WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 71 



we pay him a three-fold tribute of respect, and we view his results with 

 the admiration which his arduous efforts richly deserve. In the lat- 

 ter group, on the roll of American scholars and scientific men, belongs 

 the name of W J McGee, whose work and character we recall with 

 affection and respect. 



At the outset of his career, the aid which W J McGee received 

 from others was extremely meagre. The common schools gave him 

 his sole early training. But he was gifted by nature with an all-em- 

 bracing and acquisitive mind, so that he absorbed methods and facts 

 with eager facility. And yet, when we consider the effort that he of 

 necessity put forth in order to learn the results of others; in order to 

 acquire an easy, clear and correct literary expression; and to impress 

 men in authoritative positions, so as to win an opening for future 

 work, we gain some adequate conception of the difficulties which he 

 surmounted. 



W J McGee did all this and more. As he advanced in oppor- 

 tunity, he gained a broader and broader grasp of scientific problems, 

 until this comprehensive sweep of the field of action became one of 

 his chief characteristics. No one can read his principal monographs 

 without being impressed by his clearness and breadth of vision. 



On entering the United States Geological Survey in 1883, Doctor 

 McGee came before long under the influence of Major Powell, and by 

 the Major's strong interest in the physiographic side of geology he was 

 apparently much influenced. His early observations upon the drift 

 in his native State prepared him for this result. We all recall espe- 

 cially his later studies on the surface geology of Iowa, as the ripe 

 fruition of years of growth under the Survey's influence. Before his 

 final paper on Iowa in 1891, he had become busied with similar prob- 

 lems along the Atlantic Coast. While their treatment involved close 

 stratigraphic work in the latest Tertiary and Pleistocene beds, yet 

 as we read we see that our author's mind was constantly reconstruct- 

 ing the old physiographic conditions. The real objective of his work 

 was the history of the Atlantic coast rather than the thickness and 

 distribution of the beds which resulted from its ups and downs. 



Major Powell, as we all know, was also profoundly interested in 

 the ethnology of our aborigines. His life in the West had established 

 the Indians very deeply in his affections. No one so closely associated 



