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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
January 21, 1857-September 8, 1920
BY H. S. YODER, JR.
JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS WAS an outstanding leader of petrol-
_} ogy wiclely cites! at the turn of the twentieth century,
although little known to the present generation of petrolo-
gists. He was one of a small group to introduce, about ISS0,
the microscopic investigation of rocks to the Uniter! States
en c! apply the petrographic observations to the then-new
inquiry of the origins of rocks caller! petrology. His facling
into the history of science can be attributer! no cloubt to
his gentlemanly, retiring nature en c! his early withcirawal
from the academic and societal scene. Nevertheless, Iddings's
recorc! of discovery, both observational en c! theoretical, ini-
tiatec! many of the icleas that servec! the more heralclec!
petrologists who follower! him. Those icleas, for which he
was reluctant to claim originality, were "establishec! or im-
provec! by subsequent research."
The writing of Iddings's biography was originally assigned
to his lifelong friend, C. Whitman Cross, to whom he hac!
given his autobiographical manuscript, "Recollections of a
Petrologist," for editing and publication. Unfortunately, Cross
cliec! (in 1949) before a biography conic! be preparer! or
the autobiography published. Iciclings's manuscript, ciatec!
115
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6
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
March 19,1918, was not among the papers retained by Cross's
namesake grandson but was cliscoverec! by Carol A. Ec~warcis
in the Fielc! Records Library of the U.S. Geological Survey
in Denver. The present memoir was undertaken before the
writer was alertec! by Dr. E. L. Yochelson of the availability
of the autobiography. The principal incentive resultec! from
a renewoc! appreciation while investigating the history of
petrology of the vital role Iddings played in developing the
quantitative aspects of petrology.
Joseph Paxson Iciclings was born in Baltimore, MarylancI,
the seconc! son of William Penn Iciclings (1822-1906) of
Philaclelphia en c! Almira Gillet (1826-96) of Baltimore. His
father was a wholesale ciry-goocis merchant (1900 census).
His grandfather was Caleb Pierce Iciclings (1778-1863), who
built the family estate in 1855 in BrinkTow, MarylancI, where
Joseph later livecI. The genealogy of the Iciclings family has
been establishec! through five generations en c! is available
in open file at the Montgomery County (Maryland) His-
torical Society in Rockville. Caleb Pierce Iciclings was a Quaker
but was "clisownecI" for marrying "out of the unity." For this
reason there are no Quaker records in Philaclelphia of the
family after 1812, the date of CaTeb's marriage. Joseph was
namer! after the husband, Joseph S. Paxson (1814-89), of
William's oilier sister. Deborah T. Iciclings ~ 1815-771.
~ J
EDUCATION
After a brief stay in New York City, Joseph Iddings's fa-
ther establishec! a home in Orange, New Jersey (100 High
Street) when Joseph was about ten years oIcI. With the prepa-
ration at the private school of Rev. F. A. Aciams, Iciclings
registered for the civil engineering course at the Sheffielc!
Scientific School of Yale University. His father hac! recom-
menclec! that he become a mining engineer in light of
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
117
Joseph's early interests in collecting rocks en c! butterflies.
According to the records of his class of 1877, he was trea-
surer of the Yale Football Club, recording secretary of the
Yale Society of Natural History, en c! class treasurer. In his
freshman year, Iciclings cliviclec! a prize for German, a skill
that was to prove especially useful to him. In his junior en c!
senior years, respectively, he receiver! prizes in mathematics
and civil engineering. He participated in the Alpha Chi,
Phi Gamma Delta, en c! Berzelius societies.
Following graduation at which he was a commencement
speaker, Iciclings spent the next year at Yale in graduate
studies in chemistry en c! mineralogy. He also assistec! in
courses in mechanical drawing en c! surveying, but it was
the ongoing study of George Wesson Hawes (1848-82) on
thin sections of New Hampshire granites that attractor! his
attention. The academic year of 1878-79 was spent at the
Columbia School of Mines in New York City uncler the tute-
lage of John S. Newberry (1822-92~. In late spring Iddings
abruptly changer! directions towarc! geological research as
a result of the influence of the enthusiastic Clarence King,
who hac! lecturer! at Yale, the fascinating microscopic work
of Hawes, en c! a general Toss of interest in mining as a
profession. In the fall of 1879, on the recommendation of
G. W. Hawes, who was then studying in Heiclelberg, Iciclings
became a student of Karl Harry Ferclinanc! Rosenbusch (1836-
1914), the most outstanding petrographer of the day. This
opportunity arose while Iddings was awaiting a response to
his application to the newly former! U.S. Geological Survey
uncler the directorship of Clarence King. During July 1879
he learned that his young pastor, Joseph A. Ely of the Or-
ange Valley Congregational Church, was to tour the Swiss
Alps, en c! it seemec! a goIclen opportunity to see spectacular
geology in his company and then spend the winter with
Rosenbusch. His experiences uncler the enthusiastic
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8
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
Rosenbusch resultec! in Iciclings setting a course for a ca-
reer in petrography.
