of the physiographic clue by means of which we have since learned that
the surfaces of the continents, and notably of Asia, have been warped
recently in a way which gives rise to wide depressions as well as to broad
plateaus.

He recognized that the Yellow River in its north-south course, before
it turns east toward the plains, follows an unusual channel across east-
west mountains, but since science knew nothing of the changes which
may be imposed on a river by stream-capture, he sought an explanation
in a catastrophe, an upheaval, of which he found suggestions in very
ancient Chinese traditions.

He was impressed by the enormously wide distribution and thickness
of the fine-grained loess deposits and, following the accepted theory of
lacustrine origin*, he postulated the former enstence of extensive lakes.
Thus he reasoned according to the state of theory at that time, and failed
to find the correct solution of the problems because they were beyond the
reacli of contemporary understanding; but he grasped the problems.

LAKE SUPERIOR, 18(55 TO 1877

"Upon his return to America in 1865, Pumpelly encountered the changes
wrought by the Civil War. With the exception of what may be called a
brief visit to his home in 1860, he had been away sixteen years years
of growth from boyhood to maturity for any man and for -him years of
extraordinary experience. Writing of it fifty years later, he refers to
the desultory character of his schooling, comprised in the preparation for
Yale and three years at Freiberg, and stresses the value of that broader
education which flows from intercourse with the world :

"One can not m young manhood be in more or less intimate and confidential
and unprejudiced association with men and women of many peoples without
getting some insight into the complexity of human nature, into the relation of
virtues and weaknesses to subconscious motive forces Such experience makes
for introspection and charity.

"I Jiad learned also the sameness of the fundamentals of human nature,

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 43

whether eutlent on the surface m the savage, or \eiled by conventional
restraint m civilization, or again in the white man when unrestrained be>ond
civilized environment I had employed men of many kinds and races
Corsican mountameeis, Indians, Mexicans, white men (both normal and out-
law), Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolians and had learned to understand
racial chaiacter well enough to get on smoothly In Japan, in official posi-
tion, under the feudal regime, I had established intimate, in some cases
affectionate, relations with my staff of Samurai officers. In extended travels
in China my expenence had ranged from the receipt of courteous hospi-
tality to the necessity of turning a hostile mob into a fiiemlly one.

"In commeicial Shanghai I had seen the causes of dislike of the foieiguer
In Peking I had purposely been allowed to see at first hand the attempts of a
broad diplomacy intended to remove those causes. And as the head of an
Impenal Chinese commission consisting of civil and military mandarins, I
had come in contact with local magistrates and had seen something of
Chinese character in dealings of the cential government with the local
democracy

"I had seen natuie in all its aspects, of mountain and desert and cultivation,
between the tropical and Arctic circles, and its corresponding influences on
man and civilization

"These were some of the factors in my deeper education up to my twenty-
eighth year If I had been conscious of the fact that I was going through
a great school, I should undoubtedly have profited vastly more than I did
However, in its gradual growth that school had helped me through dangerous
or delicate situations, and had moved me to give weight to the better instincts
of men of all races when those instincts are properly appealed to It had
developed in me a racial sympathy and made clear the dangers of racial
prejudice "

Thus, before reaching the age of thirty, but a third of his life gone
by, Pumpelly had graduated from the school of human nature with the
degree of advocate of tolerance. He is a rare exception to the rule that
most men never enter that school understandmgly and few get beyond
its most elementary lessons, however long they may live Those who
attain to his degree are apostles of the millennium.

The Civil War left a number of men in the prime of life accustomed
to danger, initiative, and large undertakings. A post-war period is
intensely stimulating when the exhaustion of resources has not gone too
far, and in the TJnited States the Vast wealth native to the country was
scarcely touched. It was an environment in which Pumpelly found
many congenial friends and opportunities for the exercise of his special
gifts and training. He did not immediately enter upon the practice of
his profession, but gave himself up to the enjoyment of society, where
Ms personal charm, his geniality, and his broad knowledge made him
universally welcome, and to the writing of his two books, "Across

44 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

America and Asia 1 ' and "Geological Researches in China, Mongolia, and
Japan."

He became closely associated with Whitney, whom he had known in
California, and through him he was invited to accept the Chan of Min-
ing 1 $t Harvard under the Sturgis-Hooper Endowment. As the avail-
able income would not suffice to pay him a professors salary, Pumpelly
accepted; his duties would be light and he would have much freedom
He is therefore listed as having been a professor at Harvard, but he
never entered seriously upon the work of teaching in the university.
Inspiring as he was as an instructor in the presence of Nature, he was
ill fitted for systematic teaching in an institution

In the summer of 1866 Pumpelly made a first excursion to Lake
Superior to report on a copper property, and became acquainted with
the possibilities offered by exploration of the iron ore ranges as well.
He was by nature a prospector, and here was a prospector's chance, upon
which he prepared to embark, risking his own and his brother's re-
sources. But, given an opportunity to locate a floating land grant, he
was enabled to do justice to his employers while at the same time he
studied the conditions of occurrence of the iron ores and became ac-
quainted with lands they could not acquire. Thus left free to exercise
the right of second choice, he threw himself into the exploration with
the definite purpose of investing his savings in timber and iron lands.
At this time he became acquainted with Major T. B. Brooks, who had
already worked out the geology of the Marquette iron district, and the
twc entered into an informal association, which (lasted without any
written contract for nearly forty years Confiding each in,- the other,
they invested from time to time such funds as each could individually
spare in lands that one or the other of them might select.

Brooks was a self-made engineer and geologist, who by force of char-
acter, ability, and indomitable energy had developed himself from a
farmers boy to the position of vice-president and general manager of
the Clifton iron mine on the practical side and m the scientific world to
that of the leading authority on the geology of the iron deposits. He
was a year older than Pumpelly that is, just thirty when they met;
but, having spent three years under the stern discipline of war and pos-
sessing a far more exacting habit of life, he seemed much older by com-
parison. The two men came together on the common ground of their
interest in exploration with both practical and aeaentific objects in view.
They became united by bonds of mutual respect End donfideaee,, whlcjt
were never broken Their families came into relations of intimacy.
Yet there must ever have remained in each a phase with wlueb the other

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 45

could not readil} empathize Brooks vus intense!} practical, definite,
and devoted to the bubiness in hand. Pumpelly was habitually impatient
of details, eager to be done with them, so that he might be free to roam
in any one of the intellectual fields so attractive to his brilliant mmd
Ten years later the writer received his earliest training m field-work
from these two geologists Brooks might have been a father, Pumpelly
Phoebus Apollo.

The State of Michigan was fortunate at this time, when the exploita-
tion of its resources was just beginning, to have two such men as Brooks
and Pumpelly interested m that development. They accepted the tasks
of surveying the iron and copper districts and laid sound geological
foundations for prospecting and mining. The insignificant appropria-
tion made by the State was inadequate even for expenses The investi-
gations, were thus a gift to the Commonwealth as well as to science.

Pumpelly undertook the study of the copper deposits. The limitations
of the work required that he should decide between a general reconnais-
sance of the forested and drift-covered area or limited but accurate ob-
servations of certain sections and deposits. In contrast to what one
might have expected, he chose the latter, rightly judging that "specific
information regarding the stratigraphy and conditions of mineraliza-
tion of the copper-bearing rocks would be of more value than loose gen-
eralizations, such as had characterized the exploratory work of his prede-
cessors. The problem was one for which his German training had pre-
pared him advantageously.

Delegating the measurement of sections across the Aeries of strata to
his (assistant, Marviiie, he himself undertook the investigation of tlie
broader stratigraphic relations, especially those of the bedded copper-
bearing sandstones and volcamcs with the Cambrian, which had been
described as conformable. This required field observations of a kind in
which we might expect him to excel, as he did observations demand-
ing the correlation of tacts assembled from a wide area and interpreted
with keen perception of their relative value and significance. He recog-
nized the now well-known unconformity between the Keweenawan and
Cambrian sandstones and published jointly with Brooks au article on the
age of the copper-bearing rocks.

Punapelly's major contnbutipn to the study of the copper deposits re-
minds one of Breithaupt, his instructor in crystallography. Seeking the
conditions under which the native copper had been deposited m associa-
tion with quarts, e^pidote, prefinite, caleite, and other minerals, he ex-
apiined under the microscopfe. hundreds ol thin-sections, which he ground
hlitself, measured the angles 0f microscopic crystals, and distinguished

46 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

the older from the younger mineral^ b} the inter penetration of one by
another or by the forms assumed by pseudomorphs. He thus determined
the paragenesis of the copper and traced its reduction to the metallic
state through the chemical reactioiib with ferrous minerals present in
the associated rocks He attributed the concentration of the metal to
descending surtarc \vaterb In thih he followed Whitney and has been
followed by \Vads\\orth.* Van Ili^e \vas> of the opinion that abconchng
waters had brought in the copper, but this is not sustained by the evi-
dence, according to Lmdgrun In identifying the copper as indigenous
to the series of rocks in which it occurs, Pumpelly thought it to have
been derived originally from seawater. Van Hise later called attention
to the widespread occurrence of it in the Keweenawan traps and looked
on the lavas as the source. Lane has suggested that the submarine out-
flow of the lavas gave rise to reactions with the seawater, which led to
the reduction of the copper This is a modification of Pumpelly's idea,
which postulates ferrous oxide as the reducing agent Exhaustive re-
search has thus to some extent supplemented or modified the views of
the pioneer m this field, but the body of lact and inference which he
assembled remains the accepted truth The surprising thing to one who
has followed his adventurous career through Arizona and Asia is that he
could patiently devote himself to tedious microscopic studies with such
success. He began his work on the copper deposits in 1870 and his last
paper on the subject, "Metasomatic development of the copper-bearing
rocks of Lake Superior," was finished in 1877.

Pumpelly's work on the Lake Superior copper deposits would present
no novelty if carried out today, when the processes of metajnorphism
have become familiar to all students of -ore deposits, but they constituted
MII original contribution of very great value fifty years ago Among
those who then cam6 under his influence was Waldemar Lindgren, at the
time just entering on that career m economic geology in which he has
rendered such valuable service to science and mining. He, like Pum-
pelly, was a graduate of Freiberg and, of Swedish birth, ha<J recently
come from Europe when he entered the Transcontinental Survey. He
writes *

"I first met Pumpelly in No\ ember, 1883, and remained in his office at
Newpoit until February, working 1 during that time on thin-sections of rocks
obtained during the field-work of the Transcontinental Survey in the summer
of 1883. I was tremendously impressed, both by hip* knowledge nn(l person-
ality, and I ahull always lemember his kindness to me, at that time a recent
graduate from the schools His advice on petrographic work was extreme!}

8 Personal communication

RAPHAEL PUMPEtLY WILLIS

47

helpful, but I wah not then acquainted with his epoeu-makins work on the
minerals of the Lake Superior district As I began to dip into metasomatism
later on, I soon found that he was really a pioneer in the study of changes
which minerals undergo Of course, this matter had been discussed previously
by Naumann, Blum, and others in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, but
Pumpelly was the fii&t to apply the microscope to these problems He was
probably the first one in this country who undertook petrographic examina-
tions by using thin-sections Neither the microscopes nor the section* were
as good as they aie now, but it remains as a great credit to his genius that
the conclusions he ai lived at stand, with minor exceptions, practicalh un-
changed today His woik showed great 01 igumlity, and in tins duectiou of
the microscopic study of minerals he was as much of a pioneer as he proved
to be in geological explorations. Our geology of today certainly owes a great
deal to his pioneering' work "

Thus Pumpelly opened up a new line of research in this country, one
which has proved a mine of wealth in a material as well as scientific
sense. His ideas are reflected in Brooke's early suggestion of the sec-
ondary origin of the Lake Superior iron ores, fully developed and estab-
lished later by Van Hise, and they have borne fruit m the comprehensr e
studies of secondary enrichment which characterize the investigations of
ore deposits during the last two or three decades.

MISSOURI, 1871 AND 1872

Appointed State Geologist of Missouri in the autumn of 1871, Pum-
pelly took up the task with the intention of remaining in the official
position only as long as might be necessary to study the geology and
distribution of the iron ores of the State and to prepare the way for a
systematic study of the other mineral resources. Being' taken seriously
ill after a year in office, he resigned in the winter of 1872-1873, His
contribution to geology during this eighteen montBs is comprised in the
report of the Geological Survey of Missouri for 1872. He himself wrote
only on the geology of Pibt Knob and vicinity and he confined himself
to a description of the occurrences and kinds of the iron and manganese
ores. It was a preliminary, perhaps, to a systematic study of their
origin, but if so it was never carried further. In resigning, Pumpelly
left a good working organization, which waa taken over and carried on
by his successor, G. C. Broadhead.

LOESS AND SECULAR DISINTEGRATION", 1863 AND 1876

Earlier in this memoir reference has been made to Pumpelly's observa-
tions of the widespread deposits of loess m China and central Asia, which
he explained as of agueous sedimentary origin, consisting of glacial mud

48 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

laid down in a chain of- lakes It was not known in 1863 that northern
Asia had not been extensively glaciated, and the topography of the conti-
nent had not been mapped with sufficient detail to render improbable the
former existence of great lakes Eichtho fen's extended journeys gave
him a better opportunity to observe the extraordinary facts of the dis-
tributidn of Chinese loess and led him to the correct hypothesis of its
carriage and deposition by wind.

The origin of the material of which loess consists Eichthofen sought
in the disintegration of rocks under changes of temperature and in wind
erosion of soft desert formations rather than in glacial erosion, as Pum-
pelly had done.

But both of them in their earlier thought had tailed to recognize that
the processes of grinding or disintegration are far too slow to keep pace
with the transportation of loess. The current local supply would be ex-
hausted and loess accumulation would cease long before quantities such
as exist could possibly be assembled Pumpelly, reviewing Kichthofen's
work in 1876, recognized this weakness in the former's hypothesis of
loess origin. While he accepted the revision of his own ideas and in-
dorsed as correct Richthofen's theory of transportation and deposition
by wind, he brought his observation, of the deep decay of rocks m moist
climates to bear on the problem of original supply and supplemented the
theory at a vital point. He also extended his idea to the origin of ice-
transported material. We may best quote his own words from hia
"Reminiscences" (page 612). He says:

"My argument was.

"(1) ^nat during long ages of normally moist climate the rocks of a region
become disintegrated and decomposed often to great depths This is evident
in all regions that have not been denuded by glacial action.

"(2) That any climatic change that permanently destroys the vegetation
leaves the disintegrated mass a prey to forces of transportation

"(3) Through a climatic change causing a glacial period there would come
the removal of the altered rock-mass in all the forms of glacial debris
boulders, gravel, clay, and glacial flour, which is the product of the grinding
of debris and rock bed tinder the moving ice. This material is in part left
by the retreating glacier as moraine and glacial drift or till, and in part is
carried atf coarser or finer debris by streams to be spread over the lowlands
or carried to the sea. The downward disintegration acting on rocks of
different power of resistance would leave an abnormally Irregular topography
of the solid rocfe surface in which depressions scourtff out by th loaded: let*
would remain as rock basins.

"(4) if the change is to aridity, the region becomes fe feert, vegetatioii
disappears, and the disintegrated rock-mass becomes prey to the winds,

"In. Asia the products of glacier work were spread out to #17 on fee flopd-
plains of rivers emerging onto the deserts. Thus watt r hiad played tin

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 49

intermediate part in the ongrn of a poition of the loess But the final stage
of its transportation was, as shown by Richthofen, by the winds that sifted
it out from the sands and earned it beyond the barren desert to find rest in
the grass, which protected it and which it nourished Richthofen accepted
my view and published it with credit in his second volume "

Here was a broad deduction, based on extended observation and car-
ried to its logical consequences. It embraced the concepts of changing
climates, altered conditions of erosion by ice, wind, or water, varied re-
mits m sedimentation, and the effect of modified environment on organ-
isms. In Pumpell/s presentation befqre the National Academy of
Sciences he touched upon each of these aspects of the subject and demon-
strated his grasp of them. Yet he did not follow them further, did not
develop the lines of investigation which radiate from this central group
of ideas.

Another great mmd, a contemporary of his, similarly brought face to
face with the problem of climatic change, pursued its ramifications till
led to a new theory of cosmogony. His was the mind of a profound and
philosophic thinker. Pumpellv*s was that of the explorer in the realm
of thought as m that of observation. He glimpsed a truth; he described
what he saw from the mountain top; he did not descend to launch his
thought on an eddying current, he had no impulse to survey in detail
the scenes among which he would not permanently abide,

Yet his argument rounded out the suggestions of other geologists and
introduced the climatic factor as an essential element of reasoning re-
garding the processes of evolution of physiographic features, continental
or marine sediments, and the development of organisms, including man
and his civilization. In this last-named relation Pumpelly long after-
ward showed the importance of the climatic factor in his investigations
of the ancient cities of central Asia.

OFFICIAL SknaviYs, 1879 TO 1890

Pumpelly was now forty years of age. He had behind him the experi-
ence and observations of an ordinarily full life. Although at times hard
pressed for immediate moneys, for he was a generous and care-free
spender, he had from Ms student days up been accustomed to alternating
fulness and emptiness- of purse, and its condition never long affecte^ his
habit of living. He was happily married; he had hosts of friends with
whom he shared a variety of interests. Science, literature, history, art,
development of national resources, farming, social opportunities all
drew out his abundant interest, gave outlet to his exuberant vitality.

these cmmpistances he waa naturally invited to take part m the

SO NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

larget enterprises in, which geology was a factor, not as an investigator,
but as an organizer.

The consolidation of the Government surveys of the Far West under
the leadership of Clarence King and the plans which the Survey devel-
oped m connection with the taking of the Tenth Census gave Pumpelly
an opportunity. He accepted the responsibility for the census of the
mineral industries, exclusive of the precious metals and petroleum, and
directed the forces at his disposal toward a complete investigation of tho
geology and chemical nature of the iion ores of the country, at least in
the more settled regions. Tins purpose was a natural outcome of his
world-wide knowledge of the bases of civilization and his intimate studies
of the iron deposits of Lake Superior and Missouri He fully realized
that the future of American industries was involved in the production
of iron and steel in competition with the world Tie appreciated the
need of more thorough knowledge of the distribution of good ores His
mind daringly hurdled the difficulties of so great a task and he confi-
dently organized his division, with very inadequate resources in men and
money, it must be confessed

Four young geologists were sent into the field equipped with the title
of "special expert," the humor of which the writer, at least, who was of
the number, was too inexperienced to appreciate. A group of chemists
was gathered at head quarters, in Newport, Rhode Island. During two
years, 1879 to 1881, the field men diligently sought out the iron ore
occurrences of the States east of the Great Plains, many of them known
only through the tradition of a colonial charcoal furnace. Each occur-
rence was described as found and any available ore was sampled as care-
lully as the circumstances permitted. In the case of working mines or
stock piles, the method of quartering down large samples composed of
many bits of ore taken at random was employed > in the case of an aban-
doned ore bank, such material as was on the surface was taken There
was no excavating. The observation of geologic associations had to be
superficial. Nevertheless, the amount of information gathered, compris-
ing the description of localities and the chemical analyses of more than
a thousand ore deposits, constitutes an important contribution to our
knowledge of the national resources in this important metal. Pumpelly'd
share in it lies m the initiative, in the working out of a practical plan
within the limited appropriation, and particularly m the inspiration he
gave to his assistants. In his "KemimsGences" he refers appreciatively
to the esprit He corp^ which ruled through-out the organization. The
thrill of it persists after more than forty years. Its source was in his

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS

51

own abounding enthusiasm and gem-rous roiitidence tn the loyalty and
capacity of the young men whom he diew about him.

In 1881, before the Census \vork was completed, Pumpelly was offered
an opportunity than which none could Im\e been better bin ted to his
tabtos and abilities Mi Henry Villaid, president of the newly reor-
ganized Northern Pacific Kailway, \\itli zaro foresight, realized that the
exploitation ot the v<iht etnpiic across wludi the road ww being built
would proceed far moie adxantageoubly if guule<l by knowledge of the
resources of the region He appreciated, furthermoie, the need of basing
that knowledge on fajsts rather than on hearsay, and he understood that
facts can best be assembled by trained observers. He proposed, there-
fore,, the organization of an economic survey, which was to cover the
freight resources tributary to his road and which should rest upon studies
of the geology, soils, and timber lands. He invited Pumpelly to become
its director.

With what enthusiasm that mutation was accepted can be understood
only by one who knew Pumpelly's interest m great, beneficent enter-
prises of a practical character. He was a man of very broad, far-seeing
vision. So was Henry Villarcl, though from another angle Their two
minds worked sympathetically. Here was a vast realm -of great poten-
tialities; here were almost limitless plains and mountains, under varied
climates, to be opened to human settlement, here were resources of all
kinds to be exploited in the building up of new communities, the rail-
way, stretching out under Villard's direction, was to be the instrument
and Pumpell/s survey tlio guiding intelligence of this illimitable enter-
prise.

It wan born too big to live long. The Northern Transcontinental
Hui vey, as it was called, demanded expenditures commensurate with ifa '
scope. Mr. Villard supported it most liberally while his power lasted,
but when, after three years of intense activity, he failed, just as the rails
were linked from terminus to terminus, the Survey fell with him.

We are not here concerned with the causes of this failure, which are to
be sought m the rivalries of kings of finance for the control of empires;
but it is but doing justice to two able, practical men. to "record the fact
that tbc Transcontinental Survey far more than paid for itself. It may
fairly be estimated that it saved its cost in checking the -extortion whicli
was being practiced by officials of the road upon the company (through
the reselling of lands jjuvately purchased l>v them or their friends) and
in coal lands that were otscovered by tlie geologists of the Survey and
acquired by the Lai^d Department of the railway it- has paid for itself
many times over, with compound interest on the' investment.

52 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Pumpelly threw himself into the work with optimistic energy. In his
"Bemmiscenees" he states that he divided his personal supervision be-
tween administrative work and reconnaissance expeditions, to get the
broad conceptions of the problems necessary to blocking out plans. His
capacity in administration was shown chiefly in selecting his assistants,
nearly all of them young men, to whom he gave generously of con-
fidence and freedom of action an excellent method when the initial
choice has been wisely made. His personal direction of the work was
limited to brief instructions, commonly given orally, and to occasional
visits of a day or two, devoted to rapid reconnaissances of the fields under
survey. He trusted us (I speak for my comrades, most of whom have
preceded their great chief on the long trail) and he received the response
which youth ever gives to faith associated with enthusiasm.

The winters of 1882, 1883, and 1884 were spent by the entire technical
force at headquarters, at Newport, Ehode Island, where the younger
members enjoyed frequent contact with the director and learned much
from his world-wide experience Pumpelly spent the summers of 1882
and 1883 in Montana and the Eocky Mountains of Idaho. He made two
attempts to cross the latter, from the Plains to the Flathead Valley, by
way of Two Medicine Pass, from which he had to turn back on account
of deep snow, and more successfully by the Cutbank Pass. The latter
trip led him across what is now the southern part of Glacier National
Park and he first saw the glaciers at the head of Thompson Creek. It
does not appear that he made any notable geological observations on any
of these excursions. His contributions to science were made through his
assistants, who were encouraged to prepare their results for publication
over their own names, even after the failure of the Northern Pacific had
cut off all support from that source. How the staff was kept at work
and paid during the winter of 1884 has never been divulged, /but it 1$ a
fair assumption that Pumpelly backed his determination to get out the
results without regard to the cost to himself. The geology of the coal
fields, which had been studied in Montana and Washington, was pub
hshed in the volume issued by the Tenth Census, Number XV, contain
ing the results oi the Census studies, also made under Pumpelly'n
direction.

MOUNTAIN STUDIES

Detailed investigations, requiring painstaking apsplicatioB in field or
laboratory, were foreign to Pumpers free, roving nature, yet lis 'Ger-
man training had taught him the value of intensive stadia am* lie
dhovped Jumself capable of executing theto, as k,th$ examination of Ike

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 53

Lake Superior copper deposits. Accident rather than design threw some
of the most difficult of American geologic problems in his path. In
association with Irving and Van Hise, he studied the pre-Cambrian, and
later, as geologist in charge of the New England Division of the United
States GeolQgical Survey, he directed the surveys of the Green Mdun-
tains of New England, more particularly with reference to Hoosac and
Greylock Mountains.

His contributions to the solution of the pre-Cambrian problems, in-
volving the metamorphism, structure, and original character of the
ancient crystalline rocks, were made in conversation in the field face to
face with the facts or in talks of an evening between days' work. They
were not recorded, but his colleagues, notably Van Hise, have borne wit-
ness to the value of his penetrating insight into the intricate relations
and processes.

Pumpelly greatly enjoyed his association with Van Hise, especially in
excursions which he made with him m conference on pre-Cambrian
studies of the Appalachian Mountains. This brings to mind a day on
the French Broad Riyer, m North Carolina, where the two, geologists
invited the writer to accompany them, it being at the time his immediate
field of work. The section examined comprised the base of the quartz-
ites, which Keith has since determined to be Cambrian, and the under-
lying granites. There is a stretch of perhaps two hundred yards in which
the obvious granite grades into the distinctly stratified quartzrte, but in
which no plane of contact can be recognized. After passing carefully
over the section a couple of times together, the two separated.

Van Hise had begun to collect a series of specimens which should
show the mineralogical character of the crystalline an4 sedimentary rocks
and of the transition zone. He was thinking of the metamorphism,
which according to hypothesis had altered an arkose sediment into some-
thing closely resembling the parent granite, and was considering the dis-
tinctive criteria which might be looked for under the microscope. "He
afterwards published papers on the secondary enlargement of crystals, in
which these specimens played a part.

Pumpelly had turned to look at the tossing river and the beauties of
the gorge. He spoke of the exhilaration of the scene, contrasted it with
a desert landscape of granite hills and enveloping sands, which he made
very real by a few graphic touches, outlined the process of disintegration
which granite suffers? under those conditions, and left it rather to be
understood than stated, that the relations we had just been observing, iBr
reiniftdiBg him of the deserts of Arizona or central Asia, had suggested
the aspects of ifche t Appalachian region in a long past geologic age.

54 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Each thinker followed hih inherited lines of reasoning Van Ilibc was
adding a few precisely observed facts to that enormous mass of details
upon winch he based his thorough analysis of the most difficult problems
of American geology, those of the pre-Cambnan. Pumpelly saw the
facts, readily interpreted them m terms of known processes, diew an
analogy with scenes he kww, and swept up on the wings of imagination
to heights from which he could cast a glance down the long vista of
the past

It was with a penetrating understanding of the relation between sedi-
ments and the geographic or climatic conditions which govern their
character and distribution that Pumpelly directed the investigation of
tho Green Mountains of New England. The general facts of stratig-
raphy and structure had been observed by the two Hitchcocks, Ebenezer,
Emmons, Hall, J D. Dana, and other contributors to the Taconic con-
troversy. Each had espoused an idea and advocated it, but of precise
observation and rational interpretation the very controversy itself had
piovod the need Pumpelly took but little account of all that had been
wntten. He went back to Nature's record. Having selected a critical
area compr sing Hoosac Mountain/ an anticlinal ridge with a granitoid
core, and Greylock Mountain, a synclmormm, he with his assistants,
Wolff and Putnam, Dale and Hobbs, traced out in great detail the areal
and structural relations of the granite, gneisses, schists, and limestones
of which the geologjc column is composed. Any careful observer might
have done as much, but there remained several outstanding riddles that
could be solved only by that use of the imagination which with Pumpelly
\v<is intuitive rather than deliberate.

Running through the sediments and gneisses and 4 fading out into the
gi<untoid rocks was an appearance of bedding which had been interpreted
as such and had led to the opinion that the different rocks all belonged
to a conformable series. Wolff and Dale, guided by Pumpelly,. proved it
to be a secondary schistoaity, and thus disposed of the apparent con-
formity. The actual unconformity of the Cambrian sediments on the
pro-Cambrian was then demonstrated by evidence of weathering of the
older rocks in pre-Cambrian time, especially where a dike occurred" in
the giamte, and the deposition of clastic sediments in the irregulari-
ties of the old land surface. Metamorphism had greatly obscured the
original character of the sediments Roma of which had been altered to
gneisses, and Pumpelly credits Wolff with having qarned out the tedious
field and laboratory investigations required to establish the true relations.
Tt may be, noted that both chief and assistant were trained interact

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 55

German methods, the one in mineralogy and structure, the other as a
modern petrographer.

In the study of the Cambrian stratigraphy, which was obscured by
bchistoeity, the true sequence of the strata could be ascertained only by
the identification of obscure anticlinal or synclinal folds, where the dips
are closely or actually isoclinal. Here the application of principles pub-
lished by Heim m his "Mechanics of Mountain Building** was of critical
value and Dale worked out a group of American examples of the laws
originally recognized in Switzerland These are today classical Illus-
nations of the structures to be looked lor in metamorphosed sediments

A further problem presented itself in the differences of sequences of
sedimentary beds in Mount Greylock and m Hoosac Mountain. In the
former the Cambrian strata comprise both limestones and schists, in the"
latter there is only a great thickness of hthibts, both sections rising from
the basal quartzite The lack of agreement across the short span between
the two ranges had been explained by the assumption of a fault, but
Pumpelly and his assistants proved that there was no fault and solved
the riddle by demonstrating that the strata in Hoosac Mountain are the
near-shore equivalents of the offshore deposits which form Greylock.

It is the old story of Columbia's egg. The monograph on the Green
Mountains has taken its place among the accepted results of geological
lesearch. The hypotheses have become part of the rationale of working
geologists We take for granted the penetrating insight into past geo-
graphic conditions, the understanding of obscure processes, the capacity
for patient, conclusive investigation, those qualities which enabled Pum*-
pelly to open a new era in the geology of New England and to settle a
controversy which had lasted for half a century It is ,as it should be.
The perfect stone has found its place*;n the great structure of geologic
science.

The elucidation, of the problems of the Green Mountains was Pum-
pelly's last contribution to his adopted science, geology. In 1890, after
six years of Government service, during which he had perforce given up
the remunerative practice of his profession, he shared the lot of the
scientists who work under official limitations. He was poor. The owner
of large areas of iron lands, he saw their potential value being eaten, up
by taxes. Business conditions were such that there was little opportunity
to recoup his fortunes through expert examinations of mining properties.
He had a considerable family, led by himself m habits of lavish liberality.
Under these adverse conditions^ m 1893, he took his family abroad and
during two years set his children an example of economy (so he says in

56 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

his "Reminiscences"). They traveled much in Italy, France, and Switz-
erland. One can imagine the mutual delight of their companionship
among the scenes of the father's youth. Beturnmg home m 1895, Pum-
pelly once more took up the practice of his profession, but, finding the
opportunities few, he renewed his explorations of the Lake Superior iron
ore districts. These efforts were, however, not particularly successful in
the discovery of valuable ore deposits.

The years passed m home life among his growing children and in ex-
cursions to the Far West or to Mexico to make mine examinations, but in
1903, at the age of 66, he was once more seized with the desire to explore
distant lands.

EXPLORATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA, 1903 TQ 1904

For forty years there had lain m Pumpell/s mind a spark, originally
lighted by his imagination, which required but a breath to kindle it into
flame. The central' thought was the relation of climatic changes in cen-
tral Asia to the migrations of peoples and the evolution of civilizations.
In it were combined the fragmentary suggestions of Chinese history re-
garding ancient cities and peoples and the deductions from geographic
and geologic evidence, which sufficed to give color to the hypothesis of a
changing climate

The spark was kindled by a fact recorded by an ancient Chinese map-
maker, who inscribed the words "Here dwell the TTs.un, a people with red
hair and blue eyes/' on a map of the Tarim basin, in Chinese Turkestan,
at a point apparently north of Kashgar. Another record mentioned the
fact that many cities had been buried by advancing sand nearly two
thousand years ago. These noteg were brought to the attention of Pum-
peHy by the Chinese scholars employed by him during his stay in China
in 1862-1863. He then felt that he was on tte track of the ancestors of
the European races (one can not help thinking how accurately the. de-
scription fitted him, himself), and, pursuing a liae of reasoning sug-
gested by the diminishing inland lakes without outlets, he attributed the
migrations of these peoples to ,a desiccation of the climate of .centra!
Asia. This hypothesis, -since elaborated by Huatmgtoii, who was one of
J5as assistants in 1903, lay for forty years in its author's mind, withheld
from development by that scientific caution which had prevented him,
when but a boy, from publishing his idea of an inland sea covering the
Sahara.

The Chinese records and the facts he observed in his journey across
Siberia in 1863 had suggested the idea of the former existence of an

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS

57

inland sea m the now desert regions of Asia, and subsequent speculation
had connected the sea with the Glacial Period, while its shrinkage wduld
naturally follow from the waning of the conditions that had caused
glaeiation. But this logical chain of ideas lacked confirmatory evidence
until Pumpelly was told by the Eussian geologist, Tchernyscheff, that
strata containing shells of the Glacial Period had been found in a posi-
tion that seemed to indicate an inland sea of that time* The "dream,"
as he called it, then assumed the form of legitimate hypothesis, worthy
of being tested It had previously seemed to him through all those
years, during which he had discussed it with scientific friends, too sub-
jective in character

Furnished with a grant of funds by the Carnegie Institution of Wash-
ington, Pumpelly carried out two expeditions to Turkestan, one in 1903,
to reconnoiter the country and seek for the evidences of geologic changes
m association with those of ancient civilizations; the other in 1904, to
excavate old dwelling sites. In the organization of these expeditions he
was guided by the experience of a lifetime of travel and aided by the
prestige of the Institution he represented, as well as by his own great
reputation. He chose as assistants specialists distinguished m physi-
ography and archeology and, as was his custom, gave them free rein in
their investigations, together with the fullest possible opportunity to
publish their results as their own.

The purpose of the .expeditions was chiefly ethnological, as the dream
had been. In his youth Pumpelly had been divided in his interest be-
tween history and geology. Chance had directed the emphasis of his
training to geology, but he had always shown a profound, if not a pref-
erential, interest in his fellow-men and their development. Now the
earth-science stepped into the background. He assigned to W. M. Davis,
Ellsworth Huntington, and his son, Eaphael W. Pumpelly, tihe studies
of the physical basis of the human history, and, after giving them the
outline of his hypothesis to prove or disprove, as the facts might'decide,
he turned to the archeological investigations with enthusiasm. In 1905,
when he was entering upon the four years of preparation which inter-
vened between the close of the field-work and the completion of his brief
summary of results attained^ he said to the writer : "I never could read
books on geology; I had to see the facts to become interested, but I can
read this by the Jhour/' tod he held up ^Kiple/s Baces of Europe/'

Very important contributions to our knowledge of the glacial anfl
postglacial conditions which have obtained m central Asia were < made by
DEVB, HuntingtoB, and R. W. Ptenpelly as a result of the expeditions.

58 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

They are fully set forth in the volume entitled "Meliorations in Turk-
estan," issued by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in 1905, as
Publication Number 26. The archeologieal results of the second expe-
dition appeared in 1908, under the same general title, as Publication
Number 73.

Elected President of the Geological Society of America for 1905, Pum-
pelly chose for his address a subject drawn from his Asiatic investiga-
tions, "Interdependent evolution of oases and civilizations/ 7 and pre-
sented it at Ottawa in 1906

.Reviewing the field of study m central Asia after his return from the
first reconnaissance, in 1904, Pumpelly wrote

"Judging from our obaei vatlons^ind from those of other*, especially of the
Arabian writers and of the Inter Russian exploiters, it would seem that the
country has long been an interior legion, dependent foi its life nuinlv on the
snows and glaciers of the mountains; that there luue been within the present
geological period great fluctuations in the amount of watei derived fiom the
mountains, as recorded in the high and low shorelines of the seas and in the
strata containing living foiins left by different expansions of the united
waters of the Aral and Caspian, and that man already existed within the
region during at least the last great maximum of moisture

"While we have been sin prised at the abundance of the data in natural and
artificial leeoids offered by the legion, . . we are impressed with a
realization of the intimate relation m which this region stands to the
Quaternary and prehistoric history of the whole continent Physically it
forms part of the great interior region extending from the Mediterranean
to Manchuria, whose history had been one of progressive desiccation, but in
Russian Turkestan the effects of this have been mitigated bj the snows of
the lofty ranges and the lower* altrtude of the plains.

"Archeologically this region has, through a long^ period, been a center of
production and commerce, connecting the eastern, Western, and southern
nations, and its accumulating wealth has made it repeatedly the prey of
invading armies. It has been fiom remote time the field of contact and
contest between the Turanian and Aryan stocks; but its problems, both
physical and archeologieal, are parts of the greater problem underlying the
study of the development of man and hrs civilization on the great continent
aucf of the environment conditioning that development "

Allowing Pumpelly to speak further regarding the last scientific work
of his long and varied activities,, we may quote from the preface to his
final report on the work in Turkestan those paragraphs which show his
attitude oi nund toward his subject, toward his fellow-workers, and in
regard to tho realization, of his dream. He says :

"While each of the investigators was expected to work up Ms material,
there devolved upon me, as initiator and director ^of the expeditions, the duty
of presenting a^i independent discussion of the results a,; a whole. I found

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS 59

myself confronted with the task of tiaiislatmg and editing the contributions
of the experts, and of chawing uiy own eoncluMons fiom these and from my
own observations To do this, I sui rounded myself with a library of six
hundied or more untunes related to oui work and problems, besides many
borrowed fiom libraries Liteially Imng in this problem for nearly four
jears, mj whole tinie t reading, and thought have been devoted to acquiring
such a general sunej of the held as would enable me to discuss the subject
of oui results and of their widei lining in the light of the piesent condition
of aieheological and ethnological knowledge.

"Besides incidental inspection of the museums of Tiflis and Tashkent,
numerous visits for study were made to those of Moscow, Saint Petersburg,
Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Schafhausen, Cairo, Athens, London, Naples, and Rome,
and to those of Paris, including M de Morgan's systematically collected finds
from Susiana to me, perhaps the most impoitant of all and in connection
*with my chaptei on chionology a special journey was made to Egypt to study
the rate of giowth of Egyptian village mounds in comparison with those of
Anau

"Of the I we) alternatives, confining the reports, nn own included, to a
lecoicl of observations and finds, or having eacli contributor go further and,
treating his subject from the comparative point of ^iew, draw his conclusions
as to the bearing of his results on the general question of Eurasian problems,
the latter seemed piefeiable, for, with the whole chain of observation and
thought fiesh in mind, it would seem to be the province of the individual
investigator to state his iiifeiences. even if only as woikm? hypotheses

"I confess to having written a chapter on the Aryan problem in the light
of an extended study of the whole field and of our own results ; but this I
have suppressed, because it seemed a premature as well as a hazardous
venture tor one not already an authority on the subject

"And now, what relation do the results bear to the dieam that gave use
to the expeditions? On the phjsical side, Messis. Pans, Huntington, and
R W Pumpelly have traced in high Asia the records' of se\eral great glacial
expansions during the Glacial Period. The climatic conditions, which during
that period so greatly expanded these glaciers and buried Russia under
thousands of feet of ice, presumably produced also the inland sea whose
shorelines are still visible

"The evolution of civilization has been traced backward to a time when,
before its datings in Babylon and Egypt, man at Anau already lived in cities,
cultivated wheat and barley, began the domestication of the useful animals
which are our inheritance, and possessed the fundamental industrial arts,
including" a certain amount of metallurgical knowledge Evidence has been
traced of a progressive desiccation throughout long climatic <^<*le^ in whose
favorable extremes civilizations flourished, which disappeared in the arid
extremes And that the climatic conditions under which these civilizations
vanished gave rise to very early migrations and to a constructive reaction
upon the outside world would seem to follow from the eaily appeal ance, in
Babylonia and Egypt and in the late Stone Age in Europe, of wheat and
barley and of breeds of domestic animals which Pr IHierst identifies with
those first established on the Transcaspian oases

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

"The reader will see that in tracing hack to central Asia the source of the
fundamental elements of wcbtern en iliz<itum, in finding the traces and causes
of the inland sea, m discover mg evidence of progressive desiccation (and in
this the cause of the migrations that revolutionized the world), the dieani
lias to this extent been realized "

This was written at his summer home in Dublin, ]S T ew Hampshire, in
11)08. Might not the old man, who had cherished that dream for forty-
foil r years, have with justice put Ins statement of its realization more
strongly? Might not one who know his exuberant vitality, his optimism,
have expected that he would v Rut no, his was fundamentally a scien-
tific mind, adhering above all things to the truth as he understood it,
and no impulse of self-gratulation could urge him to surpass its limits.
In the suppression of his own chapter on the Aryan problem, the ulti-
mate speculation to which he had given years of thought, we see the
expression of that supreme loyalty to his ideal of truth which made him
truly great.

DUBLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE

The last dozen years of Pumpelly's long life were passed at his homes
m Newport, Rhode Island, and Dublin, New Hampshire, alternating
summer and winter, except when making journeys abroad or in this
country for the pleasure and education of his children. Mrs. Pumpelly
died in 1915, after forty-six years of married life in a relation more
complete in its harmony than falls to the lot of but few In his loneli-
ness, Pumpelly drew oven nearer, if possible, to his children and with
them turned to thy desert, where "Blessed are the realms of Silence, for
in them is tho nearness of God." lie revisited the scenes of his labors
and marvelous escape from Apaches and Mexicans and again plunged
into the waterless wastes in search of the Old Yuma Trail, along which
he had ridden fifty-four years before. The Ford cars proving less able
k> cope with the sand than horses had been and the water giving out, the
desert almost claimed him permanently as its own; but, with his habitual
resourcefulness and the guidance of an Indian as old as he himself, he
once more escaped.

Of his life and influence at Dublin, his old classmate and ultimate
friend, Henry Holt, has written *

"It was most exceptional and it was all unconscious simply the actiou and
reaction between his character and that of his neighbors Probably never
elsewhere was such a community He was incomparably the most influential
person in the place ruled it without knowing that he didunconsciously
attracted there all -forms of excellence and unconsciously repelled any form

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY WILLIS

61

of pettiness The nn !e ho drew aiouml him blended the highest aristocracy
with the simplest democracy A visitor once described it to a stranger" "One
night you'll go to as lovelj a ball as jou ever saw, and the next night you'll
dine with people jou met theie who do their own work* That realization of
Utopia those who shared and marveled at it knew was the involuntary work
of Pumpelly. He loved all people worth loving and had no other standards;
and all people worth loving loved him "

There is nothing to adtl to this statement of the humanity of this re-
markable man. His great soul possessed the magnet of love for his
fellow-men, without distinction of creed or race, excluding only the false.
His penetrating intellect threw the searchlight beams of his imagination
into the unknown realms of knowledge in search of Truth. To her he
was ever absolutely loyal, never allowing even a suspicion of egotism to
color a statement of fact or to influence his estimate of the validity of
an hypothesis. To the Truth he was true. Therefore his contributions
to his adopted science, geology, stand unchallenged, monuments to its
progress, while he himself takes his place outside the circle of speciahsts y
m the group of great explorers of the physical and intellectual worlds.
II is thought is being handed down, a living, growing influence, by many
who are as unconscious as its author often was of its intense vitality.
It lives on because its author invariably put Truth before self.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1863 Mineralogical sketch of the silver mines of Arizona California Acad-
emy of Science, Proceedings, volume 2, pages 127-130.

1866 Notic<\of nn account of geological observations in China, Japan, and
Mongolia American Journal of Science, second series, volume 41,
pages 145-149

1867. Geological researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan in 1862-1865.
Smithsonian Contributions, volume 15, 143 pages Abstract, Amer-
ican Journal of Science, second series, volume 45, 1868, pages 219-224.

1871 The paragenesis and derivation of copper and its associates on Lake
Superior. American Journal of Science, third series, volume 2, pages
188498, 243-258, 347-355 Abstract, Neues Jahrbuch, 1872, pages
538-540.

1872, (With T. B. Rrooks ) On the age of the copper-bearing rocks of Lake
Superior. Ameiican Journal of Science, third scries, volume 3, pages
428-432.

1873 Notes on the geology of Pilot Knob and its vicinity. Geological Survey
of Missouri, Preliminary report on iron ores and qoal fields from
field-work of 1872, part 1, pages 3-2$, New York. Abstracts, Amer-
ican Naturalist, volume 9, 1875, pages 240-243 ; American Journal of
.Science, third series, volume 7, 1874, pages 61-62, Copper district,

62 NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Geological Sur\e,\ of Michigan. uppci peninsula, lSOtt-1873, volume 1,
part 2, 143 pages, New York

1877 On tlie influence of marine life and currents in the formation of
metalliferous deposits Geological Survey of Kentucky, Reports of
progress, new series, volume 2, pages 31S-3'0, Frankfort

1878, Metasomatic development of the copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior
American Academy, Proceedings volume l.'J, pages 253-310. Abstract,
American Journal of Science, third series, \olume 1<>, pages 143-144

1879 United States Geological Survey of the foitieth parallel, volume 1,

Systematic Geology, by Clarence King American Journal of Science,
third series, volume 17, pages 296-302 The relation of secular rock
disintegration to loess, glacial drift, and rock basins. American Jour-
nal of Science, third series, volume 17, pages 133-144.

1880. Lithology of the Keweenawan system Geology of Wisconsin, survey
of 18734879, volume 3, pages 27-49, Madison.

1886 Geographical nnd geological distribution of the iron ores of the United
States Tenth Census of the United States, volume 15, Mining In-
dustries, pages 3-36, Washington Bituminous coals and lignites of
the Northwest Tenth Census of the United States, volume 15, Min-
ing Industries, pages 691-695

1888 On the fossils of Littleton, New Hampshire American Journal of
Science, thud series, volume 35, pages 79-80. On the classification,
nomenclature, uuconfoi unties, eiuptives, chaiaetenstics, life, and
origin of borne membeis of the pie-Cambnan formations, and on the
origin of serpentine International Congress of Geology, American
Committee, Report 1888A, page 74.

1880 Report, Division of Archean Geology United States Geological Survey,

Eighth Report, J W Powell, pages 124-1:25, Washington Kcpoit,
Dnision ot Aidiean Geology. United States Geological Survi i > Ninth
Kepoit, J W Powell, pages 75-76, Washington Report, Division of
Arcltean Geologj, United States Geological Survey, Tenth Report,
J. W Powell, pages 114-116, Washington. Abstract, ibidem, pages
13-14.

3890 Northern Pacific Railroad Macfarlane's Geological Railway Guide,
second edition, pages, 259-262

1891 The relation of secular rock disintegration to certain transitional
crystalline schists. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America,
volume 2, pages 200-223 Discussed by G. H Williams B Iv Emer-
son, and <J K Gilbcit, pages 223-224 Abstracts American Geology,
\ohimo 7, page 259; American Juirnul of Science, third series, vol-
ume 42, pages ;J46-:~{47, American Naturali'st, volume 25, pages 263,
826 827.

1918- My reminiscences Two volumes, 844 pages. Henry Holt and Com-
pany, New York.

Kecent Portrait of Dr Franklin Paine Mall

By

Thomas C Corner
(From a Photograph Taken In 1913 by the Late Dr Frederick 1 Gates)

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOLUME XVI THIRD MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL

1862-1917

BY

FLORENCE R. SABIN

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1934

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL
1862-1917

BY FLORENCE R SABIN

Seventeen } ears have elapsed since the death of Franklin Paine
Mall, and the interval between his death and this belated report
to the National Academy of Sciences but serves to make one the
more aware of the power of the man and the enduring influence
of his life.* Little known to the public then or now, never
heralded as a brilliant discoverer, one has but to mention his
name to his colleagues to hear that he was the leader of them all

In Mall's files was a note from P. A Levene, in which is con-
densed into one sentence what one must reveal to paint Mall's
portrait "The few times I have met you are a radiant memory'*,
and such he remains to those who knew him Mall must be de-
scribed as a man of power, yet he was modest, unassuming, even
shy. Physically he was unimpressive, thin, of average height
and sallow complexion His face, when not lighted by a smile,
was apt to be sad Always youthful in appearance, he was
often mistaken for a student, yet this frail young man was one
of the outstanding educators of his time In the days when
scientific research in medicine was taking root in this country,
he was one who planted and nurtured it He found that the
ancient science of anatomy was only a handmaid to surgery in
this country, with practically no independent status, and he left
it in its rightful place with a school of disciples. To this day
there is no dearth of well trained, scientific anatomists, the second
and third generation from Mall Moreover, his influence was
felt throughout medical education, m the founding of journals
and scientific societies, in that period of awakening which began
in this country in the last decades of the nineteenth century

The story of Mall is of a mind brilliant and original, with a
strange enigmatic quality and a complex combination of oppo-
sites wit and wisdom, humor and sadness. One might easily
insist that raillery or a certain acid quality of his comment was
his most striking characteristic, but another would combat this
with surprise and substitute kindliness and judgment. But all

*A more extended life of Doctor Mall will be published by the Johns
Hopkins Press

63

NATIONAL ACVDEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \ OL X\ I

were aware of his tendency to say the unexpected and of an
extraordinarily cnptic quality of his mind, \\hich acted like an
enzyme or ferment on the minds of others, goading them to
thought and action In this lay his power as a teacher, combined
with the example of an enduring- enthusiasm for study. En-
dowed with exceptional ability for organization, in a country
where this power receives the highest recognition and rewards,
he continued to lead the simple life of the scholar, as active in
research at the time of his death as in the early years of his
training. It is interesting to note that he had no ability as a
lecturer and left no popular writing whatever, yet no medical
student escapes his influence.

He was a leader in the sense of one who foresees the trends
of development of his times and sets the stage for their fulfill-
ment He can best be described as having the abilities of general-
ship. He knew exactly what he wanted ; he could plan his cam-
paign for years in advance and could wait with patience until
the time was ripe for the next step in his program. He could
bend the will of others to the interests of causes. Of William
Welch he once said to me that no one had ever found him work-
ing for his own advancement, and the same was true of Mall.
His interests were wholly objective; he was a fighter for free-
dom in education ; an ardent democrat, he knew the elements of
danger in democracy and knew how to combat its leveling tend-
encies. His vision was of the development in this country of a
university of scholars m the European sense; and medical edu-
cation is on a higher level because he lived and taught In the
medical school which developed in Baltimore, he and Osier
represented two different phases of thought, a difference which
Osier has expressed better than anyone else can do, for he said
that he himself was of the type who would rather be wrong
with Plato than right with Aristotle. As in ancient days, two
types still make up the medical profession. It is dear enough
to which Mall belonged for the motive of his life was a pro-
found belief in the benefits of the growing science of medicine ;
he had unbounded faith in the ability of man's mind to solve
the problems of disease.

66

FRANKUX PAINE MALL SABIN

Franklin Paine Mall was born in Belle Plaine, Iowa f Septem-
ber 28, 1862, and died in Baltimore, November 17, 1917, at the
age of fifty-five, following an operation for gallstones. He was
of German parentage on both sides of the family. His father,
Franz Mall, was born in Sollmgen, near Durlach, in the Province
of Baden, Germany. Mall's branch of the family has lived there
for three hundred years. 1

There are two strains of the Mall family in Germany: one,
descendants of Tobias Mall, who was born in 1570 and lived
in Donnstetten, and the other, the line from which Mall came,
descendants of Hans Wendel Mall, a linen weaver, born in
1625, who lived in Sollingen. Before this time the name of Mall,
meaning "hammer", does not appear in the records of the town.
It was the period of the thirty years' war, during the early
years of which Hans Wendel Mall was born. The region of
Durlach was invaded ; at the beginning of the war, Sollingen had
750 inhabitants, and at the end only 250, which tells the tale of
Hans Mail's youth The records of births and deaths were
kept by the church, and though all of the church books of the
neighboring towns were destroyed during the war, there is a
church record of baptisms in Sollmgen which begins May 8,
1614. Further back than this it is difficult to trace the name
of Mall, but it is probable that the family originally stemmed
from the Tyrol The record that Johann Erhard Mall married
a Papist, which I found in a note left by Mall's father, indicates
that the family was Protestant.

Mall's grandfather had seven sons, six of whom emigrated
to America. Mall's father was a boy of nineteen at the time of
the revolution of 1848. He belonged to a choral society of
twenty-four young men and during the revolution some of their
songs, referring to liberty, so displeased the authorities that all

1 For the data in regard to Mall's family in Germany, I am indebted
to Mr. Daniel Mall of Wurttemberg-, Germany, a second cousin of Dr.
Mall In part the data are from letters from Mr Mall and in part from
his book, Das Geschlecht der Matt, published by Hugo Kretschmer,
Kunstanstalt fur Hoch- und Flachdruck, Gorlitz Volume I in 1925;
Volume II in 1926

67

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOIy XVI

twenty-four served a term in prison. The following years were
a period of unrest in Germany, times were hard and there was
a shortage of food In 1852 Mall's father and one of his friends,
Joseph Wenz, went to America in a sailing vessel, being thirty-
six days on the water They joined the trek westward, finally
reaching St. Louis, whence they went on foot to Iowa where
they had heard of a chance to buy land Franz Mall bought a
tract of land there which later became his farm In two years,
however, he had news that his father was ill with gastric cancer,
and he returned to Sollingen. He seems to have been a leader
among his companions for when he returned to America that
same year, 1854, all of his choral society came with him. More-
over, through him five of his brothers came to America and
settled on farms m Iowa and Kansas. In 1855, the year after
his return to America, he married Louise Christine Miller of
Oswego, Illinois. Little is known of her except that she was
born in Germany. There were four children, only three of whom
grew up two daughters and one son. Mall's father must
have been a well-to-do farmer, for he was able to give his son
an education that took years, and he himself returned to Germany
four times and finally died in Sollingen. To those who remained
in Germany the brothers who went to America must have seemed
rich for in the town of Sollingen the family were all small
farmers. None of them had more than about twenty-five acres
of land, divided as was the custom in Germany into small plots
of from a half to one and a half acres. The value of these
small plots of land depended not only on the nature of the soil
but on the nearness to the village. Since these holdings of land
were not enough for the support of a family, each man had
some other occupation such as a grafter of trees, stone cutter,
quarryman, mason, worker on the railroad and cultivator of
vineyards. The records state that none of the Malls had wealth,
but that as a family they stood out in the community for honesty
and for idealism. In these two qualities it is clear enough that
Mall was representative of his family, but there is little to in-
dicate that Mall was interested m tracing his ancestry or in
handing down the knowledge to his children. However, he did

68

FRANKUX PAINE MALL SAIilN

tell his daughter Margaret that there had been a Margaret Mall
in the famil} for several generations and that one of them, a
cousin, was an able teacher. Up to the time of Franklin Mall,
none of the family had ever had a university education ; but since
his time three of the Malls of Sblhngen have studied medicine
and in America, several of the family have had advanced edu-
cation, including both of Mall's daughters.

Mall's mother died when he was ten ; his father married a
second time and, as the stepmother was unsympathetic toward
the boy Frank, an elder sister took his mother's place in his
affections. Mall was evidently a difficult child ; he was clearly
unhappy ; neither at home nor in school did he find outlet for his
active mind, and the whimsical humor of his later life was
shown in endless teasing. It was a teacher in a local academy, a
John McCarthy, who changed the whole tenor of his attitude,
as is shown in a few words from one of Mall's letters to a
nephew who is a teacher of history: "Your schedule of work
looks very interesting and it must be very interesting to you to
give it. My avocation has been a study of history, especially
that of the Renaissance. If I had not gone into anatomy, I
might have taken up history with equal enthusiasm. When I
was a boy I detested history, but good old Mr. McCarthy showed
me that I liked it. I only detested the detestable way of teach-
ing it by rote/' These words, which paint the picture of the boy,
Frank Mall, make one certain that he made the teachers of the
"detestable way" fairly unhappy in their turn. The intensity
of his own reaction was shown years later in his determination
to reform the methods of teaching science by rote. On this
boy the influence of McCarthy was profound and in Mall's files
is a treasured letter from him in his old age : "I keep up the study
in a stumbling way, but when I am ready to perish from lack
of knowledge my help comes from those wonderfully kind and
modest managers of observatories. I am more contented when
doing a little studying. I would love to teach, if I could only
hear well enough, but that day is over." This letter reveals the
secret of Mail's start in life and it tells as well the whole theory

69

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

of teaching. Mall met a teacher in an obscure academy in
Iowa, who loved study and could awaken that spirit in others

Our recent interest in the history of the settlement of the
west in our country makes it possible to picture a small town
in Iowa in the years following the Civil War a farming com-
munity of English and German people, pioneers of English stock
from New England, and f orty-eighters directly from Germany
In Mall's home one can estimate that there was relatively little
culture, for his early style in writing does not show any familiar-
ity with good literature. It was a time when few homes had
many books but when more than one of our public men had a
style clearly formed from the Bible and Shakespeare. I well
remember the keen interest with which Mall in his mature years
read the Bible for the first time and his amazement at its beauty,
for he read it as literature with an appreciation not dulled by
any familiarity with the text. Likewise he read Shakespeare
and the German classics for the first time in his student days in
Germany. Nevertheless Mall's father had the traditional Ger-
man respect for learning, for Mall wrote of him later : "I have
been unusually fortunate in having a father who believed in
education " Thus, after McCarthy had shown the boy Frank
Mall that he loved study, Mail's father, though with slender
means, helped him to get an education.

At the age of 18, Mall entered the Medical Department of- the
University of Michigan. There is no record whatever as to
what turned his mind toward medicine, but it is said that the
local physician had studied at Ann Arbor. It was a period when
Michigan University was clearly making progress in education
The year Mall entered, 1880, the standards of admission were
raised. The records show that no student was admitted to the
Medical School under the age of 16, and that every candidate,
who could not show a certificate of graduation from a respectable
high school, academy or college, had to submit to an examination
in the elementary branches of an English education. This now
seems meager enough but it was a real advance in medical edu-
cation in this country, for as President Eliot of Harvard Uni-
versity has said, "In the Sixties and Seventies there were no

70

FRANKUN PAINE MALL SABIN

requirements for admission to our medical schools To secure
admission a young man had nothing to do but to register his
name and pay a fee." In 1880 the medical course at Ann Arbor
was graded and for the first time in any institution in this
country raised to three years. Many years later, from the stand-
point of his mature judgment, Mall wrote of these changes in
Michigan University as follows :

"Twenty years ago the medical department of the University
was just beginning the transformation which has changed it
from a school of low standard, as were all medical schools at
that time, to one of high standard as it is at present. Re-
quirements for admission had just been introduced, and a graded
course of study extending through three college years was made
compulsory for all students. During this transformation it
was necessary to introduce much new work both in the laboratory
and in the lecture hall to occupy the students during the increased
time they now had to study medicine. Old instructors filled their
share of the additional time by requiring the students to attend
their lectures a second time in order that they might remember
better the many facts presented to them. Yet there was con-
siderable vacant time to be filled, which thus gave an opportunity
to new instructors to come to the front with new ideals and
methods to enrich the medical course. It was this second group
of instructors, whose ideals and methods are now generally ac-
ceptable, that made the greatest impression upon me Foremost
among them were Professors Victor C. Vaughan and Henry
Sewall. I can remember well the first lecture of each of these
men. They entered upon their work by giving out matter first
hand, and from the beginning made the impression that they
mastered their respective subjects. They dealt little with the
opinions of others, but instead produced trustworthy facts and
demonstrations, as well as laboratory experiments for the stu-
dents, upon which to build. The principle involved appeared to
be the development of the student while presenting the subject
matter, and now it is plain to me that no one but an investigator
in his subject can do this.

"These high ideals were shared to a greater or less extent by
other instructors, and were acceptable, it appeared to me, to
only a minority of the students. The majority of students were
seeking a certain quantity of knowledge, and preferred to have
it drilled into them. Little did the solving of problems and
the development of reason appeal to them, and it naturally fol-
lowed that they mistook versatility for power. An educational

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOIv XVI

institution of highest order must carry on perpetual warfare
against drilling trades into inferior students, m order to retain
its high position. And above all the medical profession should
be filled with learned men, and not tradesmen, in order to be
of the greatest good to the community It appears to me that
the change beginning to take place in the medical department in
1880 was towards training thinking physicians with an under-
lying foundation composed of recent medical research. In other
words its goal was toward the university stature. At this time,
however, the department was yet only of high-school stature, and
university ideals certainly seemed much out of place. But its
rise has been very rapid, for it is now through its college stage
and is about to enter its true university career.

"It is then the force which marked the beginning of the uni-
versity ideal in the medical department at Ann Arbor which 1
remember best. This force which encouraged thinking and in-
vestigating has been carried from the University by many of
its graduates, and has always proved to be a trustworthy friend
Fortunately for the medical department as well as for medicine
of the entire land, this force has been carefully guarded and cul-
tivated by our present distinguished dean."

After graduation from Michigan University, Mall went to
Germany to study. The influences which sent him abroad must
be surmised. While for a hundred years men from the eastern
seaboard had been going abroad, first to Paris and later to Edin-
burgh to study medicine, it was probably a rare thing for any
of the early settlers of the west to do so Dr. Henry Sewall, just
referred to, who went to Michigan in physiology in the spring
of the year Mall graduated, had studied under Sir Michael
Foster in Cambridge and under Kuhne and Ludwig in Germany
and had taught under Newell Martin m the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity, before the Medical School was started m Baltimore
There is a story that Sewall, who had given the seniors a few
lectures, asked the Dean of the School what he should do about
an examination, with the result that the four best students of
the class were sent to him for a test Frank Mall, Will Mayo
and two others. They all failed and Sewall is said to have
predicted that none of them would succeed either in science or
in medicine. It is clear enough that this episode did not delay
graduation for any of them, nor did it dull Mall's appreciation

72

FRANKUV PUNK MALL SABIX

of Se\\all, but its immediate effect on him is an interesting
speculation Did failure at Michigan send Mall to Europe and
did it spell success at Leipzig At any rate Michigan did not
introduce Mall into scientific medicine, for he went to Europe for
clinical work rather than for research, for Dr William H. Welch,
who first met Mall in Ludwig's laboratory in Leipzig, has writ-
ten to me "Mall went to Germany for clinical work, as so many
young doctors were accustomed to do and without any particular
interest m science. It was his contact with His and later with
Ludwig which opened his eyes to the sciences of anatomy and
physiology Ludwig, with whom I had worked in 1876-77 at
the time of my first two years in Germany and who greatly in-
fluenced me by turning me to Cohnheim instead of to Virchow,
used to love to talk with me about Mall, whom he credited with
remarkable gifts of observation, 'Raumsinn,' he called it"

The first year m Germany Mall spent in Heidelberg working
mainly on the nervous system and on the eye, both in the labora-
tory and m clinics, with the intention of going into ophthalmology.
It was, however, the golden age of the German university and
here Mall passed directly from what he had termed the medical
high school into the freedom of university life Here he found
students who were mature men, better trained than he, and
planning their own education. This he was keen to do, and
his notebooks show that he planned his own course and worked
with tremendous energy. He used to say that he enjoyed the
chance to study pathology before he had taken a course in
histology and it is clear that he found out for himself that he
wanted to try research. Perhaps the same thing happened to
him that history shows had happened to von Baer sixty years
earlier, namely that a great dissatisfaction with medicine as it
stood came over him and made him determine to find out what
research was like. At any rate, in the fall of 1884, Mall went to
Leipzig and started in research under His Mall was interested
m structure and His was the most outstanding anatomist of his
day. Mall knocked several times at his door before he was
finally admitted. His did not seek students to work with him ;
he was not interested in beginners But something in the per-

73

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

sistence of that spare, young American of twenty-two years
must have impressed the professor, for he finally gave Mall a
place in his laboratory.

The history of Mall's first problem under His reveals at once
Mall's ability Inexperienced in research, a novice in em-
bryology, he made acute observations, clarified an obscure field,
and came to conclusions directly opposed to those of His. There
thus arose between the two men, one, an experienced professor
of years, the other a young student with his first problem, a
scientific controversy rarely surpassed in its high plane of in-
tellectual fairness In retrospect one could not wish a word of
it changed.

His suggested to Mall that he study the development of the
gill arches in the chick and the results of his work focused at-
tention on the question of the origin of the thymus. Shortly
after Rathke 2 ( 1825) had discovered the occurrence of gill clefts
in mammalian embryos, the subject of the origin of the thyroid
and thymus became active problems. When one reflects on the
crudeness of the early methods, without serial sections or any
form of reconstruction, it is not difficult to understand why
differences of opinion arose. It is interesting to note that it was
in connection with the active discussions concerning the origin
of these glands that Born 3 devised his method of reconstruction
by wax plates, and that the first results of this method were to
show that there are both median and lateral primordia of the
thyroid, and that the thymus arises in the third branchial cleft.
The most important of the earlier studies on the thymus were
those of Remak 4 who formed the view that the thymus arose
from the endoderm of the pharynx. But this view, now be-
lieved correct, was soon replaced even in Remak's mind by the
theory that the thymus was mesodermal in origin, an opinion

3 Rathke, M. H , Isis von Oken, 1825, 747-749, noo-iiQi.

8 Born, G., Die Plattenmodelirmethode, Archw. fur mikroscopwche
Anatomie, 1883, 22, 584.

* Remak, R., Untersuchung-en uber die Entwickelung der Wirbelthiere,
Berlin, G. Reimer, 1851 [1855]

74

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL S\BIN

which obtained until Kolliker ^ and His " both held that it came
from epithelium In the study of human embryos \\ith the
methods of serial sections \\hich he had perfected, His believed
that the thjmus arose from the ectoderm of the third gill cleft,
along the wall of a deep groove which he called the sinus praecer-
vicalis Mall found evidence, on the other hand, that the thymus
came from the endoderm of the pharynx. It is clear that the
matter was not much discussed by the two men while Mall was
at work, for it was the theory of the older man that a research
worker should be wholly independent while his work was in prog-
ress As Mall has related, when His took a student m research,
he outlined a problem, explained and demonstrated the methods,
and then was annoyed if he was consulted over the details Thus
at the end of the year, Mall told His of the results of the work
and gave him his paper written m English Under the advice
of His, Mall had applied to work m Ludwig's laboratory and
during the next winter Mall restudied the development of the
thymus, coming, however, to the same conclusions as at first,
and thus he returned the paper to His, now translated into
German. This time it was accepted, and, to follow its fate, we
pass over, for the moment, the momentous year which Mall spent
with Ludwig.

Mall left Germany in the summer of 1886, to become Fellow
in Pathology under Welch in Baltimore During the year which
followed, before his paper appeared in the Archiv fur Anatomic
und Bntwicklungsgeschichte, of which His was editor, there
was much interesting correspondence between the two men. His
studied Mall's paper carefully, selected the best of the drawings,
and had them copied on lithographic plates, concerning which
Mall wrote to His, February 23, 1887. "A few days ago I re-
ceived the plates and could hardly believe that they represented
the rough work I gave you last autumn. I hardly know how to
express my gratefulness to you." His then wrote that he was

5 Kolliker, A , Entwicklungsgeschichte des Menschen und der hoheren
Thiere, Leipzig, W, Engeltnann, 1861.

6 His, W., Anatomic menschlicher Embryonen 3 vols., Leipzig, F. C.
W Vogel, 1880-1885

75

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

reworking the subject in new human embryos, to which Mall
replied : "I am glad to hear that, in your reworking of the thymus,
you find again that it arises from the ectoderm " In this state-
ment Mall was entirely sincere, for his respect for the elder man
was so great that emotionally he would have been content to have
His correct, but he added at once : "From my material, I cannot
see how it is possible. My embryo shows definitely whence the
thymus comes. In the near future I hope to take up the subject
in the dog If I have been mistaken in the chick, it is my duty
to find it out and acknowledge it."

It is interesting to note with what courtesy and deference he
addressed the older man, using always the title of "Honored
Professor" and concluding his letters with "Your grateful pupil",
and yet how clearly and positively he expressed ins own views
His wrote that in the correction of Mall's paper he had been ex-
ceedingly careful not to change Mall's meaning, but that he had
omitted considerable of the data since the reader wishes only to
get a clear picture of the chief points and not to follow through
the entire material. The clear-cut statement of Mall's difference
from his own views was not deleted and in the printed article
is as follows (i, Page 18) :

"This nodule is a round or oval body which His, in his study
of the chick, has described as the beginning of the thyroid and
Seessel as the parathyroid , but, as a matter of fact, as will be
shown later, it is the thymus."

These were the words of the young man of twenty-two, work-
ing under the direction of a recognized master, to whom he gave
in the same paper the following significant expression of his
gratitude :

"This work was done under the direction of Herrn Prof. Dr.
His, to whom I am extraordinarily indebted, not only for having
been allowed to work with unlimited freedom in his laboratory,
but also for instruction in methods, and for the expression of
his views on various points during the progress of the work."

In the number of the journal preceding the one in which Mail's
paper appeared, His published again on the thymus, strengthen-
ing his own, opinion, and later Mall's paper was accompanied

76

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

by a footnote by His, explaining the delay in publication and
adding : "The work gives evidence, moreover, as one can easily
note, of its completely independent character."
When Mall first saw his paper in print, he wrote :

"A few days ago I saw the new number of the Archw fur
Anatomic und Entwicklungsgeschichte and was gratified to see
how much better my article appeared than when I handed it over
to you. . . You do not know how grateful I am to you for all
the trouble you have put yourself to m going through my terrible
article. I know that I shall profit by it. At least I shall try
to follow the example you have set/* Then immediately he
dropped the role of the beginner and set forth his views as a
mature and experienced worker. In a brief paragraph he
analyzed the whole matter. He had now a new series of dog
embryos and he had found the small epithelial structure which
His had taken for the thymus was a transitory organ which joined
the vagus and thus could not be the thymus, or, in Mall's own
words " "But I am fully convinced that you have erred regarding
the thymus and the body you have described as such is an organ
of the vagus." This organ is now known as one of the placodes,
or the homologue of the lateral line sense organs of fishes.

