Jii'Ji THE Iff Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PROFESSOR ARTHUR W. PALMER MEMORIAL CONVOCATION THE LIRRARY OF THE APR 6 -1937 * i^'^'VERS/Ty OF ILLINOIS HELD IN THE CHAPEL FEBRUARY 7 1904 ARTHUR WILLIAM PALMER 1861-1904 Borii, London^ England^ February //, 1861. B. 6*., University of Illinois, i8Sj. Sc.D., Harvard University, iSSd. Student in Berlin and Goettingen, j8SS-iS8g. Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois, i8Sg-i8go. Professor of Chemistry, iSgo-igo^.. c coo .-? s>^z ORDER OF SERVICE Lead, Kindly Light Choir Scriptures, Psalm xxii., vers. 1-14; John xiv.; Revelation xxii., 1-5 . . . . . . . Dean Burrill Address Dean Clark Address Professor Parr Address Professor Breckenridge Crossing the Bar Professor Breneman Address Dean Davenport Address Dean Forbes Address President Draper The Homeland Choir Prayer . . Dean Burrill ARTHUR WILLIAM PALMER, 1861-1904. Address by Dean T. A. Clark. It is very fitting that we should hold this service today in memory of Professor Palmer, for all our minds are turned to what his life and his work have meant to this University. It is not unfitting that we should hold it in this room; for it was here that as a young student he used daily to come, it was here that he received his first ideas of University life, and it was upon this platform as a young instructor that some of us first came to know him. It was always an inspiration to me as a student, as I am sure it has been to many others, — it was no less an inspiration when I came to be a teacher, — to remember that he was a son of the University of Illinois, and that much of the training he had, he received here. It is a source of pride to all of us today, to know that his few years of work — work that has been recognized everywhere in this country — were given to further the growth and to increase the efficiency of the institution that gave him his undergraduate training. We may well consider for a few moments some of the characteristics which have tended to make him an unusual man among the men with whom he was associated here. First of all he was a scholar. Whatever scientific work he undertook he went to the bottom of. Those who knew him well knew how wide was his knowledge, how reliable his judgment, how thor- oughly credible all the statements that he made. I have heard it said by those who are better able to judge than I, that no one ever went to him for information on any subject connected with the subject of chemistry without receiving the informa- tion that he desired. He was a master of the subject he taught, 6 He was more than a scholar, however; he was a man who could do things. Not every man who has theory at his tongue's end is able to put that theory into practice, but everyone who was associated with Professor Palmer knows that what was given him to do was done rapidly and done well. No one ever found him off his guard ; he was always active, alert, able at any time to summon all his powers and to direct them toward the accomplishment of whatever purpose he might have in mind. He was a man to be trusted, to be given responsibility, to be relied upon to accomplish whatever task was given into his hands. He was an eminently successful instructor. Only this morn- ing I was talking with a man whose special interest is in no way scientific, and yet he spoke with feeling of the work he had taken under Professor Palmer's instruction,— of the clear- ness of his presentation, of the interest he aroused in his sub- ject, of the love for his science which was all the time evident to those who listened to him. He was a man to mould men and to leave his imprint upon them as few teachers are able to do He was, perhaps, a severe teacher, who made his students understand how little they really knew and how wide the range of knowledge really is. He set himself a high standard in thor- oughness and exactness, and he tried to hold his students up to that standard. He was not unsympathetic, however. I have been more and more impressed during the last two or three years as I have come to know him better and have had occa- sion frequently to talk to him about students who were not strong in their work, how reasonable and fair he was in his judg- ment. He was unusually sympathetic and charitable when discussing men who had failed, and no one was more helpful and suggestive in giving advice to those who came to him in trouble. The man who would not work he had no patience with, but any other man could easily find in him a friend. I think the characteristic that impressed me most, and which helped most to make him the man that he was, was his singleness of purpose. He was in no sense a narrow man; for his training had been broad, and his interests were numerous Few men could talk more intelligently on general topics than he, and few had a wider range of information. But these things were to him only incidental. His one idea was to ad- vance the interests of his science and his department, and this idea he never forgot. It was upon his mind during the day and too often perhaps far into the night; it was the thing for which he planned and worked and gave his chief'energies. It was this oneness of purpose coupled with his strong intellect that brought success to him when he was still a young man and has made his department one of the best in this country. I cannot end the few words I am to speak without at least referring to my estimate of him as a personal friend. Sincere, loyal, true, he bound us all to him with cords that will not soon be loosed. The years that were given him to finish his work were not many. He has gone from us at an age when most