CAREER COURSE DETERMINED
His three-week tour in the Alps, two months of private
language stucly, en c! five months with Prof. Rosenbusch were
recorclec! in great cletaiT in his cliary en c! letters to his fam-
ily. These were summarizer! with consiclerable literary style
in his autobiography. Iciclings's reception of the first lecture
in German from Prof. Rosenbusch is especially descriptive:
It is a positive pleasure now to hear him lecture, to listen to him roll off
those long, and to us, complicated sentences; here and there throwing in a
phrase in parentheses, which is rendered like lightning; and then the whole
wound up with a string of participles and infinitives that have a most pleas
ing effect, when someone else has to get them off. It's like watching the
development of some great piece of fireworks. It is certainly a complicated
language. You can see how he has to figure out his cases and endings, and
have everything in his mind's eye before he begins his sentence. Some-
times he may want to change the number or case of his noun, after he has
gone on for some time qualifying it with innumerable adjective phrases.
The lectures en c! almost private laboratory sessions with
Rosenbusch hac! great impact on Iciclings en c! significantly
influencec! the course of his future career in petrography.
Although King had recommended Prof. Zirkel in Leipzig
over Ro senbusch as a tutor, Iciclings stays c! in H eiclelb erg .
Hac! he gone to Leipzig he wouIc! have met C. Whitman
Cross, who became his lifelong frienc! several years later.
Iciclings's friendship with Rosenbusch continues! for many
years until their "views clivergec! seriously en c! correspon-
dence ceased." In Rosenbusch's instruction, emphasis had
been placer! on mineral composition en c! rock texture with
little reference to chemical composition, a factor Iciclings
eventually believed was dominant. This view no doubt arose
from his close association with Samuel Lewis PenfielcI, a
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
119
classmate at Yale, who was then cloing graduate work on
chemical mineralogy uncler Prof. George {arvis Brush. There
was "little or no discussion of the origin en c! mocle of erup-
tion of igneous rocks" en c! nothing on the physical chemis-
try of magmas. Nevertheless, Iciclings was captivates! by the
study of rock thin sections, presented with great enthusi-
asm by Rosenbusch. He was incleec! impressed by the beauty
of the colorer! minerals en c! especially the brilliancy of their
interference colors, which he relater! to the colorful stainer!
glass in the windows of his church.
"HIGHEST EXPECTATIONS"
Iciclings hac! the goof! fortune to arrange for his return
to the Uniter! States on the same ship as ArnoIc! Hague,
who was returning from studies in China. Hague was to be
his first supervisor at the U.S. Geological Survey, his ap-
pointment having been securer! by mail through Clarence
King. By obtaining a position in the USGS2 Iddings hoped
to realize his "highest expectations." During May en c! June
of ISS0, he worker! as a temporary assistant to Hague at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York, where
King hac! "temporarily" storm! the rock collections from
the 40th Parallel Survey.
Iciclings's next assignment with Hague took him to the
mining district arounc! Eureka, Nevada, where he mapper!
igneous rocks. There he sharer! a tent with Charles D. Walcott,
who was later to become director of the U.S. Geological
Survey, also assisting him in collecting fossils. As a result of
his first field efforts, Iddings developed a very cautious atti-
tude toward naming a rock, especially one where crystals
conic! not be iclentifiec! by eye. An icleal outcrop of granite
with off-shooting dikes led him to think that rock texture
was governec! by the physical conditions attending soliclifi-
cation. It was twelve years after the fieldwork was completed
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120
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
before his microscopical petrography of the rocks from the
Eureka District was published by Hague (~892) as Appen-
clix B. A printer! note ciatec! November IS93 that was glum!
to the first page of the monograph expressed Iddings's dis-
may over the clelayoc! publication en c! also the fact that this
was "a production of the first year of the writer's work in
this field! of research, en c! as such neecis no apology." In
this appendix the term "phenocryst" was introclucecI3 to
describe the megascopically visible crystals in a fine-grained
grouncimass of a porphyritic rock, but the term appearec!
