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  James 
  Dwight 
  Dana. 
  

  

  As 
  an 
  editor 
  of 
  this 
  Journal, 
  Professor 
  Dana 
  was 
  associated 
  

   first 
  with 
  the 
  two 
  Sillimans 
  (1846 
  to 
  1863), 
  later 
  with 
  Benjamin 
  

   Silliraan, 
  Jr. 
  alone 
  (1863 
  to 
  1875) 
  and 
  finally 
  with 
  his 
  son 
  Edward 
  

   Salisbury, 
  from 
  1875. 
  The 
  elder 
  Silliman 
  died 
  in 
  1864 
  and 
  the 
  

   younger 
  Silliman 
  in 
  1885. 
  The 
  editorial 
  labors 
  were 
  carried 
  

   on 
  almost 
  continuously 
  from 
  1850 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  his 
  life. 
  Ill 
  

   health 
  interrupted 
  this 
  work 
  less 
  than 
  that 
  involving 
  severer 
  

   and 
  more 
  consecutive 
  thought. 
  The 
  closing 
  pages 
  of 
  the 
  

   present 
  number 
  contain 
  several 
  notices 
  prepared 
  by 
  him 
  

   within 
  the 
  past 
  few 
  weeks. 
  

  

  In 
  connection 
  with 
  this 
  labor, 
  he 
  did 
  a 
  vast 
  amount 
  of 
  writ- 
  

   ing, 
  including, 
  besides 
  original 
  papers, 
  hundreds 
  of 
  abstracts, 
  

   critical 
  reviews, 
  obituary 
  notices, 
  and 
  notes 
  on 
  many 
  topics. 
  

   These 
  are 
  far 
  too 
  numerous 
  to 
  find 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  Bibliography 
  

   here 
  given. 
  He 
  threw 
  into 
  this 
  editorial 
  work 
  much 
  of 
  his 
  

   best 
  energy 
  and 
  always 
  felt 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  serving 
  science 
  well 
  in 
  

   this 
  way. 
  No 
  degree 
  of 
  pains 
  was 
  too 
  great 
  to 
  ensure 
  com- 
  

   pleteness 
  and 
  accuracy, 
  and 
  if 
  an 
  outsider 
  might 
  have 
  thought 
  

   that 
  he 
  insisted 
  too 
  strongly 
  upon 
  some 
  rule 
  of 
  punctuation 
  or 
  

   spelling, 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  from 
  the 
  failure 
  to 
  understand 
  a 
  

   mind 
  which 
  could 
  be 
  satisfied 
  only 
  with 
  the 
  highest 
  degree 
  of 
  

   accuracy 
  and 
  excellence 
  attainable. 
  A 
  piece 
  of 
  manuscript 
  

   written 
  for 
  the 
  Journal, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  his 
  books, 
  was 
  corrected 
  

   and 
  amended 
  again 
  and 
  again, 
  and 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  erasure 
  and 
  

   insertion 
  of 
  new 
  words 
  and 
  paragraphs 
  went 
  on 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   moment 
  of 
  its 
  passing 
  into 
  the 
  printers' 
  hands 
  ; 
  the 
  result 
  was 
  

   often 
  trying 
  to 
  the 
  compositor 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  clearness 
  

   of 
  the 
  hand-writing. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  College 
  Instructor 
  his 
  labors 
  commenced 
  in 
  1855 
  and, 
  

   except 
  as 
  interrupted 
  by 
  ill 
  health, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  explained, 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  until 
  1890 
  ; 
  in 
  1892 
  he 
  formally 
  retired 
  and, 
  in 
  1894, 
  

   was 
  made 
  Professor 
  Emeritus. 
  He 
  gave 
  instruction 
  at 
  first 
  in 
  

   Mineralogy 
  and 
  Geology, 
  but 
  afterward 
  in 
  Geology 
  alone, 
  with 
  

   occasional 
  courses 
  of 
  lectures, 
  as 
  on 
  Evolution 
  and 
  Cosmogony. 
  

   The 
  subject 
  of 
  Geology 
  did 
  not 
  occupy 
  a 
  large 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  curri- 
  

   culum 
  and 
  consequently 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  exercises 
  per 
  week 
  was 
  

   not 
  large. 
  This, 
  as 
  he 
  appreciated 
  fully, 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  gain 
  to 
  

   him 
  personally, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  original 
  writing 
  was 
  concerned, 
  for 
  

   it 
  not 
  only 
  gave 
  him 
  much 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  for 
  his 
  own 
  work 
  but 
  

  

  