Mall then published three papers, two of them from material
he had prepared in Leipzig. The first was on the development of
the Eustachian tube in the chick (5), the second on the first
branchial cleft in the chick (3), and the third on the branchial
clefts in the dog (6). In these papers he described in detail the
placodes, to which he had referred in the letter to His (3, 4, 5, 6).
The union of the ganglion of the facial with the ectoderm was
first seen by van Wijhe 7 in 1882, then by Froriep, 8 by Beard, 9
and then by Mall, in 1888 (6). In this paper Mall made it clear
that the corresponding body (placode) which joined the vagus

7 van Wijhe, J. W, Ueber die Mesodermsegmente und die Entwickltmg
der Nerven des Selachierkopfes, Amsterdam, 1882.

8 Fronep, A , Archw fur Anatomie und Entwickelungsgeschichte,
1885, i.

9 Beard, J , Zoologischer Anzeiger, 1884, 7, 123-126, 140-143.

77

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

had nothing to do with the formation of the thymus gland, for
he said (6, page 211) :

"Can it now be possible that the organ frorn the third pocket
conies and disappears, and that the organ of the vagus leaves the
vagus and forms the thymus? Prof. His 7 error no doubt lies
in the fact that the smus pnecervicahs is long in developing It
forms a very conspicuous body in the region of the thymus. Just
as this body from the sinus prsecervicahs is disappearing, the
thymus rapidly appears and takes its place "

Thus again one see the decisiveness with which Mall expressed
his differences with his former teacher, both in letters to him
and m print, so that there was no ambiguity either as regards
Mall's views on the problem or concerning his profound respect
for and gratitude to His When he sent these reprints to Prof
His, he wrote "Today I send you two reprints of some work,
partly done with you and partly done by myself during last
summer's vacation I am really sorry that the work turned
out as it did, for I should much rather have been able to retract
my former statement regarding the thymus than to confirm it.
I hope that you will not find these pages worthless."

The answer to this letter must have been exciting to Mall, for
His had obtained some new human embryos and in reworking
the subject he had found that Mall had been right that is, he
now saw that the thymus arises from the lining of the pharynx.
He said, however, that there might be a small addition to the
organ from ectoderm, and it is probable that His never appre-
ciated the force of the evidence concerning the placodes, as Mall
indicated later in his final reviews of the subject ( 17, 5 1 ) . His 10
made the correction of this matter in the form of an open letter
to Mall published in the same journal in which their articles
had appeared.

This letter from His, as well as the correction in print, must
have been a gratification to Mall, for it is but human to rejoice
when one's work has been proved correct But the reply again

10 His, W, Schlundspalten und Thyrnusanlage (Aus einem Bnefe von
W His an F Mall in Baltimore), Archiv fur Amtomie und Bntwicke-
lungsgescfwchte, 1889, 155

78

FRANKLIN PAINE) MAIX SABIN

shows an ideal relation between two scientific workers, and only
in the greeting does one sense the difference in age.

"Honored Professor

"In one sense of the term I am grateful that our controversy
is over, for ever since my conclusion was so different from yours,
I have not felt any too well over the subject. It would have been
far more agreeable to me had I found that my view was in-
correct.

"Regarding the possibility of the ectoderm aiding to form the
thymus, I see no good reason why it should be so. The con-
centric corpuscles do represent the pathological changes that take
place in the skin, but a new formation from the larynx or from
the esophagus shows the same changes. If I do not mistake you,
you compare the concentric corpuscles to the pearls of epitheli-
omata, and since pearls are formed in cancers of the alimentary
canal above the stomach, endoderm may as well form concentric
corpuscles as ectoderm. On the other hand, first, amphibian
thymus glands have no concentric corpuscles, while m higher
vertebrates (dog, cat) the thymus is frequently filled with cysts
lined with ciliated epithelial cells This fact would argue in
favor of endoderm.

"The argument that makes it highly improbable to me that the
ectoderm does participate in the formation of the thymus is that,
as I believe, the sinus praecervicalis is the "branchial sense organ'
of the vagus It does not seem possible that an involution of
ectoderm should partly blend with a nerve and partly with a gland.

"In my work I am still engaged with connective tissue
Among a few new things, I find that the bone is quite full of
elastic fibrils. Also, I find that striated muscle behaves quite
differently at the tendon than has formerly been described. I
send you a sketch of such a muscle ending which is obtained by
boiling in dilute acetic acid I also send you two poor photo-
graphs of a reconstruction of the stomach.

"Otherwise I am getting along nicely, only that I have to
teach (?) somewhat, for I have been appointed assistant. Most
of my time I have for myself Last spring I worked through the
development of the frog. This winter, with the aid of the Gov-
ernment, I hope to work the development of the codfish and to
pay especial attention to the blood vessels

"I am looking forward to going to Leipzig for a few months
next summer This has been my very strong desire for the last
two years

"With best wishes,

Very gratefully, (Signed) F. P. MALL."

79

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL, MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

The history of Mall's first problem revealed his ability. It
is clear that he went to Leipzig without preliminary training in
embryology, that m a brief year he acquired the technique of
serial sections, and then, by the new methods of reconstruction,
he mastered the complex forms of the gill arch region in the
embryo chick and put his finger on the crux of the differences of
opinion regarding the origin of the thymus. He saw that the
transitory ectodermal placodes, then just beginning to be recog-
nized by embryologists and now well-known as the homologues
of the lateral line sense organs of fishes, were the cause of the
confusion, for the one which joined the vagus was close to the
position of the future primordium of the thymus. In two years
Mall had established the endodermal origin of the thymus gland
and his final summing up of the subject, published only a few
years later, 1893, (17) in the chapters on the origin of thymus
and thyroid for Buck's Reference Handbook of Medical Sciences,
is a clear description of a complex region. Following an ac-
count of the same region in fish embryos, he said : "In mammals
the condition is much simpler. The branchial grooves lie on the
side of the body, are shallow on their dorsal side and deep on
their ventral. As these arches fall over one another, the grooves,
as well as the third and fourth arches, are buried in the side of
the neck. While this is taking place, a pit is first formed, the
sinus praecervicalis of His. From the dorsal side of the first
groove an invagmation unites with the ganglia of the fifth nerve ;
from the second, the mvagination is to the ninth nerve; and
from the third and fourth it is to the tenth nerve. A section
through these organs in the region of the vagus and of the thymus
is shown in Fig. 627." (This figure from 17 is reproduced here.)
"The ectodermal invagination is absolutely blended with the
vagus and is only in apposition with the thymus."

The simple woodcut of this figure gives such convincing evi-
dence of the statement above as to explain fully the decisiveness
of Mall's conclusions on the origin of the thymus. These articles
in the Reference Handbook are still the best articles yet written
on the embryology of the gill arch region. To the medical his-
torian they might serve as models for a study of the growth of

80

FRANKWN PAINE MALL SABIN

medical thought, for they show how problems arise, how they
depend on the development of methods, and how the} are based

Thymus

3rd aortic arcK

Pharynx

Vaqus nerve

sinus
proecervicabs

4+h aortic arch

Jugular vein

FIG i. (Fig 627 in 17 ) Section through the Thymus and Fundus Praecervicalis
of a Dog's Embryo 10 mm long: X 65 It is seen that the thymus is
still m connection with the pharynx

on previous work To the student of Mall's development they
reveal how profound a mastery of the work of the earlier em-
bryologists he acquired m the laboratory of Professor His, and
they show also his own originality and his independence of
thought.

In October of 1885, Mall entered the laboratory of Professor
Carl Ludwig. Just as had happened to him when he applied to
work with His, he was not received at first, in this case because
Ludwig's laboratory was always full of students and there was
no room By a fortunate chance, however, one of Ludwig's stu-
dents left and, perhaps at the suggestion of His, Mall was offered
this place; indeed, Mall's trunk was already on the way to the
station when the invitation came. Thus began an influence which
was the most dominating m Mall's life.

Ludwig suggested to Mall the study of the blood vessels and
lymphatics of the small intestine, a problem in structure, but
conducted without that artificial separation which certain tech-
niques, such as the kymograph of Ludwig and the microtome of
His, were soon to bring between physiology and anatomy. Under

81

NATIONAL, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL X\ I

the guidance of Ludwig, Mall learned the methods of injections
of blood vessels and of lymphatics and made the specimens from
which the well-known beautiful lithographic plates of his article
were made The brief introduction to this article, stating that
while the study of the blood vessels of an organ could not give
evidence of blood pressure or rate of blood flow, nevertheless,
a complete picture of the pathways for the blood and lymph
throughout an organ was essential for an understanding of the
distribution of the force of the blood stream, shows plainly
enough the guidance of the work along physiological lines, for
which Mall was indebted to Ludwig.

In this stud} Mall not only got a concept of the entire vascular
system of one organ, but he was able to make a reconstruction
which enables one to visualize how all of the functioning tissues
of that organ, the muscle coats and the mucosa, get their blood
supply. I think that there is evidence that this was Mall's own
contribution to the problem, for it was this which made Ludwig
say of him that he had remarkable sense of structure m three
dimensions "Raumsinn," as he call it. To gam this concept,
Mall applied the methods of maceration and pulled the intestine
apart into all of its various layers, so that he saw each layer of
the organ in its relation to the rest ; in other words, he took the
intestine apart as a mechanic does an engine, so that from his
own experience he knew the properties of each coat as a back-
ground for the study of its blood supply.

In the study of the complex vascular pattern he saw that the
blood vessels of the intestine had developed in such a way as to
give every segment of the organ an equal supply of blood and
that the pattern of these vessels, complex as it might seem, could
really be expressed as a simple branching of one artery into five
different orders. Subsequently he was to show that this simple
concept of five different orders of arteries for an organ had a
general application to the vascular supply of all organs His
reconstruction made it easy to follow this pattern; the single
superior mesentenc artery, with its rays of mesentenc branches,
as vessels of the second order, and their anastomosing loops near
the wall of the intestine, is easily seen and had, of course, long

82

FRANKLIN" PUNE MALL

been kno\\n From these loops, long and short arteries, \essels
of the third order entered the submucosa, giving rise there to the
fourth order of distributing- vessels, with a second series of
anastomoses which completed the pattern for equalization of the
blood flow From the plexus of the fourth order, the mucosal
vessels became broken up into the capillary bed around the crypts
and under the epithelium of the vilh From this study, Mall got
the concept of structural units of organs, using the villus of the
intestine as the type Thus the \ illus, with its single artery and
capillary bed which it supplies, represents a final unit of function
for which all of the various coats of the intestine are adapted.

In like manner Mall found that the lymphatics of the intestinal
wall may be injected, if the needle enters the right level The
difficulty of lymphatic injections in the adult animal is due to the
abundance of the valves. For the intestine, an injection of the
central lacteals can be made only when the needle penetrates into
the plexus at the base of the crypts, since there are no valves
between these vessels and the central lacteals ; while the two main
plexuses, the one m the submucosa and the other between the
two layers of the muscle, are demonstrated when the needle enters
these two levels

This study of the walls of the intestine, with the picture of
vascular and lymphatic supply, has so completely entered into
the body of our knowledge that one can say without exaggeration
that no one studies the function of this organ without reference
to Mall's work.

The years with His and Ludwig had been far more to Mall
than just guidance m scientific problems, for the whole range of
scientific thought and of general culture had been opened up to
him Especially in the year with His, he must have read a
prodigious amount and it is clear that he had been led to follow
the scientific work of the master minds Also he attended many
clinics, he followed cases to autopsy and studied the pathological
sections. His letters home showed that art and literature, the
drama and music had come into his ken for the first time , he
wrote to his sister to read Shakespeare, not once but a dozen
times and then its beauty' would begin to appear. Likewise he

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

mastered Goethe as it can be done only in Germany with the
aid of the theatre as well as by reading Between him and
Ludwig there developed a rare friendship, and in the companion-
ship of these two men, both in the laboratory and in Ludwig's
library at home, there was revealed to the younger man an ideal-
ism and a devotion to scientific research which was to mean so
much to the development of American medicine. When Mall
said good-bye to Ludwig, and tried to thank him for all he had
done for him, Ludwig said to him, "If you feel this way about
it, pass it on." This is the key to Mall's devotion to the cause
of research and to the teachings of this master Mall was faithful
unto death. None of Mall's letters to Ludwig has been kept,
but the following one from Ludwig to Mall shows what the
worship of Nature meant to Ludwig and gives a glimpse too of
what the young American student meant to Ludwig.

"Dear Professor,

"So you are happy in your new position, provided with every-
thing necessary to wring from Nature her all too long guarded
secrets. The world hopes, she demands imperiously from you
great results, which can only be accomplished with the severest
labor. But the world will not thank you for them, rather she
will look upon all that you do as only a duty, as a small return
for what you owe. So it is when we are thrown entirely upon
our own resources ; quietly and alone the work goes forward and
the nearer we approach to the eternal works of magnificent Na-
ture, so much the happier we become ; and finally we lose sight
of all the petty intrigues around us and become wholly absorbed
in our work.

"The traditional isolation of the life of the research worker is
broken, when a spirit akin to his comes near. Those are the
days of the greatest happiness when in the rivalry and the strife
to understand Nature, now the one, and then the other, opens up
his heart So was it when we two worked together, but not often
comes such fortune into one's life.

"You had so much of interest to tell me of your work on the
stomach ; gladly would I hear more of it, but perhaps it has not
yet been printed. Send me a reprint when it appears, I hope in
the near future. I rejoice over every step in advance : prodigal
Nature is so niggardly with us research workers.

Faithfully yours, (Signed) CARL LUDWIG."

FRANKLIN PAINE MAI.L SABIN

Mall had gone to Europe a crude and uncultivated, but very
gifted youth , and m three years he had jumped to his full stature
and returned a mature man far more European in type than
American, except in his ardent love of democracy. His mind
had in that brief time grasped the culture of Europe and from
then on he seemed singularly adult ; he became a directing force
rather than the directed. More than anyone I have ever known
he seemed released from fear of criticism from his fellows, be-
cause he was sure of the principles which guided him and because
he saw the issues involved clearer than they. In this release from
fear lay Mall's great strength.

The period of his return to America was one of remarkable
awakening here. Oilman had already established a university
along German lines in Baltimore and he and Welch were then
planning a new medical school. Clark University was soon to
be started, and then Chicago University both founded as uni-
versities and not on the basis of the American college.

After the year in the laboratory of Prof. Ludwig, Mall wanted
to take a year in pathology under von Recklmghausen, but it
was now impossible for his father to help him further and he
had to seek a position in which he might make his living. Mall
had now decided to go into scientific medicine. In 1885 he wrote
to his sister, "I can see back a year of great improvement in
myself, I have made the acquaintance of and worked with two
of the greatest professors living. Whether that will do me any
good only the future can tell/' and again, "My aim is to make
scientific medicine a life work. If opportunities present I will.
This has been my plan ever since I left America and not until
late, since having received encouragement, have I expressed my-
self. I shall, no doubt, meet many stumbling blocks, but they are
anticipated." The encouragement which he referred to was un-
doubtedly the faith of Ludwig in his ability. In 1885, William
H. Welch, whom Mall had met in Leipzig, had been appointed
Professor of Pathology in the Johns Hopkins University at
Baltimore, as the first step toward the founding of the Johns
Hopkins Hospital and Medical School, and Mall now applied to
him for a position m the spring of 1886 Welch answered Mall

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

that the chances for scientific work in America were very scanty,
but that he would try to get him an appointment. The appoint-
ment was, however, slow in coming and it was a period of great
anxiety to Mall, of the event Dr Welch has written to me
"When I started work at the Johns Hopkins in the autumn of
1885, I managed to have one of the twenty fellowships granted
by the University given to pathology, and when Mall was ready
to start he applied for one of these and became, I think, the first
Fellow of Pathology. He helped to some extent with the teach-
ing, but the fellowships were intended for research and he fol-
lowed mainly his own lines Among these was his study of the
fermentative or digestive powers of the various species of bacteria
upon the different tissues fibrous, reticular, elastic and he
obtained interesting results, only m part published His especial
interest was reticulum Mall was one of the group Council-
man, Halsted, Herter, Booker, Bolton, and others who worked
m the Pathological Laboratory before the Hospital was opened
in 1889, a really creative, formative period for the future hospital
and medical school."

Thus for the years 1886 to 1889 Mall was a Fellow, then
Assistant, in pathology under Welch in the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity. In the fall of 1886, Mall wrote to His that he planned
to go on with the study of the intestine, and that his work would
probably be from the pathological standpoint But the events
proved that he was wholly free to follow his own bent, which
was more physiological. Mall seemed to jump at once to his
full stature. His work on the stomach just referred to in
Ludwig's letter representing perhaps his first work done with-
out guidance, has always seemed to me one of his most interest-
ing. Here was an organ, built from the same simple tube as the
intestine embryologically, and yet entirely lacking the simplicity
and the symmetry of the intestine From every aspect it was
divided into three zones which he studied first from their marked
differences in thickness. By stripping the coats apart he found
that every coat differed in the three regions, though the most
striking difference was the thickness of the circular muscle coat
of the pylonc region, fully twice as thick as in the middle region.

86

FRANKUN PAINE MAIJL S \BIN

He obsened that under var>ing functional states the dilatation
of the pylonc region was slight; then by artificial detention, he
found that at first each part expanded equally, until the folds
of the mucosa were flattened out, after which the cardiac zone
would continue to expand until it ruptured, while the rest of
the organ showed little or no change. During digestion it
was clear that some mechanism caused a regional distribution
of blood, because the middle zone was always hyperaemic and
there was an active contraction of its muscle coats, while the
pyloric region remained firm, hard, and pale. Indeed, several
hours after ligation of the coehac axis, the middle portion would
still be hyperaemic and its mucosa would be found completely
digested, showing that its glands produced the digestive ferment,
while the mucosa of pyloric and cardiac regions would still be
normal. He passed in review all of the evidence then available
for the view of Heidenham that the chief cells secrete pepsin
and the border cells the acid, since so convincingly demonstrated
by Harvey and Bensley, 11 because the region containing the
glands with these two types of cells, that is the middle, or fundic
region was so favored by the circulation.

Unlike the intestine, which is supplied from one artery, the
stomach is supplied from the coeliac axis, whose three branches,
hepatic, gastric, and splenic, supply three different organs. Mall
was concerned with finding out why the fundic region received
the greatest blood supply The anastomosing loops between the
first branch of the superior mesentenc artery, with the hepatic,
and then in turn with the gastric, he viewed as a continuation
of the intestinal anastomosing loops, and from these arches the
pyloric region was supplied with smaller, but at the same time,
more numerous branches. The splenic system, on the other hand,
with the right and left gastro-epiploic veins, formed a system of
arches entirely peculiar to the stomach Thus, while the pyloric
part of the stomach was supplied from small hepatic branches,
the fundic region, from which the pepsin and the acid were ob-
tained, was supplied from both gastric and splenic vessels. This

11 Harvey, B. C H , and Bensley, R. R , Biological Bulletin, 1912, 23, 225

87

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

he said might prove to be of great significance because this is
the zone with the greatest blood supply and because the spleen
contains the most blood just at the end of digestion. The middle
zone of the stomach he found supplied by the largest branches,
which entered the submucosa and there formed a double network
of arteries, the wider meshed one with free anastomoses. This
wider meshed network lay in the middle of the submucosa, in
contrast to the position of the major arterial plexus of the intes-
tine which was closer to the circular muscle. The meaning of
this striking difference in the position of the mam distributing
vessels he found by making an injection of the vessels of the
stomach with the muscle cells still alive, and then forcing their
contraction. This showed that the outer zone of the submucosa
then became smaller in area, while the inner layers became folded
with the mucosa, and the vessels were suspended between these
two different zones of connective tissue fibers. The blood supply
of the intestine had been adapted to bringing the capillary plexus
beneath the functioning epithelium of the villi, that is, into the
area of absorption. The pattern of capillaries in the stomach
was quite different, for the arteries which penetrated to the
mucosa broke at once into a candelabra-like arterial plexus
around the depths of the gastric glands, this being the main
functioning zone of the gastric mucosa, and there was a double
plexus of veins, one just beneath the epithelium of the gastric
pits on the surface of the stomach, and the other at the base of
the glands. Thus, as Mall put it, the intestinal mucosa had two
arteries, one to the crypts and one to the villus and one plexus
of veins, while the gastric pattern was the reverse, one artery
and two venous plexuses. In both cases, the arterial capillary
plexus surrounded the main functipnmg zone of the organ, in
the one case the surface, absorbing epithelium, in the other case
the glandular, secreting epithelium. The transition between these
two types of circulation he showed at the pyloric valve.

During these years Mall was still studying the intestine (20)
with methods which might well be applied again. He became
interested in the type of contractions and the influence which
they had on the circulation. Measuring the cross section of the

FRANKLIX PAINE MAIJL SABIN

different orders of vessels throughout their course from the
mesentenc artery to the portal vein, he plotted a curve of these
areas and showed that there were two areas of extreme expan-
sion of the vascular bed : first, there was a sudden and marked
expansion in the capillaries of the mucosa, followed by a fall in
the veins at the base of the mucosa, and still more as they passed
through the musculans mucosae, and then succeeded by a still
greater rise in the plexus of veins in the submucosa, leading
finally to an area of the mam portal vein not much larger than
the original artery. In the plexus of the submucosa, where this
remarkable expansion of vascular area occurs, are numerous
retia mirabiha, still inadequately understood.

Mall studied the power of distention of the intestine on the
basis of its connective tissue coats and the nature of its con-
tractions on the basis of Its muscular coats. The submucosa,
isolated and macerated, or dried and distended, could be seen to
be made up largely of white fibrous tissue, in the form of two
opposing spirals of fibers, which came to lie more at right angles
to each other as the wall was distended. He believed that this
arrangement of the inelastic fibers was adapted to aid the muscles
in changing the lumen of the intestine.

The elastic tissue, instead of being uniformly distributed be-
tween the white fibers of the submucosa, as it is in the skin, he
found m two layers ; one of these was very finely meshed and
could be stripped off from the submucosal surface of the muscu-
laris mucosae. It was filled with holes which marked the posi-
tion of the mucosal arteries The second elastic coat was of
coarser mesh and lay outside the musculans mucosae, and its
mesh made a pattern for the bases of the crypts of Lieberkuhn.

It was these studies that made Mall realize that the surgery
of the intestine depended on the properties of the submucosav
Halsted told me that it was Mall who made this suggestion
In Welch's department in those early years, one sees an example
of joint research at its best, for Halsted 12 worked out his
methods of intestinal anastomosis, while Mall both assisted with

^ Halsted, W S , American Journal of Medical Sciences, 1887, 94, 436,
and Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 1921, 32, 98

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

the operations and studied the results from the structural stand-
point. The histological work was published later by Mall (21)
and showed that when the sutures entered but did not penetrate
the submucosa, the best results were obtained. The submucosa,
with its predominance of white fibrous tissue, was the only coat
strong enough to hold the sutures; the muscle coat, of course,
allowed the sutures to pull out, while when the needle penetrated
the musculans mucosae there were two dangers, one of infec-
tion along the sutures and, failing that, when the muscularis
mucosae was torn, of a marked new growth of the glands into
the zone of the submucosa.

In his study on intestinal contraction, Mall made wide use
of the work of previous observers, showing how much he had
learned under Ludwig and from his later reading. He saw that
intestinal contraction had to be studied in connection with the
blood supply, for on contraction the intestine invariably became
paler, harder, and longer Under Ludwig, Mall had learned of
the two kinds of intestinal contraction, first, the local rhythmical,
regular contractions, and second, the peristaltic waves From
his own studies, he found that there were three types of con-
tractions to be considered, first, the rapid peristaltic waves so
frequently seen after the death of an animal, which pass rapidly
over the intestine and may go in either direction This type of
wave cannot be demonstrated in the living animal except under
conditions that may be considered as pathological ; and Mall con-
sidered they were not present during normal digestion and were
only aroused by strong irritants.

The second form is the normal peristalsis of digestion, with
a rate about 1/90 as fast as the abnormal contractions This
wave is always in the one direction, which Mall proved by getting
Halsted to make several operations involving a reversal of an
intestinal loop (22). The animals recovered from the operation
and for a short time were well and then became ill. When killed
it was found that the reversed loop was dilated most markedly
at the proximal end, where there was a piling up of intestinal
contents and an ulceration of the mucosa. This demonstrated

90

FRAXKLIX PAINE MALL SABIN

that the mechanism of the normal peristalsis lies within the wall
of the intestine it belt" and that this wa\e is irreversible The
third, local, rhythmic contractions, now kno\\n by the work of
Cannon with the newer technique involving X-rays and the
fluoroscope to be significant in the breaking up of the food and
the mixing of it with the digestive fluids, Mall studied with
reference to the circulation. He found that each contraction
of the circular muscle expelled blood from the plexus of veins
in the submucosa and raised the pressure in the portal vein. He
found that each of the rhythmic contractions in the intestine was
followed by a wave in the superior mesenteric vein Thus' he
studied the rhythmic contractions as giving rise to a venous
pulse to aid m the hepatic circulation He added these words
(20, page 72) : "Whether our rhythmic wave is present m the
living animal has not yet been shown This is a subject which,
when investigated, will probably yield valuable and interesting
results *' And his final summary was r (20, page 74) "To con-
clude, we may state that with this arrangement, each contraction
of the muscle- walls of, the intestine not only propels the contents
of the intestine 'downward, not only aids in mixing the chyle,
but also expels blood from the intestine into the portal vein,
makes room for new blood, and thus acts indirectly upon the
liver "

From the preceding pagds, it is clear that the studies pa the
wall of the intestine madfc m Ludwig's laboratory, as f well as
the studies just described, focused Mall's attention on the subject
of the fibers of the connective tissues. To this interest the work
of His also contributed, based as it was on Bichafs concept of
the importance of the connective tissues, an idea which His* had
analyzed and developed

' In the study of the intestinal and gastftc walls, if had been the
white fibrous coat (submucosa) and the elastic membranes which
had occupied Mall's attention. Now he realized that the reticulum
must also be considered Years before Billroth ( quoted -*$ His
in 1861 ) had cdjtfed attention'to the reticular framew6fk 1 r of lymph
nodes and had 'described it as made of multi : pQlar ^ejjs, but

9,1

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

both Ranvier 13 and Bizzozero 14 had shown that this frame-
work is actually made up of a network of fibers on which the
cells described by Billroth rest. In 1861 His 15 had shown
that the reticulum is best seen when frozen sections of lymph
glands are shaken in a test tube of water, until most of the lymph-
ocytes are removed, and undoubtedly these preparations of His
stimulated Mall's mind Mall then discovered that the reticular
network of fibers not only makes the framework of the lymphoid
tissues, but also forms the supporting tissues of all the organs,
and his work is considered as having established the fact that
the reticular framework of organs is independent of cells. Mall
showed that reticulum is so labile a framework that it adapts
itself to and supports all of the functioning cells of each organ.
Thus, when the cells of each organ, for example, the liver cells,
the gastric glands, or all of the secretory cells of the pancreas
are removed, the reticular framework so faithfully outlines the
patterns of these cells that each organ can be told by the frame-
work alone. When it is realized that this framework also con-
forms to the pattern of new growths of cells, the significance
of this tissue, both in normal structure and in pathological pro-
cesses can be grasped.

Mall discriminated the fibers of the connective tissues by
various chemical means ; on the one hand, the yellow elastic tis-
sue, and on the other hand, the two closely related types, the white
fibrous bundles and the reticular fibers. The yellow elastic tis-
sue, with its protean forms, fibers, fine and coarse, dense net-
works and membranes, he found to be made up of two different
substances, an outer, continuous membrane, not taking any stain,
and an inner, discontinuous, stainable material, giving the ap-
pearance of fenestrae to the membranes. The elastic tissue he
found resistant to acids and alkalies, unless boiled m strong con-
centration. It, however, could be digested slowly in pepsin,
rapidly in pancreatin and papain. In this process, it was the inner

18 Ranvier, L , Traite technique d'histologie. Pans, F Savy, 1875, 689.
M Bizzozero, G,, Rendiconti, Real 1st. Lombar&o, 1872, 5, 2.
10 His, W., Untersuchtmgen uber den Bau der Lymphdrusen, Leipzig,
W Engelmann, 1861.

92

FRANKLIN PAINE MALI* SABIN

stainable material that was attacked b\ the digestive enzjme
The converse was true of the white fibrous tissue and the reticu-
lum, for the} were destroyed by acids and resisted digestion.
These observations led Mall to the study of putrefaction, that
is to say, he made use of bacteria as ferments and in these studies
made interesting discoveries concerning bacteria. Thus, in a
letter to Stanley Hall, April 21, 1889, concerning the position
which Hall had offered to Mall at Clark University, Mall wrote :

"It is my plan to sail for Europe on. June i. I hope to pass
what remains of the summer semester m Ludwig's laboratory.
My acquaintance with the master ripened into friendship and
I long to see him. At the same time, I desire to obtain some
advice on certain points in physiological chemistry. My work
this year, I am sorry to say, drifted into the subject of symbiosis
and into the subject of putrefaction. Some of the observations
are extremely interesting. A marked example is as follows.
Certain anaerobic microorganisms will not grow when they are
exposed to air unless they are mixed with facultative anaerobic
organisms. I think also that I have considerably improved the
method of cultivating anaerobic organisms."

He found that certain aerobic bacteria, which did not digest
elastic tissue, nevertheless enhanced the power of anaerobes to
digest it. Thus he discovered that the aerobic organism, in using?
up the oxygen, made favorable conditions for the growth of the
anaerobic germs. These observations demonstrate Mall's orig-
inality in making important new observations in the then new
field of bacteriology He found that an anaerobic organism,
which he got from garden soil and termed the "knob bacillus,"
on account of its tendency to grow spores at one end, when com-
bined with Brieger's bacillus, gave a characteristic color reac-
tion with elastic tissue, so constant as to be diagnostic of the
digestion of elastic tissue. The effect of the bacteria on the elastic
tissue he found to be exactly like that of the digestive ferments,
namely, a preliminary splitting of the central stainable material
of the fiber. He said that it was probable that the bacteria acted
through ferments, though he could not isolate them. In the
caseous tubercles in the lungs of cattle and of man, he found that
the elastic tissue showed the same sort of damage as with the

93

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

digestive ferments, the process starting always in the center of
the caseating material

The property of the reticulated tissue m resisting the action
of ferments made it possible to digest out the cells of the organs
and reveal the reticulated framework Mall's beautiful prepara-
tions of reticulum are known to all histologists Of the litho-
graphic plates of these preparations Ludwig wrote to Mall, No-
vember i6 t 1890* "Day before yesterday on November I4th, I
spread your beautiful plates before the astonished sight of the
Fellows of our society."

Indeed, several letters from Luelwig showed that Mall had
interested him so much in the experiments with digestion of con-
nective tissue fibers that he was also working with the method
The plates referred to demonstrate how completely each or-
gan can be identified from its framework Some of the most
beautiful of Mall's preparations were made with the spleen ;
the method was as follows the spleen, was removed, care be-
ing' taken not to injure the capsule except for two small cuts at
each end, into which small glass cannulae were tied The entire
organ was then submitted to digestion with pancreatin or with
putrefactive bacteria When the splenic cells were digested
out, the spleen was attached to the water tap and washed with a
slow stream of water until clear of debris. Then the entire re-
ticular framework was immersed in a solution of magenta, and
then distended and dried with air The entire framework of
reticu}um was then exposed by dissecting off the capsule In
these, original studies Mall found slight chemical differences
bptween the reticular fibers ,and the white fibrous tissue, but
eventually he believed that the major^iifejencg ^vas morphologi-
cal, m that the white fibers ran in wavy bundles and never
br^ngheci^ Ayhile the reticulaf fibera were always in networks.
In this early work Mall said ^hat elastic t ,tissue JSj present, only in
Vertebrates that have a bony skeleton and that, it appears ;when
the bones'vbegm to ossify. Also, at that time, he believed that the
fibers formed outside of the cells, which is the view accepted at
present, though later, m a study of the development of connec-
tive tissue fibers, Mall changed to the view that the firat fibrils

94

FRANKUN PAIXE MAL,I< SABIX

are formed within the C}toplasm of the so-called fibroblast This
view, on what is htill conceded to be one of the most difficult
phases of histology, is one of the few observations of Mall which
has not stood the test of time. It is clear enough that to tell
whether the delicate fibrils of the connective tissues are actually
within or on cells is not possible by observation alone and the
matter must be subjected to the experimental test of seeing
whether fibers, chemically identifiable, can be developed without
cells, as in tissue culture (Baitsell).

The presence of vasomotor nerves for the portal vein is re-
garded as one of the most important of Mail's discoveries The
first observation which led to this discovery was m the work
on the intestine done in Ludwig's laboratory, where Mall (2)
noted that the intestinal and mesentenc veins, interpolated as
they are between two systems of capillaries, those of the intestine
and those of the liver, had an unusually marked circular mus-
culature and that under certain conditions of injection these
veins were irregularly constricted In 1890, Mall (8) published
the first demonstration of motor nerves for the portal vein. In
this paper he stated the problem clearly, saying that while in
Ludwig's laboratory he had already seen constrictions of the por-
tal vein due to contractions of the ring muscles of the portal
yein , that when one considered that the portal vein was in lieu
of a second artery to the capillaries of the liver, it was easy to
hypothesize vasomotor nerves to this vein. To prove their pres-
ence it would be necessary first to eliminate all blood flow from
the hepatic artery in the living animal and then stimulate the
splanchnic nerves. Again in 1896, in his studies on the circula-
tion of the stomach, Mall referred to the matter, saying (19,
page 23)

"Recently I have found that irritation of the splanchnic nerve
causes contraction of the walls of the mesenteric vein All these
influences brought together in all probability have a marked effect
on the circulation through the liver and finally upon the circula-
tion m general:"

The final publications on this important subject, the first in
German (13) in 1892, and the second in English (23) in 1896,

95

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

contained the complete proof of the action of those nerves. After
Ernst Hemnch Weber showed that stimulation of the splanchnic
nerves or irritation of the spinal cord caused a constriction of
the arteries, it was thought that this was sufficient to account for
the rise in pressure in the vena cava and aorta following the
stimulation of these nerves. But Mall said that since the capacity
of the arteries is insignificant as compared with the veins, it
was necessary also to take into consideration the possible effect
of a contraction of the veins, especially when it was shown that
dilatation of the abdominal veins had a marked effect in lowering
blood pressure. Mall proved the presence of motor nerves to the
mesenteric and portal veins and their effect in raising blood pres-
sure in the following manner He found that when the aorta
was tied just below the origin of the subclavian artery, the blood
flow was completely stopped. This was long before the days
of thoracic surgery and the operation, first made from the front
at the level for good exposure of the splanchnic nerve was diffi-
cult and did not completely eliminate the flow of blood from the
aorta. Mall finally devised an operation which was feasible,
going into the thoracic cavity from the side, beneath the pec-
torahs major between the second and third ribs, from this posi-
tion it was easy to tie the aorta just below the origin of the sub-
clavian. With this method, the arteries below the ligature became
entirely empty while the portal vein and its branches remained
distended with blood. When in such a preparation the splanchnic
nerve was stimulated, these veins contracted and emptied them-
selves completely. Then he showed also that even with the aorta
intact, one could see the mesenteric veins and the portal contract
under the stimulation of the splanchnic nerves, while an effect
on the vena cava could not be determined on account of the pulsa-
tion of that vessel. He also demonstrated the rise in blood pres-
sure in the portal. These studies carried the following acknowl-
edgment to Ludwig (23, page 112) :

"Most of the work recorded in this paper was performed in
the laboratory of Professor Ludwig, and a portion of it dates
from Clark University. It has been interrupted at various in-
tervals and the reader will excuse its incompleteness The diffi-

96

FRANKUN PAINE MALL SAB IN

culty in performing the various experiments and the extensive
bearing of the question are my apology. To exhaust this work
will require many more hours of patient labor of combined forces
(See also Thompson, Arch. f. Physwl , 1893, and Bayliss and
Starling, 7. of Physiol , 1894 Vol. 17). The substance of this
paper has ben published m German (13) but in a different form ;
it bears the stamp of Ludwig. To that master I owe much, all"

During the years that Mall was Fellow m Pathology under
Welch, he worked on the development of the thymus. he made
the model of the circulation of the vessels of the dog's stomach,
he made all of the studies on intestinal contraction, the studies
of intestinal anastomosis, and of the reversal of the intestinal
loops with Halsted as well as the studies m bacteriology as ap-
plied to the fibers of the connective tissues and he performed the
experiments proving vasomotor nerves for the portal veins just
described. Thus were passed four active and remarkably fruit-
ful years

In the spring of 1889, Mall accepted a position as Adjunct
Professor of Anatomy at Clark University, in Worcester, Mas-
sachusetts, and thus after years of training in embryology, physi-
ology, bacteriology and pathology, he finally decided to go into
anatomy, basing his decision on his interest in structure and on
his talents as Ludwig had seen them. Stanley Hall, who had
been in psychology at the Johns Hopkins University while Mall
was in Welch's laboratory, was organizing the new university
and Mall joined his faculty, which was as brilliant a group as
was ever assembled in America. There was Michelson m physics,
Nef in chemistry, Donaldson in neurology, Whitney in zoology,
Mall, Lilly, Mead, Jordan, McMurrich, William Snow Miller,
and others. It was to be a university in the true sense, with ade-
quate time and facilities for research, and Mall spent three active
years there. It was here that he finished the work on the reticu-
lum and made the final experiments on the nerves of the portal
vein. Most of his time, however, was now spent in embryology.
Already while in Baltimore, or more especially in the summers
at Woods Hole, Mall had been studying embryology, stating in
his letters to His that he was working on the development of
frog and fish embryos. Moreover, he began at this time the study

97

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL X\ I

of the early development of the liver, seeking to reconstruct
the liver lobule

When Mall had returned to America, Professor His had given
to him several human embr\os cut in serial sections for study
When he had studied them he returned them to His who, how-
ever, gave them back to form the nucleus of a new collection
to be made by Mall Mall began to write short articles to be dis-
tributed to doctors about the preservation of the valuable human
material that came into their possession. While still in Baltimore
he had received a well preserved specimen, entirely normal,
which he estimated- to be twenty-six days old. It measured 7 mm.
and had thirty-eight muscle plates Mall had learned the Born
method of three dimensional reconstruction with wax plates in
His' laboratory and he now made several models of this specimen
It was closely like the well-known His embryo, Br 3 . This was
the first embryo ever modeled in America and at the time it
was the most complete study yet made of any human embryo.
This work laid the foundation for Mall's knowledge of embry-
ology. Especially interesting to him were the form of the cen-
tral nervous system and the cranial nerves At this time he be-
gan the investigation of the coelom, making a cast of it by cut-
ting out the plates and filling the cavity with plaster Here again
he showed the well developed form sense which Ludwig had
noted. January 17, 1890, Mall wrote to His, from Clark Uni-
versity *

"My work progressed better than I had anticipated The
human embryo of which I told you (7.5 mm long) has already
been modeled after Bora's method. The model brought out
most decidedly the so-called neuromeres and many other points
which were new to me. I am busily engaged with the liver and
find that at first the liv^r cells grow into the omphalomesenteric
vein and soon break it into many small vessels I have also suc-
ceeded in isolating m large quantities the fibrils around the liver
capillaries, as described by you. In section they seem to be iden-
tical with the reticulum of lymph glands I hope ultimately to
be able to give a reconstruction of the liver lobule and also its
development."

rkAXKUX PAIXE MAU, SA1UX

And then later, December ig, 1900 *'l have been quite busily
engaged all autumn on the development of the liver and the
pleuro-pentoneal cavit} by means of corrosion methods. The
way is quite round about. I first make the plate drawings and
cut out the portions I desire to reconstruct, and then cast them
with metal (Wood's metal). This method proves to be very
valuable with arteries and all small spaces "

This was the start of Mall's interest in the development of
the coelom and he ultimately went back to early stages, restudy-
mg the work of Budge on the development of the coelom m
chick embryos Budge had made injections of the true coelom
and the extraembryonic coelom in chick embryos, and in later
stages had injected the thoracic duct and thought that some of
the original spaces of the coelom became the lymphatic sys-
tem. It was these studies of Budge which suggested to Mall the
problem of the origin of the lymphatic system, which he subse-
quently offered to me as a problem in his laboratory, and thus it
is interesting to read (17) that Mall had studied Budge's actual
specimens in His' laboratory. It proved subsequently that the
lymphatics form much later, after the body cavities are well
established. Mall followed with reconstructions all of the com-
plex forms of the development of the pleural-pentoneal cavities,
including the separation of them by the development of the dia-
phragm, as well as the forms of the greater and the lesser peri-
toneal cavities.

Mall now began to study the nervous system, specifically with
reference to the development of the eye in amphibian forms,
Amblystoma and Necturus. This work was begun at Clark Uni-
versity (15) and of it he wrote to His, January 31, 1892 "I
hope that my communication will not be considered by you as
worthless as you know I am not too well posted on the literature."
As a matter of fact this paper is far more than just the embry-
ology of an amphibian eye ; it shows a remarkable insight into
the problem of the histogenesis of the central nervous system,
a subject then in its infancy Mall's first conception 6f the
neurone doctrine was based on the early work of Remak and

99

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Helmholtz, who, soon after the discovery of the cell by Schleiden
and Schwann, had postulated that the nerve fiber is an outgrowth
of a nerve cell This concept was then made more likely through
the discrimination of axone and dendrite by Deiters as well as
by the now well-known methods for specific staining of neurones
devised by Golgi and Ramon y Cajal. His had, however, brought
the strongest evidence of the outgrowth theory by direct obser-
vation in embryos of a nerve fiber which was a continuation of
a single nerve cell. This concept was subsequently conclusively
established in Mall's department by Ross G. Harrison 16 many
years later, in 1910, by watching the outgrowth of the fiber in
tissue cultures, a method which he devised for the specific study
of this problem. In 1893, Mall judging that the balance of evi-
dence at that time was in favor of the neurone doctrine, developed
the concept that there was a specific polarity of the developing
neurone, in that the receiving pole of the cell always pointed to
the surface of the ectoderm, or toward the central canal of the
central nervous system. The lining of the central canal was, of
course, originally surface epithelium on account of the involu-
tion of ectoderm to make the nervous system Mall described
the pattern of each of the sense organs, from the simplest one
in the olfactory nerves to the most complex in the retina, on the
basis of this polarity. He observed that not only in the retina but
in the central nervous system as well the polarity of the nerve
cell was foreshadowed by a constant position of the axis of cell
division, the axis always being parallel to, or the plane of the
spindle perpendicular to the original ectodermal surface. The
concept involved specific growing zones in the nervous system,
which in the developing retina he found to be always in the
periphery of the optic cup and primarily at the surface of the
central canal. W. Muller l7 had suggested in 1874 that the optic
nerve arose in the retina and grew to the brain ; this was demon-

16 Harrison, R G., Journal Experimental Zoology, 1910, p, 787

17 Muller, W., Festgabe an Carl Ludwig, Beitrage sswr Anatomie und
Physiologu, Leipzig, F C W. Vogel, 1874.

100

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

strated later by His IS and by Martin in 1890 19 for mammalian
material, and in the next year by Fronep 20 who reported a shark
embryo in which the optic nerve had started from the retina but
had not yet reached the brain. Mall now reported the same ob-
servation in the amphibian material. This series of reports in
quick succession on this important point shows that it was a
timely subject. On January 31, 1892, Mall wrote to His about
his observatons on the retina and the growth of the optic nerve
in amphibia and enclosed a diagram in which he outlined his
concept of the polarity of the neurone, as a general law of growth
of the nervous system. To this letter His replied, February 27,
1892, "Your scheme for the growth of fibers of the neuroblasts
has, however, exceptions. In the forebram, most of the cells de-
velop their fibers toward the ventricle/' To this letter Mall re-
plied, March 17, 1892:

"Your objection to the 'polarity of the nerve cells' I think can
be met. Recently the beautiful paper of von Lenhossek, as well
as my observation that various sense organs in Necturus develop
fibers to the central nervous system, gives new evidence. The
ear, according to Ayers, is formed the same way. As regards
the cerebrum I think that the sketches I enclose will also over-
come the difficulty. The case you mention to me is identical with
the young retina where also the cells are directed m the wrong
way. This may only indicate that cells are wandering.

"In order to .form the grey substance in the brain or the com-
missures, the cells would have to develop their fibers on the wrong
side . . . But the more I think of it, the more I believe that there
is a great law of growth at the bottom of it all and that the
polarity of cells is present m all animals. I hope that you will

M His, W., Histogenese und Zusammenhang- der Nervenelemente
Archiv fur Anatomne und BntwickelungsgescJwchte, 1890, Supp -Bd ,

9S-7

10 Martin, P., Die Neuroblasten des Oculomotorius und Trochleans
Anatomische Anseiger, 1890, 5, 530-532 Zur Entwickelung der Netzhaut
t>ei der Katze. Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Augenheilkunde, 1893, 7,
25-41

20 Froriep, A., Ueber die Entwickelung 1 der Seenerven Anatomischer
Anseiger, 1891, 6, 155-161.

101

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL X\ I

forgive me for speaking of theories instead of facts, but I be-
lieve they will cover all the known facts with the exception of
the spinal ganglia " In the paper on the retina, Mall explained
that the difficulties in following the cells of the spinal ganglia
were due both to the fact that m their division after separation
from the neural crest all orientation to the original position was
lost and also that the sensory cells, originally bipolar, soon be-
came unipolar Continuing the letter to His, he said, "At any
rate, if you will be forgiving and feel that the question is worth
criticizing, I shall be very thankful " Then on December 27,
1892, Mall wrote again to His, now from the University of
Chicago * "I am at present occupied with the polarity of cells
in the various portions of the brain, and find that it holds in
many portions, as in the corpus dentatum and olivary body."
Again, Oct 9, 1893, he wrote to His, "I have sent you a small
paper on the retina Forgive it," These references to the pat-
terns of growth of neurones in the letters to His are exceedingly
interesting m the light of the theory of neurobiotaxis as devel-
oped by Anens Kappers. Realizing that he was dealing with
an obscure field with somewhat vague hypotheses, Mall clearly
foreshadowed Kappers' theory that throughout the central nerv-
ous system each group of developing neurones is oriented in the
lines of the incoming sensory impulses Thus again one sees the
originality of Mall's mind, for, in taking up a new field, neur-
ology, he made observations which have stood the test of time,
sensed their meaning and judged the force which directs the
path of the growth of neurones.

When Clark University was first founded, it had seemed to
its faculty that it might develop into what we now know as the
research institute; but two factors militated against this, first
that Jonas G Clark, who founded it, was not sympathetic toward
this idea nor had he any realization of the endowment necessary,
and secondly that Stanley Hall failed to take his faculty into his
confidence over his difficulties and that he lacked the power to
create for them the peace of mind essential for research It is
now known that when Mall once realized that the others felt
as he did, he took the steps which solved the difficulty. Mall

102

FRAXKUN PAINE M \LL SABIN

was an intimate fnend of R. F Harper, the brother of President
Harper, then organizing a f aculu for Chicago University and in
the spring of 1892, Whitman, Michelson, Xef, Bolza and Mall
went to Chicago University.

The correspondence between Mall and Harper shows that it
was Mall who persuaded Whitman to go to Chicago University,
a decision so momentous for Chicago This, however, was not
his only service to the University, for though he remained there
only one year, through his friendship with President Harper
and through the wisdom of his counsels, Mall not only founded
the Department of Anatomy in the University but he was a
powerful factor in the organization of the whole biological de-
partment. Here he developed the plans by which each department
of the University might develop into an Instkute, with the en-
couragement of research as its major activity both for faculty
and for students.

In the spring of the next year, 1893, Mall was offered the
Professorship of Anatomy at the Johns Hopkins University,
where the new medical school was to be opened in the fall. This
was the third professorship which Mall was offered in four years'
time Clark University, Chicago University, and the Johns Hop-
kins University It was, of course, Welch who had called him
back to Baltimore and Mall made the decision on the score that
he could more quickly organize a department there to his liking,
one in which he could devote a greater proportion of his time to
research. He was now thirty-one years old and with this decision
the period of his training may be considered as complete. His
work during the years between twenty and thirty had shown his
originality and his power in mastering new fields. He had es-
tablished the endodermal origin of the thymus and clarified its
relation to the lateral line sense organs , he had worked out the
vascular supply of intestine and stomach so completely that the
work still remains the standard ; he had studied the physiology
of the movements of the intestine and had aided in working out
the surgery of intestinal anastomoses ; he had discovered the vaso-
motor nerves of the portal vein; he had improved the methods
for cultivating anaerobic bacteria*, showing that they would grow

103

NATIONAL, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

in the presence of facultative anaerobes because they used up the
oxygen ; he had used bacterial ferments as well as digestive fer-
ments to work out the nature of the reticular framework of
organs and had made valuable contributions to an understanding
of the laws underlying the growth of the neurones of the central
nervous system.

Mall's mature years were spent in Baltimore, his profound
influence on medical education, his share in the founding of
anatomical journals, m the leadership of scientific societies, and
finally in the establishing of a Research Institute for Embry-
ology are part of the story of his life. His effect on medical
teaching in this country was due not only to the originality of
his ideas on education but also to the power of his example;
gifted with powers of organization, he nevertheless continued
to put his major efforts into research to the very end.

His research work in Baltimore may be classified under three
heads : embryology, the structure of organs in the adult as
adapted to their functions, and a beginning in anthropology.

Mall now made a series of embryological studies, all closely
connected in thought; they included the development of the
diaphragm in human embryos, the development of the ventral
abdominal walls, the development of the body cavities and of
the loops of the intestine. In the study of the diaphragm
and of the body walls he was interested in the primary relation
of the nerve to its myotome or muscle mass as a guide to the
amount of wandering and differentiation of muscle groups. Sub-
sequently he suggested the study of this principle to two of his
students, Dr. Charles R Bardeen and Dr. Warren H. Lewis, who
followed the development of the muscles and nerves of the arm
buds in human foetal stages. Concerning this work, His wrote
to Mall that the pages of the American Journal of Anatomy gave
brilliant evidence of Mail's activities and those of his students.
The figures of the body wall and of the extremities he thought
excellent and that they showed a rich material.

From the study of the early stages of the development of the
liver, Mall was led to the consideration of the whole develop-
ment of the body cavities and of the loops of the intestine. Both

104

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SAB IN

of these he followed by means of three dimensional, wax models,
carrying the subject through to the condition of the adult. In
connection with the coelom, Mall started with the very early
stages, when the extra-embryonal coelom is just being incorpor-
ated into the body to make the coelom and His wrote to him that
he was especially glad that he had made clear the early forms
of these cavities For the earliest stages of the intestine he de-
pended on the embryo of Graf Spee, in which the endoderm had
not yet been incorporated into the body of the embryo In Mall's
youngest stage there was already a fore gut, a mid gut and a hind
gut, and from then on the intestine showed the same shift in
position in development as the muscles, in this case, however,
determined by the position of the arteries to the umbilical vesicle
which showed a shift of at least ten segments. Mall determined
certain fixed points of reference. While this shift was taking
place, the intestinal loop bent so that the oral end was bent toward
the right and the aboral toward the left ; the right loop then was
the forerunner of the small intestine and the left the large gut.
Thus was formed a primary loop of the intestine and already
m this primary loop Mall could mark out the definitive loops of
the small intestine, as indicated by the branches of the superior
mesenteric artery. These loops he found more constant in their
position in the adult than the convolutions of the brain. Of this
work His wrote that it was the very first time that the develop-
ment of any organ had been carried from its early stages through
the transition forms to its condition in the adult and that he
regarded this as a great advance.

There was a slaughter house near the anatomical department
in Baltimore, from which an abundant supply of embryo pigs
in every stage could be obtained in fresh state, with the heart
still beating. With this material Mall started the study of the
development of the blood vessels, a problem which he gave to
a series of workers J B. MacCallum, H. M. Evans, G. L.
Streeter, and myself. Likewise with the same material Mall sug-
gested to me the problem of the origin of the lymphatic system
while the growth of the lymphatics in amphibian forms was fol-
ios

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XV I

lowed by E. R and E. L. Clark. These problems became thor-
oughly identified with Mall's laboratory. The study of the de-
velopment of the blood vessels led to the fundamental concept
that blood vessels come from cells, that is angioblasts, and that
endothehum is the primary tissue of the vascular system; the
progression of the development of the vascular system was
shown by Dr. Streeter to be determined by the functional or de-
velopmental needs of each part at each stage in growth rather
than as a foreshadowing of the pattern of the vessels in the adult.
The work on the lymphatic system likewise led to a concept of
the fundamental nature of the endothelial cell, the theory in-
volved the idea that lymphatics are modified veins and have the
same relation to the tissue spaces that the blood vessels have
In the development of these concepts Mall took the deepest in-
terest.

There are a number of general problems in embryology of
great practical significance to medicine and to human welfare
which depend upon large collections of embryos and embryologi-
cal institutes These problems attracted Mall even when he first
started his collection; and, with the full development of his
powers, they became increasingly significant to him, until at the
time of his death he was almost wholly occupied with them. The
study of his publications on these subjects as they followed year
after year enables one to trace both the growth of the subject
and the development of Mall's power and critical judgment His
"Plea for the Foundation 'of an Institute of Embryology" had
as its climax a clear statement of the nature and the significance
of these problems li?

Of first importance was the question of the age of embryos,
both with relation' to the time of conception^ and to the more
general problems of growth The history of the efforts to de-
termine the duration of pregnancy and the age of embryos 1 covers
centuries and was outlined' by Mall in 1910 in his chapter on the
Age of Embryos a'nd Foetuses in the Human Embryology, edited
by Keibel and Mall. Mall's- Chapter was written seven years be-
fore the discovery of a method of following the oestrous cycle

106

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

in guinea pigs by Stockard and Papanicolaou 21 which opened up
the comparati\e aspects of this subject for experimentation. It
was likewise before the discoveries of the hormones which con-
trol the reproductive cycle and all of the resulting experimental
work on this cycle, such as that of Leo Loeb, Edgar Allen, H. M.
Evans, G. W. Corner, and C. G. Hartman. Lacking the data
from the comparative side which indicate that the oestrus and
ovulation m animals are synchronous but that menstruation prob-
ably occurs in the interval between ovulations, Mall concluded
from the statistical analysis of human material that the relation
between ovulation and menstruation was inconstant, coinciding
in about two-thirds of the cases, and that fertilization tended to
occur just before or just after menstruation. As soon as it was
determined that fertilization of the ovum takes place in the tube
or around the ovary and not in the uterus, it was clear that a
certain variation in the relation of fertilization to menstruation
occurred Lacking reliable data as to time of occurrence of ovu-
lation and its relation to the menstrual period, Mall was unable
to harmonize the variations that occurred in his assembled rec-
ords. He recognized this and pointed out that the real age of the
embryo is the ovulation (or fertilization) age and not the men-
strual age

Mall analyzed all of the known data on measuring embryos.
Ttie difficulties are associated with the fact that the earliest em-
bryos are straight and then curved, and finally straight again, so
that the greatest length cannot be correlated with growth. On
this account it was essential to determine certain fixed points for
measurement and Mall judged that of all the measurements the
crown-rump and neck-rump are the best. The curvature being
at the anterior end of the embryo, making the rump point fixed,
the two most constant anterior points are the center of the mid-
brain and the line between the skull and the cord, that is, the fora-
men magnum. He showed that the latter can always be deter-
mined by the extension of a line which connects the center of the

n Stockard, C. R., and Papanicolaou, G N , The existence of a typical
oestrous cycle in the guinea pig with a study of its hlstological and physio-
logical changes. American Journal of Anatomy, 1917, 22, 225.

107 *

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

eye with the center of the external auditory meatus. Added to
the difficulties associated with the curvature of the embryo itself,
is the fact that few of the embryologists making the measure-
ments have been trained in methods of measurement developed
by the anthropologists Mall was fully aware of the latter diffi-
culty, and making his measurements with proper instruments
and with the care of an expert, he constructed a mathematic
growth formula, represented as a curve, which makes him, ac-
cording to Scammon, one of the pioneers m biometrics.

At the beginning of his study of the pathology of embryos,
Mall had even less aid from preceding work than for the deter-
mination of the age of embryos, in spite of the extensive work
on teratology. Three studies, a report of forty-five aborted ova
in 1834 by Granville, 22 the work of Giacomini, 23 and of His 24
gave material which he used as freely as his own. Mall gave
four reports of his material ; the first (40) was published in 1900
in the volume of the Johns Hopkins Reports in honor of Dr
William H. Welch, in which he reported fifty-three pathological
ova; three years later he described twenty more (48) ; in 1908,
in his study of the causes of human monsters (71), he reported
163 specimens from the first 400 specimens of his collection,
and in the final report, published after Mail's death, as a joint
work of Mall and A. W Meyer (104), all of the pathological
ova, namely, 353, in the first 1,000 specimens of the Mall col-
lection, are analyzed.

The most fundamental question in relation to pathological
embryos is that of heredity versus environment. The whole sub-
ject of genetics has grown up since Mall started his work and
has brought a flood of light from the comparative standpoint to
this phase of the work That the formation of pathological em-
bryos, anomalies and monsters are due to environment as well

22 Granville, A. B., Graphic Illustrations of Abortion, [etc ] London,
J Churchill, 1834

28 Giacomini, C , Ergebnisse der Anatomie, 1894, 4, 617-649
24 His, W., Anatomic menschlicher Embryonen. 2 vol , Leipzig. F. C
W Vogel, 1882, and Festschrift, Rudolph Virchow, gewidmet zur Vollen-
dung seines 70. Lebensjahres Internationale Beitrage zur wissenschaft-
lichen Median Berlin, August Hirschwald, 1891, i, 177-193.

108

FRANKLIN P\INE MALL bABIN

as to heredity is one of the disco\enes of modern medicine of
far-reaching value to human welfare Mall credited this impor-
tant discovery to the experimental embryologists and estimated
that the work started m 1888 with the observations of F Vejdov-
sky - >5 who noted that the eggs of Lumbricus produce more mon-
sters in warm than in cool weather and thought that this was due
to the change in temperature. Then followed the work of
Driesch 26 who submitted sea urchins' eggs to high temperatures
in the two cell stage and obtained double monsters ; and of O.
Hertwig 27 who produced spina bifida experimentally ; and finally
the work of Stockard.- 8 In his paper on Monsters (71), in the
report on Cyclopia (98), and in Chapter VII of the final paper
(104), Mall analyzed the history of experimental embryology,
giving the results of submitting eggs to different chemical envir-
onments, of treating them with X-rays, or of operative pro-
cedures, giving most credit with respect to cyclopia to the ex-
periments of Stockard who found that by treating fish eggs with
substances of the nature of anaesthetics at certain critical stages,
he could produce anomalies at will. For example, by adding
magnesium chloride to the sea water in which were fish eggs at
the time of marked cell division which precedes the formation of
the optic cup, fifty per cent of the eggs developed into cyclopia.
Of these experiments, Mall said (See 98, page 9) : "The re-
markable experiments of Stockard set at rest all germinal theories
of cyclopia and prove that every egg has in it the power to de-
velop cyclopian monsters." With wider application, it is clear
that an abnormal environment, when the anlage of different
organs are in a critical state, accounts for other abnormalities.
Mall's final conclusions (104, page 200) were that the study of
pathological embryos and the recent experiments in embryology
set at rest for all time the question of the causation of monsters.
He said, "It has been my aim to demonstrate that the embryos

85 Vejdovsky, F, , Entwickelungsgeschichliche Untersuchungen, Prag,
1888

26 Driesch, H , "Zeitschrift fur wissenschafthche Zoologie, 1892, 55, 1-62
27 Hertwig, "O! Archvu fur mikroscopische Anatomie, 1892, 3p, 353
^Stockard, C R ,' Archw Entwcklungsmechn Organ, 1907, 27, 249

109

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

found in pathological human ova and those obtained experi-
mentally m animals are not merely analogous or similar, but
identical A double-monster fish or a cyclopian fish is identical
with the same condition in human beings. Monsters are produced
by external influences which act upon the ovum, as, for instance,
varnishing the shell of a hen's egg or changing its temperature,
traumatic and mechanical agencies, magnetic and electrical in-
fluences, as well as alteration of the character of the surrounding
gases, or the injection of poisons into the white of an egg. In
aquatic animals monsters may be produced by similar methods."

In the study of his own material, it was necessary to formu-
late some basis for classification, which Mall regarded as only
tentative because it had to be based on the nature of the patho-
logical process rather than on etiology.

In developing fertilized ovum, the materials that are to
form the mechanism of implantation and the enveloping mem-
branes are segregated early. During the process of cleavage,
these trophoblastic elements take their place as a surface layer
of cells which undergo rapid division and precocious differentia-
tion. Soon after arrival in the uterus, the trophoblastic elements
can be recognized morphologically and as they begin to function,
the ovum becomes converted into a blastocyst, the greater part
of whose wall is of trophoblastic origin, only the inner cell mass
giving rise to the embryo proper. Thus Mall was able to classify
pathological ova in accordance with the degree of their attained
development. He recognized seven groups: the first two had
trophoblast alone ; while the other five had both trophoblast and
embryo. The first group comprised those having only a partially
developed trophoblast while the second consisted of a complete
chorion and an exocoelomic cavity. The rest were classified by
the size of the embryo into those in which it was a mere nodular
rudiment, or with embryos in progressive sta^s of completeness.

The conditions which produce pathological ova, in so far as
they originate in the environment act through the trophoblast
Before implantation the nutrition of the embryo passes through
the chorion into the fluid of the exocoelom ; after implantation,
the interchange of materials is through the blooji vessels. Mall

no

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

summed up the process by which an abnormal environment can
affect the embryo under the term faulty implantation. When the
abnormal environment was brought to bear on the very early
stages, there resulted the complete disappearance of the embryo,
as in the first two groups in his classification Likewise the other
stages corresponded to conditions in which the abnormal factors
were applied later Dr. Mall probably went too far in his stress-
ing of the environment as the cause of all pathologic ova. Had he
lived ten years longer, he would certainly have modified this em-
phasis At least it was a demonstrable cause, and so much bet-
ter than prenatal impressions which it supplanted, that one does
not wonder at Mall's enthusiasm.

The most imporatant work of Mall in connection with the sub-
ject of pathological embryos was his analysis of the nature of the
changes m the embryo itself He found that these embryos did
not show the same type of lesions to be found under abnormal
conditions m the adult. Two factors bring about marked differ-
ences ; first, the early embryos have no leucocytes, for the first
blood cells are all red blood cells. This at once eliminates all of
the processes of inflammation of the adult which are associated
with the migration of leucocytes, both their presence in the tissues
and the effects of their enzymes This means that the reactions in
the connective tissues are those of the primitive mesenchyme cells,
fibroblasts, and macrophages. Secondly, during development,
there are hormones which control and regulate the relative
growth of the different tissues and organs. Mall found that the
most striking effect of pathological conditions was an interfer-
ence with this regulation. In his earliest descriptions of the phe-
nomenon, he referred to the effects as a "dissociation'* of the tis-
sues In his final report, he recognized that this phenomenon re-
ceived its explanation in the experiments of Harrison on tissue
culture. In tissue culture, cells grow outside the body, wholly
released from the regulating mechanisms which integrate growth
m normal development; and Mall saw that the phenomenon
which he had called "dissociation" in pathological embryos was
a growth of cells, in the embryo exactly like that of tissue cul-
tures. Besides these fundamental principles of the pathology of

in

NATIONAL, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

embryos, Mall's reports give the most extensive accounts of
pathological embryos in existence. The nature of the abnormal-
ities in the environment was the point on which he was working
at the time of his death, and the importance of this study is
Indicated in the fact that fully 20 per cent of all pregnancies end
m abortion (77, Vol I, page 203).

It is probable that the best known work of Mall's mature years
is that on the spleen, the liver, and the heart. All of these studies
represent years of work and they call to mind the words of Coun-
cilman 29 about Mall : "Mall was a great scientific investigator
As such his work was thorough ; he touched no subject on which
his investigations did not throw light and in most cases he left
the subject standing clearly, the obscurities gone."

The work on the spleen began with his study of the retacular
framework already referred to and the introduction to his sec-
ond paper on this subject published in 1900, with the interesting
title "The Architecture and Blood- Vessels of the Dog's Spleen/'
shows the direct continuation of his thought, for he said, "In re-
working the entire trabecular and vascular systems of the spleen,
I have employed all methods at my disposal in order to obtain a
clear picture of the whole organ. Throughout the work my aim
has been to study the coarser structures first, then in order the
finer and finer, hoping in this way to find some histological unit
which repeats itself a great many times to produce the whole
organ. That the use of a variety of methods is required to un-
ravel this difficult organ in a satisfactory manner is clear to all
who have studied this subject. It may not be out of place to state
that I have worked a considerable time upon the spleen each year
during the last fourteen years." The most: outstanding discov-
ery m this paper is th?it the veins of the spjenic pulp have an in-
complete endothelial lining, a discovery which is often credited to
Mollier some years later. This establishes the fact of an open
circulation m the spleen. Mall described the histological unit of
the spleen with the artery and its lymphoid follicle in the center
and the trabeculae with the mterlobular veins and their remark-

29 Councilman, W. T, Franklin Paine Mall (1862-1917), Proceedings
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1922, 57^ 495-499

112

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

able longitudinal muscles on the periphery. These units were
about one millimeter in diameter and the average number for the
dog's spleen was 80,000 In this paper and then later in 1903,
Mall was interested in what has long been the major problem
in connection with the spleen, namely, the nature of its circula-
tion. The second paper was published shortly after Weiden-
reich's, with whose conclusions Mall was in agreement. Mall
devised many types of injections, arterial and venous, especially
methods for filling the pulp spaces. For many years the main
question at issue was whether there were special channels be-
tween artery and veins of the pulp distinct from the route from
artery through the pulp spaces into the veins. By means of in-
jections with asphalt, Mall showed that the route from artery to
vein was through the pulp spaces Thus the circulation of the
spleen is an open one ; the walls of the artery are open except
where they pass through the Malpighian follicles, and from the
openings blood passes into the pulp spaces Mall made what he
regarded as the crucial experiment for demonstrating the circu-
lation through the spleen ; he tied the splenic veins of the hilus
in two dogs under anaesthesia, and then returned the spleen to
the body cavity for a half hour. At the end of this time, when
the spleen showed maximum distention, he tied the arteries in
one animal, cut out the spleen, and fixed the organ in formalin
for twenty- four hours with the capsule intact and then in
frozen sections found the pulp spaces engorged with blood. In
the other animal he cut the veins, watched the contraction of the
organ, which took a few seconds, and produced a spleen entirely
free of corpuscles. He also obtained the spleen in its psysiologi-
cal state by paralyzing its muscle by injecting nitrites into the
arteries His work on the framework showed how the spleen
was constructed in order to bring about the emptying of the
pulp spaces into the veins of the pulp, for when the longitudinal
muscles in the veins of the trabeculae contract, the entire lobule
becomes smaller and its veins compressed, while the veins within
the trabeculae open up to receive the blood flow. Thus the spleen
is an organ m which the blood readily flows into the tissue spaces,
the so-called pulp; but unlike other organs it has an efficient

113

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

mechanism, the smooth muscle of the trabeculae, for speedily
bringing the blood back into the circulation. These concepts
of the open circulation of the spleen have been fully confirmed
by the physiological work, especially of Barcroft (1926), in re-
cent years.

Mail's interest in the architecture of the heart began with his
reading of the paper of Gerdy 30 on the architecture of the heart
When, in 1891, Krehl 31 of Leipzig, showed that the auriculo-
ventricular rings were really the tendons for the bands of the
heart muscle, Mall saw that with this foundation another step
forward could be taken and suggested to one of his most brilliant
students, John Bruce MacCallum, that he try to unravel the
heart muscle bands. This MacCallum did in the brief period
of three weeks, using the embryo pig, and the material showed
that the main bands started in the right atrioventricular ring,
made a vortex at the apex, then passed through the septum from
front to back and ended through the chordae tendineae in the
auriculoventricular ring of the opposite side. Those which
started on the front of the heart ended on the back of the opposite
side. By cutting one small bundle, MacCallum found that he
could unroll the foetal pig's heart into a single sheet or scroll of
fibres.

Some years later, after MacCallum's death, Mall earned this
work to completion by unrolling the adult human heart. He
showed that there are two primary spiral bundles, which he
termed sino- and btdbo-spiral, which make the vortices at the
apex of the heart and empty the heart by a contraction which
one might term spiral, but in simpler words, is like the wringing
out of a cloth Later he studied the development of these primary
bundles and the origin of the atrioventricular bundle, but he
recognized that our knowledge of both of these subjects is far
from complete.

80 Gerdy, P. N., Recherches, discussions et propositions, [etc 1 Thhe,
Paris, I&23.

31 Krehl, L , Abhandlungen der mathematisch-physischen Klasse der
konighchen sachsischen Qesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Leipzig, 1891,
i?> 341-362.

114

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL S\BIN

Mall's paper on the structure of the liver shows his powers
at their full This paper represents the work of years ; he said
that when he started with the study of this organ he had thought
that its unit would be the easiest to determine, but he had found
it the most difficult. Starting with the work of His on the origin
of the liver m its earliest stages, Mall followed through the com-
plete development of the vascular channels through their com-
plex changes, with the venous blood coming first through the
omphalomesentenc vessels and then through the umbilical vein,
and finally through the portal vein. The introduction to this
paper contains an analysis of Thoma's hypothesis on the laws
of growth of blood vessels which leads up to the principle that
the capillary is the primary unit of the vascular system. In
Mall's words (58, page 252) : "The anlage, then, of the vascular
system is the capillary; artery and vein are secondary and are
differentiated out of them by the flow of blood set in motion by
the heart/' This is one of the fundamental generalizations that
came from Mall's laboratory, that throughout the vascular sys-
tem, including the lymphatics, endothelium is the essential tissue,
muscle coats and connective tissue coats are accessory, or as their
name suggests adventitial.

