OP CONCHOLOGY. 195 



Professor Adams, as had been previously arranged, was 

 most kindly and hospitably entertained at St. Thomas by Mr. 

 Eobert Swift. The Professor's health had been so much im- 

 paired by his unceasing labors, (he never allowed himself more 

 time for rest than nature absolutely demanded,) that he easily 

 fell a prey to disease. He contracted fever, and, notwithstand- 

 ing the most devoted attentions and the best medical care, 

 died on the 18th of January, 1853, at the early age of thirty- 

 nine years, — a martyr, it may with justice be said, to the cause 

 of science. His remains were deposited in the burial ground 

 at St. Thomas, where a tablet was erected by his friends as a 

 memorial of his worth and their esteem. 



The Professor's widow, an estimable lady, and five children, 

 four sons and a daughter, survived him; two of the former 

 enlisted in the service of their country in the army, and died 

 in the autumn of 1861, the one at Brooklyn, N. Y., and the 

 other at Annapolis, Md., of diseases contracted in the perform- 

 ance of their military duties. 



The published works of Professor Adams and the collec- 

 tions at Amherst College give ample evidence of his great 

 abilities, of his untiring energy, industry and perseverance, of 

 his unselfish devotion to science. Earnest and able in the 

 performance of his duties as Professor, successful and popular 

 as a teacher, of upright and irreproachable character, his loss 

 will long be deplored at Amherst. In his domestic relations 

 he was gentle and affectionate, in his friendships faithful and 

 generous. 



The principal conchological works of Professor Adams — - 

 the ''Contributions to Conchology," and "Catalogue of Shells 

 Collected at Panama, with Notes on their Synonymy, Station 

 and Geographical Distribution" — deserve more than the pass- 

 ing notice which they have received in the foregoing memoir, 

 and we propose shortly to review their contents, so far, at 

 least, as to show the character of the Professor's opinions and 

 the extent of his labors. Our limits do not permit of further 

 reference to his writings on Geology. 



Professor Adams found an unexpectedly rich field for re- 

 search, especially as regards Land MoUusca, in the Island of 

 Jamaica, and to him belongs the merit of especially directing 

 the attention of naturalists to the shell-faunas of the West 

 Indies. At the date of his first visit to Jamaica compara- 

 tively few species from those islands were known; since he 

 commenced the publication of the "Contributions to Con- 

 chology," an immense number of species have been discov- 

 ered. In that work, and a paper published in the "Proceed- 

 ings of the Boston Society of Natural History," (1845,) the 



