Boston City (part 17 of 67)

Trinity Church, the last and most conspicuous of the group of Back- Bay churches, occupies a more advantageous site than any other, allowing an irregular and picturesque disposition of the accessory chapel and cloisters. This building, a vigorous and striking example of the round-arched archi¬ tecture of the south of France, - not without a strong trace of Spanish influence, - is extremely interesting in many ways, but notably so from its grand central tower, at once the most massive and the most ornate archi¬ tectural feature in the city, but which, being on a scale suitable only to a cathedral, dwarfs every other feature of the composition ; and not less notably from its elaborate system of interior decoration, - a system devised upon a scale hitherto unattempted in this country, and carried out with gratifying completeness and success.

I have found it impossible within the limits of a chapter to present more than an imperfect view of what has been accomplished thus far in Boston in the line of architectural design. Enough has perhaps been said to show - what indeed an hour's walk through the city streets would exhibit much more impressively - the extraordinary change which has taken place even within the last twenty years in the public and private architecture. In the position and standing of the architects themselves, the change has been not less marked. The resources of the profession on the side of education and training are now ample. A school of architecture has been for some dozen years maintained by the Institute of Technology, under the direction of Professor William R. Ware, in which the course of instruction, modelled as far as practicable upon that of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, at Paris, has steadily and strongly furthered the growth of a severe taste in design, and has supplied the architects in active practice with a body of assistants well grounded in the principles of design, and with eye and hand trained to the appreciative use of the opportunities of office life. From such promising material are the ranks of architecture, year by year, recruited. Among so many active and well furnished minds, quickened by the stimulus of a gen¬ erous emulation, broadened and cultivated by foreign travel, supplied with abundant and fresh information of every architectural achievement at home and abroad, through the constant multiplication of photographs and build¬ ing journals, - one may hope, not unreasonably, that the future architecture of Boston is in safe hands.

By Joseph Lovering, Ll.D.

IV/TANA of the first settlers of Boston brought with them the science and culture of the Old World. But what was that science? Kepler indeed had announced his three laws, and died in the year in which Boston was founded. Galileo had made his discoveries and was ready to die. Bacon s great work had been published only ten years. Pascal and Torri¬ celli had not recognized and measured the weight of the atmosphere. The air-pump had not been invented. Newton was not born, and his discov¬ er ies in astionomy and optics were not even in embryo. The scientific socie¬ ties and academies of England, France, and Italy were not incorporated. 1 he foundations had not been laid for the observatories of Greenwich and Paris. The true shape of the earth was not suspected. The sciences of electricity, magnetism, heat, and chemistry were in a distant future.

John Wmthrop, son of the first governor of Massachusetts, was born in England in 1606 ; came to this country in 1633 and settled in Ipswich. His later history belongs to Connecticut, where he was governor in 1657, and from 1659 to 1676. On a visit to Boston m 1676 he was taken sick and died here. He was buried in the same tomb with his father, in the grounds of King's Chapel. He was skilled in chemistry and physics, such as they were then, and had the reputation of being one of the greatest natural philosophers of his age, - the equal of Boyle, Wilkins, or Oldenburg. He often revisited England, and maintained a correspondence with the chief scien¬ tific men of Europe. Had it not been for the concessions of Charles II.. the best scientific men of England would have joined Winthrop and established here a "soci¬ ety for promoting natural knowledge." As it was, Winthrop was one of the founders of the Royal Society of London, which began its meetings in 1 645 under the patron¬ age of the king.1 He was its official correspondent in the West, supplying it with specimens of the productions of this country, and descriptions of them. - His son, Fitz John Winthrop, was born at Ipswich in 1638, and died in Boston in 1707. Although constantly occupied with public trusts (being governor of Connecticut from

John Josselyn made two voyages to New England, in 1638 and 1663; and was here in all about nine years. He published in 1674 an account of these voyages, which includes notices of the natural history of the country, dedicated to the Presi¬ dent and Fellows of the Royal Society of London. In 1672 he published a book called New England Rarities discovered : in Birds , Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that Country. He gives the latitude of Boston as 42 " 30'; and the longi¬ tude as 3 1 50. His books contain a curious medley of science and nonsense.1

The Rev. John Sherman was born in Dedham, England, in 1613. He was educated at old Cambridge, and emigrated to this country in 1634. For the last thirty years of his life he was settled over the church at Watertown, where he died in 1685. He was twice married, and had twenty-six children. Dr. Mather 2 regarded him as " one of the greatest mathematicians that ever lived in this hemisphere of the world." The character of his astronomical calculations, of which he left many in manuscript, may be inferred from the fact that he published almanacs for several years (1650-61), to which were added pious reflections.

Charles Morton was born in England in 1626, and came to this country in 1685. He was settled as minister in Charlestown from 1686 to his death in 1698.3 He served Harvard College as a Fellow of the Corporation and Vice-President. He was eminent in mathematics, and his Compendium Physicee, though existing only in manuscript, was copied by the students and studied. He brought with him the repu¬ tation of being a gifted teacher, and excited the jealousy of Harvard College by drawing private pupils to Charlestown. He was a contributor in 1675 t0 the Philo¬ sophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

The Rev. Urian Oakes (1631-81) came with his parents to New England in 1634 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1649; was settled in Cambridge in 1671, and combined with his pastoral duties those of president from 1675 to 1681. In 1650 he calculated and published an almanac with the motto : " Parvum parva decent, sed inest sua gratia parva; " 4 being, as Cotton Mather says, " a lad of small, as he never was of great , stature."

The Rev. Samuel Danforth, the third minister of Roxbury, was born in England in 1626 ; came to New England in 1634; graduated at Harvard College in 1643 1 was ordained in 1650 ; and died in 1674. He incorporated into the records of his church observations on the weather and prevalent diseases of different years and seasons, on violent storms of snow and rain, and on earthquakes and meteors. " Several of his astronomical composures," says Dr. Mather, " have seen the light of the sun." He published almanacs for the years 1646-49 ; in 1665, Astronomical Description of the Comet of 1664, with brief theological applications thereof ; and in the church records he has left various memoranda.5

5 "Anno 1652, 9th day, 10th month. There appeared a cornet in ye heaven in Orion, which continued its course towd ot zenith fr ye space of a fortnight, viz., till Mr. Cotton's death." peared a comet in ye heavens. Ye first time I saw it, w:h was y- 5th of io'1' m, it appeared a little below the Crow's bill in Hydra, in ye Tropick of Capricorn or vr near to it. On ye 18th day it appeared in Canis major, 2 degrees be¬ low ye Tropick. On ye 19th day I observed it to passe o|v ye upper star in ye Hare's foot, about 2 degrees and y2 above ye Tropick. It continued till Feb. 4."

Boston And Science

Increase Mather was born in Dorchester in 1639 > graduated at Harvard Col¬ lege in 1656. He preached in the North Church, Boston, from 1661 to his death in 1 7 2 3 I and acted as president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701. Of his vol¬ uminous publications only two have a place here, - - namely, the Cometographia , and Heaven's Alarm to the World. These appeared on occasion of the blazing up of Newton's comet ot 1680, and Halley's comet of 1682. The author had studied the literature ot the subject ; but he sees in comets nothing but tokens of the displeasure of Heaven. I he connection is easily proved; as comets and calamities are both so frequent that there will always be a calamity for every comet, and a comet for every calamity.

Thomas Brattle was born in Boston in 1657, and graduated at Harvard College in 1676. He was chosen treasurer of the college in 1693, and held the office until he died in 1713. He was an eminent and generous merchant of Boston, with a taste for science, to which he devoted his leisure. He observed with a telescope the times of the beginning and end of the solar eclipse of June 12, 1694, when ten and a half digits were covered by the moon. A comparison of his observations with those made in London placed Boston in the longitude of 4'' 43111, or 70° 45' west of London. In the calculations required for this determination the latitude of Boston was assumed to be 420 25'; and this was the received latitude until about 1785. When or by whom it was obtained is not known : possibly by Mr. Brattle himself. Another eclipse of the sun was observed by him on Nov. 27, 1703 ; also two lunar eclipses, - one on Feb. n, 1700, the other on Dec. 12, 1703. 2 Science is also indebted to him for the earliest precise observation known to have been made on the variation of the magnetic needle, which he found to be, in 1 708, about 90 west of north. This obser¬ vation proves that the needle, which in 1782 varied less than 70 from the true north, but which since that time has been moving westward until now it is more than 90 west of north, has returned to the position which it held about two hundred years before ; and, therefore, that the changes are periodical. Mr. Brattle's name is perpet¬ uated in one of the streets and churches [ ?] of Boston.3

Paul Dudley was born at Roxbury in 1673; graduated at Harvard College in 1690; and died in 1751. He was raised to the Supreme Bench in 1718, and was afterwards chief-justice. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and published papers on the natural history of New England; also on the weather and the great earthquake of Oct. 29, 172 7. 4

John Winthrop, great-grandson of the first governor, and great-grandfather of the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, graduated at Harvard College in 1700. He spent the last part of his life in England, where he died in 1747. He became a conspic¬ uous member of the Royal Society, to which he presented six hundred specimens,5 chiefly in the mineral kingdom, collected in this country, accompanied by descrip¬ tions, - " thereby showing your great skill in natural philosophy, and, at the same time, intimating to England the vast riches which lie hidden in the lap of her prin¬ cipal daughter." These words were used by Dr. Mortimer in dedicating to Winthrop the fortieth volume of the Philosophical Transactions , who also says : " The extraor¬ dinary knowledge you have in the deep mysteries of the most secret Hermetic Science will always make you esteemed and courted by good men." The library of Harvard College contains a copy of this volume, presented by. " their very affectionate and most obedient humble servant, J. Winthrop."

