Obituary. 437 



the United States statutes and land office regulations, dealing 

 with the mineral lands, timber rights, privileges of miners, etc. 



8. Canadian minerals. — In Part R of vol. ix of the Annual 

 Report of the Geological Survey of Canada, Dr. G. Christian 

 Hoffmann continues his investigations of Canadian minerals. 

 Among the new occurrences noted, the following may be men- 

 tioned : Baddeckite, a ferruginous muscovite from Baddeck, Nova 

 Scotia (this Journal, vi, p. 274) ; chalcanthite, and argentiferous 

 tennantite, from the Avoca claim, Lillooet district, British Colum- 

 bia ; xenotime from Calvin township, Ontario, in a crystalline 

 mass weighing 312 grams; gahnite from Raglan township, Ren- 

 frew Co., Ontario; gersdorffite in octahedral crystals from Koote- 

 nay Mountain, near Rossland, British Columbia. 



OBITUARY. 

 JAMES HALL. 



Even the chief traits and accomplishments of this remark- 

 able man would demand a longer space than is available for 

 this notice, and therefore only a few salient characteristics and 

 events will here be mentioned. His strength and even his weak- 

 nesses, his successes and his failures were of an extent seldom 

 combined in a single individual existence. In years of activity 

 also, he covered a period almost unparalleled for its length. 

 Extreme longevity combined with persistent continuity of pur- 

 pose, and the vast resources of the state of New York, must be 

 accounted as a leading factor in any consideration of the scientific 

 monument which this man erected for himself, and for which, 

 in addition to personal work, contributions were levied from 

 among several generations of assistant co-workers. The magni- 

 tude of the private and public collections accumulated at Albany, 

 the large sums spent for their investigation, and the elaborate 

 publication of results, together with the amount and variety of 

 the investigations carried on, attracted the rising and ambitious 

 paleontologists of the United States to Albany for many years. 

 This enabled the State Geologist to equip himself with some of 

 the best talent in the country, and in a considerable degree deter- 

 mined the quantity and character of the output of his department. 

 The names of Gabb, Hayden, Meek, Whitfield, Walcott, Beecher, 

 Clarke, Schuchert, and others will serve to illustrate this point. 



As a lobbyist among over sixty annual legislatures he held a 

 unique position in the State. In his successful adjustments to the 

 kaleidoscopic and bewildering political complexion of this long 

 period is shown his wealth of resource and adaptability. In his 

 managerial skill and tireless energy he was alone and without a 

 peer. 



4lM. Jour. Sci.— Fourth Series, Vol. VI, No. 35.— November, 1898. 

 30 



