﻿Obituary. 
  83 
  

  

  He 
  took 
  an 
  active 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  organization 
  and 
  proceedings 
  of 
  

   the 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Association 
  for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  

   Science, 
  held 
  in 
  Montreal 
  on 
  the 
  following 
  year, 
  on 
  the 
  occasion 
  

   of 
  which 
  he 
  received 
  the 
  honor 
  of 
  knighthood. 
  

  

  In 
  1893 
  Sir 
  William 
  was 
  seized 
  with 
  a 
  very 
  severe 
  attack 
  of 
  

   pneumonia 
  and 
  his 
  health 
  became 
  so 
  seriously 
  impaired 
  that 
  he 
  

   was 
  obliged 
  to 
  give 
  up 
  work 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  and 
  spend 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  

   the 
  south. 
  His 
  strength, 
  however, 
  was 
  not 
  restored, 
  and 
  he 
  

   resigned 
  his 
  position 
  as 
  Principal 
  of 
  McGill 
  University 
  in 
  1894. 
  

   During 
  the 
  later 
  years 
  of 
  his 
  life 
  his 
  strength 
  gradually 
  ebbed 
  

   away 
  and 
  what 
  little 
  w 
  r 
  ork 
  he 
  could 
  undertake 
  consisted 
  in 
  arrang- 
  

   ing 
  his 
  collections 
  and 
  w 
  r 
  orking 
  up 
  some 
  unfinished 
  papers. 
  

   Several 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  published 
  in 
  1894 
  and 
  1895, 
  but 
  the 
  years 
  

   of 
  quiet 
  labor 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  looked 
  forward 
  at 
  this 
  time, 
  were 
  cut 
  

   short 
  by 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  sharp 
  attacks 
  culminating 
  in 
  partial 
  paralysis, 
  

   which 
  forbade 
  further 
  effort. 
  He 
  passed 
  away 
  on 
  the 
  19th 
  of 
  

   November 
  very 
  peacefully 
  and 
  without 
  pain. 
  

  

  Lady 
  Dawson, 
  with 
  three 
  sons 
  and 
  two 
  daughters, 
  survive 
  him. 
  

   His 
  eldest 
  son, 
  Dr. 
  George 
  M. 
  Dawson, 
  the 
  present 
  Director 
  of 
  

   the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Canada, 
  has 
  inherited 
  his 
  father's 
  love 
  

   for 
  geological 
  work 
  and 
  has 
  achieved 
  wide 
  distinction 
  in 
  the 
  

   world 
  of 
  science. 
  

  

  Sir 
  William's 
  first 
  original 
  contribution 
  was 
  a 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  

   the 
  Wernerian 
  Society 
  of 
  Edinburgh 
  in 
  1841 
  on 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  field 
  

   mouse 
  found 
  in 
  Nova 
  Scotia. 
  From 
  that 
  time 
  onwards 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  

   continuous 
  contributor 
  to 
  scientific 
  journals 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  publica- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  learned 
  societies. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  important 
  work 
  of 
  his 
  earlier 
  years 
  was 
  an 
  extended 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  geology 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  Maritime 
  Provinces 
  of 
  Can- 
  

   ada, 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  embodied 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Acadian 
  Geology 
  " 
  

   already 
  mentioned, 
  a 
  volume 
  of 
  nearly 
  1000 
  pages 
  accompanied 
  

   by 
  a 
  colored 
  geological 
  map 
  of 
  Nova 
  Scotia, 
  and 
  which 
  has 
  passed 
  

   through 
  four 
  editions. 
  He 
  subsequently 
  devoted 
  much 
  time 
  to 
  

   various 
  researches 
  in 
  paleobotany, 
  more 
  especially 
  in 
  connection 
  

   with 
  the 
  Upper 
  Silurian, 
  Devonian 
  and 
  Carboniferous 
  systems 
  of 
  

   eastern 
  Canada 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Cretaceous 
  and 
  Tertiary 
  of 
  the 
  west- 
  

   ern 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Dominion. 
  The 
  results 
  of 
  these 
  researches 
  

   were 
  published 
  in 
  a 
  long 
  series 
  of 
  papers 
  which 
  appeared 
  chiefly 
  

   in 
  the 
  Quarterly 
  Journal 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Society 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   Transactions 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  Society 
  of 
  Canada. 
  He 
  also 
  contrib- 
  

   uted 
  a 
  volume 
  entitled 
  "The 
  Geological 
  History 
  of 
  Plants" 
  to 
  

   Appleton's 
  International 
  Scientific 
  Series. 
  

  

  In 
  1863 
  he 
  published 
  his 
  " 
  Air 
  Breathers 
  of 
  the 
  Coal 
  Period," 
  

   which 
  contained 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  many 
  years 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  fossil 
  

   batrachians 
  and 
  land 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  Coal 
  Measures 
  of 
  Nova 
  

   Scotia, 
  the 
  earliest 
  known 
  remains 
  of 
  Microsauria 
  having 
  been 
  

   discovered 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  decayed 
  tree 
  stumps 
  in 
  the 
  

   Coal 
  Measures 
  of 
  South 
  Joggins. 
  The 
  results 
  of 
  his 
  later 
  studies 
  

   of 
  these 
  creatures 
  were 
  embodied 
  in 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  subsequent 
  papers 
  

  

  Sir 
  William 
  also 
  while 
  residing 
  in 
  Montreal, 
  devoted 
  much 
  at. 
  

  

  