294 EULOGY ON THE LATE GENERAL JOSEPH G. TOTTEN. 



acter of Smithson, gave his preference to the programme prepared by Professor 

 Henry, which was finally adopted. His advocacy of the plan was the more 

 important since he was well acquainted with the scientific character of James 

 Smithson, and had himself, as we shall see in a subsequent statement, been 

 engaged in a line of research similar to one of those pursued by the founder of 

 this Institution. 



In the reconstruction of the interior of the main part of the Smithsonian build- 

 ing which had partly been completed in wood, but which had given way, he 

 strongly urged the employment of fire-proof material, to the adoption of which 

 the preservation of the valuable collections of the Institution is indebted. In 

 the discharge of his duty as one of the Executive Committee, he acted with the 

 same conscientious regard to the sacredness of the trust which characterized all 

 his official labors, and critically examined all the accounts, assured himself as 

 to the proper expenditure of the funds, and advised as to the general policy to 

 be pursued. In him the Secretary ever found a firm supporter, a sympathetic 

 friend, and a judicious adviser. Unostentatious, unselfish, and only desiring to 

 advance whatever cause he might be connected with, he gave the most valuable 

 suggestions as if they were of little moment, and in such a way that they might 

 appear to be deductions from what others had said or done, being more anxious 

 that his suggestions should be properly carried out than that they should be 

 accredited to himself. 



As a recreation from the more arduous studies of his profession, he devoted 

 in the early part of his life his spare hours to natural history, paying much 

 attention to the mollusca of the northern coast of the United States ; and he 

 was perhaps the first, or at least one of the first, to introduce into this country 

 the use of the dredge for the search of these animals, thus not only obtaining 

 many species which would otherwise have escaped attention and getting fresh 

 and unmutilated specimens of species previously known only from dead imper- 

 fect shells, but enabling us to learn something of the habits and associations of 

 the animals — information of much greater scientific value than the discovery of 

 a few new species. His observations and studies in conchology were embodied 

 in an article entitled "Descriptions of some Shells belonging to the Coast of 

 New England," published in the American Journal of Science and Arts for 

 1S34 and 1835, and Dr. A. A. Gould was largely indebted to him for material 

 employed in his " Invertebrata of Massachusetts," many of the species of shells 

 contained in which were first found to inhabit our coast by General Totten ; 

 others were new species discovered by him, though described by Dr. Gould, 

 while some nine or ten specimens were not only discovered but described by 

 him. The descriptions of species and remarks evince his powers of observation 

 and critical acumen, and almost all of the forms described have stood the test 

 of subsequent examination, and the validity of their specific distinction been 

 confirmed, although several of them are among the most common shells of the 

 coast; on account of their small size, they had been previously overlooked or 

 neglected, but their insignificance in size did not diminish their interest in the 

 eyes of one who viewed nature in all her manifestations as worthy of contem- 

 plation. One of the most beautiful and almost the smallest of the bivalves of 

 our coast, called by him Venus gemma, has since been dedicated to him under 

 the name of Gemma Tottenii by Dr. William Stimpson. 



General Totten collected principally on the shores of New England, and his 

 explorations with the dredge were almost entirely made in the vicinity of .New- 

 port, It. I., and of Provincetown, Mass. A list of the shells of Massachusetts 

 was contributed by him to one of the preliminary reports on the natural history 

 of that State. The principal species described by him are as follows : Modiola 

 glandula, (now known as Mytilus decussatus,) Venus gemma, {Gemma Tottenii,) 

 Solemya borealis, Bulla ori/za, Natica immaculata, Turbo minu'us, {Rissoa 

 xninuta,) Turritella interrupta, {Chemnitzia interrupt a,) Actcon trifidus, {Chcm- 