men feel that their best years are yet before them. And yet how much he has accomplished in inspiring his fellow-workers in the fur- thering of chemical science, and in the development of scien- tific education! When the history of this University is written, among the names of her sons who have done most for her de- velopment and her honor will be the name of Arthur William Palmer. Address by Professor Parr. Arthur Palmer entered the University as a chemical stu- dent in the fall of 1879. He brought to his chosen work a very considerable amount of manipulative skill, acquired in practical work at the watch factory of his home city, in the electro-plating and gilding de- partment. This was further augmented along more general chemical lines by experiments conducted at home on the fam- ily range. He certainly brought with him all his avidity for chemical work. During his first year, besides disposing of a number of 8 preparatory conditions, he obtained five term-credits in chem- istry, the three hi^rhest grades for which were 100, and for the other two 98. Tt is not strange therefore that at thel)eginning of his sopliomore year he was permitted to assist in the hiljoratory supervision of the beginning course in chemistry, and in his senior year he was given the reguhir appointment of second as- sistant in chemistry. For one year following his graduation in 1883 he served as first assistant, ])ut a more appropriate title would have been that of chief operating engineer of the department. Entering Harvard in 1884, he was granted a fellowship which was con- tinued for two years, thus enabling him to complete his work, and obtain the degree of Doctor of Science. After two more years at Illinois without any advance in appointment over that which he had received at graduation, he left for study abroad. His first semester was spent in Gottingen, where, because of the crowded condition of the laboratory and because also of his strong endorsements from Harvard, he was given a place in the private laboratory of Victor Meyer, whose standing in the chemical world was second only to that of the professor under whom he spent his second se- mester, the great Hoffman, at that time dean of the chemical world and director of the laboratory at Berlin. Here he began his work on the arsines, which culminated three years after his return to Illinois in establishing the existenceof that series, un- til then described in the books as not existing, — certainly a notable piece of work. But time does not permit of a detailed account of his ac- plishments in these lines. I prefer to turn for a moment to his student and post-graduate days. He must certainly stand out with marked distinction in the minds of those who worked with him in those years. A radical change had just been made throughout the teaching force of the department, and the new order of things required a little time for smooth adjustment. How much we depended on Dr. Palmer for help, and how able he was to meet the denumd ! 9 I recall hearing a student say, and his statement was not overdrawn, "If you have any question about any difficulty in any part of any process in any course in this building, between cellar and attic, ask Palmer and he will know at once just what you are talking about and just what is the matter." I wish to couple with this another statement which at hrst glance may seem to be contradictory, but which in truth throws a side light upon professional habits which make the first statement credi- ble. It was made by a student of recent years, and he said, "If in the intricate and involved discussions that sometimes arise, it ever happens that a point is brought up about which Dr. Palmer is uncertain, he will say he doesn't know; but I note that after 24 hours, if the topic arises again, he will be able to carry you to the utmost detail of possible information upon the point in question." In his chemical tasks as a student he was continually over- running the prescribed work and indulging as a pastime for fill- ing in the remaining hours, the preparation of rare and difficult salts. Many of these, as cabinet specimens, I regret to say, have disappeared in the laboratory fire. It was this habit, no doubt, coupled with the ever present desire to conquer new fields, that led him, in his senior year into his first real work in organic chemistry. The evidences and relics of that work could be seen for a long time in the basement of the old build- ing, in the shape of beakers and stills with asphaltum residues and tarry coatings from materials obtained at the city gas works, impossible to clean up, yet too interesting to throw away. It may be in place to note how advanced at this time were his ideals as to methods of teaching chemistry. It is difficult now to realize what was the procedure then and how great the change has been ,■ — due almost, if not entirely, to his efforts. First, the recitation work in all chemical courses did not extend beyond one-half of . the first year. Three and a half years were therefore devoted to laboratory work exclusively, without lecture or quiz accompaniment. The reverse of this is 10 now true. Second, beginners in chemistry had text-book work only. There was no experimental development of the science. At the student's first introduction to the laboratory work he was given a desk, an analytical table, and an unknown substance, and was told to work out his own salvation. At the end he knew a few facts but, if possible, less of the science than at the ])eginning. The chemical students can better understand what a change has been brought about in this regard, a change to be credit- ed to