Dr. Zabdiel Boylston came to this country and settled in 1635. His son> t'ie same name, was born in 1680; studied medicine with his father, and became an eminent physician in Boston. He is famous for having introduced into the country inoculation at the risk of his reputation and his life. He was led by his father to the study of natural history ; and collected the animals, insects, and plants of the New World and sent them to his correspondents in Europe. He and his father were mem¬ bers of the Royal Society of London. He died in 1766.1

The Rev. Thomas Prince was born in Sandwich in 1687, and graduated at Harvard College in 1707. From 170910 1717 he preached in England. He was ordained pastor of the Old South Church in 1718, where he remained until he died in 1758. His learning was extensive,'2 but in science, at least, not profound. He published an account of the first aurora borealis seen in Boston.

Edward Holyoke was born in Boston in 1689. After graduating at Harvard Col¬ lege in 1705, he was librarian (1709-12), tutor (1712-16), and president from 1737 to the time of his death in 1769. In 1716 he was settled over a church in Marblehead. He was distinguished for His. knowledge of mathematics and natural philosophy.

Nathan Prince, brother of Thomas, was born in Sandwich in 1698, and gradu¬ ated in 1718. Pie had the reputation of superior genius. In mathematics and natural philosophy he was said to have no equal in New England; but nothing remains to sustain this high reputation. He died in 1 748, in Ruatan, in the Bay of Honduras.

Thomas Robie was born in Boston in 1689, and graduated at Harvard College in 1708. He was tutor, librarian, and Fellow of the college, and died in 1729. He published an account of a remarkable eclipse of the sun on Nov. 27, 1722 ; also, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, papers on the Alkaline Salts and the Venom of the Spider (1720-24). The following extract from the diary of Presi¬ dent Leverett shows the estimation in which he was held : " It ought to be remem¬ bered that Mr. Robie was no small honor to Harvard College by his mathematical performances, and by his correspondence thereupon with Mr. Durham and other learned persons in those studies abroad."

In continuing this history it will be instructive to arrange the materials under a few general heads, - I. Mathematics and Astronomy. II. Physics and Chemistry. III. Natural History.

Thomas Clap was born in Scituate in 1 703, and graduated at Harvard College in 1722. In 1826 he was ordained pastor of the church at Windsor, Conn. He was president of Yale College from 1740 to 1766, and died in 1767. President Stiles says that he studied mathematics in the higher branches, and was one of the first philoso¬ phers America had produced ; "that he was equalled by no man except the most learned Professor Winthrop." He published Conjectures upon the Nature and Motion of Mete¬ ors which are above the Atmosphere ; and constructed in 1743 the first orrery made in this country. This orrery, which was placed in the library of the College, represented on a large scale the orbits of the planets at their proper relative distances, with their inclination, eccentricity, and perihelia; also their satellites, and part of the orbit of Halley's comet, which was expected to return in a few years. There was no system of wheels for moving the parts, but the bodies were put by the hand in their appropri¬ ate places for any given time.1

John Winthrop was born in Boston, Dec. 19, 1714; graduated at Cambridge in 1732 ; and was Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from 1738 to his death, May 3, 1779. He was as zealous in the advancement of science as he was gifted in teaching. In mathematics and astronomy he had no equal in America, and his reputation was great in England and France. He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and was a member of the Royal Society of London. At home he was a member of the Governor's Council, as his father and grandfather had been before him. In the Revolution he was a stanch Patriot, and in company with Dexter and Bowdoin he was honored by the marked disapproval of the English Government. His learning and accomplishments, outside of his profession, elicited the admiration of Dr. Chauncy and President Stiles. Professor Winthrop was fortu¬ nate in living at a time when he could be a witness of three celestial occurrences of transcendent importance to the progress of astronomy ; namely, the first, predicted return of Halley's comet in 1759, after an absence of seventy-seven years, and the transits of Venus across the sun in 1761 and 1769. In 1739 the accuracy of astro¬ nomical prediction was on its trial, and, months before the time of the expected visit, astronomers were at their posts and looking ; but they were all anticipated by a Saxon peasant who saw first the comet on Dec. 25, 1758. Winthrop saw it on April 3, 1759. This was the occasion of his two lectures on Comets, read in the College chapel and printed in 1759, and reprinted in 181 1. These lectures are a valuable contribution to the literature of the subject. In 1766 he wrote an essay in Latin on Comets, which was communicated by Dr. Franklin to the Royal Society,2 and printed in London. He observed the comets of 1769 and 1770, - -one remarkable for its brilliancy and the other for the disturbances which Jupiter inflicted upon its orbit, - and published an account of them in the Boston papers. Professor Winthrop' s views of the nature of heat were greatly in advance of the science of his day.

In 1740 Professor Winthrop had observed a transit of Mercury over the sun. His observations were printed in London,3 and mentioned with favor in the Memoirs of the French Academy. These transits were valuable in correcting the orbit of Mercury, but they were not of vital significance for the measurement of the solar system. In

1761, and still better in 1769, opportunities were presented for doing a great work in astronomy, - opportunities which would not be repeated until 1874 and 1882, and which will not occur at all in the next century. Cambridge was fortunate in having a

1 [This engraving follows a photograph kindly furnished by Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., who has inscribed on the back of it: "Hon. John Winthrop, LL.D., F.R.S., for forty years pro¬ fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, member of the Executive Council of Mass., author of various astronomical treatises ; a well known Revolutionary Patriot. Born, Dec. 19, 1714; died, May 3, 1779. He was also for some time Judge of Probate, librarian of Har¬ vard College, and one of the founders of the American Academy. He married, first, Rebecca, daughter of James Townsend and step-daughter of Rev. Charles Chauncy ; and, second, Hannah, man able and disposed to participate in an important scientific enterprise, the ultimate success of which depended upon the consenting efforts of many astronomers. The following extracts from the votes of the House of Representatives will show the inter¬ est inspired by his own enthusiasm.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, - I have received a Letter from Professor Winthrop, wherein he offers his Service to go to Newfoundland to observe the Transit of Venus over the Sun on the Sixth Day of June next. You must know that this Phenomenon (which has been observed but once before since the Creation of the World) will, in all Probability, settle some Questions in Astronomy which may ultimately be very serviceable to Navigation. For which pur¬ pose those Powers that are interested in Navigation have thought it their business to send Mathe¬ maticians to different parts of the World to make Observations. And as the Comparisons of the Observations in the different Parts of the Earth will be the principal Means of making the Discov¬ eries useful, His Majesty has sent a Man-of-War, with Mathematicians to be stationed in different Parts of the East Indies, etc., and the French King and some other Powers have done the same. It happens that this Phenomenon is not to be seen in North America except the most Northern Parts, of which Newfoundland exhibits the best view; I cannot, therefore, excuse myself recom¬ mending to you to enable Mr. Winthrop to take a view from thence. The best and least expensive Method I can think of is this: that the Province Sloop, which a little before that Time will be obliged to be sent to Penobscot, may proceed from thence with the Professor to Newfoundland.

If you will signify your Approbation of this, I will order it ; and I can assure you that we shall hereby serve the Cause of Science, and do credit to the Province.

" That his Excellency the Governor be humbly requested to direct Captain Saunders, Master of the Sloop in the Province Service, to wait on John Winthrop, Esqr, Hollisian Professor of Mathe¬ matics and Philosophy at the College in Cambridge, and him in said sloop to attend and convey, with the Apparatus and other Necessaries, to the Northeast Part of Newfoundland, or to such Places as the Professor shall judge proper ; and when his Observations are compleated, and Mr. Winthrop shall direct it, that Captain Saunders attend on and convey Mr. Winthrop back to Boston."

Professor Winthrop embarked from Boston on May 9, taking with him the College instruments and two members of the Senior class ; and after a passage of thirteen days arrived at St. Johns. He says : " The reception I met with there was suitable to the consequence of my Commission and the dignity of my Employers." After some fatiguing and fruitless attempts, a convenient locality was selected on a com¬ manding eminence, which was afterwards christened Venus Hill. Swarms of re¬ lentless insects had possession of the hill, and annoyed the new comers by day and night ; but in spite of them the clock and other instruments were put in work¬ ing order. " Thus prepared we waited for the critical hour, which proved favorable to our wishes." The transit had begun before sunrise in any part of America, except Labrador ; but on June 6 the sun rose at St. Johns at 4'' i8m, and with Venus upon its disc, where the planet remained until 5'1 6m. On his return Mr. Winthrop published an account of his voyage and his observations.

daughter of Thomas Fayerweather and widow of Parr Tolman. The latter was the well known correspondent of Mrs. John Adams. Photo¬ graphed in 1878 from the original portrait by Copley, belonging to Professor Winthrop's greatgrandson, Colonel John Winthrop of Louisiana, and now at Newport. This portrait was for¬ merly loaned to Harvard College and hung in Plarvard Hall. It is in very bad order." See also Perkins's Copley's Life and Paintings , p. 124, - a book which the Editor has found of con¬ stant service. - Ed.]

