he often became concerned with those of archeological age and 

 older. He utilized these to examine the changes in sea level along 

 the New England coast and later, after studying salt marshes, 

 brought a wide range of data to bear on the problem of sea level 



When 



became 

 e Mexic 



was almost a given that Barghoorn would become involved to 

 help evaluate the findings. With Paul Manglesdorf, the maize 

 specialist, cheering on the sidelines, Elso and his students 

 brought the evidence from ancient maize and its relatives to bear 

 on the problem of the origins of maize itself. Interwoven with his 

 work on archeological materials were studies linking recent fos- 

 sils to climatic change and the nature of paleoclimates. 



The Brandon Lignite, an early tertiary coal, found on a site 

 near Brandon, Vermont, was known for a long time as a rich 

 source of fossil angiosperm fruits and seeds. But Elso felt that 

 the deposit had not been adequately explored. The old quarry 

 where the original discoveries were made was abandoned years 

 ago and became grown over to a substantial degree. Relocating 

 the deposit was a challenge that consumed a whole summer of 

 drilling. When he was about to give up on the project, Elso and 

 his assistants discovered they had been walking over the deposit 



muc 



extracted from the Brandon site has provided the basis for sev- 

 eral Ph.D. theses by Barghoorn's students, and has contributed 

 substantially to our knowledge of tertiary plants. The relation- 

 ship of these to the present flora of southeastern North America 

 is a truly remarkable story. 



The genius of Barghoorn's insights in revealing the presence 

 and nature of the earth's most ancient life cannot be denied, but 

 it is interesting to speculate as to whether such discoveries would 

 have been made had he not had the special combination of 

 talents he actually possessed. Here was a man trained under a 

 superb microscopist and rigorous scientist, 1. W. Bailey, who 

 almost literally embodied the sentiments of inquiry, and was a 

 strong influence on his student. Thus, Elso himself became an 



42 