Dr. Palmer. In these two marked departures in instructional methods, there is illustrated the dominant characteristic of all his work, that of thoroughness. As a student he was far from being a recluse. He was ac- tive in all student affairs. He entered heartily into the work of his literary society and was for two years a member of the Philomathean sextette, a musical organization of no mean rep- utation. He engaged in all forms of athletic sport, and there were but few of his associates who enjoyed the distinction of being able to walk with him without breaking the regulations as to a genuine "heel and toe" gait. The strenuous character of his mental make-up found its greatest delight in the game of chess. Student activities and proclivities of his day were not with- out their serious lapses of conduct. Indeed there are some chapters that we might wish to see blotted out beyond all pos- sibility of decipherment. But I can freely say that I never knew a student whose discernment between right and wrong w^as keener, whose scorn of a mean act was more profound, or whose conduct at all times conformed more finely to the old motto, "Preserve thine integrity of character, and in doing it never reckon the cost." My acquaintance with Arthur Palmer exceeds by but a few days the 22-year mark. It has been 22 years of unbroken friendship. It is a poor tribute at best that mere words can pay, but in the name of student associates of other daj's, and of student followers of the years between, I offer here our tender appre- 11 elation of the constancy of his friendship, the example of his manliness, and the inspiration of his enthusiasm. How strong- ly hast thon entered into the current of our lives ! How sadly shall we miss the impulse of thy brave heart ! — Farewell. Address by Professor L. P. Breckenridge. It is a privilege to be permitted to say a few words on this occasion and to acknowledge the admiration with which I have always held my friend. The relation we hold to any individual, the position from which we view any object of interest, so modifies our final opin- ion and conclusions that it is fortunate when we may have the advantage of several points of view. So it will be today. In the affairs of the University my knowledge of the work of Dr. Palmer has not been that obtained from intimate and close contact, neither is my knowledge of the fundamental sci- ence of which he was the efficient leader at Illinois, sufficiently extensive to enable me to judge his work. I have had the pos- itive advantage of that point of view which is located at the focus of University opinion and sentiment, and to which come the composite conclusions of both students and teachers. From no other place can more correct judgment be formed concern- ing the value of the work of the individual teacher ; here the prejudice of friendship or of spite is completely obliterated by an accumulating wave of solid, persistent, and reliable college opinion. Dr. Palmer was an eminent scientist as well as an able lec- turer and teacher. His ability was recognized by all connected with the University. Many have been the words of commenda- tion that have come to me from our engineering students con- cerning the lectures in elementary chemistry. They have said, "We understand what he is talking about"— "We hear what he says" — "Professor Palmer does not waste words" — "We feel that we are learning something." Homely expressions some of them, but they mean much in the life of the student, and no 12 words that I could frame would convey so much meaning to you as students, or be cherished more by us as teachers, could they be said of us. With what enthusiasm has his work been done! With what arduous zeal has he pushed forward his plans! As a student at Illinois, then at Harvard University, and then abroad, he always attracted the attention of his instructors, and he ac- complished early in life more than many with equal opportuni- ties are able to accomplish in a lifetime. Here atHlinoishas fortunately l)een completed a perpetu- al memorial to him who has gone. We are glad that he lived to see his cherished plans in brick and mortar finished. I shall always remember the beaming and delighted expression of his face when the money for the Chemical Laboratory was really appropriated. "It hardly seems possible that it is true," he said. And then how he worked building his laboratory, watching every detail by day, and while the laborers slept he planned and thought by night. The Inilliant light from his study window at his home was always streaming forth at night. I could easily see it from my bed-room window, and many times it was the last thing I saw shining through the darkness as I pulled down my curtains for the night. Now that light has gone out. Many of us will long remember it, and many of us realize, perhaps more now than ever, what it meant. Quiet thought must precede intelligent action, and so it seems sure that near that light originated and developed what we recognize today as the important products of his busy brain. What we may say here today will soon be forgotten, but many thing that he did will endure for years to come. He taught the science of chemistry to many students. It seems to me that this was his greatest work. He contributed to the fund of knowledge in the realm of chemical science. He serv- ed the people of Illinois by the application of his science to the needs, comforts, the very life of her citizens. He built the Chemical Laboratory. These were his ])ublic services. Dr. Palmer carried the same enthusiasm into his play that 13 he did into his work. It was among his friends that he was at