November 21, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



837 



and we are inclined to the belief that it is 

 Post-Tertiary because, among other things, it 

 carries fresh-water fossils. We are also in- 

 clined to the belief that the Pascagoula forma- 

 tion will eventually turn out to be Pliocene. 

 If we are correct in our belief that the Grand 

 Gulf is of Post-Tertiary age, the Lafayette 

 formation must be advanced higher in the 

 scale than the position now generally assigned 

 to it. Eugene A. Smith, 



Truman H. Aldricii. 



THE JOHN FRITZ MEDAL. 



A ' John Fritz Medal,' established by per- 

 sonal and professional friends in celebration 

 of the eightieth birthday, August 21, 1902, of 

 the '' Nestor of the American Iron and Steel 

 Industry,' and in honor of that venerable 

 pioneer, was formally announced at a banquet 

 tendered Mr. Fritz by its founders, on October 

 31, at the Waldorf-Astoria. The medal is to 

 be annually awarded to perpetuate the memory 

 of his achievements and for notable scientific 

 or industrial discoveries, inventions or other 

 great work performed by its recipients. 



The new honor is to be conferred on men 

 nominated, not less than one year in advance 

 of the date of award, by a board consisting of 

 sixteen men, chosen in equal numbers from 

 each of the four national engineering societies 

 by their governing bodies. The medal is of 

 gold, its design by Mr. Brenner, the obverse 

 presenting a good portrait of Mr. Fritz, the 

 reverse bearing the symbolic device, a mes- 

 senger, her right hand sustaining a shield on 

 which is to appear the name of the recipient of 

 the medal, the left hand carrying laurels and 

 a palm branch. In the distance appears the 

 torch of learning and a scroll on which is in- 

 scribed a statement of the i)urpose of the 

 medal. The endowment of this foundation is 

 made by contributions from several hundred 

 members of the engineering profession and 

 amounts to about $6,000. Its recipient will 

 also be given a certificate stating the origin and 

 purpose of the medal and the specific achieve- 

 ment for which the individual award is made. 

 The plan adopted is similar to that on which 

 the award of the famous Bessemer Medal 

 of the Iron and Steel Institution of Great 



Britain is made by its founders and which 

 medal has been several times awarded to dis- 

 tinguished Americans, Mr. Fritz among others. 

 In the present case, the specific provision is 

 made that ' there shall be no restriction on 

 account of nationality or sex.' 



John Fritz, in whose honor this new and im- 

 portant scientific distinction is established, was 

 born at Londonderry, Pennsylvania, August 

 21, 1822, the son of a reputable farmer. At 

 the age of sixteen he entered a country ma- 

 chine shop at Parkersburg, later a similar 

 establishment at Norristown, to learn the 

 business. He next took up the construction 

 of rolling mills and, meantime, made himself 

 familiar with every detail of the iron and 

 steel business from that of reducing the ores 

 in the blast furnace to the puddling of iron 

 and the final work of the rolling mill. He 

 became, in due time, an authority and acknowl- 

 edged expert in his art and erected some of 

 the most important establishments of the 

 time, including the Cambria Iron Works, and, ' 

 finally the now enormous plant of the Bethle- 

 hem Iron and Steel Works, of which latter he 

 was manager and with which he remained for 

 a generation. He introduced some of the 

 most important of modern methods and ap- 

 paratus and was one of the earliest and most 

 successful among the pioneers in the use of 

 the Bessemer process in the United States. 



Since his retirement from the superintend- 

 ency of the mammoth establishment which 

 grew up under his hand, Mr. Fritz has been 

 engaged in many enterprises as consulting 

 expert and in some public works. He is a 

 member of the principal associations, pro- 

 fessional and scientific, in his field, both at 

 home and abroad. He still enjoys good health 

 and is strong and active and as much inter- 

 ested in life and good works as ever. 



The foundation of this medal is hoped to 

 prove a valuable incentive and aid to applied 

 science, evidencing appreciation of good work 

 and great deeds on the part of able men, as 

 well as constituting a permanent and worthy 

 monument to the man whose own admirable 

 life and great work is thus given an enduring 

 and fitting memorial. 



E. II. Thurston. 



