534 



NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



his magnificent Geological Atlas of Europe, in 

 4to. But that would be a very inadequate and 

 incomplete account of Sir Roderick Murchi- 

 son's career which should confine itself to his 

 geological labors. He had accomplished more, 

 far more, for geographical science than for 

 geology. The history of his connection with 

 the Eoyal Geographical Society is, in fact, the 

 history of the Society itself. His name is con- 

 spicuous among the small band of geographers 

 who, in 1830, formed themselves into a society 

 for the purpose of promoting geographical sci- 

 ence, and who were afterward incorporated 

 by royal charter. He was first placed on 

 the council in 1831, and was made vice- 

 president in 1836. He was first elected presi- 

 dent in 1843, for the biennial term 1843-'44, 

 and repeatedly reflected in 1851-'52 and 

 1857-'58 ; and, since 1862, he was, by general 

 consent of the Society, always reflected, as 

 though the Society had agreed to make him 

 president for life. During the fifteen years 

 of his tenure of the office of president he pre- 

 pared and delivered fifteen anniversary ad- 

 dresses, each of them affording a very com- 

 plete history of the progress of geographical 

 science and discovery during the past year. 

 These treatises, however, represent but a por- 

 tion of his original labors as a geographer. 

 Of the memoirs and separate papers which he, 

 from time to time, published in various forms, 

 and which probably exceeded one hundred 

 and fifty in number, a great proportion are 

 either purely geographical, or have more or 

 less connection with geography. At least forty, 

 which may be so characterized, have been 

 published separately, with his name as the sole 

 or principal author. The scientific honors he 

 received from all sources served to show how 

 highly esteemed he was for his vast attain- 

 ments in science. By his own sovereign he 

 was knighted in 1846, made a K. 0. B. in 1863, 

 and a baronet in 1866. By the Emperor of 

 Eussia he was made a Knight of the Second 

 Class of St. Anne, and subsequently a Grand 



Cross of the same order, and of that of St. 

 Stanislaus, and a member of the Imperial 

 Academy of Sciences ; and he received from 

 other European sovereigns similar honors, the 

 last of which was the dignity of Grand-Officer 

 of the Order of the Crown of Italy. In his 

 own country the great universities conferred 

 on him the honors of D. C. L., LL. D., and 

 M. A. The Eoyal Society, the parent of all 

 the English scientific societies, many yenrs 

 since recognized his merits by making him 

 F. E. S., and, subsequently, a vice-president, 

 and by granting him the Copley Gold Medal. 

 From Edinburgh he received the Brisbane 

 Gold Medal, and the Honorary Membership 

 of the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh : he was 

 vice-president of the Geological Society, Fel- 

 low of the Linnean Society, a member of the 

 Academies of St. Petersburg, Berlin, Copen- 

 hagen, Brussels, Stockholm, and Turin; a 

 corresponding member of the French Insti- 

 tute ; a trustee of the British Museum, the 

 Hunterian Museum, and of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science. Ho 

 received the Prix Cuvier from the French In- 

 stitute, the Wollaston Medal, and other hon- 

 ors of the same kind, from many other sources. 

 But it was even more for what Sir Eoderick 

 was, than for what he had done, that he was 

 so greatly admired and loved. A true gentle- 

 man in the best sense of that word ; a model 

 husband ; a thoroughly loyal and zealous 

 friend, whose interest in those whom he loved 

 could not be lessened by distance, chilled by 

 arctic ice, or dissipated by equatorial heats ; 

 a conscientious, courageous, prudent, manly 

 man, in whom all the sterner traits of duty 

 were mellowed and rendered more pleasing 

 by a hearty and gracious geniality. His 

 deep interest in the fate of Sir John Frank- 

 lin and Dr. Livingstone, and his abiding 

 faith in the safety of the latter, and his re- 

 turn to England, were instances, of which 

 many more might be named, of his loyalty to 

 his friends. 



NAVY, UNITED STATES. The Navy of 

 the United States, on the 25th of November, 

 consisted of 179 vessels. Of these, 29 were sail- 

 ing-ships, and the remainder side- wheel steam- 

 ers or sailing-vessels with auxiliary screws. 

 Fifty-three, armed with 601 guns, were in 

 actual service, attached to the various fleets 

 and stations, and six more were nearly ready 

 to join the active force. There were 52 moni- 

 tors, only one of which was in commission, the 

 others being laid up at the different stations. 

 Of these latter, 17 were in repair at the differ- 

 ent yards, and 13 were on the stocks, never 

 having been completed and launched. 



The North Atlantic Squadron, under the 

 command of Eear-Admiral Samuel P. Lee, 



consisted of the Severn, the Swatara, the 

 Nantasket, the Nipsic, the Kansas, the Paw- 

 nee, the Terror, the "Worcester, and the Shaw- 

 mut in all ten vessels, mounting 70 guns. 

 The South Atlantic Squadron, commanded by 

 Eear-Admiral Joseph Lanman, consisted of the 

 Lancaster, the Ticonderoga, the Wasp, and the 

 Wyoming, four vessels, with 40 guns. On the 

 Pacific Station, under the command of Eear- 

 Admiral John A. Winslow, were the California, 

 the Pensacola, the Narragansett, the Saranac, 

 the Mohican, the Eesaca, the Ossipee, tho 

 Onward, and the St. Mary's, nine ships, mount- 

 ing 99 guns, and divided into the North Pacific 

 and the South Pacific Squadrons commanded 

 respectively by Commodores Eoger N. Stem- 



