hysical
Society of Frankfort turned its back on the apparatus which had given
it lustre. Reis resigned his membership in 1867; but the Free German
Institute of Frankfort, which elected him an honorary member, also
slighted the instrument as a mere 'philosophical toy.' At first it was
a dream, and now it is a plaything. Have we not had enough of that
superior wisdom which is another name for stupidity? The dreams of the
imagination are apt to become realities, and the toy of to-day has a
knack of growing into the mighty engine of to-morrow.

Reis believed in his invention, if no one else did; and had he been
encouraged by his fellows from the beginning, he might have brought it
into a practical shape. But rebuffs had preyed upon his sensitive heart,
and he was already stricken with consumption. It is related that, after
his lecture on the telephone at Geissen, in 1854, Professor Poggendorff,
who was present, invited him to send a description of his instrument
to the ANNALEN. Reis answered him,'Ich danke Ihnen recht Sehr, Herr
Professor; es ist zu spaty. Jetzt will ICH nicht ihn schickeny. Mein
Apparat wird ohne Beschreibung in den ANNALEN bekannt werden.' ('Thank
you very much, Professor, but it is too late. I shall not send it now.
My apparatus will become known without any writing in the ANNALEN.')

Latterly Reis had confined his teaching and study to matters of science;
but his bad health was a serious impediment. For several years it was
only by the exercise of a strong will that he was able to carry on his
duties. His voice began to fail as the disease gained upon his lungs,
and in the summer of 1873 he was obliged to forsake tuition during
several weeks. The autumn vacation strengthened his hopes of recovery,
and he resumed his teaching with his wonted energy. But this was the
last flicker of the expiring flame. It was announced that he would show
his new gravity-machine at a meeting of the Deutscher Naturforscher of
Wiesbaden in September, but he was too ill to appear. In December he lay
down, and, after a long and painful illness, breathed his last at five
o'clock in the afternoon of January 14, 1874.

In his CURRICULUM VITAE he wrote these words: 'As I look back upon my
life I call indeed say with the Holy Scriptures that it has been "labour
and sorrow." But I have also to thank the Lord that He has given me His
blessing in my calling and in my family, and has bestowed more good upon
me than I have known how t