Death of Professor W. D. Whitney.

Professor William Dwight Whitney of Yale died at his home on Whitney avenue, New Haven, Conn., shortly after ten o'clock yesterday morning. He was first taken seriously ill a week ago last Friday and has been gradually sinking ever since. Hope was not abandoned by his physician or his family until last night when it was discovered that his original ailment had been complicated by an attack of pneumonia.

Professor Whitney was born in Northampton, Mass., in 1827 and graduated from Williams in 1845. He first engaged in business, giving his leisure time to the study of languages, particularly Sanskrit. These studies he continued later at Yale and in Europe. In 1854 he became professor of Sanskrit at Yale, and in 1870 took the chair of Comparative Philology. He has become widely known by his German text books and his contributions to periodical literature. He edited the Century Dictionary.