in print earlier (Iciclings, ISSUE. Iciclings's part of the mono-
graph is also noteworthy for the methoc! by which he cleter-
minec! the composition of felcispars, a methoc! that was at-
tributec! to A. Michel-Levy4 more than ten years later. He
also proviclec! strong evidence for the graciational change
in composition of the plagiociases first proposer! by T. Sterry
Hunts en c! later attributer! to G. Tschermak6 a major con-
cept to which he eventually contributes! to its experimental
demonstration (Iciclings with Day en c! Allen, ~ 905) . In acicli-
tion, Iciclings clescribec! a "rec! laminates! mineral," a com-
mon alteration of olivine that was later clescribec! as
"iciclingsite" by Lawson.7 The alteration process became known
as "iciclingsization . "8
Before returning to the U.S. Geological Survey offices at
the American Museum of Natural History in New York,
Iciclings spent a week with George F. Becker examining the
volcanic rocks of the Washoe District, Nevada, previously
examiner! microscopically by Zirkel. While in Virginia City,
Nevada, he met Car! Barns, with whom he reviewoc! the
mathematics of certain physical phenomena being stucliec!
by Becker. In New York, Hague, Iciclings, Walcott, en c! Becker
cooperatec! on the stucly of the Eureka en c! Washoe rocks
en c! fossils as well as those from the earlier 40th Parallel
Survey. It was this experience that persuaclec! Iciclings that
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
121
the most satisfactory way of studying rocks is to examine a
large collection of closely relater! rocks a philosophy he
was to embellish in later years.
Iciclings's first paper in print was a description with Hague
(~83) of the principal volcanoes of the Sierra en c! Cascade
ranges. They were impresser! with the "gradations in the
microstructure in the grouncimass of rocks of the same min-
eral composition from a purely glassy form to one wholly
crystalline...." The second paper, also with Hague (~84),
container! notes on the volcanic rocks of the Great Basin.
In it they recognizes! the chemical relationship between
olivine en c! hypersthene, as the rocks became higher in
a
silica, hypersthene took the place of olivine. Their first at
tempt at chemico-mineralogical generalization was of ex-
ceptional importance en c! became a major factor in petro-
Togic theory.
In their discussion of the Washoe District, Nevada, igne-
ous rocks, Iddings and Hague (~85) attacked the widely
hell! view sharer! by Becker that there was a distinction
between Tertiary en c! pre-Tertiary igneous rocks. After ex-
amining Becker's large collection en c! material from the
extensive mining network in the celebrates! Comstock Tocle
arounc! Virginia City, they concluclec! that all the rocks were
of Tertiary age. In their view the Comstock locle occupier! a
fissure along a fault line in rocks of Tertiary age en c! "conic!
not be consiclerec! as a contact vein between two different
rock masses." They hell! that the structural character of
eruptive masses was not a function of their age but of the
physical condition controlling crystallization.9 The paper
clic! not "promote goof! fellowship" with Becker, but they
eventually became friencis despite continuing opposing views.
On the other hancI, the paper was wiclely accIaimec! in Eu-
rope by the leading petrographers of the day.
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122
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
MAPPING YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Iciclings's major field! experience uncler the leaclership of
Hague was in Yellowstone National Park, establishec! in 1872.
Seven consecutive field! seasons (~83-90) were spent in the
region, where he focuses! on Obsidian Cliff, Electric en c!
SepuIchre mountains, Cranciall Basin, en c! Haystack Moun-
tain. From an examination of the now-famous Obsidian Cliff,
Iciclings clescribec! the lithophysae (hollow spheres clue to
expanding gas bubbles), spherulites (spherical bodies with
racliating crystals), columnar partings, en c! variations in the
degree of crystallization, en c! he emphasizec! the role of
water in magmas. Within the lithophysae he cliscoverec! the
first natural occurrence of fayaTite, the iron enc! member of
the olivines, previously iclentifiec! in lumps of slag carrier!
as ship's ballast en c! clumpec! on a beach in the islanc! of
Fayal in the Azores. He reaTizec! that the inflation of pumi-
ceous glass was clue to escapee! gases en c! appreciatec! the
nature of layers clescribec! as welclec! luff, outlining the pro-
cess itself.