In anticipation of the transit of June 3, 1769, Professor Winthrop read two lectures in the College chapel, which were published with this motto : Agite mortales ! et oculos in Spectaculum vertite, quod hujusque spectaverunt perpaucissimi, spectaturi iterum sunt nulli. It was the wish of the astronomer, Dr. Maskeline, that Mr. Winthrop should go to Lake Superior, where the beginning and end of this transit would be visible ; but his health prevented him, and he was obliged to content himself with seeing no more than other astronomers in the American Colonies, - namely, the beginning of the transit ; as the sun set before the transit was over. Professor Winthrop also observed the transit of Mercury on Jan. 20, 1763d

James Bowdoin was born in Boston in 1727, graduated at Harvard College in 1745, and died in 1790.1 2 * Inheriting a large fortune, he was able to devote himself to public affairs, in which he took always a conspicuous part before and after the Revolu¬ tion. He was president of the convention which formed the State government, and was governor in 1785 and 1786; but he is here to be commemorated as a princely patron and cultivator of science. Before Harvard Hall was burned in 1 764 he had given largely to the philosophical apparatus ; and after the fire he contributed more than any one else to repair the loss. He was the first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (incorporated May 4, 1780), and delivered a public inaugural address, November 8, on the Benefits of Science. This address is a run¬ ning commentary on the following clause of the Act of Incorporation : -

" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the end and design of the institution of the said Academy is to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of the natural history of the country, and to determine, the uses to which the various natural pro¬ ductions of the country may be applied; to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathemat¬ ical disquisitions, philosophical enquiries and experiments, - astronomical, meteorological, and geographical observations, and improvements in agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce ; and, in fine, to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dig¬ nity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people."

Mr. Bowdoin corresponded with Dr. Franklin, and the letters have been published. He also printed three memoirs on the Theory of Light.8 Dr. Franklin had criticised the corpuscular theory of light,4 which the authority of Newton's great name had brought into universal acceptance, and suggested a theory of undulations similar to that which at the present day has no competitor. Franklin probably did not know that Hooke and Huyghens, a century earlier, had held the same view, and carried it to finer issues. Mr. Bowdoin attempted to answer Franklin's objections to the New¬ tonian doctrine of light ; and finally launches forth into speculations which had but little support in fact, as may be inferred from the subject of his third memoir, which was : Observations tending to prove, by Phenomena and Scripture , the Existence of an Orb which surrounds the whole visible material System ; and which may be necessary to preserve it from the Ruin to which, without such a Counterbalance, it seems liable by that universal Principle in Matter, - Gravitation. At this time the elder Herschel was indulging in bold speculations concerning the construction of the heavens, Dut his speculations were ballasted by the weighty observations furnished by his gigantic

Andrew Oliver was born in Boston in 1731, and graduated at Harvard College in 1749- After his marriage he removed to Salem, where he was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas before the Revolution, and where he died in 1799. He had a taste for mathematics and natural philosophy. He wrote an Essay on Comets, which was pub¬ lished in 1772, and' again in 1811. It was translated into French at Paris, and the eminent but ill-fated historian of astronomy Bailly refers in favorable terms to Mr. Oliver's arguments and conjectures in relation to the tails of comets. Mr. Oliver's application of Franklin's electrical repulsion to the case suggested to Bailly a resem¬ blance between his views and those of Buffon in regard to heat and light, and he con¬ cludes his analysis of the essay with these words : " Tout cet ouvrage est infinitement ingenieux ; le systeme est tres-vraisemble : et peutetre l'application de la force re¬ pulsive et des phhnomenes electriques aux phhnomenes de la queue des cometes merite-t-elle un autre nom." Many years afterward De Luc > produced views upon the constitution and use of comets closely resembling those of the Essay. Mr. Oliver also published two other papers,2 - one on Thunder-storms, and the other on Water-spouts. He was a member of the American Academy and of the Philosophical Society.3

Edward Wigglesworth was born in 1732, graduated at Harvard College in 1749, and was Hollis Professor of Theology from 1765 to his death in 1794; retiring, how¬ ever, from active service in 1791. He manifested considerable interest in science, observing the total eclipse of the sun Oct. 27, 1780. He published in 1775 calcu¬ lations on American population; and, in 1791, tables showing the probable duration and expectation of life in Massachusetts, etc.4

Joseph Willard was born in Biddeford, Maine, in 1738, and graduated at Harvard College in 1765 ; where he was tutor from 1766 to 1772, and president from 1781 to his death in 1804. Between 1772 and 1781 he was pastor of a church in Beverly. At school he manifested a taste for arithmetic and navigation, and at college for mathematics. The duties of a minister or a president are engrossing; but Mr. Willard found, or made, time to gratify his scientific taste, especially for astronomy.5 At Beverly he observed the solar eclipse of Oct. 27, 1780 ; at the president's house in Cambridge, the lunar eclipse of March 29, 1782, the solar eclipse of April 12, 1782, and the transits of Mercury of Nov. 12, 1782, and Nov. 5, 1789. President Willard also cultivated mathematical astronomy. He constructed tables for facilitating com¬ putations, and himself computed the longitude of Cambridge from Greenwich and Paris by a comparison of the observations made in Europe and in this vicinity on the solar eclipses of Aug. 5, 1776, and June 24, 1778 ; and on the transit of Mercury of 5> x743> and the transit of Venus of June 3, 1769. His result for the distance of Harvard Hall west of Greenwich (namely, 4'1 31 ) was probably as exact as that for any two places on the earth at that time, if determined without the aid of geodesy. There is evidence that Dr. Bowditch, whose standard of excellence was high, placed President Willard among the few good mathematicians of New England.6 - The Rev. Manasseh Cutler was settled within eight miles of Beverly, and observed with Mr.

Willard the solar eclipse of Oct. 27, 1780. He also observed at Ipswich the transit of Mercury, Nov. 12, 1782 ; an eclipse of the moon, March 29, 1782 ; and an eclipse of the sun, April 12, 1782.1

Phillips Payson was born in Walpole in 1 736, graduated at Harvard College in 1754, and was ordained minister at Chelsea in 1757, where he continued to preach until his death in 1801. 2 He had a zeal for science, especially mathematics and natural philosophy. In a communication to the Academy, of which he was a mem¬ ber, he says : 3 -

"The extensive territories of the United States of America are a foundation in nature of a vast empire. The geography of its interior parts, though of great importance, is at present but little better than conjectural ; to perfect which, and fix the interesting boundaries and lines, the best and indeed the only proper method is that of astronomical observations, which it is probable the Supreme Council of America will soon adopt, now the glorious revolution is so happily completed. To promote such observations, both at noted headlands upon the sea-coast and at distant places in the interior country, highly merits the attention of this Academy. For though they should not at first be made with such accuracy as modern astronomy can boast of, they will prove great helps for future improvements."

As his contribution to this end, he observed many eclipses of Jupiter's satellites in 1779 ; the solar eclipses of June 24, 1778, of Oct. 27, 1788, and of April 12, 1782 ; the lunar eclipses of May 29, 17 79, and of Nov. 11, 1780; also the transit of Mercury, on Nov. 12, 1782. From his observations he calculates the latitude and longitude of Chelsea.

Daniel Treadwell, who is described as an " eminent mathematician," was born at Portsmouth, N.H., and graduated at Harvard College in 1754. In the same year he was elected professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in King's College (now Colum¬ bia College), New York; but consumption put an end to his career in 1760, when he was only twenty-six years old.

John Hancock, who graduated at Harvard College in 1754, who put his name to the Declaration of Independence and was afterward governor, deserves to be men¬ tioned as a liberal patron of science, giving five hundred pounds to replace the library and philosophical apparatus of Harvard College, in fulfilment of a purpose which his uncle had failed to express in his will.

Samuel Williams was born in Waltham in 1 743, and graduated at Harvard College in 1761. He was settled over a church in Bradford in 1765, where he remained until 1 780. Scientific tastes were early developed in him, for he was one of the two mem¬ bers of the Senior class selected by Professor Winthrop to assist him in the observa¬ tions of the transit of Venus in 1761, because they had made "good proficiency in mathematical studies." Mr. Williams observed the lunar eclipses of Nov. 12, 1761, and March 1 7, 1 764, both at Waltham. While at Bradford he observed the lunar eclipses of April 6, 1773, July 30, 1776, Dec. 3, 1778, and May 29, 1779; and on the last night an eclipse of Jupiter's second satellite. He also observed the solar eclipse of June 24, 1778, which was almost total in New England, and wholly so in some of the Southern States.4 The Rev. Samuel Williams succeeded Mr. Winthrop in the professorship of mathematical and physical science in 1780, having already mani¬ fested great zeal in the study of astronomy.5

5 Although eclipses of the sun are more fre¬ quent than those of the moon, a total eclipse of the sun is visible only within an area of about one hundred and seventymiles in diameter, and

Caleb Gannett was born in Bridgewater in i 745, and graduated at Harvard College in 1763. From 1767 to 1771 he preached in Nova Scotia, and then for two years in New England. He was tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy between 1773 and 1780, and bursar from 1779 to his death in 1818, taking a great interest in astronomy and meteorology, and co-operating in observations of the eclipse of the sun Oct. 27, 1780. After Professor Winthrop's death Mr. Gannett gave his lectures for one year. As an executive officer he was a model.1

