2 Eminent Living Geologists — Dr. C. D. Walcott. 



sandstone which I found in 1867 on the road from Trenton to 

 Trenton Falls, Oneida County, New York, there is an unusual 

 apparent association of Upper Cambrian (Hoyt limestone) and 

 Ordovician (Aylmer sandstone, Chazy) fossils. "When as a hoy I found 

 the rounded block of sandstone referred to I broke out all the fossils 

 possible, as at the time I was well acquainted with the Trenton 

 limestone fauna, and the fossils in the block were strangers to me, 

 with the exception of Leperditia armata. The following winter 

 I endeavoured to locate the stratigraphic position of the associated 

 trilobites, but could not, further than that they were evidently of 

 pre-Trenton age. This study aroused an interest in the American 

 early Paleozoic fossils that gradually led me to take up the Cambrian 

 rocks and faunas as my special field of research. 



"Asa boy of seventeen I planned to study those older fossiliferous 

 rocks of the North American Continent which the great English 

 geologist Adam Sedgwick had called the Cambrian system on account 

 of his finding them in the Cambrian district of Wales." 



In 1871 business took Mr. Walcott to Indianapolis, Indiana, where 

 his scientific tendencies were further stimulated by Professor E. T. 

 Cox, who was then making a geological survey of the Indiana coal- 

 fields. The time now arrived when it seemed necessary to choose 

 between a business life and a life of research. A partnership was 

 offered him on favourable terms, but if accepted little time would 

 remain for study and investigation. Deciding in favour of scientific 

 work, Mr. Walcott left Indiana and returned to New York State. 



Establishing himself on the farm of William P. Rust, at Trenton 

 Palls, he arranged to do a certain amount of farm-work for his board 

 and lodging, reserving the remainder of his time for study and field- 

 work. Here he remained five years, making a rich collection of 

 unique Trenton limestone fossils, which was sold in 1873 to the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard College. He made an 

 arrangement to go to Cambridge (Massachusetts) and pursue a course 

 of study, under the advice and direction of the great naturalist 

 Louis Agassiz, but this was frustrated by the death of Agassiz. 



Of this period Dr. Walcott writes : 1 "In September, 1873, I said 

 to Professor Louis Agassiz that if opportunity offered I would 

 undertake as one bit of future research work to determine the 

 structure of the trilobite. This promise has kept me at the problem 

 for the past forty-five years, and except for the demands of 

 administrative duties the investigations would have advanced more 

 rapidly. Since 1873 I have examined and studied all the trilobites 

 that were available for evidence bearing on their structure and 

 organization." 



In November, 1876, he received his first official appointment, 

 becoming assistant to Professor James Hall, State Geologist of New 

 York. While holding that position researches were made in New 

 York, Ohio, Indiana, and Canada. In July, 1879, Mr. Walcott 

 was appointed field assistant in the United States Geological Survey, 

 then under the direction of Clarence King, and was assigned to the 



1 " Appendages of Trilobites " : Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. lxvii, No. 4, 

 pis. xiv-xlii (in press). 



