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rounded education. The many opportunities for analytical and
consulting work that came to him were not permitted to interfere with
his main job, and he was scrupulous to the penny in separating
institutional and private expenditures.
In his Boynton Hall laboratory, Dr. Thompson spent much of his spare
time on commissions to analyze ores and minerals, water, beer and
spirits. The latter products brought him no end of trouble with
brewers who tried to use his findings for advertising purposes. Often
he was called to testify in court concerning beer cases, and to one
brewer he wrote, "In your advertisement my name is used as a guaranty
of your beer as free 'from all hurtful or pernicious qualities.' I
desire you to omit this paragraph in the future, not because I have
the slightest doubt of the truth of the facts affirmed of your beer,
but because I will never guarantee to any man anything beyond the
percentage of alcohol in the sample analyses."
Dr. Thompson, despite recurring ill health, gave freely of his energy
to outside interests. He was early appointed to the Worcester School
Board and worked vigorously for the improvement of schools not only in
Worcester but throughout the state. He joined the Natural History
Society and the American Antiquarian Society, before which he read
papers. He gave lecture courses at Mt. Holyoke, served as trustee of
Cushing Academy, wrote numerous articles for the technical and
educational press, and formed friendships with the most noted
educators of his day. In 1877, he was appointed a member of the board
of visitors to the U. S. Military Academy, and the following year was
invited by Governor Rice to represent Massachusetts as commissioner at
the Paris Exposition. The trustees opposed his acceptance, so with due
regret, he wrote to Senator Hoar, his faithful confidant, that "the
duty of exposing Paris will fall to someone else."
Professor Thompson also made a repeated effort to loosen purse strings
of wealthy people in Worcester County. In 1874 he had hopeful
prospects. Charles H. Waters, a Clinton manufacturer, whose son was a
student at the Institute, proposed
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