at men come in clusters." That is true, but it is
equally true that once in a great while, we are vouchsafed a royal
guest, a man who mingles freely with the ordinary throng, yet stands
far above them; a man who can wrest the primal secrets from nature's
closed hand, who makes astounding discoveries, only to gladly disclose
them to others.

Such an unusual genius was Professor Robert Ogden Doremus, whose
enthusiasm was only matched by his modesty. In studying what he
accomplished, I wonder whether he was not sent from the central yet
universal "powers that be" to give us answers to some of the riddles
of life; or had he visited so many planets further advanced than our
own--for as Jean Paul Richter wrote "There is no end"--that he had
learned that the supposedly impossible could be done. He assisted John
W. Draper in taking the first photograph of the human face ever made.
Science with him was never opposed to religion. His moving pictures
and spectral analysis were almost miracles at that time. He delighted
to show how the earth in forming was flattened at the poles, and he
would illustrate the growth of the rings of Saturn. As a lecturer he
was a star, the only chemist and scientist to offer experiments. His
lectures were always attended by crowds of admirers. As a toxicologist
he was marvellous in his accuracy; no poisoner could escape his exact
analysis. His compressed cartridges, made waterproof and coated with
collodion, were used in the blasting operations at the Mont Cenis
tunnel through eight miles of otherwise impenetrable stone, solid
Alpine rock, between France and Italy.

When the obelisk in Central Park showed signs of serious decay, he
saved the hieroglyphics by ironing it with melted parafine. He makes
us think of the juggler who can keep a dozen balls in the air as if it
were an easy trick, never dropping one.

[Illustration: PROFESSOR R. OGDEN DOREMUS]

But I forget to give my own memories of Dr. and Mrs. Doremus in their
delightful home on Fourth Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets,--a
home full of harmony, melody, peace, and love. Vincenzo Botta called
Dr. Doremus the "Maecenas of New York," and his beautiful wife, the
ideal wife and mother, was named by her adoring husband the "queen
of women." Mrs. Doremus was prominent in New York's various societies
and charities, but the interests of her own family came first. One of
her sons said: "She never neglected her children; we were always loved