The intrusive rocks of Electric Mountain en c! the extrusive
rocks of SepuIchre Mountain proviclec! an exceptional op-
portunity for comparison after it was establishec! that the
two groups of rocks hac! essentially iclentical chemical com-
positions. The glassy extrusive andesites, with pyroxene and
brown or rec! hornblencle phenocrysts, contrasted! with the
coarsely crystalline diorites containing biotite and green
hornblencle. The different assemblages from the same bulk
composition were attributer! by Iciclings to different concli-
tions of crystallization. Recent experimental studies on the
oxidation of hornblencle en c! the breakdown of biotite veri-
fied this important relationship also emphasized by Wash-
ington.~° In addition, Iddings viewed the magma as a ho-
mogeneous fluid in which the constituents could combine
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
123
in different mineralogical associations clepencling on the
conditions of crystallization. He also recognizec! that volatiles
container! in magma were more effective as mineralizers
when in the magma conduit, in contrast to a magma that
reacher! the surface.
Cranciall Basin en c! Haystack Mountain were also centers
of oic! volcanoes, en c! the ciata collectec! by Iciclings rein-
forcec! his views on the role of the physical conditions at-
tencling consoliciation in cleaning the mineral assemblages.
In February IS90 he took a two-month trip to Englanc! to
meet I. I. H. Teall, A. Harker, en c! I. W. {ucicI, pay his re-
spects to Rosenbusch in Heiclelberg, visit Vesuvius en c! the
Sicilian region, en c! stop in Paris to see A. A. Lapparent.
Michel-Levy was ill, en c! F. Fouque en c! A. Lacroix were on
Easter vacation. The summer of IS90 was spent studying
the eastern en c! central portions of the quacirangle immecli-
ately north of Yellowstone Park, with Louis V. Pirsson as his
assistant. The western en c! northern parts were explorer! by
W. H. Weed. The publication of that work (in IS94 by Iciclings
en c! WeecI) on the Livingston, Montana, quacirangle consti-
tutec! the first folio of the geological atlas of the Uniter!
States.
Sanc~wichec! between the work on the Yellowstone rocks,
Iciclings manager! after office hours to translate the seconc!
eclition of the first volume of Rosenbusch's book, Mibro-
scopische Physiographie der betro~rabhisch wichti~en Mineraten.~i
. · . . .. . -
~ . . . . . ..
1 ~ 1 ~
me aor~c~gect tne OOOK LO serve the needs of the average
. . . . ~
-- - - --a
stuctent, e~m~nat~ng most of the historical portions en c! in-
serting notes on American occurrences. After a review by
George H. Williams of the Johns Hopkins University, it was
publisher! in 1888, with reviser! eclitions in 1889, 1892, and
1898, publication was terminatec! because of copyright prob-
lems, and Iddings was beginning to think about preparing
a textbook on rock minerals himself. He collectec! en c! sum
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124
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
marizec! prevailing views on the crystallization of igneous
rocks in ISS9, however, his own philosophy on the origin of
igneous rocks was put forth in IS92. That paper hac! the
same effect as N. L. Bowen's classic of 1928 en c! establishec!
Iciclings as a leacler in petrologic thought.
The year IS92 may have been an intellectual triumph for
Iciclings personally, but it was a disaster for the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey. On July 14, IS92, the appropriations for the
Geologic Branch were severely cut en c! all fieldwork was
stoppecI.~3 Iciclings's position as geologist was eliminatecI!
(Major Powell's friend, Joseph S. Diller, head of the petro-
graphic laboratory in Washington, was retainer! by shifting
him to a temporary position, in preference to Iciclings.)
Iciclings hac! been consiclerec! a possible successor to James
D. Dana, who hac! relinquishec! his cluties at Yale in Octo-
ber IS90 clue to ill health, but Dana felt his "experience in
general geology too slight," an objection he later withdrew.
Nevertheless, Iciclings turner! to a university position. After
turning clown an offer from Lelanc! Stanford, the Univer-
sity of Chicago offerer! him an appointment in August 1892
as associate professor of petrology, the first chair in petrol-
ogy in the woricI.
RELUCTANT TEACHER
The new Department of Geology at the University of Chi-
cago was staffer! with a spectacular group: R. D. Salisbury,
R. A. F. Penrose, Jr., and J. P. Iddings, with T. C. Chamberlin
as chairman. In aciclition, there were three nonresident pro-
fessors: C. R. van Hise, W. H. Holmes, and C. D. Walcott,
who was never able to attenc! en c! resigner! after the seconc!
year. Iddings disliked teaching and objected to teaching
mineralogy en c! crystallography in aciclition to petrology.
