MEMOIR OF DANIEL W. LANGTON, JR. 15 



He was a man of strong prejudices, which is about the same as saying 

 he loved his friends and hated his enemies ; but for many of his dislikes 

 there seemed, to an onlooker, to be no very special reason. Perhaps it, 

 was a case of ''Doctor Fell.'' On the other hand, his friends, or those 

 who knew him intimately, were quite as devoted to him as he was to them. 



As a companion in field work he was all that conld be desired ; his en- 

 thusiasm in collecting shells and in the observation of geological phenom- 

 ena knew no bounds, and it was with difficulty that he could be ''moved 

 on'' from a good collecting ground. In the trips which he took alone he 

 had many mishaps; he had a faculty for taking the wrong road while 

 driving through the country, often bringing up at the most unexpected 

 places. His inveterate habit of whistling, which absorbed much of his 

 attention, was partly to blame for this ; but, in addition to that, his sense 

 of direction or locality was not very highly developed. 



In his canoe trips down Cobecuh and Pea rivers, with only a negro 

 man for companion, his boat was capsized a number of times, and on one 

 occasion, on Pea Eiver, everything in the boat was lost, including the gun 

 of his negro companion. On the next day we find the following note, 

 December 12, 1888 : "Stephen Wolf, my negro, rendered disconsolate by 

 the loss of his gun, deserted me about 5 p. m., and left me to continue my 

 voyage alone. The river is filled with shoals, and at every shoal there 

 is a fish trap (almost a man trap), and today I crossed no less than 

 twenty-six. Twice today I took involuntary baths, but fortunately noth- 

 ing but my person was damped, not even my geologic ardor." "Advice 

 to any geologist who in future may contemplate this trip : Don't." This 

 is fairly characteristic of the man ; though subject to occasional spells 

 of depression, he was for the most part bright and cheerful, and disposed 

 to look upon the bright side of every question. 



When we look upon his career, cut short by an untimely death, and 

 consider that he so soon won his way to eminence in his chosen profes- 

 sion, and that without outside aid and solely by his own exertions, we- 

 can not withhold our tribute of respect and admiration. 



His death occurred at his home, near Morristown, New Jersey, on the 

 21st of June, 1909. 



Bibliography 



Observations on the Tertiary of Mississippi and Alabama, with descriptions of 



new species. American Journal of Science, 3d series, vol. 31, 1886, pp. 



202-209. 

 Some Florida Miocene. American Journal of Science, 3d series, vol. 38, 1889, 



pp. 322-324. 

 ueology of Mon Louis Island, Mobile Bay. American Journal of Science, 3d 



series, vol. 40, 1890, pp. 237-23S 



