excellent microscopist, and fortunately, at the same time he 

 added many aspects of organic chemistry to his mastery of tech- 

 nical procedures. Then early in his career, he became involved in 

 microbial deterioration of organic substances during which he 

 was forced to become intimately acquainted with a long list of 

 diverse microorganisms. Incidentally, it was during this period 

 that he proved, despite the sceptics, that certain marine 

 microorganisms were involved in wood decay. At any rate, he 

 was uniquely prepared to recognize evidence of organic substan- 

 ces in very old Precambrian rocks and when he looked for orga- 

 nisms that might have been responsible, he naturally was look- 

 ing on the microscopic level. His laboratory prowess in produc- 

 ing thin sections and handling other procedures connected with 

 the preparation of suitable microscope slides were happily com- 

 bined with his other talents to give the net results that are now 



evident. 



Barghoorn's contributions to botany will stand on their own 



merits and I am in no position to give a critical evaluation of 

 them. But looking at Elso as a colleague, I always viewed him as 

 having a very original mind, and possessed of a great breadth of 

 knowledge that was accurate to a degree where accuracy for its 

 own sake was a noticeable component of his make-up. He had a 

 tremendous enthusiasm for science and pursued his own area by 

 ably planning research that often coordinated with related fields. 

 His broad botanical interests and experience and an indefatiga- 

 ble industry led to substantial accomplishments on a broad 

 front. Although one of my colleagues lamented, "It has taken a 

 long time for botanists and paleobotanists in particular to 

 appreciate his ability and contributions, but he is now so highly 

 regarded by geologists, chemists, and other scientists that they 

 can no longer brush him aside," I do not feel he has been 

 seriously overlooked. After all, he was elected to the National 

 Academy of Sciences in 1967 and was awarded the Botanical 

 Society of America Certificate of Merit in 1968. Jointly with 

 his student, J. W. Schopf, he was presented the New York 

 Botanical Garden Award in 1966, ". . .for outstanding contribu- 

 tions to the fundamental aspects of botany." In 1968 he was 



43 



