Joseph Barrett. 259 



of lawsuits, the chief ones being in relation to the Utah 

 Apex Mining Company of Bingham, Utah, the Federal 

 Mining and Smelting Company of Shoshone County, 

 Idaho, and the Hudson Blue Stone Company of Kings- 

 ton, New York. He made a good witness, not only be- 

 cause of his extensive knowledge of mining and geology, 

 but more especially because his testimony on the stand 

 could not be shaken by opposing counsel. 



An analysis of Barrell's writings shows that he pro- 

 gressed from simpler field relations to the most complex 

 of geologic problems. It is also clear that his best 

 results were obtained through generalizing from the 

 publications of others. He loved to assemble the field 

 and laboratory observations made by other workers in 

 comparison with his own, and then, subjecting them to 

 the test of multiple hypotheses, ascertain the probable 

 explanation of the facts under study. 



Barrell's first publications, in 1899 and 1900, deal 

 with mining, but since 1901 nearly all of them have had 

 to do with geology. His bibliography, if completed in 

 detail, would take note of about 150 notices and reviews 

 of books, nearly all of which appeared in this Journal. 

 Of these nineteen contain original matter, and are 

 therefore included in the bibliography. Nearly all deal 

 with isostasy, the origin of the earth, and metamor- 

 phism, subjects most familiar to Barrell. "When he set 

 himself to write a review of a book, he produced a 

 lucid analysis, with discussions of the conclusion at- 

 tained by the author. Of short papers and longer 

 memoirs, there are fifty-one, totalling nearly 1,700 pages. 

 In addition, there are eight manuscripts in a more or 

 less finished condition, and some of these, after they 

 have been edited by his colleagues, will probably be 

 printed within a year. 



Barrell's earliest papers, as has been said, relate to 

 mine surveys. Then he took up areal geology, studies 

 of the relations of intrusive masses, and their altera- 

 tion and mineralization of the invaded geologic forma- 

 tions. After some years as an instructor of graduate 

 students in dynamic geology, his ideas in regard to 

 processes of erosion, sedimentation, the formation of 

 deltas, and the discerning of ancient climates in the 

 sediments took form, and it is on these subjects that he 

 next wrote. Nearly one-fourth of his publications fol- 



