ACADEMIC HONORS 



New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Brooklyn. 

 In a letter to Mr. Winthrop, who had inquired about one 

 of these distinctions, Dana wrote: " I have the gratifying 

 reflection as regards all the honors I have received, (which 

 include foreign membership in each of the prominent 

 Royal Societies or Academies of the nations of Europe, 

 except those of London * and Madrid), I had never ex- 

 pressed to any one a wish or hope, not even to my wife." 

 In 1854, he was President of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science ; and later, Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the National Academy of Sciences. 



On several occasions Dana was the recipient of distinc- 

 tions still more personal. The Copley Medal, awarded 

 by the Council of the Royal Society of London once a 

 year, is sometimes called " the blue ribbon of science," 

 because it is given to a student of any country who has 

 shown extraordinary ability and attainments in any 

 branch of science. Consequently the list of the laureati 

 includes most of the original investigators of the last half- 

 century. Sylvester and Newcomb are among those who 

 have received this distinction. This medal came to Dana 

 in 1877. Sir Joseph Hooker, the President of the So- 

 ciety, wrote to him that the Royal Society bestowed on 

 him their highest honor, for his biological, geological, and 

 mineralogical investigations, carried on through half a 

 century; and for the valuable works in which his con- 

 clusions and discoveries have been published. It was a 

 pleasant incident of the award that a Yale graduate, 

 Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, then United States Minister 

 in England, received the medal in behalf of his country- 

 man, and, at a subsequent banquet, acknowledged a toast 

 in honor of the naturalist. 



Five years before, in 1872, the Wollaston Medal of the 

 Royal Geological Society of London had been awarded 

 to Dana for his contributions to mineralogy and geology. 



* The fellowship of the Royal Society of London came to him later. 



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