his best,— quick of thought, brilliant in speech, sympathetic in feeling. He was not always understood, nor was he easily won; but once his friendship was yours, the more it was prized and the stronger it became. After all, how much that we think and feel must we leave unspoken; the sympathy for the family, the sister, the friends; what words mean enough ? To him who has gone we gladly and honestly acknowledge our respect, our admiration, our love- And now after a few sad days gone by since the news of his death came to me over the wire, days of thoughtful, keenly- felt sorrow, I still feel as I said: He was a scientist of marked ability, a man of unusual enthusiasm, a delightful companion, and a true friend. Address by Dean Eugene Davenport. For a little more than nine years I have been associated with Professsor Palmer in this University, and yet I cannot say that I knew him well. It is one of the misfortunes of universi- ty life that we come close enough to many a man to know and feel that a great soul is there, and yet from the very exigencies of duty little or no opportunity is given to come into its full beneficence. In other words we are surrounded by more person- alities than we can utilize, and we lose much of personal privi- lege that might be enjoyed were the world less busy and were our lines less definitely cast. It was so in this case. Though working in buildings but a few feet apart, we seldom met except in faculty meeting or up- on appointment in matters of routine. I knew Professor Pal- mer best, therefore, in his business relations, but one could not meet him even here and infrequently without feeling the touch of a strong personality that one would be glad to know better. Professor Palmer was a born chemist, and I should say that all his ambitions lay in the line of pure science. And yet he 14 was neither blind nor unfeeling to the applications of science, even in lines that did not personally appeal to him. He was always fair, open, and generous in his relations with other in- terests. With students he was exact and exacting; yet he was full of the milk of human kindness, and no student so far as I ever knew could complain of Professor Palmer's final treat- ment; if a student failed, it was because he deserved to fail. He never spared himself. Head of a busy department and l)eset by a multitude of exacting duties and harrowing details, he thought of himself, if at all, after the demands of duty were fully met. Always ambitious for the progress of his department, especially along the lines of pure chemistry, he yet met all the duties of the department with hdelity and with patience. There is a peculiarly pathetic side to this case, and it is only just to him that we note it in his passing, even if we somewhat overlooked it in his life. A decade ago the department enjoy- ed an enviable reputation. Its fame was not limited to the natural constituency of this University, but it was widely and favorably known among universities everywhere, and it did not seem too much to look forward to the time when it should oc- cupy front rank among the leading departments of chemistry in this country. Then came the burning of the chemical ])uilding. Because of scarcity of funds, and l)ecause a new and more commodious structure was to be asked for, the laboratories were never com- pletely restored. The ruin was roofed over, and the work rein- stalled, but in a temporary and exceedingly inadequate man- ner. The building needed was not provided, and for four years this department marked time and struggled for existence. This condition of things was at the threshold of the great- est period of general growth ever experienced by the Univer- sity. Students rapidly increased in numbers in all the colleges, and the old laboratories already overcrowded were flooded be- yond their capacity with students seeking elementary instruc- tion. Here for more than four years the resources of the de- partment were taxed to the utmost to meet the increasing de- mands on the part of the University for elementary chemistry. 15 General prosperity was a fact, but it brought about conditions doubly hard upon this department laboring to sustain its repu- tation among more fortunate neighbors in other institutions. Then came the final struggle when the building was won; though the amount granted was insufficient, and those who knew Professor Palmer in those dark days when the chemical build- ing for the third time hung in the balance — those only knew what the issue meant to him. Yet he never neglected his duty to the department or to students dependent upon it. These are conditions that try the souls of men; and though I never passed a word with him upon the subject, I knew what Professor Palmer lived through for some five years, and I honor his memory for his fortitude and his courage under circumstances more trying than most men are called upon to endure. He lived to see the building erected. For this we are glad. I wish he might have lived to see it completely equipped. I wish his dream might have been fully realized on this campus and in his lifetime. According to his allotted time he should have had a good quarter of a century yet in which to bring about his ideals. It is said of some men that their glory is brighter and their fame more lasting for a sudden and tragic taking off. This cannot be true of Professor Palmer. He would have won more laurels for himself and more credit for the Uni- versity he loved so well. It is good for most men to die in the harness. He was of the kind to go that way, and yet we can- not but wish that he might have worn the harness longer. By all human