The question Mall attempted to solve in the liver was the
nature of its structural unit ; by means of corrosions of hepatic
and portal veins, he could reconstruct the pattern of this organ
and determine that the so-called lobule, with its center at the
hepatic vein, can not be considered a structural unit, since the
lobules vary so greatly in size. On the other hand, the portal
units, as had been noted years before, in 1888, by Sabourin 32 met
all the conditions of a structural unit, since all of them are of
the same size. The portal units also have the artery and bile
ducts in the center, as well as the portal vein, and have a size
that is determined by the length of the capillary bed of the organ.
To obtain a picture of the portal units of the liver in three dimen-
sions is of such difficulty that it probably cannot be gained from
pictures alone, but the study of the corrosions of the vessels which

w Sabourin, C., Recherche^ stir rariatomile isiormale et pathologique de la
glande billiare de Thomme, Paris, F. Alcan* 1888-

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Mall left in his laboratory makes this possible. Mall showed that
this concept was essential for following the development of the
liver ; it also clarifies all the pathological changes involving con-
gestion. In this study of the liver Mall brought to its fullest
fruition the concept of structural units, which he first formulated
in the study of the villus in I^udwig's laboratory. The concept
is that there is a structural unit for each organ which is a unit
of function.

These pages have not exhausted the story of Mall's scientific
work but they have touched upon his most important studies
In summary, he established the endodermal origin of the thymus ;
demonstrated the vascular patterns of organs; discovered the
vasomotor nerves of the portal vein ; clarified the structure of
organs by his concept of structural units; threw light on the
laws of growth of the nervous system ; followed the development
qfjcertam organs to the adult state; laid the foundations for the
study of the pathology of embryos, discovering why these ab-
nqrmal processes differ from those of the adult. He was an
i^X^stigator, an educator and a leader ; and when the history of
medical education in this country is written^ it will appear that
h^$ thought was a significant contribution to its advance.

116

FRANKUN PAINE MAU SABIN

PUBLICATIONS OF FRANKLIN PAINE MALL

I Entwickelung der Branchialbogen und Spalten des Hphnchens.
Archiv tur Anatomic und Entwickelungsgeschichte, 1887, 1-34

2. Die Blut- und Lymphwege in Dunndarm des Hundes Abhand-
lungen des mathematisch-physischen Classe der konigh<;hen sachs-
ischen Gessellshaft der Wissenschaften, (Leipzig), 1887, 14, i53- l8 9

3 The first branchial cleft in the chick Johns Hopkins University
Circulars, 1888, /, 38

4. The branchial region of the dog Ibid., 39

5 Development of the Eustachian tube, middle earm tympanic mem-
brane, and meatus of the chick. Studies of the biological laboratory,
Johns Hopkins University, 1887-89, 4, 185-192

6. The branchial clefts of the dog, with special reference to the origin
of the thymus gland. Ibid , 193-216

7. Reticulated and yellow elastic tissues Anatomischer Anzeiger,
1888, 3, 397-40L

8 Die motonschen Nerven der Portal vene, Archiv fur Physiologic,

1890, Supp Bd., 57-58.

9. Development of the lesser peritoneal cavity in birds and mammals.

Journal of Morphology, 1891, 5, 165-179

10. Das reticulirte Gewebe und seme Beziehungen zu den Bindegewebsfi-
bnllen Abhandlungen. der mathematisch-physischen Classe der
komghchen sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, (Leipzig),

1891, j/, 299-338.

11 A human embryo twenty-six days old Journal of Morphology, 1891,
5, 459-480.

12 Methods of preserving human embryos. American Naturalist, 1891.

13 Der Emfluss der Systems der Vena portae auf die Vertheilung des
Blutes Archiv fur Physiologic, 1892, 409-453- ,

14. A human embryo of the second week. Anatomischer Anzeiger,

1893, 8, ^30-633

15. Histogenesis of the retina m Amblystoma and Necturus Journal
of Morphology, 1893, 8, 415-432. T

1 6 Early human embryos and the mode ofi their preservation Johns
Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 1893,14, n&^i. <<*

17. Anatomical articles on the coelom, human embryos, heart, thymus
gland and thyroid gland In thei Sup^Lement to the Reference Hand-
book of the Medical Sciences, $ew Y^ifc, W Wood and Co., 1893, 9.

1-8. What is biology? Chautauquan, ,i$9V^ 4-4*4-

19 The vessels and walls of the rdOf 'sHstpmach Johns Hopkins Hos-
pital Reports, 1896, I, 1-36 , ^ivrtwt j

20. A study of intestinal contraction,.

21. Healing of intestinal sutures. Ibid.,
22 Reversal of the intestine fbi,d , 93-1

117

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

23. The contraction of the vena portae and its influence upon the circu-
lation Ibid , 111-156

24. Reticulated tissue and its relation to the connective tissue fibrils
Ibid, 171-208

25. The preservation of anatomical material for dissection. Anatomischer
Anzeiger, 1896, 11, 769-775.

26. The anatomical course and laboratory of The Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity. The Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin. 1896, /, 85-100.

27. Papers from the Anatomical Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins
University. (Editor), 1893-1896, i

28. Development of the human coelom. Journal of Morphology, 1897,
w, 395-453-

29. Ueber die Entwickelung des menschlichen Darmes und seiner Lage
beim Erwachsenen. Archiv fur Anatomic und Entwickelungsge-
schichte, 1897, Supp-Bd, 403-434.

30. Development of the ventral abdominal walls in man Journal of
Morphology, 1898, 14, 347-366

31. Development of the human intestine and its position in the adult
Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 1898, p, 197-208.

32. The lobule of the spleen. Ibid , 218^-219

33. Development of the internal mammary and deep epigastric arteries
in man. Ibid, 232-235.

34. The value of embryological specimens. Maryland Medical Journal,
1898, 40, 29-32

35. Book review "Lehrbuch der vergleichenden mikroskopischen Ana-
tomie der Wirbelthiere Von Dr. Med. Albert Oppel." Science,
N. S,. 1898, 7, 426-427

36 Liberty in medical education. Philadelphia Medical Journal, 1899,

3, 720-724.
37. Supplementary note on the development of the human intestines

Anatomischer Anzeiger, 1899, 16, 492-495.
3& The architecture and blood-vessels of the dog's spleen Zeitschrift

fur Morphologic und Anthropologie, 1900, 2, 1-42.
39 Preface. In Spalteholz, W, Hand Atlas of Human Anatomy, ed.

and transl from the 3rd. German ed.-by L. F. Barker, 3 v. Phila.

Lippincott 1900-1903.

40. A contribution to the study of the pathology of early human em-
bryos. In Contributions to the Science of Medicine dedicated by his
pupils to William Henry Welch, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press,
1900, 1-68. Also, Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports, 1900, p, 1-68

41. Note on the basement membranes of the tubules of the kidney.
Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 1901, 12, 133-135

42. On the origin of the lymphatics of the liver. Ibid , 146-148

43. On the development of the human diaphragm. Ibid., 158-171.

118

FRANKLIN PAINE MALL SABIN

44 On the development of the connective tissues from the connective-
tissue syncitium American Journal of Anatomy, 1901-02, I, 329-365

45 Note on the collection of human embryos in the anatomical laboratory
of The Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin,

1903, 14, 29-33

46 On the circulation through the pulp of the dog's spleen. American
Journal of Anatomy, 1902-03, 2, 315-332

47. On the transitory artificial fissures of the human cerebrum. Ibid.,
333-339

48 Second contribution to the study of the pathology of early human
embryos. In Contributions to Medical Research dedicated to V. C
Vaughan, Ann Arbor, George Wahr, 1903, 12-28

49 Catalogue of the collection of human embryos in the anatomical
laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1904.

50 On the value of research in the medical school. Michigan Alumnus,

1904, 8, 395-397.

5 1 Eight anatomical articles on the coelom, comparative ; coelom,
human; heart, human embryos, normal, human embryos, patho-
logical, spleen, thymus, and thyroid. In Reference Handbook of
the Medical Sciences, New York, W Wood and Co, 2nd edition,
8 v., 190008.

52 On the development of the blood-vessels of the brain in the human
embryo American Journal of Anatomy, 1905, 4, 1-18.

53. Wilhelm His His relation to institutions of learning Ibid, 139-161.

54. On the angle of the elbow. American Journal of Anatomy, 1905,
4, 391-404.

55 Anatomical material Its collection and its preservation at The Johns
Hopkins Anatomical Laboratory Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin,

1905, 16, 38-42

56. On the teaching of anatomy as illustrated by Professor Barker's

Manual. Ibid , 29-32

57. On some recent text-books of anatomy with special reference to the
new American edition of Gray. Ibid , 1906, 17, 99-104.

58 A study of the structural unit of the liver. American Journal of

Anatomy, 1906, 5, 227-308.
59. On ossification centers m human embryos less than 100 days old.

Mid, 433-458.
60 On some points of importance to anatomists. Remarks by the

president at the twenty-first meeting of the Association of American

Anatomists Science, 1907, 25, 121-125 Also, Anatomical Record,

1906-08, I, 24-29
61. The collection of human embryos at The Johns Hopkins University.

Anatomical Record, 1906-08, i, 14-15
62 Papers from the Anatomical Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins

University, (Editor). 1893-1906, i-n.

119

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

63 Book review. "Anatomy in America, by Charles Russell Bardeen"
Anatomical Record, 1906-08, i, 5-6

64 On measuring human embryos Anatomical Record, 1906-08, I,
129-140.

65 Book review. <4 Papers from the Anatomical Laboratory of St Louis
University, by A C. Eycleshymer, 1904-06, i-3" Anatomical Rec-
ord, 1906-08, I, 124-126

66 Book review " Contributions from the Anatomical Laboratory of
Brown University, Providence, R 1 , 1907, 5," Anatomical Record,
1906-08, i, 237

67. Book review. "On Vogt's translation of Leopold's A Very Young
Ovum in Situ " Anatomical Record, 1908, 2 t 162-163.

68. Book review. "Normentafeln zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Wir-
belthiere von F. Keibel" Ibid, 368-371

69 On the teaching of anatomy Ibid , 313-335

70 Book review. " Contributions to the Study of the Early Development
and Imbedding of the Human Ovum, by T H Bryce and J H
Teacher " Ibid., 265-268.

71 A study of the causes underlying the origin of human monsters
(Third contribution to the study of the pathology of human em-
bryos ) Journal of Morphology, 1908, 19, 1-367

72 On several anatomical characters of the human brain, said to vary
according to race and sex, with special reference to the weight of the
frontal lobe American Journal 'of Anatomy, 1909, 9, 1-32 Also,
Atlanta University, Publication* No 20, 1916.

73 Book review "Die Neue Anatomische Anstalt in Munchen, von J.
Ruckert " Anatomical Record, 1910, 4, 466-470

74 A list of normal human embryos which have been cut into serial
sections Ibtd. t 355-367

75 Book review. ' 'Medical Education in the United States and Canada,
by Abraham Flexner " Ibid , 278-280.

76. Handbuch der Entwickelungsgeschichte des Menschen Hrsg von
Franz Keibel and F. P Mall 2 v Leipzig, S Hirzel, 1910-11

77 Determination of the age of human embryos and foetuses In Manual
of Human Embryology Edited by Franz Keibel and F P Mall,
2 v, Phil. Lippmcott, 1910-12, 180-201. Also, Pathology of the
human ovum, 202-242 Also, The development of the coelom and
diaphragm, 5 2 3~548

78 Report upon the collection of human embryos at The Johns Hopkins
University. Anatomical Record, 1911, 5, 343-357.

79 On the muscular architecture of the ventricles of the human heart.
American Journal of Anatomy, 1910-11, II, 211-266

80 On the development of the human heart, American Journal of Ana-
tomy, 1912, 13, 249-298

8 1. Bifid apex of the human heart. Anatomical Record, 1912, 6, 167-172

126

FRAXKUX PAIXE M \LL SVBIX

82 Aneurysm of the membranous septum projecting into the right
atrium Ibid , 291 -29$

83 A plea for an institute of human embrjologj Journal American
Medical Association, 1913, 60, 1599-1601

84 With E K Cullen An ovarian pregnancy located in the Graafian
follicle Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1913, //, 698-703.

85 Embryological Research In Year Book, No 12, of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Washington, 1913, 290-291.

86 Book review ''University education in London " Science, N S ,

1913, 38, 33-39

87 On stages in the development of human embryos from 2 to 25 mm.
long. Anatomischer Anzeiger, 1914, 46, 78-84

88 Annual Report of the Director of the Department of Embryology
In Year Book, No 13, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
Washington, 1914, 107-115

89. Scope and Organization of the Department of Embryology In
"Scope and Organisation of the Carnegie Institution of Washing-
ton" (Printed privately.) Baltimore, 1914.

90 On the fate of the human embryo in tubal pregnancy. Carnegie In-
stitution of Washington, Pub. No. 221, Contrmutions to Embryology,
1915, i, 1-104.

91 The cause of tubal pregnancy and the fate of the enclosed ovum.
Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1915, 21, 289-298

92 Development of the heart In Reference Handbook of the Medical
Sciences, New York, W Wood and Co., 3rd edition, 1915, 5, $8-65

93 Annual Report of the Director of the Department of Embryology
In Year Book, No. 14, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
Washington, 1915, 111-125.

94 The human magma reticule in normal and in pathological develop-
ment Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pub No 224, Contribu-
tions to Embryology 1916, 4, 5-26.

95. On the study of racial embryology. Department of Embryology,

pamphlet (Printed privately) Baltimore, 1916
96 Annual Report of the Director of the Department of Embryology.

In Yearbook, No 15, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,

Washington, 1916. 103-120
97. The embryological collection of the Carnegie Institution. Circular

No 18. (Printed privately.) Baltimore, 1916
98 Cyclopia in the human embryo Carnegie Institution of Washington,

Pub No 226, Contributions to Embryology, 1917, 6, 5-33-
99. Organization and Scope of the Department of Embryology. Circular

No 19 (Printed privately ) Baltimore, 1916
100 Note on abortions with letters from the Health Commissioner of

Baltimore and from the Chief of the Bureau of Vital Statistics of

Maryland regarding the registration and shipment of embryos to the

121

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Carnegie Laboratory of Embryology at the Johns Hopkins Medical

School Circular No. 20. (Printed privately ) Baltimore, 1917.
IDI On the frequency of localized anomalies in human embryos and

infants at birth American Journal of Anatomy, 1917, 22, 49-72
IQ2 Annual Report of the Director of the Department of Embryology.

In Year Book, No 16, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington

Washington, 1917, 99-109

103 On the age of human embryos. American Journal of Anatomy,
1918, z3, 397-422

104 With A. W Meyer. A survey of pathologic ova in the Carnegie
embryological collection. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pub.
No. 275, Contributions to Embryology, 1921, 12, 1-364

122

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOLUME XVI FOURTH MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM

1839-1915

BY

ALFRED M. TOZZER

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1933

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM

1839-1915

BY ALFRED M TQZZER

To have been, almost literally, the founder of a new branch
of knowledge in America is, in itself, no small honor, and when
to this is added the prime force behind anthropology for almost
fifty years, the record is indeed unusual.

From an ancestry dating back to John Putnam who migrated
from Aston Abbotts, Bucks, England in 1640, including Apple-
tons, Fiskes, Wards, and Higgmsons, Frederic Ward Putnam
was born in Salem, April 16, 1839, an d died in Cambridge, Au-
gust 14, 1915. He was the son of Eben and Elizabeth (Apple-
ton) Putnam, grandson of Eben and Elizabeth (daughter of
General John Fiske) Putnam and of Nathaniel and Elizabeth
(daughter of Joshua Ward) Appleton. In 1864 he married
Adelaide Martha Edmands, who died m 1879. Three children
were born, Eben, Alice Edmands, and Ethel Appleton Fiske,
later married to John Hart Lewis ; she died in 1922. In 1882
he married Esther Orne Clarke who survived him until 1922.

During his whole career Putnam was a natural historian in the
old-fashioned, but best sense of the word. With almost no school
or college background, but with home tuition, he developed at a
very early age a great interest m nature. He was an assistant
to his father in the cultivation of plants, but it was the study of
birds which especially interested him. His first two scientific
papers, on the fish of Salem Harbor, were published at the age
of sixteen. With little help, and mainly on his own initiative, the
next year he published a list of the fish and a catalogue of the
birds of Essex County. These unusual achievements brought
him almost immediate recognition, as he soon became Curator
of Ornithology in the Essex Institute of Salem. This was his
first official connection with a scientific institution, but this rela-
tionship, which later came to include institutions from California
eastward, continued for sixty years until his death.

Within a year, Professor Louis Agassiz discovered him at
Salem and induced him to become one of the assistants in the
Museum at Cambridge. While still retaining his position in
Salem, he worked with Agassiz for seven years With him at

125

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Cambridge were Edward S. Morse, Alpheus Hyatt, Samuel H.
Scudder and A. S. Packard

During this time he turned from ornithology to ichthyology.
While his contemporaries were going through the usual college
courses, he was studying living forms and making valuable con-
tributions to science The discipline of routine education he never
had ; his discipline came from nature and his associations with
his one teacher and his fellow students, all of whom became noted
scholars For his work with Agassiz, Harvard conferred upon
him the degree of B. S. in 1862. The influence of Agassiz re-
mained with him during his entire life. His love for his teacher
and the respect and admiration for Agassiz's method of teaching
were always favorite themes in his conversations with his own
pupils. His never-ending lament was that his students found
their knowledge in books rather than in specimens. His work in
ornithology and ichthyology is shown in the following list of
positions he held from 1856 to 1889 :

1856-1861 Curator of Ornithology, Essex Institute, Salem.

1862 Curator of Ornithology and Mammalogy, Es-

sex Institute.

1863 Curator of Mammalogy and Ichthyology, Es-

sex Institute.

1864-1867 Curator of Vertebrates, Essex Institute, Salem.

1864-1870 Superintendent and Director, Essex Institute.

1859-1868 Curator of Ichthyology, Boston Society of
Natural History.

1867-1869 Superintendent, Museum East Indian Marine
Society, Salem.

1869-1873 Director, Museum of Peabody Academy of
Sciences.

1876-1878 Assistant, Ichthyology, Museum of Compara-
tive Zoology, Cambridge.

1882-1889 Massachusetts State Commissioner of Fish and

Game.
Assistant, Kentucky Geological Survey.

126

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TOZZER

1876*1879 Assistant to United States Engineers in the
Surveys West of the One Hundredth Me-
ridian.

His interest m anthropology may be said to have begun as
early as 1857 while attending a meeting of the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science in Toronto. On one of his
frequent excursions into the country in search of information he
found on the site of Mount Royal a quantity of clam shells, fish
bones, burned earth and pottery. This was one of the first re-
ported discoveries of the work of ancient man in America. "The
study of man and his work," a definition he has often given for
anthropology, became even at this early time an interest second
only to that of ichthyology. From 1875 onward his work was
mainly along anthropological lines The previous year he had
been an assistant in the Kentucky Geological Survey and from
1876 to 1879 he was assistant to the United States Engineers in
surveys west of the One Hundredth Meridian. It was at this
time that he made his first contribution to the knowledge of the
prehistoric ruins in southern California, Arizona and New Mex-
ico. Later the Pueblo cultures were to be the subject of elabo-
rate researches undertaken under his direction.

From an original suggestion of Professor Othniel C. Marsh
of Yale University to his uncle, George Peabody, in London, the
three Peabody Museums at Yale, Harvard, and in Salem came
into existence. In 1866, Peabody gave the sum of $150,000 for
an endowment of a "Museum and Professorship of American
Archaeology and Ethnology in connection with Harvard Uni-
versity." Jeffries Wyman served as Curator of the new museum
until his death in 1874. Following him, Asa Gray was appointed
Curator pro tern, as he felt he could not assume permanent charge
of the Museum. Putnam, who had been associated with Wyman
in his archaeological field researches and had been doing Inde-
pendent work in mound exploration, was appointed, in 1875,
Curator of the Peabody Museum, a position he held for thirty-
four years, when he became Honorary Curator, and from 1913
to the time of his death he was Honorary Director.

127

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Starting in 1866 with a case of fifty specimens housed In
Boylston Hall under Wyman the museum had grown rapidly.
Putnam became Curator about the time that the Peabody gift
had grown to the figure set by the donor and in 1876 the first
part of the Peabody Museum was begun The rapid growth of
collections made it necessary to enlarge the building m 1889, and
in 1914 Putnam's tireless efforts made a further addition pos-
sible, thus completing the building, as originally planned by
Agassiz, by joining the geological section of the University
Museum. Putnam happily lived to see the fruition of his hopes.
For almost forty years, in spite of numerous other positions, his
main interest was the Peabody Museum. Soon after his appoint-
ment as Curator, he included scientific monographs m his annual
reports ; in 1888 he started the "Papers of the Peabody Museum,"
and in 1896 the series of "Memoirs" was added Not the least
of Putnam's abilities was his success m raising money for scien-
tific investigations. His first public appeal for aid was in 1882
when he was able to undertake extensive archaeological research
in Ohio and among the Indians of the Plains. In 1890, Charles
Pickering Bowditch became the Museum's most generous bene-
factor, and the following year marked the first of a series of
archaeological expeditions to Central America which has con-
tinued almost down to- the present time. The able direction of
Putnam is seen in the conduct of these expeditions and his edi-
torial ability is demonstrated in the long series of Papers and
Memoirs published under his Curatorship

The endowment given by George Peabody to found the Pea-
body Museum included a Professorship in American Archae-
ology and Ethnology, but nothing was done about the appoint-
ment until June, 1885 The Harvard Corporation then appointed
Putnam Peabody Professor. Confirmation by the Board of
Overseers was not given until 1887 This postponement deprived
Putnam of the honor of being the first Professor of American
Archaeology in an American university. During the previous
year Daniel G. Brinton was appointed Professor of American
Archaeology and Linguistics m the University of Pennsylvania.
Three years later the Division of American Archaeology and

128

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TOZZER

Ethnology was established at Han arc! and the Hemenway and
Thaw Fellowships were established in 1891 In spite of severe
opposition, mainly from Charles Eliot Norton, the name of the
Division of American Archaeology and Ethnology was changed
in 1903 to the Division of Anthropology. The courses offered
now embraced many fields outside those of American Archae-
ology and Ethnology. Putnam saw very early that the Museum
should not limit itself to American Archaeology and Ethnology,
but should widen its scope to include collections from the whole
world. By the deed of gift, this was possible. Today the Pea-
body Museum, one of the great anthropological museums of the
world, stands as Putnam's greatest monument. This zeal for
the new cause brought him ample reward in students, a notable
increase in collections and research funds, and money for build-
ing and equipment purposes

The archaeology of the Mound Area of the United States be-
came Putnam's special interest, and his long-continued excava-
tions at the Turner Group and at Madisonville, Ohio, brought
this area to the notice of the scientific world For almost the
first time, methods of exact measurements coupled with topo-
graphical maps, sections, and other scientifically determined data
were employed m American archaeology. The old haphazard
methods of digging for objects gave way to a knowledge of the
context of specimens the manner of their occurrence. His field
notes are models of recording archaeological data. Through
Putnam's effort, the famous Serpent Mound in Ohio was bought
by Harvard University, later to be turned over to the Ohio
Historical Society for permanent preservation. One of the first
to recognize the importance of removing archaeological monu-
ments from the vandal "pot-hunter/' he played a part in the laws
for the preservation of several of these works of ancient man,
especially some of the most important of the "cliff dwellings."

In connection with his work for the Peabody Museum and for
the other institutions with which he was connected he personally
conducted or directed archaeological work in thirty-seven differ-
ent states, in addition to extensive expeditions to Central Amer-
ica and Mexico and more limited investigations in South

129

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

America, Canada and Europe. His energy and enthusiasm,
coupled with great perseverance, are markedly shown in these
several fields of investigation Perhaps the best example was
the search for geologically ancient man on the edge of the glacial
gravels at Trenton, New Jersey. In spite of opposition and much
discouragement, he insisted the work here should be kept up.
For thirty years he had one or more men constantly at work
investigating this site for the possible presence of early man.
The work at Trenton was supplemented by similar lines of in-
vestigation in California. He lived and died with the firm con-
viction that man lived on this continent in glacial times. He felt
that he had been able to prove this with the human femur found
in the glacial gravels in New Jersey It is a pleasure to note
that excavations later carried on by the American Museum of
Natural History serve to substantiate Professor Putnam's thesis
and the accuracy of his observations There is perhaps no other
single point of investigation within the whole field of archaeology
that has been so long-continued and so carefully carried out as
this work at Trenton. However much one may differ with
Professor Putnam as to the subject in question, no one can fail
to admire the persistence of his search for the truth.

Throughout his life, Putnam gave few formal courses of in-
struction Following Agassiz's example, he much preferred to
have his students meet him in the laboratory for informal instruc-
tion. During the first years of anthropology at Harvard, he
often gave lectures on subjects m which he was especially inter-
ested in regular courses offered by his colleagues. A list of his
students would contain names on the teaching staffs of many
colleges and on the staffs of practically all the anthropological
museums of the country. One of the great reasons for his suc-
cess was his remarkable and unselfish interest in the work of his
students. The sincere and sympathetic personal contact was
always present. He never turned anyone away who showed any
interest and any aptitude for anthropology. He always found a
way to provide for a poor student^ even if the means had to come
out of his own pocket. He never was top butsy to listen and he
was always filled with an abundant optimism. As a public lec-

130

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTXAM TGZZER

turer, he \\as at his best. He appeared mobt successfully before
many different scientific societies, associations and clubs. He
never entirely left out of consideration the fact that he was a
pioneer in the new subject. With an infectious enthusiasm and
seeing the great opportunities for anthropological work in Amer-
ica, he realized the necessity of student recruits in this field and
money to support the work.

Attending his first meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science in Toronto in 1857, he very rarely
missed a session of this organization. Becoming Permanent
Secretary in 1873, ne retained this office for twenty-five years.
As the one permanent official in this "great mother organization
of American associations of learning/' the policies he inaugu-
rated and kept alive made a very deep impression on scientific
research in America. On laying down this ungrateful task, he
was made President in 1898 Dr W J McGee, at a dinner in
Cambridge in celebration of Putnam's seventieth birthday, said
in part "I desire especially to signalize one feature of Professor
Putnam's career which seems to me distinctively national and
permanent in character. Throughout the entire formative
period of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, Professor Putnam was Permanent Secretary, prac-
tically the sole continuous officer of the Association; and his
efforts in its behalf were ceaseless and constantly successful
This, too, was the formative period of American science. Now
what the Association (which I regard as our most typical and
most useful scientific institution) would have become without
Putnam who can say ? Certainly his impress is large ; certainly
its character and standing must in no small measure be credited
to him. And what American science would have been without
the Association who can say? Certainly its character and
prestige are the greater because of the work of the Association
and because of Putnam's efforts in its behalf. It is doubly
pleasant for one coming from another center of thought to
acknowledge the debt of the nation to a man and to an institu-
tion that have done so much toward preparing the way for that

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

larger knowledge of humanity made necessary by the modern
view of nature in which the resources loom so large."

His appointment as chief of the ethnological section of the
World's Fair at Chicago in 1892 marked an epoch in American
anthropology. One of his first moves in his new office was to
have the structure in which his department was housed called
the "Anthropological Building/* This, so far as I know, was
the first official use of the word "Anthropology" in the New
World. Among those whom he gathered around him as his co-
workers at Chicago was Dr. Boas, then decent in Anthropology
at Clark University, whom he made his first assistant. As part
of the out-of-door exhibit at Chicago, Putnam had full-size
models of several of the Maya buildings in Yucatan. The in-
terest aroused by the collections and exhibits brought together
in Chicago resulted in an immense impetus being given to the
study of this subject in colleges and to the creation of anthro-
pological museums. The "cabinet of curios" now gave way to
scientific collecting. As a direct outcome of the Chicago Fair,
the Field Museum was started. Its conception was due, in large
part, to Professor Putnam, and one of his students was the first
Curator of Anthropology in this institution.

Another result of the work at the World's Fair was an oppor-
tunity for Putnam to organize the Anthropological Department
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York,
where he was Curator from 1894 to 1903. He called Boas to
New York to assist him. Under their joint leadership, some of
the most far-reaching anthropological investigations ever inaugu-
rated were undertaken, more especially the Jessup North- Pacific
Expedition. The Hyde Expeditions to the Southwest were also
carried out at this time and Putnam spent several seasons in the
field surrounded by his students and directing the excavations.

Never too busy to lend a hand at organizing and extending
anthropology, in 1903 he was called to the University of Cali-
fornia to organize a department and a museum on the invitation
of Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. Here he was Professor of Anthro-
pology and Director of the Anthropological Museum from 1903
to 1909, afterwards Professor Emeritus, spending a part of each

132

FREDERIC \VARD PUTNAM TOZZER

}ear in California. Professor Kroeber writes in this connection,
"He was then sixty-four years of age; but in spite of the handi-
caps of remoteness during a large part of the year, he threw
into his California service all the habitual vigor and unremitting
care of his youth, plus the seasoning of his mature experience.
The writing of his hand remains in the broad outlines of this
institution as visibly as in those on which he had fashioned
before. In spite of ill health in which there became manifest
before long the symptoms of the disease to which he was ulti-
mately to succomb, he continued to the utmost of his strength
his activities in California, until his retirement at the statutory
age of seventy in 1909."

His ability as an organizer seen at Cambridge, Chicago, Cali-
fornia, and New York, was evident during his earlier years. He
played a major part in starting The American Naturalist and
Science. There should also be mentioned his share in the estab-
lishment of the Archaeological Institute of America in 1879.
The others on this organizing committee were Charles W. Eliot,
Charles Eliot Norton, Alexander Agassiz, William Endicott, Jr.,
W. W Goodwin, Augustus Lowell, Martin Brimmer, T. G.
Appleton, W. E. Gurney, Henry P. Kidder and C. C. Perkins
The traditions of Classical Archaeology were broken for the first
time and American Archaeology, perhaps reluctantly, was in-
vited to enter the fold. This new departure was due in great
part to the personality and to the enthusiasm of Putnam.

Recognition outside his own field came tardily, and, it must
be confessed, rather grudgingly in some cases Starting with
no academic background in the usual sense, and in a new field
of learning, he had to meet the criticism of the classical archae-
ologists who saw nothing in American archaeology and in
Indians. There were, at first, few affiliations with other branches
of science He had to wrench the study of "early man and his
work" out of the hands of the amateur and of the dilettante and
place scientific foundations under a structure which, at first, had
only very vague outlines. His accomplishment was great in
direct proportion to the manly discouragements he met in his
early endeavors. He received an honorary A.M. from Williams

i33

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGR \PHICAI, MEMOIRS \OI, XVI

as early as 1868, but Harvard did not recognize his arduous
labors m behalf of anthropology until 1892, when he was made
an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa Two years later
he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the
University of Pennsylvania. In 1896 he was given the Cross
of the Legion of Honor from the French Government, and in
1903 the Drexel Gold Medal from the University of Pennsyl-
vania, an honor shared by Flinders Petrie, Evans, and Hilprecht
He had been selected as the recipient of an honorary degree from
Oxford in 1912 at the meeting of the International Congress of
Americanists, but his health prevented him from taking the
trip to England. He was elected to the National Academy of
Sciences in 1885. He was also a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical
Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a large num-
ber of other learned societies of the United States. He was an
honorary or corresponding member of scientific societies in
London, Edinburgh, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Stockholm,
Florence, Rome, and Lima.

His seventieth birthday in 1909 was made the occasion for
presenting him with a Festschrift to which his friends and col-
leagues contributed. The subjects of the papers offered in his
honor covered the whole field of anthropology, including physical
anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, sociology, religion, folk-
lore, and linguistics. A bibliography of Putnam's writings is
also included in the volume Professor C H. Toy presided at
the celebration and President Eliot, representing Harvard Uni-
versity, was the first speaker He touched upon the many dif-
ficulties which surrounded the early attempts of Professor
Putnam in establishing the teaching of anthropology in Harvard
University, the way these difficulties were overcome, and the
gratifying results of Professor Putnam's work. He spoke of
the growth of the Peabody Museum from small beginnings and
the development of research connected with the Museum, and
drew a parallel between the pioneer work of Asa Gray in botany
and Professor Putnam in anthropology.

134

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM TOZZER

Professor Franz Boas, through \\ho&e initiative the \olume
was undertaken, was the second speaker He read a long list of
the learned societies which had sent felicitations to Putnam on
this occasion, including various learned bodies of the United
States, South America, England, Sweden, France, Germany,
and Italy. Dr. Boas said in part . "I consider it a great privilege
to be allowed to express to you the good wishes of your many
friends those here assembled, and of the many more who could
not join us tonight to do honor to you Many years of enthu-
siastic work, not only in your chosen field of science, but also
in behalf of every subject that has appealed to your generous
sympathy, have knit firmer bonds between you and your wide
circle of friends. I wish to give expression particularly to the
feelings of those who are working with you toward the advance-
ment of anthropology. When we look back upon the growth of
our science during the last forty years, three names stand out
prominently among American anthropologists your own, that
of John Wesley Powell, and that of Daniel Garrison Brinton.
We owe to you the development of steady, painstaking methods
of field research and of care in the accumulation of data; not
detached from the ends sought by Powell, not without ideas as
to their interpretation, but looking forward steadily and firmly
toward a goal that cannot be attained in a few years, nor in a
generation that must be before our eyes all the time, and the
attainment of which demands our whole energy. No trouble
has been too great for you in the pursuit of this aim ; and to
your facility of creating enthusiasm among half-willing friends
of science, anthropology owes much of what it is We can hardly
turn to one of the great centers of anthropological research
without finding that its very existence, or at least much of its
work, is due to your inspiring personality. It is not for me to
speak of the work that you have built up in Harvard University,
but I have been witness to the success of your inspiration in
Chicago and in New York. Without your unselfish work for
the World's Fair, the Field Museum of Natural History would
not be what it is You laid the ground for the anthropological
work of the American Museum of Natural History in New

135

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

York, and the periods of its great anthropological activity were
when you were there. In the Far West, in California, anthro-
pological work has grown up under your influence and under
your watchful eye. If I were to count the institutions that have
benefited from your wise counsel, I might go on without end.
Much as you have thus done for the advancement of anthro-
pology, we should not do justice to you if we were to forget the
personal influence that you have exerted upon all those whose
good fortune it has been to work with you. Through your
kindly interest in his scientific work and in his personal welfare,
you have succeeded in making every one of us your warm per-
sonal friend. It has been our desire to give permanent expres-
sion to our feeling of gratitude to you ; and it seemed to us that
this could be done in no better way than by presenting you with
a book containing some of the results of the investigations of
your former collaborators and of those who continue work in
your special field of research. Your many friends here and
abroad, personal friends, patrons of science, institutions in
whose behalf you have labored, and your colleagues and collabo-
rators have joined in the preparation of the book that I have the
honor to present to you in their behalf. It is meant to be a token
of our friendship and gratitude, and a witness for all time to
come, not only of the important services that you have rendered
to science, but also of the bonds of friendship that you have
established between yourself and your younger colleagues "

Putnam's writings number more than 400 papers and reports,
about equally divided among those devoted to natural history,
to archaeology, and to scientific administration. His own re-
search in archaeology is shown in reports upon shell mounds
in Maine and Massachusetts, the mound builders of Ohio and
Wisconsin, the use of copper by the American aborigines, the
human deposits in the caves in Kentucky, the geological antiquity
of man in New Jersey and in California. Perhaps the most far-
reaching papers are those on conventionalization in the ancient
art of Panama, and symbolism in the ancient art of America.
These served as the point of departure for many studies in
primitive art. His largest work is the report in Archaeology,

136

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TOZZER

forming Volume VII of the Wheeler Geographical Survey, in
which he reviewed the pre-history of California.

It was not as a writer, however, that Putnam will be remem-
bered. He gave freely of his time, his advice and ideas to others
who profited largely therefrom. He was a painstaking and most
efficient editor of the publications of the different societies and
museums of which he was the head. The annual reports for
twenty-five years of the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, and for thirty-four years of the Peabody
Museum are models of excellence. His fame rests upon the
organization and development of the new science of anthro-
pology. Not only in Cambridge, but in New York, Chicago, and
in California, he has left a never-to-be extinguished impress
upon anthropological institutions and the teaching of anthro-
pology. Students came to him from all parts of the country
and his great enthusiasm sometimes failed to separate the able
from the mediocre. In the early days of anthropology, recruits
were few, and perhaps there was no other way to gain students
for this study. This does not mean that he had no discrimina-
tion, but he felt he had to use the material available. Excellent
men also came to him and his kindliness, unselfishness, en-
couragement, and direction were exhaustless. His interest was
more than purely scientific ; he wanted to know his students and
their backgrounds, and he shared in all their interests. Professor
Kroeber wrote in 1915 in this connection: "Professor Putnam's
helpful influence on men, especially young men, at the outset
of their scientific careers, was no less profound than his ac-
complishments for science through his upbuilding of institu-
tions He never encroached on their freedom, met even abnor-
malties of thought with patient tolerance, and if he requested
heavy drafts of their time, he was always and instantly ready
to reciprocate with equally generous measures of his own hours.
Above all, he looked upon them as friends; they were human
beings m need of encouragement and assistance, not mere
thought machines to be perfected and turned adrift. Each and
every one of his students he helped. Their existence for him
did not end with their departure from the university or exploring

i37

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGR \PHICAI, MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

camp. His most valuable aid frequently began only then, and if
occasionally the relationship thus established atrophied, instead of
becoming warmer with the passage of years, the fault was never
his and the regrets were on his side. It is no exaggeration to
say that at least half of the anthropologists of the country today
owe not only counsel, but their first professional recognition to
the influence of Professor Putnam, In the vast majority of
cases they admitted and continued to appreciate this debt toward
their Dean, whose hours in his later years were frequently
cheered by visits that bore testimony to the unwavering friend-
ship and respect of former pupils and assistants.

"In all his relations with men, Professor Putnam showed the
same high qualities of sincerity, helpfulness, and unassuming
modesty, charged at all times with a genuine and practical
benevolence. The humblest of those dependent upon him re-
garded him with affection; and it was precisely the qualities
which on the one hand caused janitors and doorkeepers at insti-
tutions he had long left to mourn his death, which on the other
hand accorded him the respect and the hearing of men of affairs
and endowed him with an unvarying influence upon his boards of
trustees/*

As the then President-elect of Harvard, A. Lawrence Lowell,
said at the Seventieth Anniversary, Professor Putnam had en-
joyed the very unusual opportunity of opening an entirely new
field of research and of developing a new science which had
come to be of such great importance, an opportunity not given
to many.

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM TOZZER

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM
(Not including Reports, Reviews and "Remarks")

1855:

Notes on Palinurus perciformts (Mitch ) [and other fish in Salem
Harbor] Salem Register, LVI, no 64.

Notes on Temnodon saltator [and other fish in Salem Harbor] Ibid ,
no 71.

1856.

List of fishes of Essex County, Mass , 1855-56 Proc. Essex Inst ,
Salem, I, 144, 148, 201.

A singular case of mortality of fish in a pond in Salem, 1855. Ibid., 145-

Catalog of the birds of Essex County, Mass , with notes ; and a list
of species found in the State but not known from the county. I bid., 201-
231.

1861-

On Pomotis, Bryttus and Bsox, 1859. Proc. Boston Soc Nat. Hist,
VII, 3-4, 34, I5&

The whale and the dolphin at the Aquarial Gardens. Boston Advertiser,
Sept. 30.

1862:

Bufo fowleri, Putnam. A discussion before the Essex Inst Proc.
Essex Inst, Salem, II, 282

Note on the coloration of fishes, 1856. Ibid., 366.

Note on the nests of fishes, 1859. Ibid , 367.

Note on the two living specimens of ScapHopus taken at Cambridge,
Mass. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat Hist , VIII, 178.

1863:

List of fishes sent by Museum of Comparative Zoology to different
institutions, in exchange for other specimens, with annotations Bull. Mus
Comp Zool, Cambridge, I, no. i, 16 p.

1864:

Notes on the zoology of Salem, Proc. Essex Inst, Salem, III, 220,
Number of species of reptiles and batraehia in Essex Co. Ittd., 223,
A singular fossil animal in the lithographic stone of Solenhofen
Ib*d f 232.

1865

On snakes, 1862. Proc Boston Soc. Nat Hist, IX, 60-62, 69-70.
On the "Red-backed Salamander," Plethodon crythronoius, 1862.
Ibid., 173-

139

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL, MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Distribution of fresh water fishes of North America, 1862. Ibid,

178, 233

On young of a spider, 1863. Ibid., 202

On frogs and toads about Cambridge, Mass , 1863 I bid , 229-230.
An interesting specimen of the genus Belong. Ibid , 325-326.

1866:

Notes on the habits of some species of humble bees, 1863 Proc Essex
Inst, Salem, Communications V, IV, 98-104.

Notes on the leaf-cutting bee, 1863. Ibid, Communications VI, IV,
105-107.

On the death of Dr. R. H. Wheatland, 1864. Proc. Boston Soc Nat.
Hist, X, 1-2.

On assumption of male plumage by a pea-hen, 1864. Ibid , 25.

On the fish fauna of the Great Lakes, 1864-65. Ibid , 64, 65, 240

On Indian grave on Winter island, Salem, 1865 Ibid , 246-247

On reproduction of lost parts in reptiles Ibid., 278

1867:

Appendix to D. H. Storer's "A History of Fishes of Massachusetts "
Memoirs Amen Acad. Arts and Sciences, Cambridge and Boston, IX,
278-280.

1868:

Resolution passed by the Essex Institute on gift of $140,000 from George
Peabody for the promotion of science and useful knowledge in the
County of Essex, 1867. Proc. Essex Inst., Salem, V, 116

Resolution passed by the Essex Institute extending thanks to Louis
^gassiz for successful efforts in the passage of law enabling scientific
societies to obtain alcohol free of excise tax, 1867. Ibid , 140.

On Indian remains m Essex county, 1867. Ibid., 186, i97-*99

New England reptiles. April, 1867. Amer. Naturalist, Salem, I,
107-108.

1869:

On shellheaps, and on certain archaeological specimens, 1868. Proc.
Essex Inst. Salem, VI, 31.

Resolution passed by Essex Institute on the death of Horace Mann,
1868. Ibid., 54-55-

On the McNeil collection from Central America, 1868. Ibid., 5<5>

On aboriginal utensils from Nicaragua. Proc. Boston Soc Nat Hist ,
XII, 218.

The McNeil expedition to Central America, 1868 Amer. Naturalist,
Salem, II, 484-486, 612-613.

Do snakes swallow their young? 1868. Ibid,, 133-143

Resolution offered at a meeting of the Essex Institute on the donation
of $140,000 to found the Peabody Academy of Science, 1868. Ibid., 680

140

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TQZZER

1870-

Notice of the eighteenth meeting o the American Association for the
Advancement of Science held in Salem, 1869 Amer Naturalist, Salem,
HI, 223

Skates' eggs and young, 1869 Ibid., 617-630, 12 ill.

Two rare specimens of Indian carving wrought from steatite, 1869.
Bull. Essex Inst, Salem, I, 21, I ill.

On monstrosities in trout, 1869. Ibid, 31-32

On shellheaps in Essex Co., Mass , 1869. Ibid , 123

On skulls of several species of bears, and a molar tooth of a bear
found m a shellheap on Goose Island, Mass, 1869. Ibid , 138.

1871:

Acceptance of appointment as Director of Museum, Peabody Academy
of Science, at time of dedication of the Academy, August 18, 1869 Second
Annual Report Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, 5-6.

On the great mound in St. Louis, 1870. Amer. Naturalist, Salem, IV,
62-63.

On the young of Orthagoriscus mola, 1870 Ibid., 629-633. 4 ill.

Note on American panther, 1870. Ibid., 692.

Note on deer's horns, 1870. Ibid f 762-763,

Note on E. D. Cope's Classification of Fishes, 1870. Ibtd. r V, 593.

Formation of the Mammoth Cave. Ibid., 739-744. (Reprinted in The
Mammoth Cave and Its Inhabitants, by A S. Packard and F. W. Putnam,
Salem, 1879.)

On the structure of fishes, 1870. Bull. Essex Inst, Salem, II, no-ill.

On Indian stone implements, 1870. Ibid, 161.

On the Mt. Washington meteorological station, 1870. Ibid., 164.

Note on HemvrampJws from Danvers mill-pond, 1870. Ibid., 171.

Note on abnormal growth of incisor teeth of the woodchuck, 1870
Ibid., 172.

On the occurrence of Buleptorhamptws longwostris on the coast of
Massachusetts, 1870. Proc Boston Soc. Nat. Hist, XIII, 236-240.

Note on the Pimelodus cydopum of Humboldt Amer. Naturalist,
Boston, V, 694-697.

1872:

Resolutions of sympathy and aid offered to Chicago Academy of
Sciences at time of Chicago fire, 1871. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist,
XIV, 386-387.

The new Australian fish, 1871. Bull. Essex Inst, Salem, III, 40-41.

Fishes m Wenham Lake, 1871. Ibid., 88-90.

Indian relics from Beverly, 1871. Ibid., 123-125. Two plates after-
ward published, ibid., XXVII, opposite p. 89, Salem, 1897.

Resolutions of sympathy and aid offered the Chicago Academy of

141

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. X\I

Sciences at time of Chicago fire. Ibid, III, 136-138
Ancient fortification on the Wabash River, 1871. lfrd., 148-155. 3 ill-
Blind fishes of Mammoth Cave and their allies, 1871. Ibid, 165-178
(Reprinted in The Mammoth Cave and its Inhabitants, by A. S Packard
and F. W. Putnam, "Salem, 1879.)

Synopsis of the family Heteropygii, 1871. 4th Annual Report Pea-
body Academy of Science, Salem, 15-23.

Blind fishes of Mammoth Cave and their allies. Amer. Naturalist,
Salem, VI, 6-30, 2 pi, 2 fig (Reprinted in The Mammoth Cave and its
Inhabitants, by A. S. Packard and F W. Putnam, Salem, 1879 )
The Etheostomoids Arner. Naturalist, Salem, VI, 109-115 5 ill
Young of the blind fish. Ibid., 116-117. (Reprinted m The Mammoth
Cave and its Inhabitants, by A S. Packard and F. W. Putnam, Salem,

18790

Note on eels. Amer, Naturalist, Salem, VI, 449.

Note on the inhabitants of Mammoth Cave, Ibid , 554. (Reprinted in
The Mammoth Cave and its Inhabitants, by A, S. Packard and F. W
Putnam, Salem, 1879)

Rattle of the rattlesnake Amer Naturalist, Salem, VI, 693-694

The blind fishes of the Mammoth Cave and their allies. Nature, VI,
415-417. (Reprinted from Amer. Naturalist, VI, 1872 )

1873

On the caterpillars and pupae of the cabbage butterfly, 1872 Bull.
Essex Inst , Salem, IV, 9

The rattle of the rattlesnake, 1872 Ibid , 63.

Account of archaeological researches at Jeffries' Neck, Ipswich, 1872.
Ibid, 79-80.

Resolutions on death of Dr. Wm. Stimpson, 1872 Ibid j 88.

On Indian shellheaps in Mass , 1872. Ibid., 122-123

On egg case of the skate, 1872 Ibid., 123-124.

Description of an ancient Indian carving found in Ipswich, 1872 Ibid ,
156-158 I ill

On the great antiquity of man, 1872 Ibid , 168

Description of an ancient fortification on the Wabash River, 1872
Proc. Boston Soc Nat. Hist., XV, 28-35, 2 ill.

Note on ancient races of America, their crania, migrations, and great-
est development in Mexico and Peru, 1872. Ibid., 228-229.

Tadpoles in winter. Amer. Naturalist, Salem, VII, 497-498.

1874:

Notes on Lipwris and Cyclopierus, 1873. Abstract. Proc Amer. Assoc.
Adv. Sci. Salem, XXII, 335-340.

Description of a few stone knives found in Essex Co., Mass., 1873.
Bull. Essex Inst , Salem, V, 80-86, 3 ill.

142

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TOZZER

On stone implements and a carved stone, representing a cetacean,
found at Seabrook, N. H, 1873 Ibid, 111-114 i ill

Note on Col. John Wells Foster, 1873 Ibid., 124.

Description of a stone knife found at Kingston, N H., 1873 Ibid f
125. i ill.

Fishes of Chebacco pond, 1873. Ibid , 141-142

Obituary remarks on Louis Agassiz, 1873. Ibid , 205-207.

Notes on the Myxmidae, 1873. Proc Boston Soc. Nat Hist., XVI,
127-135, I table

Notes on the genus Bdellostoma. Ibid., 156-160

Notes on the Ophidhdae and Fierasferidae. Ibid , 339-34$, 3 iH

Gobiosoma molestwm from the Ohio River. Amer. Naturalist, Salem,

VIII, 233-234-
The Mammoth Cave In Kentucky. Salem Register, LXXV, no 97.

1875-

Note on teaching natural history in the schools, 1874. Bull. Essex
Inst , Salem, VI, 8-10.

On rare fishes from the harbors of Marblehead, Salem and Beverly,
1874. Ibid., n, 13.

Indian remains from Essex Co., Mass , 1874. Ibid. f 17-19

Description of the blackfish in Salem harbor, 1874. Ibid., 22-24.

Note on the development of the arts of engraving and printing, 1874.
Ibid, 70.

Notice of Indian skull from shellbed on Rock Island, 111 , 1874. Ibid. t
70-72

Note on tooth of a shark, 1874, Ibid , 72.

Note on shellheaps at Ipswich, 1874. Ibid f in

Note on Chauhodus Sloani caught on George's Banks, 1874. Ibid. f in.

Notes on fishes and insects from Ipswich River, 1874. Ibtd , 121.

Note on Indian implements, 1874. Ibid., 121.

Anderson School of Natural History on Penikese Island, 1874. Ibid ,

143-144

Account of the scientific work of Professor Jeffries Wyman. Resolu-
tions on his death, 1874. Ibid > 152-153*

Notice of important archaeological discoveries of the Hayden Exepdi-
tion, 1874. Ib*d. f 204-205.

Resolutions on the death of Jeffries Wyman, 1874. Proc. Boston Soc.
Nat. Hist, XVII, 125.

On the fishes and qrayfisaes of Mammoth Cave, 1874. Ibid., 221-225.
(Reprinted in The Mammoth Cave and its Inhabitants, by A. S. Packard
and F. W. Putnam, Salem, 18790

On the male and female organs of sharks and skates, with special
reference to the use of "claspers>" 1874. Abstract. By F. W. Putnam

143

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

and S W. Garman. Proc. Amer. Assoc Adv. Sci , Salem, XXIII, B.

143-144.

On the Anderson School of Natural History at Penikese, 18/4. Ab-
stract. Ibid, 144-146

History of the Hartford Meeting, American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, 1874. Ibid., 150-155.

Obituary notice of Jeffries Wyman, 1874. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts
and Sciences, Boston, n s , II, 496-505

Archaeological researches m Kentucky and Indiana, with description
of Salt Cave. Proc Boston Soc. Nat Hist., XVII, 314-332.

The pottery of the Mound Builders. Amer. Naturalist, Salem, IX, 321-
338, 393-409. 68 ills , 3 pi (Reprinted from Eighth Rep. Peabody Mus.
Amer. Arch and Ethn , Harvard Univ )

Archaeological exploration in Indiana and Kentucky. Amer. Natural-
ist, Salem, IX, 410-415. (Reprinted from Eighth Rep. Peabody Mus.
Amer. Arch and Ethn., Harvard Univ )

Memorial to Legislature of Massachusetts for a scientific survey of
the Commonwealth. [As representative of the Essex Inst.] House
Doc, no. 184, 5-8, Boston.

1876:

Archaeological researches in Kentucky, 1875. Bull. Essex Inst , Salem,
VII, 2-9.

Fortifications, and other enclosures, made by the Indians and the older
races in North America, 1875. Ibid., 56

Notice of shellheaps and Indian relics at Newbury, 1875. Ibid., 106-107.

The Swallow archaeological collection from New Madrid, Mo, 1875.
Rep. Peabody Mus. Amer. Arch, and Ethn , Cambridge, I, 16-46, 69 ill

Archaeological explorations in Kentucky and Tennessee, 1875 Ibid ,
47-52.

1877:

On some of the habits of the blind crayfish and the reproduction of lost
parts, 1875 Proc. Boston Soc Nat. Hist , XVIII, 16-19.

On the ancient Peruvians, 1876. Bull Essex Inst , Salem, VIII, 34-36

On ancient gold images from graves near Bogota, 1876 Ibid f S3

On Indian and Esquimaux skulls, 1876. Ibid., 66-67

1878.

On a piece of Mexican sculpture found near Acapulco, 1877. Bull.
Essex Inst, Salem, IX, 69-71.

Ancient American pottery. A Criticism on Prime's "Pottery and
Porcelain." Nation, XXVI, 8.

1879:

Archaeological explorations in Tennessee, 1878. Bull. Essex Inst,
Salem, X, 72-85, 10 ill.

144

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTXAM TOZZER

The Mammoth Ca\e and its Inhabitants. By A, S. Packard and F. \V.
Putnam Salem (8vo , 62 pp , 2 pi, 15 figs )

The Southern Californians. Rep, U. S. Geog. Surveys West of the
looth Meridian, VII Archaeology Part I, Archaeology and Ethnology
of Southern California, 1-31. Washington, Government Printing Office

Perforated stones (from California, Africa, India, Swiss Lakes, Den-
mark, South and Central America). Ibid , 135-189, i plate, 18 fig.

Sculptures. Ibid., 218-221, 3 ill.

Implements and weapons made of bone and wood By C. C. Abbott
and F W. Putnam Ibid., 222-233, i pi , 12 fig.

Textile fabrics and basket-work. Ibid., 239-250, i pi , 3 fig.

Ornaments. Ibid, 251-262, i pi, 9 fig

Iron implements and other articles obtained by contact with Europeans.
Ibid., 272-276, i pi., 2 fig.

Ruins in the Canon de Chelle Ibid, Part II, The Pueblo Ruins and
the Interior Tribes. 372-373, i pi.

Implements of stone, pottery, and other objects found in New Mexico
and Arizona Ib\d. f 374-390, 4 pi

1880:

Archaeological exploration in Tennessee, 1878. Eleventh Annual Rep.
Peabody Mus Amer. Arch. Ethn., 1878. 305-360, 55 ill, r plan.

Manufacture of soapstone pots by the Indians of New England, 1878.
Ibid., 273-276, i ill

Egyptian antiquities found in America. Amer. Art Rev , Boston, I,
Part 1, 254-255, i ill.

1881:

The former Indians of Southern California, as bearing on the origin
of the Red Man m America, 1880. Abstract Bull. Essex Inst , Salem,
XII, 4-6.

On Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, 1880. Ibid., 178-183,
2 ill.

Were ancient copper implements hammered or moulded into shape?
Kansas City Rev, V, 490.

Ancient American pottery, a review of Potter and Evers's "Contribu-
tions to the Archaeology of Missouri." Sci, Amer , N. Y., XI, suppl. 261,
4161-4163, 28 ill.

Pueblo pottery. Amer. Art Rev, Boston, II, part i, 151-154, i pi,
2 fig.

Palaeolithic implements of the Delaware valley A discussion before the
Boston Soc Nat Hist. Proc Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., XXI, 147-149.

Archaeological Explorations at Madisonville, Ohio. Harvard Univ.
[Library] Bull , Cambridge, II, no. 6, 216-218. (Reprinted in Cincinnati
Enquirer, July 15, 1881 )

145

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

1882:

On the methods of manufacture o early American pottery, 1881. Bull
Essex Inst , Saiem, XIII, 167-168

Sketch of Lewis H. Morgan Proc Amer Acad. Arts Sci , Boston, n s.,
IX, 429-436.

Stone implements found at Marshfield. Boston Evening Transcript,
Feb. 4, 1882.

The use of copper, bronze and silver in North and South America.
Ibid.

The Maine shellheaps. Portland Advertiser, Portland, Me, Dec 23,
1882.

1883.

Note on pottery vessel from St Francis River, Arkansas, 1880 Proc.
Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., XXI, 90-91

Palaeolithic implements from Wakefield, 1881. Ibid , 122-123

Archaeological explorations at Madisonville, Ohio, 1881. Ibid , 216, 222.

Iron from the Ohio mounds* a review of the statements and miscon-
ceptions of two writers of over sixty years ago. Proc Amer Antiquarian
Soa, Worcester, n. s , II, 349-363 18 ill

An account of recent archaeological explorations in Wisconsin and
Ohio. Abstract. Ibid., Ill, 4-20.

Archaeological frauds. Science, Cambridge, I, 99.

An Indian burial mound. Ibid , 168

Stone graves of the Cumberland valley. Ibid., 292.

Damariscotta shellheaps Portland Advertiser, Portland, Me , Feb. 7,
1883

Notes on copper implements from Mexico. Proc Amer. Antiquarian
Soc., Worcester, n s., II, 235-246. 8 ill.

Shellheaps on the coast of Maine Science, Cambridge, I, 319

Altar-mounds m Anderson township, Ohio (Turner group). Ibid,
348-349*

Ancient cemetery at Madisonville, Ohio Ibid., 373-374.

Mound exploration, little Miami valley (Turner group). Ibid , 496-497.

1884:
Abnormal human skull from stone-graves in Tennessee Abstract.

1883. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Science, Salem, XXXII, 390-392.
A new stand for slculls. Abstract 1883. Ibid., 392-393
First notice of Pine Grove or Forest River shellheap, 1883. Bull Essex

Inst., Salem, XV, 86-92.

Chipped stone implements, 1883 Ibid, 137-142, 19 ill
Note on earthworks of Little Miami valley, 1883. Proc Boston Soc.

Nat. Hist., XXII, 358
Note on emblematic mounds in Wisconsin and Ohio. Ibid. t 432.

146

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM TOZZ^R

Human foot-prints found in tufa near the shore of Lake Managua,
Nicaragua Abstract Proc Amer. Antiquarian Soc , Worcester, n. s ,
III, 92-93

Human under -jaw found in gravel at Trenton, N. J Abstract. Ibid.,

93-

1886.

On methods of archaeological research in America, 1885. Johns Hop-
kins Univ. Cir., Baltimore, V, no. 49, 89

Explorations in the Little Miami Valley. Letter from Peabody Museum
Camp in Ohio, Sept. 20 Boston Sunday Herald, Oct. 24. Reprinted in
Peabody Mus Rep, III, 549-554-

The Altar mounds of the Turner group in Ohio. Letter from Pea-
body Museum Camp in Ohio, Oct 2 Boston Sunday Herald, Nov 7
Reprinted in Peabody Mus. Rep., Ill, 554-562

The Serpent Mound Letter from Peabody Museum Camp in Ohio,
Oct. 5. Boston Sunday Herald, Nov. 21

Account of continued explorations of mounds in Ohio by C. L. Metz
and F. W. Putnam, 1885. Abstract. Proc. Amer Antiquarian Soc,
Worcester, n. s , IV, 9-10

Central American jades. IM , 62-64

Note on Alaskan jade Ibid f 64,

Notes on copper objects from North and South America contained in
collections of the Peabody Museum, 1882. Fifteenth Annual Rep. Pea-
body Mus Amer Arch. Ethnol , 1882. 83-143, 44 ill

The Marriott Mound, No. I, and its contents, 1885. Eighteenth Ann
Rep. Peabody Mus. Amer Arch. Ethnol., 1885, 449-466, 18 ill.

Conventionalism in ancient American art, 1886. Bull. Essex Inst,
Salem, XVIII, 155-167, 7 pi

The way bone fish-hooks were made in the Little Miami valley. Rep
Peabody Mus. Amer. Arch. Eth, Cambridge, III, 581-586. n ill.

The Serpent Mound Cincinnati Evening Post, June 4. Reprinted, in
abstract, m Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Columbus,
I, 187-190

1888.

Account of archaeological explorations at the Liberty Works, Ohio,
1884. Proc. Boston Soc Nat Hist, XXIII, 215-218.

Note on bronzes from Peru, 1885 Ibid , 240.

Note on bone fish-hooks, i8&5- Ibid , 240.

Note on a black flint implement from Ohio, 1885 Ibid , 242.

On methods oi manufacture of stone implements by primitive man,
and on jadite objects frop New Zealand and Central America, 1886. Ibid ,
324

147

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGR VPHICAI, MEMOIRS \Ot XVI

Note on Bel os to ma in carp ponds, 1886 Ibid , 336
Obituao of K E Atwood, 1886. Ibid, 337-338
On a collection of perforated stones from California, 1887 Ibid , 356
Obituary of Miss Cordelia A Studley, 1887. Ibid, 419-420
Palaeolithic man m eastern and central North America A discussion
before the Boston Society of Natural History, 1887 Ibtd , 421-424, 447-

449

The Serpent Mound of Adams Co , Ohio, and its preservation by the
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, 1887 Ab-
stract Proc Amer. Assoc Adv. Sci , Salem, XXXVI, 315-316

The Serpent Mound saved An abstract of communication to Cincin-
nati Post, 1887. Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Columbus,
I, 187-190

Notes on two species of wasps observed at the Serpent Mound, Ohio
Proc Boston Soc Nat Hist , XXIII, 465

Announcement of the death of Professor Asa Gray. Ibid , 486-487

Note on the Serpent Mound in Adams Co, Ohio Ibid , 5*8

In Memory of Professors Gray and Baird, 1888 Bull. Essex Inst,
Salem, XX, 147-150

Symposium on the aborigines of the District of Columbia and the
lower Potomac Discussion Amer, Anth , Washington, II, 266-268.

The Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Har-
vard University, 1889 Proc. Amer. Antiquarian Soc , Worcester, n. s ,
VI, 180-190 [Separately printed for the Peabody Museum ]

Letters to His Excellency Oliver Ames, Governor of Massachusetts,
tendering resignation of membership m the Inland Fisheries Commission
Report of Commissioners on Inland Fisheries and Game for 1889, 23-25
Boston State Printers, 1890.

1890*

Obituary of Samuel Kneeland Proc Boston Soc Nat. Hist. XXIV,
38-40

Obituary of Charles L Flint Ibid , 99-100

Palaeolithic man in eastern and central North America A discussion
before the Boston Society of Natural History. Ibtd., 157-165 6 ill.

American ethnology. An interesting suggestion for the Columbian Ex-
position (including a plea for a scientific museum in Chicago as a result
of the Exposition ) Chicago Tribune, May 31

Prehistoric remains m the Ohio Valley Century Magazine, N Y,
XXXIX, 698-703, 4 ill

The Serpent Mound of Ohio Ibid., 871-888, 21 ill.

Suggestions relating to an ethnographical exhibition, submitted to the
Committee on Permanent Organization, World's Columbian Commission

148

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM TOZZER

(Appendix to Report of Committee on Permanent Organization, sub-
mitted to the Meeting of the Commission, Sept 15, 1890, 79-84 Chicago )

1891.

Notice of a singular prehistoric structure at Foster's, Little Miami
valley, Ohio, 1890. Abstract Proc. Amer Assoc Adv Sci. t Salem,
XXXIX, 389

On ancient hearths m the Little Miami valley, 1890 Abstract Ibid ,
389-390

The World's Fair Plans for the Department of Ethnology, World's
Columbian Exposition m Chicago Boston Post,, June 15.

A singular ancient work at Foster's, Little Miami valley, Ohio Proc
Amer Antiquarian Soc , Worcester, n s , VII, 136-137

1892:

Ancient earthworks of Ohio, 1887 Tract 76, Western Reserve His
Soc , Cleveland, III, 179-184 (A lecture before the Society reported by
G Frederick Wright )

The Peabody Museum Honduras Expedition, 1892. Proc. Amer Assoc
Adv Sci , Salem, XLI, 271.

Note on Department of Ethnology, World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago, Proc Amer Antiquarian Soc, Worcester, VII, 295,

1893:

Memorial letter on Professor Covering, 1892. Proc, Amer Acad, Arts
Sci, Boston, XXVII, 347-349-

Plans for a museum in Chicago as a result of World's Columbian Ex-
position, Chicago Sunday Herald, Sept 3

Department of Ethnology, World's Columbian Exposition m Chicago
Ziegler's World's Columbian Expos, Philadelphia and St Louis, 415-
435 II ill

1894

Introduction (as Chief, Department of Ethnology, World's Columbian
Exposition, Chicago, 1893) to N D Thompson's Portrait Types of the
Midway Plaisance St. Louis N D Thompson Publishing Co.

Notes on the Peabody Museum Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, III, 239-240

Copper from the Ohio mounds. (In Certain Sand Mounds of the St
John's River, Florida, by Clarence B. Moore.) Jour. Acad Nat Sci ,
Philadelphia, X, 220

The history, aims and importance of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Science, Cambridge, n s, II, 171-174.

149

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

The Peabody Centennial Harvard Daily News, Cambridge, Feb 18.

The Mound Builders. Smybolic Carvings from the Mounds of Ohio
Abstract. By F W. Putnam and C C Willoughby Boston Common-
wealth, XXX, 2-3

Notes on the Peabody Museum. Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, III, 541-542

The antiquity of the Mound Builders Boston Evening Transcript,
Oct 5

Incised human figure on pottery fragment. (In Certain Sand Mounds of
Ocklawaha River, Florida, by Clarence B Moore ) Jour Acad Nat.
ScL, Philadelphia, X, 523-524.

1896:

Symbolism in the art of ancient America, by F W Putnam and C C
Willoughby, 1895 Abstract. Proc. Amer Assoc Adv Sci., Salem,
XUV, 302-322, 35 ill

Henry Wheatland a memorial letter Proc. Amer Acad Arts Sci.,
Boston, XXXI, 363-367

Notes on the Peabody Museum Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, IV, 448-450.

Notes on the Peabody Museum Ibid., V, 241-242.

The prehistoric dog of America. (In Additional Mounds of Duval and
Clay Counties, Florida, by Clarence B Moore ) Jour. Acad. Nat Sci ,
Philadelphia, 26-27.

1897.

Notes on the Peabody Museum and the Division of American Archae-
ology and Ethnology in Harvard University. Harvard Graduate Maga-
zine, Cambridge, VI, 79-81.

1898"

Early man of the Delaware valley, 1897. Proc. Amer. Assoc Adv Sci.,
Salem, XLVI, 344-348.

Discussion of Trenton deposits at the Detroit Meeting, American Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Science, 1897. Ibid., 384, 387, 388-389.

Notes on the Peabody Museum Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, VI, 541-543-

Tribute to the Memory of Henry Wheatland Abstract Bull. Essex
Inst, Salem, XXX, 48-49.

Guide to the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, with statement
relating to instruction in anthropology^ (Privately printed^ complimentary
to the Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. at the Fiftieth Anniversary Meeting held
in Boston, Aug , 1898.) Salem, 1898. 8% 29 pp.

150

FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM TGZZER

1899

A problem in anthropology Address of retiring president of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Columbus Meet-
ing, 1899 (Ibid, Hasten, Pa., XLVIII, 1-17.) Printed also m Science,
N. Y, n. s., X, 225-236, and in Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst for 1899,
Washington, 1901, 473-486.

Obituary notice of Dr. D. G. Bnnton, 1898. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv
Sci , Easton, Pa., XLVIII, opp. p. i.

Private view of the Mexican Hall, American Museum of Natural His-
tory. A leaflet. Pub. by the Mus , N Y., 1899 8, 4 p. (Reprinted m
Sci, N. Y., n. s, XI, 1900.)

Notes on the Peabody Museum Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, VII, 436-437

Notes on the Peabody Museum Ibid, VIII, 75-76, 235.

Copper band from mound in Alabama. (In Certain Aboriginal Remains
of the Alabama River, by Clarence B Moore.) Jour Acad Nat Sci.,
Philadelphia, XI, 328.

1900

Address at the memorial meeting in honor of D. G. Brinton (as repre-
sentative of the Division of Anthropology, Harvard University, and the
American Association for the Advancement of Science). (Report of the
Memorial Meeting held under the Auspices of the American Philosophical
Society by Twenty-six Learned Societies, in Honor of Daniel Garrison
Brmton, M D , Philadelphia, 33-34 )

1901*

Skeleton in armor. Amer. Anth., Lancaster, Pa , n s,, III, 388-389.
Archaeological and ethnological research in the United States. Proc.
Amer. Antiquarian Soc., Worcester, XIV, 461-470
The Mexican codices Amer Mus. Jour., N. Y, II, 34-36.

1903:

Scientific survey of the Philippine Islands. Report of committee ap-
pointed by the National Academy of Sciences, m pursuance of a request
from the President of the United States. By William H. Brewer, George
F. Becker, C. Hart Merriam, F. W. Putnam, and R S Woodward.
Washington, Nat. Acad. Sci., Feb, 1903. 8, 19 p

Tribute to the memory of Frank Russell Iowa Alumnus, Iowa City,
Iowa, Dec. 15.

Sheet copper from the mounds. Discussion. Amer. Anth^ Lancaster,
Pa., n. s., V, 49.

1904:

Letter submitted to the Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Lands
of the United States Senate. By Benj. I Wheeler and F W. Putnam

NATIONAL ACADKMY BIOGR VPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

(for the University of California) Senate Doc No 314, Preservation of
Historic and Prehistoric Ruins, etc , Washington, D C , n p

1005

Address of President of the American Anthropological Association,
San Francisco Meeting, 1905 Abstract Amer Anth , Lancaster, Pa.,
n. s, VII, 733-735

Notes on the Division of Anthropology and the Peabody Museum
Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cambridge, XIV, 286-287

Bird design on water bottle from Moundville, Fla (In Certain Abo-
riginal Remains, Black Warrior River, by Clarence B Moore ) Jour
Acad. Nat Sci , Philadelphia, XIII, 138

1906-

Anthropology at Harvard University (In Recent Progress in American
Anthropology, edited by F W, Hodge) Amer Anth , Lancaster, Pa , n. s ,

VIII, 458-463.

Notes on the Division of Anthropology and the Peabody Museum,
Harvard University Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cambridge, XV, 284,
292-293

Evidence of the work of man on objects from the Quaternary caves
of California. Amer Anth, Lancaster, Pa, n s, VIII, 229-235, 3 pi.
(Printed separately, m connection with J C Merriam's "Recent Cave
Explorations in California," and presented to the isth International Con-
gress of Americanists at Quebec )

1907.

