Prof. Watson's Will

Now that the university professors have )rnouiiced their gchulariy eulogies, and tlu' university authorities have aotorded liis remaiiis a most impoMtig funeral, sorae disappointment is said to be telt in certain quartersthat Prof. Watsondid not reimin bcr liis alma uiator anioDg the other large legateer in his wül, and 8ume severe ciitii'isin is indulged in that the bequests to his f'amily shouTd be so disproportionately small. The estáte is valued at about $60,X"), and ihe great mathetuatician figured out his obligalioQ8 to beneficiaries, or their claims on his bourjty, as fulluws: National Academy ofSclenee $r7.000 Dependent wife, bequest 3,000 Dependent wife, antiulty 2nO Wldowed motlier, annulty 150 Alma Mater o Commenting on the will a Chicago paper says: " If the laws of Michigan allow any 111:111 to commit so unjust a discrimination against thosc dependent upon him, in the interest of science or of puMic charity, they are grieviously wrong." Uoder the laws of thÏH state ttoe widow ij guaranteed at leat one-third of her husband's real estale, wi 1 or no will, but Prof. Watsou's estáte is nearly all personal property - exoept, of course, his coinets and asteroids, and even the National academy of science would have difficuky in realizingoa that species of real estáte. The bequests to wife and mother are certainly not such as we tnight expect a large hearted man to make out of such an estáte: but il they are satisfied with the distribution, it would he ungracious for othcra to find fault. Xil m'ni, etc. But we may coni-ider the case of the university without feeling embarrassod by any such sentiment. The will isdatcd six years ato, when I'rof. Watson was an honorcd mem ber of the university faculty and in full sympathy wirh it- work. Second only to his own exeriims he was inbebtt d to this t'o.stor mother not ouly for his real estáte, but tor his education, his fauie, and pretty much all be was or hoped to bc. All the advantuges of his boyhoud and achievcmoutsot' liis tuanhood Wtm assotiated with it. He was bound to it by the doublé ties -il in alumnus and a professor; yet in inaking ui the inventory of his obligations hc Qnds no place for tlie university. Suroly In re. il' anywhere, the alma mater might have reasonably luokcd tor substantial reini'inlirance in her son; but lie looked in vaia.