72 The American Geologist. February, i«97 
As a lecturer, professor Hartt was clear, concise and mag- 
netic. He was, moreover, an artist and his ideas were fre- 
quently reinforced by the use of blackboard and chalk, for he 
sketched readily and rapidly. I have in my posession notes 
taken from his lectures in the spring of 187.S. They show 
that many of his illustrations were drawn from local and 
Brazilian sources — that he brought into his instruction his 
own observations and experiences. The plan of the course is 
admirable and so well adapted to student's needs that it could 
be used as the basis of similar Instruction to-da3\ His lec- 
tures were mainly for general culture, his advanced instruc- 
tion being, for the most part, confined to his laboratory. Here 
the students were given books and specimens and, after a few 
brief suggestions as to their use, were allowed to work for 
themselves. That keenness of insight which guided him, that 
quality so essential to an original investigator, he expected 
to be developed by the very nature of the task undertaken. 
Were it otherwise, the first requisite of a scientific life was 
wanting. 
I have written of professor Hartt as a teacher, for it was as 
ray teacher that I knew him. His career at Cornell ended 
with his departure for Brazil in the autumn of 1874. With a 
few personal friends I accompanied him to the top of the 
Ithaca Z as he left on the train for New York, and there I bade 
him adieu. Alas, it was a final farewell, as I never saw him 
again. 
II. 
Professor Hartt was a native of New Brunswick, having 
been born at Fredericton on August 23. 1840.* His early in- 
struction was received at Horton academy, Wolfville, Nova 
Scotia, after which he pursued an advanced course at Acadia 
college. From early childhood he had shown a marked fond- 
ness for natural history, and now, as a college student, he be- 
came greatly interested in geology. Having graduated with 
honor, in 1860, he acconipanied his father to St. John, New 
Brunswick, where they jointly engaged in teaching. Here his 
interest in geology was again shown by the beginning of a 
successful exploration of the " fern ledges " on the Bay of 
Fundy. This exposure of Devonian shales, lying largely be- 
*For facts and dates, I am, in many instances, indebted to the writ- 
ings of Prof. Martin, Dr. Branner and Mr. Rathbun, hereafter mentioned. 