The scientific attainments of 1 heophilus Parsons would have saved his name from oblivion, though they were only a part of his universal accomplishments, and were overshadowed by his great reputation as a lawyer and judge. He was born in By¬ field in 1 750 ; graduated in 1 769 ; practised law, at first in Falmouth, and in Byfield and Newburyport after 1775 ; removed to Boston in 1800, where he died in 1813. He was chief-justice from 1806 to the time of his death. Master Moody, principal of Dummer Academy, liked to boast of his brilliant pupils, - such as Willard, Webber, the favored spot is as likely to be in a savage country or in mid-ocean as along the great high¬ way of civilization. Nowadays, when a total eclipse will not come to the astronomer the as¬ tronomer pursues it even to the ends of the earth. Only two total eclipses of the sun have been visible in the United States during the present century ; namely, those of 1S06 and 1869, - the first visible in Boston about high noon on a June day, to the astonishment of the whole animal creation ; the second seen in the Western States. When calculations indicated that a total eclipse of the sun might possibly occur on Oct. 27, 17S0, in the eastern part of this State (now Maine), the University at Cam¬ bridge and the American Academy desired that it should be properly observed. What efforts were made to secure this end will appear from the following extract : -

Whereas, representations have been made to this Court by the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq. and others, lovers of learning and mankind, that on the 27th of October next there will happen in the neighbourhood of Penobscot a central and total eclipse of the sun, a phenomenon never apparent in these States since their settlement, and as ob¬ servations thereon may be of much consequence in science, particularly in geography and navigation ; and that the Rev. Samuel Williams, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the University of Cambridge, in this State, will be ready to give his aid, with such assist¬ ance as may be proper, to make the necessary observa¬ tions at the most convenient place near Penobscot ; there¬ fore -

" Resolved , That the Board [of war] be, and they are here¬ by, ordered and directed to fit out the State galley with proper stores and accommodations for the conveyance of the Rev. Samuel Williams, Hollis Professor of mathematics and natu¬ ral philosophy, and such attendance as he may think proper to take with him, to make the aforesaid observations on the central and total eclipse of the sun, which will happen on the said 27 day of October at or near Penobscot, and that the Council be, and they are hereby, requested to write proper letters to the British commander of the garrison at Penobscot, that the important designs of the said observa¬ tions may not be frustrated."

I his prompt action by the Government, at a period when the people were burdened with the anxieties and expenses of a protracted war, manifests an appreciation of the utility and nobility of science which has not been sur¬ passed, if it has been equalled, in the times of its greatest prosperity.

On October 9 Professor Williams embarked on the " Lincoln " galley with Professor Sewall, James Winthrop, the librarian, one graduate, and six students, taking with him the necessary in¬ struments from the College. The party arrived on the seventeenth, and remained as long as they were permitted ;- namely, to the twenty-eighth. Though somewhat embarrassed by military or¬ ders, they placed their instruments on Long Island, in Penobscot Bay, and took their obser¬ vations. The eclipse just failed of absolute totality. The error was in the old maps. A fine thread of light, broken into drops, remained on one side of the sun. Venus, Jupiter, and the bright stars showed themselves. During one hour and nineteen minutes, while the eclipse was progressing, two thirds as much dew was deposited as on the whole of the preceding or following night. At Cambridge, Professor Williams observed the lunar eclipses of Nov. 11, 17S0, March 28, 1782, Sept. 10, 1783; and the solar eclipse of April 12, 1782 ; many eclipses of Jupiter's satellites in 1782; and the transit of Mercury on Nov. 12, 1782. He observed, at Newbury, the transit of Venus in 1769. Pro¬ fessor Williams also made special observations to ascertain the latitude of Harvard Hall, which he put down in 17815 as 420 23' 28.46". He re¬ tired from his office in 1788, and passed the remain¬ der of his life in Rutland, Vt., where he died in 1817. At this place he observed the solar eclipse of June 10, 1806; but it was not total at that place.

Parsons, etc., - and, himself a bachelor, to call them his children. While in college young Parsons calculated the total eclipse of the sun in 1806. As the time of the event drew near, lie was nervous from fear of losing it ; but he observed it from the top of his house, with a telescope furnished by Dr. Prince. In 1 786 1 he contributed a paper on the method of calculating the azimuth of a telescope by observations on the pole-star at its upper and lower culminations. His favorite science to the end of his life was mathematics ; and geometry rather than the calculus. He made models to illustrate the conic sections. Dr. Bowditch,2 in describing the advantages of his own method of working a lunar observation, says : " These improvements were made in consequence of a suggestion of the late Chief-Justice Parsons (a gentleman eminently distinguished by his mathematical acquirements), who had somewhat simplified Witchell's process." In 1847 the astronomer Airy made a still further extension of the idea which Mr. Parsons had entertained in 1807. Two of Mr. Parsons's mathemati¬ cal papers were published by his son in 1859, - one on the roots of affected equa¬ tions, and the other on parallel lines, on which he was busy during the summer before he died. His house was supplied with a variety of physical apparatus, magnets, microscopes, and electrical machines, with which he and his friend Dr. Prince delighted in experimenting. He imported Rumford's cooking apparatus, and experimented upon it in his own kitchen. The chief-justice also took delight in making his own soda-water with Woulfe's apparatus for impregnating water with carbonic gas.3

James Winthrop graduated in the same class with Mr. Parsons. He was librarian of the College from 1772 to 1787, and fought at Bunker Hill. Afterward he was judge of probate, and died at Cambridge in 1821. He inherited some taste for science, observed from the president's house the transit of Mercury Nov. 12, 1782; pub¬ lished two mathematical papers, and also- an account of an ancient eclipse of the moon seen at Jerusalem. and mentioned by Josephus, which had been used by Whiston to settle the date of the birth of Christ.4

The invention of some kind of machinery for illustrating the celestial mechanism dates back to the time of Archimedes.5 Rittenhouse of Phila¬ delphia has had the credit of having constructed the first orrery with wheels in this country, in 1768.6

Boston had its orrery as well as Philadelphia, but it came a few years later. Its history is curious, and reflects some light on the science and habits of the last century. This orrery introduces us to Mr. Joseph Pope, who was born in Hollis Street, Feb. 1, 1750, being one of twelve children.

day as miracles of mechanical skill and astronom¬ ical learning. Of one of these, which antedated the Christian era by eighty years, it was said that if it were seen by a barbarous people it would seem to be made, if not actuated, by perfect reason. Another, constructed in the sixth century, was described as a " machine pregnant with the uni¬ verse ; a portable heaven ; a compendium of all things." The Copernican system of astronomy introduced changes of construction ; and what is now called an orrery (in compliment to the Earl of Orrery, a patron of the art) was invented in England by Graham in 1700. Ferguson de¬ vised and executed another in 1743. Long, the professor of astronomy in Cambridge, England, had completed in 1758 his enormous astronom¬ ical machine eighteen feet in diameter, within which thirty persons might sit comfortably. It has stood for one hundred years, and perhaps still stands, in Pembroke College, to amuse visi¬ tors, if not to popularize astronomy according to the design of its inventor.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen he went to Maryland and learned the trade of watch-making. 1 hen he spent some time in Europe. Returning to Boston he applied himself to his trade, devoting his leisure, however, to the study of navigation and mathematics with his brother Robert. Meet¬ ing in some book with a description of an orrery, he conceived the idea of making one after his own plan. It was finished in 1786, and embodied ten years of his best labor and thought. It was deposited in an upper chamber of his house in Washington Street, where it had a narrow escape from being burned. Governor Bowdoin, who had been interested in it, when he heard of its danger, sent six men with a cart and blankets to rescue it. YV ith difficulty it was brought down the stairs (Mr. Pope him¬ self tearing away the balusters), and taken temporarily to the Governor's house, and afterward to Mr. Pope's new residence on Essex Street. There it was visited by hundreds a day. His daughter has written out interesting reminiscences of her father, describing his various other inventions; his visit to London in 1788, where he remained fourteen months; the kindness he received from Sir Joseph Banks, and his correspondence with Jefferson and Lafayette.

Mr. Pope moved to Hallowed, Me., about 1818, and died there in 1826. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Robert Pope, of Gardiner, has inherited a curious clock made by Mr. Pope in 1780, which stiil runs accurately. Numerous hands indicate the local time in twenty-four different longitudes, the place of the sun in the zodiac, and the phases of the moon.

A description of Pope's orrery was published in the Memoirs 1 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he was chosen a mem¬ ber in 1788. A committee of the Academy, consisting of Richard Cranch, Samuel Williams, Joseph Willard, Caleb Gannett, and Loammi Baldwin, ex¬ amined the orrery and made a favorable report upon it on February 22 of that year.2 On the petition of the Lieut. -governor and seventy others an Act was passed by the General Court,3 and signed by John Hancock, granting a lottery for the purpose of raising a sum not exceeding £550, to be expended in the purchase of Pope's orrery for Harvard College. Three men of character and influence were appointed managers, and gave bonds for ,£2,000. The penalty for counterfeiting the tickets was £hoo fine, or whipping, or standing in the pillory. Some of the reasons for the Act are set forth in these words selected from the preamble : " And whereas, this Court are willing at all times to encourage the efforts of ingenuity, and to aid a plan which has the advancement of science and the public good for its object." The managers issued a circular, Dec. 3, 1788, announcing the scheme of the lottery, and then said : 4 -

The managers flatter themselves that the above scheme is calculated to give a fair chance to all who may become adventurers, and holds up every pecuniary advantage that can be reasonably expected. But this lottery, besides holding out to those who embark in it a capital opportunity of benefit, comprises two other important objects which must deeply interest the feelings of all who regard the honour of their country and the advancement of the arts and sciences. The latter must be eminently served by the University being possessed of an instrument which, in its kind perhaps, the world cannot parallel. The former must be promoted by rewarding in some degree the efforts of a worthy mechanick, whose application and genius would do credit to any age or nation. Such being the design of this lottery, there cannot be a doubt that a people who have long enjoyed the blessings of science and literature, and who have been distinguished by their early attention to seminaries of learning, will give, by their zeal in such a cause, so rapid a sale to the tickets that the managers may have it in their power, as it is truly their wish, to announce a very early day for the drawing."

