The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-10-17
WILLIAM DWIGHT WHITNEY
PROFESSOR sEYM0UR's ADDRESS
 BEFORE THE cLAssICAL CLUB.

Scion of a Scholarly famiiy-Ths Great
 Linsuisrs student Life at Yaie-iiis Stu
 dies in Germany Appointed "Univsr'
 sity Professor" at Yale in is5a-iiis Great
 Services to oLanguage-Edltor-in -in- Chief ol
 the Century Dictionary.
 The following Is the greater part oi
 the memorial address of Professor
 Thomas D. Seymour in honor of the
 late Professor William Dwight Whit
 ney. It was delivered before the Yale
 Classical club at its memorial meet
 ing last Friday evening, and was list
 ened to by large and representative
 audience from university circles. Pro-
 lessor Seymour spoke in the main as
 follows;
 Among the stately hilis on the banks
 of the Connecticut river Northamp-
 ton, Massachusetts, half a century ago,
 was one of the best examples Of typ
 ical New England town. with large
 homesueads still occupied by the de-
 scendants of early settlers, with broad
 streets well shaded by great spreading elms, with people of much culture and refinement who were given to plain living and high thinking" It was the town of Edwards, of Dwight, of flaw ley, of Stoddard, of Strong, and of many another worthy. It was the seat of the once famous Round Hill acade- my. There, on February 9, 1927, VII liam Dwight Whitney was born-the second surviving son and fourth child of Josiah Dwight Whitney and Sarah Wilhston Whitney. His mother was a daughter of the Rev. Payson Williston (Yale, 17S3), of Easthampton, and sis- ter of the Hon. Samuel Williston, who founded Williston seminary. His fath- CT was born in Westfield, Mass..-the oldest son of Abel Whitney, who was graduated at Harvard in 17SS.
 No company of brothers and sis ters of any American family has been so remarkable for scholarly attain ments and achievements as that fam fly in Northampton: Josiah D. Whit ney, Jr (Yale. 1S3O, professor of geolo- gy at Harvard; William D. Whitney, of Yale; James L. Whitney (Yale. '1S56), of the Boston Public library; Henry M. Whitney (Yale, 1S6D, professor of Eng fish literature at Beloit college; Miss Maria Whitney, the first incumbent of the chair of modern languages in Smith college.
 William D. Whitney was fitted for college in his native town, and entered the sophomore class of Williams col lege in 1s42, at the age of fifteen. Ira dition says that the studies of the col lege course were easy to him, and that he spent most of his time in wandering over the fields, studying geology and the habits of birds and of plants, al- though he maintained the first rank for scholarship in his class. On his graduation he pronounced the valedic- tory oration on" Literary Biography
 After graduation-at eighteen, the age when most now enter college-Mr. Whitney remained for three years in uncertainty with regard to his life work, meanwhile busy as teller in his fathers papka His leisure time was given largely to the collection of birds and plants; a large and beautiful case of birds stuffed by him at this period is in our Peabody Museum. His tastes for natural science were marked, and he was more than an amateur in that field He spent the summer of 1849 in the United States survey of the Lake Superior region, conducted by his emi- nent brother, Josiah D. Whitney-hav- ing under his charge the botany, the ornithology and the accounts" In the summer of 1873, also, he was invited to take part in the Hayden exploring ex- petition in Colorado. The report of the survey says that he rendered most valuable assistance. in geographical work" His account of this expedition of 1878 was published in the New York Tribune, and afterwards was transla- ted into French for popular publica- tion of that country, as giving clear view of the work of such scientific par ties. He had g. brief article in the American Journal of Science for the same year on the United States Geolog- ical Survey of the Territories. He gave several months of his time, just before | leaving home for his last visit to Flu l rope, to helping Professor J. D. Whit ney put through the press the latter's Metallic Wealth of the United States"
 His scientific experience stood him in good stead in more than one instance | of pathological research and discus sion. He was a member for several l years of the American Association for l the Advancement of Science. One of | his most important publications was 1 the annotated translation of Hindu treatise on astronomy-the Surya-Sidd- hanta, 1S60-and one of the longest es- says in his Oriental and linguistic studies treats of the same subject.
 In 1S4S, largely under the influence and with the encouragement of his fathers pastor, the Rev. George E. Day (for a quarter of a century after 1866 professor of Hebrew here, and at present dean of our Divinity schooD, MT. Whitney directed his attention to he study of Sanskrit, for which he 'ound books in the library of his elder brother, who had recently returned rom Europe.
 A really good mind can find pleasure md success in any one of several diff erent fields of research. Not often, however, do we find such marked ex- lmples of men of real talent manifest ng distinct tastes in widely different of learning as in the case # these two brothers. MT. J. D. Whit icy went to Germany primarily to pre- are himself for nineralogical and ge- logical work, but became interested n the study of languages, and attended ,