, | 1878. ] , Scientific News. - 335 
— Itis with great sorrow that we announce the sudden death of 
Prof. Charles Frederic Hartt, Chief of the Brazilian Geological Com- 
mission. He died at Rio de Janeiro, March 18. His untimely death 
is a great calamity, as, after nearly three years of constant explor- 
ation over a large part of Brazil, he had begun to prepare for 
publication the results of the researches of himself and assist- 
ants, Messrs. Derby and Rathbun. e was born at Freder- 
icton, New Brunswick, in 1840, and graduated at Acadia 
College at Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He was a student under 
Agassiz from 1862 until 1865, and during that time inves- 
tigated the Devonian plant and insect beds of St. John, 
_. and made important researches in the Cambrian fossils of the 
Acadian series at St. John. He then accompanied Agassiz as 
Geologist of his journey up the Amazon and subsequently made 
three visits to the coast regions, and the results of his explorations 
are comprised in his work on “The Geology and Physical Geo- 
graphy of Brazil,” published in 1870. Several years previous he 
was appointed Professor of Geology and Physical Geography at 
Cornell University. He made a specialty of Brazilian geology, 
and mastered the Portuguese language, investigated the natural 
history and archeology of that country, and so identified himself 
with its physical history that it seemed as a matter of course that 
the Emperor of Brazil should honor himself by appointing the 
= young explorer Chief of the Imperial Geological Commission. 
_ This was in May, 1875; since then his studies have extended 
| widely over the Empire, including the unraveling of the geology 
of the. Amazon, consisting of Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous 
| rocks, the thorough examination of the coast and interior of the 
: 
ET Fee a eS a ee 
Province of Pernambuco, a reconnaissance of the diamond and 
gold districts of Minas Geraes, the examination of large areas in 
San Paulo and Santa Catharina. The survey had collected 
= enormous quantities of fossils and zoological material from the 
= Corniferous and Carboniferous formations in the Amazonian val- 
= ley, large numbers of remains of vertebrates and invertebrates from 
_ Pernambuco, including many new reptilian and amphibian forms, 
mainly cretaceous. For the last six months but little field work 
~ had been done and publication was progressing rapidly. Prof. _ 
= Hartt also made a thorough study of the coral reefs of the coast _ 
of Pernambuco, including ancient and modern forms. He also 
amassed many facts regarding the language, manners and customs 
of the Tupis, Guaranis and other Indian tribes, and Brazilian 
archeology. : 
Professor Hartt, besides being a geologist, palazontologist and 
zoologist, was a capital linguist and philologist. He had powers 
of rapid acquisition and great versatility. He was a person of 
warm sympathies, and of a cheerful, light-hearted spirit that en- - 
deared him to all with whom he came in contact. To the readers 
of this journal, to which he often contributed on geological and — oe 
VOL, XII—NO. V., 24 