Memorial to Louis Agassiz Letter read on the occasion of unveiling
the marble busts of ten Pioneers of American Science, in the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History, Dec 29, 1906 Pioneers Amer Sci.,
N. Y., Amer Mus Nat Hist, April, 1907

Early American pottery An informal talk Proc Numismatic and
Antiquarian Soc, Phila, for 1905, 30-34

Letter read at meeting held in memory of William Wells Newell,
March 10, 1907. Jour. Amer Folk-Lore, Boston and N Y , XX, 65-66.

Letter of Appreciation Boas Anniversary Vol , N Y , p ix-xi

Notes on the Peabody Museum. Harvard Graduate Magazine, Cam-
bridge, XV, 437~43&

Meteoric iron used by prehistoric peoples. (In Crystal River Revisited,
by Clarence B Moore ) Jour Acad. Nat Sci , Philadelphia, XIII, 422

1908-

Anthropological research A petition to the Cjirnegie Institution of
Washington relative to the proposed establishment of a Department of
Anthropological Science By F. W Putnam, Roland B. Dixon, W. H.

152

FREDERIC \\ARD PUTNAM TOZZER

Holmes, A L Kroeber, and Franz Boas (ab representatives of the prin-
cipal anthropological bodies of the United States*} Washington, D C
Carnegie Inst , Wash , 13 p

1909

Note on the * Calaveras Skull," 1907 Univ Cal Pub in Archaeol and
Ethnol, Berkeley, VII, 128-129.

OBITUARY AND OTHER NOTICES

Franz Boas, Science, n s , Volume XLII, 330-332

A L Kroeber, American Anthropologist, n s, Volume XVII, 712-718

A M Tozzer, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, June,

1916

Charles Peabody, Zeitschnft fur Ethnologic, Volume XLVII, 39*~393
Paul Rivet, Journal de la Societe des Amcncamstes, n s , Volume XI,

643-654
Putnam Anniversary Volume of Anthropological Essays presented to

him on his seventieth birthday, April 16, 1909
A M Tozzer, The Putnam Anniversary, American Anthropologist, n. s,

Volume XI, 1909, 285-288
R B. Dixon, Anthropology in S E. Hanson's "Recent Development of

Harvard University since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-

1929," 202-215

153

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOLUKE XVI FIFTH MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD

1868-1925

BY

WILLIAM H. BURGER

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1931

CONTENTS pAGE

Foreword . . * 59

Preparation of Memoir 159

Biography ( Summary ) 161

Distinctive Honors 163

Ancestry 1 64

Schooling 164

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (1889) 168

Tidal Division 168

Office of Standard Weights and Measures 169

Holton Base 169

Mexican Boundary 170

"Geodetic Astronomy" 174

Alaska work 1 74

Marriage 174

Instructor at Cornell 175

Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1898-1909 176

Precise leveling . . 181

Length of Triangle Sides 183

Strength of Figure Formula 184

Base measurement 185

Triangulation 188

Signal lamps 189

Signal towers 189

Angle measures 191

Primary azimuth 192

Astronomical latitudes 194

The Transit micrometer 195

Standard datum 196

Gravity at North Tamarack Mine 198

Deflection of the vertical 199

Figure of the earth and isostasy 201

International Spheroid of Reference 207

Intensity of gravity and the figure of the earth 208

Mechanism of isostasy 213

Interferometer applied to gravity 213

International Geodetic Association 216

Readings and studies 217

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Directorship. . . 219

157

CONTENTS

PAGE

Resignation from the Coast and Geodetic Survey 221

Director, College of Engineering, Northwestern University 223

Costa Rica- Panama boundary commission 230

Evaporation from the Great Lakes, Stream-flow and Re-
lated Problems 232

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 239

Visiting Committee of the Bureau of Standards 243

War Work 243

Rockaway Point 248

Panama Canal slides 248

Rotary Gravimeter 252

Colorado School of Mines 253

Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education . . . 254

Personality 257

Education 259

Victoria Medal 260

Mount Hayforcl 261

"Study Men" 261

Last days . . . 263

Tributes . . . 264

Children 270

Scientific and other organizations 271

Bibliography 279

158

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD

1868-1925

BY WILLIAM H BURGER

FOREWORD

In February 1928 President T. H. Morgan of the National
Academy of Sciences invited the writer to prepare a memoir of
John F Hayf ord, a member of the Academy, who died in March
1925. This invitation was accepted, and since that time, as oc-
casion permitted, material was gathered a little at a time. Owing
to the writer's ill health and the pressure of his duties as Pro-
fessor of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering at
Northwestern University, there were periods when very little
time could be spent on the work, but at last it is near completion
in so far as the writer considers possible without an undue ex-
penditure of time and energy. He believes that it is fairly com-
plete as to events and dates, and it is hoped that the results indi-
cate in a measure the extreme admiration which the writer had
for the man whom he had known through a period of twenty-six
years, in camp life on field surveys, in connection with various
scientific societies and organizations, in the atmosphere of a great
educational institution, and in his home. It is further hoped by
the writer that this memoir is a fitting, final tribute to the man
whom he had known as Chief, Councillor, Colleague, and above
all, as Friend.

WILLIAM H. BURGER.

Evanston, Illinois, March 15, 1931.

School of Engineering, Northwestern University.

PREPARATION OF MEMOIR

In the preparation of this memoir the writer has made use of
the large collection of letters, documents, diaries, reprints of
publications, pamphlets, and other material which were placed in
storage at the College of Engineering at Northwestern Univer-
sity by Director Hayf ord and which were kindly turned over to

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

the writer by his successor ; also permission was granted to ex-
amine the fifteen years' accumulation of correspondence m the
Director's file ; also his son, Maxwell, transmitted such material
along this line as was found at his home at the time of his
death, and who has also reviewed the manuscript of this
memoir. He is also indebted to the relatives, friends, and col-
leagues who so kindly furnished assistance m response to re-
quests, and especially for the information furnished by Major
William Bowie, Mr. Hayford's successor in the U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, and finally, to Mr. C. H. Swick of the same
bureau for his review of the manuscript.

Added to the above is the fact that the writer had enjoyed an
almost uninterrupted acquaintance with the Director for twenty-
six years, first as a member of his force m field and office work
in Washington and later as a member of his faculty at North-
western University. During these twenty-six years the writer's
fields of work were closely related to some of the fields in which
the Director worked, and, therefore, on many occasions the writer
was invited to participate in examination or discussion of the in-
vestigations carried on by the Director, and many times was able
to assist in computations and in other forms of service.

While the duty of collecting the material and trying to form a
presentable memoir from it has been a rather heavy burden on
account of the continued ill-health of the writer combined with
his college and other work, it has been throughout a most pleasant
duty to work on this a final tribute to him whom the writer es-
teemed so highly.

The writer first formed the acquaintance of Mr Hayford on
July 21, 1899, when he reported as Aid in the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey for duty in the Geodetic Division
under Mr. Hayford's charge and was assigned to a party doing
precise leveling in Nebraska. On his return from this field
party in October of the same year, the writer was assigned to
duty in. the Computing Division and remained in Washington
during the winter working on precise levels under Mr. Hayf ord's
direction. As the writer had been selected to take charge of a
field party in the following spring, a party to use the newly de-

160

JOHN FIW,MORE HAYFORD BURGER

signed Coast and Geodetic Survey level, it was but natural that
many conferences were had with Mr. Hayford, and thus an
acquaintance began which soon ripened into a friendship which
lasted for more than twenty-six years.

It was during that winter that Mr, Hayford formed a small
class, composed of two Aids (of which the writer was one) and
one man from the Computing Division. This class met for one
evening each week at Mr. Hayf ord's home in Northwest Wash-
ington for the purpose of studying and receiving instruction in
the theory of least squares and adjustments of observations. The
writer at the present date wonders if those three men had any
conception of what demands they were then making upon the
time of a man who was under the heavy burden which now ap-
pears to have been his lot at that time, and further wonders if
they fully appreciated the greatness in a man who could and
would find time to lay aside his larger and more important duties,
or his chance for an evening's study or amusement, to assist some
of the lesser men in his department. Perhaps if they had thor-
oughly understood the situation their thanks would have been
much more pronounced. To place self in the background when
others needed help seems to have been one of the great character-
istics of Hayford's nature, for this he was ever ready and
willing to do.

BIOGRAPHY (Summary)

For general purposes there is here given a rapid summary of the
more important dates and events in the life of Dr. Hay-
ford. Some of these are dealt with at greater length
elsewhere in these memoirs.

Born May 19, 1868, at Rouses Point, New York.

Attended country schools, Rouses Point High School two years,
Detroit High School two years.

Entered Cornell University, College of Engineering, 1885.

Graduated, degree Civil Engineer, 1889.

Appointed Computer, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, June
22, 1889.

161

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Served In Tidal Division until December 15, 1890.

Transferred to Office of Standard Weights and Measures, and
served there until July 20, 1891, when he went as
recorder on the Holton, Indiana, base line for three
months. Returning to the office of Standard Weights
and Measures, he remained there until the end of De-
cember 1891, and was then transferred to the position
of Aid in the field force of the Survey.

Assistant Astronomer, U. S. and Mexican International Boun-
dary Commission, February 1892 until January 1894.

Returned to the Survey as Aid and was promoted to Assistant
in 1894.

Summer 1894 in Alaska on astronomical work in connection
with boundary survey.

Married Lucy Stone, October n, 1894.

September 1895 to April 1898, instructor Civil Engineering,
Cornell University.

July 9, 1898, appointed Expert Computer and Geodesist in the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

May 3, 1899, became Inspector of Geodetic Work.

Appointed Assistant in the field force, 1899.

Appointed Inspector of Geodetic Work and Chief of the Com-
puting Division in 1900 and served in that capacity until
October 1909.

Delegate with O. H. Tittmann, representing the United States
at the Budapest meeting of the International Geodetic
Association, 1906, and also at the London and Cam-
bridge meeting of 1909.

Elected Director, College of Engineering, Northwestern Univer-
sity, October 1908, to take up the duties in September,
1909.

Elected to National Academy of Sciences, April, 1911.

Chairman, Commission of Engineers, Costa Rica-Panama
Boundary Arbitration, October 1911 to November
1913.

162

JOHN FILUIORE HAYFORD BURGER

Appointed member National Advisory Committee for Aeronau-
tics, 1915.

Appointed member of Commission to study Panama Slides, No-
vember 18, 1915.

Granted honorary degree Sc.D. from George Washington Uni-
versity in 1918.

Special war work in Washington on Airplane and Navy instru-
ments.

Awarded Victoria Medal by the Royal Geographical Society of
Great Britain, 1924.

Awarded Chanute Medal, Western Society of Engineers, 1925.

Died at Evanston, Illinois, March 10, 1925.

DISTINCTIVE HONORS

1894

Awarded Fuertes Medal of Cornell University for paper in
Transactions of the Association of Civil Engineers of
Cornell University. "An Account of Certain Field
Methods Used on the Survey of the Mexican Boundary
in 1892-93,"

1918

Degree ScD. George Washington University. Awarded for
scientific work done in the Government service.

1924

Awarded the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society
of Great Britain for the establishment of the theory of
isostasy.

1925

Awarded Chanute Medal by the Western Society of Engineers
for superiority of paper published in the Journal dur-
ing the year 1924.

1925

Name perpetuated by National Geographic Society in the nam-
ing of "Mount Hayford" in Alaska.

163

ANCESTRY

JOHN FIIXHORE HAYFORD was born at Rouses Point, Clin-
ton County, New York, May 19, 1868. He was the son of Hiram
and Mildred Alevia (Fillmore) Hay ford, and a descendant of
William Heiford who came from England about 1668 and was
an early resident of Essex and Old Norfolk, Massachusetts;
from him the line descends through his son John Heiford of
Braintree, Massachusetts, who married Abigail Albins ; their son
John and his wife Lydia Pierce, who lived near Farmersville,
New York; their son John (first to spell his surname Hay ford)
and his wife, Thankful Phinney ; thence through their son John
who was the great grandfather of the subject of these memoirs.
This ancestor with his wife Elizabeth Riley came from Brain-
bridge, Connecticut, in 1800, built a log house in the dense forest,
and commenced clearing to make way for farm crops. This
farm has been held by the family since that date, and it was here
that John was born. His grandparents were Asel Hayf ord and
Esther Cobb.

John's father's father died at the age of eighty, his father's
mother at the age of seventy-two, and his father at the age of
sixty. His mother's father died at the age of eighty-seven, his
mother's mother at the age of twenty-six, and his mother at the
age of seventy-nine.

John had four brothers and three sisters. One brother died
in early youth and one sister died in infancy. His other brothers
and sisters survived him: Hiram C. Hayf ord (1930), Rouses
Point, New York; Horace Hayf ord (1930), Pasadena, Califor-
nia; Benjamin Hayf ord (1930), Waukesha, Wisconsin; Mrs.
Emily (Hay ford) Coates died in 1928. He lived with this sis-
ter during his high school days in Detroit; Mrs. Clara (Hay-
ford) McMurdie (1930), living at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

SCHOOLING

His father died when John was eight years old, and it was
necessary for John during his boyhood to help on the farm be-

164

JOHN FIUAIORE HAYFORD BURGER

fore and after school. He received his first schooling in a one-
room stone schoolhouse in School District No. 4, in the town of
Champlam m which the farm is located. This schoolhouse was
in a fair state of preservation when the writer visited Mr. Hay-
ford's brother there in 1907. His brother Hiram, writing in
1930, reports that John ran away from home when he was four
years old. The whole neighborhood was out looking for him
and he was finally located at the schoolhouse one mile away. He
had told the teacher that he would like to come to school. Thus
early did he show his desires for mental activity.

When thirteen years old he entered Rouses Point High School,
but stayed there only two years, when he went to Detroit to at-
tend high school. While in Detroit he lived with his sister, Mrs.
Emily Coates. It is reported that he walked nearly six miles
every morning delivering the Detroit Free Press to help pay his
expenses. This helped to keep him physically fit and to build
up the vigorous body which was to be called upon to stand so
much in later life.

Of his life as a student in high school the writer has been
unable to obtain much information. Evidently it was of a high
order for John was selected to give the Commencement Oration
at the graduation exercises of his class held on June 24, 1885,
the subject of his oration being "College Influence." It is inter-
esting here to note that another on the same program was Robert
P. Lamont who defended the affirmative on the commencement
debate, "Should Foreign Immigration be Restricted?" The
class consisted of twenty-four girls and seven boys. It is signifi-
cant that the part taken by Hayford and Lamont in this high
school program should point so conclusively to their future lines
of work, Hayford along scholastic lines to become a renowned
scientist and educator, and Lamont along political lines to become
Secretary of Commerce under President Herbert Hoover.

After graduating from the Detroit High School, Mr. Hay-
ford was awarded a state scholarship at Cornell University from
the Assembly District which included Clinton County, New
York. He held this scholarship for the four years while he was
at Cornell. He entered Cornell in the fall of 1885 and was

165

NATIONAL ACVDEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

graduated in 1889. His brother Hiram is authority for the state-
ment that after the first year John practically worked his way
through college by waiting on table in a boarding house in Forest
Home, a little town about four miles from Ithaca, and m that
way paid his board. He also took care of a horse and the fur-
nace of one of the faculty members of the college. There is
among his papers a record of his having obtained financial aid
from Cornell University in the form of loans secured by notes
which were paid off m 1892.

Of his college life while a student at Cornell the writer is in-
debted to Anson Marston, Dean of Agriculture and Mechanic
Arts of Iowa State College. Dean Marston writes under date
of March 2, 1929:

"I became acquainted with Director Hay ford in 1885, when
we both entered the College of Civil Engineering of Cornell Uni-
versity, Ithaca, New York, as freshmen. He took from the
first a prominent place as a student in the Civil Engineering
College, and to some extent in university athletics. I remem-
ber that in our freshman year he electrified the watching crowds
in one of the track events by running from behind under the arm
of a tall, lanky senior athlete who was considered to be one of
the best runners at Cornell at the time. I remember that Hay-
ford later became interested m fencing, taking part m public
contests.

"From the beginning of his college course, Director Hay ford
showed a great interest in pure and applied mathematics. At
that time Cornell University was conducting a Xake Survey'
every spring for two weeks, in which the juniors and seniors
conducted tnangulation and did topographic and hydrographic
work in surveys of the 'finger lakes' of central New York, one
after the other. We did our work on Lake Canandaigua, with
headquarters at a summer hotel before the season opened. I
remember that at the end of our junior year, Hay ford was cap-
tain of a stadia party and that he gave a great deal of attention
to the methods of adjusting and using the extremely antiquated
transit with which the party was supplied.

166

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

u At that time the work at Cornell was organized in three
'terms/ fall, winter, and spring, corresponding to the 'quarters'
of our present-day university practice m institutions which do
not use the semester system. In the spring term of our senior
year, Director Hayford inveigled another classmate, now Dean
F. E. Turneaure at the University of Wisconsin, and myself
into taking an elective course in which the object was the adjust-
ment of the triangulation data obtained in these surveys, ac-
cumulated for several years. My own part in the course was
mainly to operate a calculating machine, but Director Hayford
took an intense delight in planning and "directing the work in all
its features in detail, and it was a fitting prelude to his after
work on various U. S. boundary surveys, and with the U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey.

"It is my recollection that during the last three years of our
work at Cornell, ten engineering students, including Hayford,
Turneaure and myself, became the owners of a second-hand sail
boat, which afforded us much recreation in patching, painting,
and even sailing it occasionally. Professor H. N. Ogden of Cor-
nell University was another of these ten men. He was from
Maine and our most accomplished sailor. To this boat we gave
the name 'Secant/ and upon one occasion she upset and thus
became a 'co-secant'."

In connection with athletics while at Cornell his son Maxwell
is authority for the statement that Hayford won the Intercol-
legiate Mile Championship for 3 years, and placed second in the
mile walk. He received many medals for his races, some of
which are now in his son's possession.

From other sources it has been gleaned that Mr. Hayford
also took part on several occasions in college dramatics and even
started to learn to play the violin. Evidently while in college he
led the same kind of intense life which was so characteristic of
the subsequent years. Judging from the stories which he told,
college life and classroom work must have been full of keen
enjoyment for him. This was one of his predominating traits,
always to get the fullest from every phase of life or activity into
which he entered, whether mental, spiritual, or physical.

167

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHIC \t MEMOIRS VOX, XVI

In addition to his work at Cornell along surveying and mathe-
matical lines, he took great interest in the physical sciences, and
under Professor I. P. Church laid the foundation for the
great progress he made in later years in his studies and investiga-
tions on isostasy and stream flow and other related scientific
works.

In Dean Marston's recollections of Mr. Hayford's life at Cor-
nell, mention was made also of Dean Turneaure. The acquaint-
ance of these three men continued throughout Mr. Hayford's
life, and they met often and corresponded much, and he spoke
of them with highest praise. He had also a close friendship
with another classmate of the class of 1889. This was James S.
Stone, a brother of Lucy Stone to whom Mr. Hayford was later
married. The class of '89 seems to have been a remarkable
class. At least four members of it attained "Who's Who in
America," three as Deans of Engineering Schools, and one, Pro-
fessor Carpenter, as Professor of Experimental Engineering,
all renowned as scientists and educators.

UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY
TIDAI, DIVISION

It was but natural that on graduation from Cornell he should
seek employment along those lines in which he seemed partic-
ularly gifted, lines along which he had shown aptitude during
his college days ; and on June 22, 1889, he accepted service with
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey at Washington, as
computer. Thus began his relation with the Survey, a relation
which was to bring him such renown, and in a reciprocal way
add to the prestige of this bureau of the government. On re-
porting for duty he was assigned to the Tidal Division. Part
of his work in this division was of a general routine nature, and
part along special lines of investigation. He made a special
study of the Ferrel machine, of Harmonic Analyzers, and fre-
quently discussed with Mr. E. G. Fischer regarding a new tide-
predicting machine in the Survey. His work in this division
gave rise to his first published works: (a) "Mean Range and

168

JOHN FILLMORE IIAYFORD BURGER

Improvement on the Tidal Machine," (b) 4 *Use of Observations
of Currents for Prediction Purposes/' and (c) "Comparison of
the Predicted with the Observed Times and Heights of High
and Low Waters at Sandy Hook, N. J., during the Year 1889,"
all published by the Survey as shown in the Bibliography at the
end of these Memoirs.

OFFICE OF STANDARD WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

He served in the Tidal Division until December 15, 1890, when
he was transferred to the Office of Standard Weights and Meas-
ures, a division of the Survey which was later to become the
National Bureau of Standards. Here he served under O. H.
Tittmann, who later became Superintendent of the U. S. Coast
and Geodetic Survey. His work in the Office of Standard
Weights and Measures, as in the Tidal Division, was on the gen-
eral observing and computing incidental to the routine work of
the division, but he also had an opportunity to do some original
work, the results of this being given in the Survey Report for
1892, appendix No. 10, "On the Least Square Adjustment of
Weighings." In July his work in this Office was interrupted
for a few months when he was sent on an assignment to Holton,
Indiana, returning upon its completion to the Office of Standard
Weights and Measures where he remained until the end of De-
cember, 1891.

HOI,TON BASE

The first field work in which Mr, Hayf ord took part was when
he was sent to Holton, Indiana, July 20, 1891, to act as recorder
on the measurement of the Holton Base Line, under Assistants
O. H. Tittmann and R. S. Woodward. He served in this ca-
pacity during the measurement of the base until October 12,
returning to Washington on October 27, 1891, the intervening
time being spent on leave of absence, visiting in Detroit, Roches-
ter, N. Y., and Rouses Point, N. Y.

At Holton Base, Mr. Hayford formed an acquaintance with
one of the men of the base party, and between them began a
friendship which was destined not only to affect later his reputa-

169

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL, MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

tion as head of the Division of Geodesy in the U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, but in a great measure to affect the geodesy
of the United States and of the entire world. This acquaint-
ance with Jasper S. Bilby ripened into an abiding friendship
which lasted until the death of Mr. Hayford in 1925. When
Mr. Hayford went to the work on the United States-Mexican
Boundary, Mr. Bilby was employed as general helper in his
party and he has served continuously to date with the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, with rare periods omitted, engaged for the
most part in the Geodetic Division. Since about 1900 all of the
major reconnaissance and signal-building has been in his charge
and it was under Mr. Hayf ord's regime that special recognition
was given him by conferring upon him the official title of Signal-
man, the first to be thus honored. In speed and economy of op-
eration his work has had a distinct bearing upon the phenomenal
success attained by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in triangula-
tion and base work. He is the designer of the Bilby Steel Tower
now being used with great success. Recently he again received
official recognition by being given the title of Chief Signalman,
this position having been especially created for him. The writer
has had the pleasure of working with Mr Bilby on many occa-
sions, and believes that as an expert on reconnaissance and
signal-building Mr. Bilby stands unrivaled in the world.

In December, 1891, Mr. Hayford was transferred to the posi-
tion of Aid in the field force of the Survey, and during January,
1892, a considerable part of his time was spent in Washington
in preparation for the work on the United States-Mexican
Boundary survey to which he had been appointed.

MEXICAN BOUNDARY

Owing to the fact that difficulties had arisen regarding the
exact location of the boundary line between the United States
and Mexico a convention was concluded between the two gov-
ernments at Washington, July 29, 1882. Its provisions were not
carried into effect before the date of its expiration, and another
convention between the two governments to revive and continue
the same was concluded February 18, 1889.

170

ANNE, COUNTESS OF CHESTERFIELD
From a miniature

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

tion as head of the Division of Geodesy in the U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, but in a great measure to affect the geodesy
of the United States and of the entire world. This acquaint-
ance with Jasper S. Bilby ripened into an abiding friendship
which lasted until the death of Mr. Hayford in 1925. When
Mr. Hayford went to the work on the United States-Mexican
Boundary, Mr. Bilby was employed as general helper in his
party and he has served continuously to date with the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, with rare periods omitted, engaged for the
most part in the Geodetic Division. Since about 1900 all of the
major reconnaissance and signal-building has been in his charge
and it was under Mr. Hayford's regime that special recognition
was given him by conferring upon him the official title of Signal-
man, the first to be thus honored. In speed and economy of op-
eration his work has had a distinct bearing upon the phenomenal
success attained by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in triangula-
tion and base work. He is the designer of the Bilby Steel Tower
now being used with great success. Recently he again received
official recognition by being given the title of Chief Signalman,
this position having been especially created for him. The writer
has had the pleasure of working with Mr. Bilby on many occa-
sions, and believes that as an expert on reconnaissance and
signal-building Mr Bilby stands unrivaled in the world.

In December, 1891, Mr. Hayford was transferred to the posi-
tion of Aid in the field force of the Survey, and during January,
1892, a considerable part of his time was spent in Washington
in preparation for the work on the United States-Mexican
Boundary survey to which he had been appointed.

MEXICAN BOUNDARY

Owing to the fact that difficulties had arisen regarding the
exact location of the boundary line between the United States
and Mexico a convention was concluded between the two gov-
ernments at Washington, July 29, 1882. Its provisions were not
carried into effect before the date of its expiration, and another
convention between the two governments to revive and continue
the same was concluded February 18,

170

JOHN* FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

In accordance \\ith Article V of this convention, the Inter-
national Boundary Commission, organized November 17, 1891,
was to carry out the provisions of the convention to mark the
boundary from the Pacific Ocean to the Rio Grande. The
United States commissioners appointed by the President of the
United States were Lieut. Col. J. W. Barlow, Corps of Engi-
neers ; First Lieut. D. D. Gaillard, Corps of Engineers, and Mr.
A. T. Mosman, Assistant, Coast and Geodetic Survey. To carry
out the work of the American Commission several parties were
organized, and in February, 1892, J. F. Hayford, with the title of
Assistant Astronomer, was placed in charge of one of these,
namely, the astronomical party for determining latitude and azi-
muth. Mr. Hayford reported directly to Commissioner Mos-
man who, also, under the title of Astronomer, had general
supervision over the astronomical work along the line.

The work of the astronomical party began in Washington in
December, 1891, and on January 22, 1892, Mr. Hayford left
Washington for El Paso via New York and Galveston, arriving
at El Paso on February 3, and on February 12 the astronomical
party went into camp near El Paso, in conjunction with the other
survey parties, fully equipped and prepared for work Mr. Hay-
ford's immediate party consisted of himself as astronomer and
observer ; James Page, computer ; J. S. Bilby, general helper, and
a cook and two teamsters. Their equipment consisted of one
spring wagon, one baggage wagon, and, when necessary, one
water-tank wagon.

All of the observations for latitude, azimuth, time, and mag-
netic declination on the entire line from El Paso to the Pacific
Coast were made by Mr. Hayford in person. He also executed
some detached secondary and tertiary triangulation, and ranged
out two hundred and thirty miles of line.

So far as the writer knows, this is the first position held by
Mr. Hayford where he was essentially chief of a field party
and completely responsible for the successful completion of the
work assigned. When one considers the magnitude of the work
to be done and the difficulties under which the parties worked it

171

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

is difficult to realize that this was his first responsible assignment.
At this time he was only twenty-four years of age.

The nature of the country traversed had a most important
bearing upon the organization of parties and methods adopted
for the survey. The whole region is essentially and, and natural
features and conditions were such as arise from its arid charac-
ter. Volcanic peaks are frequent and in many places the lava
had poured in a great flood over the plains, making the desolate
region even more desolate and forbidding and furnace-like, as
the lava rock catches and throws out again the fierce heat of an
unclouded sun.

The greatest difficulty was to secure water, and many times
it was necessary to haul water fifteen to twenty miles to camps,
sometimes fifty miles, and in one case over one hundred miles.
The summer temperature was very severe. During the second
summer of the survey, in crossing the Yuma Desert, tempera-
tures rarely fell as low as 90 throughout the night, and reached
104 for four or five hours nearly every day, and on one day
indicated 118 in the shade. The only shade in general was
that furnished by the tents, vegetation offering none, and the
noon day rest found no cooling shade.

To add to the difficulties under which the parties labored in
crossing the Yuma and Tule deserts, nearly half of the helpers
deserted on this their first experience of the desert, and practi-
cally all of those remaining gave out at the end of two or three
days, leaving the instrument men to perform their work un-
assisted.

This work called for the endurance of the most rugged of
pioneers, the undaunted courage of the explorer, while the opera-
tions involved represent one of the highest types of work de-
manded from the scientist

By direction of the War Department the Commission during
its operations was provided with a military escort of about fifty
enlisted men with three officers to accompany the expedition as
a protection against Indians or other marauders.

The determination of each of the three non-parallel sections
of the boundary, namely, the meridian position and two western

172

JOHN FILLMGRE HA\FORD BURGER

sections, consisted in the prolongation of the line from its deter-
mined azimuth at one end. The tracing of the parallel of lati-
tude sections involved frequent astronomical stations. These
were established at successive distances of about twenty miles.
Observations were made to determine latitude and azimuth, and
tangents to the parallel at each astronomical station were laid
out and lines prolonged to the next station. Intermediate points
on the boundary were determined by computed offsets.

A detailed report of this work by Mr. Hayford is given in
the "Report of the Boundary Commission upon the Survey of
the Boundary between the United States and Mexico West of
the Rio Grande, 1891-1896," pp. 62-168.

Besides furnishing him much material for his text-book on
Geodetic Astronomy, it brought to Mr. Hayford the much-prized
Fuertes Medal of the College of Civil Engineering of Cornell
University, awarded to him about 1894. In regard to this medal
Director E. E. Haskell of the College of Civil Engineering in
1911 wrote to Director Hayford saying, "There seems to be no
record in this College in regard to the award." On April 20,
1911, Director Hayford replied, "I have no definite record show-
ing the basis of the award of the Fuertes Medal to me. My
memory is that it was awarded for the paper entitled 'On Certain
Field Methods Used on the Survey of the Mexican Boundary
in 1892-1893,' published in the Transactions of the Association
of Engineers of Cornell University, 1894, pp. 55-83."

Mr. Hayford was engaged upon the Boundary work from
December, 1891, to December 26, 1893.

The Commission, in reporting upon the work to the Congress
of the United States, stated in regard to the work of the four
principal engineers m charge of divisions (Mr. Hayford being
in charge of the astronomical section) :

"They all brought to bear upon their duties rare intelligence
and excellent training, and throughout the difficult and arduous
work devolving upon them were ever willing . . . and to them
is due large credit for the successful completion of the survey/'

The writer, in his long intimate acquaintance with Mr. Hay-
ford, has listened many times to descriptions of this work, de-

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHIC \t MEMOIRb VOL XVI

scriptions replete with tales of heroism and endurance of the men
engaged upon it and which would constitute an epic if but known
to the world, but accepted by them as part of the day's work.

"GEODETIC ASTRONOMY"

Mr. Hayford made use of much of the material gathered on
the Boundary Survey in his book on Geodetic Astronomy, pub-
lished in 1898. His own personal copy, in which he had made
marginal notes since 1898, is in the writer's possession and need-
less to say it is a much-prized volume. It contains a wealth
of material on observing and computing time, latitude, longitude,
azimuth, and least squares, written in such a clear, comprehen-
sive manner as to make it stand near the top of the list of pub-
lished works on this matter. Unfortunately, it did not have
the ready sale which a more popular text-book would have re-
ceived, and when the plates were melted by the publishers
a few years before Mr. Hayford's death, and with his permis-
sion, he remarked to the writer that this book had "netted him
fifteen cents for each hour spent m its preparation."

On completion of his work with the Boundary Commission,
Mr. Hayford returned to his regular duties in the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, and was promoted to Assistant in the Survey
in 1894.

ALASKA WORK

On April 19, 1894, Mr. Hayford left Washington under an
assignment to join the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer
"Hassler" at Seattle for work in Alaska under Assistant John
F. Pratt, commanding the steamer. During the summer he was
stationed near Pyramid Harbor, Anchorage Bay and Tanja In-
let, Alaska, and was engaged in making longitude and other
astronomical determinations in connection with the survey of the
Alaska boundary. He returned to Washington September 8,
1894, to resume his regular work as Assistant in the Survey.

MARRIAGE

On completion of the work at Holton, Indiana, we find that
Mr. Hayford spent one week at Detroit visiting with his sister,

174

JOHN FILLMORE HA\ FuRD Bl RGER

after \\hich he went to Rochester and Charlotte, X. Y., to visit
at the home of James S Stone, a classmate of his undergraduate
days at Cornell University. It was during this visit that he
became engaged to Lucy Stone, the sister of James Her father
was William T Stone. She also had another brother, Walter
King Stone, who has attained fame as an illustrator. This en-
gagement ended in a wedding on October n, 1894, soon after
his return from field work at Anchorage Bay, Alaska They
spent their wedding trip visiting Niagara, Detroit, Chicago,
Janesville and Madison, Wisconsin, and arrived m Washington,
November i, 1894.

As to his work during the latter part of 1894 and the first half
of 1895, the writer has not been able to learn, but from items
that have been discovered it is judged that he was employed in
Washington on general work at the Survey office These items
also indicate that it was not a period of all work and no play, for
we find evidence that he and Mrs. Hay ford made good use of
their stay in Washington by making frequent trips to see the
nearby points of historic interest , also they took advantage of
the many good operas and other forms of amusement afforded
by the winter in Washington Even the lighter forms of enter-
tainment were not neglected, for we find them joining the Mask
and Wig Club and participating in amateur theatricals.

INSTRUCTOR AT CORNELL

In September, 1895, Mr. Hayford resigned his position as
Assistant in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to
accept a position as instructor m Civil Engineering at Cornell
University. His duties at Cornell were teaching Mechanics,
Practical Astronomy, Land Surveying, and Descriptive Geom-
etry, and guiding the laboratory work of certain students in
connection with Mechanics and Hydraulics. The statement con-
tained in the previous sentence occurs in a penned copy of a
letter written February, 1898, and addressed to Professor Wil-
liam H. Burr, Columbia University, New York City. It is the
only reference which the writer has been able to discover in re-
gard to the work at Cornell, and in the twenty-six years of inti-

175

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

mate acquaintance he very seldom heard Professor Hay ford
refer to this phase of his life, and even then the sentiment ex-
pressed was such as to lead one to believe that he had not been
very happy in his work there and would not care to say much
about it. The writer's belief is that his teaching load was so
heavy that he could find little time to apply himself to lines of
work in research, etc., which were more to his liking. We do
know that he responded most enthusiastically to the invitation to
return to the Coast Survey.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, 1898-1909

As stated elsewhere in this memoir, Hayford's correspondence
was exceedingly heavy and he was very careful in preserving it.
But of his personal correspondence previous to his coming to
Northwestern University the writer has not been able to locate
much. Evidently it had been packed and placed in some place
unknown to or forgotten by his relatives. Among the very few
letters preserved in their original envelopes is one on which he
had written in red ink, "Letter which brought J. F. H. to the
C. & G. S. in 1898;' and is dated January i, 1898. In this letter
Henry S. Pritchett, then Superintendent of the Coast and Geo-
detic Survey, writes to Hayford at Cornell:

"I should be glad to have a talk with you in regard to certain
plans which are likely to be carried out in the Coast and Geodetic
Survey and which will, if put into execution, give opportunity
for permanent work in geodesy along lines which promise re-
sults of great interest and value."

Under date of June 2, 1930, Dr. Pritchett wrote to the writer
regarding Hayford's entry into the Coast Survey:

"When I went there in '97 and began to study the institution
and its organization, one of the first requests I made was for
some one who would come as an understudy to Mr. Schott, with
the understanding that he would, in a short time, become chief
of the division. Mr. Schott was still vigorous but getting quite
old. I was led to think of Hayford because of the admirable
work he had done in the Survey and because of some of his
papers. I never knew him until he came to the Coast Survey.

176

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

At that time he was at Cornell. I got him to come down to
Washington and talk the whole matter over with me and was de-
lighted at the enthusiasm and interest with which he took up his
task."

Evidently the position offered to Hayford at this time was
subject to U. S. Civil Service Commission examination, for
Hayford took an examination for Expert Computer and Geode-
sist on June 7, i898, and on July 6 was rated by the Commission
as here shown:

Ability and experience in discussion of geodetic prob-
lems and administration of computing work 100

Publications in the line of Geodesy, mathematics and
astronomy 100

Positions held in professional life 100

Mathematics 95

It is not known whether he had any competitors in this ex-
amination, but it certainly would have been difficult for any one
to have exceeded the score made by Hayford. It was a score
which practically assured him of the appointment.

As Cornell University was at that time organized on the term
instead of the semester basis, we find that Hayf ord's work at
the university came to a close at the end of March, 1898, and he
moved with Mrs. Hayford and their son Walter to Washington.

He evidently had been given temporary work in the Survey
pending his regular appointment, for on May u, 1898, he was
given instructions by the Superintendent to confer with Profes-
sor J. H. Gore of the Columbian University in reference to his
proposed pendulum observations at the Survey office and to as-
sist Professor Gore to the extent of observing time for these
observations. Also this temporary appointment must have been
to the position of Expert Computer and Geodesist, for on July
I, 1898, such an appointment was continued until July 15. On
July 9, 1898, the Civil Service Commission certified to his proba-
tionary appointment as Expert Computer and Geodesist, and
Hayford took the oath of office on that same date.

He was assigned by the Superintendent to report to the As-
sistant in Charge of the Office for duty in the Computing Divi-

177

NATIONAL ACU>EM\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

sion, taking the position of chief computer. His duties were
to have general charge of the other employees in the division,
under the direction of Assistant C. A. Schott. Hayford at this
time was only thirty years of age, and comparatively young to
have charge of a division in which, at times, there were many men
considerably older than he was, and men with considerably more
experience. How well he carried on is fully shown by the work
of the Computing Division and Geodetic sides of the Survey in
the following years, and thus was added one more to the long
train of scientists which starting from Hassler did so much to
bring the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to its high position in
the scientific world.

It was in July of this year that he completed his text-book
on Geodetic Astronomy on which he had been engaged since
August, 1896, and on which he had put over 1200 hours of work.
Although working in the Geodetic and Computing Divisions at
this period, Hayford evidently found time to work in other fields
than the strictly geodetic, for in December, 1898, he published
in Science a lengthy article on "The Limitation of the Present
Solution of the Tidal Problem/' and in March, 1899, Terrestrial
Magnetism published his monograph, "Is There a 428-day Period
in Terrestrial Magnetism ?" The latter contains, probably, Hay-
ford's first attempt at utilizing, for purposes of research, the
stresses that are set up in the material of the earth

On July 29, 1898, Hayford was instructed by the Superintend-
ent, by authority of the Secretary of the Treasury Department,
to attend the meeting of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science at Boston in August, 1898, to officially
represent the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

On May 3, 1899, his designation was changed to that of In-
spector of Geodetic Work, and in the same year he was given
an appointment as Assistant in the field force of the Survey.
His rating as Inspector of Geodetic Work was granted upon the
recommendation of Charles A, Schott, the "Grand Old Man" of
the Coast Survey, and who for more than fifty years was iden-
tified with the work of the Coast Survey. At this time Schott
was in charge of the geodetic work and of the Computing Divi-

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JOHN FIIXMORE HAY FORD BURGER

sion; he was reaching an advanced age and realizing that his
life's course was about completed, gave up the supervision of
the geodetic work m 1899 in order to devote the remaining years
to the completion of the transcontinental and eastern oblique
arcs of triangulation m the United States How well he
reckoned may be judged from the fact that the Great Trans-
continental was published in 1900 and the manuscript for the
Eastern Oblique Arc completed in 1901, and on July 31, of the
same year Mr. Schott received his "final call" at the age of
seventy-five.

In 1900 Hayford, having served as Schott 's understudy in the
Computing Division for two years, became Inspector of Geodetic
Work and Chief of the Computing Division in the Survey. He
was the first man to have this double designation granted to
him. Schott, as Chief of the Computing Division, was also the
directing agent of the geodetic work, but so far as the writer
has been able to learn, both titles had never been officially con-
ferred upon him. In this position Hayford had charge, under
the Superintendent's direction, of the operations of triangula-
tion, leveling, astronomical determinations and gravity work,
from the formation of the plans for field work to the publication
of the results, with supervision over the field as well as the office
operations.

During 1898-1909 very notable advances were made by the
field parties under Hayf ord's direction in the methods of precise
leveling, primary (now called first-order) triangulation, tele-
graphic longitude determinations, in gravity work, and in the
methods of determination of the figure and size of the earth
from geodetic operations. In each case a much higher efficiency
was secured than formerly, the unit cost of the work being greatly
reduced, while In many cases an increased accuracy was ob-
tained. While these were the most important operations car-
ried on under his direction, there were many minor ones in
which he had a helping hand in improving, or modifying, so
that the operations were carried on more economically or more
conveniently. These various phases of his labors will be treated
at greater length elsewhere in these memoirs.

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

During this period Hayford was rapidly improving his mathe-
matical skill and his knowledge of the applications of mathe-
matics and engineering to geodesy Dr. Pntchett wrote con-
cerning Hayford's work, u ln my efforts, during the three years
I was Superintendent of the Survey, to reorganize in large meas-
ure the scientific work I found Hayford a most practical and
willing adviser. He had unusual mathematical ability coupled
with the quality of clear judgment a rare combination."

While still Inspector of Geodetic Work he spent considerable
time in the preparation of the Fourth and Enlarged Edition of
Coast and Geodetic Survey treatise on "Determination of Time,
Longitude, Latitude and Azimuth/* which was published in 1899,
and which forms the manual for field operations in these sub-
jects. Many important additions were made to the Third Edi-
tion, compiled by C. A. Schott, Assistant. The principal addi-
tions were (i) an account of the method of determining differ-
ences of longitude by transportation of chronometers as used
by the Survey, (2) an account of the micrometric method of
determining azimuth by means of a theodolite or transit fur-
nished with an eye-piece micrometer, (3) considerable new mat-
ter bearing upon the relative magnitude of errors to be expected
from various sources, and upon the economics of observing.
This manual was published one year later than Hayf ord's "Text-
book an Geodetic Astronomy" from which some of the material
for the manual was derived.

Although Hayford was continually at work studying to im-
prove existing methods and devising new methods to make the
operations in his departments more efficient, when once these
methods proved efficient he proceeded to gather together all the
good features and place them in convenient form for use by his
office or field force. These collections were then issued in the
form of "Standard Instructions" and they constituted the basis
on which the work should be carried on. In this way the chiefs
of parties had definite goals set them in the results to be attained
and they seldom had to grope about for the sreneral methods of
procedure. This did not mean that they could not use their
own initiative. In case any man thought he had a better way

180

JOHN FIU,MGRE HA\FGRD BURGER

and would produce evidence, Hay ford was always willing to
consider such evidence and gladly made the changes in the In-
structions if evidence warranted It. He was always ready to
listen to any proposal from his subordinates in this respect. Re-
sults, and these within specified limits of accuracy and with a
consideration of economy in expenditure of time and money in-
volved, were the prime factors he considered. This led to a fine
esprit de corps in his department and the men gladly gave of
their energy, both mental and physical.

It is difficult to tell, in an orderly and continuous narrative,
of Hay ford's activities from 1898 to 1909. In addition to carry-
ing on the routine work of the two divisions of which he was
in charge, his many researches led him into so many fields that
to portray them in a suitable manner necessitates that they be
considered separately, even though there is an overlapping
in the time element. Consequently, his various activities are
dealt with in the separate accounts which follow, and which bring
the story of his life and works up to November 1909, when he
resigned from the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to
accept the position of Director of the College of Engineering at
Northwestern University, Evanston, 111

PRECISE LEVELING

When Dr. Pritchett took charge of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey in 1897 the matter of precise leveling was, to quote his
words, "in a bad way," and "the instruments we were using at
that time had certain drawbacks/' He appointed Mr. Hayford
chairman of the committee to take up this matter, and largely
due to him a regime of precise leveling was introduced which
both greatly reduced the expenses of field work and improved
the instrumental conditions.

In the winter of 1898-99 the committee made a most exhaus-
tive study of the leveling executed in the United States by the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, as well as by other organizations
df this government, and also by foreign governments, and of
possible errors and of their sources. One of the things discov-
ered was that there existed a systematic error which was traced

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NATIONAL AC \DE\1\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

to the unequal thermal expansion of the leveling instruments
which had teen employed. As a result of Mr. Hay ford's studies
he made recommendations to Mr. E. G Fischer, at that time in
charge of the Instrument Division of the Survey, that a level
should be designed which would not be seriously affected by
temperature. There is some question as to whom credit should
be given for the design of this level In a letter written April
II, 1911, to Professor W. K. Hatt of Purdue University, Mr.
Hayford says, "I was responsible for fixing the general features
to be embodied in the instrument and Mr. E G. Fischer, the
Chief of the Instrument Division, made the design." The level
which was the outcome of the work by Mr. Hayford and Mr.
Fischer and now known as the "U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Precise Level" was constructed in the shops of the Survey under
Mr Fischer's supervision early in 1900. The writer had the
good fortune to be one of two men to whom was assigned the
first field work with these new levels. It has been in constant
use for over thirty years by the Coast Survey, to the practical
exclusion of all other forms of precise levels, and has been used
by other organizations in this country and to a great extent by
geodetic organizations in other countries. It is generally recog-
nized as the most efficient instrument for leveling of high preci-
sion that has ever been designed. Lallemand, the great French
exponent of hypsometry, once made the statement that "with
its use practically all of the errors of precise leveling exist out-
side of the instrument/'

The most important features of this instrument and methods
adopted in the precision leveling organized by Mr. Hayford
were ( i ) Use of invar to as great an extent as possible to mini-
mize temperature changes; (2) Adoption of the dumpy form
with low center of gravity, giving relatively few parts to get out
of adjustment, and high stability; (3) Single micrometer screw
under the eye-piece of the telescope affording rapid manipulation
and ease of holding the bubble centered even under difficult con-
ditions ; (4) The use of a reading device which enables the ob-
server to see the bubble clearly at any time without moving his
eyes from the eye-piece, and (5) A firm mounting of the level

182

JOHX FILLMORE HA\FtRD BL RGER

vial nearly in the line of colhmation, and in such a position that
it is unusually well separated from rapid changes m temperature
and, therefore, with the result of securing an unusually stable
relation of the vial and telescope.

Before the introduction of this le\el the rate of progress was
less than sixty miles per month. Recent work, which is of a
much higher grade of accuracy, shows an average of about one
hundred miles, and one observing party recently completed one
hundred and forty-eight miles of progress, or more than three
hundred miles of single line in one month. The cost of the
operations in precise leveling has decreased in about the inverse
proportion as the speed per mile of progress.

On January 23, 1906, in an address before the Washington
Society of Engineers where he spoke regarding the level, after
six years' experience with it, Mr. Hayford said, "This experi-
ence shows that such rapid and economical leveling has been
accomplished with this instrument and methods as to prove that
the same type of instrument and a similar method, if applied to
leveling of the grade and accuracy ordinarily done with the wye
level, would give much more rapid and much less costly work
than the wye level ever can give/* And then he issued this
challenge, "Any engineer who will consider carefully all the
available facts of this experience will find in them a standing
challenge to show why he should not consign his wye-level to
the junk-heap/'

LENGTH OF TRIANGLE SIDES

In the older schemes of triangulation it seems to have been
the practice in selection of stations to obtain practically the
longest lines possible. Mr. Hayford's studies led him to the
conclusion that this caused the triangulation to become exces-
sively costly and slow. From various considerations he con-
cluded that the extreme lower limit should be about five kilo-
meters, but that this extreme lower limit should be avoided. On
the other hand he concluded that from a standpoint of accuracy
there was no advantage in using extremely long lines Accord-
ing to his instructions to parties, the general considerations upon

183

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

which they should base their decisions were: (i) The cost of
the work, including reconnaissance, signal building, and angle
measurements, should be economical, and (2) there should be a
sufficient number of accessible stations established to serve the
immediate needs of the survey, and also to leave points useful
to engineers; they should use the most economical length of
line, namely, that length which would give the maximum of use-
fulness with the minimum of cost.

STRENGTH OF FIGURE FORMULA

The success of tnangulation depends in large measure upon
the intelligent investigations made m the reconnaissance. These
investigations include the selection of the strongest and most
feasible figures for the triangulation as affecting the economy
of the operations to follow. The shape of the triangles con-
stituting the figures must be taken into account. As the shape
of a triangle is determined by its angles, the angles, therefore,
must be taken into consideration.

Up to the year 1903 the general criterion which the man on
reconnaissance kept in mind was that no angle should be less
than 30 in the mam scheme for primary triangulation. This
often entailed considerable trouble to the reconnaissance party,
and made difficult revision of points already selected, thus
affecting the speed and economy of the operations. Mr. Hay-
ford made a study of the strength of figures used in triangula-
tion by applying to them the principles deduced in Least Squares,
and among the general conclusions drawn by him was the fact
that the 30 criterion was not necessarily a good one in all cases.
He propounded the proposition that the triangles of a chain of
figures be tested, this test to be based upon the magnitude of
the distance angles used in computing the lengths from base line
to base line and he proposed the now well-known strength of
figure formula.

In February 1903, during one of the periods between field
seasons when the writer was attached to the computing division
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, this problem was given to
him by Mr Hay ford with instructions to study the methods

184

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

and to prepare the necessary tables to make it easily applicable
to field use. It was first applied m actual field work by the
writer m conjunction with Signalman Jasper S. Bilby while
engaged on reconnaissance for primary tnangulation in South
Dakota in 1903; and it proved so successful that practically all
reconnaissance is now executed in accordance with this method.
By using this method the field officer on reconnaissance can,
after having obtained rough angles for the tnangulation figure
under consideration, in a few minutes of time decide whether
the figure is within prescribed limits of accuracy. It is safe to
assert that it has very materially helped to produce more rapid
and more economical reconnaissance without a lowering of the
accuracy of the triangulation.

BASE MEASUREMENT

Prior to 1900 all of the base lines used on arcs of first order
triangulation, with only three exceptions, had been measured by
using metal bars. The use of the steel tape had not received
full sanction by those engaged in base-line work. There was a
division of opinion among scientists as to whether or not the
required degree of accuracy could be obtained with the tape.
This doubt was natural with the older scientists for they had
been trained in the school where bars were recognized as the
prime requisite for base apparatus. Immediately after Mr. Hay-
ford assumed charge of the Geodetic Survey he made a study
of the measurements with tapes in this country, and with long
wires in other countries, and became convinced that the long
steel tape could be used in place of bars on base measurements
provided these measurements were made at night. The co-
efficient of expansion of the material of the tapes was so great,
and the uncertainty in the determination of the temperature of
the tape by means of the attached thermometers was so large
that it was believed by Mr. Hayford that the tape measure-
ments should be made at night, as then the temperature o the
tape and of the attached thermometers would be practically the
same. Tapes had been experimented with at the Holton Base,
Indiana, on which work Mr. Hayford had acted as recorder in

185

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

1891. He, therefore, had had some field experience in their use
and also with base bars of the older type.

Mr. Hayford, with commendable caution, did not at once
eliminate base bars, but decided to make a careful field com-
parison of the results obtained with base bars, 5O-meter steel
tapes and loorneter steel tapes. This was done during the
measurement of nine bases along the 98th meridian during the
latter part of 1900 and early in 1901 with Mr. A. L. Baldwin
in charge of the measuring party. A detailed report of this
great accomplishment in the comparison of base measuring ap-
paratus is contained in Appendix 3 of the Survey Report of
1901 by A. L. Baldwin, with a preface by Mr Hayford.

On the base measurements along the g8th meridian there were
used the Eimbeck base bars which had been developed for the
measurement of the Salt Lake base, and the 50-meter and 100-
meter steel tapes. Each base was divided into approximately
three equal sections. One section was measured with the base
bars, another with the 50-meter steel tapes, and the third with
the loo-meter steel tapes. Each part of a base was measured
at least twice in opposite directions. A kilometer of each base
was used for an intercompanson of all the apparatus used on
the base. From this test kilometer a true comparison of the
tapes and of the base bars was obtained. The field party was
also required to standardize the base apparatus at the beginning
and end of the field season by using the iced bar designed by
R. S. Woodward. This standardization was done in the field
under conditions approaching as closely as possible in every re-
spect those encountered during the base measurements proper.

The results of these tests indicated that the speed with
which tape measurements could be made was more than two
and one-half times as rapid as the bar measurements and the
cost of measuring was about one-third of that with the bars,
all work being executed in such a manner as to keep within a
requisite degree of accuracy, indicated by a probable error of
one part in 500,000. The accuracy with which the bases were
measured gave about equal results with the tapes at night and

186

JOHX FlI^MORE HAYFGRD BURGER

\\ith the Eimbeck bars, while the operations were carried on
much more conveniently with the former.

As a result of these comparisons on the gSth meridian, the
Coast and Geodetic Survey adopted the someter tape as the
standard length for base work. To the student of the progress
of science and of engineering this campaign will be interesting
because it was planned and carried out in the spirit of engineer-
ing rather than of science, whereas m the past the reverse had
been true as a rule. The engineer accepts past experience as
his working material, decides upon the results which it is de-
sired to secure, and then selects such methods as will secure
those results with the minimum expenditure of time and money.
The previous statement seems to embody Mr. Hayford's formula
for all of the work planned by him, and to it is due in large
measure the success attained by parties working under his
direction.

Late in the past century, Professor Charles Guillaume of
Paris discovered an alloy of nickel and steel (later called Invar)
which has a very low coefficient of expansion. It was found
that this could be rolled into wires and tapes, and Mr, Hayford
soon recognized the possibility of using invar tapes in the meas-
urement of primary base lines. On his recommendation the
Coast and Geodetic Survey purchased a number of 5o-meter
invar tapes. The experimental work with these tapes, prior to
their being taken to the field, was done by Assistant O B.
French, and these tests showed that the invar alloy had suffi-
cient strength and elasticity for base measuring purposes, and
so Assistant French was assigned, in 1906, to the measurements
of six bases with them.

As in the case with the steel tapes, so here again a good field
comparison was made in the case of the invar tapes. Assistant
French measured the six bases with both, invar and steel tapes,
and the results showed conclusively that the invar measurements,
made in daylight, frequently in bright sunshine, were even better
than the measurements with the steel tapes at night. Since
these successful tests of the invar 5o-meter tape in 1906, there
has been practically no improvement in base apparatus. Invar

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR* \OL. XVI

tapeb are now generally recognized as idea! for the work, and it
is difficult to see how any improvement over them could be made.

TRIANGUJ.ATION

Shortly before Mr. Hayford took charge of the geodetic work
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the great transcontinental
arc of tnangulation along the 39th parallel had been completed,
as well as an arc of triangulation along the Pacific Coast from
San Francisco Bay to the Mexican boundary. The eastern
oblique arc from New Orleans to Maine was practically com-
pleted. Their computations were being rushed to completion
by Charles A. Schott, "The Grand Old Man of the Coast
Survey," as a final and fitting close to his fifty years of service
with the Survey. The year 1901 saw the completion of these
computations, and in July of the same year Mr. Schott received
his "final call."

The data for the stations composing these arcs were found
to be of such great value in the surveying and mapping of the
interior of the country, and for other purposes, that there was
an urgent demand that similar arcs be extended over the whole
interior of the country. To do so seemed a formidable under-
taking, for the progress of a single observing party on first-order
triangulation was approximately from eight to fifteen stations
a season of approximately six months, or a progress along an
arc of triangulation of from sixty to one hundred miles.

Mr. Hayford carefully studied the triangulation methods of
this and other countries, and found that the efficiency with which
the work was done here was quite equal to the best that was
obtained abroad. However, his studies led him to believe that
our methods could be improved upon, and he spent much time
in studying methods and apparatus in detail, and consulted with
many men on the force, especially with Mr. E. G. Fischer, Chief
of the Instrument Division, in regard to apparatus, and with
Mr. Jasper S- Bilby, at that time a signalman in the Survey,
with the result that a number of radical changes were proposed
and tried out in the ensuing years.

188

JOHX FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

SIGNAL LAMPS

The development of the heliotrope at the time that Mr. Hay-
ford took charge of the work was well advanced and was ad-
mirably suited for observations during afternoons when sunshine
was available, but even on the best of days a few hours only
could be utilized for observing. Xight lamps of several kinds
had been used, but with inconsiderable success, especially on
moderately long lines. This led to the development of the signal
lamp, which was first used in 1902 on the tnangulation in Kansas
southward along the g8th meridian. This consisted of an acety-
lene bicycle lamp to which was attached a condenser lens. In
the middle west, where the atmospheric conditions are generally
favorable, these lamps were effective to distances as great as
35-40 miles. The period of observing was thus increased from
two or three hours a day to from ten to twelve hours by the
inclusion of night observations, and it was proved that night
observations were made more rapidly and with practically the
same degree of accuracy as those made in the daytime. A few
years later a larger acetylene lamp, such as was used at the time
on automobiles, was modified as a tnangulation signal lamp. The
larger lamp proved to be very effective on lines of triangulation
ranging from 30 to 75 miles in length The writer has often
used these larger lamps in tandem, one above the other, during
murky weather, where it was impossible to catch the faintest
glow from a single lamp, thus saving long, long periods of
waiting.

SIGNAL TOWERS

During this same year (1902) the style of observing tower
was radically changed by improvements in design and methods
of erection by Signalman Jasper S. Bilby, resulting in a great
saving in time and strength of structure. Also the program of
operation planned by Mr. Hayford on this work was a rather
marked change from the older programs. The principal features
of the 1902 organization and methods employed were :

i Two parties which erected the wooden towers needed to
elevate the instrument, heliotrope, and signal lamp to such

189

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL X\ I

heights that the sides* of the triangles were clear of obstruc-
tions.

2. The emplo>ment of two obser\ers, one on each side of
the arc of tnanguiation.

3. The permanent employment of light-keepers who would
remain at a station and direct the light from the heliotrope or
lamp toward the observers. Communication between observers
and light-keepers was effected by employing the Morse Code,
flashes of light being used to transmit the signals Movements
of the various groups were thus expeditiously ordered, with a
consequent saving of much time.

4. The completion of the observations at a station in the main
scheme of the tnanguiation during a single observing period,
afternoon and night, if practicable to do so. Prior to the season
of 1902 it was generally believed in this country and abroad,
that the angles of the triangles should be observed on a number
of different da\s in order to have varying weather conditions;
it was believed that by following this method, the accuracy of
the observed angles would be much greater.

The 1902 season was a marked success While the previous
record for a single party during any one season was 15 stations,
with a maximum distance along the arc of 70 miles, there were
75 stations in the mam scheme completed in 1902 and the prog-
ress along the arc was 444 miles. This was a far-reaching and
epoch-making accomplishment in tnanguiation. Following 1902
other parties had greater accomplishments in number of stations
per unit of time for a single observer and length of arc com-
pleted, yet the 1902 project marked the first great step forward
in the application of engineering principles to first-order tnan-
guiation.

The great improvements made in the tnanguiation methods
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey gave much promise of extend-
ing the first-order triangulation net over the United States in
a reasonable number of years, for surveying, mapping, and
many other uses It was rather noteworthy that, up to the
1902 season, there had been accomplished only 5300 miles of

190

JOHN FIUUMORE H -\\FORD BURGER

first order tnangulation. The first observing had been done
under the immediate direction of Ferdinand R Hassler, the first
Superintendent of the Bureau, in 1816, eighty-six years before.
Since the beginning of the season of 1902, there have been exe-
cuted by the Survey nearly 23,000 miles of arcs of triangulation.

The writer hesitates to close this account of the accomplish-
ments of the work of the Survey without a brief sketch of the
part played by Signalman Jasper S. Bilby. In the execution of
the reconnaissance for tnangulation, base-lines, and signal-build-
mg, Mr Hayford and his successor, Major Bowie, were most
fortunate in having a man on the Survey of the caliber of Jasper
Bilby, a man who in his chosen field stands supreme in the world.
Practically all of the reconnaissance and signal-building in first-
order tnangulation since 1900 has been executed by him or under
his immediate direction, and to him is due, in large measure, the
phenomenal mileage in first-order triangulation accomplished by
the Survey.

ANGLE MEASURES

The writer is unacquainted with the part played by Mr. Hay-
ford in instituting changes toward improvements in methods of
angle measurements, with the one exception of the ingenious
program of observing devised by Mr. Hayford, having for its
objective the elimination of the necessity of computing and ap-
plying a correction to the observed directions, due to ''error of
run" in the micrometers of the direction instrument. The pro-
gram of observing also caused the mean value of any angle to
be practically free from errors due to periodic errors of gradu-
ation of the circle in the theodolite. This program called for
sixteen direct and reverse sets of observations of directions over
each line of the main scheme, each direct and each reverse set
to be referred to the same initial line wherever possible, and
each set to have a varying initial reading on this reference initial
line, these varying initial readings to be spaced at definite posi-
tions around the circle. This method has been used to the com-
plete exclusion of the older method, where error of run was
taken into account, and has greatly facilitated the resulting com-
putations.

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL X\ I

It is believed, but of this the writer is not sure enough to
make a decided statement, that ilr. Hay ford is also responsible
for the introduction of the two sets of double parallel lines used
in making the backward and forward readings of the microm-
eters of the microscopes of the direction theodolite, which has
so materially aided in making the observations and resulting
computations of the tnangulation These double parallel lines
in the micrometers were first used in 1903-1904 in Texas and
all of the theodolites thereafter have been so fitted.

PRIMARY AZIMUTH

In order to safeguard and to check the computed azimuths as
earned through the tnangulation and to control these m the
least square adjustment of the net, it is necessary that astro-
nomical azimuths be observed at intervals along the system. Up
to 1904 these azimuths were at times observed by an independ-
ent astronomical party after the triangulation had been com-
pleted. This to Mr. Hayford's mind was productive of extra
expense and loss of time, necessitating a second party in the
field with the probable chance that the observing tower and
azimuth mark tower would have to be rebuilt, or at least re-
paired if still extant. Also he believed that the resulting azimuth
would be more accurate and serve its purpose to better ad-
vantage if observed at the same time as the tnangulation, under
the same conditions, and over one of the actual lines of the
triangulation net. This program was first carried out by the
writer on the triangulation from Brown's Valley, Minnesota,
eastward to Aitken, Minnesota. It proved so successful that
subsequent parties have followed this method. By it the regular
directions observations on the mam lines of the triangulation are
temporarily discontinued and the angle between Polaris and one
of the lines of the main scheme of the triangulation is observed
in exactly the same manner, using the same method of observa-
tions as in the main scheme, the only difference being in the
number of observations required for the azimuth observations.

192

JOHX FIULMORE HA\FORD BURGER

Whereas the limit of rejection of observations upon directions
in the mam scheme was five seconds of angle from the mean of
the sixteen direct and reverse observations taken, in the azimuth
work the limit of rejection was fixed by the probable error of a
single observation, and the observers were instructed to make a
sufficient number of observations to make it reasonably certain
that the probable error of the mean was within certain specified
limits. In order to obtain this required accuracy, it was seldom
necessary to take more than the normal set of sixteen direct and
reverse measures. The results of this method silenced the crit-
icisms, made before its adoption, that azimuths could not be ob-
tained with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy from the tops
of the high towers, and especially without observing on two or
more nights in order to introduce varying weather conditions.
After the party became accustomed to this work, the delay oc-
casioned by discontinuing the regular observations m order to
obtain azimuth observations was seldom over an hour or two,
and with but slight inconvenience to the triangulation party.

While the phenomenal success of the triangulation after Mr,
Hayf ord took charge of the geodetic work is due in large measure
to the men who accomplished it in the field, to Mr Hayford
should rightly go the credit for the adoption of the methods to
be employed and for the manner of selecting the men to carry
out the work. Being in responsible charge of the geodetic work,
any failure on the part of the field force in carrying out any
adopted program would immediately be thrown back as a crit-
icism of Mr. Hayf ord's regime. On the other hand credit should
be given his regime when work was carried on successfully, even
though in large measure credit be given to those actually doing
the work. Since many of the methods were rather radical
changes from the older order, it was inevitable that criticism
would arise. Mr. Hayford selected men for the work who had
but few years* previous experience on the work and thus were
comparatively without prejudice and were therefore free to try
out any change proposed. How well this worked out in actual
practice is shown by the results.

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NATIONAL ACADEM\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI
ASTRONOMICAL LATITUDES

The most important improvement that Mr. Hay ford made in
the determination of astronomical latitudes was to change the
method of observing the same pairs of stars on more than one
night. He was convinced from his investigations that the un-
certainty in the star positions was greater than the uncertainty
in the observations for latitude, hence he concluded that it would
be better to use a larger number of pairs of stars and to make
all of the observations on a single night, if practicable. In other
words, he concluded that single observations on each of many
pairs of stars was a more effective method of obtaining a high
degree of accuracy than to use a limited number of pairs of stars
with each pair observed on two or more nights. The Superin-
tendent approved Mr. Hayford's recommendations in this re-
spect, and that method is still being followed by the Survey.

In 1905 a large campaign of latitude observations was in-
augurated by the Coast and Geodetic Survey on which the plan
described above was first followed The writer had the pleasure
of being in charge of the field party carrying on this work and
between 1905 and 1908 determined the latitudes at 63 stations
in the United States, with an average of 1.9 nights of observa-
tions at a station in order to obtain the requisite degree of ac-
curacy. In 1908 Assistant William Bowie, now Chief of the
Division of Geodesy in the Survey, occupied seven stations and
at only one station were observations made on more than one
night. The instructions under which the parties operated called
for a sufficient number of pairs of stars to be observed at one
station to make it reasonably certain that the probable error of
the result should not be greater than o7icx

Another decided advancement in the operations of determin-
ing latitude was in regard to computing the micrometer value.
Previous to 1905 the general method in use was to turn the
micrometer box 90 and observe upon close circumpolar stars
near culmination. Such observations consume time both in ob-
serving and in computing, and experience showed that they were
subject to errors. A careful study was made by ,Mr, H&yford

194

JOHN FILMIORE H-UFURD Bl RGZCR

of this part of the work and the Survey decided to adopt the
method of computing the micrometer \alue from all of the lati-
tude observations at a station, for it seemed quite evident that
the value obtained in this way was more accurate than that de-
termined from even three or four sets of circumpolar observa-
tions, each requiring an hour or more of time, and since the
beginning of the 1905 latitude campaign no observations have
been made on close circumpolar stars for that purpose.

THE TRANSIT MICROMETER

A short time previous to the beginning of the present century
Repsold, the great designer and maker of astronomical and other
instruments, had designed what was called the "impersonal mi-
crometer'' for making observations of star transits by means of a
movable transit line in the eye end of the observing telescope.
Such a micrometer driven by clock work had been used many
years before, but with little success. Repsold's design called for
a ( hand driven movable line, and tests by the Prussian Geodetic
Institute proved its superiority over the other methods of ob-
serving star transits The prime object of the attachment was
to eliminate the effect of the personal equation m making ob-
servations for time.

After Mr. Hayford assumed charge of the geodetic work he
made a careful study of the possibility of using the impersonal
micrometer on the transits of the Coast and Geodetic Survey
for longitude work. While it had proved successful on the in-
struments at fixed observatories, the question to be decided was
whether it could successfully be applied to the lighter portable
transits in use by the Survey. At his request, Mr. E. G. Fischer,
Chief of the Instrument Division of the Survey, purchased an
impersonal transit micrometer from RepsolcL He made certain
modifications, simplified the apparatus, and made it more effec-
tive for use

Very exhaustive tests of this improved impersonal microm-
eter, or "transit micrometer" as it is now known were made at
the office of tihe Coast and Geodetic Surrey under Mr. Hay-
ford's direction. These tests were made on eighteen nights be-

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NATIONAL AC \DEMY BlOGRM'HICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

tween March 15 and May 3, 1904, sixteen different observers
taking part. These observers ranged from observers having
much experience on longitude work to those having had no
previous experience on any kind of field work. The results of
the test showed that the relative personal equation between any
two observers with the transit micrometer is so small as to be
masked by the accidental errors of observation, and, therefore, it
would be unnecessary to have exchange of observers on longi-
tude work, a procedure that had up to this time been followed.
The transit instruments of the Survey were accordingly fitted
with transit micrometers of this improved type, and when used
m actual longitude work proved to be most successful m facilitat-
ing field operations and in reducing the time and cost involved
in making longitude determinations.

STANDARD DATUM

Toward the close of the last century there had been completed
in this country a number of arcs of triangulation, principally the
great transcontinental arc along the 39th parallel of latitude and
the eastern oblique arc. While all of these arcs had been com-
puted on the same spheroid of reference (Clarke 1866), there
was, owing to the detached character of many, no harmonious
correlation between them. It was apparent, if these arcs were
to serve their highest purpose, that they must be brought into
close correlation with each other.

In the United States this was accomplished by the adoption
of an initial point to which all of the connected arcs then existing
were referred. Not only was an initial point selected (station
Meades Ranch in Central Kansas), but a latitude and longitude
for that station were adopted which would make the sum of the
squares of the differences between the triangulation and astro-
nomical latitudes and longitudes of a number of astronomical
stations a minimum.

Upon examination of the data, however, Mr. Hayford found
that the datum used for the triangulation in New England agreed
so closely with the chosen ideal datum, that upon his recommen-
dation the Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sur-

196

JOHN" FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

vey in 1901 appro\ed the adoption of the latitude and longitude
of station Meades Ranch, as computed through the tnangulation
from the New England datum. By selecting this position for
Meades Ranch a large amount of recomputation could be avoided.
The foundation thus having been laid, Mr. Hayford, as Chief of
the Computing Division of the Survey, started several members
of this force on the long labor of recomputing and adjusting the
triangulation of the United States upon this, the then designated
United States Standard Datum.

This was a geodetic movement of far-reaching influence, not
only to the United States, but also one of great importance to
the North American continent. It placed the geodetic work of
the survey upon one datum for the correct coordination of the
geographic latitudes, longitudes, distances, and azimuths. From
the scientist's point of view it furnished accurate correlation of
data for a study of the figure of the earth, of isostasy, and for
other related sciences. Since that time all of the triangulation of
the United States has been computed on that datum.

