244 ^'^'^ University of Califorjiia Magazine. 



Professor L,e Conte's most important discoveries in science 

 are, summed up in the following paragraph, from Professor 

 Lawson's article in Science : 



"He announced the age and character of the Cascade Moun- 

 tains and their relation to the great Columbia lava flood; he 

 described the ancient glaciers of the Sierra Nevada, and was 

 among the first to recognize the post-Tertiary elevation of the 

 Sierra Nevada, as shown by the river beds. His studies on 

 mountain structure led him to important generalization on the 

 origin of mountains in general, and he became one of the 

 chief exponents of the 'contractional theory' of mountain 

 building. His studies on ore deposition at Steamboat Springs, 

 Nevada, and Sulphur Bank, California, led him to a discussion 

 of vein formation in general; and his classification of ore de- 

 posits has been widely recognized as resting on a sound basis, 

 and is not displaced in its essential features by the most recent 

 attempts in the same direction. He also made important con- 

 tributions to the subjects of seismology and coral growth in 

 its geological aspects." 



lye Conte's important works are called "Sight," "The Ele- 

 ments of Geology," the "Compend of Geology," "Religion 

 and Science," and "Kvolution and Its Relation to Religious 

 Thought." 



Professor Le Conte was made a member of the National 

 Academy of Sciences, Associate Fellow of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences, corresponding member of the 

 New York Academy of Sciences, member of the American 

 Philosophical Society, Fellow of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science and past president of the 

 same, Fellow of the Geological Society of America and past 

 president of the same, life member of the Academy of Sci- 

 ences, member of the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 honorary member of the Brooklyn Ethical Association, mem- 

 ber of the Iowa Academy of Sciences, also of the Davenport 

 Academy of Sciences, member of the American Institute of 

 Mining Engineers, member of the National Geographical So- 



