Obituary — John Robert Mortimer. 479 



Lenox College, and afterwards principal of a ward school at Dubuque. 

 In 1874 he was elected to a professorship of natural science in the 

 University of Iowa. Here, at first, he had charge of botany, zoology, 

 geology, and physiology. Later he was made professor of geology, 

 a position which he filled with distinction until his death. He received 

 from Cornell College the degrees of M.A. and LL.D., and from Lenox 

 College the degree of Ph.D. 



In 1892 Dr. Calvin was elected State Geologist of Iowa. This 

 position he resigned in 1901 owing to the stress of other duties. 

 However, in 1906, upon the resignation of Professor Wilder, he was 

 again elected State Geologist, and continued to serve until his death. 

 The Iowa Geological Survey under his directorship published about 

 twenty volumes of reports dealing with the geology and mineral 

 resources of the State. Of great scientific value have been his own 

 contributions to the geology of Iowa, especially those papers which 

 have added to our knowledge of the Pleistocene. His most recent 

 scientific publications, which deal with the Aftonian mammalian 

 fauna, have done much to unravel some of the difficult problems of 

 Pleistocene palaeontology. In all his scientific work he was thorough, 

 no details were considered trivial ; his one desire was to discover 

 truth — to find any facts which could make knowledge clearer, 

 broader, more definite. That he had the power to clothe Lis thoughts 

 in beautiful language is clearly shown in all his writings. 1 



George E. Kay. 



State University of Iowa. 



JOHN ROBERT MORTIMER. 

 Born 1825. Died 1911. 



By the death of John Robert Mortimer the geologists of East Yorkshire 

 lose one of the few remaining members of their ' old guard '. Though 

 the chief scientific work of his life was done in the domain of 

 archaeology, culminating five years ago in the publication of his great 

 work entitled Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial 

 Mounds of East Yorlcshire, Mr. Mortimer likewise rendered notable 

 service to geology by his writings and, above all, by bringing together 

 the unrivalled collection of fossils from the Chalk of the Yorkshire 

 AVolds, now housed in the private museum that he built at Driffield. 



Mortimer was born in the Wold village of Eimber, and dwelt there 

 until manhood, when he shifted his residence to Driffield, a few miles 

 distant, where the rest of his life was spent, and where he died, on 

 August 19 last, at the ripe" age of 86 years. When a child he was 

 of delicate health; indeed, throughout life his health was never robust, 

 but he was endowed with a tough vitality, mental energy, and an 

 indomitable spirit which carried him through many troubles and 

 remained with him up to the last. So lately as the present year he 

 sent a paper to be read at the British Association meeting at Portsmouth, 

 on "The Stature, etc., of our Ancestors in East Yorkshire". His 

 business of corn merchant and maltster brought him in contact with 



1 Abridged from Science, N.S., xxxiv, p. 107. We are indebted to Mr. G. P. 

 Merrill for a copy of this memoir. 