Owing to the fact that the triangulation of Canada and Mex-
ico coincided with that of the United States at many points along
their common boundaries, the United States Standard Datum
was adopted by those countries in 1913. It thus became a matter
of international importance, and consequently its designation was
changed to that of North American Datum, an event of great
importance in the history of geodesy.

Dr. William Bowie, now chief of the Geodetic Division of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, in writing to Professor Hayford in
regard to some publications of the Survey, on December 6, 1913,
wrote the following : "The foundation for most of these publica-
tions was laid when you extended the U. S. Standard Datum
throughout the triangulation net of the country."

The Standard Datum, as finally adopted, assigned to the sta-
tion Meades Ranch the following position on the Clarke Spheroid

of 1866:

i

Latitude .... 39i3 / 26C / 686

Longitude 9832'3</.'5o6

Azimuth to Waldo . - ....... 7

197

NATION VL AC \DE\I\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

GRWITY AT NORTH TAMARVCK MINE

In 1902 President F. W, McNair of the Michigan College of
Mines, in an interview with the Superintendent of the U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey, indicated that if matters could be
arranged he would like to have the Survey furnish the neces-
sary instruments and an officer skilled in their use to make some
determinations of the value of the intensity of gravity at the
North Tamarack Mine near Calumet, Michigan.

Such an arrangement was made with the Survey and with the
mine owners, and Mr. Hayford was given the assignment to
carry on the work with President McNair.

The regulation standard set of quarter-meter pendulums were
used on this work. They were standardized at the base station
in Washington in August before being taken to Calumet and
standardized again in October after their return.

The observations were made at the North Tamarack Mine
between September 9 and 20. Three stations were occupied
One was upon the surface. One was in the same vertical line as
the surface station, and about 4600 feet below it. The third
station was about 1200 feet below the surface station, and a few
hundred feet out of the vertical

The purpose of the observations was to determine the dif-
ference between the value of gravity at a point on the surface at
the mine and two points beneath the surface, with a view to
studying the vertical gravity gradient. Such a determination of
the gravity gradient in connection with an estimate of the den-
sity of the materials between and near the stations would furnish
a new determination of the mean density of the earth. It would
be still more valuable, however, as furnishing a means of testing
various theories as to the formation and present condition of the
earth.

An account of this work was made by Mr. Hayford in an
unpublished report to the Superintendent of the Survey in Feb-
ruary 1904, and contains a most splendid discussion of errors
and their effects upon the value of the intensity of gravity. In
so far as the writer knows, this is the only case where Mr. Hay-
ford was actually engaged in a field determination of the value

198

JOHN* FILLMQRE H \\FQRD BIRGE&

of the intensity of gravity, although he had engaged in pendulum
work at the base station m Washington. It was probably one
of the contributing causes which crystallized his efforts in start-
ing the long campaign of gravity observation which in a few
years was destined to add so many new determinations to the
list of those executed in this country

DEFLECTION OF THE VERTICAL

After Professor Hayford had placed the triangulation of the
United States on the United States Standard Datum, as ex-
plained elsewhere in this memoir, he was in a position to make
a comprehensive study of the deflections of the vertical at many
of the triangulation stations of this country. It is not known
when this problem was first brought to Hay ford's attention, but
the following, quoted from a letter to the writer by Mr. Q. H
Tittmann, formerly Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, may solve the question Writing under date of June
24, 1930, Mr. Tittmann says-

"It may be of interest to you to know that Helmert suggested
to me the desirability of computing the osculatory surface fitting
our extensive and homogeneous triangulation rather than to dis-
cuss meridians and parallels When, as Superintendent, the
opportunity came to rne, I submitted to Hayford the problem of
doing it, and of correcting the triangulation for deflection of the
zenith. How well he solved the problem is known to all geodes-
ists, and Helmert told me, after the publication of his results
that he himself would have hesitated to undertake so extensive
a computation."

As is well known, there is a lack of harmony between lati-
tudes and longitudes determined by direct measurements of trian-
gulation and those determined by astronomical means. These
discrepancies were generally recognized as being due to the effect
of the irregular surface of the earth on the direction of the
plumb-line at the points where the astronomical observations
were made, the astronomical observations being referred to the
direction of the phimb-lme at the point of observation. Any

199

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

disturbance of this direction necessarily affects the resulting lati-
tudes and longitudes.

The problem of the deflection of the vertical is so intimately
related to Hayford's two other monumental works, Isostasy and
the Figure of the Earth, that it is almost impossible to separate
them. Hayford attacked the stupendous work of computing the
deflections of the vertical only after most careful study and con-
sideration of the difficulties involved. His plan was approved
by the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, who
permitted the research work to be carried on in the Computing
Division of the Survey. The rate of progress was mainly fixed
by the fact that only a small amount of time was available in
the Division, for the major duty of the Division was taken up
in the general work of the Survey, and research work of this
type could be but a small part of the activity of the Division.

Upon these three works, i.e., deflection of the vertical, figure
of the earth, and isostasy, Hayford was engaged for more than
ten years. As he states, "Attention has been given to the prob-
lem during hundreds of short periods of a few hours each, or
even of a few minutes each, in the intervals between other
duties."

In the first study of the deflection of the vertical reported
upon to the International Geodetic Association at Copenhagen
in 1903 there were available 246 station errors in latitude, 76
in longitude, and 152 in azimuth, all expressed on the United
States Standard Datum and therefore comparable with each
other. Hayford made computations to show what should be
the theoretical values for the deflections of the vertical at the
many astronomical stations that were connected with the trian-
gulation, and devised methods for rapidly reading from maps
what effect each topographic feature had upon the deflection of
the vertical at any station. While studying the relation between
the general features of the topography and the direction of the
vertical in 1901, he reached the conclusion that one very efficient
means of investigation would be the graphic method, and accord-
ingly such a method was devised. By it the effect of all topo-
graphic irregularities within 4,126 kilometers of each astronom-

200

JOHN FltLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

ical station were taken into account in studying the deflections.

An examination of tabulated deflections showed that there
was a strong tendency for the deflections of the vertical over
various regions of considerable magnitude to be of one algebraic
sign. In other words, there was rather conclusive proof that
there exist regional deflections common to large areas of the
United States, as well as local deflections about a station. The
most salient fact brought out by a study of the list of deflections
was that there is a decided tendency for the deflections on both
the Atlantic and Pacific slopes to be in such a direction as to
indicate that they are due to an excess of mass beneath the
oceans or to a defect of mass in the continent, or to both.

These facts led Hay ford to a consideration of the theory of
Isostasy which had been advanced some years before by ge-
odesists and geologists, and also to a consideration of the Figure
of the Earth.

FIGURE OF THE EARTH AND ISOSTASY

Mr. Hayford began the study of the figure of the earth about
1903. The report made to the Fifteenth General Assembly of
the International Geodetic Association, held in Budapest, Austria,
in 1906, gave an outline of the methods which he devised and
was following in his investigations of the figure of the earth.
In that report a statement was made as to the data used and
how the computations of the topographic deflections were made.
Topography was considered by Mr. Hayford to be the masses
of the earth's material above sea-level and the deficiency of mass
in tidal waters.

Professor Hayford's methods of attacking the determination
of the figure of the earth formed a notable contribution to geo-
detic science. His use of the area method rather than the classic
arc method was especially noteworthy. In the 1906 report to the
Conference at Budapest the subject of isostasy was given con-
sideration and it was shown that isostasy must be considered in
connection with the determination of the figure of the earth.
In this investigation reported upon, 507 astronomical determina-

201

NATIONAL AC \DEMV BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

tions were used, 265 of which furnished that component of the
deflection of the vertical which lies in the meridian, and 231
stations furnished the prime vertical components.

The figure of the earth investigations and also the investiga-
tions in isostasy, involving the deflections of the vertical, were
continued by Mr. Hayford, and again m 1909 he reported to
the Sixteenth General Conference held at Cambridge and London
the results of this further investigation involving 765 astronom-
ical observations, this being an increase of more than 50 per
cent over those used in the 1906 report, A complete report of
this later investigation was published in "The Figure of the
Earth and Isostasy, from Measurements in the United States/'
published by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1909, and in "Sup-
plemental Investigations in 1909 of the Figure of the Earth and
Isostasy," published m 1910. These two epoch-making reports
of Professor Hayford were well received by the scientific world
and led to his being elected a member of the National Academy
of Sciences, the greatest honor that this country has to offer a
scientific man.

Up to this time Mr. Hayford had been engaged for more
than ten years in developing the ideas concerned In these investi-
gations. While the work was in progress, various preliminary
statements had been made by him in papers before scientific
gatherings. A summary of the noteworthy features of the in-
vestigations, as given by Mr. Hayford, follows

r. The investigation of the figure of the earth and of the
reality of the condition called isostasy is based entirely upon
observed deflections of the vertical in the United States.

2. No use was made in the investigations of determinations
of gravity, for it was believed best to deal thoroughly with one
phase of the investigation before taking up the other.

3 The area treated extends over a wide range in latitude and
longitude i85o' m latitude and 57O7' ifi longitude.

4 A large number of astronomical observations have been
used.

5. All of the astronomical determinations are connected by a

202

JOHX FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

continuous primary tnangulation. The triangulation does not
consist of separate and distinct belts of tnangulation or arcs.
6 Unusual methods of computation have been used.

7. The effect of all topographic irregularities within 4,126
kilometers of each astronomical station have been taken into
account.

8. The effect of possible distribution of densities beneath the
surface of the earth corresponding to the condition called isostasy
has been carefully taken into account and the existence of said
condition established.

9. The investigations lead to values of the equatorial and
polar dimensions of the earth, based on observations m a single
country, the United States, which are of a very high degree of
accuracy.

As stated by Mr. Hayford, every known device was utilized
for reducing the time required for the computation of topo-
graphic deflections without allowing the accuracy to fall below
the necessary high standard, and several new methods were de-
vised by him to further the work Very early in the investi-
gation it was realized that it would be necessary to compute the
topographic deflection for each station, and that the computation
to serve its full purpose must extend to a great distance from
the station. It was also realized that to make such computations
by any method known to have been used before would be impos-
sible on account of the great expenditure of time and money
involved. It was necessary, therefore, to devise some new
method of computation, or to modify old methods, so as to make
these computations feasible An ingenious method by the use
of templates was devised by Mr. Hayford, and served the pur-
pose admirably. By the method of computation used in this
investigation, one computation for either a meridian or a prime
vertical component of the deflection at a station, taking into
account all the topography within 4,126 kilometers (2,564 miles)
of the station, was found to take on an average the equivalent
of 9.4 working hours for one computer.

203

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Before proceeding to a study of the possible relation of the
distribution of the sub-surface densities to observed deflections
of the vertical, a secondary study was made to develop the ex-
tent to which the observed deflections of the vertical are related
to the topography. This investigation was made by construct-
ing contour lines of the geoid (or actual earth) graphically,
starting with the observed deflection of the vertical as a basis.
The problem was one of constructing the contour lines which
will represent the relation of the irregular geoid to the regular
ellipsoid of revolution known as the Clarke Spheroid of 1866,
which is supposed to be m the position fixed by the adopted
United States standard datum.

In order to carry on the investigation of the possible relation
between the theory of isostasy and the deflections of the vertical,
Hayford assumed that isostatic compensation is complete and
uniformly distributed with respect to depth from the surface
down to some unknown depth of compensation, which it was
desired to find from the observations. He developed a series of
mathematical equations showing the relation which he believed
should exist, introduced the observed values of deflections, etc.,
and proceeded to make least-square solutions on several basic
assumptions as to depth of isostatic compensation. A number
of solutions were made assuming various depths of compensa-
tion, each successive assumption being influenced by the pre-
viously determined values. For Solution E (depth of compen-
sation 162.2 Km), solution H (120.8 Km.), and solution G
(113.7 Km.), the sum of the squares of the residuals changed
but very little, solution G giving the smallest, and it was con-
sidered the closest to the truth.

The two major results of this investigation are those given
in Nos. 8 and 9 of the list of noteworthy features already stated
in this article, namely, (i) the existence of the condition called
isostasy was established and that the United States is not main-
tained in its position above sea-level by the rigidity of the earth,
but it is, in the main, buoyed up, floats, because it is composed
of material of deficient density, and (2) values of the equatorial
and polar dimensions of the earth derived.

204

JOHN FIUUMORE ILUFORD BURGER

In 1910, ilr. Hay ford published a continuation of this investi-
gation, "Supplementary Investigations m 1909 of the Figure of
the Earth and Isostasy" in which more observations were used
than m the previous work. In this work he again derived values
for the dimensions of the earth which were slightly different
from those derived in the previous work. These values have
been accepted by the scientific world as probably the most ac-
curate which can be derived without an undue amount of further
time and money spent in collecting more data and in the re-
sulting computations.

Probably no work of any man within a century has attracted
more attention from geodesists, geologists, and geophysicists,
than has this work of Mr. Hayford's. It brought to him inter-
national fame, and has placed him m the front ranks of the
world's great geodesists. R. S. Woodward, President of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington, and an eminent scientist
himself, in a letter to Mr. Hayford characterized the work as
one of the most important contributions made to geodesy since
the time of Gauss, and he predicted "that the verdict will be
that you have succeeded m pushing knowledge one step beyond
the point attained by Gauss, Bessel, Clarke, and all the rest."

Colonel Sir Sidney G. Burrard writing in 1925 says, "When
we consider that the conclusions which he originally put forward
in 1909 have never had to be modified, we have to acknowledge
that the stamp of genius rests upon his work."

These and many other quotations from well-known geodesists
and scientists all bear evidence of the high value placed on his
work But they all pay tribute to the courage of the man in at-
tacking such a stupenduous piece of work.

Previous to Mr. Hayford's publication Colonel Burrard had
the view that the geodetic results deduced from observations in
the outer Himalayas and in the plains at their feet were not in
accord with the theory of isostasy. Investigations made by him
along the lines suggested in Mr. Hayf ord's treatise caused him
to change his views The very evidence which formerly seemed
to be unfavorable to the theory of isostasy proved an unexpected
support for it, and in a most able treatise issued in 1919, he

205

NATIONAL AC \DEM\ BIOGR \PHIC VI, MEMOlRb \OL XVI

showed that the condition of isostasy exists also for India, and
confirms the general deductions made by Mr. Hay ford.

In general it is inevitable that opponents will arise to question
the validity of any new revolutionary scientific theory. In this,
Mr. Hayford's work on isostasy has been no exception.

One able scientist has criticized Mr. Hay ford's work on isos-
tasy and points out what he considers a rather serious defect in
the work. His contention is that Mr. Hayford was in error by
building his method around the untenable theory of complete
local compensation, involving an unnecessarily complex mathe-
matical treatment, and ignoring regional compensation In his
summary he states that u the isostatic compensation of the topo-
graphic features of the earth's crust must be regional to some
extent. Perfect compensation is inconceivable ; it could only be
obtained if the material were so plastic that no surface irregulari-
ties would remain The departures from complete local com-
pensation are sufficient in their effect to require that they be con-
sidered in a complete reduction of gravity observations/' In a
letter to the writer under date of February 14, 1929, this scien-
tist states, "The work on this subject which he planned was so
impressive in magnitude and results, and is so really important,
that the above has passed practically unnoted for twenty years."

In reviewing, however, the comments and discussions regard-
ing his work, one is struck by the unanimity with which all ac-
cept it, and by the expressions of accord, indicating that Mr.
Hay ford's work is one of the outstanding pieces of research along
geodetic, geophysical, and geologic lines

In addition to bringing to him international fame through the
award of the Victoria Medal, and by the adoption of the Hayford
Spheroid, his theory of isostasy also brought to him local honors.
His paper before the Western Society of Engineers at Chicago
on "The Establishment of Isostasy," presented May 26, 1924,
won for him the Chanute Medal of the Society as one of the
three best papers read before the Society during the year 1924.
The date of reading this paper was chosen by the Western So-
ciety in celebration of the occasion of the presentation of the
Victoria Medal, which presentation was made on this same date

206

JOHN FILL MURE ILUFURD Bl RGER

before the Ro\al Geographical Society of England and at which
Mr Hay ford was not able to be in attendance Formal pres-
entation of the Chanute Medal \\as made on June 3, 1925, at
the annual banquet of the Society. As Mr Hay ford's death had
occurred the preceding March, the medal was received by his
son, Maxwell Ha} ford.

IXTERN VTJONAL SPHEROID OF REFERENCE

At the Constitutional Assembly of the International Geodetic
and Geophysical Union ( supplanting the former International
Geodetic Association) held at Brusseils in July, 1919, the ques-
tion of an international ellipsoid of reference was brought to the
attention of the delegates. This was brought up again at the
First General Assembly of the Union held at Rome, May, 1922,
when it was recommended that a spheroid should be fixed upon
as early as possible so as to insure uniformity in geodetic work
and computations In accordance with this recommendation the
section of Geodesy of the Union directed its Executive Commit-
tee "to fix, and, as early as possible, to recommend for carto-
graphic calculations a spheroid of reference common to all
countries on one continent." A serious study was made of this
question by the executive committee, and reported upon to the
Madrid Assembly of the Union held in October, 1924. After
long discussion the proposals were ratified by the Section of
Geodesy, at which some fifty members, representing twenty-five
nations, were present. ( I ) Almost unanimously it was agreed to
adopt an international ellipsoid common to all the continents ; (2)
almost unanimously it was agreed to adopt the flattening given
by Hayford in his work, "Supplementary Investigations in 1909
of the Figure of the Earth and Isostasy." p. 77; (3) by the
majority it was agreed to adopt the semi-axis given by Hayford
in the same work. It was, therefore, recommended and adopted
that the International Spheroid of Reference should be the one
characterized by the following :

Semi-Major Axis 6,378,388 meters 18 meters
Flattening 1/297.0 0.5

207

NATION \L ACADEMY BIOGRAPHIC \L MKMOIRb \<>L X\ I

as given by Hay ford in "Supplementary Imestigatioiib in 1909
of the Figure of the Earth and Isostasy."

It was recommended to scientific men for use in all scientific
investigations where the shape and size of the earth were in-
volved, and it was also recommended to those countries which,
at the time, had not adopted a spheroid of reference for their
triangulation, surveys, and maps, and to those countries which,
having adopted one of the older spheroids, desired to make a
change to a more accurate one Hayford's Spheroid was chosen
as the one which represented with the greatest precision all of the
land surface of the earth. The values computed hy him have
about four times the weight of the others These values, though
deduced from observations made in the United States, have been
shown to apply equally well to other regions.

This spheroid of reference is now generally known among
scientists as the "Hayford Spheroid" and Americans may well be
proud of this signal honor conferred upon one of its scientists.

It is interesting to note that General Georges Perrier, Secretary
of the Section of Geodesy of the International Geodetic and Geo-
physical Union, has had tables computed and published for the
Hayford International Spheroid. Furthermore, it is understood
by the writer that Finland has already started computing its
geodetic work on this spheroid.

When Dr. William Bowie, President of the Section of Geodesy
and delegate to the Madrid Meeting, notified Professor Hayford
of the adoption of the 1909 spheroid, he wrote, "This is a fine
tribute to you/*

In this as in many other cases Hayford's reply was very char-
acteristic : "I am not unmindful of the fact that I was merely the
leader of the team when this work was done. In this as in other
cases, the leader gets a large part of the credit for work done by
the team "

INTENSITY OF GRAVITY AND THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH

After making tests of the isostatic condition of the earth's
crust and the figure of the earth by means of triangulation and
astronomical observations, as already described in this memoir,

208

JUHX FIU,MORE II A\ FORD BLRGER.

Professor Hay ford decided that he was now in a position to
make a further test by the u&e of values of the intensity of
gravity, determined at many places in this country. This prob-
lem he had had m mind for some years and had laid plans for
and earned out a campaign of gravity work in order to have
data on hand, storing up the material gathered to be ready for
use when he had finished his work on the deflections of the
vertical.

The opinion was formed about 1900 that in order to secure
the highest efficiency in the geodetic work of the United States,
in the effort to increase the knowledge of the figure and size of
the earth, it was advisable to postpone gravity determinations
until the existing tnangulation in the United States had been
fully supplied with astronomical observations, and the resulting
deflections of the vertical had been carefully studied. It would
then be possible to utilize the information given by these observed
deflections of the vertical in selecting such locations for the grav-
ity stations that a given number of stations would furnish a
maximum of valuable information. For it appeared that the
deflections of the vertical would probably furnish valuable indi-
cations in regard to points in the United States at which the in-
tensity of gravity might be expected to be normal, to be abnor-
mally small, or to be abnormally great.

In accordance with this opinion few determinations of gravity
were made during the years, 1900-1908. In 1907 Professor
Hayford turned his attention seriously to a proposed gravity
campaign. Methods of observing and computing were carefully
gone over, and he suggested a number of changes. His studies
led him to believe that control of temperature should be most
carefully considered, as therein lay one of the greatest possible
sources of error. Also he came to the conclusion that the static
method of correcting for flexure of the pendulum case under
the influence of the swinging pendulum could be improved upon.
This latter conclusion led to the adoption of the interferometer
method of measuring the flexure, an account of which is given
elsewhere in this memoir.

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NATIONAL AC \DfiMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

On his recommendation the Superintendent of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey approved Ha> ford's plan to
have a number of additional gravity measures determined at
selected points in this country. The writer, then in the field
force of the Survey, began a gravity campaign in January, 1909,
using the half -second pendulum, and continued on this work
until he severed his connection with the Coast and Geodetic Sur-
vey in September, 1910. The gravity campaign was, however,
continued for several years thereafter.

A new method of computation of the effect of topography
and of isostatic compensation upon the intensity of gravity at a
station was developed by Hayf ord and tested at a number of
stations. A statement of the method and of the results of the
test was given by him at the Sixteenth General Conference of
the International Geodetic Association held at London and Cam-
bridge, England, in September, 1909. On his return to the
United States Mr. Hay ford resigned from the Coast and Geodetic
Survey to accept the position of Director of the College of Engi-
neering at Northwestern University.

Dr. William Bowie was made Assistant Chief of the Comput-
ing Division and Assistant Inspector of Geodetic Work early
in 1909, and served in the office as Hayford's understudy until
the latter left the Bureau in October, 1909. During that year
the two worked together on the application of isostasy to gravity
determinations, and they continued their cooperation after Pro-
fessor Hayford left the Survey. The result of their joint work
was a report by the Coast and Geodetic Survey which appeared
in 1912 and which was entitled, "Effect of Topography and
Isostatic Compensation upon the Intensity of Gravity."

This investigation is based upon determinations of the intensity
of gravity made at 105 stations, 16 selected stations being in
foreign countries. In the principal computations full account is
taken of the effect upon the vertical component of the attraction
of gravity at a station, of all the topography of the world, and
of the isostatic compensation of that topography assumed to be
complete and uniformly distributed to the limiting depth of com-
pensation, 1137 kilometers, the value derived in his study of

210

JOHN' FlLtMORE H. \\FORD Bl

deflections of the vertical Use was made of the template method
of computation, which materially speeded up the work. By this
method a computer m an average of seventeen hours of work
obtained the effect of all the topography of the world and its
isostatic compensation upon the vertical component of the attrac-
tion of gravity at a given station.

For comparison purposes, the gravity anomalies for these
same 105 stations were computed by the two methods of com-
putation most generally accepted m recent years the Bouguer
method, and the free-air method. The "free-air** method
ignores topography as if it had no effect whatever, or as if it were
compensated for at zero depth The Bouguer method takes
into consideration the topography near the station, but ignores
the distant topography and the curvature of the earth m com-
puting the effect on the intensity of gravity Hay ford's meth-
ods are based on the assumption that the earth's crust is in a
state of approximate equilibrium called isostasy. Besides the
correction for topography to the theoretical value of gravity at
any station there is also applied a correction of opposite sign to
account for the effect of the compensation The effect of the
topography and its compensation for the whole earth is consid-
ered at each station*

The general result of this investigation was that isostatic com-
pensation was found to be very nearly complete under all parts
of the United States. Also that Hayford's method of reduction
gave a closer approximation to the truth than either the free-air
or the Bouguer method.

It may be stated that, as a result of the work of Professor
Hayford while with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, it was
proved that isostasy was probably a universal condition of the
earth's surface. His conclusions m regard to isostasy were not,
however, generally accepted by students of the earth, largely
because it was a new subject and did not fit into generally ac-
cepted theories regarding structural and dynamic geology. The
second reason was that Hayford had based his conclusions on
rather scant evidence, that is, the triangulatlon used in the figure
of the earth investigation formed a mere skeleton over the coun-

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NATIONAL AC \DiC\IY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

try, and that in the gravity investigation too few stations were
involved. Investigations made since by officers of the Coast and
Geodetic Survey in which more data were used, and the data
involved were for stations m other countries in addition to those
in the United States, have proved that isostasy is a scientific
principle There are few today who will deny the existence of
isostasy for any considerable portion of the earth's crust.

The work of Dr. Vening Memesz in determining the values
of gravity at sea from observations on a submarine has proved
that isostasy exists in ocean areas to as marked a degree as has
been found true for land areas The pioneer work of Hayford
in attacking so vast a problem as the isostatic condition of the
earth's crust, stands out as one of the notable accomplishments
in the entire history of geodesy Not only did his isostatic in-
vestigations lead to his election as a member of the National
Academy of Sciences, but they brought to him the award of the
Victoria Medal.

"For more than a century observers have been patiently deter-
mining the variation in the force and direction of gravity m all
parts of the earth , observations are still being multiplied, new
regions are being tested, the surface of the ocean and even its
depths are being tested. What is the aim of this enthusiastic
army of workers ? It is to accumulate a world-wide series of
results, until the rare man arises who can interpret their mean-
ing. Hayford interpreted the gravity results; it was he who
discovered their meaning.

"The foundations of Hayford's work were the 'observed
facts' ; he never allowed his imagination to lead him astray, he
utilized mathematics as an instrument for dealing with his ob-
served facts. When he had eventually discovered conditions
in the earth's crust which had not been foreseen by either geolo-
gists or mathematicians, he presented his conclusions to the scien-
tific world in the simple language of an engineer : *Here are the
observed facts, and here are the conditions of the crust that
explain them.'

"The conditions that have arisen in the discussion of Hay-
ford's Theory of Isostasy have not been due to his methods, but

212

JOHN FILLMORE H U FORD Bl RCKR

to our inability to comprehend the conditions which have been
shown to be existing Conditions ha\ e been discovered of w Inch
we had had no experience at the earth's .surface, and which were
beyond the range of our imagination." S. G Burrard, in The
Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, July,
1925, London.

MECHVXIhM OF ISOSTASY

In Hayf ord's work on isostasy he dealt mostly with the mathe-
matical and geological sides, with but little consideration of the
mechanics or physical interpretation of isostasy This was a
phase of the subject upon which he had spent considerable
thought, but as shown by the following extract from a letter to
Colonel Sir S. Burrard, September, 19.20, he was not fully pre-
pared or inclined to undertake researches regarding the physical
explanation of isostasy:

"I have at various times studied a good deal on this particular
part of the matter. I feel confident that, given sufficient time f
I can show a good first approximation to the mechanism, a first
approximation in accordance with a great mass of facts known
to the physicist, chemist, engineer, geologist, and geodesist. I
believe that the mechanism is simple in essence, but rather varied
in the manner of its action under the great variety of conditions
surrounding various cases in different parts of the earth and at
different times. However, I have found such extreme difficulty
in getting my views across into the minds of other men that I do
not care to make any further attempt unless, and until, I can
attempt it with such ample time at my disposal as to make the
effort effective. I find that the greatest obstacle to progress is
that most men persistently look at one factor in a problem at a
time, whereas, especially in such a case as the one under con-
sideration, one must keep a considerable number of factors in
mind simultaneously to get a true understanding."

INTERFEROMETER APPLIED TO GRAVITY

As noted elsewhere in this memoir, Mr. Hay ford had assisted
Professor Gore on pendulum observations for determining the

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NATIONAL AC \DE\IY BIOGRAPHIC \L MEMOIRS VOL XVI

intensity of gravity, and in conjunction with Professor McNanr
had utilized the pendulums in similar work at the North Tama-
rack Mine, Calumet, Michigan, m 1902. Also, in his official
capacity, he was very well informed regarding the apparatus
and methods in use at the Survey for such work. One of the
points which he considered weak was the method of deter-
mining the flexure of the pendulum case and its effect upon the
resulting value of the intensity of gravity. The method em-
ployed was the static method of applying a known pull and from
the flexure of the case compute what it would have been under
the effect of the swinging pendulum, the correction to the period
of the pendulums having been determined experimentally for
various degrees of stability of the support of the case.

Professor Albert A. Michelson about this time had published
his splendid monograph on "Light Waves and Their Uses," m
which the Michelson interferometer and its use for measuring
exceedingly small displacements was described. This was
closely studied by Mr, Hayford and his keen mind soon grasped
its possibilities in connection with gravity work.

In October, 1907, the writer was stationed at Barnegat Light
House, N. J., engaged in making observations for primary azi-
muth, latitude, tnangulation, and magnetics. Here he was
joined on October 15 by Mr. Hayford, who as Inspector of
Geodesy was making a field inspection trip to several of the field
parties He remained with the writer at Barnegat for five days
watching the progress of the work at hand and assisting in ob-
serving and computing. Part of the time, however, he could
be found under the lee of a neighboring hedge studying and com-
puting and making notes. The night before leaving, he turned
over to the writer the computations and notes upon which he had
been working, together with a copy of Michelson's "Light
Waves," with verbal instructions to go over the whole carefully
before the field season ended, as the matter contained therein
would probably be the writer's next assignment. Between this
date and November 5, when the field season closed, the writer
spent all of the time which could be spared from his other duties
in studying the material handed over to him by Mr. Hayford.

214

JOHN FIW,MORE HAYFORD BURGER

These notes and computations proved to be a study on the pos-
sible use of the interferometer as a means of directly measuring
the flexure of the pendulum case during the swinging of the
actual pendulum, and showed mathematically the magnitude of
the fringe displacement which could be expected m the inter-
ferometer, and other related but necessary points.

The problems confronting him were : (a) could the then exist-
ing instrument be so remodeled as to be used under the new con-
ditions, (b) could such a remodeled instrument be used under
the varying conditions incident upon field stations as to tempera-
ture, vibration, etc , without undue expense or loss of time to
the field party; (c) could the correction to the period of the
pendulum be obtained accurately in terms of the half-second shift
of fringes in the interferometer due to the flexure of the pen-
dulum case under the influence of the swing of the half-second
pendulums used in gravity work.

The writer reported to the Washington office of the Survey
and under instructions dated November 5, 1907, was assigned
to the Division under Mr. Hay ford. Preliminary experimental
work was carried on at the Bureau of Standards, where a Michel-
son interferometer and the facilities of the Bureau were kindly
placed at the disposal of the writer by Dr. S. W. Stratton. By
December 10 the preliminary tests were carried far enough
to satisfy questions (b) and (c) and the matter was laid before
Mr. E G Fischer, Chief of the Instrument Division of the
Survey, who solved question (a) by designing the modified form
of interferometer now used for many years by the Survey.

In the fall of 1908, after returning from an extended field
trip, during which time the modified forms of interferometer
had been constructed, the writer was again assigned to the work
with a view to perfecting the methods of, and computation in-
cidental to, its use as an actual field instrument This was suc-
cessfully accomplished, with the result that the static method is
now in practically all cases superseded by the interferometer or
direct method

This rather lengthy discussion of the interferometer is here
given to show to what great length credit should be given to

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHIC \L MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Mr. Hayford. However much credit is given to the writer for
his part m this work, since it was under his name the monograph
on this subject was published by the Survey, it was Mr. Hay-
ford's keen rnind which conceived the idea; it was his power of
abstract analysis which proved it theoretically possible; and it
was his courage in backing the work which made it actually a
success.

INTERNATIONAL GEODETIC ASSOCIATION

Dr Hayford was twice honored by being sent to Europe as one
of the two delegates selected to represent the United States at
the General Conference Meetings of the International Geodetic
Association, Mr. O. H. Tittmann, Superintendent of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Member of the Perma-
nent Commission, being the other delegate.

The first of these meetings attended by Dr. Hayford was that
held in 1906 at Budapest, and was the fifteenth General Con-
ference of the International Geodetic Association. The report
to the conference by the delegates from America is contained
in a publication by the Department of Commerce and Labor
and gives a summary of the geodetic operations in the United
States, 1903-1906. In addition to a report upon the general
operations of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, a second report
was made by Hayford regarding his investigations of the figure
of the earth based entirely upon observed deflections of the verti-
cal in the United States The first report of these studies was
made by Mr. Tittmann to the fourteenth General Assembly of
the Association held in Copenhagen in 1903, a work which re-
ported upon later in 1909 was to bring to Mr. Hayford inter-
national fame. The meeting at Budapest is of special interest
because it was the subject of his last talk to the engineering stu-
dents at Northwestern University on December 19, 1924, when
at the annual engineering banquet Professor Hayford gave a
most interesting talk on the court reception at Budapest at which
the delegates to the Geodetic Association were the honored
guests.

216

,JOHN FIU,MOR HAYFORD BURGER

Again in 1909, Tittmann and Hay ford were the American
delegates to the sixteenth General Conference of the Interna-
tional Geodetic Association held at Cambridge and London, at
which a report was made upon the geodetic operations in the
United States 1906-1909. At this meeting Hayford gave a fur-
ther report of his investigations on the figure of the earth, and
submitted his newly computed values for the dimensions of the
spheroid, values which were later adopted by the Conference of
1924, assembled at Madrid, as the dimensions of the Inter-
national Spheroid of Reference and now designated as the "Hay-
ford Spheroid."

READINGS AND STUDIES

Previous to 1900, while in the Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Mr. Hay ford's readings and studies were extraordinary in scope
of subjects and m number of publications read. He has left a
list, on the Survey computing paper, of over six hundred such
publications read, the latest recorded one being in 1900. This
seems to have been the period when he was making himself con-
versant with the many lines of work and gathering information
so necessary in his work. It must be remembered that this study
and reading was mostly done at the time when a prodigious
amount of labor was demanded of him m taking over the work
of Mr. Charles A. Schott as Chief of the Computing Division
and in carrying on the work of his newly created position as
Inspector of Geodesy. The range of his studies during this
time is best shown by the index to the one hundred and one
pages of these studies :

Tidal theory, tidal observations and discussions, waves, seiches,
earthquakes, physical hydrography, computing machines, mathe-
matics, geodesy, least-squares, electricity and magnetism, astron-
omy, thermometry, density, weighing, meteorology pressure
measurements, important numerical results, base measurements,
variation of latitude, triangulation, leveling, station errors, and
mean star places.

For each book or article read there is given the complete refer-
ence as to publication and author, and a brief summary of the

217

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

contents. To have kept this running account of his studies and
readings was in itself a great task, and only the most methodi-
cally minded man could have done it. Evidently the burden be-
came too great, for nothing similar to it is found m any other
of his papers with the exception of one pocket-notebook dealing
exclusively with geologic studies made, apparently, during the
time he was working on the figure of the earth and isostasy.

While he kept no such list as above, he nevertheless did a vast
amount of reading and study along engineering lines, in educa-
tion, and in the physical sciences

After taking up his work at Northwestern University his
time was so fully occupied by his administrative duties, his
teaching, and his researches, together with many outside activi-
ties, that there was left scant time for such a large range of read-
ing He kept up with the general current literature, however,
to some extent through the medium of his class in ''Journals."
This class was composed of senior and fifth-year students and
met one afternoon each week. It was conducted by having the
students spend part of the time in the library making selections
of articles in current engineering periodicals, then about three-
quarters of an hour was given over to the study of these articles,
after which the remainder of the afternoon period was devoted
to reports by the students on their selected topics with discussions
of the same. During the study period of this course, Professor
Hayford usually devoted his own time to reading and study of
selected articles in the current periodicals or other readings that
he had on hand for the purpose. Each student was required
to abstract his article on 3 x 5 cards and turn them over to the
Director. Thus he accumulated a very great amount of infor-
mation regarding the important engineering topics of the day.
Practically no other reading was done by him during the school
week, and as he usually had important engagements to take up
his evenings, little time was granted him for reading, excepting
at odd moments and during Sunday. How he managed to keep
himself so well informed on the many subjects at his command
is one of the marvels m connection with his program of life.

218

JOHN FIW,MORE HA\FORD BURGER

UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY
DIRECTORSHIP

In 19 Mr. Hay ford was approached by a man very high
in the scientific life at Washington in regard to his becoming
a candidate for Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey. Hayford took this matter up with another man, also
prominent in Washington, in order to get his view on the mat-
ter. Correspondence kept by Hayford indicates that these two
men are the only ones having knowledge of the subject, but they
were so high in scientific circles that there is little doubt but
that their recommendations would have carried considerable
weight in regard to the appointment Concerning this Hayford
wrote : "The position as head of the Coast and Geodetic Survey
appeals so strongly to my professional ambition, because I have
so great an admiration for the Survey and for its possible future,
that if the appointment ever came to me at an adequate salary,
a security of tenure for at least ten years, and a security against
political interference with my administration as Director, I
should expect to accept it and go into the work with a vim.

"I should feel in duty bound to accept on the above basis
. . . especially as I have had an experience which qualifies me
especially for the position. The Coast and Geodetic Survey has
an excellent past record I believe the future possibilities are
great for rendering efficient service to the people of the United
States in making good surveys, in producing excellent charts,
and in making valuable fundamental scientific work.

"I see definite attainable possibilities of decided improvement
in the geodetic work, in its hydrographic work, in surveys of the
coast from airplane, in new instruments, in its tidal work, in the
precise leveling, in the character of its charts, and in the way
its charts are used to promote safety in navigation

"I believe I have the proper background of training and expe-
rience to enable me to succeed under favorable circumstances
in making these possible improvements a reality. For all these
reasons I would enter the position of Director of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey with great enthusiasm, pro-

219

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

mded I entered it under conditions favorable to success, i e ,
adequate salary, freedom from fear of short tenure, and freedom
from fear of political interference."

Evidently these conditions were not possible in their fulfil-
ment, for the name of Hayford does not seem to have become
publicly listed for the position, or at least Mr. Hayford thought
they could not be met. In setting forth the advantages of this
position one of the two scientists wrote him : "It is a great in-
stitution, with a record of achievement of which one may well
be proud. It would be an honor and a privilege to guide its
destinies to still greater achievements. I am satisfied that you
can do this better than any other man. You have the back-
ground from long years of intimate contact with the work, world-
wide recognition as an authority in geodesy, executive expe-
rience, and vision, energy, and enthusiasm. Where else can
these attributes be found? I say these things judicially, un-
tempered by my admiration and affection for my friend."

For obvious reasons the writer has omitted dates and the
names of the two who were interested in this matter.

In the foregoing the endeavor has been made to give a report
of the contributions which Hayford made to geodesy. Most of
these contributions were made while he was a member of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, hence, in a way, they also tell of the
progress which the Survey made while he was at the head of
the geodetic work and of the computing division. These divi-
sions and Hayford are so closely related that what may be said
of the one should be said of the other. The glory of the one
becomes the glory of the other. While the work of the Survey
before Hayford was of a very high degree of excellence and
worthy of much praise, under his leadership the strides that
were made in geodesy attracted the attention of the world. It
is generally recognized today throughout the scientific world that
Professor Hayford laid the foundation for the great progress
that the Coast and Geodetic Survey has made in both its scien-
tific and engineering work and in the field of isostasy during the
past thirty years. The Survey is universally recognized as the

220

JOHN FJXLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

leading geodetic organization in the world not only in its practi-
cal work but in the interpretation of the geodetic data collected.
This advance has since been ably earned on under the leadership
of his successor, Dr. William Bowie, until the United States in
its geodetic work stands, probably, unrivalled today. A test of
the greatness of the geodetic work of the Survey may be had
in a review of the comments of prominent men in other organi-
zations and countries, and by men who are qualified to judge.
They all accord to the Survey a very high place in the geodesy
of the world Commandant Perrier, the French Geodesist,
says

"There is no example in the history of geodesy of a com-
parable collection of measurements, made with so much deter-
mination, such rapidity, and such powerful means of action, and
guided by such an exact comprehension of the end to be
attained."

While living m northwest Washington, Hayford's home was
too far away to permit of his taking noon luncheon with his
family at home. Consequently he took his lunch at places near
the office of the Survey, usually in the company of one or more
congenial friends. Noteworthy among luncheon groups was the
one which usually left the Survey at noon to partake of the mid-
day meal at the Library of Congress Cafe. This group usually
consisted of Hayford, R. L. Paris, Assistant, and now Assistant
Director pf the Survey, George R. Putnam, Assistant of the Sur-
vey, and later First Commissioner of Lighthouses, William
Bowie, Assistant, and now Chief of the Division of Geodesy.
It was a merry, congenial group and many were the scientific
problems discussed during the noon period.

RESIGNATION FROM THE U S. COAST AND
GEODETIC SURVEY

In 1908 the Trustees of Northwestern University extended an
invitation to Mr. Hayford to become ffce head of the newly estab-
lished College of Engineering atJSvanston, Illinois. This offer

221

NATIONAL AC-VDEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

was accepted and he was officially elected Director of the College
in October, 1908, with the understanding that he would take up
his duties at Northwestern in September, 1909. Owing to the
fact that he was detained in his position at Washington and sent
as one of the delegates to represent the United States at the
Conference of the International Geodetic Association held at
London and Cambridge, England, September 21-29, his formal
resignation from the U. S Coast and Geodetic Survey was not
handed to O. H Tittmann, Superintendent of the Survey, until
November 12, 1909. In tendering his resignation he wrote :

"I thank you for the strong support and hearty sympathy
which you have uniformly given me in my work m the Coast and
Geodetic Survey. I leave the Survey with regret and only be-
cause I am convinced that as Director of the College of Engi-
neering at Northwestern University, which position I have ac-
cepted, I have a greater opportunity for usefulness than it is
possible for you to give me in the Survey "

In accepting Mr. Hayford's resignation to take effect at the
close of business on November 23, 1909, Superintendent Titt-
mann wrote:

''I fully share the expression of rdgret with which the Secre-
tary has accepted your resignation, for no one is more fully con-
scious of the loss which the Survey has sustained than I am.

"The signal ability with which you have served the govern-
ment, your industry and loyalty, have established a standard
which will always be pleasant to refer to and to look back upon/'

In reference to Mr. Hayford's resignation from the Survey,
Mr. Charles Nagel, Secretary of the Department of Commerce
and Labor, expressed himself as follows :

"The terms of commerfdation with which the Superintendent
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey ha^ transmitted to me your
letter of resignation, make it a pleasant duty to take more than
passing notice of your resignation, which I accept with deep
regret, because your going is a distinct loss to the government
On the other hand, the evidence of the unusual ability, the zeal
and the wisdom with which you have served the government for
a long period, warrant the assumption that; a multitude of stu-

222

JOHN FlIvLMORft HAYFORD BURGER

dents, and through them the country at large, will benefit by the
same qualities which have distinguished your service to the
Government."

THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT NORTH-
WESTERN UNIVERSITY

Mr. Hayford was elected Director of the College of Engineer-
ing at Northwestern University in October, 1908, to take up his
duties m September, 1909 He entered into this work with
enthusiasm because he felt that here was a field for unlimited
service to the engineering and scientific world. He had long
held strong views as to the kind of training an engineer should
have and m the type of curriculum to be adopted at Northwest-
ern he had vision of the fruition of his views

The motto of the College of Engineering of Northwestern
is "Culture for Usefulness " In order to realize to the fullest
extent the import of the motto it was decided that the usual
four-year course was too short a time m which to give the neces-
sary technical training for engineers, and at the same time to
broaden his education by the inclusion of many of the more
cultural subjects. Hence, the adoption of a five-year program
leading to the professional degree It called for an effort to
obtain for the student the broadest culture attainable in five years
in order to equip him, as a man and an engineer, for the greatest
possible usefulness m the world m the united struggle of man
for progress It was the aim to tram future engineers for the
greatest average effectiveness in a lifetime rather than for the
greatest effectiveness in the first years after graduation.

Only two curricula were offered one in Civil Engineering,
and one in a combined Mechanical-Electrical Engineering course.
Up to the time of Director Hayf ord's death only slight modifica-
tions were made in these curricula. The engineering training
in the narrow sense commenced in the freshman year and con-
tinued throughout each of the five years, occupying a large por-
tion of the curriculum in the last two years, and a relatively small
proportion in the first three. The general education, repre-
sented by th4 courses normally given in the College of Liberal

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Arts, extended throughout all of the five years This arrange-
ment was based upon the idea that a liberal arts education is an
essentially inseparable part of an engineering education not a
matter separate and apart, to be secured first , that it is in part
essential to fit the engineering student into the world's work,
to enable him to use his technical knowledge effectively, and to
live a richer and more contented life.

While the engineering students were under the continuous
control of the engineering faculty during the five years, they
merged with the liberal arts students in classrooms and m cam-
pus, social, and athletic activities It was believed that this con-
trol from the start by the engineering faculty, combined with the
close contact with the liberal arts faculty and with students hav-
ing other ambitions than his own, would give the engineering
student early orientation and unusual breadth of view.

In his appointment at Northwestern University, Director
Hayford held the title of Director of the College of Engineer-
ing and Professor of Civil Engineering. As professor he was
supposed to do a small amount of teaching. This teaching
consisted of two courses, "Public Relations of Engineers" and
"Journals," both courses being required for all students before
graduation and taken in their senior or fifth year.

These two courses were virtually of his own invention and
showed him as a man keenly alive to what kind of a training an
engineer should have. His belief was that the purely technical
side of engineering was not sufficient for the best type of engi-
neer and that the student should early learn about the human
side of engineering through contact with men, through a study
of men as made evident by their success or failure, and in a study
of them and their works through their writings.

In the course of Public Relations he was well fitted to guide
the young engineer for he was closely in touch with many of the
great men of the scientific world ; he knew a great many of them
very intimately and many more through their writings. He
was thus able at all times to supply the needed factors to make
clear to the class why success or failure had come to the person

224

JOHN FIU,MOR HAYFORD BURGER

in question. His fund of information along these lines was most
astounding.

As given in his initial lecture to this class, the purpose was to
study the relations of human beings with reference to success,
of the best kind of success; true success that is worthwhile as
measured by accomplishment, by the degree to which a task is
accomplished. Biographies of the more successful men were
studied and analyzed, the ethics of the profession taken into
consideration, how to work in organizations and with adminis-
trations and officials.

His varied life as student, computer, teacher, field observer,
and administrator and educator made him an ideal teacher ; to
the classroom he brought a knowledge of the sciences and of con-
tact with scientists, engineers, and educators given to but few
men. His analytical thought, breadth and depth of knowledge
made him a most wonderful teacher. He not only possessed
the requisite knowledge, but he took great interest in his teach-
ing and had that most important ability of being able to impart
the knowledge he possessed. His students respected him not
only as an instructor, but because of his sterling character. The
more mature his students, the more mature they were in their
praise.

Director Hayford thoroughly believed in having his faculty
keep each other informed regarding their work, especially along
the lines of research and studies outside the classroom, and also
that they themselves keep in touch with engineering and the scien-
tific world in general. Partly to meet this need he organized
the Faculty Colloquium, which met normally every two weeks
and at which each faculty member, acting in rotation, was re-
sponsible for the hour devoted to the meeting. A member at
his own discretion could talk regarding any research problem he
was engaged upon, or on matters relating to the college, or re-
view some question of importance in the scientific or educational
world. The dates for the entire year were assigned for each
meeting and speaker, the assignments extending throughout the
scholastic year.

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

His contact with the student body was a close and intimate
one, especially in the earlier years of the regime at Northwestern,
and before the students had increased to a number too large to
permit of this close intimacy. When he assumed the position
of Director he constituted himself the student adviser for all
students, and regularly twice each year, every student was called
to his office for conferences in regard to his work in college;
programs of studies for the coming year were studied, and at
registration he personally supervised the schedule of course for
practically every student registering. His office hours were
from 9 A.M. to nearly 5 P.M , and his door was always open
to any student who wished to confer with him Never did the
writer know of a case where a student was forced to apply to
a secretary or clerk before being admitted to the Director.
Practically at all times the students had free access to Director
Hay ford , this, of course, led to serious interruption, but he did
not seem to mind it very much He would simply make a nota-
tion or mark regarding his work, turn to the student and pay
strict attention. When the conference was ended he would take
up his line of thought or work again as though no interruption
had occurred. If the matter was important enough he would
carefully write out a detailed statement regarding the conference
and file for reference He trusted little to his memory.

Usually his office was the working shop for the computers
who helped him on his researches. In this way he was always
close at hand to take account and direct their work with a mini-
mum loss of time to himself.

In his relations with his faculty he was invariably fair, just,
consistent, and considerate of all interests and seldom exercised
with authority his official position. The only thing which he
seemed to hold m contempt was bad work in pupil or professor.
He did not apparently care for display of any kind, and it seemed
that no desire of approbation influenced his actions, though he
always seemed pleased to inform his intimate friends of any
honors that came to him

His standards of work and accomplishment were high His
influence as Director, and his commanding position as a scholar

226

JOHN FILLMOW5 HAYFORD BURGER

and a scientist, were naturally great and were always exerted
in the direction of progress m the education of the engineering
student

He was an earnest worker on the faculty, especially in the
furtherance of a rigid and broad scientific training and develop-
ment of the mind. His motto seemed to be "tram to think"
and thus produce leaders in thought in order to obtain the great-
est development for later life rather than for the years imme-
diately following graduation

His long experience as a scientific man and scientific educator
in this country, together with his wide scientific knowledge, gave
him a very clear perception of a school of engineering which
should tram men capable of meeting the professional calls of
the future His ideals were that there should be no specializing
until the broad fields of study in engineering and the humanities
had been covered

In his own college life he apparently laid the solid foundation
of success, and wished to carry such a foundation onward.

Sincere he was, and truthful to the point of being unable to
allow the shadow of deceit in his ways. In reporting on con-
ditions within the College he always gave the facts, whether to
his disadvantage as Director or otherwise. As one of his col-
leagues once remarked: "Hayford was so upright, he leaned
over backward " This sometimes worked to his disadvantage,
for it sometimes furnished opponents with ammunition to
criticize his regime Perhaps, sometimes it would have been
more to his advantage had he glossed over some of the facts.

It was noticeable in his Directorship, as in the work at the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, that more than one subordinate felt
the cheer of his sympathetic appreciation

As head of the College of Engineering his aid was much
sought for as an adviser m matters involving scientific questions
along engineering lines, especially those relating to his chosen
fields of geodesy or geologic matters, and he was called upon sev-
eral times to give expert court testimony in questions where
solution demanded technical skill and knowledge. He had a fine
grasp upon the true use of the calculus method of approaching

227

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

a problem, and his methods of approximate solutions of an in-
tricate mathematical problem astounded all with whom he
worked. President McNair of the Michigan College of Mines,
himself a mathematician and scientist of no mean ability who
had worked with Hayford in solving many intricate problems,
once remarked to the writer that in his opinion Hayford had
no equal in the world in handling mathematical problems, for
when the ordinary calculus solutions failed Hayf ord's methods
of approximation usually found a way.

The tasks of his position in the College, the preparation of
scientific papers and lectures, the researches and computations
in his favorite fields of geodesy, geology, evaporation and stream
flow, and his large correspondence with scientific men and edu-
cators these filled his time and seemed to employ all his time.
No doubt he realized that his time was too fully taken up and
that he would have liked to have more leisure for pure research.
In a spirit far from boasting, but stating it merely as a matter
of fact, he once remarked to the writer that if he could be sure
of uninterrupted time for one hour a day, he could make a name
for himself once a year.

The problems which he had in mind and upon which he
would have liked to carry on research were many, especially in
the later years of his life when stream-flow and evaporation
were his important investigations. But his life proved all too
short and only notes are left to show the lines along which he
expected to progress.

Hospitality was a keen delight to him and to his family and
his home was ever a place of entertainment to visitors from out
of town or intimate personal friends. It was always a delight
to visit them in their home. An atmosphere of good cheer was
always present.

In conversation Director Hayford was most apt, because of a
remarkable range of information on general and scientific topics,
and with anecdote ready for the entertainment of guest or asso-
ciate. He was ever cheerful and ever inclined to look upon the
bright side of life, hopeful and sanguine of success where others
might be discouraged. His keen sense of humor often carried

228

JOHN FH.LMORE HAYFORD BURGER

him over disagreeable obstacles, but he had a tremendous spirit
when roused to just anger Usually he had great control over
himself in this respect and seldom did he allow anger to over-
come him.

He was no recluse, but was most human m his associations
with mankind. When traveling he never failed to associate
himself with some man, whether of high or low degree, and in
this way he put m practice his motto "Study Men." In a way
he was not fond of "society," or social distinction, but did not
shun it and usually was the life of a party at which he was
present.

In his moral life Professor Hayford was almost without a
peer. The writer has had a most varied experience with men
in many walks of life, traveling on trains and boats, in camp
life on surveys, m college life as student and professor, and m
his association with men he can truthfully say that Hayford is
one of the exceedingly few men of his intimate acquaintance
whom he has never heard give voice to a " shady " joke or tainted
story. Whether this was due to strict inhibition or to natural
cleanliness, the writer cannot say, but it always appeared as
though such thoughts were not a part of him.

As in his moral life, so was Hayford in regard to minor vices
and appetites usually found in men. The use of tobacco and
liquor was not a part of his make-up. While he did not use
them himself, he was seldom heard to preach against them, and
evidently they detracted little from his estimate of men with
whom he associated However, he was very severe in his cen-
sure of delinquent students who appeared before him with ciga-
rette-stained fingers, and they usually received sharp repri-
mands on this account

He was not a "gossip," unless it was something good or
worth-while which he could speak of regarding another person.
In this he was very careful. Dean Marston, referred to m
another part of this memoir, wrote in 1929, "I find it impossible
to tell why or just how Director Hayford made such a strong
personal impression on me, or why we formed such an endearing
friendship, continuing until the day of his death. I do not re-

229

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

call, at this time, a single mean thing he ever did, yet he was no
sissy/' His moral and mental cleanliness were noticeable to all
his intimate friends and associates, and were a source of gener-
ous comment when he became the subject of discussion.

COSTA RICA-PANAMA BOUNDARY COMMISSION

The boundary between the Republics of Costa Rica and Pan-
ama in Central America had been a matter of dispute for many
years It was the subject of an arbitration in 1900 by President
Loubet of France, but the award was not accepted by the two
countries. In 1910 a new treaty between the countries was
negotiated which provided for a new arbitration of the boundary
dispute. Under this plan, the arbitrator was Chief Justice
White of the United States Supreme Court A boundary com-
mission of engineers was provided for, of which each of the
two countries would have one representative, and Chief Justice
White would appoint two impartial American representatives.

The Chief Justice appointed as his representatives Director
John F. Hayford of Northwestern University College of Engi-
neering and Professor Ora M. Leland of the College of Civil
Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, Frank
W. Hodgdon of Boston, Massachusetts, was appointed by Pan-
ama, and Percy H. Ashmead of New York was selected by
Costa Rica as their respective representatives. These appoint-
ments were made m the fall of 1911. Director Hayford in his
letter of acceptance as commissioner made the following con-
ditions : that he should "not be required to leave Evanston before
September 30, nor to be continuously absent from Evanston for
more than twelve weeks at any one time" to "protect the Univer-
sity against the danger that this service might interfere, im-
properly, with the performance of my duties as Director of the
College of Engineering/' '

The Commission was organized October 6, 1911, by electing
Director Hayford as its Chairman and Professor Leland as its
Secretary. It organized a large body of engineers and operating
staff and sailed from New York on January 13,, 1912, for

230

JOHN FIUvMORE HAYFORD BURGER

Panama, and arrived on January 24 at Bocas del Toro near the
disputed territory, and the same day the party with all equipment
reached the houses on the Sanchez farm, which had already
been prepared for use as the field headquarters, on the bank of
the Sixaola River near the end of the railroad The survey
parties left headquarters to commence field work on January 25-
29. Surveys and explorations of the region involved in the
boundary dispute were carried on under the direction of the
Commission for the greater part of 1912 when the force was
returned to the United States and disbanded A tabulated state-
ment in the report of the Commissioners shows that Director
Hayford was present in the region of the field work from Jan-
uary 24 to March 19, May 14 to July 29, visiting the engineer-
ing parties and studying the topography of the country

The Commission held twenty-six meetings from October 6,

1911, to February 19, 1912, and eight meetings July 22 to 27,

1912. Between February 19 and July 22, 1912, though no
meetings were held the Commission was virtually in session con-
tinuously, for the members kept in touch with each other by mail
or by cable In all forty-one meetings were held, including those
after completion of the field operations. Throughout the pe-
riod Director Hayford adhered strictly to the "twelve weeks'*
condition of his acceptance, and this necessitated his doing con-
siderable traveling to be at the various meetings, and to and
from Panama.

The conditions under which the field work was done were
very difficult, in a region where rainfall is heavy even during
the dry season, in part through tropical jungle where cutting was
practically necessary at every step, and in part where all sup-
plies had to be carried on men's backs. Especially difficult was
it to obtain astronomical observations on account of the dense
growth of trees.

Director Hay-ford's portion of the work was the duties which
fell to him as Chairman of the Commission, and during a part
of the time as the only Commissioner present in the region of
the field work. The writer has had the privilege of inspecting
his personal dearies which he kept on all of the work and they

231

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

proved intensely interesting reading, kept as they were with his
usual infinite detail.

The survey parties were disbanded gradually in San Jose
after their return from the field work, the last one leaving for
New York on November 20.

The preparation of the final Report of the Commission, in-
cluding its collection of maps and photographs, was made at
Evanston, Illinois, between October 25, 1912, and July 5, 1913,
under the direction of Mr. Hayford, assisted by two transitmen
of the field force and the disbursing officer who acted as stenog-
rapher. Four meetings of the full Commission were held in
Evanston. The final report was submitted to the Arbitrator on
July 14, 1913, and the work of the Commission was brought to
a close.

Formal notice of the termination of the services of the Com-
missioner was sent under date of November 22, 1913, m which
Chief Justice White stated . "And I say with perfect candor
that the zeal, the character, and the high professional qualities
displayed by the Commission have won my profound apprecia-
tion of their great merit, and entitle them to the gratitude of
both governments who are parties to the treaty."

The opinion and decision of Edward Douglass White, Chief
Justice of the United States, acting in the capacity of arbitrator
in the boundary dispute between the Republics of Costa Rica
and Panama, provided for by the Convention between these two
governments under date of March 17, 1910, was formally
rendered on September 12, 1914, and the work of actually mark-
ing and delineating the boundary was authorized September,
1921.

EVAPORATION FROM THE GREAT LAKES,
STREAM-FLOW AND RELATED PROBLEMS

In the fall of 1909, when Mr. Hayford moved from Wash-
ington to Evanston, Illinois, to become Director of the College
of Engineering at Northwestern University, he established his
family in a delightful home on Irigleside Place, only one house

232

JOHN FIU<MORE HAYFORD BURGER

removed from the bluff overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan,
and about one mile from the College It was his usual prac-
tice, excepting in the most inclement weather, to walk to and
from the College along the bluff or lake shore rather than use
the walks. His active mind soon realized that before him, in
the form of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes,
there existed a wealth of scientific problems of astounding in-
terest. The first of these to receive more detailed notice was
the problem of the seiches occurring in the lake, and often he
would be engaged in studying them by actually measuring their
magnitude and times of occurrence. He coupled this with a
wide range of the study of the literature on the seiches.

Soon a much larger problem began to take form in his mind,
and by the summer of 191 1 had taken rather concrete form. He
saw at his very door a most gigantic "Evaporation Pan," and
visioned many of the intensely interesting scientific studies which
lay therein The first of these which he attacked was the prob-
lem of evaporation and of the wind and barometric effects upon
the level of the Great Lakes, which soon broadened out to larger
problems, the ultimate object of this larger investigation being
to obtain a better formulation of the laws governing evaporation,
rainfall and run-off, and m deriving therefrom better formulas
governing the amount of stream flow These problems con-
tinued to enlist his attention for the remainder of his life and,
with the exception of his work as Director of the College, oc-
cupied the greater part of his time. The work was of such
magnitude that he found he could not handle the mass of com-
puting necessary and so placed the matter before the Carnegie
Institution of Washington. They designated him a Research
Associate of the Institution and awarded him grants of money
to enable him to hire computers on the work.

These computers were for the most part advanced students
in the College of Engineering, and they worked continuously
during the various school vacations and at various periods dur-
ing the school year. One student, Julius A. Folse, worked on
4 the computations almost from their beginning and attained such
proficiency that after graduation he accepted work as chief as-

233

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

sistant to Professor Hayford in carrying on these investiga-
tions, and to him was awarded the work of completing the second
volume, as is shown later on in these memoirs The help of
these computers was especially needed in the long, involved
least-squares solutions incident to the work. The first direct
result of the work was given to the world in the volume, "Effect
of Winds and of Barometric Pressures on the Great Lakes/'
published in 1922 by the Carnegie Institution as Publication
No 317.

This was followed by a second publication which Professor
Hayford was not able to complete before his death, but upon
which he was working when stricken in December, 1924. The
work was, however, brought to such a state that it was com-
pleted in 1929 by Julius A Folse and was published by the In-
stitution as Publication No. 400 This second volume deals
with "A New Method of Estimating Stream Flow^ Based upon
a New Evaporation Formula."

These two volumes, together with his work on I&ostasy, are
tangible evidence of the wonderful brain which could conceive
a method of attacking such difficult problems, and the almost
unbelievable courage of the man in facing the gigantic task
of trying to work through such a mass of intricate and difficult
computations Only a man grounded thoroughly in the theory
of the method of least squares, with a concise grasp upon the
interpretation of results obtained, and with much practice in the
solution of indefinite problems by this method would have the
temerity in attacking them. In this kind of scientific research
Professor Hayford probably had no equal In his hands least
squares was a most wonderful tool.

In the investigations of "Effect of Winds and Barometric
Pressures," 74 complete least-squares solutions and the corre-
sponding studies were made. In one of these solutions each
observation equation contained 40 unknowns, and there were
619 observation equations in the set More than 22,500 man-
hours of time were spent on the routine part of the computations
and studies connected with the broad investigation of evapora-
tion, and of wind and barometric effects;.

234

JOHN FIU,MORE HAYFORD BURGER

This investigation considers the lake-chain Michigan-Huron
and Erie as a great "evaporation pan/' The principal data
used include hourly and daily observed elevations of the surfaces
of Erie and Michigan-Huron at five gage stations, observed
hourly wind directions and velocities at five points near these
lakes, and the observed barometric pressures twice a day at
six points, for periods from 1909 to 1913 as observed by the
U, S. Weather Bureau, the U. S. Lake Survey, and the Corps
of Engineers of the U S Army.

A summary of the results obtained m this research includes

1 Reasonably accurate numerical expressions for the effects
of barometric pressures at five stations.

2 General method developed for finding numerical expres-
sion at any station on any body of water from observations of
the water elevation and the forecast maps of the Weather
Bureau

3 General expression, including numerical constants, for ef-
fect of winds, of any given velocity and direction, affecting
elevation of the water surface at any given station, on any
body of water, anywhere in the world

4 The relation between seiches and the uncertainties m daily
mean elevations at gage stations discerned

5 Accuracy with which the elevations of mean surfaces of
any one of the Great Lakes may be determined for any given
day decidely increased

The possible applications of the results of the investigations
as summarized by Professor Hayf ord are

a. Application to a study of the laws of Evaporation.
&. Application to regulation of the Great Lakes

c. Application to determination of mean sea-level and to pre-
cise leveling

d. Application to determination of tilting of the Great Lakes
region.

The second volume on the study of evaporation concerns it-
self with "A New Method of Estimating Stream-Flow, Based
upon a New Evaporation Formula" as previously mentioned.

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

In it Professor Hay ford (and as completed by Mr. Folse)*
makes use of the evaporation formulae derived in the first part
and applies them to two specific streams for which stream-flow
and meterological data were available. These two streams were
in Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado, and data were available
through the kind permission of the Weather Bureau and the
Forest Service.

A general summary of the outcome of the investigation shows :

1, Approximate quantitative expressions of the fundamental
law of flow of the two streams in Wagon Wheel Gap.

2, Development of general method by which such expressions
can be derived for any streams anywhere m the eastern two-
thirds of the United States where annual rainfall is twenty
inches or more and data of stream-flow and meterological ob-
servations are available.

3, The relation of the above to :

a. Problem of increasing length of record of flow of
a stream, the hydrograph, as a basis for greater ac-
curacy in the design of works for power, irrigation,
sanitation, and navigation.

b. Problem of forecasting flow of a stream as a basis
for increasing the economy of hydro-electric power
plants.

c. The problem of determining effects of forest cover on
the run-off from a watershed.

While he was at work on the larger investigation of stream-
flow and evaporation, he had a number of related problems in
mind, and some of these were investigated as engineering theses
by advanced students in the Fifth Year of the College of Engi-
neering, working under the direction of Professor Hayford.
It is worth while to consider here a few of these because they
had a direct bearing on his proposed line of future work and
studies.

* Mr Folse states in the preface to this second volume that he resumed
work on this study "primarily with the object of rounding out in form for
publication the work already accomplished by Dr Hayford."

236

JOHN FIUUMORE HAYFORD BURGER

Having developed the theories and formulas for evaporation
and stream-flow, it was necessary to justify the expenditures
of time and money m showing that they could be applied suc-
cessfully in general practice m hydraulic work.

In 1924, Alva B. Simons, under the direction of Professor
Hayford, made a study of a "Proposed Control of the Eleva-
tions of Lake Huron-Michigan and Erie by a Dam with Move-
able Parts at the Head of the Niagara River." On the supposi-
tion that a desirable elevation to be maintained in Michigan-
Huron as one-half foot above its mean annual stage, and sim-
ilarly for Erie, the investigation showed that the proposed method
of regulation would practically destroy the loss on Michigan-
Huron of the 10,000 c f . s. withdrawn by the Sanitary District
of Chicago. It would entirely destroy the losses on Lakes St.
Clair and Erie, due to the diversion, and in addition would ap-
preciably raise the levels of these lakes.

In 1924, T. B. Stitt, working under Professor Hayford's
supervision, began a study of "Probability of Floods in Streams
m Humid Climates." In this work the investigation applied the
laws obtained by Professor Hayford m his stream-flow, and
through these found the relation of the actual discharge-fre-
quency curves of each of four streams selected to their theoretical
probability curves. On account of the sickness and death of
Professor Hayford this investigation was not brought to a com-
plete conclusion. Note is here made of it because this field of
work, namely, prophesying stream-flow, was the field in which
Professor Hayford was planning to do much work. He often
discussed with the writer concerning the practical use of the
proposed methods in their application to hydro-electric plant
installation and operation. He had already applied his formulas
for stream-flow to the streams m Wagon Wheel Gap with much
success and was planning a further application to the Cumber-
land and Delaware Rivers.

In the fall before his death the writer made a trip with him to
the hydro-electric plant of the Mississippi River Power Com-
mission at Keokuk, Iowa. While there Professor Hayford made
tentative arrangements with the management to obtain their rec-

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NATIONAL ACVDEMY BIOGRXPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

ords of stream-flow and hydrological data on the Mississippi
with a view to testing the accuracy of his laws on one of the
largest projects in this country. His untimely death, however,
brought an end to this work.

In 1924 Professor Hayford, J. A. Poise, and B J. Fisher
collected data on the Kankakee River, Illinois, and Mr. Fisher,
under the supervision of Professor Hayford worked on the
problem of estimating stream-flow on this river, and its applica-
tion in the hydro-electric field. The results indicated very
clearly the value of the method in prophesying stream-flow.

His publications and lectures soon brought him general recog-
nition as an authority on the problems affecting the waters of
the Great Lakes and his services were increasingly solicited in
connection with these problems

In the case of the United States versus the Sanitary District
of Chicago, which was argued before Judge Landis in 1923, in
which the United States sought to restrain Chicago from taking
as much as 10,000 cubic feet per second of water from Lake
Michigan, Professor Hayford was called in by the United States
as an expert to establish the degree of accuracy and reliability
of the gaging of the Niagara River This was the crucial point
in establishing the fact that there had been a lowering of Lake
Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, by the diversion of
water through the Chicago drainage canal, below the levels which
these lakes would have had under natural conditions.

Not only was Director Hayford keenly interested in the prob-
lems concerning the Great Lakes, but he also spent much time
and study on the related problem of the St Lawrence Water-
way, m the value of which he was a firm believer as is made
evident by many letters which he wrote regarding it. In one of
these, addressed to Hon. C R, Chindblom, House of Represen-
tatives, Washington, D C , he writes, "I hope that the St Law-
rence Waterway will be built, the power along that river grad-
ually developed, and certain other relatively minor improvements
made for the benefit of navigation on the Great Lakes Such
action would bring large returns to the people of the United
States by lowering the cost of transportation, between the great

238

JOHN FII,I,MOKE HAYFORD BURGER

middle west and the seaboard and Europe, and by helping to
relieve the inevitable congestion on the railways which is bound
to occur occasionally for a quarter of a century."

When he was invited November 24, 1923, to become a member
of the Committee of the Western Society of Engineers on the
St. Lawrence Waterway he accepted with pleasure for he be-
lieved "such improvements to be very important to the people
of both the United States and Canada, because it will bring
vast returns in comparison with what it will cost."

On January 29, 1924, he was appointed and accepted member-
ship on the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the Chicago As-
sociation of Commerce, and on many occasions was invited to
address various meetings on topics relating to the Lake Diver-
sion and Waterways, One of these addresses, "The Best Use
of the Waters of the Great Lakes/* was given before various
groups m and around Chicago and was productive of much
comment.