standards he had earned the right to do so; and had he been spared, he would have added yet new honors to the name to which we now pay our last tribute of respect and love. Address by Dean S. A. Forbes. After the various appreciations of Dr. Palmer — unusually full and fair, as it seems to me — which have been given by those who have preceded me, I may speak perhaps of a few less obvi- ous, less conspicuous matters, which I think are not less signifi- 16 cant as clues to his character and helps to an understanding of his life. And first, in this connection, I think of the breadth and liberality of his intellectual sympathies and interests. We have heard of him here today as a chemical specialist, im- mersed in the work of his department, closely concentrated on his special subjects; but there was another side to him not nearly so evident or so well known. He was a chemist, indeed, from the ground up, one might almost say from the heart out, but when he was free from the harness of technical and ))usi- ness routine, when he could cast off his responsibilities for a little time and follow the lead that pleased him, it was not more chemistry that he seemed to want, it was not to chemistry that he turned for stimulus and refreshment, it was to almost any- thing else. 1 belonged, with him, to a little study club which met once a week; and when it came to the selection of a subject for reading and discussion. Dr. Palmer's choice never once turned to chemistry or to any allied subject, but to philosophy, or ethics, or economics, or sociology, or theoretical history, or biology, — to almost anything, indeed, except chemistry, which had a content of substantial and interesting thought, so pre- sented as to stimulate reflection and to provoke discussion. It was with these things that he sought to broaden his thinking and to refresh his mind. The scope of his intelligence, and the variety of his ability, were sometimes strikingly shown to us when it fell to him to abstract, for the general benefit, some article or some chap- ter on a subject so far removed from his personal studies that we would doulit, perhaps, whether he could do what was called for; whether, indeed, he could really understand the subject himself. But his presentation of the matter would neverthe- less come in as clear, as accurate, as complete, as fluent, as one of his lectures in elementary chemistry. This same ready, thoroughly-trained ability was shown also by the finish and skill with which he would do a new, difficult, and wholly unfa- miliar thing the first time trying. 1 turn aside a moment to give you an instance which came under my own observation. It became his duty, one legislative session, to present to an im- 17 portaiit committee at Springfield the reasons for establishing the Chemical Water Survey of the state, which has now been going on under his direction for several years. This he did with his characteristic clearness and method, consulting no one be- forehand, asking no one's advice as to what he should say or how he should say it, and with the result that the bill was unanimously approved by the committee, if I remember right- ly, at its first vote. One of the most experienced members of the House expressed his admiration to me afterwards by saying that Dr. Palmer had made the clearest and most interesting ar- gument that had been presented to his committee that winter. When I repeated this comment presently to Dr. Palmer him- self, he replied, "Nonsense ! What does the man mean? I never did such a thing before in my life." That was just it. He did the thing the very first time just as well as it could be done. That was what it meant to have his versatile, well- trained mind. His desire, to which I have referred, to avoid or correct the effects of close specialization, showed itself also in his adminis- tration of his department. It is true that the course in chem- istry, the requirements of which have been gradually estab- lished under his lead and in accordance with his ideas, is one of the most highly specialized in the University, surpassed in that respect, I think, by only one other in our whole organiza- tion, but this is not because of his deliberate preference. He thought it the necessary consequence of the industrial demand upon his department, of the fact that his courses w^ere so largely taken as a preparation for industrial life. He often talked with me about these matters. There was a conflict in his mind be- tween these tendencies towards specialization, and his appreci- ation of liberal study as a preparation for a cultivated and ef- fective life. He really wished to turn out not merely well- trained chemists, but broadly educated men. By that I do not mean, of course, to imply that there is not much breadth in a comprehensive chemical education ; but nevertheless, as an ed- ucation, it undoubtedly needs broadening and balancing up, and Dr. Palmer often influenced young men to liberalize their 18 elections to this end. Indeed, one of his latest official acts was to send me, from his sick-])ed, a new catalo}? statement of the requirements for graduation in clicmistry, nmended l»y the ad- dition of two new liberal courses. 