Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-05-28
The Late Professor Lee.
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Because his name did not appear as
among those present" at great rccep-
tons and public functions, because he
was servant to duty, and because the
newspapers did not herald him to the
world in flaming type, few of us can
realize that one Of the most diStn-
SuiShed and Serviceable men in Maine
passed from life in the death of Profess
SCR Leslie A. Lee of Bowdoin college.
Professor Lee was a person of mani
fold accomplishments, though none of
them was of character to win him
fame or wealth or publicity. First of
ALL he was an Unsuitable and indomit-
able student of nature, one who spent
his life in battering away at the prcci-
Gus secrets which the Creator has
locked up in plant and flower and rock
and crystal. Had he resolved to be
come a specialist in his youth and
concentrated his studies upon zoology
or botany or geology or biology or
exploration, it is beyond question that
he would have driven in the outposts
of ignorance and discovered new laws
and fresh secrets that would have en-
riched our libraries for centuries. But
Professor Lee loved nature lin the
altogether,'' and because Of this per-
sonal affection and because he loved
knowledge for the sake of knowledge
and not for any benefit which might
come to himself-because he was
single minded and sincere and simple
he has lived and worked and died, and
the memory of his wonderful zeal and
of his untirng labors lives not in the
thoughts of the masses, who could not
appreciate him, but in the minds of
kindred savants who understood him
and appreciated him and loved him
dearly.
If we were asked to name the four
most helpful men who have originated
in Maine within the past century or
longer, we should make out the list as
botanst. Dr. A. s. Packard junior.
entomologist, Professor A. f. Verill,
zoologist and Professor Leslie A. Lee,
biologist. Professor Lee was more
than mere naturalist AS director of
the Labrador expedition nearly a score
of years ago, and as the controlling
spirit in the Albatross expedition
around Cape Horn, he was able to add
many choice specimens to the mu-
seums Of this country and acted as
pioneer in the service of science.
And it was the Stanley spirit that
inspired Professor Lee. His trip for
the discovery of Grand Falls in the
interior of Labrodor was the fore
runner of the Outing Magazine cX
ploratiOnS under Hubbard. 1t was the
precursor of discovering the Labrador
coast fisheries, of the Labrador mica
mines and of opening up a territory as
large as New England. The Albatross
cruise about the coasts of Terra del
Fuego brought home many geological
and mineral specimens, and discovered
tons of fossil remains, and many cases
of natural history specimens for the
enrichment of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton, of Bowdoin and Harvard and
other colleges, and thus became helpful
in mans conquest of the earth. 1T
Professor Lee had written more and
labOred less StrenuouSlN, his fame
among us common people would nave
been greater, but those who knew the
man can appreciate his self SacflilcG,
fully understanding that what seems
to have been a personal loss to Pro-
feSsor Lee was a greater gain to the
cause of science, in the pursuit Of
which he spent his busy life.