[apams] IN MEMORIAM—SIR JOHN WILLIAM DAWSON 11 
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undertake consisted in arranging his collections and working on some 
unfinished papers. Several of these were published in 1894 and 1895; 
but the years of quiet labour in his favourite pursuits to which he 
looked forward at this time were cut short by a series of sharp attacks, 
culminating in partial paralysis, which forbade further effort. But 
even the week before his death, he essayed to put pen to paper in a 
last contribution to his beloved science, on the subject of the “Gold of 
Ophir.” He passed away on the 19th of November, peacefully and 
without pain. 
Lady Dawson, with three sons and two daughters, survive him. 
His eldest son, Doctor George M. Dawson, the present director of the 
Geological Survey of Canada, has inherited his father’s taste for 
geological studies, and has achieved wide distinction in the world of 
science. 
Sir William’s first original contribution to science was a paper 
read before the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh in 1841 on a species 
of field mouse found in Nova Scotia. From that time onward he was a 
continuous contributor to scientific journals and to the publications 
of various learned societies. His papers were very numerous and 
covered a wide range of subjects in the domain of natural history. The 
most important work of his earlier years was an extended study of the 
geology of the eastern maritime provinces of the Dominion of Canada. 
His results are embodied in his “ Acadian Geology,” already mentioned. 
It is a volume of nearly 1,000 pages, is accompanied by a colored 
geological map of Nova Scotia, and has passed through four editions. 
In writing to Sir William in 1868 Sir Charles Lyell says of this work: 
“T have been reading it steadily and with increased pleasure and 
profit. It is so full of original observations and sound theoretical views 
‘that it must, I think, make its way, and will certainly be highly prized 
by the more advanced scientific readers.” 
It is the most complete account which we have of the geology of 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, although 
since it appeared large portions of these provinces have been mapped in 
detail by the Geological Survey of Canada, and Sir William’s conclusions 
modified in some particulars. In carrying out this work Sir William 
paid especial attention to the paleontology of the Carboniferous System 
and to the whole question of the nature and mode of accumulation 
of coal. He subsequently studied the paleontology of the Devonian 
and Upper Silurian Systems of Canada, discovering many new and im- 
portant forms of plant life. 
In 1884 he began the study of the Cretaceous and Tertiary fossil 
plants of Western Canada, and published the first of a series of papers 
