Clarence King — Geologist 



to his chosen pursuits in science and 

 literature. He was consequently 

 obliged to devote more of his time 

 and energy to the directly remunera- 

 tive side of his profession — that of 

 the mining engineer — than he other- 

 wise would have done. This was es- 

 pecially true of his later years, though 

 even in earlier life his services had 

 been not infrequently sought in cases 

 of great moment. 



He owed his prominent position in 

 this profession not alone to his ability 

 and experience as a geologist, which 

 exceeded that of most of his fellow- 

 workers, but to his hiodi standard 

 of personal integrity and the rapid- 

 ity and acuteness of his judgment. 

 These qualities were early illustrated 

 in an incident which gave him per- 

 haps greater prominence in the finan- 

 cial world than any other act of his life 

 — his exposure of the diamond fraud 

 of 1872. An apparently well authen- 

 278 



