If we saw only the one-sided and narrow type of man, we should be liable to have a false idea of the nobility to which we can hope to attain ; and the pessimism which blights noble aspirations and checks the growth of true moral ideas would seem to be sound philosophy. True culture cannot lead us higher than this: to a generous breadth of view and uprightness of soul, to sturdy principle and a steadfast pursuit of the noblest aims; to sympathy with our fellows, and a ready helpfulness where our influence can direct, can stimulate and elevate. Obituary Notice of Dr. William Samuel Waithman Ruschenberger. (Read before the American Philosophical Society, May 17, 1895.) The obituary notice which I have to present of our late Vice-President, Dr. William Samuel Waithman Ruschenberger, will be brief, not that materials are deficient to make it longer, but that according to the opinion of those who stood nearest him in life, it was his preference that it should be brief, or even that none should be prepared. It would not be proper for us, however, to permit so distinguished a member of this Society to pass from among us without at least some mention of his long and fruitful activity in the cause of science and progress. His parents, Peter Ruschenberger and Ann Waithman, resided at the date of his birth, which was September 4, 1807, on a farm near Bridgeton, Cumberland county, New Jersey. The early education he received is stated to have been "in New York and Philadelphia," and when not yet twenty years of age, on August 10, 1826, he was appointed a "surgeon's mate" in the United States Navy, the appointment being from the State of New Jersey. He was immediately sent to the Pacific, and after his return entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he received the diploma of Doctor of Medicine, March 24, 1830. The following year, April 4, 1831, he was commissioned as surgeon in the United States Navy, and in a short time was again despatched on a long cruise in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. From 1836 to 1839 he was Fleet Surgeon, and in that position visited Southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf and various parts of the East Indies and China, which at that time were rarely in the track of travelers. About twenty years later, from 1854 to 1857, he was again Fleet Surgeon of the Pacific squadron, which was his last service at sea. Between these dates he was officially employed at the Naval Hospital at New York city, where among other valuable developments, he organized the United States Naval Laboratory, for supplying the service with pure pharmaceutical preparations and carrying on researches into medical questions. After his return in 1857, he was appointed to special duty in Philadel phia, and during the Civil War passed most of its years at the Navy Yard in Boston. For a time he was President of the Examining Board for the admission and promotion of assistant surgeons of the Navy; and after the close of the war, had charge for a time of the Naval Hospital at Philadelphia. He was retired in 1869 with the rank of Commander, and when the grade of medical director, United States Navy, was established in 1871, he was at once promoted to that position with the rank of Commodore, on the retired list. The last active duty which he performed was at the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, from 1870 to 1873. At the time of his death, which took place at Philadelphia, March 24, 1895, he had been sixty-eight years and eight months in the Naval service of the United States, forty-three years of which had been in active service and twenty-six years on the retired list. Such is a condensed statement of Dr. Ruschenberger's official life. Although ever earnestly devoted to its duties, they by no means occupied his whole attention. From early youth he had cherished a love for the natural sciences and a pleasure in literary composition. The results of these remain in several volumes narrating his voyages and observations, and many scientific papers. The variety of these may be judged from the following chronological list, which is by no means exhaustive. 1833. A List of the Plants of Chili. In Silliman's Journal. 1834. Three Years in the Pacific. 2 Vols. 1835. The same work in London. 1838. A Voyage around the World. Republished in London the same year. 1838. Meteorological Observations on a Voyage from Peru to the United States, around Cape Horn. In Silliman's Journal. 1845. Hints on the Reorganization of the United States Navy. (One of a number of pamphlets and articles written by him on this subject.) 1846. Elements of Natural History. (Short popular introductions to a number of the natural sciences, appearing at various dates between 1846 and 1850.) 1850. A Lexicon of Terms used in Natural History. 1850. An edition of Mary Somerville's "Physical Geography." Reedited in 1853. 1852. A Notice of the Origin, Progress and present Condition of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Second edition in 1860. 1854. Notes and Commentaries during Voyages to Brazil and China. 1856. On the Mercury of New Almaden, California. In American Jour nal of Pharmacy. 