WHITNEY 860 WHITTIER in Europe, returning to explore, together with J. W. Foster, the Lake Superior region. Their "Synopsis" of the explora- tions was published in 1849; their "Re- port" on the geology, 1850-1851. Whitney next spent two years traveling m the States E. of the Mississippi, of which the fruit was "The Metallic Wealth of the United States" (1854). Appointed State chemist and professor in the Iowa State University in 1855, together with James Hall, he issued the "Reports" on its geological survey (1858-1859) ; and m 1858-1860 took part in the survey of the lead region of the Upper Missouri, pub- lishing, again with Hall, his "Report' (1862). He was appointed State Geolo- gist of California in 1860, and labored on the survey of that State till 1874, publishing in six volumes his "Geological Survey of California" (1864-1870). In 1865 he was appointed to the chair of geology at Harvard, received the LL. D. degree from Yale in 1870, and had the honor of giving his name to one of the highest mountains in the United States. His "Yosemite Guidebook" was pub- lished at San Francisco in 1869; his "Contributions to American Geology" in 1880; and his "Studies in Geographical and Topographical Nomenclature," in 1888. He died at Lake Sunapee, N. H., Aug. 18, 1896. WHITNEY, WILLIAM COLLINS, an American capitalist; born in Conway, Mass., July 15, 1841; was graduated at Yale College in 1863, and at the Harvard Law School in 1865; studied law with Judge Abraham R. Lawrence in New York City, and was there admitted to the bar. He took an active part in the proceedings against the "Tweed Ring"; served as corporation counsel in 1875- 1882; and was Secretary of the Navy in 1885-1889. For many years he was a large financial operator in New York City. He died in New York, Feb. 2, 1904. WHITNEY, WILLIAM DWIGHT, an American educator; born in Northamp- ton, Mass., Feb. 9, 1827; was graduated at Williams College in 1845; spent some vears abroad in study; in 1854 was made 'Professor of Sanskrit at Yale, in 1870 of comparative philology, holding both positions till death. His writings _ are authority on all philological questions, and his rank as a Sanskrit scholar is of the first order. From 1849 he was a member of the American Oriental So- ciety, and its president from 1884. His contributions to the "North American Review," the "New Englander," and other' periodicals, were numerous and varied. His earliest work was the prep- aration, in company with Rudolf Roth of Tubingen, of an edition of the "Atharva Veda Sanhita" (Berlin, 1856). Among his other works are: "Language and the Study of Language" (1867); "On Material and Form in Language" (1872) ; "Darwinism and Language" (1874) ; "Logical Consistency in Views of Language" (1880) ; "Mixture in Lai>- guage"(1881); "The Study of Hindoo Grammar and the Study of Sanskrit" (1884) ; "The Upanishads and their Lat- est Translation" (1886) . He has also writ- ten "Compendious German Grammar" (1869) ; "German Reader in Prose and Verse" (1870) ; "Essentials of English Grammar" (1877) ; "Sanskrit Grammar" (1877) ; and "Practical French Gram- mar" (1886). Professor Whitney was the superintending editor of the "Century Dictionary" (1889-1891), and assisted in the preparation of "Webster's Diction- ary" (1864). He died in New Haven, Conn., June 9, 1894. WHITNEY, MOUNT, one of the highest mountains of the United States; in the Sierra Nevada in southern Cali- fornia; height, 14,522 feet. WHITSUNDAY, the seventh Sunday after Easter; a festival of the Church in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The name was derived from the white gar- ments worn on that day by candidates for ordination and children presented for baptism. The older name was Pente- cost (q. v.). In Scotland, it is the name given to one of the term days (May 15, or May 26, old style), in which rents, annuities, ministers' stipends, etc., are paid, servants are engaged and paid, and the like. The Whitsunday removal term in the towns is now legally fixed for May 28. WHITTIEB, a city of California, in Los Angeles co. It is on the Southern Pacific and the Pacific Electric railroads. It is the center of an important fruit- growing and oil producing region and is the seat of Whittier College. Pop. (1910) 4,550; (1920) 7,997. WHITTIER, JOHN GEEENLEAP, an American poet, born in East Haver- hill, Mass., in 1807. His childhood was spent on the farm, with few comforts and an amount of physical work that impaired his health. He had no schooling beyond a period of little more than a year in the academy at Haverhill. He had access to few books. When he was fourteen, the village teacher brought a volume of Burns to the Whittier house, and read the poems of the Scottish plowboy to a lad whose life was closely similar. At eighteen he wrote a poem which was published in William Lloyd Garrison's paper and led to a life-
