BWGRAPIUCAL SKETCH OF Till-: LATI-: /.. /'. anATACAP 303 



since 187G called the Lvceuni) and the Tor- 

 rey Botanical Club (1870), "were the guar- 

 dians and shrines of the scientific life of the 

 city." 



There are very many articles by ]\Ir. Grat- 

 acap treating ably a variety of themes. In 

 the Museum Guide Leaflet, he })asses in re- 

 view the princijial donations of minerals, 

 the Clarence S. Beinent collection, whidi con- 

 stituted the nucleus of the Museum "s niiner- 

 alogical display, and the Sjiang collection 

 acquired in 1801. An interesting pajjer is 

 that on the singular class of clay stones an<l 

 concretions which occur in clay beds of re- 

 cent or Quaternary age. Devoted to a 

 study of certain aspects of plant life, is a 

 paper relating experiments on plants with 

 solutions of hydrochloric, nitric, suljthuric, 

 and carbolic acids. Certain fossils and traces 

 of extinct animals in the Triassic rocks at 

 Weehawken, New Jersey, furnish material 

 for another paper. An interesting study of 

 a very restricted area is that treating of 

 the flora and fauna of Central Park. The 

 important question of the "zoic maxima" of 

 fossils forms the subject of a paper in 

 which the irregular distribution of fossil re- 

 mains in the successive strata of fossilifer- 

 ous rocks is considered to depend upon 

 causes still in operation today. 



In his "Palfeontological Speculations" Mr. 

 Gratacap recognizes the "valuable results se- 

 cured by surveys like that of New York in 

 the search for those variations whose accu- 

 mulated force ushers in new forms in the 

 life series, and by whose action on the or- 

 ganism as a whole a kinetic influence is es- 

 tablished in a new" direction." A more spe- 

 cial study in his favorite field of mineralogy 

 is that of a sjileudid calcite from Joplin, 

 Missouri. The fascinating aspects of far- 

 away Iceland in a geographical and niiner- 

 alogical direction are well presented in an 

 article "In and Around Iceland," the min- 

 erals being specially treated in another 

 paper which gives interesting details regard- 

 ing the calcite of Iceland, the famous "Ice- 

 land spar." 



Endowed with an analytical mind, anil 

 having a wide scientific culture, Mr. Grata- 

 cap was a prolific writer. In addition to his 

 great amount of published material he has 

 left a considerable number of unpublished 

 manuscripts. 



As a slight illustration of the high degree 

 of appreciation accorded to his character and 



i<cliie\ cnients liy those who long knew him, 

 we add here a t'cw items and extracts from 

 letters i-ecently sent to the writer. 



|)r. Ix'oliert Aiibe, who was a member of 

 the City College (dass following, states that 

 Mr. Gratacap's classmates were most deej)ly 

 impressed by his oratorical abilities. Not 

 only his eloquence, but his deep, resonant, 

 and attractive voice compelled attention. He 

 had a very distingnished manner, especially 

 noticealiie in an undergraduate; and he was 

 admired and loved both by the members 

 of his own (lass and those of the class below 

 him. One could not fail to be impressed 

 with his seriousness of purpose. 



Director Charles A. Colton, of the New- 

 ark Tecduiical School, writes that his ac- 

 (juaintance with Mr. Gratacap dates back to 

 the latter 's student days in the School of 

 Mines, when it was his privilege to be his 

 teacher in crystallography, blowpipe analysis, 

 and mineralogy. He was always a most care- 

 ful student, and "the surprise and pleasure 

 on his face the first time he obtained a 

 silver button in blowpipe analysis still lin- 

 gers in my memory. . . . His trip to Iceland 

 was a never ending source of pleasure to 

 him, and he would often entertain his 

 friends with reminisceuces, in that pleasing 

 modest way so characteristic of him." 



The following testimony of Mr. Grata- 

 cap's classmate and best friend, Mr. Greorge 

 C. Lay, serves to explain the stimulating in- 

 fluence he exerted upon those who came in 

 contact with him, either as students of min- 

 eralogy or in social and friendly intercourse: 

 "Always of studious habits, wide reading 

 and much originality, he was not only a pro- 

 lific writer on scientific subjects, but was 

 also the author of several novels. Very early 

 in life he began a diary in which he recorded 

 his travels and the incidents of his life with 

 vivid and rich description. This grew to 

 many volumes. Possessed of an enthusiastic, 

 buoyant temperament, which in spite of all 

 the disappointments and cares of life made 

 him ever (dieerful and optimistic, he never 

 lost his intense interest in the struggles of 

 suffering humanity. He was remarkable in 

 his denu)cratic habits, always appearing to 

 put himself on an equality with those who 

 associated with him, however humble, with- 

 out loss of dignity, and his benefactions and 

 his ever ready sympathy, so characteristic of 

 his kind and genial soul, will long be re- 

 membered. Ho was gifted with a high sense 



