Century Necrological Note 



study of the facts and in the prepara- 

 tion of the report, which remains the 

 record of the most important scien- 

 tific work of its kind up to that time 

 undertaken and the foundation of 

 much that has followed. In 1878 

 the United States Geological Survey 

 was organized, and King was made 

 its first Chief, serving until the close 

 of 1 88 1. In the eighteen years since 

 he had entered on his work on the 

 Pacific Slope, years of untiring activity 

 and study, he had made brilliant and 

 substantial contributions to science. 



He had also found time for some 

 notable work as a geological and 

 mining expert in the famous Mari- 

 posa mines, in the Comstock mines, 

 and in the exposure, made with 

 singular acuteness and swiftness, of 

 the " salted " diamond fields of Wyo- 

 ming". The rest of his life was 

 devoted to the exercise of his pro- 

 fession, in which he attained emi- 

 232 