Although only two Ph.D. theses (Charles H. Gordon, IS95,
ant! William H. Emmons, ~ 904) were completec! uncler
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
137
poetic en c! romantic view of his surroundings en c! attention
especially to the dramatic clisplay of colors of a sunset, a
rock, or a butterfly. The allure of the South Sea Islancis, a
Tong cove tee! ciream clic! not result in the customary aban-
clonment of civilization sufferer! by so many visitors. In the
enc! it only strengthened his appreciation of the comforts
en c! intellectual stimulation of his own culture. Iciclings re-
mainec! a conscientious en c! clevotec! worker to petrology
throughout his travels.
After seventy-five years it is clifficult to unclerstanc! why
his contributions have not receiver! the attention they cle-
serve. Iciclings himself clic! not believe he was enclowoc! with
originality but clic! recognize his ability to analyze en c! syn-
thesize observational facts. As one of the pioneers in intro-
clucing petrography to the Uniter! States,36 he must be given
a large measure of credit for cleveloping that fielc! into
petrology. He was a promoter of King's37 one-magma hy-
pothesis, an early acivocate of magma differentiation, en c! a
supporter of the basic-to-acic! sequencing of magmas. He
recognizec! the significance of {ucicl's38 concept of petro-
graphic provinces en c! was the first to recognize that igne-
ous rocks of the same bulk composition proclucec! different
assemblages uncler different conditions of crystallization.
He was quick to adapt Reyer's39 use of diagrams represent-
ing rock composition to explain rock relations. As a result
of his strong support of Bunsen's concept of magma as a
solution, Iciclings helpec! bring about the transition from
descriptive petrography to a physico-chemical view of igne-
ous rock interrelationships. In his quiet way he exercised
leaclership in the construction of the CIPW system en c! in
formulating the experimental program of the Geophysical
Laboratory. He was among the first to recognize the role of
volatiles in volcanic eruption en c! to show concern for the
physics of the eruption process. All in all, one can easily
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138
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
agree with his peer group of 1903 that Iddings was one of
the giants in petrology at the turn of the twentieth century.
THE PRIMARY SOURCES OF information for this memoir were the
published works of Iddings, all of which have been assembled at the
Geophysical Laboratory. A draft of recollections compiled by Iddings
from letters written to his parents and family from Switzerland and
Heidelberg in 1879-80 and his autobiography, edited and amended
by C. Whitman Cross, are available in the Field Records Library of
the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver. An inventory and finding
guide of other items in Denver has been prepared by Carol A.
Edwards. Letters written during Iddings's travels to the South Pa-
cific during 1914-15 and correspondence with Charles D. Walcott
are in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. Correspondence
with Arthur L. Day, director of the Geophysical Laboratory from
1907 to 1920, is in the archives of the laboratory. Letters to T. C.
Chamberlin are in the archives of the Department of Geophysical
Sciences, University of Chicago. Iddings's activities during his col-
lege days are described in the Class of 1877 Sheffield Scientific School
1877-1921 and the Obituary Record, available in the Manuscript and
Archive Division of the Yale University Library. His days at the Uni-
versity of Chicago have been described by Fisher.23
Through the kindness of Mrs. Sylvia Nash of the Sandy Spring
Museum (Olney, Md.), copies of the pages from Thomas and Kirk's
Annals of Sandy Spring: History of a Rural Community in Maryland (vol.
4,1929, Times Printing Co., Westminster, Md.) relevant to the Iddings
family from 1914 to 1920 were made available. Mrs. Elizabeth Iddings
Small Hartge, current owner and resident of "Riverside" and mem-
ber of the Woodside Cemetery Association, provided information
from the records available and introductions to living Iddings fam-
ily relatives.
A detailed biography and an almost complete bibliography of
T. P. Iddings were written by E. B. Mathews ("Memorial of Joseph
Iddings," Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 44~1933~:352-74~. Brief biographies
are also given by G. P. Merrill, "Obituary," Am. f. Sci. 50~1920~:316;
L. J. Spencer, "Biographical Notices," Min. Mag. 29~1921~:247-48; J.
J. H. Teall, "Joseph Paxson Iddings," in R. D. Oldham, "The Anni-
versary Address of the President," Proc. Geol. Soc. London 77~1921) :lxi-
lxiii; and W. C. Bragger, "Mindetale over Prof. Dr. Joseph Paxon
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
139
(sic) Iddings," Furhandl. Videns-selsk. Kristiania, 1921:45-50 (in Nor-
wegian) .
Portions of the Bragger memorial were translated by Bj0rn
Mysen.