As a humorous side-light on his researches and addresses on
the subject of the diversion of waters from the Great Lakes
and his other activities, the honorary degree of S G. (Steam
Generator) was conferred upon Director Hayford at the De-
cember 13, 1923, meeting of the Chicago Club of Northwestern
Men. The degree was appropriately conferred with the follow-
ing tribute :

"John Accelerator Hayford*'

"Beloved of all the poker players in the Cosmos Club of
Washington, D. C. ; discoverer of the cut-throats who are steal-
ing waters from Lake Michigan, thus preventing navigation of
schooners across the bar ; a professor of engineering who knows
more about aeroplanes than Dean Kendall knows about microbes ;
a consistent rooter at foot-ball games, win or lose/'

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR
AERONAUTICS

In the law establishing the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics it is stated that "The President is authorized to
appoint not to exceed twelve members, to consist of two mem-

239

NATIONAL ACVDEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

bers from the War Department, from the office in charge of
Military Aeronautics; two members from the Navy Depart-
ment, from the office m charge of Naval Aeronautics ; a repre-
sentative each of the Smithsonian Institution, of the Weather
Bureau, and of the United States JBureau of Standards; to-
gether with not more than five additional persons who shall be
acquainted with Ae needs of aeronautical science, either civil or
military, or skilled in aeronautical engineering or its allied
science" President Woodrow Wilson appointed Professor
Hayford a member as one of the <k five additional persons'* on
April 2, 1915, when the Advisory Committee was first formed,
and he served continuously in that capacity until his voluntary
resignation in 1923. This duty caused him often to be absent
from Evanston to attend the various meetings of the Committee
held at Washington or at the several flying fields where tests
of airplanes or airplane equipment were in progress He took
keen interest in this work and so far as the writer is able to
judge from his correspondence he was never absent from any
of these meetings. Judging from several passages in his corre-
spondence, these meetings often occurred at the same time as
meetings of other organizations in Washington and vicinity in
which he was interested, and thus only one trip from Evanston
was made necessary. Perhaps these coincident meetings were
graciously arranged to favor Professor Hayford in this respect.

Personnel of National Advisory Committee,
April 20, 1922

Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution,
Chairman.

Dr. Joseph S. Ames, Johns Hopkins University, Chairman, Ex-
ecutive Committee.

Dr. S. W. Stratton, Secretary, Director, Bureau of Standards.

Major T. H. Bane, Chief, Engineering Division, Army Air
Service.

Dr. W. F. Durand, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stan-
ford University.

Dr. John F. Hayford, Northwestern University.

Professor Charles F. Marvin, Chief, United States Weather
Bureau. , (

240

JOHN FIIAMORE HAYFORD BURGER

Rear Admiral Wm A Moffett, Chief, Bureau of Aeronautics,

Navy Department.

Major General Mason M, Patrick, Chief of Army Air Service.
Dr. M. I. Pupm, Columbia University.
Rear Admiral D. W. Taylor, Chief Constructor, U. S. N.
Orville Wright, Dayton, Ohio.

When Dr. S. W. Stratton resigned from the position of Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Standards to become President of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his successor, Dr.
G. K. Burgess, had been appointed, it was apparent that Dr.
Burgess should become the representative of the Bureau of
Standards on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,
and unless Dr Stratton could be appointed from private life he
would necessarily have to be dropped from the Committee of
which he had been the Secretary. There now occurred one of
the finest examples of self-effacement which could possibly be
conceived when, on May 21, 1923, Professor Hay ford tendered
his resignation from the Committee to take effect at whatever
date the President should designate, in order to provide an op-
portunity for Dr. Stratton to continue on the Committee. In
his letter of resignation he states .

"It is very important to keep Dr. Stratton on the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. . . . He has a continuing
special interest m aeronautics on account of the advanced courses
in that line at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology He
can render the Committee especially valuable service in connec-
tion with various governmental relations. My interest in the
Committee work is as keen as ever, but my value to the Com-
mittee is necessarily small as compared with that of Dr. Strat-
ton. . . . There is not the slightest hesitation on my part to
withdraw from the Committee, in order to provide a place for
Dr. Stratton, even though I have greatly enjoyed my association
with the Committee for eight years, have greatly prized the
honor of being on the Committee, and even though I shall have
a keen sense of a personal loss to me as I drop out."

Professor Hayford's resignation from the Committee was
formally accepted by President Barren G. Harding under date
of May 26, 1923. President Harding wrote :

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NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

"I desire especially to commend your fine spirit of public
interest in sacrificing your membership m the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics in order to promote the Committee's
welfare by making possible the continued membership of Dr.
S. W. Stratton, who is Secretary of the Committee.

"In accepting your resignation, I wish to express to you the
thanks of the Government for your patriotic service without
compensation as a member of the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics since its organization in 1915."

Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Chairman of the Committee, wrote
to Professor Hay ford on May 24, 1923, expressing regret for

". the situation that is the cause of the severance of our
official relations, which have been most cordial and delightful
since the organization of the Committee in 1915. I know that
this action has caused you regret that can be overcome only by
the satisfaction that comes from doing the big thing from mak-
ing a personal sacrifice for the general good, a sacrifice not un-
like that which has always characterized your service on the
Committee during the past eight years."

As might be expected, Professor Hay ford's connection with
the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and with the
Bureau of Standards on aviation problems soon brought him to
the attention of the public at large and he was invited often to
address various scientific or civic bodies on subjects connected
with aviation, and his services were often employed on com-
mittee work in engineering societies. A partial list of these is
given here :

Chairman of the Aviation Committee of the Western Society

of Engineers, 1920
Representative of Western Society of Engineers on Air Board

of Chicago, appointed April 19, 1922.
Member of the Aviation Committee of Western Society of

Engineers, appointed June 17, 1922.
Address "What American Science is Doing for Aviation."

Chicago Academy of Science, January 25, 1918

Sigma Xi at Northwestern University, February 4, 1918.

Western Society of Engineers, February 5, 1918.
Address "The Future of the Airplane/'

Cosmos Club of Washington, January 5, 1920.

242

JOHN FlUvMORE HA\FORD BURGER

Address What Should Be Done to Develop the Civil Use
of Airplanes ? "
Western Society of Engineers, 1920.

VISITING COMMITTEE OF THE BUREAU OF
STANDARDS

On February 26, 1912, Professor Hayford was appointed by
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor as a member of the Visit-
ing Committee of the National Bureau of Standards at Wash-
ington, D C , the appointment to be for four years He was
absent from Evanston on this duty about one week each year.

In accordance with Section 10 of the Act of Congress, ap-
proved March 5, 1901, to establish the Bureau of Standards,
"The Visiting Committee shall consist of men prominent in the
various interests involved and shall visit the Bureau at least once
a year, and report to the Secretary of the Treasury upon the
efficiency of its scientific work and the condition of its equip-
ment "

The other members of this committee, besides Professor Hay-
ford, were Professor Ehhu Thomson, Professor Henry M.
Howe, President R. S. Woodward, and Professor A G. Webster.

Under date of June 9, 1917, Professor Hayford was reap-
pointed a member of the Visiting Committee of the Bureau of
Standards. The appointment was signed by Hon. William C.
Redfield, Secretary of the Department of Commerce, and was
for the period beginning June 9, 1917, and ending June 30, 1921.

WAR WORK AND THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS

When the United States entered the Great War it was but
natural that Director John F. Hayford of the College of Engi-
neering at Northwestern University should be called into service
at Washington because of his former connections there in vari-
ous capacities and because of the fact that he had been a member
of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics since 1915.
He responded to the call in June, 1917, immediately after Com-
rnenbement at the University. He maintained close touch with

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

the College of Engineering by coming back to Evanston more
than twenty times during the extent of the war, for periods
varying from one to six weeks. The University was thus able
to help in the war work by lending his services and without
losing his help at Evanston.

His Washington work was the result of a close cooperation
between the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and
the Bureau of Standards, as both supported the investigations
which were carried on.

In June 1917, when he entered the work, he was given a rov-
ing commission to help, anywhere he saw fit, in the investiga-
tions connected with aeronautics which were then in progress at
the Bureau of Standards His appointment to this work was
in the nature of a temporary one as Associate Engineer Physicist,
Bureau of Standards, and was to continue for a period not to
exceed three months. Under dates of October u, 1917, and
January 8, 1918, respectively, this temporary appointment was
extended by a similar three months' temporary appointment.

He soon reached the conclusion that the particular field in
which he could be of most value was in the development of the
necessary instruments and methods for making tests of full-
sized airplanes in free flight in the normal manner. Nothing
was then being done toward the development of such tests as
were contemplated.

At that time airplanes, airplane propellers, and airplane en-
gines were designed mainly on the basis of tests made on the
ground. Full-sized engines were used on these tests, but some
of the conditions which the engines meet in the air could not
easily be duplicated on the ground. In so far as the airplane
propellers and wings are concerned, the designs were based
mainly upon information gained from observations upon small
models usually not more than thirty inches in the longest dimen-
sion. These models were tested in an artificial wind in a wind
tunnel, and from them conclusions drawn as to the probable
performance of full-sized propellers and wings in the air.

It was recognized to be extremely important to secure the
exact information as to the performance of the full-sized machine

244

JOHN FlLIyMOR HAYFORD BURGER

in the air. Such tests as had been made in the air were either
very incomplete or the accuracy much lower than was recog-
nized to be necessary The reason that the free-flight tests of
the required kinds had not been secured was simply that the
difficulties in the way were so great that but few persons had
attacked the problem, and these few had necessarily made but
small progress. It was recognized, however, in June 1917 that
the importance of such tests was so great that they should be
made at any reasonable cost, and both the Advisory Committee
and the Bureau of Standards were prompt m offering support to
the project. The proposed tests would furnish decisive evidence
as to the strong and weak points of a given airplane, including
its engine and propeller, and so would furnish a firm basis for
progress in making improvements.

To make the desired tests in a satisfactory manner it was
necessary to devise six new instruments which would record
autographically and continuously in the air the following six
quantities

(1) The number of revolutions per minute of the engine,

(2) The torque of the engine (this being the quantity which,

multiplied by the revolutions per minute, furnishes the
horse-power),

(3) The thrust of the propeller,

(4) The inclination of the airplane wings to the true horizon

as it flies,

(5) The speed of the machine through the air, and

(6) The inclination of the actual path of the machine.

Such records would show continuously the power developed
by the engine and its efficiency, the efficiency of the propeller,
the efficiency of the wings, and they would show under what
conditions the performance of the airplane and of its separate
parts was best and under which it was poorest during the flight.

It was necessary that each record should be autographic, that
is, that the instrument should draw a continuous line on a mov-
ing sheet of paper to indicate the fact at every instant. Most
of the instruments to this date were instruments which the
observer or pilot necessarily read by eye, by Booking at a

245

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

pointer against a dial. If the attempt was made to secure the
free-flight tests with such dial-reading instruments the results
would not be satisfactory, for though an observer made a read-
ing every ten seconds, the airplane would probably have traveled
more than a mile before one reading- of each of the six instru-
ments had been made. During that time the conditions would
probably have changed so that the readings of the different in-
struments would have been made under different conditions.
With the autographic instruments all of the six records might
be read at leisure on the ground for the same instant of flight,
so that corresponding values of the different quantities could be
obtained.

As the work progressed, Dr Lyman J. Briggs of the Bureau
of Standards and Professor F. W. McNair of the Michigan
College of Mines were associated with Professor Hayford in the
creative part of the work. At various times many others were
helping in the work. An English officer in Washington who
had made tests in England which were then the nearest approach
to the required free-flight tests furnished valuable advice

A new, original design was found to be necessary for each of
the six instruments. At the outset four of the six appeared to
be nearly impossible One of the instruments has proved to be
a new invention which was patented in favor of the United
States. This was a gyroscope apparatus, and was patented under
date of September 19, 1922, with John Fillmore Hayford and
Lyman James Briggs as assignors to the Government of the
United States All of the six were finally completed and were
built in five different shops, three m Washington, one in Brook-
lyn, and one in Champaign, Illinois.

Early in April, 1918, it was recognized that one of the six
instruments, which had then been demonstrated, had several war
applications other than the application to free-flight tests As
a result Mr. Hayford and his group were required to turn aside
and design modified forms of the instrument for two or more
war applications Though these modified instalments were not
finished before the Armistice was signed> the military authorities
decided to have them completed, which was done after the

246

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

Armistice Thus eight new instruments were the outcome of
the work by Mr Hayford and those associated with him. The
material that Director Hayford left regarding these is marked
"Confidential," and though war conditions no longer prevail, the
writer, for obvious reasons, does not divulge the nature of these
instruments It may be that this precaution is no longer neces-
sary.

On July 19, 1919, Professor Hayford, together with Pro-
fessor McNair and Dr. Bnggs, his associates in the develop-
ment of these special instruments as modified for the War and
Navy Departments, left Hampton Roads, Virginia, with the
Pacific Fleet enroute to San Diego, California, by way of the
Panama Canal for the purpose of carrying on tests of the in-
struments for the Navy under actual sea conditions These
tests were made on board the U S. S. Mississippi. Commander
W. R Furlong, U. S- N., of the Bureau of Ordnance, accom-
panied the party, made all arrangements with the officers of the
Mississippi, and took an active part in all tests. Captain Moffett
and the officers of the Mississippi furnished the party with every
facility desired, and Admiral Hugh Rodman in command of the
Pacific Fleet gave the Mississippi permission to drop out of the
fleet formation every day on much of that part of the trip which
lay in the Pacific. The tests were carried on during practically
the entire trip which ended at San Diego, California, on August
5, 1919. From ten thousand tests made on this trip it was proved
that the instrument was a practicable, convenient, reliable instru-
ment for indicating the position of a ship with reference to the
true horizon, regardless of the visibility conditions of the sea-
horizon.

Letters of appreciation for the services of Director Hayford
during the war were received by President Lynn Harold Hough
of Northwestern University from the Navy Department and
from the Bureau of Standards. Dr. Stratton, of the Bureau
of Standards, wrote :

"Professor Hayford and his associates have not only solved
to the satisfaction of the Navy , Department the problems pre-
247

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

sented, but have secured data and developed devices which we
now see will have many important applications m aviation, in
navigation, and in the industries/*

Similarly, in expressing its appreciation of the services of
Professor Hayford, the Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy De-
partment stated that the work done was a great contribution to
the efficiency of the gunnery of the United States Navy and that
the Bureau "particularly appreciates the generosity and patriotic
spirit of the officers of your institution (Northwestern Univer-
sity) in allowing Dr. Hayford to give considerable time and
effort to the government You may be recompensed in knowing
that the time of Dr. Hayford thus given has resulted m efficiently
solving a very important scientific problem for the United
States."

ROCKAWAY POINT

In 1921 Mr. Hayford was called to New York City to serve
as Expert Witness m the case of the Rockaway Pacific Cor-
poration against the State of New York. It was an interesting
case of a point of land which in eighty years had extended itself
more than three miles into an area formerly covered by the
waters of the ocean from depths of ten to thirty or more feet,
and is probably the most rapidly growing point anywhere on the
shores of the United States. Mr. Hayford's function was to
help establish the facts as to how Rockaway Point near New
York City had grown. He spent considerable time gathering
information at the Coast and Geodetic Survey and other places,
and finally testified before the court at Utica, New York, Jan-
uary 22-26, 1921.

THE SLIDES OF THE PANAMA CANAL

In 1915, and for some time before, the use of the Panama
Canal was badly affected, due to the occurrence of sliding or
caving in of the banks at several points along the Canal At the
request of President Woodrow Wilson on November 18, 1915,
the National Academy of Sciences appointed a committee of
thirteen persons "to consider and report upon the possibility of

248

JOHN FlkLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

controlling the slides which are seriously interfering with the
use of the Panama Canal/'

In 1912 Professor Hayford, while in Central America in con-
nection with the Costa Rica- Panama Boundary Survey, had the
pleasure of spending five days at the great Culebra Cut with
Col. Gaillard, accompanying him through the cut on his regular
inspection trips each day, climbing three of the slides which were
then active, and hearing him discuss the nature and cause of the
slides. Also in that year he became well acquainted with Mr.
Donald F MacDonald, the geologist employed especially to
study the slides.

During the four years, 1912-1915, as he states, he "read with
avidity'* everything he saw in regard to the Panama slides and
his voluminous scrap book bears ample evidence that this was
no idle statement Therefore, when the invitation came to be
one of the Committee to study this great question he responded
most heartily, his acceptance being dated November 26, 1915.

The Committee as originally appointed consisted of thirteen
persons, as follows :

C. D Walcott, Scientist, Secretary of the Smithsonian In-
stitution.

G. F. Becker, Geologist, in Charge of Division of Chemical
and Physical Research, U. S. Geological S v urvey.

R. S. Woodward, Scientist, President, Carnegie Institution
of Washington.

Arthur L. Day, Physicist, Geophysical Laboratory.

C. R Van Hise, Geologist, President, University of Wis-
consin Chairman of the Committee.

H. L. Abbott, Army Officer and Engineer. Long record
as investigator in connection with the Mississippi River
and Panama Canal.

J. C. Branner, Geologist, recently President of Stanford
University.

Whitman Cross, Geologist, U. S. Geological Survey.

R. C. Carpenter, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Cor-
nell University.

A. P. Davis, Chief Engineer, U. S. Reclamation Service.
Twice before called into service in connection with the
Canal.

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

J. R Freeman, Consulting Engineer, Providence, R I
Once before called into consultation on Panama Canal
Problems.

J F Hay ford, Civil Engineer, Director, College of Engi-
neering, Northwestern University.

H. F Reid, Professor of Geology, Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity. Eminent student of glaciers and earthquakes.

For various reasons the first three were unable to visit the Canal
and participate in the deliberations of the Committee leading to
the preliminary report ; the fourth declined service on the Com-
mittee

The remainder of the Committee sailed from New Orleans,
December n, and arrived at Panama, December 19. All spent
two weeks in the Canal Zone, and three of them several days
longer, working upon the problems submitted to them. The
Committee saw the Canal from end to end, but directed its
main attention to the slides and hills of the Culebra District,
where the engineers encountered the most serious difficulties
The work of the Committee m the field was facilitated m every
way by Major General George W Goethals, and many officers
and engineers connected with the Canal work, and by the work
and services of Mr MacDonald, Canal Geologist from IQII
to 1913.

It was desirable that President Wilson and Major General
Goethals should have the general conclusions of the Committee
as early as possible , and, accordingly, a preliminary report was
prepared, which was placed in the hands of the President on
February 3, 1916 It was published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 1916, Vol II, pp. 193-207, and
in the Annual Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission for the
fiscal year 1915-16, pp. 587-98.

Meetings of the Committee were held in Washington, D. C ,
April 22, 1916, and in Boston, November n, 1916, to discuss
and formulate the final report which was signed by Professor
Hayford March 24, 1917 On consideration of all available data
the Committee modified some of the conclusions and tentative
recommendations presented in the preliminary report.

250

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

presented too late to be of much use in the "control" of the active
Culebra slides, it was hoped that this final report of the Com-
mittee would lead to a more thorough understanding of the slide
phenomena and more complete future protection for this great
thoroughfare of commerce.

The final report is contained in Volume 18 of the Memoirs
of the National Academy of Sciences, published in 1924.

At the time of activity of the slides they were a problem of
great interest to the general public as well as to the scientific men
of the world. As might be supposed, Professor Hayford was
besieged from all sides for information regarding them, and or-
ganizations of various kinds invited him to address them on the
subject. It was not, however, until after the report was placed
in the hands of the President in February, 1916, that he con-
sented to talk or write for public use regarding the slides. He
had prepared from official photographs a large number of slides
and these were used to illustrate his address on "The Great Land
Slides at Panama/'

A BUSY MAN

During the war extra burdens were taken over by Hayford.
It must have been, indeed, a busy time for him On November
2, 1917, he writes.

"It is important to the success of the United States in war, if
it is to be a long war, to keep the universities going, and still
more important to the United States in the reconstruction period
after the war that the supply of trained thinkers should not be
allowed to diminish any more than is absolutely necessary. My
belief in these propositions is shown by the determination with
which I am sticking to my work as Director at the same time
I am trying to do my part in Washington/'

And again on September 8, 1920, he says:

"I am now thoroughly immersed in my college duties plus
original researches in connection with gyroscopes, aeronautics,
and evaporation and stream flow. This is a heterogeneous list
which is a result of following where duty and opportunity both
lead I spent much of my time for three years in Washington

251

ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

on war duty while still carrying my responsibilities at North-
western University. Incidentally, during these three years I
have travelled about 40,000 miles, including twenty-one round
trips between Evanston and Washington/*

ROTARY GRAVIMETER

Among the many scientific problems in which Professor Hay-
ford was interested was that of determining the intensity of
gravity at sea. It was one of the outstanding problems, as he
saw it, whose solution was needed in order to complete satis-
factorily the studies of gravity and isostasy. He was continu-
ally issuing a challenge for some one to invent a device by means
of which the intensity of gravity at sea could be determined
with an accuracy commensurate with those made on land, and
he, himself, pondered long on the possibility of such a device.

In 1921 he was confined to a hospital in Evanston for a minor
operation. On the occasion of one of the visits which the writer
paid him during his convalescence, he found Professor Hayf ord
in a very jubilant mood, and was shown the preliminary studies
of a device which seemed to have promise of solving this impor-
tant gravity problem. The device was an adaptation of the
principle of the rotating governor and the displacement of the
arms was to be a measure of the force of gravity. For this
reason Professor Hayford termed it "the rotary gravimeter,"
and for a year or more the study of this took up much of his
spare time.

In December of that same year he wrote to Lyman J. Briggs :
"I am still finding nothing wrong with the scheme and am ac-
cumulating evidence in favor of the probable success of the in-
strument/'

He deduced a complete theory for the instrument and made
computations as to its accuracy and possibilities.

In a letter to William Bowie written in February, 1922, he
wrote : "After studying more than one hundred and thirty hours
on the problem I found that my proposed instrument will not
serve the purpose. I have killed my own bright idea by proving
that it will not work/* Under date o February 13, 1922, he

252

JOHN FIU,MOR HAYFORD BURGER

abandoned its further study and marked the seventy-five pages
of the study with these words: "The Rotary Gravimeter is not
feasible for determining gravity at sea/' and then proceeded to
give a complete summary of the reasons therefor.

This must have been a severe blow to him, for it was a prob-
lem whose solution was so ardently desired. It is the only case
known to the writer where Professor Hay ford failed to arrive
at his goal within a brief period. The studies which are con-
tained m the seventy-five pages constitute a masterpiece of in-
trinsic reasoning and mathematical analysis, and the instance is
here cited because it shows very clearly his method of attack
and his mental processes in carrying out a specific line of in-
vestigation Although failure was the reward for his many
hours of work, this study shows the truly wonderful research
qualities of the man and the splendid analytical powers he pos-
sessed.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

On May 31, 1915, the Board of Trustees of the Colorado
School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, extended an invitation to
Professor Hayf ord to consider himself as a candidate for the
Presidency of the Colorado School of Mines. This invitation
was extended by Mr. H. C Parmlee of the Board upon recom-
mendation of Dr. Richard Maclauren, President of Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology. On June 4, Director Hayford
wrote that he did not care to be considered as a candidate for the
position, stating that "Northwestern University is treating me
so well and there is so much need for my continued presence here
in this young College of Engineering that I do not care to con-
sider leaving." Upon being informed of this decision of Pro-
fessor Hayford, Dr. A. W. Harris, then President of North-
western University, expressed himself by writing "Your letter
with its enclosures pleased me immensely^ first because of the
compliment to you and the reflected compliment to Northwest-
ern, and second, because of the great compliment to Northwest-
ern contained in your decision. To lose the Hayf ords from
Northwestern would be a l)oss so serious that I do not find it
easy to characterize it/'

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NATIONAL ACADEM\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF ENGINEERING
EDUCATION

Long before he became Director of the College of Engineering
at Northwestern University, Mr, Hayford showed great interest
In the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, and
joined with the group of teachers and workers m the engineering
field who were active in studying the possibilities of improving
engineering education He became a member of the Society
in 1905, and throughout the following twenty years was a most
ardent worker in this cause, and very markedly so after his ap-
pointment to Northwestern.

While still in the government service he gave two talks be-
fore the Society, one "Opportunities for Engineering Graduates
in Government Service/' and the other, "Why not Teach About
Men, the Most Important and Difficult Tools an Engineer
Uses?/' published in Volumes XIII and XIV of the Bulletin
of the Society,

He seldom was absent from any of the annual meetings of
the Society and usually took part in some way, either by present-
ing a paper or by entering into the discussion of papers pre-
sented. At the Ames, Iowa, meeting in 1915, he presented the
paper, "Reflections of a Director/* and at the Baltimore meet-
ing, 1919, "Reflections of an S. P. E. E. President/' and was co-
author on "Fifteen Years' Experience with a Five-year Engi-
neering Curriculum at Northwestern University," presented by
the writer at the Boulder, Colorado, meeting in 1924.

He served the Society in many capacities ; was on its Council
in 1909, in 1916, and again in 1921, was Vice-President in 1917-
18, and President in 1918-19. During 1918-19 he was a mem-
ber of the Program Committee, in 1918-19 and 1919-20 a mem-
ber of the Publication Committee, and in 1918-19 a member of
the Executive Committee. These were added to the heavy duties
which he had in connection with his work in Washington dur-
ing the War, and to his duties as Director of the College of Engi-
neering.

Through his invitation Northwestern University was host to
the Society in 1918. Due to the fact that President Ketchum

254

JOHN FII,LMOR HAYFORD BURGER

was not able to be present, Director Hayford served as President
during that meeting and was at that time elected President for
the ensuing year

In December, 1917, he was appointed by President Ketchum
as a member of a committee of eighteen to secure a ruling from
the Provost General of the United States Army m regard to
enlisting engineering students m the Enlisted Reserve Corps so
that they might finish their course before entering active service.
This was one of the prime factors in the organization of the
Engineer Enlisted Reserve Corps during the World War.

In December, 1918, Director Hayford presided and gave the
address of welcome on behalf of the Society for the Promotion
of Engineering Education at the joint meeting of the Society
and the British Educational Meeting of the American Council
on Education, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, for a discussion of engineering education in relation
to the war.

In his address as retiring President, given at Baltimore in
1919, he called attention to the rare opportunity he had had of
presiding over three successive meetings, an opportunity not
given to any of his predecessors.

At the request of the President of the Society, he represented
the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education at the
Congress on Public Information held at the Congress Hotel,
Chicago, in February, 1921, and acted as Chairman during one
session of the Congress.

He was one of the Deans of Colleges of Engineering, men
with long experience in engineering education, men proud of
the progress already made and imbued with the desire to make
still further progress in improving engineering education, who
met by appointment for a conference in Chicago m May, 1922.
These deans, in conference assembled, passed the now famous
resolution .

"Resolved, that in order to meet the constantly enlarging re-
sponsibilities of the engineering profession we favor an advance
in engineering education at this time that shall ^provide for five
years of collegiate training for those engineering $tuden,ts whose

255

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

aim is to be qualified to take positions among the creative leaders
in the profession."

During the time that engineering education was being studied
by C. R Mann, under a grant from the Carnegie Foundation,
and later by Mr. Wickenden, Director of the Board of Investi-
gation and Coordination, Mr. Hayford took a keen interest in
these studies, and many times called his faculty together in-
formally to discuss the various phases of engineering education
brought to light by these studies and investigations.

In regard to Director Hayford's work in the Society for the
Promotion of Engineering Education, Dean F. L. Bishop, Secre-
tary of the Society, wrote to the writer under date of January
30, 1929.

"He was always ready with advice, and could be depended
upon to do whatever job was handed him. His clear mind and
direct way of thinking was of great value to all members of the
Society who had the pleasure of knowing or hearing him. His
organization of the Baltimore meeting in 1919 was one of the
outstanding features of the work of the Society immediately
following the war. He was of great assistance during the war
in keeping the work and activities of the Society on a going
basis/'

HAY-FEVER

In general Professor Hayford enjoyed abounding good
health, but he had one affliction which bothered him very much
at times, so much so indeed that it was a most pitiful sight to
see him trying bravely to bear up under it. This was hay-fever
In regard to this he wrote under date of December 19, 1919

"Ordinarily I have had a form of asthma each year as a
climax to the hay-fever. Ordinarily this asthma is so severe
for two weeks or more as to make it difficult or impossible to
sleep continuously except in a sitting position rather than lying
down. I have had hay-fever every summer since 1895, in some
summers in a very severe form, have never rim away from it,
have been in various parts of the United States during the hay-
fever season and have studied tiie disease carefully/'

256

JOHN FII,I,MOR HAYFORD BURGER

To the writer's knowledge he did bear up bravely under it,
and was usually found at his desk or at whatever work he was
engaged in, keeping regular hours, and striving by frequent use
of menthol or other aromatic unguents to minimize the discom-
forts attendant upon this irritating affliction.

PERSONALITY

During the early years of the writer's acquaintance with Mr.
Hayford, the most impressive characteristic was his apparent
happiness His jovial, hearty laughs would ring out merrily
along the halls of the old Coast and Geodetic Survey building.
He had a generous fund of humor and this was one of the ways
he expressed it His aptitude for seeing the humorous, and the
shrewd turning of a phrase, or the "cracking of a joke" was
noticeable to all.

This characteristic remained for some time after he became
Director of the College of Engineering, but gradually a change
became apparent It may be the advancing years were causing
him to be more sedate, but it is more likely that the load he was
carrying as Director, administrator, teacher, research investiga-
tor, student advisor, his many addresses all added their part
to make him more sedate and less inclined to laugh.

In later years his brain must have been called upon for an
abnormal amount of work and from the records that he has left
in his voluminous correspondence one is lost in wonder that he
could have so successfully kept the many strands of thought
from becoming hopelessly entangled.

In gathering the material for this memoir nothing has im-
pressed the writer more than the enormous amount of work
which he accomplished and of which little was known, even to
those who were closely in touch with Mm. The fields in which
he labored were so diversified that his friends and associates and
colleagues, each knew only a small part of the activities in which
he was engaged. In looking over his correspondence one could
easily gain the idea that his list of correspondents included
nearly every man in W'ftp'f W^o in engineering and the related

257

ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

sciences and engineering education. It was a tremendous task
for one man to accomplish.

He seemed to have an unfailing fund of energy upon which
he constantly drew, and an industry which never seemed to need
periods of idleness to refresh him An inextinguishable fire
of energy and enthusiasm was his, and even to the last his mind
was on some scientific problem. But he had that most happy
faculty of being able to lay aside his work when quitting time
came and taking his relaxation in the form of a walk along the
lake shore, or in a good game of volley ball or a game of "cow-
boy" at the club, and in play he always put the same abounding
energy and enthusiasm as in his scientific work. In nothing he
undertook did he do half-hearted work, but drove himself for-
ward along his adopted course with a vim and vigor which
astounded all who knew him

His activities penetrated into practically every field of the
physical sciences and he was keen to travel along new paths of
exploration The list of learned and civic societies to which he
belonged is a long one and in these he gave to the fullest of his
time and energy. The list could have been lengthened several
times had he responded favorably to the many invitations of-
fered him, but it was a firm conviction of his that he did not
care to join an organization for the sake of the mere honor, and
unless he saw that he could prove worthy of the membership by
giving to it a worthwhile service, he politely but firmly declined
to have his name considered for membership.

CHURCH

The writer does not know the strength of Hayf ord's religious
convictions. He was a member of the Unitarian Church at
Washington, and later affiliated with All Souls Unitarian Churcr
when he moved to Evanston. Evidently, as in everything else
into which he entered, he took a very active part in the work of
the church, for the church in Evanston has honored his memory
by dedicating one of the rooms of the church as "Hayf ord Hall."
He was also head of the Layman's League of the Church.

258

JOHN FJXLMORB HAYFORD BURGER

Though devoted to This work, he did not live aloof from his
fellow citizens, but always took a keen interest in matters affect-
ing the welfare of the city. This extended to political questions,
as well as civic improvements and civic organizations.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE

In personal appearance he was of medium height, but strong
and compactly built, and in later life rather heavy in build and
slow m motion. His pictures taken at Anchorage Bay, Alaska,
in 1894, show him with a full beard. He wore a full beard up
to about the summer of 1905, after which he remained smooth-
shaven.

EDUCATION

When asked to tell of his education he responded m 1923 with
the following :

"To the present time my education has been that represented
by the degree of C.E. from Cornell University, and Sc D. from
George Washington University, supplemented by seventeen
years of education received from students, three years while act-
ing as instructor at Cornell University (1895-1898), and four-
teen years (1909-1923) while acting as Director of the College
of Engineering at Northwestern University ; and extended by
seventeen years in the service of the United States. T-he
majors, so to speak, in that education have been an investigation
of isostasy for thirteen years, and an investigation of evapora-
tion and stream-flow for nearly twelve years, and which is still
in progress There is still hope that my education is advancing
to a perceptible degree."

DOCTOR OF SCIENCE

On June 5, 1918, Director Hayford was granted the honorary
degree of Doctor of Science by George Washington University
at Washington, D C. The statements made when the degree
was conferred indicate that it was intended as a recognition of
the scientific work that he had done In connection with the United

259

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

States Coast and Geodetic Survey and in other parts of the gov-
ernment service.

In an alertness test, conducted at the Rotary Club of Evans-
ton, March 20, 1924, by L. B Hopkins, Director of Personnel
at Northwestern University, Hay ford obtained a score of 71.
Of the 75 men tested by Professor Hopkins at the Club the
average was 46.

VICTORIA MEDAL

It is somewhat difficult to pick out the most significant honor
which came to Professor Hay ford. Standing among the high-
est, however, should be listed the award to him of the Victoria
Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain.
Notification of this award was sent to Hayford under date of
March 5th, 1924, just one year before his death.

The Secretary of the Society, Arthur R Hinks, in conveying
the notification wrote: "I am happy to inform you that the
Council have awarded you the Victoria Medal of this Society
for your establishment of the theory of Isostasy. The medal
will be presented at the Anniversary General Meeting on May
26. It is, I suppose, too much to hope that you will be in
England at that time, but I shall be glad to hear from you whether
you would wish to nominate any personal friend to receive the
medal for you or whether we shall ask one of the Embassy.

"May I take the opportunity of expressing to you the great
pleasure which it gives me personally of being the medium of
conveying to you this decision of the Council."

As Mr. Hayford was not able to be present on May 26th to
receive this medal, it was awarded in his absence. As stated
in the Geographic Journal (V. 64, p. 83) "The Victoria Medal
was presented to Mr. Boylston Beal in the unavoidable ab-
sence of Mr Hayford himself and of His Excellency the Ameri-
can Ambassador " Announcement of the King's approval of
the award was made in the April issue of the Geographic Jour-
nal (V. 63, No. 4, April 1924, p. 361). In so far as the writer
has been able to find out this signal honor has been granted to

260

JOHN FIW,MORE HAYFORD BURGER

but two other Americans in recent years Commodore Peary *
in 1910, and Alexander Hamilton Rice* in 1914.

MOUNT HAYFORD

About two years before the death of Dr. Hay ford, Colonel E.
Lester Jones, as American Commissioner on the International
Boundary, submitted to the United States Geographic Board
through the State Department the proposal that the name "Mount
Hayf ord" be given to one of the peaks in southeastern Alaska,
with the hope that the Board would waive the rule against nam-
ing geographic features for living persons m this instance be-
cause of the eminence of Dr. Hayf ord in the scientific world.

At this time the Board did not concur in the recommendation,
but on May 6, 1925, shortly after Dr. Hay ford's death, the
recommendation of Colonel Jones was formally and unani-
mously approved, and the name "Mount Hayford" was inscribed
on the map of the world for all time.

In a letter to Mrs Hayford apprising her of this action of the
Board, Mr. James W. McGuire, Member of the U. S. Geographic
Board, states, "The peak itself rises m grandeur, one and one-
quarter miles toward the heavens, its snowy summit only six
miles from the seashore ; a monument raised by the hand of the
Creator."

Mount Hayford is six thousand four hundred and forty feet
high, and is located about six miles west of Portland Canal,
southeastern Alaska, near latitude 5544'.

STUDY MEN

Of his non-technical writings few attained the recognition
accorded to "Study Men," originally given as an address deliv-

* In 1898 Commander Peary was awarded the Patron's Medal of the
Society and in ^910 was awarded a Special Gold Medal Dr. Rice was
awarded the Patron's Medal in 1914. The Gold Medals of the Royal
Geographical Society, the Founder's Medal, and the Patron's Medal, are
not identical with the Victoria Medal receired by Mn Hayford. (Geo^
graphic Journal, V 64, 1924, pp

261

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOUR \PH ICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

ered on Commencement Day, June 14, 1907, at the Thomas
Clarkson Memorial School of Technology, Potsdam, New York,
and published m the Clarkson Bulletin, July, 1907, and later
incorporated in Addresses to Engineering Students by Waddell
and Harrington

Some of the thoughts contained therein are worthy of note
here.

"One of the prominent characteristics of the average engineer
is that he is so wrapped up in his work as to see only its imme-
diate results and to fail to see its much great indirect effect. He
fails to realize fully that he is working through men and for
men, that the most important effect of his work is its influence
upon the onward and upward progress of man "

He urges the engineering student to study men "because much
of your learning is done through other men, because you will do
your work through men, and because men are so difficult to
understand. Men are the most important objects of interest
that will come within your sphere of knowledge. I urge you to
study men because I am safe m saying that there are some of
you who will fail to be useful in the world simply because you
will fail to understand men until it is too late. The effectiveness
with which you will use your engineering knowledge depends
very, very intimately upon your knowledge of men. You are
urged to pay attention to all phases of men around you, to see
and appreciate them as literary and artistic men as well as tech-
nical men, as men of feeling as well as men of thought, as in-
carnated motives as well as thinking and working machines."

The thoughts embodied m this address seemed to be one of
the guiding forces in his life He was not a recluse, a solitary
man, a man hiding himself m a cloister. He delighted in the
exchange of thought whether with the highest scientist of the
land or the humblest workman on the surveying parties. At
meetings of scientific societies he considered the time well spent
if he could get in close touch with some new personality, even
though the business of the meeting seemed to have little of profit
in it for him. And these "touches" were no passing, idle con-
tacts for him. They generally contained some pertinent fact

262

JOHX FIIXMORE HAVFORD Bl RGER

which his wonderful memory would bring to light and make use
of in the future.

"Study Men" was probably at the foundation of his organiza-
tion of one of the courses taught by him at Northwestern Uni-
versity. This was the course in "Public Relations of Engi-
neers," which is discussed in another part of these memoirs.

LAST DAYS

As mentioned before, the last public appearance of Professor
Hayford was at the Annual Banquet of the Engineering Society
of the School of Engineering held at Evanston on the evening
of December 19, 1924, at which he gave a most interesting
talk of the court reception given by the King to the delegates
to the Fifteenth general conference of the International Geodetic
Association held at Budapest in 1906. So far as the audience
could tell, he was apparently in good health, for he stood up all
of the time during his talk and gave no evidence of any illness.
The next morning, however, he came to the writer's office at the
Engineering Building and said that he had been ordered to the
hospital for several days' examination. This he did after clear-
ing up some important matters on his desk

When he made the above announcement it was told in such a
way that the stay at the hospital was probably to be only a few
days. The examination at the hospital, however, showed that
the case was very serious and soon after he was ordered to his
home and to have complete rest for some time. Only the
family and a small number of close friends were allowed to see
him. His condition gradually became worse, and in the early
hours of March 10, 1925, Director Hayford passed to the Great
Beyond, his death occurring as he slept at his home, 1124 Jud-
son Avenue, Evanston, Illinois. The affliction causing his death
was principally dropsical in character, and he suffered quite a
bit during those last weeks of his life. In accordance with his
will the body was cremated and his ashes spread on Beautiful
Lake Michigan, beside the shore of which he had spent so many
years and regarding which he had studied so much

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Before going to the hospital he had been under the doctor's
care, but to the outside world he gave little indication of this
Evidently his condition had gradually crept upon him, for he
continued his daily walks to and from home. But it had been
noticeable that he moved less sprightly and vigorously than
previously, and seemed to want a more quiet existence.

On the occasion of his death, the tributes received by the
family were many, and came from all parts of the country, and
some from foreign countries The writer believes that some of
these are so important in showing an estimate of Professor
Hayford's life and character that excerpts are here given. Also
there have been added a few, some written to Professor Hay-
ford during his lifetime and some written to the writer only re-
cently. Some of these tributes are scattered throughout the
memoir, the remainder being given in a group

TRIBUTES

"I was very proud of his ability as a scientist, a scholar and
administrator, but I loved him for himself, so simple and whole-
some in his tastes, so kindly and just in his relations with other
men and with his students He was wholesome in everything he
did. He had the fun of the boy, and yet the wisdom of a sage.

"I never knew him in all my relations to ask for favors for his
school or his own work in the school. Having known the con-
ditions when he took up his work, he accepted them.

"He was a great teacher, because of his scholarship, his clear-
ness."

(Ex-President A. W. Harris, Northwestern
University, March, 1925.)

"On behalf of the body generally of Northwestern University
the deep and sincere sympathy which they feel at the loss of Dean
Hayf ord. Both because of his very lasting services to the Uni-
versity and his contributions to the sum of the world's knowl-
edge he had endeared himself to the University at large. Be-
cause of a peculiarly lovable personality, he was dear to those
students who came into contact with him/'

(By order of the Student Council of Northwestern
University, March 10, 1925.)

264

JOHN FII.LMORE HAYFORD BURGER

"Other graduates of the Engineering School with whom I
have talked feel as I do, that all of us have lost a true friend and
that the University has lost one of the greatest men that has
ever been on its faculty/*

(C. D. Hale, March ii 1925.)

"There is this however that endures, the memory of the inspir-
ing contact that we have had with Professor Hayford and the
inspiration of his high standard for the profession/*

(Edgar S Nethercut, Secretary, Western Society
of Engineers, April 23, 1925.)

"I am sure that the loss of such an outstanding figure in the
field of geodesy is a most serious one and will be very keenly
felt/'

(Noel Ogilvie, Director, Geodetic Survey of
Canada, March 23, 1925.)

"We express our sympathies with the loss which the American
Geophysical Union has suffered in the death of this eminent
scientist."

(President and Secretary, Norwegian Geodetic
Commission, April 27, 1925.)

"He was an active and enthusiastic worker, with great faith
and persistence m any idea he took up. His influence was strong
in systematizing, and placing on an economically sound basis,
the government geodetic work, and in developing important re-
sults from it/'

(G. R. Putnam, Director, U. S. Light House
Service, February 4, 1929.)

"Among us, his friends, there will be cherished in our memo-
ries those qualities that won for him a place of unstinted affec-
tion. The sparkling eyes, the smiling countenance, that conta-
gious laugh, the kind sympathetic disposition, these all made him
so human. Clean-minded, self-controlled in imputing evil to
others, he was one of whom it can truly be said that he was mas-
ter of the greatest of all sciences, how to live among his fel-
low men/'

(Rotary Club of Evanston, March, 1925.)

"I have learned to admire his wonderful attainments and abil-
ity, and to look forward to the accomplishment of the splendid

265

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGR \PHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

work In science that he has been conducting for so many years.
It is impossible to estimate the loss that will result from the sud-
den termination of his activities "

(C. F. Marvin, Chief of Weather Bureau, U. S.
Dept. of Agriculture, March 10, 1925.)

"His going is a great loss to the engineering and scientific
work of America, in both of which he did such outstanding work
and signal service* He did all things well and the world is bet-
ter for the useful part he took m it."

(R. L. Paris, Acting Director, U. S. Coast &
Geodetic Survey, March n, 1925.)

"Hayford was a man for whom I had not only a high regard
but an affection. I never knew him until he came to the Coast
Survey. When I went there m '97 and began to study the in-
stitution and its organization . . . one of the first requests I
made was for some one who would come as an understudy to Mr.
Schott, with the understanding that he would, in a short time,
become chief of the division. I was led to think of Hayford be-
cause of the admirable work he had done in the Survey and be-
cause of some of his papers At that time he was at Cornell.
I got him to come down to Washington and talk the whole mat-
ter over with me, and was delighted at the enthusiasm and in-
terest with which he took up his task. The work he did in the
Survey not only reflected his admirable ability as a mathemati-
cian, but he took up many cognate problems because he was
interested in the application of mathematics as well as with
mathematical theory.

"During my time in the Survey, Hayford was rapidly improv-
ing his mathematical skill and his knowledge of the application
of mathematics to geodesy. When Mr. Schott finished the work
on the 39th Parallel he gave way very willingly as Head of the
Division to Hayford, and from that time on Hayford was the
scientific authority of the Survey in all geodetic operations
. , , In my efforts, during the three years I was Superintendent
of the Survey, to reorganize in large measure the scientific work
I found Hayford a most practical and willing adviser. He had
unusual mathematical ability coupled with the quality of clear
judgment a rare combination. I saw nothing of him after he
left the Survey but I will always remember him as one of the
most able and devoted men with whom I have ever been
associated."

(Henry S. Pritchett, President, Carnegie
Foundation, June 2, 1930 )

266

JOHN FIU,MORE HAYFQRD BURGER

"Five years has not been long enough to reconcile me to his
loss."

(A graduate of the School of Engineering writ-
ing in 1930.)

"In my administration at Northwestern ... I think my
selection of men was perhaps the most satisfactory part of nay
service. In no case do I feel more confident than in your own.
All this I might be able to say even though the satisfaction were
only in a professional and official way, but in your case it is very
much more. You have helped to make rne satisfied during all
the years we worked together and since, as well. I have known
many good men and successful men. I put you with a very
small group who seem to me to deserve the highest congratula-
tion/'

(Ex-President A. W. Harris, Northwestern
University, November 21, 1923.)

"Not often is opportunity granted to the engineer to take di-
rect part in unlocking the larger mysteries of nature. Hayford
was fortunate enough to find such an opportunity in his work
and he was prepared to meet it. Already the truths he devel-
oped have had a guiding influence on the work of the geologists
in their attempts to decipher the ancient record of the earth's
long-past changes, and there is little doubt that the future under-
standing of the growth and development of our planet will be
related very closely to the facts which Hayford brought to
light."

(Editorial. Engineering News-Record, March
19, 1925 )

The writer had more than a quarter of a century of close asso-
ciation with Professor Hayford, an association which began in
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1899. In these
years he found the following characteristics to be uppermost in
the life of Director Hayford : intense energy of body and mind,
strict honesty of thought and purpose, and a hatred of all show
and pretense. He had the great faculty of making and holding
friends, and he took especial delight in these friendships He
seldom entered into anything without giving to the fullest of his
energies; he got the fullest enjoyment out of life; was a keen
lover of all sorts of healthy outdoor sports and indoor games;
enjoyed a brisk walk along the lake shore, or an exciting game
of "Cowboy" at the Club in company with congenial associates ;
took an immense amount of pleasure in sitting with the family or

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NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

friends reading tales and poems of the old colonies of northern
New York and Canada ; and withal he had the happy faculty of
being able to drop official duties when necessary.

On the scientific side, the ideal set before us by Hayford his
energy, adaptiveness, perseverence, both intellectual and physi-
cal, and mathematical precision, are to be held as his most
precious characteristics.

He is sadly missed by those who enjoyed his friendship. To
the world of science his loss is keenly felt. Those who knew
him best esteemed him most, and he has left with them those
precious memories of a worth-while life.

On the occasion of the death of Director John F. Hayford, a
resolution by the Faculty of the College of Engineering of North-
western University was adopted March 17, 1925.

WHEREAS

Director John F. Hayford has been the main guiding spirit
of this College from its beginning in 1909 to his untimely death
one week ago :

Through many years of intimate association the members of
this Faculty have come to know him as a man of the following
characteristics :

1. He was a believer in the ultimate triumph of truth. He
was not a retailer of ready-made opinions and he did not seek
to influence others by personal persuasion or by clever statement.
On important problems, whether of physical phenomena or of
social relations, he sought to find the fundamental facts ; to dis-
entangle these facts from matters of emotion and prejudice ; and
to give these facts clear and forceful statement. He sought to
be a leader of men by giving them better views of truth.

2. In mental work he had habits of unusual accuracy, and in
industry he was almost indefatigable. In reading he formed
the habit of never leaving an article with a hazy notion of its
contents , he formulated a statement of its meaning when reduced
to simplest terms, and he retained this meaning as a permanent
addition to his stock of reliable information The most of his
researches have made successful use of data whose volume and
heterogeneity have appeared to other men too forbidding for
systematic treatment His studies of the data of engineering
education have been of a thorough and painstaking character.

3. He was thoroughly democratic. In matters of educational
policy he had opinions which he believed right because he had

268

JOHN FIU,MORE HAYFORD BURGER

reached them after careful consideration of the facts. But if
any question was decided in opposition to his views, he accepted
the decision wholeheartedly and carried it into effect with perfect
loyalty.

4. He was honest, just, and generous. In college legislation
he insisted that every rule should be an accurate statement of
policy, and m administration, he undertook to carry out every
regulation to the letter of its statement. In the absence of estab-
lished fact, his opinions were always tempered with extreme
generosity ; he was not only generous but even prodigal in giving
his time and labor to his students and to his friends , in the ap-
portionment of funds to his faculty members he was generous,
even self -sacrificing

5. In manner of life he was modest and unassuming. In
general attitude he was genuinely sociable, genial, frank, cheer-
ful, optimistic, loyal, and in important matters aggressive, he
had a keen sense of humor; he was slow in the expression of
criticism, but prompt in the expression of deserved commenda-
tion.

Because of the above characteristics of Director John F Hay-
ford, the members of this Faculty have great confidence in the
general policies which he has advocated for this College.

RESOLVED THAT

This University, this College, and its individual members have
suffered a great loss in the death of our friend and director, John
F. Hay ford, the magnitude of which loss we have hardly begun
to appreciate.

The members of this Faculty hope that means will be found
not only to continue unabated our efforts in improving engineer-
ing education as heretofore directed by John F. Hay ford, but so
to reinforce our work as to bring to fruition his complete ideal
of an engineering college.

It is fitting that these statements of fact in appreciation of our
first Director be made a matter of record in our minutes, be
transmitted to the family of the deceased, and be transmitted
to proper officials of the University for such dissemination and
publicity as may be appropriate.

(Signed) WIIXIAM H. BURGER, Secretary.

In the fall of 1925 funds were collected by the students and
faculty of the College of Engineering, and a bronze tablet to
commemorate Director Hayford's memory was placed on the

269

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

west wall of the lecture room of Suuft Hall of Engineering
The tablet reads:

IN MEMORY OF

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD
1868-1925

DIRECTOR OF THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING OF
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 1909-1925

ESTABLISHER OF THE THEORY OF ISOSTASY

AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED
HAYFORD SPHEROID OF REFERENCE

DEDUCER OF THE CONDITIONS WHICH GOVERN
THE LEVELS OF THE GREAT LAKES

AN INSPIRING TEACHER SKILLFUL IN THE
USE OF THE SOCRATIC METHOD; DISCIPLE
OF ACCURACY AND DEFINITENESS OF KNOWL-
EDGE J IMPARTIAL INTERPRETER OF FACTS;
FIRM BELIEVER IN THE COLLEGE STUDENT;
A GENIAL AND MODEST MAN J A GOOD CITIZEN

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY HIS STUDENTS

CHILDREN

Besides his wife, he was survived by his four children :

Walter Stone Hayford, born at Ithaca, New York, January
14, 1896 Graduate C.E. degree, College of Engineering, North-
western University, 1921. Now (1930) in the Research De-
partment of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York.

Maxwell Fillmore Hayford, born at Washington, D C., May
27, 1898 Graduate CE. degree, College of Engineering,
Northwestern University, 1923, Now (1930) Ticket Manager,
Athletic Department of Northwestern University, Evanston,
Illinois.

John Bryant Hay-ford, born at Washington, D. C., October
20, 1900. Graduate E E. degree, College of Engineering, North-
western University, 1924 Now (1930) Business Manager,
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

270

JOHN FH,LMOR HAYFORD BURGER

Phyllis Hayford, born at Washington, D. C., May 18, 1904
Graduate B.S. in Engineering degree, College of Engineering,
Northwestern University, 1926. Now (1930) Computer at
Lick Observatory, temporarily released and completing work
for Ph D. degree at University of California, at Berkeley,
where she has a Teaching Fellowship m the Department of
Astronomy.

Mrs. John F. Hayford went to live with her daughter,
Phyllis, at Berkeley, California, and died m that city August,
I93 2 .

SCIENTIFIC AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Professor Hayford was a firm believer in the development
of a man through contact with men and men's activities. To
this end he became a member of numerous organizations and in
each of these he gave to the fullest of his powers by presenting
papers or m service His correspondence contains numerous
refusals to accept membership m organizations in which he did
not see his way to contribute to the welfare of the organization.
This stand on his part is clearly indicated in the following quota-
tion taken from a letter (1920) m which he declined accepting
membership m a society to which he had received an invitation.
"I do not care to belong to any organization in which I cannot
do my part. I am already in, and committed to help in so many
organizations, that I must restrict my energies to them/'

There is given here a list of scientific, educational, and civic
organizations with which he was identified. No doubt there
are others which have not been listed. The list shows that he
was, m truth, "committed to help' J in many organizations, and
how well he helped is shown by the statement of his activities
in so far as could be learned. It is not known whether he con-
tinued holding membership in them all up to the time of his
death ; no correspondence was found among his papers indicating
any withdrawals of membership. Perhaps some of them were
allowed to lapse.

271

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

1. New York Mathematical Society.

Elected to membership, 1891.

2. Mask and Wig Club of Washington.

Member, 1895.

3. American Society of Cwil Engineers.

Elected Associate Member, May 6, 1896; member, April
2, 1907.

Appointed with A. N Talbot to represent the Society in
the Council of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, August 17, 1920.

4. American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Elected member, 1897; fellow, 1898

Represented U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at Boston

meeting, August, 1898.
Represented U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at New

York meeting, July, 1900.
Represented U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at Boston

meeting, December, 1909.
On Council, 1910.
Vice-President, 1910
Served as Secretary Section A, Secretary of Council and

General Secretary.
Papers presented:

"It Is not necessary to place geodetic arcs in various

latitudes," December 29, 1908.
"The ellipticity of the earth is not a proof of its former

liquid state." December 30, 1908.
"Relation of isostasy to geodesy, geology, and geo-
physics " Vice-President's address, Minneapolis,
December 29, 1910,

5. Cosmos Club of Washington.

Elected member, December 10, 1898. Non-resident mem-
ber after 1910.

Served at times on various committees.

Made the Cosmos Club his home during his frequent trips
to Washington.

Address "Future of the Airplane." January 5, 1920.

6 Philosophical Society of Washington.
Elected member, February u, 1899.

272

JOHN FIW/MORE HAYFORD BURGER

One of the signers of the Articles of Incorporation, May

15, 1901.

Elected Secretary, December 21, 1901.
President, 1907.
Papers presented:

"A new treatment of refraction in height computation."
April 29, 1899.

"Recent progress in geodesy." February 3, 1900.

"Determination of the difference of elevation of two
given points on the earth's surface." March 31, 1900.

"Corner's apparatus for determining zenith distance
of stars that culminate near the zenith." January
5, 1901.

"The new Coast and Geodetic Survey precise level."
January 5, 1901.

"Recent progress in geodesy." February 16, 1901.

"What is the center of an area, or the center of a popu-
lation?" November 23, 1901.

Discussion of "Longitude by wireless telegraphy." Jan-
uary 4, 1902.

"Gravity at North Tamarack Mine, Michigan." Octo-
ber ii, 1902.

"Novel principles applied in rapid primary triangula-
tion." May 6, 1903.

"Telegraphic determinations of longitude of Hono-
lulu." October 10, 1903.

"A test of the transit micrometer." May 21, 1904.

"Computation of the deflections of the vertical from
topography." December 10, 1904.

"Geodetic evidence of isostasy." 1906.

"The earth as a failing structure." December 7, 1907,

"The part taken by the Philosophical Society in the
development of geodesy."

"The earth from a geophysical standpoint." 1910.

"Relation of isostasy to geophysics." 1911.

7. American Astronomical and Astro physical Society.

Elected member, 1902.

8. Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education.

Elected member, 1905.

On Council, 1909, 1916, 1921.

Vice-President, 1917-1918.

273

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

President, 1918-1919.
Member Program' Committee, 1918-1919.
Member Publication Committee, 1918-1919; 1919-1920.
Member Executive Committee, 1918-1919.
Represented S. P. E. E. at Congress of Public Informa-
tion, Chicago, February 25, 1921. Chairman, one ses-
sion.

Papers presented :

"Opportunities for engineering graduates in govern-
ment service." June 28, 1905.
"Why not teach about men?" 1906.
"Reflections of a Director." Ames, Iowa, June 22,

1915.
"Welcome to British delegates at Cambridge, Mass/'

December, 1918.

"Reflections of an S. P. E. E. President." Baltimore,
1919.

9. Washington Academy of Science.
Elected member.
Vice-President, 1906.

Paper presented "Geodetic evidence of isostasy." April
14, 1906.

JO. Western Society of Engineers.

Elected member, December, 1909.

Committee on increase of membership, 1911.

Elected ^rd Vice-President, January 8, 1913

Chairman, Aviation Committee, 1920.

Member, Student Branch Committee, 1920.

Chairman, Joint meeting with Chicago Section A I. E. E.,

November 21, 1921.
Representative of W. S. E on Airboard of Chicago, April

19, 1922.

Member, Aviation Committee, June 17, 1922.
Member, Committee on St. Lawrence Waterway, Novem-
ber 24, 1923.

Awarded Chanute Medal of Society (posthumous, 1925).
Papers presented:

"Measuring the earth." November, 1913.

"The Great Slides at Panama." March 20, 1916.

"What American science is doing for aviation." Feb-
ruary 5, 1918.

"The establishment of isostasy." 1924

274

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

11. Engineering Society, Northwestern University.

Member, 1909,

Faculty adviser on several occasions, 1909-1925.

Papers presented :

"Is it advisable to make large expenditures fon the im-
provement of our waterways?" March 10, 1910.
"Measuring the earth/ 5 April 22, 1913.
"The urgent need for more engineers." October, 1917.
"Keeping engineering education going at Northwest-
ern University." October 31, 1918.

12. Washington Society of Engineers.

Elected member.

Served as Treasurer.

Member, Committee on meetings, 1906.

Papers presented:

"Present methods of precise leveling." January 23,
1906.

"Stream flow." October 15, 1924.

13. Society of Sigma Xi of Cornell University.

Elected member.

Society of Sigma Xi of Northwestern University.
Elected member, 1909.
President, 1914-15.
Paper presented :

"What American science is doing for aviation." Feb-
ruary 4, 1918.

14. Chaos Club of Chicago.

Elected member, November, 1910.

Papers presented :

"Measuring the earth." March 18, 1911
"The Great Slides at Panama" March 25, 1916.

15. National Academy of Sciences

Elected member, April, 1911.

Appointed member, Panama Slides Committee, 1915.
Papers presented :
"The importance of gravity observations at sea on the

Pacific." April 17, 1916

"Effects of winds and of barometric pressures on the
Gireat Lakes." 1922.

275

NATIONAL AC \DEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \()L XVI

16. University Union. (Northwestern University.)

Elected member, 1909,
President, 1914-1915.

17. University Club of Bvanston.

Elected member, 1909.

Member, Entertainment Committee, June 16, 1910.

On Board of Direction, 1923-1925.

Paper presented :

"What should be done to develop the civil use of air-
planes ?" November 19, 1919.

"The Great Slides at Panama/' March 25, 1916.

1 8. Illinois State Academy of Science.

Elected member, 1909.
On Council, 1910.
Paper presented :

"Relation of pure and applied science to progress of
knowledge/' February 18, 1910

19. Math Club of Northwestern University.

Elected member.
Paper presented :
"Measuring the earth." January n, 1922.

20. American Philosophical Society.

Elected member, April 24, 1915.
Paper presented:
"The earth from a geophysical standpoint." 1915.

21. American Physical Society.

Elected member.

22. Astronomical Society of America.

Elected member.

23. Chicago Astronomical Society.

Elected to life membership without fees, July 7, 1921.

24. Rotary Club of Evanston.

Elected member.
Paper presented:

"Best uses of the waters of the Great Lakes/' April
17, 1924.

276

JOHN FlUvMORE HAVFORD BURGER

25 American Geophysical Union
Elected member.

Vice Chairman, Section Geodesy, for two years. 1920.
Member, Executive Committee, Section Geodesy, 1921.
Chairman, section of Geodesy, 1924
On Executive Committee, 1924-25.
Paper presented :
"Isostasy." April 19, 1921.

26. Chicago Association of Commerce.

Appointed member, Rivers & Harbors Committee, Jan-
uary 29, 1924.

27. Illinois Society of Engineers.

Appointed judge to pass upon written paper competition,
November 23, 1921.

28. Chicago Academy of Science

Paper presented :

"What American science is doing for aviation.'* Jan-
uary 25, 1918.

29. National Research Council,

Member of Geography Committee, 1917.

30. U. S. Board of Surveys and Maps.

Member, Committee on Control.

31. Bvanston Academy of Cum Laude Scholarship Society.

Elected member, June 13, 1916.

MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES AND PAPERS :

Detroit High School, commencement oration.

"College Influence." 1885.
Clarkson School of Technology. Founders' Pay Address.

"Study Men." 1907.

Dedication Address. Swift Hall of Engineering, North-
western University.

"The New College of Engineering, An Opportunity/'

1909.
Engineering Society, University of Iowa.

"Precise leveling." April 25, 1910.
Engineering Society, State University of Iowa.

"Precise leveling." April 28, 1910.
Engineering Society, University of Wisconsin.

"Measuring the earth." March 10, 1911.

277

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Miscellaneous Addresses and Papers Continued

Men's Club, La Grange, Illinois.

"Panama-Costa Rica Boundary.** 1912
Sigma Xi of Chicago University.

"Measuring the earth/* May 22, 1913.
Geographic Society of Chicago.

"Measuring the earth." May 23, 1913.
Michigan School of Mines, class day address.

"The great landslides at Panama." April 14, 1916.
Structural Engineers, Chicago.

"The Great Slides at Panama." October 26, 1916.
Central Association of Science Teachers

"The Great Slides at Panama/' December I, 1916,

Chicago.
Radio Broadcast, WMAQ Chicago.

"Engineering, an occupation which arouses enthusi-
asm." November 14, 1923.

278

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1885

College Influence Commencement Oration 29th Graduation Exer-
cises, Class of 1885. Detroit High School, Michigan

1890

Mean Range and Improvement on the Tidal Machine. Coast and Geo-
detic Survey Report for 1890, pp. 100-138.

1890

On the Least Square Adjustment of Weighings, Coast and Geodetic
Survey Report, 1890, Appendix 14

1890

On the Use of Observations of Currents for Prediction Purposes Coast
and Geodetic Survey Report, 1890, Appendix 14, pp 691-703.

1890

Comparison of the Predicted with the Observed Times and Heights of
High and Low Waters at Sandy Hook, N. J t during the Year 1889
Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1890, Appendix 15, pp 705-14

1892

On the Least Square Adjustment of Weighings. Coast and Geodetic
Survey Report, 1892, Part 2, Appendix 10, pp 515-27

1894

An account of Certain Field Methods Used on the Survey of the Mex~
ican Boundary, 1892-1893 Transactions, Association of Civil Engineers
of Cornell University, Vol II, pp. 58-83

For this paper Professor Hay ford received the award of Fuertes Medal,
College of Engineering, Cornell University.

1895

The Rueprecht Balance Belonging to the United States Office of Stand-
ard Weights and Measures. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1895,
Part 2, Appendix 9, pp. 383-92.

1896

The Problem of the Tides, and the Limitations of the Present Solution
of that Problem Transactions, Association of Civil Engineers of Cornell
University, 1896, Vol IV, pp 31-50.

279

NATION \k ACADhMY BIOGRAPHIC \L MEMOIRS VOL XVI

1898

Limitations of the Present Solution of the Tidal Problem. Science,
N S., Vol VIII, No 206, Dec. 9, 1898, pp 810-14.

1898

Geodetic Astronomy. John Wiley & Sons 351 pp. (a text book) with
numerous plates.

1898

Determination of Time, Longitude, Latitude, and Azimuth. Coast
and Geodetic Survey Report, 1897-1898, Appendix 7, pp 261-409. 4th
Edition.

1898

Report of the Boundary Commission upon the Survey and Re-Survey
of the Boundary between the United States and Mexico West of the Rio
Grande, 1891-1896 (pp 62-128 contain report of the Astronomic Work by
John F. Hayford). Government Printing Office

1898

The Geographic Work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Engineering
News, Vol XL, No 22, Dec i, 1898, pp. 340-42

1899

Is There a 428-Day Period m Terrestrial Magnetism? Terrestrial
Magnetism, University of Cincinnati, March, 1899, pp 7-14

1899

Precise Leveling m the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Re-
port, 1898-1899 Appendix 8, pp. 347-886.

1899

A New Treatment of Refraction in Height Computation Paper pre-
sented before Philosophical Society of Washington, April 29, 1899
Abstract Science, May 12, 1899, N. S., Vol. IX, No 228, p 686.

1900

The Transcontinental Tnangulation Along the Thirty-ninth Parallel
Bulletin, University of Wisconsin, No. 38, Engineering Series, Vol. 2,
No 5r PP- 173-^ plates i-5

1900

Recent Progress in Geodesy Paper presented before Philosophical
Society of Washington, February 3, 1900. Published in Bulletin, Vol.
XIV, pp. 1-20 Also in Science, N S., VoL XI, March 9, 1900, pp. 369-92,

280

JOHN FIU,MOR HAYFORD BURGER

1900

The Determination of the Difference of Elevation of Two Given Points
on the Earth's Surface Presented before the Philosophical Society of
Washington, March 31, 1900

1901

A New Connection Between the Gravity Measures of Europe and of
the United States. Science, N. S , Vol XIII, No. 330, April 26, 1901,

pp. 654-59

1901

Test of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Base Apparatus
Technology Quarterly Vol 14, June, 1901 (Co-author with Alfred E.
Berton.)

Reprint, Engineering Record, Vol 45, No 4, January 25, 1902.

1901

Preface to Appendix on the Measurement of Nine Base Lines Along
the 98th Meridian. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1901, Appendix 3

1901

Triangulation Northward Along the 98th Meridian m Kansas and
Nebraska Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1901, Appendix 6, pp

357-423-

1901

Extension of Tables for the Computation of Geodetic Positions to the
Equator. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1901, Appendix 4

1901

Discussion on Precise Spirit Leveling. Transactions, American Society
of Civil Engineers, Vol. XLV, pp. 135-175-

1901

Description of Corner's Simple and Ingenious Apparatus for Determin-
ing the Zenith Distance of Stars that Culminate Near the Zenith. Pre-
sented before the Philosophical Society of Washington, January 5, 1901

1901

The New Precise Leveling Instrument of the Coast and Geodetic Sur-
vey. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, iQ03> Appendix 3. Paper pre-
sented before Philosophical Society of Washington, January 5, 1901

1901

What Is the Center of an Area, or the Center of a Population ? Paper
presented before the Philosophical Society of Washington, November 23,
1901.

281

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHIC VI MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

IQOI

Recent Progress in Geodesy. Read before Philosophical Society of
Washington, February 16, 1901. Philosophical Society of Washington,
Bulletin XIV, pp. 139-43

1902

Discussion of Paper by D. B. Wainwnght on "Longitude by Wireless
Telegraphy." Philosophical Society of Washington, January 4, 1902

1902

Specifications for Triangulation, etc. Coast and Geodetic Survey Re-
port, 1902.

1902

Adjustment of Lake Survey Triangulation and Its Adaptation to the
United States Standard Datum of the Coast and Geodetic Survey An-
nual Report, U. S. Engineers, Appendix EEE, 1902, pp. 2883-3032. (Co-
author with Thomas Russell.)

1902

The Base Line Measurements for the p8th Meridian Engineering
News, Vol. XLVIII, No. 10, Sept. 4, 1902, pp. 162-64.

1902

Account of Recent Gravity Observations at the North Tamarack Mine,
Michigan. Paper presented before the Philosophical Society of Wash-
ington, October II, 1902.

1902

Discussion Some Devices for Increasing the Accuracy or Rapidity of
Surveying Operations, by W. L Webb Transactions, American Society
of Civil Engineers, Vol. XLVIII, 1902, p. 98

1902

Triangulation m Kansas. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1902,
Appendix 3.

1903

Triangulation Southward Along the 9&th Meridian. Coast and Geo-
detic Survey Report, 1903, Appendix 4, pp. 811-930

1903

Opportunities in the Coast and Geodetic Survey Technology Review,
Vol. 5, No. I, January, 1903, pp. 52-57-

1903

Novel Principles Applied and Results Obtained m Recent Rapid Primary
Triangulation on the 98th Meridian Paper presented before Philosophi-
cal Society of Washington, May 6, 1903

282

JOHN FIU<MOR HAYFGRD BURGER

1903

The New Coast and Geodetic Survey Level, a Possible Successor of
the Wye Level. Engineering News, Vol. L, No. I, July 2, 1903, pp. 2-4.

1903

Report on Geodetic Operations in the United States to the I4th General
Conference of the International Geodetic Association. Government
Printing Office, 1903, by O. H Tittmann and J. F. Hayford.

1903

Precise Leveling m the United States, 1900-1903, with a Re-adjustment
of the Level Net and Resulting Elevations. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Report, 1903, Appendix 3, pp 189-801.

1903

Recent Telegraphic Determinations of the Longitude of Honolulu, and
the Older Determinations from 1555-1903. Engineering News, Vol. L,
No. 19, November 5, 1903, pp. 414-15. Science, N. S., Vol. XVIII, No
462, Nov. 6, 1903, pp 589-93. Paper presented before Philosophical So-
ciety of Washington, October 10, 1903.

