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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1053 



outstanding ability as a naturalist and a 

 writer should not have published his first book 

 until he was in the fifties. But Muir found 

 himself very gradually. He spent long pe- 

 riods in exploring and living among the moun- 

 tains of the Sierra Nevada. On these trips he 

 endured many hardships and fared very fru- 

 gally. He made copious notes of all his ob- 

 servations and accompanied them with sur- 

 prisingly exact and often beautiful drawings. 

 His studies were chiefly of a geological, botan- 

 ical and physiographical nature. The extent 

 and effects of glaciation in the Sierra Nevada 

 received his particular attention, and he was 

 first among geologists to work toward con- 

 clusions, on this subject, which in more ampli- 

 fied form now hold the field. 



John Muir was an inveterate traveler. Dur- 

 ing his earlier years he went on foot through 

 parts of the southern states and Canada. In 

 1876 he had become a member of the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey and visited Alaska, 

 where he made many canoe trips and explora- 

 tions. The great Muir Glacier, which he dis- 

 covered, bears his name. In 1878 he visited 

 the Arctic regions on the U. S. Oorwin in 

 search of the De Long expedition, and in 1899 

 became a member of the Harriman expedition 

 to Alaska. In 1903-4 he visited Eussia, 

 Siberia, Manchuria, India, Australia and New 

 Zealand. In 1911 he made a trip up the 

 Amazon in South A m erica, and he went to 

 Africa in 1912. All these travels were under- 

 taken for purposes of study primarily, and 

 served to enrich still further his large stores 

 of knowledge. 



The publication of his book on The Mouiv- 

 tains of California made him known to the 

 world as a writer of exceptional power. His 

 vivid, easy, poetical style was wrought out 

 slowly and with great care. He refused to be 

 hurried in his work, and rewrote his chapters 

 a dozen times if he thought he could improve 

 them in point of expression. His second 

 book, " Our National Parks," shows his liter- 

 ary style at its best. It appeared in 1901 and 

 reflects his eager activity in the interest of 

 forest preservation and the establishment of 

 national parks and reservations. This was 



followed by " Stickeen, the Story of a Dog," 

 1909; "My First Summer in the Sierra," 

 1911; " The Tosemite," 1912; and " The Story 

 of My Boyhood and Youth," in 1913. A book 

 on his Alaskan explorations was practically 

 completed at the time of his death. 



A number of high academic honors came to 

 Mr. Muir in his later years. Harvard Uni- 

 versity bestowed upon him an honorary M.A. 

 in 1896 ; the University of Wisconsin an LL.D. 

 in 1897; Tale University a Litt.D. in 1911; 

 and the University of California an LL.D. ia 

 1913. He was one of the founders of the 

 Sierra Club, in 1892, and its president for 

 twenty-two years. The outings for which this 

 organization has become famous were due to 

 his initiative. At the time of his death he 

 was president, also, of the Society for the 

 Preservation of National Parks, and vice- 

 president of the California Associated Soci- 

 eties for the Conservation of Wild Life. It 

 should be noted, too, that he was a member of 

 the Pacific Coast Committee of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 charged with the task of preparing for the 

 San Francisco meeting in 1915. 



In the death of John Muir the world has 

 lost one of the most remarkable men of our 

 time. To the last he preserved the eager in- 

 terest of a child in all the phenomena of 

 nature. His unaffected simplicity and modesty 

 remained unchanged, though fame literally 

 wore a path to his door. He knew how to 

 translate his enthusiasms into human benefits, 

 for no American citizen did more for the 

 establishment of national parks, and the con- 

 servation of the great forests of the west. In 

 the concluding chapter of his book, " Our 

 National Parks," his sentences are aflame with 

 the passion of a Hebrew prophet who sees the 

 vision of the coming age and its needs. It 

 may be that the present generation is able to 

 appraise justly the services of John Muir as a 

 naturalist and explorer. John Muir the seer, 

 the vpriter, the father and guardian of To- 

 semite, awaits the appraisal of a later and 

 greater day. 



William Feedeeio BadS 



