Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 46.djvu/279

Rh No account of the life and labors of Prof. Thompson is at all complete without some mention of his wife, for without her aid and sympathy he never could have accomplished what he did. In childhood they roamed the fields together in search of interesting objects, and later, as husband and wife, they pursued with increased enthusiasm the same study of Nature; and long after Mr. Thompson's death his wife continued her observations of animals and plants. Moreover, being a very shrewd and efficient manager in all household matters, she was able to carry the family through financial difficulties which otherwise would have frustrated many of her husband's scientific undertakings. Their home was not only a home, but it was also a museum and a laboratory. It was a very modest little white cottage, surrounded by a profusion of flowers when the season permitted, and inside, every available shelf or stand was crowded with specimens which either had been or were to be carefully studied, while not seldom there were in or about the house pens, cages, or tubs in which were kept many living animals, whose daily life was under closest scrutiny. Mrs. Thompson not only tolerated these inroads upon her housekeeping, but delighted to assist her husband in his work, and really deserves to be considered a colleague in many of his labors.

Personally, Prof. Thompson was tall, angular, of a very quiet and sedate yet very pleasant manner, a man of most amiable and sweet temper, loved by all who knew him, and respected for his sound sense and accurate judgment. Though retiring by nature, he was fond of long chats around the winter hearth with such neighbors as were congenial. Prof. Joseph Torrey was his most intimate friend, being an excellent botanist, and with him Mr. Thompson's intercourse was most delightful. He was simple, almost childlike in his tastes. Naturally somewhat conservative, his training in science had given him an open mind to all new truth. It is not improbable that the sober manner which he usually maintained came from the shadow of death which had long rested upon him. He was affected by organic disease of the heart, which finally ended his life, and for many years, knowing the possibility of sudden death, he did not trust himself far from home alone. Most often his companion was a Mr. Hills, who was draughtsman and engraver of nearly if not quite all the cuts used in his publications.

The museum in the Vermont State House contains about three thousand specimens collected by Prof. Thompson. He was one of the most reliable correspondents of the Smithsonian Institution, and corresponded also with many of the leading naturalists both at home and abroad. His achievements won him a medal from the French Exposition of 1855.