'I'lien, as I came to know Professor Palmer. I discerned in him a trait which exijlained to me some things alxnit him which I could not otherwise have understood, and that trait was his essential idealism. He was a strenuous, practical ideal- ist. We usually thought of him, it is true, as one of the mosiy practical of men, so intense was the steady energy with which he pushed toward the accomplishment of his purpose*:; but he nevertheless seemed alwaysto carry with him a vision as clear as the sight of his eye, of things as they ought to be, with- in the sphere of his responsil)ility and interests, and he strove constantly with all his might to l)ring the system of things as they are into conformity with his ideals. It is in this fact that we find an exi)lanation of a certain severe intolerance of poor work, and even impatience with the poor worker. He saw so clearly how the thing should be, that any falling short of his high standard and expectation jarred upon his sensibilities like a false note on the ear of a musician. The world is not always an easy place for such men to live in, and they do not always make it an easy place for those as- sociated with them, in whatever capacity. Their highest ideals are often criticised as visionary, and their best-matured and most carefully considered plans are likely to be rejected as impracti- cable. If Professor Palmer had been content to undertake the merely probable, he would neve have accomi)lished the utmost possible; and that, 1 think, we would all of us say he always did. I must not close without saying something of what 1 found him as a friend. 1 first l)egan really to know him personally about two years after his return from Germany, when we came together one winter as members of a club organized under the leadership of one of the professors in the University, for a line of study undertaken with reference to the Columl)ia Exposi- tion, which was to open the following year. There it was that 19 1 first learned of his keen wit, of his contagions gaietj% of his careful, considerate, neverfailing courtesy, of his fondness for the society of his intimates, of that inimitable, indescribable quality which we call personality, which made him so fascinat- ing a companion. Later it was my good fortune to spend some weeks of a summer vacation on the shores of Lake Michigan in his company, and to my surprise I found that this hitherto in- cessant worker could also really rest; that an idle dog dozing in the sun was not more idle than he might be if he chose. And yet, even then, some hours of every day w^ere set aside for his departmental correspondence, which he had forwarded regu- larly to him from his laboratory; and if a contest were started as a pastime, if a competition of any kind sprang up, he dashed into it as if great issues were at stake, and no one ever beat him who was not his superior at a game. I learned, however, to know him best when we met, with a very few" others, one evening a week, each week in a year, for several years in succession, in a club of University men formed for reading and discussion. It was not long before he became, I am sure I may say, a favorite with every one of us. The eve- ning did not really begin until Palmer came, and those meet- ings at which he was not present could scarcely be said to count our list; and so he slowly wound himself into all our hearts. And now he has gone. That little circle is broken at its brightest link. We shall never see his like again. May his memoi-y remain green as long as there are good, and able, and devoted men and women at this University of Illinois. Address by President A. S. Draper. We are quite willing that the public shall take the words which we speak today as our testimonial to the splendid quali- ties of one of our number gone before us over the river which parts earth and heaven. But we are not met merely to give him formal public honor. To him it matters not what we do or w^hat we say. And the throbbing w^orld cares little. But it 20 matters much to us. How we who are left feel and what we say when one is taken has much to do with ourselves now and hereafter. Realizing that, and having beliefs about death and the hereafter, we are met under our own roof, around our own heartstone, to release our pent up feelings in words spoken to each other, to assuage the common grief through the pledge of the common support in bearing it, and to bring consolation to our own souls through the contemplation of the qualities which made us honor and regard the one who filled the vacant chair. My colleagues have spoken of the personal qualities and characteristics of Professor Palmer. I need not dwell upon them, biit I cannot be satisfied to pass them by, lest I repeat. Nor need I, for we each saw him at a different angle and I stood, not in a closer, but in a different relation to him from all the rest. In body and spirit he had individuality which was strong and so deeply impresssed upon each of us as to make it wholly impossilile that we shall ever forget it. In person he was of fair complexion, and attractive mould. His eye was clear and his face winsome. None of us surpassed him in physical and nervous energy of action. But his carriage was manful and his every movement was expressive of deter- mination and force. Nor was there a keener or more virile mind among us. We are proud to say that he was a product of this University, and we may well add that it has not developed a more serious or ag- gressive student. He shrank from no intellectual undertaking and he accomplished completely whatever he undertook. He was practical nuister of our Department of Chemistry when it was yet in its infancy and he in his undergraduate work. When he came to see that this University could not satisfy his pur- purposes in life, he went to America's oldest university and then to the strongest in the Old World for his training and when he had secured it he turned back to the University of his fondest hopes and his deepest love to develop a Department of Chemistry which should he one of our chief glories and of which all the world