8 
IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCE 
In common with all naturalists of his earlier days he covered a broad 
field, but into every department of the work he carried the same energy 
and keenness of vision, and no one who ever accompanied him to the 
field could ever forget the infectious, almost boyish enthusiasm and 
deep affection which inspired him. 
His work in botany was merged with that of his friend and associate 
of many years, the late Ferdinand Reppert, with whom he was engaged 
in study and field work both in Muscatine county and in the Rocky 
Mountains, but in the last years of his life his interest centered in this 
field and it was his intention to devote himself to it exclusively. 
His earlier work covered a wide field. He studied the geology of Mus- 
catine county, and his reports upon the loess, then but little known in 
this state, are of special interest and value. In connection with his loess 
investigation he took up the study of the local land and fresh-water mol- 
lusks and was in his day the only student of the loess problem who was 
familiar with the species which constitute the chief fauna of the loess. 
His two most extensive papers dealt with this subject. The ‘^List of 
Shells of Iowa” was published in 1878 in the British Quarterly Journal 
of Conchology, Vol. I, and ‘‘The Mollusca of Muscatine county and Vi- 
cinity” appeared in 1883. These were the first published annotated and 
descriptive lists of Iowa mollusks, and the latter contained the most 
complete list of Iowa loess fossils which had been published up to that 
time. 
Prof. Witter ’s work in the interest of this Academy is well known 
to the older members. He was an active member of the old Academy of 
Sciences throughout almost its entire existence, having been elected at its 
first meeting. He was a charter member of the present Academy, its 
president in 1889 and 1890, and for several years a member of the Exec- 
utive Committee. In recognition of his services he was made an honorary 
life member at the Cedar Falls meeting in 1908. Some conception of his 
activity may be gained from the following list of titles of papers pub- 
lished in full or in abstract form, in the Proceedings of the Academy : 
In the Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sciences for 1875-80, published 
in 1880: 
Notes on Land and Fresh Water Shells at Muscatine, p. 8'. 
Observations on the Genus Limnea, p. 15. 
Some Geological Features near Muscatine, p. 16. 
The Cabbage Butterfly, p. 21. 
. On the Number of Hours Children May be Confined in the School-room 
Each Day, p. 22. 
On the Occurrence of Certain Shells in the Vicinity of Muscatine, p. 23. 
