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Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts and Letters . 
his life. On his return he was able to resume studies, though it was 
necessary that the greater part of the texts should be read to him. 
This probably strengthened a memory naturally retentive and drove 
him to meditative and independent thought, since he was measurably 
cut off from indulgence in simple acquisition. A full course in the 
School of Mines, of Columbia College, gave him the technical founda¬ 
tion for his future work. 
During two of his summer vacations he found employment and prac¬ 
tical experience in the coal mines of Wiconisco, Penn. Soon after 
graduation he was appointed superintendent of the smelting works at 
Greenville, N. J. Following this he was employed during parts of two 
years upon the Ohio geological survey. His career thus far had lain 
chiefly in the line of technical work. From this he was turned aside 
in 1870 by a call to the department of geology, mineralogy and metal¬ 
lurgy in the University of YTsconsin, and from that time onward his 
activities took two parallel lines, instruction and investigation. As an 
instructor his work was characterized by thoroughness, by a masterly 
command of the subjects he taught, by clearness of presentation and a 
graphic and humorous exposition, by perfect candor and sincerity, by 
earnestness, devotion and indefatigable industry — a rare combination 
of qualities, which made him not only a singularly effective instructor, 
but a worthy leader in all those moral and manly influences which 
characterize the true teacher. 
Professor Irving’s first independent geological investigation consisted 
of the demonstration that the Baraboo quartzites of central Wisconsin 
are very much older than the adjacent upper Cambrian sandstone 
(Dikelocephalus horizon), which was at the time a battled question.* 
Shortly after he made similar investigations on the quartzites near 
Waterloo, Dodge Co., Wis.f 
Upon the inauguration of the recent geological survey of Wisconsin 
(1873), Professor Irving was appointed one of the three commissioned 
assistant geologists and began his well-known investigations in that 
connection. During the first year he was assigned to the study of the 
Penokee iron range. He was here compelled, at the outset of his 
official career, to encounter unwarranted expectations raised by pre¬ 
vious flattering opinions respecting the richness of the iron deposits 
given by incautious and inexpert explorers. His perfectly candid and 
unreserved report brought the usual reward of frankness and sincerity 
in the face of opposing desire, at first a storm of protest and of adverse 
*On the Age of the Quartzites, Schists and Conglomerates of Sauk Co., Wis., Am. 
Jour. Sci., Vol. Ill, Art. xv, p. 93. The same in Trans, of Wis. Acad, of Sci. Arts and 
Letters, Vol. II, pp. 107-119. 
t Note on the Age of the Metamorphic Rocks of Portland, Dodge Co., Wis., Am. Jour. 
Sci., Vol. V, Art. xxxi, p. 282. 
