THE 



AMERICAN NATURALIST 



Vol. XLVII April, 1918 No. 556 



ALPHEUS HYATT AND HIS PRINCIPLES 

 OF RESEARCH 1 



DR. ROBERT TRACY JACKSON 



Professor Hyatt devoted his life to pure science in the 

 best sense of the word. While known primarily for his 

 work on fossil cephalopods, in his researches he covered 

 a wide range of groups, doing critical work on sponges, 

 bryozoans, pelecypods, gastropods, cephalopods and in- 

 sects. He also published a number of purely philo- 

 sophical papers on his subject. He taught zoology and 

 palaeontology, was a museum administrator, an organizer 

 of societies, and maintained a seaside laboratory at 

 Annisquam, Mass. He was fond of social life and was 

 a most genial and charming host. With strong personal 

 feelings and convictions, he was remarkably tolerant of 

 differences of opinion. One of the most approachable 

 of men, he was very kind and considerate to young men. 

 The accompanying portrait is from a bas-relief made by 

 Professor Hyatt's daughter, now the wife of Dr. Alfred 

 G. Mayer. 



Professor Hyatt was essentially philosophical in all 

 his work, and his researches were largely devoted to evo- 

 lutionary problems. His publications contain most im- 

 portant conclusions and generalizations. He discovered 

 new principles and greatly expanded the principles of 

 others, so that he was justly considered the founder of 



*A paper given before the Pateontological Society of America, at the 

 Haven meeting. December, 1912. 



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