THE • '' '- '- 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST. 
Vol. XXVIIL JULY, 1901. No. i. 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF 
AUGUSTUS WING. 
By Henry M. Seet^y, Middlebury, Vermont. 
Portrait. 
In this loving record of a portion of the hfe and work of 
the reverend Augustus Wing, the writer can scarcely proceed 
without at once calling attention to two facts that come inci- 
dentally into the story. The first of almost universal recogni- 
tion is that the science of geology up to a very recent date has 
largely been wrought out by persons engaged in teaching. 
Their results have in the main been made possible by the wise 
husbandry of school vacations together with the economical 
use of hours between exacting class-room duties. 
The preparation of an address that fellow-workers will care 
to remember, or of papers which they will care to read and re- 
read are the results of long time and labor, and these contribu- 
tions represent only a fraction of what they have really accom- 
plished. This labor of love may properly be regarded as an 
overflow. The field of science has been made fertile bv this ir- 
rigation. 
Exceptions, indeed, there are that at the same moment 
startle, inspire and depress, as when some favored genius sends 
forth in quick succession notable contributions to science. This 
is the exception ; the rule holds. The rare occasional papers 
have been the revelation of thoughts and researches of well 
filled hours coming between lecture and lecture, or left over 
from other professional work. 
The other fact of rarest recognition is that science may be 
the richer from the goo<l service rendered by one who never 
made a ]>opular address nor presented to society or editor a 
valuable scientific paper. 
