398 PROCKE DINGS OF OTTAWA MEETING. 



logical Society of London conferred on l>r Newberry in 1888 the Mur- 

 chison gold medal, which is awarded by the society for distinguished 

 services in geology. In presenting the medal President Judd, and in 

 receiving it in behalf of Dr Newberry, Sir Archibald Geikie referred in a 

 most appreciative way to his work. When the long-pending Geological 

 Society of America finally took form at Cleveland in 1888, Dr Newberry 

 was present and shared in the preliminaries of organization. At the see- 

 mid election of officers, in New York, December 26, 1889, lie was chosen 

 first vice-president. The crowning- honor of his life came, however, in 

 L891. 



In the late seventies the-subject of an International Congress of Geolo- 

 gists was broached in the American Association and Dr Newberry was 

 appointed one of the committee to carry the matter through. The move- 

 ment led to the organization of the congress, which has now had four 

 meetings at intervals of three years and in several countries. The last 

 one was in Washington in August, 1891, and chose for its presiding offi- 

 cer the one in whose memory these lines are penned. The honor was a 

 fitting tribute to a long and fruitful life, but it came after its recipient 

 was too weakened to take the chair. From his far-distant summering 

 place on Lake Superior he was forced to send his messages of greeting 

 to the congress. 



It was in the winter of 1889-'90 that exhausting labors began to tell 

 heavily on a constitution that had seemed so proof against fatigue that 

 it knew not how to yield. A heavy cold and attendant weakness gave 

 warning that certain limits must he regarded, but the professor, alter a 

 brief absence, again appeared before his classes. When the long summer 

 vacation of 1890 came, he wrought day alter day with an amanuensis on 

 his report upon the Amboy flora. The strain was too severe and cul- 

 minated the' following Decemberwith a paralytic stroke, from the effects 

 of which the honored teacher and investigator never recovered. 



Dr Newberry's skillful touch has been felt in almost all lines of geologic 

 work and in almost all departments of natural history. He was a most 

 indefatigable collector, and the museum which he leaves at Columbia 

 is a monument to his memory. Its wealth in fossil fish makes it unique 

 mid famous among geologic museums. 



Dr Newberry had also a strong passion for music, and in his earlier 

 career was wont to solace the long hours of western expeditions with his 

 violin. He was likewise gifted with skill in sketching, such that many 

 illustrations of fossils and of scenery in his reports an' from his own 

 hand. He wrote in charming and attractive literary style, and in de- 

 scriptions of the grand phenomena of the west often manifested a highly 

 artistic use of language. 



