THE 
JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY 
NOVEMBER— DECEMBER, 1899 
SIR WILLIAM DAWSON. 
In Sir William Dawson there has passed away the last sur- 
vivor of that distinguished group of naturalists which in the 
earlier part of this century achieved for science in America such 
brilliant results and such widespread recognition—imen whose 
range of knowledge was almost encyclopedic, and many of 
whom made valuable contributions to science in widely separated 
fields. The environment of the man of science has now changed, 
and the older type of naturalist seems unfortunately about to 
disappear. 
Sir John William Dawson was from near Nova Scotia, a 
province which has produced more than its share of the Cana- 
dians who have risen to eminence in the various walks of life, 
having been born at Pictou on October 13, 1820. He died at 
Montreal on November 19, 1899, at the age of 79. 
His father, James Dawson, was from near Aberdeen, Scot- 
land, and came to Nova Scotia to fill a position in a leading 
business house in Pictou, and on the termination of his engage- 
ment began business there as a shipbuilder on his own account. 
While still at school in Pictou, at the age of 12, he developed 
a love for natural science, inherited from his father, and made 
large collections of fossil plants from the Nova Scotia Coal 
Measures, so well exposed about his native place. He speaks of 
Vol. VII, No. 8, 727 
