Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/424

410 in them, the beauties of which are not comprehended by a less gifted observer. Few objects escaped his notice. He possessed, in an eminent degree, a prompt and keen appreciation of the sublime and of the grotesque; and a speedy judgment in detecting merit or fraud, affectation or sincerity.

"Dr. Lea habitually, during a period of nearly half a century, spent many hours of the night in his studies and his writings, seldom relinquishing them before midnight. These night studies were continued, with little intermission, until he was nearly eighty years old; and they were gradually and finally abandoned only in compliance with the warnings of his medical adviser. Until Dr. Lea became enfeebled with age, at a late period in his life, it was a source of great delight to him to collect mineral specimens in Chester and Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania. His most frequent companions, on such occasions, were Mr. William W. Jefferis, formerly of West Chester, and the writer. No ardent school-boy manifested more enthusiasm in digging than he, when a fair prospect was afforded for obtaining specimens; and his well-trained eye quickly recognized a specimen, though covered with soil. He never permitted any person to clean his specimens excepting himself; and that operation he performed with great patience, in the most complete manner, in order to display all the beauties which the minerals possessed. He was familiar with nearly all the mineral localities in Eastern Pennsylvania. Many years ago the writer described a locality for minerals in Delaware County, which he supposed would be new to Dr. Lea, and received the following reply from him: 'I have crawled all over that locality, on my hands and knees, a half-dozen times, with good results every time.'

"Dr. Lea was a strong admirer of gems, and his familiarity with precious stones was so great that he was considered to be one of the best judges of them in this country. He devoted more time than any other mineralogist to the microscopic examination of the precious stones; the results from which were published, at various times, in the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences. He possessed a large collection of precious stones from all the important localities in the world; and copious notes, in his own writing, are still attached to all the specimens.

"During the last few years of Dr. Lea's life, after he relinquished much of the active work in his mineral cabinet, his time was usually spent in his library, in the happy enjoyment of life, surrounded by his books referring to his favorite studies, mineralogy, geology, and conchology. He enjoyed especially the company of his scientific friends, and his interest in discussing scientific subjects was maintained until his final illness."

Another friend of Dr. Lea's expresses surprise that, in all the published notices of him, "no one has spoken of his wonderful powers of observation of Nature even in her minutest forms. You will pardon