The diaries of his paternal grandfather and grandmother are
at Duke University, and a finding aid is available. A family photo
album and Iddings's photographs of Yellowstone National Park are
at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. Iddings's family notes from
the Steinmetz and Gearhart collections were consulted at the Ge-
nealogical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Finally, it is a pleasure to thank the Geophysical Laboratory's
librarian, Shaun Hardy, and his assistant, Merri Wolf, for their en-
ergetic and enthusiastic help in the investigation of a very cold
trail. The reviews of R. M. Hazen, C. M. Nelson, E. L. Yochelson,
and S. Hardy were greatly appreciated.
NOTES
89.
H. S. Yoder, Jr. Timetable of petrology. J. Geol. Ed. 41 (1993) :447
2. The USGS Appointments Ledger records the fact that Iddings
joined the USGS on July 1, 1880, from New Jersey's 6th Congres-
sional District as an assistant geologist (temporary) for work in New
York and the field. He was promoted after several salary increases
to Geologist on August 10, 1888, and transferred by J. W. Powell to
the permanent rolls on January 21, 1890. As a result of the general
reduction in force, Iddings resigned on December 31, 1892. He was
reappointed by J. D. Walcott on a per diem basis on January 17,
1895.
3. Iddings is also credited with the introduction to the petro-
logical literature of the terms bysmalith, chadacryst, consanguinity,
laminated texture, lithophysae, occult mineral, oikocryst, soda-or-
thoclase, and spherulite. Attributed to him are the following rock
names: banakite, hawaiite, kanaiite, kohalaite, langenite, llanite, marosite,
shoshonite, and tautirite (A. Johannsen, A Descriptive Petrography of
the Igneous Rocks, vol. I, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939~.
4. A. Michel-Levy. Etude sur la determination des Feldspaths dans les
plaques minces. Paris: Librairie Polytechnique, 1904, 16 pp.
5. T. S. Hunt. Illustrations of chemical homology. Am. Assoc.
Adv. Sci. Proc. ~ 1854) :237-47.
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140
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
6. G. Tschermak. Chemisch-mineralogische Studie-I: Die
Fedlspatgruppe. Sitzberichte Akad. Wissenschafter Wien 50 ~ 1864) :566-
613.
7. A. C. Lawson. The geology of Carmelo Bay. Bull. Dept. Geol.
Univ. California 1 ~ 1 8 9 3 ): 3 1 -3 6.
8. The alteration was first thought to be a single mineral but is
now considered an intergrowth of two or more phases resulting
from a continuous transformation of an original olivine crystal, pre-
sumablv during the deuteric stake of consolidation of a magma.
J O O O
See, for example, P. Gay and R. W. LeMaitre, Some observations on
iddingsite, Am. Miner 46 ~ 1961 ~ :92-111.
9. Iddings specifically stated that the chemical composition of a
rock was not indicative of its age in "With notes on the petrographic
character of the lavas" in C. D. Walcott, Pre-Cambrian Igneous Rocks
of the Unker Terrane, Grand Canyon of the Colorado, Arizona, U.S. Geo-
logical Survey Annual Report 14, Part II(1894~:520-24.
10. H. S. Washington. The magmatic alteration of hornblende
and biotite. 7. Geol. 4 ~ 1896) :257-82.
11. Iddings's Survey Division was moved from New York to Wash-
ington in 1885. In the Washington directories Iddings is listed as
living at the following addresses: 1886-87, 1528 I St., N.W.; 1888-89,
1330 F St., N.W; 1890-91, 1028 Vermont Ave., N.W.; and 1892-93,
730 17th St., N.W.
12. Bowen, N. L. The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1928. 334 pp.
13. M. C. Rabbitt. Minerals, Lands, and Geology for the Common De-
fence and General Welfare, 1879-1904. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office, 1980.
14. According to F. J. Pettijohn (pp. 30-31, A Century of Geology,
1885-1985, at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: Gateway Press,
1988), Iddings was considered as a replacement for Williams by W.
B. Clark, head of the Geology Department at The Johns Hopkins
University. The offer was made in 1894 but declined by Iddings. In
1913 Iddings did present five lectures at Hopkins as part of the
guest lecture program.
15. The Journal of Geology was established at the University of Chi-
cago in 1893 by T. C. Chamberlin. Iddings served on the editorial
board from 1893 to 1909.
16. Washington had first introduced himself by letter to Iddings
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
141
in 1894. He was the cousin of Iddings's cousin, Elmsie Gillet. Wash-
ington had studied petrography under Zirkel at Leipzig in 1891-92
and made chemical analyses of rocks under Pirsson at Yale in 1895.
