New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-18
| ADAM SEDGWICK. THE CAMBRIDGE GEOL-
OGIST.
From 1faemfllan's Ilaoa-ine.


The only incident of his early Cambridge life Il
which ever heard him refer was severe illness
some kind of fever, which nearly terminated hii
career during his UNDERGRADUATE course. The power
of the fever WAS such that his medical attendanti
entirely despaiTcd Of his life. They had III fact left
his room, and were walking up and down upon thu
pavement beside the chapel, waiting 10 hear the
last news before they left the college. The news
however. did not come and after time it was sug
gested and determined that they should 20 back and
found hum not only not dead, but apparently some
what stronger than when they left him. One of the
lis IS snS Eoaha
man; let us try il We can do anything more for
him." Accordingly some kind Of blister was sug-
gested The poor patient seems TO have shTuuk
from the anticipated suffering, aud asked something
to the effect the application would have upon his
flesh. 10 this question lie received the coarse. and.
presume, not very professional reply: "Ohl -
the flesh, ii we can only save the life" The last al
most despXlrlnG effort was successful
Nothing OF very notable kind marked his career
till his appointment to the geological chair in 1915.
He seems 10 have been elected more IN c0nsldera-
ton of his general capacity for any kind OF scien-
fitness for the special department Of geology; his
own feeling may be judged from saying ttrbuted
to him by Cambridge tradition " Hitherto have
never turned stone, henceiorth VIII not leave a
stone unturned."
He used TO tell story concerning one of his lee
lures which was amusing as he told it, aud will
perhaps bear reproduction. He was lectuTiDg upon
fossil elephant and observed, much 10 his surprise
and vexatiOn, that his class constantly lost their
gravity; whenever he referred to his elephant the
whole class smiled and Uttered 1t looked like in-
territorial disrespect tho existence OF which no could
however scarcely believe; he continued his lee
ture to the conclusion, and then said to friend
"What could possess my class tO-day7 They did
nothing but laugh" "Don't you know Z" was the
reply; whenever you referred to the fossil ele-
phant you invariably called IL whaeW The pro-
feSSOr confessed that the retention OF this whae
of which, however he was totally unconscious even
when the secret was revealed to bin, was too much
for the gravity of the most sober class
Ladies freely admitted to his Iecture-rOom,
at all events i'll the later period of his career and
Their presence gave 5ne P9feSSGG5 g1ieed dcgl
Sedgwicks tenure of his pr0fessorshlp most nota-
ble There weIe many more horses, If l mistake
not, both proprietary aud conductItOus Ito use q
phTaseOlogy which remember TO have heard Whe-
we'll quote with great guStO IN Cambridge III those
days than now; and on geological teldda many
animals of both descriptions but especially tile lat
ter, turned out for a country. Geologic
ing and hunting were put on the same footing re-
CARDS risk to bOrsetesh; and remember we'll the
OTacnlar manner IN which the head-man at the chief
hveTy-stables, known popularity AS George" re-
sponded TO complaint of oyercharge for the hire
OF horse upon one Of the professors excursions.
"a guinea day." said George, " is the regular prlce
but when they goes hunting or j0laglZDg we doubles
It," The present writer never Joined the ReOOglzing
party but he has often heard OF the delights of the
day the professor, who rode roughly, and ii may
be hoped eeuTey, rather than elegantly, taking the
lead OF the field, stopping to explain TO the ASSEM-
bled class q deposit here and a singular phenome-
non there, keeping the whole party alive with his
bright spirits aud happy chat
On occasion OF one OF the meetings OF the British
ASSOCIATION, Sedgwick undertook 10 head an ex-
pIOung party into the neighborhood, and to give a
perpatetIc lecture on the geological features of
the country. As the party marched from one point
to another It's number gradually increased the
strange fascination of the leaders manner and
speech which have myself noticed on other Occa-
sions, produced its result here; left their work
TO follow the steps of the great professor, and
toward afternoon Sedgwick woke up TO the fact
that the little class of saraHs who had started with
him in the morning had grown into a crowd of
listeners, composed chiefly Of golfers and the like.
ThereuPOn the FIRE kindled SedgwCk went of
into ono Of his irregular floods of unprecedented
original oratory rose from the physical las he de-
lighted to dol TO the moral, aud gave his rough
spoke Of 10 as one of the most wonderful he had
ever the whole heart and attention of every
one present was gained as by maggie every eve was
fixed, while on most faces tears Of emotion were
seen quietly tricklng down.