Obituary. 



55 



James Dwight Dana. 



James Dwight Dana, one of the fathers of American Geological 

 Science, died at his home in New Haven, Conn., Easter Sunday, the 14th 

 day of April, 1895. He was born at Utica, N.Y., February 12th, 1813, 

 and was therefore in his 83rd year. He graduated at Yale when only 

 twenty years of age, and evinced great aptitude for the natural sciences 

 and mathematics, Lor two years he was teacher of mathematics in the 

 U.S. Navy. He is next seen as assistant to Prof. Silliman at Yale 

 College. In 1838 he published " A System of Mineralogy," which 

 won for him the admiration of the scientists of two continents as 

 mineralogist and geoloist. In 1838, he sailed for the Southern and 

 Pacific Oceans, with Lieut. Wilkes, in charge of the squadron, whose 

 expedition lasted four years. U A Report on Crustacea" 1852-4. "Report 

 on Zoophytes" 1846 ; " Report on the Geology of the Pacific, 1849 '> besides 

 " Science and the Bible" in Bibliotheca Sacra, published in 1856-7, 

 occupied his time during the 15 years which followed his return from 

 the Wilkes expedition. In 1885 Dana succeeded Prof. Silliman as 

 Prof, of Natural History and Geology at Yale. His first " Manual of 

 Geology '' was published in 1863 this was followed by a " Text Book 

 of Geology for Schools and Academies," 1864, and latterly " Corals and 

 Coral Islands " in 1872. In this year he was awarded the Wollaston 

 gold medal by the Geological Society of London. He was elected 

 President of the American Association Adv. Science for the first 

 time in 1854, and was an honorary, corresponding or active fellow of 

 nearly all the Geological Societies of Europe und America. His con- 

 tributions and numerous writings in Silliman's Journal as one of its 

 editors, in the Trans. Acad. Nat. Sc. of Philadelphia, in the Proc. 

 Amer. Acad. Sc. and Arts and in numerous other channels are too well 

 known to be commented upon in a passing sketch like this. He had 

 just completed the last edition of his " Manual of Geology " which had 

 been used so extensively as a text book in the colleges and universities 

 of America and Europe. His was a life of genuine usefulness to his 

 generation. 