According to the scheme,1 there were three thousand tickets at $2 each, to be purchased only from the managers or the librarian of the University. There were six hundred and seventy-three prizes of $3 each, fifteen of $20, three of $50, two of $100, one of $200, one of $300, and one of $1,000, - which would leave for expenses and profits $1,831.

It was advertised at first that the drawing would be executed in Faneuil Hall. It really took place in the hall of the House of Representatives, be¬ tween March 10 and 14. The Centinel of February 28 contained this no¬ tice: 2 " Mr. Pope's planetarium (or orrery) was yesterday removed from this town to be deposited in the Philosophy room of the University of Cambridge. A correspondent cannot forbear congratulating the public, that through the liberality of the citizens of this State the above mentioned elegant and useful production of ingenuity will be retained among us, and that the artist will be rewarded for his talents and time." President Willard's receipt for the orrery is dated March 20. The lottery account stood thus: the proceeds were .£549 6s. ; expenses, ^27 8.r. 3 d.\ paid to Mr. Pope for the orrery £450 3-r. ; the balance of £"]\ 14^. 9 d. was paid into the College treasury, in accordance with the Act of the General Court, and a receipt given by the treasurer (Storer), March 31, 1789. On the same day it was voted : -

" That the thanks of the Corporation be given to Samuel Eliot, Henry Hill, and Aaron Dexter, Esquires, - managers of a lottery granted by the Honorable General Court to purchase for the college an orrery made by Mr. Joseph Pope, - for their great attention to the business ; by which the design was so speedily and happily carried into execution. And while they view with pleasure this noble and useful machine, which does so much honor to Mr. Pope, they feel highly grateful to the managers of the lot¬ tery for their politeness and generosity in freely giving their time and trouble, by which means a handsome sum has been received into the treasury of the college."

The bonds given by the managers were cancelled April 14. The or¬ rery is still in good condition ; but a century has made a change in the estimation in which orreries are held.3

Samuel Webber was born in Byfield in 1 760 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1784; was tutor in 1787 - 89, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy from of raising large sums of money ; as fairs do nowa¬ days. This device is not of American or Eng¬ lish origin. Lotteries were instituted in Florence as early as 1530; in France in 1539; in England in 1569; and in Germany in 1699. The people's lottery of 1863, in aid of the fund for completing, the Cathedral of Cologne, proves that they are still held in Europe to be respectable. Govern¬ ments have not scrupled to profit by this fertile expedient. Between 1816 and 1S28 the French government derived an annual income of fourteen millions of francs from lotteries. The drawing of the first English lottery took place at the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral, and the proceeds were applied to the repair of the harbors; there were forty thousand shares at ten shillings a share. In 1747 a million pounds was raised in a similar way, the prizes being paid in perpetual annuities at four per cent. The first parliamen¬ tary lottery was in 1709 ; but in 1612 the Virginia Company was authorized to raise money by a lottery. It is not strange that an institution so strongly indorsed, and appealing to the charity as well as to the cupidity of the community, took deep root in this country, where everything was to be done and where there was little money to do it. In this way, roads, bridges, ferries, wharves, were built or repaired ; and hospitals, academies, and colleges were endowed.

In 1744 authority was given in this province to raise ,£7,500 to replenish the public treasury ; but the managers were forbidden to sell tickets to Indians, negroes, or mulattoes; and if by ac¬ cident one of these drew a prize, it was forfeited.* In 1749, the town of Swansea was allowed a lot¬ tery in order to repair Miles's bridge. In 1750 the town of Newbury was permitted to raise £12,000 to build a bridge. In the same year the public treasury received $26,700. In 1755 the town of Teticut was granted a lottery for build¬ ing a bridge. In 1757 a lottery was sanctioned to encourage the manufacture of glass in Braintree. In 1772 a lottery was authorized in the interest of Harvard College, for building Stoughton Hall ; and the privilege was renewed in 1794. t As all the tickets were not sold, the managers asked the College to take them. This may explain a state¬ ment in the Massachusetts Magazine that the Col¬ lege had drawn $10,000 in a lottery. The sum realized by the treasurer in 1804 was $18,400. In 1778 a lottery was granted for the benefit of the officers and soldiers of the State. In 1779 three was another lottery for raising £60,000 to repair the streets of Charlestown, and £250,000 to re¬ pair Long Wharf. In 1780 resort was had to a lottery for obtaining $200,000 to mend the roads in the counties of Hampshire and Berkshire. In 1S06 Harvard College received $29,000 from a lot¬ tery to help in the building of Holworthy.* In 1812 a lottery was granted in order to obtain $16,- 000 for repairing Plymouth Beach. This grant eventually brought the subject to a crisis. In 1750 there was a lottery in Connecticut in aid of the fund for erecting a new edifice in Yale College, t

The obvious evils of the system were not slow to manifest themselves here as elsewhere. The spirit of gambling was disguised under the garb of charity, and moral distinctions were con¬ founded. The temptation was irresistible to those who had but little to invest, and the poor were the greatest sufferers. As a tax it fell most heavily upon them. After the suppression of lotteries in France about 1830, the funds in savings-banks increased one year by 525,- 000 francs. It is stated that an assembly of ministers in Boston in 1699 denounced lotteries as cheats. In reference to private lotteries, the General Court declared and enacted in 1719 "that all such lotteries and all other lotteries are common and publick nusances." f More stringent laws were passed in 1733, 1753, and 1785. The sale of tickets in foreign lotteries (not authorized by a State or the United States government) was forbidden. Finally, in 1821, a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives (of which Peter C. Brooks § was the moving spirit) disclosed the abuses of the system of State lotteries; showing that in a recent case nearly half a million dollars had been collected from tickets, and a larger sum sunk in expenses and prizes. An embezzlement and a sui¬ cide in Boston exposed the frauds perpetrated by dealers in lottery tickets, and on the recommen¬ dation of Governor Lincoln a law was passed in 1833 which gave the final blow to the sale of tickets in this State. || Most of the other States imitated the example of Massachusetts. In 1823 Great Britain followed, both as regards domestic lotteries and the sale of tickets in foreign ones.

i 789 to 1806, and president from 1806 to the time of his death in 1810. He observed the annular eclipse of the sun on April 3, 1791 ; and in 1796 was appointed by the Government to ascertain the boundary between the United States and Canada. In 1801 he published a System of Mathematics in two volumes.

Walter Folger was born in Nantucket in 1765. The common schools in which he was educated were so poor that the pupil was soon able to instruct the teacher. By himself he conquered algebra, geometry, and the elements of the calculus. He learned French in order to be able to read Lalande's Astronomy. He elevated the position of ship-masters by teaching them navigation. In 1790 he calculated and printed an almanac. He inherited an aptitude for mechanics, and made refracting and reflecting telescopes. His greatest achievement in this line was a clock which indi¬ cated the year and day as well as the hours and minutes, and also the changes of the moon. In this complex mechanism one wheel made only one revolution in a century. Mr. Folger's observations 1 pf the comets of 1807 and 1811 were used by Dr. Bowditch, with others, in calculating their orbits. He also observed the total eclipse of 1806. He studied law for his own benefit and that of his neighbors, and was sent to Congress. He wrote a memoir upon aerolites, and made voluminous calculations on Encke's comet, but most of his work exists only in manuscript. He died in 1849.

Epaphras Hoyt was born in Deerfield in 1765, and died there in 1850. He declined a place in the army offered to him by Washington, but he rose to be majorgeneral of the militia. He published several books on military affairs, and left others in manuscript. In 1824 he published Antiquarian Researches. His scientific work consisted of observations of the lunar eclipse of Jan. 15, 1805 ; the solar eclipse of Sept. 17, 1 81 1 ; an occultation of AldebaraD by the moon on Oct. 29, 1811 ; and the meridian altitudes of several celestial bodies. From these observations he deduced the latitude and longitude of Deerfield. He also made observations on the declina¬ tion of the magnetic needle.2

Elisha Clap was born in Dorchester in 1766. He graduated at Harvard College in 1797 and was tutor there in 1801-3. He studied for the ministry, but in 1804 he was appointed principal of the Sandwich Academy where he remained ten years. Between 1816 and 1826 he had a private school in Boston, and died there in 1830. He devoted much of his time to mathematics and astronomy ; worked with Chief- Justice Parsons upon the orbit of the comet of 1807 ; and prepared for the press Dr. Holyoke's meteorological observations for twenty-six years, 1793-1818. 3

The nineteenth century opened with a prospect more encouraging to science than that which greeted the eyes of its predecessor. In 1780 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which held its meetings alternately

3 Hist. Soc., i. 438. Mem. Amer. Acad., iv. 361. The preparation of an almanac implies a certain amount of astronomical and mathematical ac¬ quirement. Mr, Holyoke published in Boston An Almanack of the celestial motions, aspects, and eclipses, etc., for the years from 1715 to 1723 in¬ clusive. - Dr. Nathaniel Ames of Dedham was eminent as a physician and mathematician. He published an Astronomical Diary or Almanack for forty years 1725-65 It was held in such repute throughout the country that after his death in 1766 it was continued under his name until 1775. - Dr. William Douglass was a native of Scotland, but came to Boston in his youth. He was a mathematician and published an alma¬ nack for 1743 and 1744 under the name of Mercurius Novanglicanus. [See Vol. II. Index. - Ed ] Still more short-lived were the almanacs of Eddy for 1760, of Pope for 1792, and of Chandler for 1798.

