... experiencing many of the hardships of the old-time country school-teacher.

... was not aware of the sorrow that awaited him until he arrived at the store of his cousin, E L Luther, in this city [Clayton] this morning [Tuesday, 29 May 1894], when the dread news was broken to him. It was a hard sorrowful task, and his many friends have deep sympathy for him in his great and sore bereavement. Mrs Dowling was a young woman of many fine qualities, loved by all who knew her, and hundreds of earnest friends will mourn her sudden death, on the threshold of a bright and happy life.

I wish to express my obligation to the Professors and Instructors in this University [Clark University] for uniform courtesy and assistance. I am especially indebted to Professor Story, under whose supervision the work has been carried out.

The study of analytical geometry, as is well known, dates back to the Renaissance. Descartes published his 'Discours de la méthode' in 1637, and this paved the way to one of the richest fields of mathematical research.

Descartes' method of representing plane loci by means of algebraic equations was applied by him and his contemporaries to the various curves then known to geometers, but it was not until 1704 that the method resulted in anything like a systematic treatment of plane curves. In that year appeared Newton's 'Enumeratio Tertii Ordinis'.

Newton's method of classifying the curves of third order was the classic one of examining their infinite branches. By this means he succeeded in finding 72 varieties, but, what is far more important, he showed that all those varieties may be derived from five by simple projection.

Maclaurin, Stirling, Clairaut, and others followed in the footsteps of Newton. These writers cover the period between the 'Enumeratio' of Newton and the appearance of Plücker's 'System der analytischen Geometrie'. In this work, which was published in 1835, the method of classification by infinite points reached, perhaps, its most complete development. In the hands of Plücker this method more than trebled the number of forms discovered by Newton, and by so doing became extremely cumbersome. But as Cayley points out in his Memoir, 'On the Classification of Cubic Curves', Plücker makes a distinct advance by introducing the idea of "groups of curves"; that is to say, singly infinite systems of curves depending upon certain definite positions of the reference loci. ...

In the present work I propose to study the possible forms of quintic curves from a somewhat new point of view, and I shall content myself with real points and real branches of such curves. In the first chapter will be found a number of well-known theorems in topology about the form and arrangement of the branches of plane algebraic curves. In the second chapter I have endeavoured to make a complete study of the changes in the number of real bitangents due to a change in the form of the curve. In the third chapter will be found the method of arriving at the general form to which the equation of every quintic curve can be reduced. The fourth chapter contains the definition and number of possible forms of $k$-lobate quintics. Finally in the last chapter I have indicated how the general equation may be used to study the unicursal quintic.

A party of tourists left Madison in June 1905 for a summer's trip in Europe, under the guidance of Professor L W Dowling, assistant professor of mathematics. The other members of the party are Mrs Dowling, Mrs Eliza Allen and daughter Miss Florence E Allen, (1900), instructor in mathematics; Miss Merle S Pickford (1902), instructor in history in the Eau Claire High School; and Miss Jennie Sherrill (1902), of Belvidere, Ill., instructor in history in Belvidere high school. The party travels together through England, Holland and Germany to Switzerland, where Mrs Allen and daughter will return to Bonn, Germany, to meet Mr C E Allen, (1899), Mrs Allen's son, who, with his wife, has been in that city attending the University for the past year, engaged in the study of botany, of which he is instructor at the University. The other members of the party will proceed to Italy, where Dr and Mrs Dowling expect to remain until 1 June 1906. Dr Dowling will spend a year in study at Turin, Italy. Miss Pickford and Miss Sherrill will sail for home by way of Naples and the Mediterranean route, 26 August, on the steamship Canopic, White Star Line, landing at Boston. Mrs Allen and daughter and Mr Allen and wife will sail from Hamburg 1 September reaching here before the opening of the University next fall.

Posts have been received from Miss Merle Pickford who with Dr and Mrs Dowling, Mrs Eliza Allen and daughter, Miss Florence Allen arrived safely at Liverpool after a pleasant voyage, and who presumably are now in London.

Professor Dowling's instruction was characterised by an exceptional clarity of exposition which, with his magnetism, geniality of manner, and interest in his students, made him a universally popular and beloved teacher. He was a man of unusual breadth of interests: a talented musician, an eager and well-informed botanist, and a student of the humanities. His knowledge of the language and literature of Italy, where he studied under the geometer Segre, was exceptional; and he was an ardent reader and lover of poetry. These talents explain, in part, the bonds of sympathy that united him with so many colleagues and students. But above all his attraction was due to his personal qualities, his cheerful disposition and his kindly character. His influence in these private associations was no less great than in his admirable public service as a teacher, and he will long be remembered and missed by his friends.

This long service as teacher and friend has been rich in its fruitful associations. Magnetic in personality, genial of manner, peculiarly endowed with the teaching gift, he quickly won and maintained the admiration and devotion of his students. He brought to them a rare combination of discipline and vision, a mingling of carefully developed fundamentals with glimpses of the heights beyond. Many of his students who later became teachers testify to the special inspiration and help in their work received in his classroom.

The days of growing weakness were brightened by daily visits of friends and students, who found him, as always, full of sympathy for their interests. His home was a shrine, to which flocked the many who loved him. These found him with peace and serenity of spirit, surrounded by the things he put first, his family, his friends, and his books. Active in community life, lover of literature, music, and nature, his passing leaves a wide sense of personal loss.