706 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



held until 1909. He was also at the 

 same time consulting geologist for the 

 Wisconsin Survey. 



With his elevation to the presidency 

 of the University in 1903, the energy 

 with which he had developed his chosen 

 science largely transformed itself into 

 activities of a broader scope, connected 

 with the executive work of his own 

 institution, the welfare of the state, and 

 with commissions on many matters of 

 national importance. From 1908 to 

 1915 he was a member of the Wisconsin 

 State Conservation Commission; 1909, 

 a member of the Xational Conservation 

 Commission; 1912, chairman of the 

 Board of Arbitration between the East- 

 ern Eailroads and the Brotherhood 

 of Locomotive Engineers; in 1915. 

 chairman of the commission appointed 

 by the Xational Academy of Sciences 

 at the request of President Wilson to 

 report on the Panama Canal slides; in 

 1909, he was made one of the trustees 

 of the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad- 

 vancement of Teaching. 



He was a member of many societies 

 and influential organizations. Among 

 those representing his scientific rela- 

 tions are the Wisconsin Academy of 

 Science, Arts, and Letters, of which he 

 was president from 1893 to 1896 ; the 

 Geological Society of America, of which 

 he was president in 1907; the Ameri- 

 can Philosophical Society; and the 

 National Academy of Sciences, to 

 which he was elected in 1902. 



He was the author of many scientific 

 and general articles. His most endur- 

 ing contributions were in the field of 

 geology connected with his elaborate 

 and vigorous investigations of the prin- 

 ciples represented in the complicated 

 and very ancient formations of the 

 Lake Superior region. The most im- 

 portant works of this type are : "Prin- 

 ciples of North American Pre-Cam- 

 brian Geology," 1896; "The Iron-ore 

 Deposits of the Lake Superior Eegion," 

 ]901 : "'A Treatise on Metamorphism," 

 ]904; and "The Geologv of the Lake 



Superior Eegion," 1911 (with C. K. 

 Leith), all issued through the United 

 States Geological Survey. There are 

 many other titles, but more are unnec- 

 essary. It is worth noting, however, 

 that some of these titles represent very 

 elaborate pieces of work instead of sim- 

 ple articles; for example, "A Treatise 

 on Metamorphism," listed above, repre- 

 sents a great Monograph, Volume 47, 

 of the United States Geological Survey, 

 which is a quarto volume of 1286 pages. 



President Van Hise has exercised a 

 peculiarly pervading influence on geol- 

 ogy, largely by reason of his genius for 

 constructive investigations in a field of 

 very varied relations and his ability to 

 bring an obscure and baffling lot of 

 data into an organized system. The 

 principles that he emphasized or re- 

 worded and the applications of them 

 that he made and suggested have modi- 

 fied the whole product of geological 

 workers in those particular fields ever 

 since his work became known. But his 

 contribution to his chosen science and 

 his influence upon his associates is al- 

 most equaled by his success in the 

 broader field of administration and 

 general public service. It has fallen 

 to few of the scientists of our day to 

 see his own work so widely used and so 

 generally appreciated as is the work of 

 Van Hise. His death came in the 

 midst of his activities and before any 

 of his remarkable powers were dimmed. 



He was a man of positive convietiou 

 and vigorous expression, but, with it 

 all. he kept so rigidly to the true scien- 

 tific attitude in his zeal for truth that 

 he roused few antagonisms and made 

 practically no lasting enemies. His 

 own native state— more than that— all 

 America, and the whole world for that 

 matter, wherever contributions to sci- 

 ence and to conservation and to educa- 

 tion are appreciated, may well honor 

 the name of Van Hise, who throughout 

 an active life has been a great contribu- 

 tor both to knowledge and to public 

 welfare. 