should know. Of chemistry he became as 21 thoroughly a master as any of his age in America. He was not immodest, but he had no occasion to avoid, and he did not avoid, measuring with the foremost. His love for chemical ana- lysis wa,s consuming; his capacity for scientific detail was pro- digious; his confidence in his results and in his opinions was absolute. His work upon the waters of Illinois was wholly un- parallelled and the great report which his unyielding purpose got through the press l)efore he could surrender even to the Angel of Death is likely to be the reference book of investiga- tors for a generation. As a teacher he was exact and efficient. He quickened minds and interested them in a science, difficult of mastery and not ordinarily attractive. His lectures lightened and brightened a hard theme; he was not only master of chem- istry but he came pretty near being a master of good English style; he never hesitated' for a word and he seldom used any other than the one which could serve his purpose to the utmost. In a University conference he was always ready with an opin- ion and if the matter in hand deserved it, it was a good opinion. If it seemed to him unimportant, he was likely to toy with it for the relaxation he found in it, but if it was of moment he went closely to the heart of it over very strong ground and l)y very direct roads. When the time came for University action he was read to lead it or fall in anywhere else, and whatever place he held he put all of his strength and his resources into the move- ment. With all this, he was an alert and persistent leader of a department. He was yet more than an administrator; he was a builder. He was never content with what had been gained. He would enlarge his domain and his opportunities. Men who could help him to accomplish his purposes might not see things just as he did, but they could not resist him, they were obliged to help him. If his report upon the potable waters of Illinois is to be an enduring monument to his scientific genius and his capacity for unparalled detail, the fine, new Chemical Labora- tory over there will express his administrative power and his constructive creativeness through the long life of this Univer- sity. His learning and his administrative efficiency attracted the 2'J attention of others and opportunities to go to w liiit seemed to he' or were likely in time to prove to he, more conspicioiis places were not wanting. Any university in the country would have heen glad to secure him for the headship of its department of Chemistry. It was not much known, l»ut the way once opened for him to go to the presidency of one of the state universities. His attachments to his own University led him to put these things away, and happily time justified his determination very amply. It was fortunate for us; 1 am glad to believe it was well for him. This was his place: it was the place which he had largely created; he fitted it and filled it; it was the place in which he could make the most of himself because it was the place of greatest usefulness. Very naturally there was another side to his nature which this appi-eciation of him does not necessarily disclose, and to which I should not allude if it did not throw a stronger liglit upon still another and a beautiful phase of his character to which I shall allude in a moment. Ue was intense, so intense that it was often felt that he wasted himself unnecessarily, that he spent himself too freely for the science of his University. He often worked while others rested. With all the varied inter- ests which center here and which have to be provided for, it sometimes seemed as though he persisted for those under his care till he carried them l)eyond the point of reason. He loved discussion, for he had the qualities of mind which needed and sharpened upon it. He was so truly fond of the exhilaration of intellectual combat that he would spring to his feet at the first appearance of an opportunity for it. These things were liable to give a superficial observer the impression that he was given to stul)bornness and to idle controversy. But the real truth was that he loved discussion, even idle controversy, when it was harmless ; he disliked it when it was hurtful. No man liked to agree with others upon matters of sul)stance more than he. It is quite possible that at times his strength overshadowed his urbanity, and that his native force stood in the way of a difference of opinion affrighting him as quickly as it did weaker men. Yet no one could say that he was wanting in the refine 23 meots of feeling-, or that he persisted in serious combat for any end which did not appeal to his sense of right. Quite the contrar}' was true. His nature was sympathetic. He was exceedingly kindly. This goes to the matter of char- acter ; even more than mentality or nervous activity it must challenge our esteem in such an hour as this. But if all are centered in the same being it is better still. It is easy for men to be kindly if they are weak and must depend upon kindness from others, or if they lack that nervous restlessness and physi- cal force which may blind them to the need of kindness or stand in the way of growth in forbearance and graciousness. Pro- fessor Palmer had a fuller measure of physical energy, or ner- vous aggressiveness, than we often see in one man ; but still he was kindly. He stood in a marriage relation which claimed the utmost of sympathetic love and gentleness, and received them to the full. He w^as a proud and tender father. Some of us know what a true and helpful brother he was. Some may suppose that he was a hard disciplinarian in his