36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMHERST MEETING 



From Therezina, Saint John proceeded to Caxias, and finally arrived 

 in Maranhao, by the way of the Eio Itapicuru, on the 8th of January, 

 1866, having completed a journey of more than seven hundred leagues in 

 seven months, over a route the greater part of which had never been ex- 

 amined zoologically or geologically. 



On this trip his extraordinary industry in acquiring specimens is in- 

 dicated by the fact that bis collections numbered over 250 mammals, 125 

 reptiles, 1,350 fishes, 500 insects, and 1,100 crustaceans, besides quanti- 

 ties of other groups and rocks — upward of 5,000 specimens altogether. 

 The labor alone of transporting these immense collections to seaport was 

 enormous. The care and detail devoted to the description of habits, 

 habitats, and anatomy of more than 500 species which he garnered and 

 the taking of notes on thousands of forms Avhich he could not carry 

 away with him fill volumes of note-books. These notes should have been 

 worked up and put into shape for publication immediately, at the end 

 of the journey ; but this seems never to have been done. On arrival home 

 at the Museum other arduous and pressing duties delayed a beginning 

 from time to time, and then he was called away to wider fields. 



The geological observations which Saint John made on this Brazilian 

 trip were many and important, and the manner in which he recorded his 

 facts shows that he never lost sight of the general relations between the 

 great structural features of the country through which he passed. 



During the latter part of his lonely journey toward the Amazon River, 

 Saint John had suffered from intermittent fever. When he reached 

 Maranhao it culminated in a severe illness. A Doctor Braga took him 

 into bis own house and did not allow him to leave until he was completely 

 restored to health. From Maranhao he then went down to Para, where 

 he joined Professor Agassiz, who had come up the coast from Rio de 

 Janeiro and was spending the month around the mouths of the Amazon 

 River. In company with the Agassiz party he now returned leisurely 

 down the coast to the capital, where a few days were spent before sailing 

 for home. On the second day of July the return trip was begun. To 

 the day of his death Saint John carried with him a great store of pleasant 

 memories and vivid pictures of this journey, which thereafter enriched 

 his life with so much tropical warmth and color. 



In the meanwhile the Iowa Legislature established a State geological 

 survey, and Dr. Charles A. White was chosen its director. Doctor White 

 appealed to Agassiz for advice regarding the scope of the work and the 

 personnel of the assistants. For First Deputy State Geologist, Agassiz 

 could not suggest any name better than that of the former Iowan who 

 had worked so well, faithfully, and brilliantly witli himself. Saint John 



