Clarence King 



an iridescent mist of epigram and per- 

 siflage, was one of the greatest savants 

 of his time. It was hard to take seri- 

 ously a man who was so deliciously 

 agreeable. Yet his work on System- 

 atic Geology is a masterpiece of prac- 

 tical and ordered learning, and his 

 treatise on The Age of the Earth has 

 been accepted as the profoundest and 

 most authoritative utterance on the 

 subject yet made. 



If he had given himself to litera- 

 ture, he would have been a great 

 writer. The range of his knowledge, 

 both of man and nature, was enor- 

 mous ; his sympathy was universal ; 

 his mastery of the word, his power 

 of phrase, was almost unlimited. 

 His literary product is considerable 

 and will keep his name alive ; but it 

 bears no appreciable proportion to 

 the literary treasures he squandered 

 in his daily and nightly conversation. 

 I recall with the sharpest regret of 

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