in Boston and Cambridge, had been founded.1 Count Rumford's bequest in 1 796, while it extended the usefulness of the Academy, indicated the con¬ fidence inspired by the high character of its membership. At its centennial celebration in May, 1880, the Academy could point to its fourteen quarto volumes of Memoirs and its fifteen volumes of Proceedings as the justifica¬ tion of its existence. All these publications, except two volumes of the Memoirs, belong to the present century. We return again to the biograph¬ ical sketches : -

1 he most conspicuous figure among the scientific worthies of the first half of the century is Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch. He was born in Salem in 1773, and removed to Boston in 1823, where he died in 1838. Though Dr. Bowditch was his own teacher in mathematics, he was competent, at the age of twenty, to detect flaws in a mathemat¬ ical demonstration published in the second volume of the Memoirs of the Academy. After he became a Fellow of the Academy in 1799 he furnished twenty-three articles for its printed volumes. The first was of great interest to the navigator, being " On a new method of working a Lunar Observation." 2 Although Dr. Bowditch is best known by his mathematical achievements, he lost no opportunity while he lived in Salem of observing comets, eclipses, and occultations, as material for his computations. He thoroughly discussed the eclipses of 1806 and 1811, and all other eclipses and transits which had ever been observed in the vicinity, and deduced from the whole mass of evidence the most probable value for the longitude of Cambridge. He col¬ lected all the observations upon the great meteors of 1807 and 1819, and computed the height and the velocity of these strange visitants to our sky. He fitted out the blaz¬ ing comets of 1807, x 81 1, and 1819 with appropriate orbits, and sent them on their way. He made careful observations on the Declination and Inclination of the mag¬ netic needle, for the purpose of estimating the changes in the direction and intensity of the force of terrestrial magnetism. His computations upon the contemporaneous observations made with barometers in 1804 at Salem, Boston, and the White Moun¬ tains brought down the height of Mount Washington from ten thousand feet (as given by Dr. Belknap) 3 to seven thousand one hundred and eight feet. This figure is too great, but the fault was in the barometers of that day. Dr. Bowditch's analysis of the motions of a pendulum suspended from two points, with his experimental illustrations, have a fresh interest at this time, as anticipating by more than half a century the famous Lissajous curves which now play an important part in the science of acoustics.4 In the realm of pure mathematics Dr. Bowditch's mind worked with an accuracy equal to its power, and enabled him to detect oversights in the work of such profound mathema¬ ticians as Poisson and Laplace. The crowning glory of Dr. Bowditch's scientific life was his translation of Laplace's Mecanique Celeste, and his invaluable commentary upon it. This vast work was done at Salem between the years 1815 and 1817. Dr. Bow¬ ditch's removal to Boston facilitated, and perhaps made possible, its publication ; which extended over the ten years from 1829 to 1839. And all this, be it remembered, was only a brilliant scientific episode in a life never released from the labors and anxieties of business.

John Farrar was born in Lincoln in 1779. His father destined him to a tanner's life ; but a trifle turned the boy's thoughts in a different direction. On a visit to his brother who was in college he saw the students practising with a fire-engine, and the fascinations of college life were irresistible. After graduating at Harvard College in 1803, he studied for the ministry, but was soon brought back to Cambridge. From 1805 to 1807 he was tutor in Greek, and from 1807 to 1836 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. Professor Farrar's attractive style of lecturing supplied the deficiency which existed in his means of experimental illustration. He

JfcdSyrendered great service to his department by translating and publishing, between 1818 and 1828, eleven of the best French treatises, which became the text-books generally used at colleges for many years. His observations on the comet of 18 n were pub¬ lished, with a description of it, in the Memoirs of the Academy, which he served as secretary from 1811 to 1824, and as vice-president in 1829-30. Five or six essays on scientific subjects were written by him for the North American Review. He retired partially in 1831, and wholly in 1833, and visited Europe twice with the hope of

1 [This portrait of Dr. Bowditch was begun heirs of Stuart by the sitter, and is now in the by Stuart for the East India Marine Society ; possession of Wm. I. Bowditch, a son of Dr. but being left unfinished, it was bought of the Bowditch. Mason's Stuart, p. 149. - Ed.]

Ichabod Nichols was born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1784, graduated at Harvard College in 1802, and officiated as tutor in mathematics at the College from 1805 to 1809. He was settled over a church in Portland in 1809, at first as a colleague. Eminent in his profession, he always retained his interest in mathematics and astron¬ omy, and took careful observations on the solar eclipse of Sept. 17, 1811. In 1855 his society released him from active service, and he passed his retirement in Cambridge and died there in 1859.

The foundation of the astronomical observatory at Cambridge marks a new epoch in the cultivation of astronomy in this vicinity. Previously no adequate means existed for making observations of precision with fixed in¬ struments, as contrasted with what might be done with ordinary telescopes by amateurs. In observing the comet of 1 8 1 1 Professor Farrar relied upon a sextant for position and a watch for time. The best map of the States rests upon a trigonometrical survey of excellent quality, but with no better astro¬ nomical support than was given to it by latitudes and longitudes obtained with sextants and chronometers. W. C. Bond, who died in 1859 at the head of a gjreat observatory and with a world-wide reputation, began life with few external advantages. He was born in Portland in 1789; but his father moved to Boston in 1790, and the son received here his pittance of education. The father was a watchmaker of narrow means, and required the assistance of his son in his business " before he had learned the multiplication table ; " but the delicacy of touch and vision which he acquired in his trade were not wasted upon him in his scientific work, - and Joseph Henry probably profited by the same hard discipline. The total eclipse of the sun in 1806, when Bond was only seventeen years old, made him an astronomer. He extemporized rude instruments for taking the altitude and transit of stars. His vigilance in detecting the comet of 1811, four months before itwas seen in Cambridge, brought him to the notice of Dr. Bowditch and Professor Farrar. Through their influence he received a commission from the Cor¬ poration of Harvard College to visit the principal observatories of Europe. Between 1820 and 1842 he observed eclipses and occupations at his home in Dorchester with instruments bought at his own expense, among them a meridian instrument for getting correct time. During the last part of this period he was employed by the United States Government in making obser¬ vations in co-operation with the officers of the United States antarctic expedition. In 1842 he was induced by President Quincy to come to Cambridge, - the College furnishing a house, which served as a primitive ob¬ servatory, and Mr. Bond providing all the instruments which were of much value ; but an astronomer without an observatory was an inconsistency too glaring to continue long. In this emergency the comet of 1843 blazed almost at midday in the very face of the sun, awakening a popular interest in astronomy which the august and solemn motion of the stars could not excite. President Quincy and Professor Peirce took advantage of the event to make an effectual appeal to the liberality of the citizens of Boston. In 1844 the observatory was built; in 1847 an equatorial telescope, unrivalled in its day, was placed under the large dome; and in 1848 the meridian circle was ready for work.

Under the wise and able direction of the two Bonds and Professor Winlock (the endowments of each happily supplementing those of the others) the observatory soon acquired, and afterward maintained, a high rank with the best equipped and most fully appointed observatories of the Old World, and stimulated other institutions and the national government to follow the example. Here, for the first time in this country, was an addition made to the permanent bodies of the solar system when the elder Bond discovered the eighth satellite of Saturn and its dafk inner ring. His researches on the nebulae of Orion and Andromeda, and on the physical aspect of the planets, especially of the Saturnian system, revealed the delicacy of his vision no less than the excellence of his instruments.

William Mitchell was bom in Nantucket in 1791. He was educated on the Island, but none of his teachers ever inspired him with a love of books. At the age of fifteen he was put to learning the trade of cooper. From eighteen to twenty-one he was a teacher. Then for ten years (1812-22) he was in business with his father. From 1822 to 1830 he was again employed in teaching. From 1830 to his retire¬ ment in 1861 he was an officer in an insurance company or a bank. At times and in several capacities he represented the Island .at the State Capital. He inherited a love of astronomy, and diffused a scientific atmosphere around his home and neighborhood. He had taught himself enough of mathematics to enable him to calculate the annular eclipse of Feb. 12, 1831, which he had also the satisfaction of observing. He was probably the first in the country to welcome Halley's comet on its return in 1835. The Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey employed him in making observations for determining the latitude and longitude of Nantucket. In i860 he received an honorary degree from Harvard College. He removed to Lynn in 1861, and to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1865, and died there in 1869, leaving as a legacy to his daughter (Miss Maria Mitchell) that love of astronomy which he had received from his father.

The name of Benjamin Franklin cannot be wholly omitted from this portion of the memorial, although he has been specially commemorated in the second volume.1 Born in Boston in 1 706, and educated at the common schools, he left it at the age of seventeen for Philadelphia, where he died in 1 790. Having seen some electrical experiments on a visit to Boston in 1746, he soon became a conspicuous figure in science by his bold experiments, his original discoveries, and his beautiful theory of electricity. Though public affairs engrossed most of his time at a later period, he con¬ tinued his contributions, practical, experimental, and speculative, in various branches of science. He was one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania, and was influential in inaugurating the Philosophical Society in the city of his adoption, - the oldest association in the country dedicated to science.