department. He never spared himself, and he expected healthy men to work to their limit; but who among us has sacrificed himself more to develop his subordinates or to save a place for one who was sick, but true? He was never insipid anywhere. He knew, better than some of us realize, that exactness is the truest kind- ness to students. But who among us would be more consider- ate of any student in whose good purposes he could believe? Where is there another busy, forceful man in our number who is bent upon such high professional accomplishments, who could enter with such enthusiasm into student movements as he was wont to do? K one of his colleagues was ill or unfortu- nate his sympathy was as active as his anxiety over a chemical determination, or his solicitude for a University triumph. Hi all the relations of life, in all that went to the matter of char- acter, he was sympathetic, kindly and true. We would rather say this with entire truth, than anything else we may say of him today ; and when it may be added that his kindness was sharpened and given a finer edge by reason of those physical 24 and intellectual forces which were more apparent to the casual observer, we say all that need be said of any one. We will try to learn the olnious lesson. All of us, officers, teachers, students, graduates, friends, who go to make up the University body, have part in it. We will share each oth- er's sorrow and support each other's grief. W^e ^\ ill send our sympathy to all relatives and friends, particularly to a stricken wife whom we all cherish, and a fatherless boy who cannot know the measure of his loss, and to all the members of that prominent family among us with which he was so closely asso- ciated. But we will go further and apply to ourselves the les- son of the life that is gone. We will strive to be exact, force- ful, and in earnest; we will try to gain results and lift human knowledge to a higher plane ; we will not forget to be more generous, kindly and true : and we will strive to be ready for the going in (lod's own time. Resolutions Adopted by the Board of Trustees. Whereas, Tlie Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois has learned with deepest reiiret and sincerest sorrow of the death of Pro- fessor Arthur William Palmer, Head of the Department of C-hemis- try of the University. Therefore, /iVso/iw/, That it is with the largest deji;ree of gratitude that we place on record our i)roroiiud appreciation of his intense and scholarly devoti«)n to liis chosen profession; of liis deep scientific knowledge, as denion*stratedin his invaluable services to the University as direc- tor and teacher, and of his extended investigation and exhaustive reports on the potable waters of Illinois, and on nuuiy other mat- ters correlated with his dei)artment. licmlved. That, cut oil in his prime, full of ambition and hope, loyal to tiie University, zealous in his calling, constant in his labor of research, faitiiful in his daily instruction, he has left a monument of most intelligent and masterful imlustry, and his loss to the Uni- versity and to the progress of chemical science seems quite irrepar- able. Besolved, That this minute be spread on the records and a copy be presented to his family, to whom the Board of Trustees extends its most cordial sympathy in this hour of its deep bereavement. 25 Resolution Adopted by the University Senate. By tlie death of Professor Arthur W, Palmer in the early prime of his life and in the midst of his career, the University of Illinois has lost one of its most distinguished sons, one of its most useful and devoted servants. Peceiving his formal education first with us and afterwards in other universities of this country and of the old world, he spent the whole of his j)roductive life in the development and maintenance of the work of his department. An expert and learned scholar, a skilled investigator, a brilliant lecturer, a conscientious and stimulating instructor, an able executive, and an insi:)iring leader, he contributed to the progress of the University as but few of longer life have been able to do. We shall miss him greatly in our work and in our council ; and we commend his memory to future generations of students and instructors here as that of one who aid- ed much to establish and to maintain at this University high stand- ards of scholarship and high ideals of manly character, and who gave exceptional talents and his utmost energies to science, to education, and to the public welfare. Action of the Faculty of the College of Science. February 5, 1904. The Faculty of the College of Science direct us as a Committee to give on their behalf some public expression of the deep sorrow felt by all connected with the College and the University because of the unexpected and lamented death of our colleague Professor Arthur W. Palmer. This sad loss has cast the deepest gloom upon the Uni- versity as a whole, but especially upon the College of Science in the development and management of which his long and efficient ser- vice made him such an important factor. We but feebly express tiie feelings shared in common when we say that all of us who have been thus intimately associated with him in our daily lal)ors are profound- ly affected by the death of one whom we have always held in the highest esteem for the wealth and the worth of his personal charac- ter and for his conspicuous and widely recognized attainments in his chosen field of science. T. J. BURRILL, H. S. Grindley, E. J. TOWNSEND, Committee. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA C IL6UFP C002 PROFESSOR ARTHUR W PALMER. MEMORIAL CON trriiii 0112 025410603