THE 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST. 
Vol. XXV. JANUARY, 1900. No. i 
WILLIAM LOWTHIAN GREEN. 
And His Theory of the Evolution of the 
Earth's Features. 
By C. H. Hitchcock, LL. D., Hanover, \. H. 
(Portrait.) 
The scientific world is now beginning to see a signifi- 
cance in the speculations of the late Hon. W. L. Green of 
Honolulu, H. I., concerning the early history of the earth. 
It will be well, therefore, to present a brief biographical sketch 
of the man, with some notice of his work. For the reminis- 
cences we are indebted to his brother, Joseph Green, of Eng- 
land, supplemented by information furnished bv his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. [Nlary E. G. Williams, now residing in Honolulu. 
The photograph was taken when he was fortv-two years 
of age. 
William Lowthian Green was by profession a merchant. 
His farpily for two generations had been engaged in commer- 
cial pursuits in the north of England. 
The mechanical and scientific propensities he developed 
very early may nevertheless have been in part hereditary. 
Charles Green, the astronomer appointed in 1768 to ac- 
company Captain Cook in his expedition to the Pacific to ob- 
serve the transit of Venus, was of the same stock; people orig- 
inally from Lincolnshire. One of them had settled in the 
West Riding of Yorkshire. His son. John Green, entered 
into business in Leeds and eventually became wealthy. He 
built a brewery in that town, and in the history of the ceramic 