1904

Determination of the Value of Gravity at the North Tamarack Mine,
Calumet, Michigan, from Observations by John F. Hayford and Pres
F. W. McNair, Michigan School of Mines. Unpublished Report, dated
February 8, 1904, to the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey

1904

Report on Transit Micrometer Tested During March, April, and May
Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1904, i page

1904

A Test of a Transit Micrometer. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report,
1904, Appendix 8, pp. 451-487.

1904

A Test of the Transit Micrometer as a Means of Eliminating Per-
sonal Equation. Paper presented before the Philosophical Society of
Washington, May 21, 1904

1904

,, Precise Leveling from Red Desert, Wyoming, to Owyhee, Idaho, in
1903. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1904 Appendix 6, pp. 403^430.

283

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGR VPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

1904

Precise Leveling from Holland to New Braunfels, Texas, in 1903
Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1904, Appendix 7, pp 433-50

1904

Recent Practise m the Coast and Geodetic Survey in Primary Tn-
angulation, Base Measurements and Precise Leveling. Eighth Interna-
tional Geographic Congress, September 9, 1904, pp 531-34

1904

The Computation of Deflections of the Vertical from the Surround-
ing Topography. Paper presented before the Philosophical Society of
Washington, December 10, 1904.

1904

Surveying. (Co-author with Officers of the Coast and Geodetic Sur-
vey.) Part of Proceedings, International Engineering Congress held at
St. Louis, Missouri, 1904. Subject No 35, Paper No i Published by the
American Society of Civil Engineers.

1905

A Connection by Precise Leveling Between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. Science f N. S Vol. 21, No 539, pp. 673-74, April 28, 1905 ; also
Engineering News, Vol. LIII, No. 11, p. 279 March 16, 1905,

1905

Opportunities for Engineering Graduates in the Government Service
Proceedings, Society for Promotion of Engineering Education. Vol.
XIII, 1905, pp. 87-95

1905

Triangulation Along the 98th Meridian, Lampasas to Seguin, Texas.
Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1905, Appendix 5.

1905

Precise Leveling from Red Desert, Wyoming, to Seattle, Washington,
in 1903-1904. Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1905, Appendix 4,
pp 195-241

1905

The Form of the Geoid as Determined by Measurements in the United
States. Report of Eighth International Geographical Conference, 1905,
PP 535-54O Government Printing Office

JOHN FILLMQRE HAYFQRD BURGER

1906

The Adjustment of Observations by the Method of Least Squares. 1906.
298 pp (Joint author with T. W. Wright, and sole author of Chapters
VII and IX ) D Van Nostrand Company

1906

Present Methods of Precise Leveling Paper presented before the
Washington Society of Engineers, January 23, 1906.

1906

The Geodetic Evidence of Isostasy with a Consideration of the Depth
and Completeness of the Isostatic Compensation and of the Bearing of
the Evidence Upon Some of the Greater Problems of Geology Pro-
ceedings, Washington Academy of Sciences, Vol VIII, May 18, 1906,
pp. 25-40 Paper presented before the Academy, April 14, 1906.

1906

Geodetic Operations in the United States, 1903-1906, Vol. I of Report
of the 1 5th General Conference of the International Geodetic Association,
pp 192-234. (Joint author with O H. Tittmann )

1906

The Budapest Conference of the International Geodetic Association.
Science, N. S., Vol. XXIV, No 623, December 7, 1906, pp. 713-19 (Joint
author with O H. Tittmann ) Also Engineering News, Vol LVI, No
21, November 22, 1906, pp. 540-41

1906

Why Not Teach About Men, the Most Important and Difficult Tools
an Engineer Uses ? Proceedings, Society for the Promotion of Engineer-
ing Education, Vol. XIV, 1906, pp 198-207.

1907

Report of General Secretary, 57th Meeting of the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, Columbia University, December
I9o6-January 1907. Science, N S, Vol. XXV, No 628, January n, 1907,
pp. 46-50

1907

Study Men. Clarkson Bulletin, Vol IV, No 3 Commencement Day
Address at Clarkson School of Technology. Reprinted in Electric Jour-
nal, Vol IV, No to, October 1907.

285

NATIONAL ACVDEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

1907

The Earth, a Failing Structure Bulletin, Philosophical Society of
Washington, No 15, pp 57-74, Retiring Presidential Address Read
before the Society December 7, 1907

1907

Study Men, Incorporated m "Addresses to Engineering Students/* by
Waddell and Harrington

1907

Geodetic Measurements of Earth Movements. California State Earth-
quake Investigation Commission Report, Vol. I, Pt. i, 1908, pp 114-159
Published by the Carnegie Institution. (Joint Author with A L Bald-
win )

Also published as Appendix 3, Coast and Geodetic Survey Report, 1907,
pp. 67-104, under different title

1909

The Figure of the Earth and Isostasy, from Measurements in the United
States, Separate Publications, Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1909, 178 pp

1909

The Effect of Topography and Isostatic Compensation Upon the In-
tensity of Gravity. Vol I, Report i6th General Conference of the Inter-
national Geodetic Association, pp 365-89

1909

Geodetic Operations in the United States, 1906-1909. Report to i6th
General Conference of the International Geodetic Association, London and
Cambridge, Coast and Geodetic Survey (Joint author with H- Titt-
mann ) n pp

1909

Precise Leveling in the United States, 1903-1907, with a Readjustment
of the Level Net and Resulting Elevations Coast and Geodetic Survey,
1909, 280 pp (Joint author with L Pike )

1909

Report on the Triangnlation of Greater New York. New York Board
of Estimates and Apportionments, part of report by J F Hayford.

1909

The New College of Engineering, An Opportunity. Engineering News,
Vol 61, No 20, May 20, 1909, pp 535-36. Dedication Address, Swift
Hall of Engineering, Northwestern University

286

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

1909

Notes on the 1909 Conference of the International Geodetic Associa-
tion Engineering News, Vol. 62, No 2, November n, 1909, pp. 532-33

1910

The Relation of Pure and Applied Science to the Progress of Knowl-
edge and to Practical Affairs. Presented before the Illinois State Acad-
emy of Science, Urbana, 111 , February, 1910

1910

Is It Advisable to Make Large Expenditures for the Improvement of
Our Waterways ? Paper presented March 10, 1910, to Engineering
Club, Northwestern University.

1910

Precise Leveling. Paper presented before engineering students, Uni-
versity of Iowa, April 25, 1910, and before engineering students, Iowa
State University, April 28, 1910. Published, Iowa Engineer, June 1910,
pp 144-51.

1910

Theory and Practice of Surveying by Johnson- Smith John Wiley &
Sons, 1910. (Assisted in preparation of chapters on "Tnangulation" and
"Precise Spirit Leveling")

1910

Supplementary Investigations in 1909 of the Figure of the Earth and
Isostasy. Separate publications, Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1910, 80 pp

1910

Recent American Precise Leveling Abstract Engineering Record,
June 25, 1910, p. 823 Vol. 6 1, No. 26. Full paper, Iowa Engineer for
June

1911

The Relation of Isostasy to Geodesy, Geophysics, and Geology. Science,
N. S , Vol. XXXIII, 1911, pp 198-208 Address of Retiring Vice Presi-
dent, Section D, American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Minneapolis, 1910

1912

The Effect of Topography and Isostatic Compensation Upon ttie In-
tensity of Gravity. Coast and Geodetic Survey Special Publication No
10, 1912. (Joint author with Wm Bowie.)

287

NATIONAL \CADEMY BIOGR \PHIC\L MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

1912

Geodetic Surveying by Ingram. Review published in Engineering
News, March 30, 1912.

1912

Isostasy, a Rejoinder to the Article by Harmon Lewis Journal of
Geology, Vol. XX, No. 6, September-October, 1912, pp. 562-78.

1912

Panama-Costa Rica Boundary. Paper presented before the Men's Club
of LaGrange, Illinois.

1913

The Best Preparation for Engineering. Northwestern University Bul-
letin, Vol. XIII, No. 21, February 7, 1913, 7 pp.

1913

Report, Commission of Engineers and Panama-Costa Rica Boundary.
( Part of Report by John F. Hayf ord )

1913

Measuring the Earth. Paper presented before University of Chicago
Chapter of Sigma Xi, May 22, 1913 Also before Geographic Society of
Chicago, May 23, 1913, the Western Society of Engineers, November 3,
1913, the Mathematics Club, Northwestern University, January it, 1922,
the University of Wisconsin, March 10, 1911, and the Chaos Club of
Chicago, March 18, 1911.

I9IS

Reflections of a Director. Society for Promotion of Engineering
Education. Paper presented at the Ames, Iowa, meeting, June 1915.

1915

The Earth From the Geophysical Standpoint. Proceedings, American
Philosophical Society, Vol. LIV, No. 219, September 1915, n pp. Also
Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report, 1916, pp. 239-48 (1917).

1916

Discussion, Col. Townsend's paper on Currents of Lake Michigan. Jour-
nal, Western Society of Engineering, Vol. XXI, No 4, April 1916.

1916

The Great Land Slides at Panama Paper presented at Class Day
Exercises, Michigan School of Mines, Houghton, Michigan, April 14,
1916.

288

JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD BURGER

1916

The Importance of Gravity Observations at Sea on the Pacific. Paper
presented before National Academy of Sciences, April 17, 1916. Pro-
ceedings, National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 2, pp 394-98, July 1916.
Abstract, Science, Vol. 2oA, No. 715, 191?

1917

Examples of Accuracy. Compilation of instances of very accurate work
done in the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Furnished to Prof. George F.
Swam, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June n, 1917, for use in
book upon the Engineers, being prepared by Prof. Swam. Typed ms 4 pp.

1917

The Urgent Need for More Engineers. Northwestern University Col-
lege of Engineering Bulletin, September 24, 1917.

1917

Gravity and Isostasy. Science, N S., Vol. 45, pp. 350-54, 1917.

1917

The Earth From a Geophysical Standpoint. Smithsonian Report for
1916, Publication No. 2457, pp 239-48

1918

What American Science Is Doing for Aviation Paper presented be-
fore Northwestern University, Chapter of Sigma Xi, February 4, 1918.
Also before Chicago Academy of Science, January 25, 1918, and Western
Society of Engineers, February 5, 1918

1918

Notes on the Accurate Plotting of Aerial Surveys from Photographs
Ms typed, 10 pp. and 2 plates, for Bureau of Standards. Probably 1918.

1918

Keeping Engineering Education Going at Northwestern University.
Paper presented before students at College of Engineering of North-
western University, October 31, 1918.

1919

What Should Be Done to Develop the Civil Use of Airplanes ? Paper
presented, University Club of Evanston, Illinois, November 19, 1919.
Also Western Society of Engineers. Published Journal, Western Society
of Engineers, April 5, 1920.

289

NATIONAL \CADEM\ BIOGR MMIIC \L MEMOIRS VOL X\ I

1919

Review J. L Hosmer's Geodesy (Manuscript sent to Science, Decem-
ber 16, 1919 )

1920

The Future of the Airplane Paper presented before the Cosmos Club
of Washington, D C , January 5, 1920.

1920

Colleges Transmit Concentrated Experience. Published in Hexagon
(Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity) January 1920, pp. 140-144

1920

The Effect of Topography and Isostatic Compensation Upon the In-
tensity of Gravity. Special Publication No 12, Coast and Geodetic Sur-
vey, pp. 132 and 28 (Joint author with Wm Bowie )

1921

Isostasy Paper presented Section Geodesy of American Geophysical
Union, National Research Council, April 19, 1921. Published by National
Academy of Science, Bulletin National Research Council, Vol. 3, Pt 2,
No. 17, 1922

1922

Effect of Winds and of Barometric Pressures on the Great Lakes.
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 317, 150 pp.

1923

Recent Progress m Geodesy Bulletin of the National Research Coun-
cil, Vol. VII, Part 5, January 1923, No 41

1923

Engineering Education at Northwestern University. Bulletin, North-
western University, 1923. Leaflet, n pp

1923

Engineering, An Occupation Which Arouses Enthusiasm Radio
broadcast paper, WMAQ, Chicago, November 14, 1923.

1924

Engineering as a Vocation. Northwestern University Bulletin, Vol
XXIV, No 36, March i, 1924. Leaflet, 10 pp.

290

JOHN FILLMORE H VYFQRD Bl RGER

1924

The Slides of the Panama Canal Assisted in preparation of Final Re-
port by the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences Final
report signed by J F Hay ford, April 2, 1917 Published in Vol 18,
Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences, Washington.

1924

The Establishment of Isostasy Journal Western Society of Engineers
September 1924, PP 350-362 This paper won the award of the Chanute
Medal for 1924

1924

The Best Use of the Waters of the Great Lakes Paper presented be-
fore Rotary Club of Evanston, April 17, 1924. Scientific Monthly. 1924

1924

Stream Flow Paper presented before Washington Society of Engineers,
October 15, 1924

1924

A Method of Estimating Stream Flow and Its Application in the
Hydro-Electric Field (Manuscript Thesis with B F. Fisher, College of
Engineering, Northwestern University )

1924

An Investigation of a Proposed Control of the Elevations of Lakes
Michigan, Huron, and Erie by a Dam with Moveable Parts at the Head
of the Niagara River (Manuscript Thesis with A B Simons, College
of Engineering, Northwestern University )

1925

Probability of Floods in Streams m Humid Climates (Manuscript
Thesis with T B Stitt, College of Engineering, Northwestern Univer-
sity )

1925

Fifteen Years' Experience with a Five- Year Engineering Curriculum
at Northwestern University. (Co-author with W. H. Burger.) Presented
Boulder, Colo , Meeting of Society for Promotion of Engineering Educa-
tion, June 1924. Journal of Engineering Education, N S., Vol XV, No.
7, March, 1925

291

X VTlONAt AC \DEMY BIOGR \FHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

1928

The Elhptiaty of the Earth Is Not a Proof of a Former Liquid State
Paper presented before Section M, A, A. A S , Baltimore, December 30,
1908. Published (posthumous) American Journal of Science, Series 5,
No 92, Vol XVI, August, 1928, pp. 121-25

1928

It is Not Necessary to Place Geodetk Arcs in Various Latitudes
Paper presented before Section D, A A.A.S., Baltimore, December 29,
1908 Published (posthumous) American Journal of Science, Series 5,
No 92, Vol. XVI, August 1928, pp 121-25.

1929

A New Method of Estimating Stream Flow, Based Upon a New Evap-
oration Formula. Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1929, Publication
No. 400, 237 pp. with 22 plates. Note : This was left incomplete at time
of J. F. Hayford's death in 1925 and was completed by J A Folse.

DATE UNKNOWN

Thickness of Earth's Crust According to Geodetic Evidence. Typed
Ms , 2 pp. (No note regarding use. Found among J. F. H. papers.)

The Part Taken by the Philosophical Society in the Development of
Geodesy. (Resume by various authors, including J. F. Hay ford, of
papers 1877-1899.)

292

// ^^^

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOLUME XVI SIXTH MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI

1876-1932

ERNEST P. LANE

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1934

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI

November 13, 1876-September 14, 1932

BY ERNEST P.

I. INTRODUCTORY SKETCH

The outstanding features of Wilczynski's life may be sketched
briefly as follows. 1 He was born in Hamburg, Germany, on
November 13, 1876, the son of Max and Friederike (Hurwitz)
Wilczynski; he died in Denver, Colorado, on September 14,
1932. After he had gone to school two years in Hamburg, his
family migrated to the United States and settled in Chicago,
where his father became a naturalized citizen. The boy Wil-
czynski attended the elementary schools and the North Divi-
sion High School of Chicago, completing his high school educa-
tion in three years.

Then with the assistance of an uncle, Ellis Wilczynski of
Hamburg, young Wilczynski returned to Germany for the pur-
pose of entering the University of Berlin. Here he studied for
four years under such men as Fuchs, Hensel, Plank, Pring-
sheim, Schlesinger, Schwarz, and Bauschinger. He received
the degrees of A. M. and Ph. D. from the University of Berlin
in 1897, being then in his twenty-first year.

Returning to the United States, and failing to secure a posi-
tion in a university immediately, Wilczynski became temporarily
a computer in the Office of the Nautical Almanac at Washing-
ton, D. C. It was through the influence of A. O. Leuschner,
who had known him at Berlin, that he became instructor in
mathematics at the University of California in 1898. There he
was successively instructor, 1898-1902; assistant professor,
1902-06; and associate professor, 1906-07 However, he was
abroad as research assistant and associate of the Carnegie In-
stitution of Washington for two years, 1903-05. He was mar-

1 See Who's Who m America; Affnudl Refftster of the University of Chi-
cago ; Vita in his Ph. D thesis

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL- XVI

ried to Contessa Inez Macola of Verona, Italy, on August 9,
1906. She and three daughters survive him.

WilczynskI was associate professor of mathematics at the
University of Illinois, 1907-10. Then he was associate profes-
sor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, 1910-14; pro-
fessor, 1914-26; and professor emeritus from 1926 until his
death. His health failed gradually after 1919, but he resolutely
continued at his post until early in the summer quarter of 1923,
when in the midst of a lecture he finally realized that he could
go no further and, with a simple statement to that effect, walked
from his class-room never to return, leaving his students amazed
by the classic self -restraint with which he accepted his tragic
fate. It is characteristic of the man, however, that during the
nine-years' invalidism which followed he never lost interest in
geometry and never gave up hope and the belief that he would
some day be able to return to his academic duties

Wilczynski received during his lifetime several scientific
honors and recognitions, of which the most significant are per-
haps the following. He was lecturer at the New Haven Col-
loquium of the American Mathematical Society in 1906, with
E. H. Moore and Max Mason. He was at one time vice-presi-
dent of the American Mathematical Society; he was for two
years chairman of the Chicago Section, and served for a period
as associate editor of the Transactions, of this society. He was
also at one time a member of the Council of the Mathematical
Association of America. He won a prize of the Royal Belgian
Academy of Sciences in 1909, and was chosen a member of the
National Academy of Sciences in 1919.

II CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS

We shall analyze Wilczynski's publications and thus seek to
arrive at an estimate of his original contributions to science.
In this connection we have prepared a bibliography of his pub-
lications, which will be found in Section X of this memoir, and
which contains a total of seventy-seven titles. This total does
not include forty-six abstracts of papers presented to the Ameri-
can Mathematical Society. These abstracts were all published

296

ERNEST JUUUS WIIvCZYNSKI

in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society and form
of themselves an impressive outline of a large part of his work
References to the Bibliography will be made by year and num-
ber, as for example (1895. i).

Wilczynski's seventy-seven publications can be divided into
six classes according to the subject matter treated, and to a
certain extent chronologically, as follows:

I Astronomy and applied mathematics 15

2. Differential equations 8

3. Projective differential geometry of curves

and ruled surfaces 16

4 Projective differential geometry of surfaces

and congruences 17

5 Functions of a complex variable 4

6. Miscellaneous 17

Of course this classification is to a degree arbitrary, but is con-
venient and will provide a basis for organizing our discussion.
Other classifications would be possible. For instance, there
might be twenty classes according to place of publication, since
Wilczynski published papers in nineteen periodicals and also
published certain works privately Among the journals, he
favored the Transactions of the American Mathematical So-
ciety, the Bulletin of this Society, and the American Journal of
Mathematics. Still another classification would be according
to language Wilczynski published works in German, French,
and Italian, besides English.

III. ASTRONOMY AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS 2

Wilczynski began his scientific career as a mathematical
astronomer, his first published paper (1895. i) being an ex-
position in English of Schmidt's theory of the sun. It seems
appropriate that Wilczynski, who in later years came to be known
as a master of the difficult art of elegant mathematical exposi-
tion, should have devoted his first effort to exposition- This

2 1 am indebted to my friend and former colleague,,, Professor L, I/a Paz,
now of Ohio State University, who kindly collaborated with me in study-
ing Wilczynski's work in astronomy and applied mathematics

297

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OC- XVI

first paper was one of five (1895. i. 2), (1896. i. 2), (1897 J )
written while Wilczynski was still a student at the University
of Berlin and published before his thesis. Its aim was to pre-
sent to American astronomers an account of Schmidt's theory, 3
which was gaining some attention 4 m Germany. This theory
adopted the methods of geometrical optics and attempted to ac-
count for many solar phenomena by means of the laws of re-
fraction. But m spite of Wilczynski's exploitation and promul-
gation, Schmidt's theory never gained great favor with observa-
tional astronomers. In fact, Wilczynski's second paper
(1895 2) consists of extracts from two letters from him to
G. E. Hale, in which Wilczynski undertook to defend Schmidt's
theory by answering several objections to it that had been raised.
But Hale concluded the argument with the statement: "As a
theoretical discussion the theory is interesting and valuable, but
few observers of the sun will consider it capable of accounting
for the varied phenomena encountered in their investigations."

After dropping Schmidt's theory, Wilczynski began to pub-
lish original researches of his own. He produced a series of
ten papers which appeared from 1896 to 1899, and which are all
rather closely connected with his thesis (1897. 2) entitled
"Hydrodynamische Untersuchungen mit Anwendung auf die
Theone der Sonnenrotation." Wilczynski's first paper on hydro-
dynamical investigations of the solar rotation (1896. i) con-
tained an error in a proof, which was pointed out by Harzer. 5
Wilczynski replied to Harzer's criticisms in a brief note
(1897. i). Wilczynski while still a student also published
(1896. 2) a theory of spiral and planetary nebulae.

It will not be necessary to report here in detail on the con-
tents of each paper of the series on the solar rotation. For the
main features of the theory the reader may consult two of the

3 August Schmidt, "Die Strahlenforechung auf der Sonne; ein geomet-
riches Beitrag zur Sonnenphysik," Stuttgart (1891).

4 O. Knopf, "Die Schmidt'sche Sonnenthecxrie und ihre Anwendung auf
die Methode der spektroskopischen Bestimmung der Rotationsdauer der
Sonne," Habilitationsschrift, Jena (1893).

5 Harzer, Astronomische Nachrichten* No, 3386.

ERNEST juuus WILCZYNSKI

papers besides the thesis, namely, a popular account (1898 2)
and a more mathematical account (1897. 3). The following
remarks will give some idea of their contents. Wilczynski sup-
posed that the sun is a viscous fluid, the particles of which at-
tract each other according to the Newtonian law and describe
circles, lying in parallel planes, about an axis perpendicular to
these planes. The temperature and density of the fluid, and
the angular velocity of rotation of its particles, were regarded
as functions of position. The problem then was to determine
the character of the motion and the form of the mass. Wil-
czynski showed that if the surfaces of constant density coincide
with the surfaces of constant pressure, the angular velocity of
rotation is the same for all particles equally distant from the axis
of rotation. Moreover, the velocity is an increasing function of
the distance. Thus Wilczynski gave an explanation, afterward
regarded by F. R. Moulton as fairly satisfactory, 6 of the inter-
esting fact that the angular velocity of rotation of the sun de-
creases from the equator to the poles. Wilsing and Harzer had
reached a similar explanation somewhat earlier, but Wilczynski 's
explanation was independent of theirs, and was more rigorously
deduced.

Wilczynski believed that on the basis of his theory he could
explain the sun-spot period (1896. 2), (1898. 3), the differ-
ences in level of the faculae and the spots, and the depth of the
reversing layer (1898, 4), as well as certain peculiarities of
nebulae (1896, 2), (1899. 4), and the variable velocities of the
spots on Jupiter (1898. i). Especially in the light of recent
astronomical discoveries, we now may be justified in not exhibit-
ing for these latter explanations the same enthusiasm which their
author showed for them at the time when they were written.

The third and last sub-group of papers on astronomy and
applied mathematics consists of three rather disconnected pub-
lications. The first of these (1900. 3) is interesting because
it is the first of the series of twenty-two papers that Wilczynski
published in the Transactions of the Americcm Mathematical

6 Moulton, Introduction to Astronomy, MacMillan, 1926, p 390.

299

NVTIONAl, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL. XVI

Society, and also because it is one of the earliest manifestations
of the deep influence that the Lie theory of continuous groups
had upon Wilczynski after he had been introduced to this theory
by L. E. Dickson then at the University of California. In this
paper Wilczynski followed up an observation of Lie to the effect
that the steady motion of a fluid is an image of a one-parameter
group in three variables. He specialized the group in various
ways and discussed the corresponding motion.

In the second paper (1912. i) of this sub-group, Wilczynski
called attention to a theorem, which he had discovered independ-
ently and later found in Newton's Principia, to the effect that
if the mean anomaly M and the radius vector r of a planet are
considered as rectangular coordinates, and if the units of meas-
ure are suitably chosen, the (M, r)~curue is a trochoid. He
presented with M. J. Eichorn the design of an instrument based
on this theorem for the mechanical solution of Kepler's equation.

The last paper (1913. ij) of this series is interesting, for one
reason, because it is the only paper that Wilczynski ever pub-
lished in Italian. He and Dickson had studied this language
together for a year at the University of California prior to
Wilczynski's appointment by the Carnegie Institution Under
this appointment Wilczynski had studied at Rome, as well as at
Gottigen, Paris, and Cambridge. Italian was the native lan-
guage of his wife. He and his students published rather fre-
quently in Italian journals, but only this paper (1913. i) in the
Italian language. In it Wilczynski made use of some of the
methods of projective differential geometry to study certain
curves and ruled surfaces that occur in the problem of three
bodies, namely, the curves which are the loci of the three bodies
when their center of gravity is at rest, the ruled surfaces gen-
erated by the straight lines joining pairs of the bodies, and the
cone enveloped by the plane of tfie bodies.

IV. DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

In his work in theoretical astronomy Wilczynski had occasion
to use differential equations, and one may say that the subject
of differential equations served as a bridge over which his in-

300

ERNEST JUUUS WItCZYNSKI I.ANE

terest crossed the gap between astronomy and geometry. It is
naturally not any too easy to say which of his papers should be
classified as being primarily memoirs on differential equations,
since nearly all of his work has to do with differential equa-
tions in one way or another.

The first papers which Wilczynski published on other sub-
jects than those associated with astronomy and applied mathe-
matics appeared in 1899. In this year he published four papers
on differential equations. One (1899. i) of these bears the
title, "On an mn 2 parameter group of linear substitutions In mn
variables." The title would indicate that this paper is largely
concerned with Lie's theory of continuous groups, and so it is.
In fact, much of Wilczynski's work was dominated by this con-
cept. But a brief analysis of this paper would show that it is
fundamentally concerned with differential equations.

A second paper (1899. 6) bears the title, "A generalization
of AppelFs factorial functions/' and is interesting, for one rea-
son, because it is the first paper that Wilczynski published in the
Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. The subject
would Indicate that this paper is in a sense a contribution to the
theory of functions, and so it is. But Wilczynski insisted that
the functions considered can appear as integrals of differential
equations. This paper is connected with three other papers
(1899. 2. 3), (1900. 2) which appeared in the American Jour-
nal of Mathematics. The first (1899. 2 ) of these may be ex-
plained as follows. The Integrals of a linear differential equa-
tion with uniform coefficients have the property that they are
uniform and continuous everywhere except in the vicinity of
the singular points of the equation, where they undergo, in gen-
eral, linear substitutions with constant coefficients. Fuchs took
the differential equation as given, and his problem was to deter-
mine the substitution group belonging to the integrals. Rie-
mann took the converse problem and supposed that the branch
points and fundamental substitutions were given ; and the ques-
tion was on the existence of a system of functions having the
given substitutions and branch points. Riemann, and also
Klein, proved existence theorems in special cases, Wilczynski

301

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

did not solve the problem completely, but proved the existence
of a large class of functions by a method which consists in gen-
eralizing the hypergeornetric functions. In another paper
(1899. 3) WUczynski observed that the fundamental notions of
the theory of linear differential equations can be applied to a
large class of non-linear differential equations, called by him
linearoid differential equations. In the last paper (1900. 2)
of this sequence, Wilczynski specialized the situation of the
preceding paper and studied the groups, the differential equa-
tions, and their solutions in some detail in the special case in
which the number of dependent variables is 2 instead of n.

The next two papers of this group are especially significant.
The first (1901. i) of these may be said to mark the beginning
of Wilczynski's career as a geometer, not because of any purely
geometrical results that it contains, of which there is none, but
rather because the material in it was later used as the content
of Chapter I of his book (1906. i) on the projective differen-
tial geometry of curves and ruled surfaces, which established his
reputation as a geometer. In this paper Wilczynski determined
the most general transformation that leaves invariant the form
of a system of n independent linear homogeneous differential
equations of order at most m in n dependent variables and one
independent variable. The second paper (1901. 2) was later
included in Chapter IV of the book. In this paper the system
of equations

y" + PII/ + pwz' + qnj + q^z = o,

q 2 iy + q*2Z = o,

which is fundamental in Wilczynski's theory of ruled surfaces
appeared for the first time, this being the system to which that
of the preceding paper reduces in the special case m = n = 2.
The paper is mostly taken up with the calculation of semin-
variants and invariants of this system of equations under the
most general transformation that leaves the form of the system
invariant, by means of Lie's theory of continuous groups.
Wilczynski's last paper (1914. 4) primarily on the subject of

302

ERNEST JUUVS WII^CZYNSKI LANE

differential equations appeared much later, and will be men-
tioned again in Section VI in connection with a paper (1913. 2)
on the geometry of surfaces

V. PROJECTIVE DIFFERENTIAL GEOMETRY OF
CURVES AND RULED SURFACES

When Wilczynski published m book form (1906. i) his
theory of the projective differential geometry of curves and
ruled surfaces, he gave to the world a new method in geometry,
and established himself as the leader of a new school of
geometers, which may be called the American school of projec-
tive differential geometers. His influence, moreover, was inter-
national and was particularly strong m Italy and Czechoslovakia.

A few general remarks about Wilczynski's method seem to
be in order here. Let us suppose that we have before us a con-
figuration whose proj ective differential geometry is to be studied.
Let us write the parametric equations of this configuration by
expressing the projective homogeneous coordinates of a general
element of the configuration as functions of a certain number
of parameters. Then let us calculate the coefficients of a com-
pletely mtegrable system of linear homogeneous differential
equations of which these coordinates constitute a fundamental
set of solutions. To say that the system of equations is com-
pletely integrable means that the most general solution can be
expressed as a linear combination of a fundamental set of solu-
tions with constant coefficients. Speaking of the original con-
figuration as an integral configuration of the system of equa-
tions, we can show that the most general projective transform
of the configuration is also an integral configuration of the sys-
tem of equations, and that every integral configuration can be
obtained in this way. Consequently a geometric theory based
on the differential equations is a protective theory. The next
step is to determine the most general transformation of depend-
ent and independent variables that leaves the configuration in-
variant. The effect of this transformation on the differential
equations is then calculated. A combination of the coefficients

303

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

of the differential equations, and their derivatives, which is
changed by the transformation at most to the extent of being
multiplied by a factor which depends only o'n the transformation
is called an invariant. Absolutely invariant equations connect-
ing such invariants express projective properties of the integral
configurations. Furthermore, a combination not only of the
coefficients and their derivatives but also of the dependent vari-
ables and their derivatives which is similarly invariant under the
transformation is called a covariant. Every covariant defines a
configuration which has its elements in correspondence with the
elements of the original configuration, and which can be con-
structed from the original configuration by means of a projec-
tive geometric construction. Wilczynski's method, in brief, con-
sists in studying configurations by means of these invariants and
co variants.

Since references to Wilczynski's work on curves and ruled
surfaces are usually made to the book of 1906, not every one
knows that, at that date, a very large portion of this book had
already been published in the form of memoirs. In Section IV
we discussed two of these memoirs (1901. 1.2). Besides these
two there were published from 1901 to 1905 in the Transactions
of the American Mathematical Society eight memoirs which
were later included in the book, and which we now proceed to
discuss.

In the first (1901, 3) of these eight memoirs Wilczynski in-
troduced the idea of an integral ruled surface of the system of
two ordinary differential equations of the second order whose
invariants he had previously calculated (1901. 2). He cal-
culated the linear homogeneous differential equation of the sixth
order satisfied by the coordinates of a generating line of a ruled
surface, and deduced the conditions that an integral ruled sur-
face belong to a linear complex, to a special linear complex, or
to a linear congruence, as well as the conditions for being a
quadric surface. He studied in some detail the asymptotic
curves on a ruled surface.

In the next paper (1902. 2) Wilczynski applied! the principle
of duality to some of his previous considerations, and calculated

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI LANE

the adjoint system of differential equations, showing that the
two systems coincide in case the integral ruled surfaces are
quadrics.

In the third paper (1902. 3) Wilczynski developed a theory
of covariants, and considered the osculating quadric along a
generator of a ruled surface, namely, the quadric determined by
the generator and two consecutive generators. He considered
the flecnodes on a generator, which are defined to be the two
points where four-point tangents, called flecnode tangents, can
be drawn ; the locus of the flecnodes is by definition the flecnode
curves on a ruled surface. He also introduced the flecnode con-
gruence of a ruled surface ; this consists of the generators of the
osculating quadrics that are not asymptotic tangents.

In the fourth paper (1903. 2) Wilczynski studied the flecnode
congruence more thoroughly, determining its developables and
focal surfaces. He considered also the flecnode surfaces, which
are by definition the focal surfaces of the flecnode congruence,
and are also the loci of the flecnode, or four-point, tangents of
the original ruled surface. He further announced the theorem
which is fundamental for the so-called flecnode transformation
of ruled surfaces, and which states that the original surface is
a flecnode surface of each of its flecnode surfaces.

In the fifth paper (1904. 3) Wilczynski proved that the flec-
node congruence of a ruled surface is a W congruence, i. e., that
the asymptotic curves correspond on its two focal surfaces. He
introduced the principal ruled surface of the flecnode congru-
ence, which is a well-defined ruled surface covariant to the
original surface. He also considered the osculating, or five4ine,
linear complex along a generator of a ruled surface, and the null
system of this complex.

lit the sixth paper (1904. 4) Wilczynski took up the case,
previously excluded, of ruled surfaces whose flecnode curves
coincide. In the seventh paper (1905. i) he studied the gen-
eral theory of curves on ruled surfaces.

Finally, in the eighth paper (1905. 2) Wilczynski studied
curves in ordinary space. Many of the osculants used had been
previously introduced by G. H. Halphen (1844-89), who was

305

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \QL XVI

probably the first ever consciously to undertake and carry to
fruition a projective differential investigation. The osculating
conic is perhaps Wilczynski's most important geometrical con-
tribution to the theory of space curves. This conic, at a point
of a curve, is defined to be the conic cut on the osculating plane
of the curve by the tangent developable of the osculating twisted
cubic of the curve at the point.

Besides the series of eight memoirs which we have just been
discussing there was a paper (1904. i) in the Mathematische
Annalen in which a theorem on "self-dual" ruled surfaces was
announced, to the effect that a self-dual ruled surface must be-
long to a linear complex. But the theorem was later admitted
to be "badly formulated/' and so there was a note (1904. 2) in
the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society correcting
the error, by saying that the dualistic correspondence must be
such that it converts each generator of the ruled surface into
itself before the theorem is true.

Wilczynski presented some of his results to the Third Inter-
national Mathematical Congress at Heidelberg, August 8-13,
1904, and his paper (1905. 3) was published in the proceedings
of this congress. He was also lecturer at the New Haven Mathe-
matical Colloquium in 1906, as has already been mentioned, his
lectures being published later (1910. i).

On December 30, 1915, at Columbus, Ohio, Wilczynski gave
an address as retiring chairman of the Chicago Section of the
American Mathematical Society. In this address he outlined
the theory of a single plane curve, and in particular presented
some metric results which had been found by A. Transon before
Wikzynski rediscovered them independently. These are con-
cerned with the axis of aberrancy, or affine normal, at a point of
a curve, the osculating parabola, the ellipse of minimum eccen-
tricity among the four-point conies, and other matters.

In a paper (1916. 3) m the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences Wilczynski gave a geometric interpreta-
tion of a simple integral invariant associated with a given plane
curve, which has since been called by Sannia the protective arc
length of the curve, and in another paper (1917. i ) he elaborated

306

ERNEST JUUUS WILCZYNSKI

the details of this interpretation, which uses an infinite product
of cross ratios, instead of an infinite stun of terms as in an ordi-
nary definite integral.

VI. PROTECTIVE DIFFERENTIAL GEOMETRY OF
SURFACES AND CONGRUENCES

It is natural that surfaces and congruences should be studied
together, because a surface is a two-parameter family of points
and a congruence is a two-parameter family of straight lines.
Consequently the projective differential geometry of each of
these configurations is studied, according to Wilczynski's method,
by means of partial differential equations m two independent
variables.

There are five papers that are concerned more or less pri-
marily with congruences. The first (1904. 5) of these marks
the transition of Wilczynski's interest from the ordinary differ-
ential equations of curves and ruled surfaces to the par-
tial differential equations of surfaces and congruences. Its
contents may be outlined briefly as follows. Wilczynski be-
gan by determining the most general transformation that pre-
serves the form of a system of q partial differential equations of
the first order in n dependent variables and m independent vari-
ables He then confined his attention to the case q = n = m = 2,
and calculated the invariants and covanants in this case. He
next introduced the geometry of a congruence and connected
this geometry with the special system of equations. For an in-
tegral congruence of the equations he determined the develop-
ables and focal surfaces. It may be remarked that in this paper
Wilczynski used a system composed of only two first-order
equations ; although he was thinking of a congruence in ordinary
space, he did not introduce the two equations of the second order
which, with the two equations of the first-order, form a com-
pletely integrable system for the theory of congruences in ordi-
nary space It may be remarked further that Wilczynski's ap-
proach to a geometrical problem here, as usually elsewhere, was
through the analysis He ordinarily preferred to start with a
system of equations, to determine the appropriate transforma-

307

NATIONAL AC \DKMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

tions, to compute the invariants and covariants, and finally to
interpret hib results geometrically, instead of starting with the
geometrical problem itself, guiding himself by geometrical intui-
tion, and relegating the analysis to the subordntate place of a tool.

The second (1911. 2) of the five papers on congruences is
the so-called "Brussels paper" entitled "Sur la theorie generate
des congruences," which won a prize of the Belgian Academy of
Sciences in 1909. In this paper appeared for the first time the
completely mtegrabie system composed of two first-order and
two second-order equations which characterizes a congruence in
ordinary space, except for a projective transformation, and so
the theory of such congruences was established on a solid foun-
dation. The developables of the congruence under considera-
tion in the Brussels paper were taken as the parametric ruled
surfaces of the congruence. Invariants and covariants were
computed. The completely integrable system of two second-
order differential equations of each focal surface of the con-
gruence were calculated, as well as the fourth-order differential
equations of the parametric curves on these surfaces. Two spe-
cial types of congruences were studied in some detail, namely,
congruences belonging to linear complexes and having Laplace
transforms likewise belonging to linear complexes, and con-
gruences whose focal surfaces are quadrics.

The third paper (1915. i) on congruences is intimately con-
nected also with the theory of surfaces. In this memoir Wilc-
zynski introduced the cms congruence and ray congruence as-
sociated with a conjugate net on a surface in ordinary space, the
cucis of a point on the surface being defined to be the line of
intersection of the osculating planes of the two curves of the
net at the point, and the ray being defined as the line joining
the corresponding points, called ray-points, on the edges of
regression of the two developables circumscribing the surface
along these curves. Wilczynski pointed out the dtialistic rela-
tion between these two congruences, and showed that a con-
jugate net has equal Laplace-Darboux 'invariants if, and only %f f
the ray curves, i, e., the curves which correspond on the swr*
face to the developabUs of the ray congruence, themselves form

308

ERNEST JUUUS WII.CZYNSKI

a conjugate net. Moreover, he showed that the fundamental con-
jugate net has the property of being isothermally conjugate in
case a certain fairly simple algebraic relation exists between three
invariants which had already been interpreted geometrically,
thus in a sense giving a geometric significance to the property
of isothermal conjugacy. The fourth paper (1915. 2) is an ac-
count of these results in the Proceedings of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences.

Finally, in the fifth paper (1920. 2) we have a theory of
congruences in which a congruence is regarded at first as a one-
parameter family of ruled surfaces, and then as a net of ruled
surfaces. In this paper Wilczynski introduced the idea of a
conjugate net of ruled surfaces in a congruence f which is merely
a net of ruled surfaces such that at each point of each generator
of the congruence the tangent planes of the two ruled surfaces
through the generator separate harmonically the focal planes of
the generator.

Let us now turn our attention to the twelve papers that con-
tain Wilczynski's work on the theory of surfaces. His inter-
est in surfaces was confined for the most part to surfaces in ordi-
nary space. The foundations of his theory of the projective
differential geometry of surfaces in ordinary space were laid in
a series of five memoirs published in the Transactions of the
American Mathematical Society from 1907 to 1909.

In the First Memoir ( 1907. i ) Wilczynski reduced the defin-
ing pair of linear homogeneous partial differential equations of
the second order for a non-developable surface to the so-called
intermediate form,

y m + 2ay u + 2by v + cy = o,
y vv + 2a'y u + 2b'y v + c'y = o,

by taking the asymptotic curves on an integral surface as para-
metric. He calculated the integrability conditions for this sys-
tem, as well as a complete system of invariants and co variants.
He further reduced the system of equations to a canonical form,
characterized by the conditions a = V = o, and determined the
most general transformation leaving this form invariant. He

309

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL- XVI

arrived at the adjoint system of equations of the intermediate
system, wrote conditions necessary and sufficient that the in-
tegral surfaces be ruled, namely a' =nb = o, and proved a so-
called fundamental theorem to the general effect that a surface
is determined except for a projective transformation by giving
four functions of two variables, subject to certain integrability
conditions.

In the Second Memoir (1908. i) Wilczynski did some of his
best work. He derived the local equation of the quadric of Lie,
called in this memoir the osculating quadric, at a point of a
surface. He studied the osculating linear complexes of the two
asymptotic curves at a point of a surface, and also the osculating
linear complexes along the generators through the point of the
two skew ruled surfaces of asymptotic tangents which circum-
scribe the surface along the asymptotic curves through the
point. He introduced the two directrices at a point of a surface
as the directrices of the linear congruence of intersection of the
two osculating linear complexes of the asymptotic curves at the
point, and studied the two directrix congruences composed of
the directrices for all points of the surface. He proved that the
developables of both congruences correspond to the same net of
curves, called the directrix curves, on the surface. He calcu-
lated to a limited number of terms a canonical power series ex-
pansion for one non-homogeneous projective coordinate of a
point on a surface in terms of the other two coordinates. This
series for a non-ruled surface is of the form

where I, J are certain absolute invariants 9 of the surface. In de-
fining geometrically the local coordinate system for this expan-
sion, Wilczynski introduced the canonical cubic and canonical
quadric. The canonical cubic at a point of a surface he defined
by the following properties. It has a unode on the directrix
through the point, suck that the uniplane contains the directrix
that lies in the tangent plane of the surface at the point. It,
further, has third-order contact with the surface at the point.
Finally, the four tangents of fourth-order contact form a har-

310

ERNEST juuus WIIXZYNSKI

monk set in zvhich conjugate pairs are actually conjugate tan-
gents of the surface. The canonical quadnc at the point of the
surface he then defined by the following properties. It has
second-order contact with the surface at the point. It, further,
is tangent to the quadnc of Lie at all points of the two generators
through the point. Finally f it is tangent to the uniplane of the
canonical cubic. G. M. Green later pointed out that the first
property of the quadric just mentioned is superfluous, being a
consequence of the second property. We now-a-days restate the
essential part of this definition by saying that the canonical
quadric is the quadric of Darboux that is tangent to the uniplane
of the canonical cubic. Green pointed out, further, that it was
evidently desirable to have a characterization of the canonical
quadric which is independent of the canonical cubic. Such a
characterization was later furnished by E. Bompiani 7 in 1927,
and another by E. B. Stouff er 8 in 1932.

In the Third Memoir (1908. 2) Wilczynski applied to ruled
surfaces some of the considerations of the Second Memoir, espe-
cially the power series expansion and the geometric description
of the associated local coordinate system. In the Fourth Memoir
(1909. 3) he laboriously calculated the integrability conditions
and invariants for the defining pair of equations of a general
analytic surface in ordinary space without specializing the pa-
rameters.

Finally, in the Fifth Memoir (1909. 4) Wilczynski gave by
way of introduction a noteworthy historical preface on the rela-
tion of this memoir to some work of Moutard, Darboux, and
Segre, part of which he had done again independently. He
studied here especially the tangents of Darboux, the quadric of
Moutard, and the osculating Steiner surface at a point of an
analytic surface.

7 For further discussion see Lane, Projectile Differential Geometry of
Curves and Surfaces, University of Chicago Press, 1932, p 80 and p. 295.

8 Stouffer, "A geometrical determination of the canonical quadric of
Wilczynski," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 18
(1932), pp. 252-5.

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

In a subsequent paper (1913. 2) Wilczynski studied those
surfaces for which the absolute invariants I, J vanish identically.
Wilczynski characterized these surfaces by the property that at
each paint of one of them the canonical cubic has contact of the
fourth order with the surface. These surfaces can also be char-
acterized, in more recent terminology, by the property that at
each point of one of them the canonical lines of the first kind all
coincide, as do also all the canonical lines of the second kind.
For this reason, these surfaces are now commonly called coinci-
dence surfaces. They are integral surfaces of a pair of equa-
tions which can be reduced to the form

Juu + 2y v + (c u + d)y = o,

= o (c , G!, c 2 consts.).

Wilczynski integrated this system of equations quite simply
when c = o, and studied the integral surfaces in this case,
showing, among other things, that in general such an integral
surface is invariant under a two -parameter group of projectile
transformations. In another paper (1914. 4), to which refer-
ence was made at the close of Section IV, Wilczynski integrated
the equations when c 7^ o by four independent power series.

In one of his papers (1911. i) Wilczynski studied nets of
curves in the plane by means of the invariants and covariants of a
system of three equations of the second order, noticing par-
ticularly the osculating conies of the two curves of the net at a
general point thereof. In a later paper (1914. 3) he studied
surfaces on which the directrix curves are indeterminate. For
such a surface the directrices of one kind form a bundle of lines,
and those of the other kind form a ruled plane. The center of
the bundle is not ordinarily on the plane, and, when it is not, the
projection of the asymptotic curves on the surface from the cen-
ter of the bundle onto the ruled plane is a plane net of period
three with equal Laplace-D arbour invariants. If the point is the
origin and the plane is the plane at infinity, the surface with
indeterminate directrix curves belongs to a class of surfaces
which have been studied by G. Tzitz&ca under the group of affine
transformations leaving the origin invariant.

312

ERNEST JUUUS WIIvCZYNSKI LAXE

There are two papers which are primarily concerned with the
property of isothermal conjugacy of a net of curves on a surface
in ordinary space Bianchi had defined the property and shown
that it was of a projective nature without finding its geometric
significance We have already seen that Wilczynski was inter-
ested in the problem of finding the geometric significance of the
property in another paper (1915. i). In 1916 G. M, Green gave
a descriptive property of isothermally conjugate nets and thought
he had solved the problem completely, but he had overlooked an
exceptional case in which the property that he gave fails to dis-
tinguish between isothermally conjugate nets and a kind of con-
jugate nets now commonly called, with Wilcznyski, harmonic
conjugate nets. The first (1920 I ) of Wilczynski *s papers with
which we are concerned here was intended to complete the work
of Green on this subject. In this paper Wilczynski solved the
problem completely, using the notion of a pencil of conjugate
nets. This notion has proved to be a very fruitful one in the
theory of conjugate nets. In a second paper (1922, i) Wilczyn-
ski recounted the history of the problem and stated the results
of the first paper. Moreover, he gave an account of further
developments in this direction, as he had discovered in the mean-
time a still more elegant characterization of the property of iso-
thermal conjugacy, to the following effect. A conjugate net of
curves on a surface in ordinary space determines a pencil of
conjugate nets. As a general net of this pencil varies over the
pencil, the ray-points corresponding to a point of the surface
describe a nodal cubic curve lying in the tangent plane of the
surface at the point. The three inflexions of this cubic lie on a
straight line called the flex-ray of the point. For all points on
the surface these flex-rays form a congruence. The developables
of this congruence correspond to a conjugate net of curves on the
surface if, and only if, the fundamental net is isothermally con-
jugate.

In what seems to have been the last paper that Wilczynski
wrote (1922. 2), he studied hypergeodesics on a surface, i. e.,
curves defined by a curvilinear diff erential equation of the form

y = A + Bv' + Cv' 2 +
313

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

in which v' = dv/du, and the coefficients are functions of u, v
He pointed out the relation between what is called Segre's cor-
respondence and the so-called polarity of Lie, and gave an inter-
pretation of Fubini's integral invariant f a'b du dv after the
manner of his interpretation of the simplest integral invariant
of a plane curve.

In the meantime Wilczynski had delivered an address in
Cleveland, Ohio, on December 31, 1912, before a meeting of
some of the sections of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, This address (1913. 3) was published
under the title "Some general aspects of modern geometry,"
Later it was translated into Italian by Bompiani and repub-
lished 9 under the title "Alcune vedute generali della geometria
moderna." This address gives what is perhaps Wilczynski's
best account of the general aspects of his method

VII. FUNCTIONS OF A COMPLEX VARIABLE

In the later years of his activity Wilczynski seemed to be turn-
ing more and more toward the domain of functions of a complex
variable. It is vain to speculate on such questions as how far in
this direction he would have gone had his health permitted, or
what his reaction would have been to the modern enthusiasm for
non-riemannian geometry. But we may feel sure that he would
have made significant contributions to all subjects in which he
became interested, and such was the case, certainly, in the domain
of functions of a complex variable, although we have from his
pen only four papers on this subject.

The first two of these papers are related to each other. In the
first paper (1919. 2) Wilczynski studied two line-geometric rep-
resentation of a function of a complex variable. According to
the first method one plots an independent complex variable m a
plane and in a plane parallel to this plane a complex function
of this variable. Each point representing a value of the inde-
pendent variable is joined by a straight line to the point repre-

*Bollettino di biographia e stona dette science- mafhematische, vol 16
(1914), p 97.

ERNEST JUUCS WILCZYNSKI

sentmg the corresponding \alue of the function Thus a con-
gruence of lines is obtained, which is a geometric representation
of the function According to the second method of exhibiting
the functional relation geometrically, one first plots the inde-
pendent and dependent variables in the same plane, which is
taken as the plane z = o of a three-dimensional orthogonal
cartesian coordinate system. The points representing these vari-
ables are next projected stereographically from the point
(o, o, i ) onto a sphere with unit radius and with its center at
the origin. Corresponding points on this sphere are then joined
by straight lines, which form a congruence So, by two methods,
the theory of rectilinear congruences is connected with the theory
of functions of a complex variable. In the second paper
(1920. 3) Wilczynski showed that a certain set of seven proper-
ties is characteristic of those congruences each of which can rep-
resent a function of a complex variable by the method just de-
scribed of joining points on a sphere.

The last two papers (1922. 3), (1923. i) are really two parts
of the same long memoir. Although the second part of this
memoir bears the latest date of publication of any of Wilczyn-
ski's papers, it was complete, or practically so, as early as 1918,
publication being delayed probably by the war. In this memoir
on protective differential properties of a function of a complex
variable Wilczynski first considered a function w of a complex
variable z and subjected z to a linear fractional transformation
to see what properties of the function w remained invariant un-
der this transformation. Some of these properties are uniform-
ity, the possession of singular points and the cross ratio of four
singular points or four zeros. Wilczynski calculated both dif-
ferential and integral invariants and wrote an intrinsic equa-
tion of the function, besides introducing what he called the
osculating logarithm at a point of the function. Further on
Wilczynski considered independent linear fractional transforma-
tions of both dependent and independent variables, and calcu-
lated what he called hyperinvariants and a hyperintrinsic equa-
tion of the function.

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS

The versatility of Wikzynski's mind has already been amply
illustrated, but a glance at his miscellaneous publications will
throw a still clearer light on the diversity of his intellectual in-
terests. Two papers especially are perhaps rather surprising.
The first ( 1900. I ) of these appeared in the University Chronicle
of the University of California, and is entitled "Poetry and
mathematics/" In this Wilczynski defended the thesis that a
poet and a mathematician have certain intellectual and aesthetic
elements in common The second (1909. 2) of these two papers
is a popular and philosophical account of "The fourth dimen-
sion," which appeared in the American Mathematical Monthly.

Two other papers are a result of Wilczynski's active interest in
the affairs of the American Mathematical Society. He wrote for
the Bulletin of this society an account (1902. 4) of the first meet-
ing of the San Francisco Section, giving a report of the organi-
zation of the section and of its first program. The second paper
( 1909. i ) is entitled "Mathematical appointments in colleges and
universities." This is a minority report of a committee of the
Chicago Section charged with the duty of investigating the possi-
bility of improving the character of mathematical appointments
in American colleges and universities.

Another type of Wilczynski's activity consisted in writing
book reviews. Of these there seem to have been seven ( 1898 5 ) ,
(1899. 5), (1903. i), (1909. 5), (1910 2), (1914. 2. 5). The
first two are short reviews of German books on the magnetism of
the earth, and appeared in Terrestrial Magnetism. The remain-
ing five appeared in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical
Society. Two of these are brief ; the other three are rather pre-
tentious, namely, a review (1903. i) of part of Forsytes "Dif-
ferential Equations," a review (1910. 2) of Schlesinger's "Vor-
lesungen uber lineare Differentialgleichtingen," and a review
(1914. 2) of Darboux's "Lemons sur les systemes orthogonaux
et les coordonees curvilignes," second edition, complete.

Wilczynski wrote two college textbooks in mathematics, one
(1914. i) a trigonometry, and the other (1916. i) a college

316

ERNEST JUUUS WILCZYNSKI

algebra In these Wilczynski's powers of elegant mathematical
exposition found ample scope, and especially in the trigonometry
his fondness for the heuristic method of presenting a subject is
fully illustrated.

In a paper (1918. i), showing the effect of contact with Gen-
eral Analysis, Wilczynski furnished a proof of the fact that
the coefficients of a unique canonical form are invariants, mak-
ing use only of the abstract principles which are common to all
known invariant theories. In another paper (1919. i) he estab-
lished the scale of relation for the coefficients of the power series
expansion of an algebraic function as a scale of degree n if the
equation defining the function is irreducible and of degree n.

The last two papers in this category are commemorations.
The first (1902. i) of these is a commemoration of one of Wilc-
zynski's former teachers, Lazarus Fuchs. This contains an ap-
preciation of the scientific work of Fuchs but there is no bibli-
ography accompanying it. The second (1919. 3) is a com-
memoration of one of the most distinguished of American pro-
jective differential geometers, G. M. Green of Harvard Univer-
sity, whose already brilliant career was cut short by death at the
untimely age of twenty-seven. This paper contains a beautifully
written appreciation of the life, character, and work of Green,
for whom Wilczynski had the highest regard. It is interesting
to note that although the two men were working in the same
field, and had carried on a most friendly correspondence, they
had never met each other personally. The bibliography of
Green's publications prepared by Wilczynski to accompany this
commemoration seems to be complete except for one paper pub-
lished 10 posthumously, after the commemoration was written,
by Wilczynski as Green's scientific executor.

IX. CONCLUDING COMMENTS

It is quite likely that Wilczynski had worked on other subjects
than those discussed here without publishing his results, which

10 Green, "Nets of space curves/' Trans/actions of the American Mathe-
matical Society, vol. 21 (1920, pp ^07-36),

317

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OI*. XVI

may not have reached the perfection that he cleared. In fact,
there is an abstract in the Bulletin of the American Muthe-
watitol Society of a paper on integral equations which seems
never to have been published. There is also an abstract of a
paper presented to the Society by title at the meeting in Toronto
in December, 1921, on "Surfaces representing the real and im-
aginary parts of a function of a complex variable," which seems
never to have been published in full.

One of the most important of Wilczynski's activities consisted
in directing thesis work. There seems to be no record of the
number of master's theses that he directed, but there were many
of them. Three of them, at least, were published in journals, for
references to which the reader may consult the Bibliography
which follows. Wilczynski directed twenty-five doctoral dis-
sertations. Two of these were the theses of E. B. Stouffer and
of W. W. D'enton who took their degrees at the University of
Illinois. The other twenty-three were the theses of Chicago
doctors. Two of these men, H. L. Olson and J. W. Hedley,
started under Wilczynski but the final approval of their work
was grafted by A. F. Carpenter and E. P. Lane. Wilczynski
started the thesis work of two other men, P. G. Robinson and
V. G. Grove, not counted here, who made some progress under
his direction, but those theses were" examined and finally passed
upon by Lane. Of the twenty-five doctoral dissertations, nine-
teen were published in journals and six privately. These theses
represent in a sense Wilczynski's own scientific activity, and
these students of Wilczynski form an influential group of the
American mathematical community. For further information
about them the reader may consult the Bibliography.

Wilczynski has already been referred to as a master of exposi-
tion. He possessed a most elegant style both in spoken and
written English. German was his native language, and he was
at home with French and Italian. He was such a clear and pol-
ished lecturer that he made difficulties seem easy. If some un-
foreseen problem arose in class, the solution of which might
involve delays and l^esitation, it was his custom not to attack the
obstacle at once but to defer consideration of it until the next

318

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI LANE

day when he habitually reported upon the solution that he had
reached m the meantime.

Wilczynski's character was gentle , his manner, mild. He was
unselfish and was habitually thoughtful of others. He was in-
terested in his students and in their success. He enjoyed drop-
ping in unannounced at the modest lodgings of his advanced
graduate students, especially in the spring and summer eve-
nings, to spend an hour or two in informal conversation. It was
Wilczynski' s art upon such occasions to put every one at ease,
and the memories of these friendly visits are cherished in the
homes of more than one of his doctors.

Wilczynski was an inspiring teacher, a thorough scholar, a
distinguished geometer, a congenial colleague. The premature
termination of his scientific career was a great loss to mathe-
matics. When Wilczynski spoke in commemoration of Green he
used words which can now appropriately be quoted and em-
ployed in commemoration of their author:

"In this brief span of years he has won enduring fame. . . .,
we mourn in him not the promise of a genius unfulfilled, but the
sad untimely loss of a great leader of proven strength whose
power and insight had been fully tested, and whose actual
achievements can never perish. ... In his death we have suf-
fered a heavy loss, but his life and work will continue to be, for
many of us, an everlasting source of strength and inspiration/'

X. BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following bibliography includes Wilczynski's publications
exclusive of abstracts of papers presented to the American
Mathematical Society. A list of his doctors is appended, giving
the subjects of their theses and the positions held by them in 1934.
References are given at the end to three published master's
theses.

The following abbreviations taken from Bulletin 63 of the
National Research Council will be used :

I. Am. J. American Journal of Mathematics.

2 Am M. S. Bull. Bulletin of the America, Mathematical Society.

3*9

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \OL XVI

3. Am. M S, Trans.' Transactions of the American Mathematical So-
ciety.

4. Ann. di Mat. : Annah d% Matematica Pura ed Apphcata.

5. Giorn di Mat. : Giormle dt Matemahche
6 Math. Ann, : Mathematische Annalen

7. Pal Circ Mat.; Rendiconti del Ctrcolo Matemahco dt Palermo.
8* Tohoku M. J. : Tohoku Mathematical Journal.

9, Wash. Nat. Ac Sc. Proc : Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sconces*

The following abbreviations will also be used

x. An. J. ; Astronomical Journal
2. Ap J.: Astrophysical Journal

WILCZYNSKFS PUBLICATIONS

1. "Schmidt's theory of the sun," Ap. J , vol. i, pp 112-26.

2. "Notes on Schmidt's theory of the sun," Ap. J , vol. 2, pp 69-73,

1896

i. "Hydrodynamical investigations of the solar rotation," Ap. J , vol. 3, pp.

101-5.
2 "Outlines of a theory of spiral and planetary nebulse," Ap J., vol. 4,

pp. 97-100.

1897

i. "Ueber die Rotationsbewegung der Sonne," Astronomische. Nachrich-
ten, vol 142, pp. 133-6.

2 "Hydrodynamische Untersuchungen mit Anwendung auf die Theorie
der Sonnenrotation," Mayer and Muller, Berlin

3 "On the causes of the sun's equatorial acceleration and the sunspot
period," An. J,, vol 18, pp. 57-9.

1898

1. "Theory of the motion of the spots on Jupiter," An. J., vol. 19, pp 61-3.

2. "On the causes of the sun's equatorial acceleration and the sun-spot
period," Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol.
10, pp. 97-9-

3 "On the causes of the sun-spot period," Ap. J*, vol. 7, pp. 124-30.

4 "On the depth of the reversing layer," Ap J., vol. 7, pp. 213-4.

5. Nippoldt, "Neue allgememe Erscheinungen in der taglichen Variation
der erdmagnetischen Elemente," Terrestrial Magnetism, vol. 3, p. 184.

320

JUUUS WILCZYNSKI

1 "On an mn a parameter group of linear substitutions in mn variables,"
Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. i, pp. 59-62.

2 "On systems of multiform functions belonging to a group of linear
substitutions with uniform coefficients/' Am J , vol 21, pp. 85-106.

3 "On Imearoid differential equations," Am J., vol. 21, pp. 354-66.

4. "Dynamics of a nebula," An. J., vol 20, pp. 67-9.

5. Liznar, "Ueber die Aenderung der erdmagnetischen Kraft mit der
Hohe," Terrestrial Magnetism, vol 4, pp. 191-2.

6. "A generalization of Appell's factorial functions," Am M. S. Bull., vol.
5, pp. 388-94

1900

I "Poetry and mathematics," The University Chronicle (University of
California), vol. 3, pp. 191-204

2. "On continuous binary linearoid groups and the corresponding differ-
ential equations and A functions," Am. J , vol. 22, pp. 191-225.

3. "An application of group theory to hydrodynamics," Am M. S. Trans ,
vol. I, pp 339-52

1901

1. "Transformation of systems of linear differential equations," Am. J ,
vol 23, pp 29-36.

2. "Invariants of systems of linear differential equations," Am M. S.
Trans , vol 2, pp. 1-24.

3. "Geometry of a simultaneous system of two linear homogeneous differ-
ential equations of the second order," Am. M. S. Trans , vol. 2, pp
343-62

1902

1. "I^azarus Fuchs," Am. M. S. Bull , vol. 9, pp. 46-9.

2. "Reciprocal systems of linear differential equations," Am. M. S. Trans.,
vol 3, pp. 60-70

3 "Covariants of systems of linear differential equations and applications
to the theory of ruled surfaces," Am M. S, Trans , vol 3, pp. 423-50.

4. "The first meeting of the San Francisco Section of the American
Mathematical Society," Am. M. S Bull., vol. 8, pp. 429-37.

1. "Forsyth's 'Differential Equations'," Am M. S. Bull, vol. 10, pp. 86-93.

2. **On a certain congruence associated with a given ruled surface," Am.
M. S Trans , vol. 4, pp 185-200. ^

1904

i "A f undamenta! theorem in the theoiy of ruled surfaces," Math. Ann ,
vol 58, pf. 2149-59-

321

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

2. <4 On sell -dual scrolls," Am. M S Bull, vol n, p. 8

3. "Studies in the general theory of ruled surfaces," Am M S. Trans ,
vol. 5, pp 226-52.

4. "On ruled surfaces whose flecnode curve intersects every generator in
two coincident points," Am. M S Trans , vol. 5, pp 438-46-

5. "Invariants of a system of linear partial differential equations, and the
theory of congruences of rays," Am, J , vol 26, pp. 319-60

1905

r. "General theory of curves on ruled surfaces," Am. M. S Trans., vol. 6,
PP 75-82.

2, "General projective theory of space curves," Am M S Trans , vol. 6,
pp 99-133.

3. "The general projective theory of space curves and ruled surfaces,"
Verhandlungen des dntten internationalen Mathematiker-Kongresses,
Heidelberg, 1904, pp 361-5.

1906

i. "Projective Differential Geometry of Curves and Ruled Surfaces,"
Teubner, Leipzig.

1907

I. "Protective differential geometry of curved surfaces" (First memoir),
Am. M. S. Trans., vol. 8, pp. 233-60.

1908

1. "Projective differential geometry of curved surfaces" (Second me-
moir), Am. M. S. Trans., vol. 9, pp 79-120.

2. "Projective differential geometry of curved surfaces" (Third memoir),
Ana. M. S. Trans , vol 9, pp. 293-315

1909

1. "Mathematical appointments In colleges and universities," Am. M. S.
Bull, vol 15, pp. 492-5.

2. "The fourth dimension," American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 16,
PP- 149-53-

3. "Projective differential geometry of curved surfaces" (Fourth memoir),
Am M. S. Trans., vol. 10, pp. 176-200

4 "Projective differential geometry of curved surfaces" (Fifth memoir),
Am M. S. Trans., vol. 10, pp 279-96.

5 Hesse, "Vorlesungen aus der analytisdben Geometric der geraden
Ivinie, des Punktes und des Kreises in der Ebene," Am. M S Bull , vol.
15, pp 186-8

1910

i "Projective differential geometry," The New Haven Mathematical Col-
loquium, 1906, pp. 151-72.

322

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI - I,AN

2. Schlesmger, "Vorlesungen uber hneare Different lal-gleiclmngen/' Am.
M. S Bull, vol 16, pp. 483-9

1911

1. "One-parameter families and nets of plane curves/' Am. M. S Trans ,
vol. 12, pp 473-Sio.

2. "Sur la theone generate des congruences," Memoires publies par la
Classe des Sciences de 1'Academie Royale de Belgique, ser. 2, vol. 3.

i. "A forgotten theorem of Newton's on planetary motion and an instru-
mental solution of Kepler's problem," An. J 7 vol, 27, pp. 155-6

1 "Ricerche geometriche intorno al problema dei tre corpi," Ann. di Mat.,
ser 3, vol. 21, pp 1-21.

2 "On a certain class of self-projective surfaces," Am. M. S. Trans., vol
14, pp 421-43

3. "Some general aspects of modern geometry," Am M. S. Bull , vol 19,
pp. 331-42.

1 "Plane Trigonometry and Applications," Allyn and Bacon

2 Darboux, "Lemons sur les Systemes orthogonaux et les Coordonees
curvilignes " Deuxieme edition, completee. Am M. S. Bull., vol. 20,

PP 247-53

3 "tJber Flachen mit Unbestimmten Direktrixkurven," Math. Ann., vol.
76, pp. 129-60

4 "On a certain completely integrable system of partial differential equa-
tions," Am J., vol. 36, pp. 231-60.

5. Fischer, "Koordmatensysteme," Am. M. S Bull., vol 20, pp 212-3.

1915
i. "The general theory of congruences," Am. M. S, Trans., vol. 16, pp.

3"-27.

2 "Conjugate systems of space curves with equal Laplace-Darboux in-
variants," Wash. Nat. Ac. Sc. Proa, vol. i, pp. 59-61.

1916

1. "College Algebra with Applications," Allyn and Bacon.

2. "Some remarks on the historical development and future prospects of
the differential geometry of plane curves," Am M. S Bull , vol. 22, pp.
317-29.

3. "Interpretation of the simplest integral invariant of projective ge-
ometry," Wash. Nat Ac Sc Proc.^ vol. 2, pp 248-52.

323

NATIONAL ACADEM* BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS \GL XVI

10/7

L 'Integral invariants in projective geometry/' Pal Circ Mat , vol 42,
pp. 128-37,

191$

I 'Invariants and canonical forms," Wash. Nat Ac. Sc Proc, vol 4,

pp. 300-5.

1919

1. ^On the form of the power series for an algebraic function," American
Mathematical Monthly, vol 26, pp. 9-12.

2, "Line-geometric representations of a function of a complex variable,"
Am. M. S. Trans., voi 20, pp 271-98.

3 "In memory of Gabriel Marcus Green," Am M S Bull , vol 26, pp
1-13

I, "Geometrical significance of isothermal conjugacy of a net of curves,"
Am. J,, vol. 42, pp. 211-21.

2 "One-parameter families and nets of ruled surfaces and a new theory
of congruences/' Am. M. S Trans , vol 21, pp 157-206

3 "A set of properties characteristic of a class of congruences connected
with the theory of functions," Am. M. S. Trans., vol. 21, pp. 409-45.

1922

1. "Charaktenstische 3igenschaften der isotherm-Icon} ugierten Kurven-
netze," Math. Ann., vol #5, pp 208-12.

2, "Some generalizations of geodesies," Am M. S Trans, vol. 23, pp.
223-39

3 "Differential properties of functions of a complex variable which are
invariant under linear transformations," Part I, Journal de Mathemati-
ques Pures et Appliquees, ser, 9, vol I, pp 293-435,

i. "Differential properties of functions of a complex variable which are
invariant under linear transformations," Part II, Journal de Mathe-
matiques Pures et Appliquees, sen 9, vol 2, pp. 1-51.

WILCZYNSKFS DOCTORS

i E B Stouffer, Professor of Mathematics and Dean of the Graduate
School, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kaas

"Invariants of linear differential equations, with applications to ruled
surfaces in five-dimensional space,'' Proceedings of the London Mathe-
matical Society, ser 2, vol. ri (1913), pp. 185-2244

ERNEST JULIUS WILCZYNSKI

1 W. W. Denton, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich

"Projective differential geometry of developable surfaces/' Am. M. S.
Trans, vol 14 (1913), PP 175-208

2 C T. Sullivan, Professor of Mathematics, McGill University, Montreal,
Canada.

"Properties of surfaces whose asymptotic lines belong to linear com-
plexes," Am M. S. Trans , vol 15 (1914), pp 167-96.

1913

i F M. Morrison (Died Nov. I, 1920).

"On the relation of some important notions of protective and metric
differential geometry," Am. J , vol. 39 (1917), pp. 199-220.

1914

1 H. R. Kingston, Professor and Head of the Department of Mathe-
matics and Astronomy, Western University, London, Ontario.
"Metric properties of nets of plane curves," Am. J., vol. 38 (1916),
pp. 407-30

I9Z5

I. A F. Carpenter, Professor of Mathematics, University of Washington,
Seattle, Wash.

"Ruled surfaces whose flecnode curves have plane branches," Am. M. S.
Trans, vol. 16 (1915), pp 509-32.

