EDWARD DESOR. 423 



Beaumont inspired him with a love for geology and the physics of 

 the globe. At the gathering of the Swiss naturalists in Neuchutel in 

 1837, he met Agassiz and Carl Vogt, and their influence determined 

 his future scientific hfe. He remained at Neuchatel to study with them 

 the geology and meteorology of Switzerland, and to take part in their 

 celebrated explorations on the Aar Glacier. In 1844 he published an 

 account of their united observations, made during six summers in the 

 world of glaciers. 



Having visited the glaciers of Scandinavia, Desor accompanied 

 Agassiz to the United States in 1847, where he soon found a field 

 for his scientific activity in connection with the U. S. Coast Survey. 

 In 1847 Congress had authorized a geological survey of the Lake 

 Superior district, under the direction of C. T. Jackson. Wlien Dr. 

 Jackson resigned, at the end of two summers, the survey was put in 

 charge of J. W. Foster and J. D. Whitney, and Desor was one of the 

 first assistants. Alluvial deposits and their fauna were assigned to 

 him. His researches on the drift in Western Europe, on the glaciers 

 of Switzerland, and on the formation of shoals along the Atlantic coast 

 of the United States, qualified him for this work, and ensured his 

 success. Besides the part which he contributed to the Report of the 

 Survey, he published his views on the drift of Lake Superior in the 

 "American Journal of Science" (xiii. 93, 1852). Desor first intro- 

 duced the word " Laurentian " to describe geological formations in 

 Maine, on the River St. Lawrence, and on Lakes Champlain and 

 Ontario ; but the word was appropriated afterwards by the Canadian 

 geologists for another purpose. The earlier and the later publica- 

 tions of Desor appeared in European journals. But he contributed 

 while he was in this country to the Proceedings of the American 

 Academy, of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, and of the Natural History Society of Boston, and to the 

 " American Journal of Science." After his return to Europe he pub- 

 lished papers on the " Climate of the United States, and its Effect on 

 Habits and Manners," and on the Falls of Niagara. 



In 1852 Desor accepted an invitation to Neuchutel as professor of 

 geology in the Gymnasium and in the Academy, and became an attrac- 

 tive teacher. He took a conspicuous part in the politics of Switzer- 

 land. He was a member of the Grand Council of his Canton, serving 

 twice as its president. He was also one of the National Council, but 

 declined the honor of presiding over it. At the same time he was 

 pursuing his researches in geology and palaeontology, and publishing the 

 results to the world. In 1864 Desor went with Escher and Martius 



