October 5, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



427 



lumbia School of Mines, where he remained 

 two years. In 1878 he became assistant 

 geologist on the United States Geological 

 Survey west of the 100th meridian, and 

 devoted one season to field work in Colo- 

 rado and New Mexico. The following year 

 was spent in European travel. In 1880 

 he was appointed assistant geologist on 

 the United States Geological Survey. It 

 was not long before his merit was recog- 

 nized and he was promoted to geologist of 

 the survey, a position which he held 

 throughout the rest of his life. 



Professor Russell was more than geol- 

 ogist and geographer, he was an ardent 

 student of physiography. In his preface 

 to 'Rivers of North America' he wrote: 



When investigators of surface geology and geog- 

 raphy made their bold explorations into the vast 

 arid region of the southwest, they discovered a 

 land of wonders, where the mask of vegetation 

 which conceals so many countries is absent and 

 the features of the naked land are fully revealed 

 beneath a cloudless sky. It was in this arid 

 region of strong relief that a revival of interest 

 in the surface forms of the earth was engendered. 

 The seeds of what is practically a new science — 

 physiography — ^gathered in this land by J. S. 

 Newberry, J. W. Powell, G. K. Gilbert, C. S. 

 Dutton and others, when carried to other regions, 

 bore abundant fruit. 



Russell belonged to this new school. He 

 studied the surface of the earth as it ex- 

 ists to-day, as a book where one can read 

 not only the past history of the world, but 

 prophecies as to its future destiny. It 

 was the forces which nature uses to mould 

 the world that chiefly interested him, and 

 throughout his books one sees him tracing 

 the transformations of the earth under 

 the influence of ice and water, and the 

 cooling of the earth's crust. 



It was his desire to study the forces of 

 nature where they are most clearly re- 

 vealed that led him to endure the hard- 

 ships of the mountains and the deserts of 

 the west. In order to visit these regions 



he attached himself to the United States 

 Geological Survey, and while he did the 

 work of the government, he gathered the 

 rich harvest of scientific data which he 

 gave to the world in his many publications. 

 But he was interested not alone in the proc- 

 esses which are wearing away and building 

 up the surface of the earth; the conditions 

 which exist to-day, and how they may be 

 utilized for the good of mankind, were 

 carefully observed. This is evidenced by 

 his thoughtful study of the water supply of 

 the arid regions of the west, and his con- 

 scientious work on the water supply of 

 our own community. Ann Arbor owes him 

 a debt of gratitude for the earnest atten- 

 tion and large amount of time which he so 

 freely gave for the benefit of his fellow- 

 citizens. 



Many of his expeditions were of the na- 

 ture of a reconnaissance of the surface 

 geology of regions which had never been 

 traveled by any trained observer. In 

 1889 he was sent by the United States 

 Geological Survey on an expedition up the 

 Yukon and Porcupine rivers, Alaska, a 

 journey of about twenty-five hundred 

 miles through an almost unknown wilder- 

 ness. In 1890 and 1891 he conducted two 

 important explorations in the region about 

 Mount St. Elias, under the joint auspices 

 of the United States Geological Survey and 

 the National Geographical Society, during 

 which special attention was given to the 

 study of glaciers and to geographical ex- 

 plorations. 



It is hard to think of the quiet, modest, 

 somewhat frail-looking man, our colleague 

 and friend, as the celebrated 'pioneer ex- 

 plorer' of the wilds of Alaska. Yet all 

 who have accompanied him on his expedi- 

 tions bear witness to his boundless energy 

 and tenacity of purpose, his strength and 

 endurance, and his resourcefulness in 



