THE 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST. 
Vor. XXIX. FEBRUARY 1902. No. 2. 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ZADOCK THOMPSON. 
GeorGe H, PERKINS, State Geologist, Burlington, Vt. 
PORTRAIT. 
There have been many reputable men of science in Ver- 
mont, men who have done much to discover and make known 
‘the natural resources of the state, but more than they all 
Zadock Thompson was the student and the interpreter of nat- 
ural history in Vermont. For more than half a century, his 
principal work, “Thompson’s Vermont,” has been the one 
constantly used reference book in many a rural home. From 
its closely printed pages hundreds of boys and girls have 
gained not merely instruction, but encouragement and in- 
spiration to open their eyes and see the wonders that lie 
about them in the hills and in the streams, the plants and an-_ 
imals of their native town. 
The life of Zadock Thompson is well deserving of thought- 
ful and reverent study as an example of a life, simple, earnest, 
full of true scientific spirit, patient, modest, and yet at all times 
ready to give forth to others the result of its labors. And these 
labors were usually carried on and the results reached in spite 
of great obstacles. 
Prof. Thompson was born in Bridgewater, Vt., on the 23d. 
of May, 1796. He was the second son of Barnabas Thomp- 
son, one of the first settlers of Windsor county. He very 
early manifested a love of study, but throughout his school 
and college days he found it difficult to pay his way. 
He earned a part of that which was necessary for his ed- 
ucation by writing an almanac which he sold himself, going 
on foot from town to town. In 1823 he graduated from the 
