NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



• Beside his works on the Corals, Brachioi^ods, and Trilobites 

 above referred to, he became in 1892 deeply interested in the sig- 

 niticance of spines, accumulating material till 1898, when he pub- 

 lished his memoir entitled ''^The origin and significance of 

 spines," the longest of -his papers and the one, according to 

 Schuchert, which he regarded as his best and most philosophic 

 work. 



Fortunately for students of Paleontology, most of Beecher's 

 more important papers were reissued in one volume in the Yale 

 Bicentennial series, entitled "Studies in Evolution." He himself 

 regarded the reprinting of ab'eady published papers as a kind 

 of extravagance; but those interested in philosophical zoology 

 will feel grateful for the combination of so many important con- 

 tributions to it in the compass of one volume. His views on the 

 classification of the Brachiopoda and Trilobita are incorporated 

 in the translation by Eastman of Zittel's Grundzilge der Palceon- 

 tologie. 



In his bachelor da3'S at ISTew Haven, Beecher, with Pirsson, 

 Penfield, and Wells, roomed in "The Attic," the top story of the 

 Sheffield Scientific School, which was comfortably fitted up in 

 true Bohemian style; and Jackson recalls as one of the pleasant- 

 est recollections of a visit to Xew Haven the memory of calls at 

 "The Attic," where, after working hours, delightful intercourse, 

 social and scientific, was held, often far into the night. After 

 moving to ~^e^y HaA'cn, Beecher made his single journey abroad 

 in company with the late Dr. George Baur, visiting many Euro- 

 pean museums. 



September 12, 1894, Professor Beecher married Miss Mary 

 Salome Galligan, of Warren, Pennsylvania, who, with two daugh- 

 ters, his mother, and one l)rother. survives lirin. 



Always delicate, of medium height, dark hair and eyes, and 

 apparently good pbysique. Professor Beecher had the aspect of 

 a man whose years might be long in the land, and of late had 

 seemed to enjoy excellent health, but he died suddenly, from an 

 affection of the heart, February 14, 1904, with no warning to 

 soften the blow to those who loved him. His remains lie in 

 Grove Street Cemetery. New Haven, in the shadow of the Shef- 

 fiield Scientific School. 



The director of the school has said of him : "Quiet and unas- 



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