He was independently wealthy at the time and had a complete labo-
ratory for the analysis of rocks in his boyhood home. In 1898 Wash-
ington published a paper on the alkaline rocks of Essex, Co., Mass.,
in which he urged a systematization of nomenclature and classifica-
tion (H. S. Washington, Solvsbergite and tinguaite from Essex Co.,
Mass., Am. I. Sci. Ser. 4,6 ~ 1898) :176-87) . His training and interests
were eminently compatible with the other members of the group.
17. H. S. Washington. Chemical analyses of igneous rocks pub-
lished from 1884 to 1900, with a critical discussion of the characters
and use of analyses. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 14, 1903.
18. In 1903 a group of peers listed the 100 leading men of sci-
ence in the United States in geology and arranged them in order of
distinction. The CIPW group were included: no. 14, Toseph Paxson
Iddings (1857-1920~; no. 32, (Charles) Whitman Cross (1854-1949~;
no. 49, Henry S. Washington (1867-1934~; and no. 55, Louis Valen-
tine Pirsson (1860-1919~. The results were not published in Ameri-
can Men of Science until 1933 (pp. 1274-75) . Only Cross and Wash-
ington lived to learn the results.
19. C. Doelter. Synthetische Studien. Neu es. fahrb. Min. 1~1886~:119-
35.
20. F. Fouque and A. Michel-Levy. Synthese des mineraux et des roches.
Paris: Masson, 1882.
21. T. Morozewicz. Experimental Untersuchungen uber die Bildung
der Minerale in Magma. Tschermak 's Min. petr. Mitth. 18 ~ 1899~: 1-90.
22. T. H. L. Vogt. Die Silikatschmelzlosungen: I. Uber die
Mineralbildung in Silikatschmelzlosungen. Norsk Videnskaps-Akad. Mat.-
Natur. Klasse 8 ~ 1903~: 1-236.
23. H. S. Yoder, Tr. Development and promotion of the initial
scientific program for the Geophysical Laboratory. In The Earth, the
Heavens and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, vol. 5, pp. 21-28.
Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, 1994.
24. D. J. Fisher. The Seventy Years of the Department of Geology, Uni-
versity of Chicago, 1892-1961. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1963.
25. The tape was originally provided through the courtesy of Ri-
chard A. Davis, transcribed by T. V. Cole, and edited by B. F. Glenister
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142
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
in March 1976. A copy of the transcription is on file at the Univer-
sity of Chicago.
26. The possibility was investigated that an inheritance may have
Been forthcoming from his father's estate that presumably would
have been settled by that time. He died in Orange, N.T., on Tune 20,
1906, according to the official death certificate. Unfortunately, there
is no record of William Penn Iddings's will or letters of administra-
tion in Essex County, N.T. He is buried, however, in Woodside Cem-
etery adjoining the Riverside Estate in Brinklow, Md., but there
were no details recorded by the cemetery association of his death.
27. It was presumed by others that Iddings had taken a position
at McGill University, but a search by the university's archivist re-
vealed no record of his being on the staff or cited in the newsletter,
newspaper clippings, or calendars for that period.
28. The estate was along the Patuxent River in the eastern por-
tion of Montgomery County. It is described by R. B. Farquahar (Old
Homes and History of Montgomery County, Maryland, pp. 257-59, Silver
Spring, Md., 1962) along with other historic homes in the county.
The estate is shown on the 1865 homeowner's map of the county by
Martenet and Bond under the name of Charles A. Iddings (1831-
98), the youngest son of Caleb Pierce Iddings (1778-1863~.
29. At this point, Iddings appears to have abandoned his custom-
ary daily record of events. His friend Whitman Cross reconstructed
the remainder of his tour from Iddings's detailed letters to his
family and friends.
30. According to T. T. H. Teall, Iddings hoisted "The Union Tack
alongside the Stars and Stripes at his country house on 'British Day'
during World War I, when he returned to the United States.
31. L. L. Iddings. Poems. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1920.
32. C. D. Walcott. Olenellus iddingsi Walcott. U.S. Geol. Surv. Mongr.
8 ~ 1884) :28.
33. C. D. Walcott. Peachella iddingsi Walcott. Smithson. Miscl. Colt.
53~1910) :343-45.
34. C. D. Walcott. Cambrian geology and paleontology V. No. 2.
Cambrian and lower Ozarkian trilobites. Smithson. Miscl. Coll. 75~1924~:1-
60.
