Excerpt from An Address in Commemoration of Alexander Dallas Bache: Delivered August 6, 1868, Before the American Association for the Advancement of Science

But I am dwelling far too long upon the manifold labors Of this preliminary period of Bache's scientific career. To present an analysis of his labors during those seven years, would be an agreeable task; but far more than a proper portion of this discourse has already been demanded by the variety of their scope. Ingenuity, mental activity, interest in all branches Of the physical science of the day, and a zealous industry that shunned no toil, characterize this early period of his career, as emphatically as that of his maturer life. Six chemical papers lie before me; among them are an analysis of anthracite coals, made jointly with Professor H. D. Rogers; experi ments on the corrosion of metals by salt water; on the action of different alkalies in conferring hydraulic properties upon lime, and on a new method in alkalimetry. Here, too, are nine others, yet unmentioned, upon subjects in thermies and meteor ology; among them, three historical notes, lst on the date of Dr. Franklin's discovery that our north-east storms begin at the south-west, fixing this date satisfactorily in 1743; 2d, On the received hypothesis to explain the greater quantity of rain which falls at the surface Of the ground than above it; and 3d, on the discovery of the non-conducting power of ice the origin of both these latter being conclusively traced to his great an cestor. There is a charming little paper describing experimen tal illustrations of various phenomena in thermies. There are methods of recording the force and direction of the wind, sub sequently introduced with benefit into the Coast Survey. There are meteorological observations, and observations of meteors, Simultaneously with Mr. Espy, for determining their height, and with Professors Henry and Alexander, for determining longitude, these last being the first successful ones made for this purpose; and there is one of the most noted of all his memoirs, the investigation of the Influence of Color upon the Absorption and Radiation of non-luminous Heat.

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