January 19, 1893] 



NATURE 



277 



and took the degree of M.D. from the Cleveland 

 Medical College, Ohio, in 1848. Before beginning the 

 practice of medicine, which he intended to be his occu- 

 pation in life, he spent two years in Europe. During his 

 stay at that time in Paris he acquired a good knowledge 

 of the French language, and had many opportunities of 

 cultivating a love of science, which soon manifested 

 itself as one of his distinguishing characteristics. Return- 

 ing to his native country, he began practice as a medical 

 man at Cleveland in 1851. Even at the outset of his 

 professional work he contrived to find time also for 

 scientific enquiry. His first published paper appeared 

 in the same year in which he started in his medical pro- 

 fession. It is devoted to the geographical distribution of 

 land and fresh-water shells. 



But he soon entered upon the two branches of geo- 

 logical investigation in which he was to make his name 

 familiar all over the civilized world — the study of fossil 

 botany and of fossil fishes. As early as the year 1853 he 

 made his first contribution to the history of Carbon- 

 iferous plants, and three years later his earliest memoir 

 on fossil fishes was published. By this time his scientific 

 acquirements and enthusiasm were widely known. Hence 

 when an expedition under Lieutenant Ives was organized 

 for the exploration of the Colorado River of the West, 

 Xewberry was selected to accompany it, and to take 

 charge of the observations to be made in natural history. 

 His geological contribution to the famous Report at once 

 placed him in the very front rank of American geology. 

 His account of the geological structure of the region 

 traversed by the expedition, and of the marvellous denu- 

 dation of the canons, will always remain as one of the 

 landmarks of geological progress. 



He had now been touched by the fascination of ex- 

 ploration in tlie far west. The drudgery of medical prac- 

 tice became irksome to him, so that when in the year 

 following his return from Colorado the offer was made to 

 him to take part in another expedition, he gladly availed 

 himself of the opportunity. He accordingly accompanied 

 Captain Macomb in an exploring expedition in the 

 summer of 1859, from Santa Fd, New Mexico, to the 

 junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Grand 

 Colorado. This journey forms the subject of another 

 masterly report by him, which, however, was not published 

 for some sixteen years. 



The shadows of the coming great Civil War were 

 already falhng on the United States, when Newberry was 

 at work on the preparation of the record of the results of 

 his western journeys. The storm at last burst in 1861, 

 the same year in which his Colorado report was issued. 

 Among the many scientific men who placed their services 

 at the disposal of the North, Newberry took a foremost 

 place. His medical skill and wide general scientific 

 knowledge enabled him to be of great use to the anny. 

 He specially distinguished himself in the organization 

 and administration of the hospital department. Among 

 the reminiscences of his not uneventful life he had many 

 graphic tales to tell of his experiences during that 

 momentous epoch in the history of the United States, 

 After the close of the war in 1865 he returned with 

 renewed ardour to his scientific labours, and specially 

 devoted his energies to the study of the ancient floras and 

 fish-faunas of North America. Among his numerous 

 memoirs on these subjects the two large monographs 

 forming vols. xiv. and xvi. of the series published by the 

 United States Geological Survey are specially worthy of 

 notice. But they represent only a part of the enormous 

 mass of material which he had worked over. 



Prof. Newberry early in his career saw how great 

 was the aid which geology could afford in the develop- 

 ment of the mineral industries of his native country, 

 and he gave himself with great energy to the practical 

 applications of the science. He became one of the 

 highest authorities on mining matters in the country, 



NO. 1212, VOL. 47] 



and he was mainly instrumental in the equipment of the 

 great mining school of Columbia College, New York. 

 He occupied the Chair of Geology in that establishment, 

 and threw himself heart and soul into its duties. At 

 last, in the midst of his work and honours, a stroke of 

 paralysis disabled him from active duties, and he grew 

 gradually feebler until his death. With him American 

 science loses one of its most honoured and distinguished 

 cultivators. His piercing eyes and well-cut features 

 made him a marked figure in any assembly, while his 

 courtesy and gentleness, and his unfailing helpfulness 

 and serenity, gave him a charm which will endear his 

 memory to a wide circle of friends. A. G. 



NOTES. 

 All entomologists in the country will learn with great satis- 

 faction that the Treasury has consented, on the recomoaendation 

 of the Trustees of the British Museum, to make provision in the 

 estimates for the coming financial year for the purchase of Mr. 

 Pascoe's well-known collection of insects. The importance of 

 the acquisition of this collection by the nation is very great, as 

 it contains an immense number of types, especially of the 

 families Longicornes and Curculiones, to which Mr. Pascoe 

 devoted so much attention for a period of more than forty years. 

 Its dispersal or removal to a foreign country would have been 

 an irreparable loss to British entomologists. 



The medals and funds to be given at the anniversary meeting 

 of the Geological Society of London on February 17 next have 

 been awarded as follows : The WoUaston Medal to Prof. N. S. 

 Maskelyne.F.R.S. ; the Murchison Medal to the Rev. O, Fisher, 

 the Lyell Medal to Mr, E. T. Newton ; and the Bigsby 

 Medal to Prof. W. J. SoUas, F.R.S. ; the balance of the pro- 

 ceeds of the WoUaston fund to Mr. J. G. Goodchild ; that of 

 the Murchison fund to Mr. G. J. Williams ; and that of the 

 Lyell fund to Miss C. A. Raisin and Mr. A. Leeds. 



Between June 10 and 18 the University of Montpellier will 

 celebrate the third centenary of the foundation of its Botanic 

 Garden, on which occasion it is intended to invite a general 

 congress of the botanists of all nations. 



A MEETING of the Association for the Improvement o 

 Geometrical Teaching was held on January 14, at University 

 College, Gower Street, the chair being taken by the Master of 

 St. John's College, Cambridge. The reports of the Council 

 and treasurer having been read and adopted, Dr. Wormell was 

 elected President for 1893, the hon. secretaries (Mr. E. M. 

 Langley, 16, Adelaide Square, Bedford, and Mr. C. Pendelbury, 

 4, Glazbury Road, W. Kensington), and the other members of 

 the Council being reelected. Dr. Wormell having taken 

 the chair, Mrs. Bryant gave a model lesson on geometry to 

 a class of about twenty ladies. After an adjournment papers 

 were read by Mr. G. Heppel on the use of history in teaching 

 mathematics, and by Mr. F. E. Marshall on the teaching of 

 elementary arithmetic. The attendance was larger than usual, 

 and interesting discussions followed the lesson and the papers. 



A DEPARTMENTAL Committee, consisting of officers of the 

 Charity Commission, the Education Department, and the 

 Depairtment of Science and Art has been appointed by Mr. 

 Acland, Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Educa- 

 tion, to consider the question of the organization of secondary 

 education in England and Wales, and the relation of the De- 

 partments among themselves in connection with this subject. 

 The Committee consists of the following members : — The Vice- 

 President of the Council (chairman). Sir H. Longley, K.C.B., 

 Chief Charity Commissioner, Mr. T. E. Ellis, M.P., Parlia- 

 mentary Charity CommissioDer, and Mr. Fearon, Secretary to the 