1 [This cut follows a copy made by Miss E. daughter of Henry, a younger brother of Ed- S. Quincy of a likeness, supposed to be by Smi- ward Bromfield, Jr. See account of him and his bert, which was in the possession of the late Mrs. family by D. D. Slade in N. E. Hist, and Geneal. Blanchard of Harvard, Massachusetts, grand- Reg. January, 1S7 2, p. 37. - Ed.]

erty in Wales, emigrated from Hampshire, England, to Boston in 1675. Here he be¬ came an eminent merchant. His mansion-house stood in the street which now bears his name, but it was then surrounded by fields and groves. His son, of the same name, was born in Boston in 1696, and was also a merchant of high character. He built the first house on Beacon Street,1 where it remained until 1845, having been sold in 1756 to William Phillips, the son-in-law. In this house Edward Bromfield the Third was born in 1723, and died Aug. 18, 1746, after graduating at Harvard College in 1742. He lived long enough, however, to develop a character and exhibit tastes and talents which have embalmed his name in the memory of succeeding generations, and he might have achieved great distinction in science if his life had been spared. His love of music, united with much mechanical skill, induced him to undertake the construction of an organ (the first built in America), though he had seen only two or three which had been imported from England. This organ was of excellent workman¬ ship, with two rows of keys, and was intended for twelve hundred pipes, though he did not live to complete more than a few hundred. During the siege of Boston the organ and the library of Josiah Quincy, Jr., were removed for safety to a store belong¬ ing to William Phillips, where unfortunately both were burned. Young Bromfield was also the first in America to make a microscope, grinding and polishing his own lenses. Possibly he had read a description of the instruments made and used by the famous Dutch microscopist, Leeuwenhoek, which was published in 1 740 ; 2 but he must have depended mainly on his own resources. Dr. Thomas Prince has described in glowing terms the wonderful insight into the mysteries of creation imparted by Bromfield's lenses. He says of the inventor that " he seemed to be making haste to the sight of the Minima Naturalia, or the very minutest and original atoms of mate¬ rial substances." 3 For ninety-nine years after he was dead, the sun still shone through the hole in the shutter of the attic window in Beacon Street, which he had cut for his solar microscopes, and a few relics of his instruments are possibly preserved. The only book of his library which has been preserved is Hooke's Micrographia, London, 1666. This was given to Miss E. S. Quincy in 1848 by a relative of Edward Brom¬ field, and was presented by her in 1870 to the library of the Boston Society of Natu¬ ral History. It contained an autograph and some notes, to which Miss Quincy added a photograph of the portrait which is given in the text.

Edward Bromfield also made sundials, and maps in various kinds of projection. He had a talent for drawing, and cultivated it by the purchase of valuable engravings ; among them a glorification of Sir Isaac Newton, by G. Bicknell, 1733 (the first en¬ graver of his day, according to Walpole), doubly memorable as having ornamented the room of President Quincy in Massachusetts Hall during his college days, between 1 786 and 1 790. Of the few drawings of Bromfield which have escaped the accidents of time and war, the most interesting one was placed by Miss Quincy in the volume given to the Society of Natural History.

Samuel Danforth was born in Cambridge in 1740 and graduated at Harvard Col¬ lege in 1758. He studied medicine, and practised two years in Newport and the rest of his life in Boston, where he died in 1827. His knowledge of chemistry was exten¬ sive for his time, and he imported the best collection of chemical apparatus that had then been seen in Boston. Dr. Eliot refers to his father, the Hon. Samuel Danforth of Cambridge, as eminent for his acquaintance with natural philosophy and chemistry.

Samuel Tenney was born in Rowley in 1748, and graduated at Harvard College in 1 772- He studied medicine in Andover and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1 775, intending to practise ; but he soon joined the army and remained in it to the close of the war. He returned to Exeter, but not to the practice of his profession. He was judge, member of Congress, and member of his State Convention. He published in the Memoirs ot the American Academy a paper on the Waters of Saratoga, and another on the Prismatic Colors ; and in the Medical Repository an explanation of a curious phenomenon in the heating of water. He died in 1816.

John Lathrop was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1740, and graduated at Prince¬ ton College in 1763. After he was prepared for the ministry he was settled at the Old North Church in Boston, in 1768.1 In 1779 his society united with another, their own building having been destroyed during the war. He received honorary degrees from Harvard in 1768 and from Edinburgh in 1785, and was a Fellow of the Corporation of Harvard College from 1 778 to 1815. Elected a member of the American Academy in 1 79°) he nrade several contributions to its Memoirs on the effects of lightning, and on the springs and wells in the peninsula of Boston. Dr. Lathrop died in 1816.

Loammi Baldwin was born in Woburn in 1745, and died there in 1807. He had a good education at school, and was fond of mathematics. In 1770 he and Benjamin Thompson obtained permission to attend the lectures on natural philosophy of Pro¬ fessor YV inthrop, at Cambridge. A journey of nine miles on foot back to their homes, alter each lecture, was not able to damp their zeal. With such rude apparatus as they could extemporize they repeated the experiments which had illustrated the lectures. Mr. Baldwin became a surveyor and engineer, and superintended the construction of the Middlesex Canal, which was called at that time an " immense undertaking." 2 He served in the Revolutionary Army from June 16, 1775, to 1777, when ill health com¬ pelled him to fetire, with the rank of colonel. He was sheriff of Middlesex from 1780 to 1794. He received an honorary degree from Harvard College in 1785. In 1771 Mr. Baldwin attempted to repeat Franklin's experiment on a thunder-cloud, with a kite ; but when the kite had reached an elevation not much above that of the hierh- est trees in the vicinity, he was enveloped in a glare of light which induced him to desist from his attempt. In 1797 he suggested to the American Academy the substi¬ tution, for the round lightning-rod, of a square bar jagged at the edges, and other im¬ provements which are now in general use.

Aaron Dexter was born in Malden in 1750. His father was a farmer. He wished to send one of his boys to college, and Aaron was selected.3 After graduating at Har¬ vard College in 1776 he studied medicine with Dr. S. Danforth, and then made sev¬ eral voyages as ship-surgeon. He was taken prisoner and carried to Halifax. At the close of the war he settled as a physician in Boston. In 1 791 the professorship of chem¬ istry was founded in Harvard College by Major Erving, partly as a token of respect and affection for Dr. Dexter. He was professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica from 1783 to 1816, and honorary professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy from 1816 to the time of his death in 1829. In 1793 he published in the Memoirs of the American Academy a paper on the manufacture of potash.4

John Prince was born in Boston in 1751. His father was a hatter, and he was apprenticed to a tinman. When he came of age he prepared for Harvard College, and graduated in 1776. In 1779 he was settled over a church in Salem, where he had a prosperous ministry of fifty-seven years and seven months, and which termina¬ ted only with his death in 1836. He observed at Beverly the solar eclipse of Oct. 27, 1 780, 1 but his taste was more in the direction of mechanics and natural philosophy than of astronomy. He was not only familiar with the best physical apparatus of his day, but he could make it himself ; and in some cases he improved upon what could be purchased, by his own inventions. He was often, in deference to his superior judg¬ ment, commissioned by colleges and individuals to import apparatus from London. He had collected a valuable library of scientific books which was accessible to Dr. Bowditch before he was known to fame. Mr. Prince encouraged him by his appreci¬ ating sympathy, and was always ready to supplement his imperfect early education from his own superior advantages. The improvements which he made in Smeaton's air-pump,2 accounts of which were widely circulated in foreign journals, made his science and mechanical skill as highly respected abroad as they were at home ; and the American air-pump was exalted to a place among the constellations in celestial maps and globes. The eminent mechanician of London, Mr. Adams, adopted the modifications which Dr. Prince had made in his Lucernal Microscope (an instrument now superseded by the photographic camera), with the bare statement that he had re¬ ceived some suggestions from a clergyman.3 In 1831 Dr. Prince published an ac¬ count of a new stand which he had constructed for a reflecting telescope. He closes the description of it with this sentence : " I made the brass work myself, and finished it on my birthday, - 80 years old." 4

James Thacher was born in Barnstable in 1754. He studied medicine under Dr. Hersey of Hingham, served in the army as surgeon from 1775 to 1783, and then practised in his profession in Plymouth, where he died in 1844. Most of his writings relate to his profession ; but he published in the second volume of the Metnoirs of the American Academy a paper on the art of extracting salt from sea-water. His Ameri¬ can Dispensary which first appeared in 1810 shows his familiarity with chemistry.

Benjamin Thompson, already mentioned in connection with young Baldwin, was bom in Woburn in 1753. At school his special taste was for arithmetic and elementary mathematics, and he found a congenial teacher in the Rev. Samuel Williams of Bradford. Forced at thirteen into a counting-room in Salem, he beguiled his time in these studies and in mechanical pursuits. He then made an unsuccessful attempt to study medi¬ cine with a physician in Woburn. After making a second trial of a counting-room, in Boston, he came home with the reputation of being unfitted to support himself or give any comfort to his friends. While teaching school in Concord, New Hampshire, he formed an acquaintance which led to his marriage at nineteen, and introduced him to a social circle suited to his ambition. When the army of the Revolution was in Cambridge, he was active in protecting the library and philosophical apparatus from injury. Disappointed in obtaining the preferment which he courted, and suspected of disloyalty (though acquitted by a court martial), he left the country for England in 1 7 76,® and for the Continent in 1784. He received great attention wherever he went, and made himself highly acceptable to the King of Bavaria, from whom he acquired his title of Count Rumford. In his turn he rendered the greatest services to the Bavarian

5 [But came back for a brief interval to take part in the army acting against the Colonies, and served in South Carolina and near New York. - En.]

