No. 450.] CHARLES EMERSON BEECHER. 



of organisms begins as a smooth form, then becomes spinose ni 

 a progressively increasing degree until the acme or most elab- 

 orate spinosity is attained, then in extreme decadence there is a 

 loss and final disappearance of spinosity, the indi\ iilual and the 

 group in senility tending to become smooth as in its own early 

 growth. It is a graphic expression of the vahie ol a new 1011- 

 ception applied to well known facts. 



The student of palaeontology has reason lo W .^vatelvil that 

 many of Beecher's more important papers were enmhuied and 

 published in one volume, Studies in Evolution, \\\ the \ ale iiu en- 

 tennial Series, 1901. It is a model ot what mnuite, entieal, 

 philosophical palaeozoological work should be. With diaraeter 

 istic modesty Beecher deplored as extravagance the repuhlu ation 

 of papers already in print. For the student it is a valuable aid 

 that Beecher's views on Brachiopoda and Trilobita were nuoi - 

 porated in Eastman's translation of Zittel's Grumizii^rc dcr 

 Palaontologie. The chapter on Brachiopoda being revised by 

 Beecher's intimate friend, Mr. Charles Schuchert, and that on 

 Trilobita being revised by Professor Beecher himself. 



Beecher published many other papers besides those alluded to, 

 on Gastropoda, Cephalopoda, and Crustacea, but although 

 interested in stratigraphical and descriptive palaeontology he pub- 

 lished little in these lines. He published nothing outside of 

 scientific papers as I am informed by Miss Lucy P. Bush. In a 

 review of his papers I find 7 new orders, i new family, 2 new 

 subfamilies, 7 new genera, and 20 new species. Most of his 

 papers were brief, that on spinosity being the longest, many ot 

 them were combined however in his large work, Studies 1.1 

 Evolution. His bibliography includes some one hundiec aii^^ 

 eight titles. In addition he wrote a paper, "Extinction o 

 Species," now in press in the Encychpadia Anicricana,\-^^^ . 4- 

 He was for several years an associate editor of this j'.^^'^'^'^ '^^^. 



Being skilled with his hands, ingenious and fertile in me( am^- 

 cal resources, Beecher was an exceptional l'"''"''''''^^"'' ''"..^'^I'lJ^^ 

 by his remarkable preparations of brachiopods am |J^'J*'|'^|^^ 

 and numerous specimens prepared for exhibition at ^j"-^^^^:!^^ 

 University Museum. Especially noteworthy in this c irc ^ 

 are the splendid slabs of Crawfordsville crinoids and Lre ace . 



