72 McGEE MEMORIAL MEETING 



with him as was Doctor McGee could escape the contagion of these 

 absorbing interests. The connection of man on this continent with 

 the deposits of the glacial epoch led by a natural transition also to 

 the study of the native tribes. We find therefore Doctor McGee pass- 

 ing in the early nineties quite naturally to ethnographical work, 

 with which he was to be identified for the next fifteen years. His 

 courageous and successful expedition to the Island of Tiburon was 

 an example of the irrepressible spirit of the investigator, pushing ever 

 into new and unknown fields. The tragedy of his life came when, 

 from influences beyond his control, he was diverted from his natural 

 and normal career. We remember at this date only the cheerful 

 philosophy with which new, undeserved, and unexpected conditions 

 were faced. We recall also the calm courage with which, in the soli- 

 tude of the western desert, a physical break-down was overcome. 

 We are mindful of the vigor with which new duties were assumed and 

 discharged when our old friend resumed his place in the eastern world. 

 We remember no less the characteristic cheery philosophy with which 

 the final departure from this life was viewed, and the ever present 

 desire of the man of science to make his experience of use to his 

 fellows. 



There have been many remarkable characters developed in America 

 amid unpromising environments in youth. There have been many 

 who have had in addition to contend with difficulties and disappoint- 

 ments in maturer years. There are fewer who have triumphed over 

 all without bitterness, and with all the finer sides of character unin- 

 jured. Yet all this was done by him whose memory the Washington 

 Academy of Sciences honors. 



From Professor Charles Keyes, of Des Moines, Iowa: 



In a short unpretentious paper, published so long ago as 1882, 

 Doctor McGee clearly shows that certain thick sections of glacial 

 till are divided medially by an extensive deposit of homogeneous 

 pebbleless loam. The descriptive record is included in the notes "On 

 the Loess and Associated Deposits of Des Moines." So far as it 

 now appears this is the first and best evidence adducted up to that 

 time in support of the theory of the complexity of the Great Ice age. 