Government and its impoverished subjects. For his scientific acquirements he was honored with membership of the Royal Society of London and the Institute of France ; but his interest in science was largely for its applications to the comfort and happiness of the people. That he could have been great in theoretical science is shown by his experiment at Munich in 1798, and his clear reasoning upon it, which was in advance ot the prevailing scientific opinion by half a century. If Massachusetts can claim no exclusive property in his scientific renown, his title to a place in this memorial may rest on the munificent gifts which he made to the American Academy of Sciences in Boston and the scientific department at Cambridge. Count Rumford died in France in 1814. 1

Nathan Reed was born in Warren in 1759, graduated at Harvard College in 1781, and was employed as tutor in the College from 1783 to 1787. Later he studied med¬ icine and taught a school in Salem ; moved to Danvers in 1795, and was a member of Congress from Essex in 1801. In 1807 he changed his residence to Belfast, Maine, where he died in 1849. He had an aptitude for mechanics and mechanical inven¬ tions; - applied steam to paddles, as Fulton did afterward to wheels, testing his invention in 1789 on Wenham Pond. The Governor, Nathan Dane, Dr. Holyoke, and Dr. Prince went on the trial trip between Danvers and Beverly. He conceived the idea of storing the tidal waters and utilizing their energy. The invention of tubu¬ lar boilers has also been claimed for him.

John Davis was born in Plymouth in 1761, and graduated at Harvard College in 1781. He was one of the Fellows from 1803 to 1810, and treasurer from 1810 to 1S27, and judge in the United States district court from 1801 to 1847. Most of his life was spent in Boston, where he died in 1847. When a Junior in college he was selected as one of the students who accompanied Professor Williams to Penobscot to observe the eclipse of the sun. Outside of his profession he was best known for his antiquarian researches, but he always took a lively interest in astronomy, chemistry, and natural history. In 18 u he republished Winthrop's Lectures on Cornets and Oli¬ ver s Essay on Comets , with sketches of their lives ; and a Supplement on the comet of 18 1 1, by himself. He was the first president of the Linnsean Society of New Eng¬ land, and in 1815 delivered an address on the. Advantages of the Study of Natural History, and contributed to the scientific proceedings.

Jacob Perkins was born in Newburyport in 1766. He was a goldsmith by trade, but an inventor by Nature's patent. At the age of twenty-one he made dies for the mint; when he was twenty-four he invented machinery for making nails, and steel plates for bank-notes. He resided for a time in Boston and New York. In 1818 he went to England, and died in London in 1849. There his machinery was highly appreciated and freely adopted. The Society of Arts honored him with its medals. Experiments with his steam-gun, which could discharge a thousand balls a minute, interested the Duke of Wellington and other military men ; but gunpowder still holds its place against steam. Among his other inventions was one for measuring the depth of the ocean, and another for registering the speed of a vessel. His measure of the compressibility of water stood for many years as the best word of science on the sub¬ ject, though it is now thought to be too large. He was elected a member of the American Academy in 1813.

1 [The Life of Count Rumford, by George E. A portrait by Page, after one by Kellerhofer, Ellis, was published by the American Academy in hangs in Memorial Hall, Cambridge. - Ed.] 1871, and contains engraved likenesses of him. 2 //yj/, Coll. Essex Inst., i. 184.

Samuel Dexter was born in Boston in 1761, graduated at Harvard College in 1781, and died in Athens, N. Y., in 1816. At a college exhibition in 1780 he deliv¬ ered a poem on the Progress of Science, which Judge Story states was received with great applause ; but he is most widely known as a lawyer and statesman. His father, of the same name (1726-1810), published in 1785, in the Memoirs of the American Academy, a paper on the retreat of house-swallows in winter.

In 1792 Captain John Foster Williams communicated to the Boston Marine Society his process for distilling fresh water from salt water, which was published, with draw¬ ings, in volumes four and five of the Alassachusetts Magazine.

Loammi Baldwin, Jr., was born in Woburn in 1 780, and graduated at Harvard College in 1800. He studied law, and followed this profession until about 1815, as Professor Ashur Ware (afterward Judge) studied in his office until he left Cam¬ bridge. In 1809 Mr. Baldwin published Thoughts on Political Economy ; but he had a taste for engineering, and visited Europe to accomplish himself in this direction. He became distinguished as an engineer, and was employed by the Government in planning and constructing the dry docks at Norfolk and Charlestown.1 In 1834 he made his report on the introduction of water into Boston, and in 1835 an additional report.2 He died in Charlestown in 1838.

John Gorham was born in Boston in 1783, graduated at Harvard College in 1801, and received his medical degree in 1804. He went to Edinburgh to perfect himself in his profession. He was assistant professor of Chemistry and Materia Mcdica in Har¬ vard University from 1809 to 1816, and professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in the College from 1816 to 1827. He published Elc?nents of CImnical Science in two vol¬ umes in 1819. In 1810 he made an analysis of sulphate of barytes, which was after¬ ward published.3 He died, greatly lament.ed, in 1829.

Dr. John Feron of Paris, an honorary member of the Academy, published memoirs in 1 783 and 1 793 on the well-waters of Boston ; and S- Godon of Paris, also an hon¬ orary member, published an account of mineralogical observations made in 1807-8 in Boston and its vicinity.

J. G. Cogswell was born in Ipswich in 1 786, graduated at Harvard College in 1806, studied law with the distinguished Fisher Ames, and was tutor in the College in 1814. In 1816 he went to Gottingen, and took a degree there in 1819. Fie was librarian of Harvard College from 1820 to 1823, and most of this time also professor of Mineralogy and Geology ; he was afterwards one of the founders of the Round Hill School at Northampton. After 1839 he passed many years in New York, and rendered great services to literature and science by the ability he displayed in filling and administering the Astor Library. The last few years of his life were spent in Cambridge, where he died in 1871. He purchased and (with Mr. Andrew Ritchie) presented to Harvard College five thousand minerals and four thousand specimens of plants.

Sylvanus Thayer was born in Braintree in 1 788, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1807, and at West Point in 1808. He entered the corps of engineers and rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier-General. He was engaged in the active duties of his profession until 1817, when he was appointed superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point. His success in its administration was unrivalled, and the character and efficiency of the institution received from him an impulse which was felt for a long time after he left it. After 1833 he had charge of the construction of Forts AVarren and Independence, in Boston Harbor. Fort Winthrop and the harbor im¬ provements began under him. He received honorary degrees from Harvard College in 1S25 and 1857. He was chosen a member of the American Academy in 1834, and left it a legacy of one thousand dollars. After his retirement in 1863 he lived at South Braintree, and died there in 1872.1

S. F. B. Morse was born in Charlestown in 1 791,2 and graduated at Yale College in 1810. He studied art abroad under Benjamin West. On his return to this country he resided in New York, and died there in 1872. His attention was drawn to the electro-magnetic telegraph in 1832, and his faith in its possibilities was not restrained by a knowledge of its difficulties. With the help of others familiar with the science of electricity, he devised or constructed instruments in 1835, the success of which encouraged him to persevere. In 1843 Congress granted an appropriation of $30,000 for establishing a line between Washington and Baltimore, which was completed in 1844. There are more than fifty claimants for the invention of the electrical telegraph. It is unjust to give the credit of it to any one man, and impossible to divide the honor fairly between them. It may be conceded to Mr. Morse that his writing tele¬ graph embodied the best combination of ideas which were in the air and were the common property of all who breathed. It has gradually supplanted the methods of other countries, and foreign Governments have recognized their obligation to Mr. Morse by gratuities amounting in the aggregate to $80,000.

Daniel Treadwell was born in Ipswich in 1791. His ancestors, back to 1637, were farmers. Equipped with a very common-school education he went, in his fifteenth year, as an apprentice to his brother, who was a goldsmith in Newburyport. At seven¬ teen he came to Boston in the same capacity under Mr. Churchill, also a goldsmith ; and at twenty-one he was received as a partner, and remained in the business four years. Meanwhile he had read such books as came within his reach, and studied French, geometry, algebra, mechanics, and the laws of mechanism. As jewellery was too expensive a luxury in time of war, his business was not encouraging ; and he turned to more congenial pursuits, which had filled his mind even when his hands were upon his work. His first invention was a machine for making wooden screws, on which two years were expended. In 1818 he began the study of medicine with Dr. John Ware, and continued it for one year and a half; but his passion for machinery again prevailed, and determined the rest of his life. After inventing a printing-press to be worked by the legs instead of the arms, during a short visit to England in 18x9 his attention was directed to the steam-press then recently introduced into the office of the Times. On his return, in the autumn of 1820, he invented his power-press. As there was not at the time a single steam-engine in Boston he worked it by horse¬ power ; but in order to introduce it he became printer himself for two years, when a Boston bookseller purchased his establishment and patent. The first sheet printed on this continent, by any other than hand-power, was printed on Treadwell's press. At the

1 [It was by his assistance that the selection working drawings by which Fort Warren had of military works for the Boston Public Library been constructed, and which had long been lost was so well made, that, at the outbreak of the to sight from their concealment between the war in 1861, it was the collection of all in the leaves of a large volume. Their absence had country best supplied with authorities on war. occasioned the Government some solicitude Among the books which came from his estate during the war. - Ed.] to that library after his death, were found the 2 [See Vol. III. p. 255. - Ed.]