70 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1910. 
actively connected with its operations, one in the field of zoology, the 
other in that of paleontology. 
Dr. Stearns, whose death occurred on July 27, 1909, was a native 
of Boston, Massachusetts, a son of Charles Stearns, and was born 
February 1, 1827. He was educated in the public schools, followed 
by a course of mercantile training, and from his earliest years evinced 
a deep love of nature, which was fostered by his father. Even in 
boyhood he displayed unusual artistic ability, and, though his early 
employment was in a bank and in farming, when only 22 years old 
he painted a panorama of the Hudson River from the mouth of the 
Mohawk to Fort William, which he exhibited with much success. 
Turning his attention to mining, he explored the coal fields of southern 
Indiana, and in 1854 was made resident agent of several copper mines 
in the Lake Superior region of Michigan. In 1858 he went to San 
Francisco, California, where he became a partner in a large printing 
establishment which published the ‘‘Racific Methodist,’ a weekly 
religious paper, of which, for a time, he acted as editor. 
In 1862 Mr. Stearns was appointed deputy clerk of the Supreme 
Court of California, but he relinquished this post in the following year 
to accept the secretaryship of the State Board of Harbor Commission- 
ers, from which, however, he was obliged to resign in 1868 on account 
of ill health. Coming East, he joined the late Dr. Wiliam Stimpson 
and Col. Ezekiel Jewett in an exploration of the invertebrate fauna 
of the coast of southwestern Florida, during which large collec- 
tions were made for the Smithsonian Institution. In 1874 he was 
elected secretary of the University of California, being the business 
executive of that institution under the presidency of Dr. Daniel C. 
Gilman. After serving eight years in this capacity, ill health again 
forced him to give up the confining duties of office work, and upon 
his retirement the University, in recognition of his services to the 
cause of education in California and of his scientific attainments, 
conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy. He 
became connected with the United States Fish Commission in 1882, 
was appointed paleontologist to the United States Geological Survey 
in 1884, and assistant curator of mollusks in the National Museum 
at about the same time, his title in the latter establishment being 
later changed to adjunct curator. The Museum also acquired his 
collection of mollusks. Age and infirmity obliged him to return to 
the more genial climate of California in 1892, and he settled in Los 
Angeles, continuing, as his strength permitted, his researches into 
the malacology of the Pacific coast. He married on March 28, 1850, 
Mary Anne Libby, daughter of Oliver Libby, of Boston, and is sur- 
vived by a daughter. 
Dr. Stearns was an earnest student of mollusks from boyhood; 
his early experience also led him to interest himself in horticulture 