35. One brief, subtle, humorous comment on the CIPW system is
given by A. Johannsen (A Descriptive Petrography of the Igneous Rocks,
vol. I. Chicago: Univesity of Chicago Press, 1939) who gave in the
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
143
chapter heading two bars of music from an old (about 1828) Ger-
man folksong, "Du, du liegst mir in Herzen" ("You, you lie in my
heart". The fourth line of the stanza was omitted, which in one
version runs, "Weiss nicht wie gut ich dir bin" ("You know not how
good I am to you'd. It reflects Tohannsen's disappointment with the
reviews of his own monumental work on petrography. It was Tohannsen
who replaced Iddings as professor of petrology at the University of
Chicago.
36. C-H. Geschwind. The beginnings of microscope petrography
in the United States, 1870-1885. Earth Sci. Hist. 13 ~ 1994) :35-46.
37. C. King. Systematic Geology. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1878.
38. T. W. Tudd. On the gabbros, dolerites and basalt of Tertiary
age in Scotland and Ireland. Q. 7. Geol. Soc. Lond. 42~1886~:49-97.
39. E. Reyer. Beitrage zurFysik derEruptionen und derEruptiv-gesteine.
Wien: A. Holder, 1877.
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144
B I O G RA P H I C A L
S E L E C T E D
EMOIRS
B I B L I O G RAP H Y
1883
With A. Hague. Notes on the volcanoes of northern California, Or-
egon and Washington Territory. Am. f. Sci. Ser. 3, 26:222-35.
1884
With A. Hague. Notes on the volcanic rocks of the Great Basin. Am.
7. Sci. Ser. 3, 27:453-63.
1885
With A. Hague. On the development of crystallization in the igne-
ous rocks of Washoe, Nevada, with notes on the geology of the
district. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 17:1-44.
1887
The nature and origin of lithophysae and the lamination of acid
lavas. Am. f. Sci. Ser. 3, 33:36-45.
1888
Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone National Park. U.S. Geol. Surv. Ann. Rep.
7:249-95.
With H. Rosenbusch. Microscopical Physiography of the Rock-Making
Minerals: An Aid to the Microscopical Study of Rocks. Translated and
abridged by J. P. Iddings. New York: Wiley & Sons.
1889
On crystallization of igneous rocks. Philos. Soc. Washington Bull. 11:65-
113.
1891
The eruptive rocks of Electric Peak and Sepulchre Mountain, Yellowstone
National Park. U.S. Geol. Surv. Ann. Rep. 12:569-664.
Spherulitic crystallization. Philos. Soc. Washington Bull. 11:445-64.
1892
With A. Hague. Appendix B: Microscopical petrography of the eruptive
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JOSEPH PAXSON IDDINGS
145
rocks of the Eureka District, Nevada, pp. 335-96. In Geology of the
Eureka District, Nevad a. U. S. Geological Survey Monograph 20.
The origin of igneous rocks. Philos. Soc. Washington Bull. 12 :89-216.
1898
Chemical and mineral relationships in igneous rocks. 7. Geol. 6:219-
37.
1899
With A. Hague et al. The Geology of the Yellowstone National Park, part
II. U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 32, 849 pp.
1902
With C. W. Cross et al. A quantitative chemico-mineralogical classy
fication and nomenclature of igneous rocks. 7. Geol. 10:555-690.
1903
.
Chemical composition of igneous rocks expressed by means of dia-
grams, with reference to rock classification on a quantitative chemico-
mineralogical basis. U. S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 18: 1-98.
1905
With A. L. Day and E. T. Allen. The isomorphism and thermal
properties of the feldspars. Part II. Optical study. Carnegie Inst.
Washington Publ. 31: 77-95.
1906
Rock Minerals, Their Chemical and Physical Characters and Their Deter-
mination in Thin Sections. New York: Wiley & Sons.
With C. W. Cross. The texture of igneous rocks. 7. Geol. 14:692-707.
1 909
Igneous Rocks: Composition, Texture and Classification, Description, and
Occurrence, vol. I. New York: Wiley & Sons, 464 pp.
1911
Problems in petrology. Am. Philos. Soc. Proc. 50:286-300.
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146
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1913
Igneous Rocks: Composition, Texture and Classification, Description, and
Occurrence, vol. II. New York: Wiley & Sons, 685 pp.
1914
The Problem of Volcanism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 273 pp.
1915
With E. W. Morley. Contributions to the petrography of Java and
Celebes. 7. Geol. 23:231-45.
1916
With E. W. Morley. The petrology of some South Pacific Islands and
its significance. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2:413-19.
1918
With E. W. Morley. A contribution to the petrography of the South
Sea Islands. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 4:110-17.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
joseph paxson