1867. Statistics of Human Growth. 1873. On the Value of Original Scientific Research. 1873. On the Origin and Properties of Cundurango. 1887. An Account of the Institution and Progress of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia during 100 years. (308 pages.) This list, however incomplete, is sufficient to reveal Dr. Ruschenberger's profound sympathy with the progress and the popularization of scientific knowledge in many fields. He was also during the whole of his life an active participant in associations for the collection and dissemination of knowledge, and for the organization of scientific work and workers. The following list of those to which he belonged is probably only partial. I add the dates of his election to them, when known to me. The Medical Society of Philadelphia, March 24, 1831. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, May 29, 1832. Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, March 16, 1896. Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (Honorary), March 27, 1893. The Franklin Institute. He was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, to which he was elected October 20, 1886. Of several of these associations he was a conspicuously energetic member and held in them high official positions. From 1869 to 1881 he was President of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and occupied the same office in the College of Physicians from 1869 to 1883. Up to the end of his life he continued his interest and his activity in these two societies, the details of which I need not enter upon, as they will doubtless be given in the pages of their proceedings. The records of the American Philosophical Society show that he was elected to its membership on October 19, 1819; and to its Vice-Presidency, January 2, 1885, a position to which he was annually reëlected until his death. So far as I have ascertained, he did not publish in its Transactions or Proceedings any papers of a scientific character; but he was faithful in preparing and reading a number of obituary notices which had been assigned him. The following is a list of such : Dr. Robert Bridges, Proc., xxi. Dr. Robert E. Rogers, Proc., xxiii. Dr. Gouverneur Emerson, Proc., xxix. Dr. Joseph Leidy, Proc., xxx. Mr. William B. Rogers, Proc., xxxi. Dr. William V. Keating, Proc., xxxiii. He was regular in his attendance at the meetings of the Society up to a recent period, when his increasing infirmities rendered it imprudent for him to expose himself to the night air. On October 23, 1839, Dr. Ruschenberger married Miss Mary Baynton Wister, daughter of Mr. Charles J. Wister, of Germantown. They celebrated their "golden wedding" in 1889, and she survived some years afterwards, but died before her husband. Their only surviving child is Lieut. C. W. Ruschenberger, U. S. Navy. In his religious convictions the Doctor inclined towards the principles of the Society of Friends. He occasionally spoke of himself as a "Quaker," but certainly did not adopt their views on passivity and nonresistance. While a believer in the value of religion in the individual and social life, he did not attach himself to any particular denomination. A few words in closing on the personal traits of our late Vice-President. Throughout his life he was governed by a high, I may say, a severe sense of duty. He never spared himself in carrying out to the uttermost what he thought was right for himself to do, and he expected those under him and about him to observe a similar inflexible and unswerving attitude towards their obligations. This sometimes imparted to his actions and expressions an air of harshness, which they did not contain, if rightly understood. On the contrary, his nature was really kind and sympathetic; in conversation he was affable; to earnest and honest students he was ever obliging and helpful; and I have often noticed that he never forgot a friendly service towards himself, or towards any of the institutions which he presided over with such unselfish interest. As an officer of the Navy, he was always held in high esteem by the Department, both professionally and personally, as was manifested on many occasions. Though frequently before the public in his writings and in the various positions which he occupied, he was a man of unusual modesty in demeanor; he did not seek fame of any kind, and quite thoroughly disliked the ephemeral notoriety which so many strive for. In him we have lost a staunch and valued officer, and the American world of science one of its most venerable and respected pioneers. In Memory of Edward Yorke Macauley, U. S. N. By Persifor Frazer. (Read before the American Philosophical Society, September 6, 1895.) Edward Yorke Macauley,* Rear Admiral U. S. N., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., November 2, 1827. His parents were Daniel Smith McCauley, formerly Lieutenant *In his later life he adopted this manner of spelling his family name. The name of his relatives and his own name during the greater part of his life was written McCauley, though his uncle and more remote ancestors spelled it in the manner finally adopted. |