2 J. O. Hassler, Professor of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma,
Norman, Okla

"Plane nets of period three under the Laplace transformation," Pal.
Circ. Mat, vol. 40 (1915), pp 273-94.

3 A. L Nelson, Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics,
Wayne University, Detroit, Mich.

"Plane nets with equal Laplace-Darboux invariants," Pal. Circ. Mat.,

vol. 41 (1916), pp. 238-62.
4. S. W Reaves, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor

of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla

"Metric properties of flecnodes on ruled surfaces," Giorn. di Mat , vol.

55 (1917), i. e, ser. 3, vol. 8, pp. 139-64.
5 C H Yeaton, Professor of Mathematics, Oberlin College, Oberlin,

Ohio.

"Surfaces characterized by certain properties of their directrix congru-

ences," Ann. di Mat, ser. 3, vol 26 (1916), pp 1-33

325

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

1916

1 A McC Harding, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, and Di-
rector of General Extension, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
"On certain loci projectively connected with a given plane curve,"
Giorn. di Mat., vol 54 (1916), i. e., ser. 3, vol. 7* PP 185-222.

2. Miss P Sperry, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of
California, Berkeley, Calif.

"Properties of a certain projectively defined two-parameter family of
curves on a general surface," Am. J , vol 40 (iQ 1 ^), PP 213-24.

191?

i. J. M. Kmney, City Junior College, Chicago, 111.

"The general theory of congruences without any preliminary integra-
tion/' Published privately.

2 1^ S. Shively, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Ball Teachers Col-
lege, Muncie, Ind.

"A new basis for the metric theory of congruences," Published pri-
vately.

3. T. McN. Simpson, Jr, Professor of Mathematics, Randolph-Macon
College, Ashland, Va.

"Relation between the metric and projective theories o space curves,"
Published privately.

1918

i. E. P. Lane, Professor of Mathematics, University of Chicago, Chicago,
III.

"Conjugate systems with indeterminate axis curves," Am J., vol 43
(1921), pp. 52-68.

1919

i. C. A. Nelson, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Rutgers Univer-
sity, New Brunswick, N. J.

"Conjugate systems with conjugate axis curves," Tohoku, M. J., vol.
20 (1922), pp. 217-51.

19,20

I. Miss G. E. C Gibbens, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University

of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.

"Comparison of different line geometric representations for functions

of a complex variable," Published privately.
2 J. W I/asley, Jr., Professor of Pure Mathematics, University of North

Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.

"Some special cases of the flecnode transformation of ruled surfaces,"

Published privately.

326

ERNEST JULIUS WIMZYNSKI I,ANE

3 F E Wood, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Northwestern Uni-
\ersity, Evanston, 111

"On certain relations between the projective theory of surfaces and
the projectrve theory of congruences," Am M S. Trans , vol. 23 (1922),
pp 386-408

i Miss C Kendall, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of
Colorado, Boulder, Colo
"Certain congruences determined by a given surface/* Am J , vol 45

(19^3), PP 25-41

1922

i E D Meacham, Professor of Mathematics, and Assistant Dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
''Properties of surfaces whose osculating ruled surfaces belong to linear
complexes," ^Published privately

1923

1 N B MacLean, Professor of Applied Mathematics, and Joint Chair-
man of the Department, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

"On certain surfaces related covariantly to a given ruled surface," Pro-
ceedings of the International Mathematical Congress, Toronto, 1924,
vol i, pp 751-68

2 H L Olson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Michigan State
College, East Lansing, Mich

"Congruences with constant absolute invariants," Am M S Trans.,
vol 27 (K)25),pp 15-42

1924

i J W Hedley, Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics,
Provincial Normal School, Regma, Sask , Canada
"Ruled surfaces whose flecnode curves belong to linear complexes,"
Tohoku, M J,vol 28 (i927),pp 1-25

PUBLISHED MASTERS' THESES

1 W W Denton, "On the osculating quartic of a plane curve," Am M S.
Trans, vol 10 (1909), pp 297-308.

2 J A Nyberg, "Projective differential geometry of rational cubics," Am.

J, vol 35 (1913), PP 453-64.

3 S W. Reaves, "On the projective differential geometry of plane an-
harmonic curves," Annals of Mathematics, vol. 15 (1913)* PP 20-6.

327

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

XOLUWE XVI- -SEVENTH MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL

1841-1924

BY

HENRY CREW

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1934

THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHAKL
1841-1924

BY HENRY CREW

x*\ sense of historical continuity is quite as essential to the ad-
vancement of science as to the growth of a nation The man of
science who has no memory for its past is not likely to be greatly
concerned about its future When Newton spoke of standing
upon the shoulders of those who preceded him, he expressed a
capital interest in the past In some idea such as this doubtless
lay the prime motive which led the early members of this Acad-
emy to institute a series of biographical sketches of its members.

The writing of such a sketch, however, is not easy. There is
first of all the limitation of space imposed by rule, some fifteen
or twenty pages Besides this there is the difficulty of conveying
to any, save a few, of one generation the relative importance of
the work of the preceding generation. No man has ever ap-
preciated Galileo more highly than did Newton , yet the experi-
mental work of the great Italian must have impressed the Cam-
bridge scholar as crude. Mutatis mutandis, the same might be
said about Fresnel and Michelson , or about Rumf ord and Joule
Again, to tell the truth about an experiment in physics is child's
play, compared with telling the truth about a man , for even a
man of science is a social as well as a rational being, and his
achievement in the increase of knowledge is not the whole of
what makes him a valued member of this Academy His up-
rightness, his courage, his generosity of mind, his geniality of
spirit or perhaps the want of it are qualities which his suc-
cessors deserve to know. Herein lies a second motive for these
biographies With these considerations m mind let us proceed to
the life of our late colleague, Thomas Corwin Mendenhall

ANCESTORS

His ancestry traces back to a family which came to this coun-
try as members of the Perm colony in i $86 and settled in Dela-
ware county, in the extreme southeast corner of the state of

331

N \TION\Iv AC \DE\IY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI< XVI

Pennsylvania, and in a village which was then called Concord,
but which now enjoys the name of Concordville. In this same
neighborhood, there is, at the present time, on the Maryland
Division of the Pennsylvania railroad, a station named Menden-
hall.

It Is generally agreed that the earlier form of the family name
was Mildenhall; but there is a curious uncertainty as to the
exact location of the ancestral home; for it happens that in
England there are two towns which carry the name of Milden-
hall, one in" the northwest corner of the county of Suffolk and
another in the northeast corner of Wiltshire In American
Ancestry, <?, 60 (1893) one finds the definite statement that Ben-
jamin Mendenhall came from Wiltshire, England, in 1686 and
settled in Concord, Pennsylvania ; while in George Smith's His-
tory of Delaware County, p. 484 (Philadelphia, 1862) one reads
that "Benjamin Mendenhall came from England in 1686 prob-
ably in company with his brother, John. They came from a town
of Suffolk called Mildenhall, that being the original family
name " This latter view harmonizes with the following state-
ment in the Publications of the Genealogical Society of Penn-
sylvania, 4, 249 "Benjamin Mendenhall came from a t&wn in
Suffolk, England, called Mildenhall m 1686. He settled in Con-
cord," Henry Graham Ashmead in his History of Delaware
County, p. 563 (Philadelphia, 1884) says "Three brothers, John,
Benjamin, and George Mendenhall came from England with
William Penn m 1682 George returned after a brief sojourn in
America, John settled in Chester county and Benjamin found a
home in Concord township in Delaware county He was married
to Ann Pennell and had sons, Robert and Benjamin."

Any doubt as to whether our Mendenhall family came from
Wiltshire or from Suffolk is, I think, largely removed by the
existence of a deed which conveys "500 acres of land in
Penn's tract to Moses Mendenhall of Ramsbury, Wilts , date
1685, Sep't 5th." A copy of this deed is given opposite p. 9 of a
History, Correspondence and Pedigrees of the Mendenhalls of
England and the United States by William Mendenhall, of Bath,

332

THOMAS CORWIN MENDEXIIAU* CREW

England, extended by his son Edward Mendenhall of Cincinnati,
Ohio. (Cincinnati Moore Wilstach & Baldwin, 1865.)

Charles Sumner is credited with the remark that he never
passed a small boy on the street without feeling the urge to lift
his hat, realizing the possibilities which are latent In the mind
and body of such a lad. It is the absence of just such an urge, I
fear, which has been responsible for the laxity of our habits and
laws concerning the registration of births, marriages, and deaths.
It is, in fact, the absence of just such a record concerning the
Benjamin Mendenhall who came to America with the Penn
colony which makes the first section of this sketch slightly am-
biguous.

From here on, however, the story is perfectly clear. As indi-
cated above, the Englishman, Benjamin Mendenhall, who came
to America and joined Penn's colony had a son named Robert
who was born in 1713 and who also lived in Concord township,
Pennsylvania, where he died in 1785 This Robert Mendenhall,
who during his entire life was a contemporary and near neighbor
of Benjamin Franklin, had a son, named Stephen, who married
Mary Farlow To them was born a son whom they called
James and who was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch
James Mendenhall was still living in southeastern Pennsylvania
when his son Stephen, the father of our subject, was born in
1805. Shortly after this, in 1810, the family of James Menden-
hall moved to what was then known as "the far west," Beaver
county, Pennsylvania.

Left fatherless at an early age, this Stephen Mendenhall re-
turned to the neighborhood of Philadelphia, where, a few years
later, Mary Thomas became his wife. With her he journeyed
again, in 1835, to "the far west," this time making a new home
in Colurnbiana county, Ohio, just across the state line from
Beaver county, Pennsylvania. To Stephen Mendenhall and his
wife three sons and two daughters were born. The birth of
the youngest son occurred on the 4th of October, 1841, while the
family was still living at Hanoverton in Colurnbiana county.
The little lad was named Thomas Corwiji after a much beloved
man, at that time Governor of Ohio, who was later appointed

333

NATIONAL, ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL, MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

Secretary of the Treasury and who still later was our Minister to

Mexico.

YOUTH

Here, in the beautiful hills of eastern Ohio, the >oung Men-
denhall spent the first twenty years of his life, the twenty years
just preceding the first administration of Lincoln, twenty years
in a Quaker family where the parents not only advocated, but
also practiced, the simple life, frugality, sincerity, plainness of
speech and dress, temperance, and the abolition of slavery

The elder Mendenhall was a carriage-maker and had the
pleasure of having his two older sons as partners. In addition
to this business, he maintained a farm Now the amount of
knowledge concerning the properties of matter, the behavior of
machines, and the processes of life which an eager and gifted
boy picks up during twenty years of association with the lathe
and work-bench of his father's carriage shop, in running the
engine for his brother's steam saw mill, in assisting his mother in
the churning of cream, in watching the mining of coal from the
adjacent hills, in observing the building of the Cleveland and
Pittsburgh railroad, is something amazing All these and many
more details are set forth in a story of his youth which Pro-
fessor Mendenhall wrote, at odd times, during his years of rest,
1901-1911, spent in Europe. These Recollections of Professor
Mendenhall, as I shall call them for the sake of easy reference,
cover some 900 pages of manuscript and give a pleasing picture
of abundance without overproduction, of economy as a fine art,
of comfort and independence, and of the happy domestic life of
the early Ohio settlers. The whole narrative is written in an
easy almost conversational style and is, in my judgment, well
worthy of independent publication

Mendenhall's first-hand acquaintance with the world was sup-
plemented by the usual primary school training of the period and
by his own independent pursuit of mathematics, a subject to
which he was ardently devoted. His well-known ability as an
expositor was early adumbrated in his desire to teach school, an
ambition which was first satisfied in the aultiimn of 1858 when he
became assistant to the principal at Marlboro, in Stark county,

334

THOMAS CORWIV MENDEXHAU* C

Ohio, a town to which the Mendenhall family had moved in
1852

In the spring of 1859, he attended a teacher's institute at Alli-
ance, Ohio, and there came under the brief instruction and in-
fluence of James A Garfield, at that time president of Hiram
College The young teacher was much impressed b} Garfield's
definition of an adverb as "the skin of a verb vtufTed with the
bran of an adjective "

Much more powerful was the influence of Professor C A
Young, the eminent and beloved astronomer, then teaching in
Western Reserve College m Hudson, Ohio Here Mendenhall
had the rare privilege of studying with Young during the sum-
mer of 1864 Like all the rest of Young's students, Mendenhall
felt about him much as Helmholtz did about his great teacher in
physiology . "Once to have known Johannes Muller is forever
after to be a different man/'

The incident which brought to Mendenhall a brief period of
study m an institution of collegiate rank is, at the same time, an
excellent illustration of the power of the printed page. In the
spring of 1861, he was looking over the shelves of a book-store in
Cleveland, Ohio; and, having lighted upon a copy of Stoddard
and Henkle's Algebra, he was so delighted with their novel mode
of presentation that he then and there determined to pursue the
subject under the immediate personal instruction of a man who
could expound mathematics so clearly. The result was that he
at once went to the Southwest Normal School at Lebanon, War-
ren county, Ohio the home town of Tom Corwm where
W. D Henkle was then teaching. Within a year he graduated
with the degree "I N ", Instructor Normahs, the only degree in
course which he ever received. For the interpretation of this
degree, "I. N./' I am indebted to the charming little biography
of Mendenhall written by his friend Professor W. H, Siebert, of
Ohio State University, as a part of a History of the Columbus
High School

The years between Mendeuhaifs leaving Lebanon and his
election to the first faculty of Ohio State University in 1873 are
crowded with important events ijrt American history ; but in the

335

NATIONAL ACADE\1\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL, XVI

story of the Mendenhall family the one outstanding fact is the
marriage of Mr. T C Mendenhall to Miss Susan Allen Marple
on July 12, 1870. Miss Marple was a descendant of Major
Solomon Allen who carried Major Andre back to West Point
after his capture; her home was in Columbus, and she was a
student in the high school where her prospective husband was
teaching This union was the beginning of a long and devoted
companionship, extending through the next forty-six years, that
is, up to the time of Mrs. MendenhalFb death in 1916. On the
first day of August, 1872, the new home was brightened by the
birth of a son, Charles E. Mendenhall, well-known physicist and
present member of this Academy.*

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

By this time the young high school teacher had proved him-
self to be an excellent demonstrator and an attractive public
speaker He had a rich tenor voice and that innate courtesy
which comes from a consideration for the feelings of others.
In his experience m various parts of the state, he had made the
acquaintance and had acquired the respect of a number of its
leading citizens. Moreover, he was able to qualify as a univer-
sity professor under the definition laid down by President D C
Gilman of Johns Hopkins University, namely "a student who
can also teach." When, therefore, the Ohio Agricultural and
Mechanical College one of the first of the Morrill Land Grant
institutions opened its doors in 1873, it was in every way natu-
ral that this well-known teacher of science was appointed to the
chair of physics and mechanics. Here, for the next five years,
he went through the usual routine of a university professor at
that time, attending also to various subduties, such as outside
lectures, the chairmanship of certain committees, the general
secretaryship of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, etc.

From the very start Mendenhall was one of the group who
were in favor of taking advantage of the liberal provisions m the

* Died August, 1935,

336

THOMAS CORWIN MNDF,NHAU CREW

Mornll Act and of making the institution liberal in the best sense
of that word The name of the college was shortly changed to
Ohio State University, an institution recognized as one which, in
the phrase of the Mornll Act, "promotes the liberal and practical
education of the industrial classes * * * without excluding
other scientific and classical studies "

Of the original faculty, the two leading men were doubtless
Edward Orton and T. C Mendenhall Many years later, the
latter of these two men made the following remarks concerning
this first faculty :

"I shall avoid making comparisons of their work with that of
their successors of today, for they belong to a different class In
many respects 1870 is to 1920 a period of almost indefinite re-
moteness The college professors of today partake very largely
of the nature of a manufactured article. They are highly special-
ized and accurately standardized. Most of the larger and some
of the small institutions of learning are engaged in their produc-
tion ; and by some they are kept 'in stock' for the convenience of
others. Today the chancellor of one great university may call by
wireless telephone to the president of another something like
this : 'Please send rne at your earliest convenience one Ph. D. who
has "majored" in this and "mmored" in that, who has published
not fewer than five original papers of not less than one thousand
words each, and whose intelligence test is not below 155 nor above
200.'

"The first faculty of the University was not recruited in that
way In 1870 there were no such sources of supply, and the col-
lege professor of that period was more or less an accidental
product, and yet, in one important sense, far less an accident
than his successor of today, for in most cases a professorship
was the goal of an ambition dating from early youth." History
of Ohio State University, Vol. 3, p. 189

RESIDENCE IN JAPAN

In the spring of 1878, the late Dr. Edward S. Morse returned
to America during a brief interval between his visits to Japan
and was stopping with his long-time friend Mendenhall in Co-
lumbus where he was lecturing upon Japanese homes and Japan-
ese art. This distinguished naturalist carried with him from
Japan what was practically a commission to appoint two Ameri-

337

* ACAI>KM\ BIOGRAPHICAL \1K\IOIRS VOI, XVI

can professors* in the University of Tokio, one to the chair of
philosophy, the other to the chair of physics. This commission
he executed by recommending Professor E F. Fenollosa m
philosophy, and Professor T C. Mendenhall in physics Both
recommendations were adopted by the Japanese government,
and both men accepted appointment The autumn of 1878 found
Mendenhall, with his family, in Tokio where he was one of that
outstanding group of western scholars who at that period were
giving themselves unselfishly to the introduction of our mode of
thought into the Orient

The schedule of work, as first planned by the university, he
voluntarily increased, giving public lectures by use of an in-
terpreter, exhibiting the newly invented telephone to members of
the nobility, and devoting much energy to the equipment of the
laboratory of physics , for, as he remarks m his Recollections,
"I was young, strong, and loved work.'* Many of his eager and
able Japanese students became life-long friends, notably Kikuchi
who interpreted his early lectures to popular audiences, and who
later became Minister of Education, and still later, as Baron
Kikuchi, Vice-Minister of the Navy. Tanakadate and Fujisawa
made brilliant careers as students in European universities, and
later by their original contributions in the field of physics.

Among the foreign contingent on the university staff at Tokio
in those days, may be mentioned, m addition to Professors Morse
and Fenollosa, the name of W S. Chaplin, later Chancellor of
Washington University at St Louis, and the four well known
English engineers, John Perry, William E. Ayrton, James A.
(now Sir Alfred) Ewing, and John Milne.

Mendenhall's own investigations m Japan were mainly along
the line of meteorology and geophysics. It was here that he
determined the density of the earth by measuring the acceleration
of gravity at sea-level and at the top of Fujiyama. Spectroscopy
was then at a stage where accurate wavelengths m the solar
spectrum were sorely needed. Mendenhall set about to supply
these, employing the best apparatus available, namely a grating
by Chapman and a spectrometer by Fauth, after the design of

338

THOMAS CORWIN MRNDKNHAU,

C A Young. The results were published in a monograph by
the University

In the summer of 1880, a somewhat urgent request came from
Dr. Edward Orton, then President of Ohio State University,
asking Professor Mendenhall to return to Columbus and to de-
vote himself entirely to physics, allowing Professor S W. Rob-
inson, to take the new chair of mechanics Home ties, old
friends, and a charter-membership in the faculty of the state
university were considerations too strong to be withstood. Ac-
cordingly the summer of 1881 found the Mendenhall family leav-
ing Japan, but not without great reluctance. The following sen-
tence from his Recollections will indicate something of the high
regard which this professor of physics had acquired for his Jap-
anese students , "Always fond of teaching and always enjoying
my college work, I cannot but look upon my three years with
these well-mannered, good tempered, ambitious, and intellectu-
ally strong men as being, in most respects, the pleasantest and
best of all my professional years."

THE SECOND PERIOD AT COLUMBUS

Again in the chair of physics at Ohio State University with
enlarged experience, widened horizon, and renewed vigor, Men-
denhall gave himself generously to the routine duties of his
office and to such extramural demands as the vice-presidency of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science for
Section B, a course of lectures before the Lowell Institute upon
the Molecular Theory of Matter, a report on atmospheric elec-
tricity to the Electrical Conference of 1884 i* 1 Philadelphia, and
various popular addresses. It was during this period that Men-
denhall originated, and secured financial support for, the Ohio
Meteorological Bureau, the purpose of which was to gather a
knowledge of meteorological conditions, to forecast the weather,
to exhibit weather indications in public jplaces, and especially to
carry them on the sides of the railway trains which sped across
the farms of Ohio These were the days when the applications
of electrical science were taught ,and demonstrate^ Only m labora-
tories of physics; the days' whep^ to use the phrase of Mr. Rod-

339

NATION VI, AC. VDKMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEVIOIRb \(>L XVI

enck Macrae, "Lord Kelvin was creating the science of electrical
engineering while he was thinking of other things." Natural!},
therefore, Professor Menclenhall was deeply interested in the
electrical exhibits at the Cincinnati Expositions, and served on
the jury there , and likewise at the Electrical Exposition held at
Philadelphia in the autumn of 1884.

Activities of this type brought him a call, in December of
1884, to a professorship of electrical science in the U S. Signal
Corps at Washington, D C Earlier in the autumn of this same
year, he was one of the "coefficients" who attended the twenty
"conferences" held by Lord Kelvin *, then Sir William Thom-
son, at Johns Hopkins University.

Having by this time become widely acquainted with men of
science in Washington, Mendenhall accepted the proffered ap-
pointment and soon fouad himself associated m office with Cleve-
land Abbe, William Ferrel, and his former student, C F Mar-
vin. General A. W. Greeley was on the staff, but at this time
absent in the Arctic regions It was at this period and a little
earlier that Mendenhall became well acquainted with and a close
friend of Henry A. Rowland at Baltimore As chief of the In-
strument Division in the Signal Corps, it became his duty to visit
Charleston, S C., immediately after the great earthquake of
Aug. 31, 1886; and he was thus led to establish the earliest sta-
tions in the United States for the observation of earthquakes.

"'Kelvin's Baltimore Lectures (Camb Univ. Press 1904) represent his
final attempt to explain the phenomena of light in terms of an elastic solid
theory. And since thre names of his hearers dubbed "co-efficients", in a
humorous afterdinner poem, by the late Professor George Forbes have
not hitherto been published, so far as I am aware, it may be well to give
here the following list furnished by Kelvin himself in a letter addressed
to Johns Hopkins University under date of 14 January 1904 Lord Ray-
leigh, Henry A. Rowland, Eli W. Blake, Jr , Cleveland Abbe, Albert A.
Michelsoe, Fabian Franklin, J W Moore, DIaroku Kikuchi, Arthur S.
Hathaway, John R. Uhler, George Forbes, Henry Crew, John E. Davies,
Thos. A, Smith, Louis Duncan, A S. Kimball, John T. Hedrick, Clayton C.
Hall, J. F Arnold, Arthur Iy. Kimball, Christine kadd Franklin, T C
Mendenhall, J. M. Mansfield, Edwd W. Morley, R W Prentiss, Gustav
A. Liebig, Charles A. Perkins, R W, Gatewood.

340

THOMAS CORWIN MKNDENHALI* CRF y W

For his work in seismography, cartography and terrestrial grav-
ity, he was awarded a gold medal at the Pans Exposition, 1900,
and another by the American Geographical Society in 1901.
Between office hours, time was found to prepare a small volume
for the Nature Series which was then being issued by the Mac-
niillan Company of London The preface of the book, A Cen-
tury of Electricity, is dated at Washington, D. C., May 16, 1886.
As a piece of elementary exposition and as a clear historical
recital of what happened in electrical science during the hundred
years immediately following Galvani, the volume leaves little
to be desired It is, in fact, an excellent pre- Hertzian picture.

ROSE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

During all the time Mendenhall spent in government duties,
he never lost his high regard for the profession of teaching In
8 1 885, Ohio State University had made him an emeritus professor
of physics; but no compliment of this kind ever slackens the
activity of a man whose inspiration comes from within. Ac-
cordingly when a call came, in 1886, to the presidency of the
three-year-old Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute, In-
diana, he promptly accepted Here he worked for three years,
striving to place the education of engineers upon a solid founda-
tion of training in the fundamental sciences, and to give the pros-
pective engineer also linguistic and liberal studies sufficient to en-
able him to meet with ease his peers in the industrial, financial,
and social world. Among his colleagues on the faculty here may
be mentioned Professor Thomas Gray who held the chair of
dynamic engineering, Professor W. A. Noyes, then at the head
of the department of chemistry, now at the University of Illi-
nois, and Professor James A. Wickersharn, now emeritus pro-
fessor of English, living in Terre Haute It was at this period
(1887) Aat Mendenhall was elected to membership in the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences and, in the year following, to the
presidency of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science over whose sessions he presided at the Toronto meet-
ing in 1889.

341

NATIONAL AC\Di:\!\ BfoGRAJ'H K \L MEMOIRS \ut, \\l

SKCOVD RKvSlDKN'CK IN WAS HI MVTc >X

Much indoor work had, however, begun to tell upon Ins
hitherto robust health. Accordingly, when President Harri-
son's Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Windoni, offered him the
supcrmtendency of the U S Coast ami Geodetic Suney in the
summer of 1889, Mendenhall accepted, partly on account of his
interest in geophysics and partly in the hope of more fresh air
and sunshine. Again in Washington, many new acquaintances
were added to those abo\e mentioned Fast friendships were
cemented with S. P. Langley, J. W. Powell, Gardiner Hubbard,
Graham Bell, Simon Newcomb, F. W Clarke, and L (>
Howard.

The Bureau of Standards had not yet been created "Weights
and Measures" formed a subdivision of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey; and the supermtendency of this Survey was, with the
possible exception of the directorship of the U S Geological*
Survey, perhaps the most important scientific appointment in
Washington.

The multiplicity of duties connected with this office may be
indicated by mentioning that within the next five years Men-
denhall was engaged in a relative gravimetric survey, using the
portable short pendulum of his own design , was off on a trip
to Alaska in the interests of a boundary settlement , was a mem-
ber of the first Behrmg Sea Commission ; was a member of the
U, S. Light House Board , and was an "official delegate" to the
International Electrical Congress held in Chicago in 1893 In
addition to these governmental duties, he found himself ap-
pointed on five different committees of the National Academy
of Sciences , and in 1892 gave a second series of Lowell Lectures
on '* Measuring the Earth."

The interest attaching to the International Electrical Congress
of 1893 arises largely from the fact that this was the assembly
which gave to the so called "practical units" of electrical science
their present form and meaning. It was here also that the last
of these eight units that of inductance received its name, the
henry The legislative chamber, which wa$ charged with deci-
sion as to units, names of units, and standards, was composed

342

THOMAS CORWIN' M ENDEN" II \H< CRF,W

of 26 members* representing the more important nations of Eu-
rope and North \menca. Among others representing Europe,
were Helmholtz, O Lummer, E Mascart, T Violle, S. P
Thompson, W H. Preece, W E Ayrton, and Galileo Ferraris
The American delegates were H A Rowland ( President of the
Chamber), T C Mendenhall, H S Carhart, Ehhu Thomson
and E L. Nichols. Owing largely to national prejudices, the
sessions were prolonged through an entire week in August
Many differences arose as to what were the essentials and what
were the frills in the various phrasmgs of these eight definitions
The form finally adopted for the three basic units, ohm, ampere,
and volt, and soon afterwards approved by the various national
governments, [Proc Internal Elec Congress Chicago, 1893, P-
20 (1894)] was however a draft which Mendenhall had
worked out, in the privacy of his own room, the evening before.
The original of this protocol of Mendenhalfs, to which Row-
land, Helmholtz, Mascart and Ayrton had, in advance of its
adoption, affixed their signatures is now in possession of the
Franklin Institute These details are introduced as evidence
of Mendenhall's mastery of clear thought and concise English.

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

President Cleveland, during his second term, placed no less
than 44,000 appointments on the classified list of the civil serv-
ice, thus bringing them under the merit system , but this did not
prevent ^oree of the members of his cabinet from beginning the
redistribution of some of the better offices, even in the scientific
bureaus, immediately after the inauguration, March 4, 1893.
Opposed on principle to this feature of democracy, Mendenhall
felt such appointments and dismissals, thrust upon the Coast
Survey from the outside, to be an indignity tte still cherished
his old love for the profession of teaching and accordingly re-
signed his Washington post, 1m the Spring of 1894 in order to
accept the presidency of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in
Massachusetts* In making this,, move Dr. Mendeti^all entered
his protest against the ^fpoiptt^erit of moi to governmental posi-

NATIONAL ACADF y MY RIOGRAPf IICAI, MEMOIRS VOL XVI

tions of technical importance merely as a political reward and
without any desire to improve the service.

The summer of 1894 was spent abroad Then came seven
years of educational and administrative work in which the ef-
fort was, witn the aid of an able faculty, to secure the same high
ends which were sought at the Rose Polytechnic Institute. And
here again many extramural duties thrust themselves upon him.
Chief among these was perhaps the chairmanship of the Mas-
sachusetts Highway Commission, whose problems, following the
introduction of the automobile, were just then assuming a new
and first-rate importance It was about this time, 1895, that
the new series of Science was begun On the editorial commit-
tee, physics was represented by Dr. MendenhalL In this same
year, 1895, ne became a member of the Society for the Promo-
tion of Engineering Education; and so helpful and influential
was he in the Council of that body that, in 1911, the Society
elected him to honorary membership, the only distinction of
the kind it had then granted.

EUROPEAN RESIDENCE

In 1901, President Mendenhall celebrated his sixtieth birthday
anniversary, resigned his presidential office, and went to Europe,
with Mrs Mendenhall, in search of rest, recreation and health.
This trip proved to be a very long one, covering ten years. The
time was divided between the Azores, Geneva, Lucerne, Rome,
Florence, Lugano and other parts of Italy Dresden, Egypt,
India and Japan were also visited. The virarm even affec-
tionate reception which the Mendenhalls received, in 1911, dur-
ing their three months' stay in Japan was a grateful reward for
services performed thirty years earlier. Any student of mod-
ern Japanese history will be well repaid in reading Mendenhall's
excellent picture of the almost incredible changes which took
place in Japan within this brief third of a century. His paper
will be found in the Journal of Race Development, 2, 224-235,
(January, 1912).

344

THOMAS CORWIN MEND&NHAU, CREW

BACK TO OHIO

The last step in this long odyssey of eleven years brought the
travellers, m 1912, to Ravenna, the principal town of Portage
County, Ohio, in a neighborhood where relatives and old friends
awaited them Marlboro, the boyhood home of the Menden-
halls was only seventeen miles away: Cleveland only thirty in
the opposite direction Columbus was within easy reach
Ravenna offered much to a gentleman of leisure and a man of
cultivated tastes Here was a commodious home, genial friends,
good books, wide interests, peace of mind, otiwn cum digmtate.
Bereft, in 1916, of his devoted wife, the inspiring woman with
whom he had travelled more than forty years of life and the
mother of his worthy son, he was left much alone, yet with a host
of priceless memories Letters of sympathy came from many
parts of the world.

Within the next few years, the Franklin Institute bestowed
upon him the highest honor in its gift, the Franklin Medal. It
was upon this occasion that he gave some of his Metrologkal
Memories in the form of a highly interesting address. Here
he relates just how, on April 5, 1893, in a Ver 7 quiet, but
thoroughly open, manner the United States standards of length
and mass were shifted from the English yard and pound to the
International Meter and Kilogram.

No one can follow the details of this man's life without early
discovering his deep and lasting affection for Ohio State Uni-
versity. It was in this seat of learning that he first realized the
ruling passion of his youth Here he met his students a little
more intimately than elsewhere Members of his classes, among
whom I may mention Mrs. W. H. Siebert and Professor Charles
F. Scott, tell me that he never gave a lecture which did not chal-
lenge the interest of the hearer or one which was not, at some
point, enlivened by humor. Here he gave his best, without
money and without price. It was therefore a matter of deep
satisfaction to hifri and to a host* of his former students that
Governor James M Cox appointed him to the Board of Trus-
tees of this university, a body which shortly elected him to its
chairmanship. The new building devoted to physics Was ap-

345

NATION \L ACADEMY BiOGRAPH 1C \I, \IK\lOIRb VOL X\ I

propnateiy named the "Mendenhall Laboratory ?1 One of his
last and characteristic contributions to this university was the
endowment of the Joseph Sulhvant Medal (named m honor of
an old friend), to be given once in every five years for an ad-
mittedly notable achievement by a son or daughter of the uni-
versity.

His death occurred at Ravenna on March 22, 1924
This brief and inadequate sketch may perhaps be brought to a
close by a single paragraph from a universally beloved and life-
long friend of the man and of the university. In a letter to me
under date of February 16, 1934, President Emeritus William
H. Scott writes* <4 I knew Professor T C. Mendenhall well be-
fore I became associated with him as a member of the same
faculty, having met him at State Teacher's Associations, at a
county association of which he was one of the instructors, and
in rny own home As a teacher he was one of the two or three
best I have known clear, simple, attractive, and impressive
As a lecturer he excelled and was very popular As a member
of the faculty, he did his part with an eye to the whole as well
as to his own department Few men whom I have known had
so many friends and admirers. "

346

T HO MAS COR WI N M^ND^NHAU, CREW

BIBLIOGR VPHY ( )F THOMAS C MENDEXHALL

Experiments on the time required to communicate impressions to the
sensonum and the re\erse Amer Jour Sci , 102, 156-159.

1*73-

Experiments for the determination of the height to which liquids may be
heaped above the edge of a \essel Amet Jour St i , 105, 129-131.

1876

Effect of the increase of temperature on the index of refraction Amer
Join Sci , in, 406

1877.

On the exhibition in science teaching Report of T C Mendenhall to the
Ohio State Centennial Board Final Report of Ohio State Board of
Centennial Managers to the General Assembly of the State of Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio, 161-167.

1880.

Acceleration of gravity at Tokio Amer Jour Sci 120, 124-132.

1881.

Report on the meteorology of Tokio for the >ear 1880. Memoirs of Sci-

ence Dep't Unit 1 of Tokio No 7 pp 88, many plates Tokio.
On the determination of the force of gravity at the summit of Fujiyama,

Japan Amer Jour Sa , 121, 99-103
On the determination of the coefficient of expansion of a diffraction grat-

ing by means of the spectrum Amer Jour Sci , 12 i f 230-232
Wavelengths of some of the principal Fraunhofer lines Memoirs of

Scientific Dep't, Umv Tokio No 8 Tokio

1882.

Vice-presidential address before Section B, Montreal Meeting of Ameri-

can Association for the Advancement of Science Proc Amer. Assoc

Adv Sci, 31, 127-138,
A repetition of Buffon's experiment for the determination of at. Proc,

Amer Assoc Adv. Sci ji, iio-m
A biographical sketch of W. D. Henkle Ojuo Educational Monthly, 24,

1-7
On the influence Of time on the change in the resistance of the carbon

disk of Edison's Tasimeter Amer, Jout v$*a,, 124, 43-46.

188$

On a differential resistance thermometer Amer Jour Sci,, 130 H4-nt
The explosion at Flood Rock. Science, 6, 326-328

347

NATION \L ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

1886

On the electrical resistance ot soft carbon tinder pressure Amer Jour

Set , 132, 218-223

1887.

A Century of Electricity.
A volume in the Nature Series Macmillan London, pp 229 A second

edition appeared also as Vol I in the Riverside Science Series. Hough-

ton, Miflm & Co. 1890.
The characteristic curves of composition Science, 9, 237-249

1888.

Seisraoscopes and seismological investigations Amer Jour Sci , 155,
97-114.

1889.

Report upon the subject of weights and measures for the information
of the United States delegates to the International American Confer-
ence Washington; Government Printing Office, pp 8.

1890.

The United States Prototype Standards of Weight and Measure Ttans.
Amcr Inst Mining Engineers, 18, 716-723

Eight pages given to the history of standards in America, to the prepara-
tion of a Pt-Ir alloy for the International Bureau, and to a description
of the two prototypes which were received and opened by President Har-
rison and his Secretary of State, Jan 2, 1890.

On the relations of men of science to the general public A presidential
address before the American Association for the Advancement of Sci-
ence at the Indianapolis Meeting in 1890. Proc Amer Assoc Adv. $ci,
39> I-I5.

This address is m fact the reverse of the shield whose obverse was pre-
sented by Rowland in A Plea for Pure Science before the Minneapolis
meeting in 1883. It is here that Mendenhall, remarking upon the mod-
esty of men of science, insists that the few and unexplamable excep-
tions serve as whistling buoys to point out what ought to be avoided

On the use of the magnetograph as a seismoscope. Proc. Amer Assoc.
Adv. Sci., 39, 89.

Bulletins Nos 1-3 of U. S. Board on Geographic Names 3 vols Wash-
ington: 1890-91.

Report of studies of atmospheric electricity. Memoirs, Nat Acad $a

5, 113-318
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Reports for 1891, 1892, 1893,

Each in two parts, making about 1,000 pages each year.

348

THOMAS CORWTN MENDENHAIyt CREW

1893

Fundamental standards of length and mass Bull 26, U. S. Coast and

Geodetic Survey, pp 1-5 April 5, 1893

Units of electrical measure Bull 30, U S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Legal units of electrical units m the United States Bull 31, U. S Coast

and Geodetic Survey
Fundamental units of measure. Trans Amer Soc. Ciml Engineers, Oct ,

1893, 120-134
Brief history of our units of length, mass, time, and volume read before

the International Engineering Congress of the Columbian Exposition,

Chicago, 1893

1894

The "henry" Atlantic Monthly, May, 1894

Decisions of U S Geographic Board Washington 1892-94 Continued
in six pamphlets, Washington, 1895-98

Boundary line between Ohio and Indiana, and between Ohio and Michigan
jointly with A A Graham Ohio Archeological and Historical Quar-
terly, 4, 127-198

1806.

The Alaska boundary line Atlantic Monthly, 77, 517-526
H Helmholtz, Smithsonian Institution Annual Report 1895 Reprinted m
Science, Feb 7, 1896

1897

Twenty unsettled miles in the northeast boundary. Report of Council of
Amer Antiquarian Society, pp 25

1898.

Science and the Fair History of the World Columbian Exposition, Vol
3, 512-&3' (Appletons )

1899

In memonam, Edward Orton Address delivered at Ohio State Univ.,

Nov 26,1899. (Columbus' The University,)
Note An account of the raising of the first American flag on the brig

Nancy Proc Amer, Antiquarian Society, New Ser. 12, 425-431,

(Worcester 1899 )
Some neglected factors and forgotten facts Paper read before National

Educational Association, at a Columbus meeting, approximately 1898

1900.
The Alaska boundary line. Amer. Geog. Soc Jour f 32, 67-72.

349

ACAl>KM\ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOX, XVI

/OO/

Progress of physics in the Nineteenth Century. Sun Printing and Pub-
lishing Co. of New York Xew York Sun, Feb 17, 1901 Reprinted m
Smithsonian Institution Annual Report for 1000.

Progress of the Century Harpers pp 583 A symposium in which T C.
Mendenhall speaks for physics, in pp 303-329

Henry A. Rowland A commemorative address Physical Papers of
Henry A, Rowland, pp 1-17 (Johns Hopkins Press. Baltimore)

1904

Scientific, Technical and Engineering Education (Albany, NY J. B
L>on & Co ) Division of Exhibits, St Louis Exposition, pp 42

Ring pendulum method for the absolute determination of the acceleration
of gravity This idea of Dr T C Mendenhall's was put to experi-
mental test by his son at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1904 The results
were published m the Memoirs of the A" at A cad Sci 10 1-23 The
outstanding advantages of the method are, as stated by Professor C E
Mendenhall,
(i) A definite and easily observable length to measure, namely, the

external diameter of the ring.
(li) The great rigidity of the pendulum, hence but slight departure from

the measured figure when suspended
(111) Detection of, and partial correction for, non-homogeneity of the

pendulum

Some estimate of the accuracy of which the method is capable, in good
hands, may be obtained from the following results for two different
rings .

(i) g = 980.526
(11) g = 980511

1912.
Japan revisited after thirty years. Jour Race Development 2, 224-235

The relation of the Academy to the state and to the people of the state
An address at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
Ohio Academy of Science. Columbus Nov 26-27, 1915

Some metrological memories. Jour. Prankhn Inst, July 1918, 91-106
Baron Dairoku Kikuchi Monthly Weather Review 45, 603-605 (Wash-
ington, 1918).

350

THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHAU, CREW
1Q20

The Joseph Sullnant Medal, presented by Dr T C Mendenhall Hw-

toiy of Ohio State Univ _?, 239
Twenty-seventh annual report of the Massachusetts Highway Commission

(Boston, 1893-1920)
History of Ohio State University, Vol I, 1870-1910, by A Cope Edited

by T C Mendenhall

The coffin of Edwin Coppock Ohio Archeological and Historical Quar-

terly 30, 452-456

1923
Emerson McMilhn An address read at a meeting of the Ohio Academy

of Science m Oberhn, March 31, 1923 Pp. 15-

351

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

OF THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS

VOLUME XVI EIGHTH MEMOIR

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA

1861-1921

W. W. COBLENTZ

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1934

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA
1861-1921

BY W. W. COBI,NTZ

Edward Bennett Rosa, physicist, was born at Rogersville,
Steuben County, N. Y., October 4, 1861, and died suddenly
while engaged in work in his office at the National Bureau of
Standards at Washington, D. (j., in the afternoon of May 17,
1921.

He was the son of Reverend Edward David and Sarah Gil-
more (Roland) Rosa; the grandson of Cornelius and Mary
(Doty) Rosa; and a descendant of Albert Heymans Roosa, who
emigrated from Holland in 1660 and settled with his wife and
family of eight children on the Hudson River, near Newburgh,
N. Y.

He was married to Mary Evans, daughter of William W.
Evans of Harrisburg, Pa., on March 22, 1894. There were
no children.

As a son of a Methodist clergyman one can picture Rosa's
boyhood days amid religious and educational surroundings that
left an impress throughout his subsequent years. His college
education was obtained at Wesleyan University, Middletown,
Conn., from which he was graduated at the head of his class,
receiving the degree of B. S. in 1886.

After leaving Wesleyan University he taught physics and
chemistry m the English and Classical School in Providence,
R. I., where he remained two years. He then entered Johns
Hopkins University as a graduate student in physics (under
Henry A. Rowland, elected to the Academy in 1881), and re-
ceived the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In 1891. In 1906,
in recognition of his contributions to science, the honorary de-
gree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon him by Wesleyan
University.

During the first part of the year 1890 Dr. Rosa was assistant
professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin, leaving
there to become associate professor of pfyysics at Wesleyan Uni-

355

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI,. XVI

versity, m 1891, and professor of physics in 1892. He retained
the professorship of physics (the Charlotte Augusta Ayers'
professorship) for ten years, when, In 1901, he was called to the
newly-organized National Bureau of Standards, at Washing-
ton. There, as physicist, and later on, as chief physicist, he con-
tinued through the remainder of his life. His was a short span
of three score years one score of which was spent at the Na-
tional Bureau of Standards.

In stature Dr. Rosa was tall, well built, of distinguished and
healthy appearance. His life out of doors was abbreviated to
tennis playing. Its sudden termination was the result of a car-
diac disturbance of short duration. The signature under his
portrait, taken from an official report, was selected by one of
Rosa's former colleagues, as being representative of his style
when he was "feeling fine," and not overcrowded with work
But even then he was fairly deliberate in thought and action.

Dr. Rosa's interests in science and his outlook upon life were
broad. While he was not of the jovial type he was not without
a sense of humor. The writer recalls a staff meeting at which
a fellow member described a complex electrical device, said to
be capable of a wide range of uses. It was provided with a
series of automatic blocking switches to make it "fool proof"
from accidents. So much emphasis was placed upon the "fool
proof" feature that Rosa finally interrupted the presentation
with the comment that "fools should not be allowed to work
with it.* 5 This remark represents more than humor. It repre-
sents Dr. Rosa's administration of his division of the Bureau
with the best of equipment and the best of assistance to conduct
a magnificent program of work, some of which was in competi-
tion with similar, older foreign institutions.

Dr. Rosa was fully conscious of the possible narrowing influ-
ence of high specialization, such as obtains in the National Bu-
reau of Standards, and at a meeting of the Bureau's Physics
Club (devoted to a general review of scientific papers), he once
digressed from the topic under discussion, to emphasize that
an inevitable consequence of high specialization Is that "we grow
taller and thinner/* To the writer this condition seems prefer-

356

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA COBLENTZ

able to desiccation, or "flattening out" as a result of attempting
to "broaden out" a common failing However, in the National
Bureau of Standards, which owes part of its high standing to
Dr. Rosa and to which Rosa, m return, was indebted for the
opportunity to develop his latent abilities, the percentage of
"flats" is relatively small

In his personal relations with the other large subdivisions of
the Bureau, Rosa was very human, guarding jealously the inter-
ests and accomplishments of his own division, yet withal proud
and fair in his appraisal of the accomplishments of other divi-
sions The writer has reason to know this to be the case For
in his search for new thermoelectric material, and in his develop-
ment of bolometers and of magnetically highly shielded Thom-
son galvanometers (all electrical instruments), "for use in radi-
ometry," the writer was constantly overstepping the imaginary
boundary between the Optical Division and the Electrical Divi-
sion of the Bureau While this sometimes appeared to be dis-
appointing to Dr. Rosa, nevertheless he was evidently pleased
with the development of these instruments, particularly the gal-
vanometer, for he brought it to the attention of the members
of his staff, who met at his home one evening for a discussion of
work in his division.

Dr. Rosa's research work began at Wesleyan University,
where m association with Professor Wilbur O. Atwater, he
developed the physical side of the respiration calorimeter, known
under the joint name Atwater-Rosa respiration calorimeter.
The practical details of the construction of the instrument were
chiefly Dr Rosa's. This apparatus was of great value in the
pioneer investigations of the value of foods, and in the study
of problems in nutrition.

While at Wesleyan University he invented and developed a
curve tracer (the Rpsa curve tracer) for delineating the form
of alternating > electric currents, a problem of interest m the
operation of alternating currwt machinery. The original curve
tracer is still to be seen in the physical laboratory of Wesleyan
"University^ ' ', i , , 1 >< - ; . \

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

Probably the most important epoch in Dr. Rosa's scientific
life began in 1901 when he undertook work at the National Bu-
reau of Standards, under the directorship of Dr. Samuel W
Stratton (elected to the Academy in 1917). At that time the
major divisions in the Bureau were- I, Electrical; II, Weights
and Measures; III, Heat; IV, Optics, V, Chemistry each sub-
divided into sections, which increased m number with the com-
plexity of the work involved

In those days, the second in command was Dr. Rosa, ranking
physicist and chief of the electrical division, where from the
start he proved his abilities as an efficient administrator. He
kept in intimate contact with each section, and, in collaboration
with his section chiefs and their assistants, he conducted re-
searches ; notably in photometry, inductance, capacitance, etc.,
as evidenced by the appended bibliography of published papers.
While this did not "make men," it unquestionably was the best
arrangement for the accurate determination of the fundamental
electrical constants, which required the mature judgment of all
who were engaged in that work.

When Dr. Rosa began his work in the Electrical Division of
the National Bureau of Standards it was his ambition to deter-
mine a number of the fundamental electrical constants to a de-
gree of accuracy far exceeding all previous determinations. To
partly attain this goal he was singularly fortunate in having as
a co-worker, Dr. N. E. Dorsey.

One of these determinations was the ratio of the electromag-
netic and the electrostatic units. This work was started early
in 1907 in conjunction with Dr Dorsey, through whose skillful
and painstaking experimental technique there resulted the most
accurate determination yet made of this constant.

About 1907 Dr. Rosa with Dr Dorsey started their deter-
mination of the absolute value of the ampere. This work ex-
tended over a period of years, and gave a more reliable value
of the ampere than any previously obtained. In order to obtain
a concrete representation of the ampere, Dr. Rosa with the as-
sistance of Dr. G. W. Vinal carried on an investigation of the
silver voltameter simultaneously with the absolute determina-

358

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA COBLENTZ

tion of the ampere, and it is largely as a result of this work that
we are now able to define the ampere in a satisfactory manner.

Dr. Rosa served as secretary of the International Technical
Committee on Electrical Units and Standards. In order to at-
tain a better understanding of the methods used, and a better
agreement in the results, he was instrumental in procuring an
interchange of workers in the' three national standardizing
laboratories Great Britain, France and Germany.

In the accompanying photograph is shown an informal gather-
ing of part of the International Technical Committee on Elec-
trical Units and Standards, (left, Dr (now Sir) Frank E.
Smith of the National Physical Laboratory of Great Britain;
center, Prof F. Laporte, of the Laboratoire Central d'Electri-
cite, and right, Dr Rosa) taken at the National Bureau of
Standards in the spring of 1910, when this committee was en-
gaged in an intercomparison of the silver voltameters, standard
voltaic cells and standard resistances (in use in their respective
countries) with those at the Bureau of Standards

This interchange of workers, apparatus (standard incandes-
cent lamps as standards of the luminous intensity, standard vol-
taic cells, and standard resistances, etc.,) and of ideas, has been
of inestimable value in establishing the electrical and other units
upon a high plane of accuracy.

About this time the problem of electrical capacity and induc-
tance occupied Rosa's attention. He devised methods for meas-
uring these quantities, and, m some cases, with the assistance of
Dr. Louis Cohen, made calculations of the electrical characteris-
tics of coaxial coils (Bibliography papers 60 to 66). The ab-
solute measurements of inductance and capacity were made with
Dr. F. W. Grover (papers 53 to 56). The final contribution
consisted in collecting all the known formulas for computing
inductance, which collection is reported to be in use the world
over.

During this formative period of the National Bureau of
Standards, Dr. Rosa contributed considerably to the establish-
ment of units and a standard nomenclature in photometry. With
E C Crittenden and A. H. Taylor he conducted researches on

359

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

the flame standards. He took a leading part in securing inter-
national agreement on a standard of luminous intensity, main-
tained by mtercompanson of a series of incandescent lamps
that are frequently interchanged among the national standardiz-
ing laboratories.

Looking back over all these years of activity in the National
Bureau of Standards, it would appear that almost everything
was happening m the second epoch of its history, beginning in
the spring of 1905, when the Bureau was moved from its tem-
porary quarters, located in old dwellings down town, into its
new quarters in the then open fields, in the suburbs of Wash-
ington.

One of the "new things" was the observation by Dr. Dorsey
that the value of the standard resistances, used by him in the
determinations of electrical constants then in progress, under-
went a seasonal change, which subsequently was found to depend
upon the humidity. The writer vividly recalls Rosa's mental
perplexity in describing the phenomenon as they rode to the
Bureau by street car, the mode of transportation in those days.
The standard resistance boxes then in use consisted of coils of
wires wound on wooden spools, covered with shellac, and some-
times paraffin. The shellac, being hygroscopic, evidently
changed the tension on the wires (with change in humidity),
and hence the resistance, by a sufficient amount to be detected
by the observant Dorsey. Characteristic of his thoroughness,
Dr Rosa promptly started an investigation of this question (see
Bibliography paper No. 69), and brought out a new design of
resistance coil, wound on a metal form and sealed in kerosene
oil, which became the model for subsequent standard resistances.

Dr Rosa devised a new apparatus for determining the ab-
solute value of the ohm. Models of this apparatus, which were
tried in 1908 and 1909, gave promise of satisfactory results.
However, the pressure of other work compelled the abandon-
ment of this project; though he always hoped the time would
soon come when it could be continued.

In 1910 under Dr. Rosa's direction an exhaustive investiga-
tion was instituted into the subject of electrolytic corrosion of

360

EDWARD BENNETT

underground gas and water pipes, and lead cable sheaths, due
to stray currents from electric railways. This problem has for
years been one of major importance to public utility companies
throughout the country, and prior to the work taken up under
Dr. Rosa's direction at the National Bureau of Standards very
little definite information was available as to the laws govern-
ing electrolytic corrosion or the methods of mitigating corrosion
from this source. The work done under his direction included
a definite establishment of laws governing electrolytic corrosion,
and much progress was made in mitigating trouble of this nature.
This work has for a number of years been carried on in close
cooperation with the utility interests of the country through the
medium of the American Committee on Electrolysis, of which
Dr. Rosa was a member

During the War, Dr Rosa directed the development of a
number of scientific instruments which were of great value to
the American Forces in France. Among these were a sound
ranging device for locating big guns ; the geophone for the detec-
tion of mining operations , the development of aircraft radio
apparatus, and the improvement of radio direction finders by
which enemy ships and air craft could be located

Under his direction at the National Bureau of Standards was
established perhaps the finest radio research laboratory in the
country, and he always showed an intense interest in improving
apparatus and methods of radio communication

In addition to his diversified work in the field of electrical
research, Dr. Rosa was keenly interested m the prevention of
industrial accidents and in the promulgation of safety standards
for use by state, municipal and insurance organizations. He con-
ceived the idea of a National Electrical Safety Code, and the
present code is largely the result of his efforts. Similarly the
Bureau undertook a number of other national safety codes, the
Safety Code Section working under his direction.

His broad vision showed him the need of a central clearing
house for engineering standards. For years he worked whole-
heartedly to bring about the formation of such an organization,

361

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

It was due in no small measure to his efforts that the American
Engineering Standards Committee is now functioning.

One of the popular diversions is the repeated portrayal of
employes (Federal, state, and city) as a clamoring group of
mendicants, ever ready to receive the semi-monthly dole of salary
and ever ready to dodge service. The unfairness of the criti-
cisms must have irked Dr. Rosa, as it has others. He alluded
to it in his analysis of the employment policy of the Federal
Government, in an address entitled "Civil Service Reform a
Reorganized Civil Service/' before the Washington Academy of
Sciences on October 23, 1920, and in his analysis of "Expendi-
tures and Revenues of the Federal Government/* presented be-
fore the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
May, 1921. At the time they were issued these papers were
quoted by leading periodicals, as well as in both Houses of Con-
gress; and even after a lapse of almost fifteen years they are
still commended for their accuracy and their freedom from
political bias. While this sketch is being written the writer has
before him a letter, Sated July, 1934, in which the author (a*
civil service officer) expresses his surprise as to "how much
of the (Rosa) article has a vital bearing upon present civil
service problems "

According to one of the writer's informants, the analysis of
government expenditures and revenues came about soon after
the world war, when Rosa advocated, before the Congressional
Appropriations Committee, the expenditure of more money on
research, and was told that it would bankrupt the government.
Characteristic of the man, Rosa then presented his charts, show-
ing that, of the total net expenditures for the fiscal year 1920,
amounting to $5,687,712,848, only $57,368,774 (i 01 per
cent " ') was expended on research, education and development,
as compared with 23 7 per cent on the army and navy, and
almost 70 per cent on obligations arising from previous and re-
cent wars In making these comparisons, which appeared some-
what invidious, Dr. Rosa distinctly emphasized his belief in ade-
quate military preparedness. His analysis showed that in 1920,
of the total of $53.46 per capita revenue collected through taxa-

362

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA COBI^NTZ

tion, only 54 cents was spent for research, education and de\elop-
ment, and he was led to wonder whether, instead of this 54
cents per capita, il if twice as much had been spent, it would not
have* made the burden of taxation lighter instead of heavier,
by rendering a greater service to the people and creating wealth
and aiding industry m larger measure."

In 1900 the Ehott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute
was bestowed upon him in recognition of his work with the res-
piration calorimeter. That he did not receive more recognition
is noticeable , but m these days, with the newspapers filled with
pictures of people receiving trophies and medals for every
conceivable achievement, however trivial, such recognition would
probably have meant but little m Rosa's busy life.

Dr. Rosa was a charter member and one of the officers of the
Federal Club, an organization of executives of the various gov-
ernmental departments. He was a Fellow of the American In-
stitute of Electrical Engineers, the American Philosophical So-
ciety, the American Physical Society, the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (Secretary, Section B, 1898;
Vice President, 1910) , and a member of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences (elected in 1913), the Illuminating Engineering
Society, the Philosophical Society of Washington (vice-presi-
dent, 1907-12; president, 1912) ; the Washington Academy of
Sciences, the American Engineering Standards Committee, and
the (secretary) International Committee on Electrical Units and
Standards. He was a member also of the Cosmos Club of
Washington, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.

363

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOI, XVI

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PAPERS PUBLISHED BY
EDWARD B. ROSA

I. Determination of v, the ratio of the Electromagnetic to the Electro-
static Unit. Phil Mag., vol 28, pp 315-332, 1889

2 Specific Inductive Capacity of Electrolytes Phil. Mag, vol. 31,
pp. 188-207; 1891.

3. Further Experiments on the Specific Inductive Capacity of Electro-
lytes. Phil. Mag , vol 34, PP- 344-351 ,* i82

4 Self Induction and Capacity Electrical World, vol 25, pp 657-660;

1895

5. The Evolution of an Electric Motor. The Chautauquan, vol. 22;
U. S V 13, No. 4, Jan. 1896, pp 44I-45O

6 An Electrical Curve Tracer. Physical Review, vol. 6, pp. 17-42;
1898

7 A Resonance Method of Measuring Energy Dissipated in Condensers.
With A. W. Smith Phil Mag., vol 47, PP *9-4<>, 1899

8 A Calonmetnc Determination of Energy Dissipated in Condensers.
With A W. Smith Phil Mag, vol 47, PP 222-236, 1899

9. Derivation of the Equations of a Plane Electromagnetic Wave.
Physical Review, vol 8, pp 282-296, 1899

10 A New Respiration Calorimeter and Experiments on the Conserva-
tion of Energy in the Human Body With W. O Atwater Physi-
cal Review, vol 9, pp. 129-163, 214-251; 1899

11 A New Respiration Calorimeter. With W. O Atwater. Bull. 63,
U. 8 Department of Agriculture, pp. 1-94; 1899,

12. On the Metabolism of Matter in the Living Body. Physical Review,
vol 10, pp 129-150 , 1900.

13. The Human Body as an Engine. Popular Science Monthly, pp 491-
500; Sept 1900

14. Energy and Work of the Human Body. Popular Science Monthly,
pp 208-213; December 1900

15 The New Buildings for the National Bureau of Standards Science,
vol. 17, pp 129-140 , 1903.

16 The Organization and Work of the Bureau of Standards. Science,
vol 19, PP 937-949 , 1904

17. The National Bureau of Standards and Its Relation to Scientific and

Technical Laboratories Science, vol 21, pp 161-174; 1905.
18 The National Bureau of Standards. With S W. Stratton Trans

American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol 24, pp. 999-1050;

1905.
19. The Variation of Manganm Resistances, with Atmospheric Humidity.

With H D Babcock. The Electrician, vol 59, p. 339, June 14, 1907.
20 The Variation of Manganm Resistances with Atmospheric Humidity

The Electrician (London) , Nov. 15 , 1907.

364

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA COBLENTZ

21 An International Cooperative Investigation on Electrical Standards.

Science, vol 31, pp 608-611, 1910
22. Incandescent Electric Lamps as Photometric Standards With G. W.

Middlekauff Proc. American Institute of Electrical Engineers,

July 19 10

23 Report of Progress on Flame Standards. With E C. Crittenden.
Trans. Illuminating Engineering Society vol 5, pp 753-787 , 1910.

24 Photometric Units and Nomenclature Trans. Illuminating Engi-
neering- Society, vol 5, pp 473-500, 1910.

25 Insulation as a Means of Minimizing Electrolysis in Underground
Pipes With Burton McCollum. American Gas Institute, vol 57 ;
1911

26 Photometric Units and Standards Lecture in Johns Hopkins Course
of Collected Lectures, vol I, pp 387-410, 1911

27. The Work of the Electrical Division of the Bureau of Standards.
Science, vol 34, pp 8-19; 1912.

28 The Use of Gas for Heat and Power ; the Testing of Gas Centen-
nial Lecture at Philadelphia, April 19, 1912 Memorial Volume, pp.
157-195

29. The Legal Specifications of Illuminating Gas With R S. McBride.
Proc. American Gas Institute, 32 pp , October 1912.

30 The Effect of Electric Currents on Concrete With Burton McCol-
lurn. Paper given before the National Cement Association, Pitts-
burgh, December 1912

31. The International Candle Congresso Internazional Delle Applica-
ziom Electtriche Torino, 6 pp , 1912.

32 Work of the International Technical Committee on Electrical Units.
With F A Wolff Jour Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 2,
no ii, pp 259-267, June 4, 1912

33 The Silver Voltameter I. With G W. Vmal. Jour. Washington
Academy of Sciences, vol 2, no 19, pp 451-456; Nov. 19, 1912.

34 The Silver Voltameter II. With G W. Vmal and A. S. McDaniel.
Jour, Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 2, no. 21, pp 509-513;
December 19, 1912

35. The Silver Voltameter III. With G. W Vxnal and A. S. McDamel.

Jour Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 3, no 2, pp 40-45 , Janu-
ary 19, 1913.
36 The Silver Voltameter IV. With G. W Vinal and A. S. McDaniel.

Jour. Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 4, no 3, pp 52-53 ;

February 4, 1914.
37. Legal Specifications for Illuminating Gas. With R. S. McBnde.

B. S, Tech. Paper No. 14 31 pp ,* January 10, 1913.
38 Electrolysis in Concrete. With B. McCollutri and O. S. Peters.

B. S.'Xectu Pape* No, *8, 137 pp.; March 19, *9i3-
39. ^Harae Stariaid* pi ?fjotQnijd:ry w With, Ej C, Crittenden. B., 3. ScL

Paper 222; Bull, vol 10, pp. 557-595 ; April i, 1914.

. ' : '365

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL XVI

40. Bureau of Standards and the Central Station Industry N. E L A.
Bull n s. vol i, 8 pp. ; 1914

41. Recent Researches m Electricity at the Bureau of Standards. Jour.
Franklin Institute, pp. 539-559, November 1915.

42 The Function of Research in the Regulations of Natural Monopolies.
Science, N S. vol. 37, no. 955, PP 579-593; April 18, 1913; Jour.
Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 3, no 8, pp 201-222, April 19,

43. Electrolysis and Its Mitigation An account of the Work of the Bu-
reau of Standards on the Subject of the Destructive Effects of Elec-
tric Current on Reinforced Concrete and Underground Pipes and
Cable Sheaths and their Mitigation. Jour New England Water
Works Association, vol 29, no i, pp. 49-72, 1915.

44. Effect of Atmospheric Pressure on the Candlepower of Various
Flames With E C Cnttenden and A. H Taylor. Trans Illumi-
nating Engineering Society, vol 10, 24 pp.; 1915

45. The Integrating Sphere, Its Construction and Use With A. H.
Taylor, Trans. Illuminating Engineering Society, vol n, 21 pp ;
1916.

46. National Gas Safety Code Gas Institute News, pp 504-507, 1916.

47 The Silver Voltameter as an International Standard for the Measure-
ment of Electric Current With G W Vmal. Proc National Acad-
emy of Sciences, vol 3, pp 59-64 ; January 1917.

48 Economic Importance of the Scientific Work of the Government.
Jour. Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 10, no 12, pp 341-377 >
June 19, 1920 Scientific Monthly, vol ir, no i, pp 5-24, July 1920;
no 2, pp. 141-150, August 1920 ; no 3, pp 246-253, September 1920.

49 Civil Service Reform. Jour. Washington Academy of Sciences,
vol. 10, no 19, pp 533-558, November 19, 1920

50. Scientific and Engineering Work of the Government Mechanical
Engineering, vol 43, no 2, pp. ni~n8, February 1921.

51. Expenditures and Revenues of the Federal Government Annals
American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol 95, no.
I5i8, pp. 1-132, May 1921.

52. Atmospheric Corrections for the Harcourt Standard Pentane Lamp
With E C. Crittenden and A. H Taylor. Jour. Optical Society of
America, vol. 5, no 5, pp 444-452; September 1921

Bureau of Standards Publications

53. The Absolute Measurement of Inductance With F. W Grover.
B. S Bull , vol. i, pp 125-152 , October 15, 1904

54 The Absolute Measurement of Capacity. With F W Grover B S.

Bull, vol i, pp. 153-187, Nov i, 1904
55. Measurement of Inductance by Anderson's Method, Using Alter-

nating Currents and a Vibration Galvanometer. With F. W. Grover.

B. S. Bull , vol. i, pp 291-336 ; August 15, 1905.

366

EDWARD BENNETT ROSA

56 The Use of Serpentine in Standards of Inductance. With F W.
Grover B S Bull, vol i, pp 337-348, August 15, IQ05-

57 Wattmeter Methods of Measuring Power Expended Upon Con-
densers and Circuits of Low Power Factor. B S Bull , vol. i, pp.
383-397, September I, 1905

58 Influence of Wave Form on the Rate of Integrating Induction Watt-
meters With M G Lloyd and C E. Reid B S Bull , vol. i, pp.
421-434, August 15, 1905.

59 The Gray Absolute Electrodynamometer B S Bull, vol 2, pp.
71-86, January 30, 1905

60 Calculation of the Self -Inductance of Single-Layer Coils B. S Bull.,
vol 2, pp 161-187, March 15, 1906

61 Revision of the Formulae of Wemstem and Stefan for the Mutual
Inductance of Coaxial Coils B S Bull, vol 2, pp 331-357, Sep-
tember i, 1906

62 The Mutual Inductance of Two Circular Coaxial Coils of Rectangu-
lar Section. With L Cohen B. S. Bull, vol 2, pp. 359-414, Sep-
tember i, 1906.

63 On the Geometrical Mean Distances of Rectangular Areas and the
Calculation of Self -Inductance B S Bull , vol 3, pp 1-41 ; Novem-
ber i, 1906

64 The Compensated Two-Circuit Electrodynamometer B. S BulL,
vol 3, pp 43-58, November i, 1906.

65 The Mutual Inductance of a Circle and a Coaxial Single-Layer Coil.
The Lorenz Apparatus and the Ayrton-Jones Absolute Electrodyna-
mometer B S Bull, vol 3, pp 209-236; March I, 1907

66. The Mutual Inductance of Coaxial Solenoids With L. Cohen. B. S.

Bull, vol 3, PP 305-3 2 4, March 30, *907
67 A New Determination of the Ratio of the Electromagnetic to the

Electrostatic Unit of Electricity With N E. Dorsey B S Bull ,

vol 3, pp 433-6<>4, May 20, 1907

68. A Comparison of the Various Methods of Determining the Ratio of
the Electromagnetic to the Electrostatic Unit of Electricity. With
N E Dorsey. B. S, Bull , vol. 3, PP- 605-622, June 25, 1907.

69. The Variation of Resistances with Atmospheric Humidity. With
H D Babcock B. S Bull, vol 4, PP 121-140; October 4, *907

70. The Self-Inductance of a Toroidal Coil of Rectangular Section.
B S Bull, vol.4, pp 141-148, August 10, 1907.

71. On the Self-Inductance of Circles With L Cohen B S BulL, vol
4, pp. 149-159 ; August 10, 1907.

72 The Self and Mutual Inductance of Linear Conductors B' S Bull ,

vol. 4, pp 301-344," September 15, 1907-
73. The Self-Inductance of a Coil of Any Length wound with Any

Number of Layers ,of Wire. B. S Bull , vol 4, pp. 3(^9-381 ; October

12, 1907.

.367

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVI

74. Formulae and Tables for the Calculation of Mutual and Self -In-
ductance. With L. Cohen. B. S. Bull, vol. 5, pp. 1-132, October i t
1907.

75 A New Form of Standard Resistance B. S. Bull , vol. 5, pp 4*3-434 ;
October I, 1908.

76. A New Method for the Absolute Measurement of Resistance. B S.
Bull, vol. 5, pp. 499-509 ; February 27, 1909.

77. The Determination of the Ratio of Transformation and of the Phase
Relations in Transformers With M. G. Lloyd B. S Bull , vol 6,
pp. 1-30 ; February 25, 1909.

78. Photometric Units and Nomenclature B. S. Bull, vol. 6, pp 543-
572; May io 1910.

79. Formulas an4 Tables for the Calculation of Mutual and Self -In-
ductance. With F. W. Grover. B. S. Bull, vol. 8, pp 1-237; January
i, 1911.

80. A Determination of the International Ampere in Absolute Measure.
With N E Dorsey and J. M Miller. B S. Bull., vol. 8, pp 269-393 ;
September 9, 1911.

81. Special Studies in Electrolysis Mitigation I With Burton McCol-
lum. B. S. Tech. Paper No 27, 55 PP- >" 1914.

82 Special Studies in Electrolysis Mitigation II With Burton McCol-

lum and K. H Logan. B. S. Tech Paper No 32, 34 PP- 1 19*4
83. The Silver Voltameter Part I. With G. W. Vmal B S ScL

Paper No. 194, B. S Bull, vol. 9, pp. 151-207; 1912.
84 The Silver Voltameter Part II. With G W Vmal and A. S Mc-

Daniel. B. S. Sci Paper No. 195, B S Bull, vol. 9, pp 209-282;

1912

85. The, Silver Voltameter Part III. With G. W. Vinal and A. S. Mc-
Dafiel. B. S. Sci. Paper No. 201, B. S. Bull, vol. 9, pp. 493-551;
1913

86. The Silver Voltameter Part IV. With G. W Vinal and A S Mc-
Danlel. B. S Sci. Paper No. 220, B. S. Bull, vol 10; pp 475-536;
1914.

87. Flame Standards in Photometry With E C Crittenden. B. S Sci.
Paper No. 222, B. S Bull., vol. 10, pp. 557-596, 1914.

88. Volume Effect in the Silver Voltameter. With G. W. Vinal B S.
Sci. Paper No 283, B S Bull, vol 13, pp. 447-458; 1916

89 Summary of Experiments on the Silver Voltameter at the,. Bureau
of Standards and Proposed Specifications. With G. W. Vinal B. S.
Sci. Paper No. 285, B S Bull., vol 13, pp 479-515 ; 1916.

90 Theory, Construction, and Use of the Photometric Integrating
Sphere. With A. H Taylor. B S. Sci Pape)r No/ 447 B. S. Sci.
Papers, vol. 18, pp 281-326; 1922.

368

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