44 



prophet. Therefore the calm philosophical spirit which 

 actuated both men must have been to him a constant re- 

 proach ; for Hunt's vehemence too often took the place of sim- 

 ple earnestness, and his keenly impressionable and irritable 

 nature prevented his always judicially weighing both sides of 

 the many debatable questions on which he nevertheless held 

 decided views. 



He was not lacking in candor. If he believed himself in 

 the wrong he was willing to admit his error. But at the 

 same time he was bigoted in his adherence to any position 

 he had assumed, and when forced to abandon it, he was very 

 ingenious in finding good reasons for his change of base. 



The controversial character of so much of his writings and 

 the constant reiteration of his claim of priority as I ha^e al- 

 ready remarked, obscure unfortunately to some extent the 

 Itrilliancy of his original work, and have created, it is to be 

 feared, a false impression of his character, which was essen- 

 tially chivalrous and generous. Those who came most in- 

 timately into contact with him were those who admired him 

 most. His faults and foibles were not skillfully concealed. 

 They were only too patent. 



Hunt set before himself high ideals. He did not always 

 realize them. But he none the less strove to live up to them, 

 and he did attain to no small measure of success and self-- . 

 conquest. The heroism of his declining years won magDifi- 

 cent, as he worked patiently and perseveringly under the 

 strain of failing health and with a speedy death staring him 

 constantly in the face and threatening with inevitable cer- 

 tainty to soon cut the thread of life. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



ABBREVIATIONS. 



A. A. P. American Academy Proceedings. 



A.C. American ChemiM. 



A. X. American Naturalist. 



B.A.R. British Association Reports. 



C. & G.E. Hunt's Chemical and Geological Essays. 



C.G.S. Canadian Geological Survey. 



