GEORGE PERKINS MERRILL
MERRILL, GEORGE PERKINS, Ph.D., geologist and mineralogist, was born in Auburn, Maine, May 31, 1854. His parents were Lucius and Anne E. (Jones) Merrill. His father was a carpenter and builder and noted for his simple tastes, upright character, and unswerving devotion to duty.
The early life of Doctor Merrill was passed in a manufacturing town with the exception of the summer season which was usually spent in the country. As a boy he had good health. His tastes were for fishing, gunning, and the collection of natural history specimens; but his time for such recreations was limited by the necessity of contributing to the support of the family. His tasks involved manual labor of various kinds; and as he was obliged to depend entirely upon his own earnings for the means to pursue his studies, he had serious difficulties in obtaining an education. After studying in the public schools of his native place, he entered the University of Maine from which institution he was graduated in 1879. He took post-graduate courses of study at Wesleyan university, Connecticut, and at Johns Hopkins university. In 1880 he was appointed an assistant in the fisheries division of the United States census; in the following year he became connected with the National Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, and in 1897 was advanced to his present position of head curator of its geological department. Since 1893 he has been professor of geology and mineralogy in the Corcoran scientific school of Columbian (now George Washington) university.
In 1883 Doctor Merrill was married to Sarah P. Farrington, who died in 1894. In 1900 he married Katherine L. Yancey. Of his five children all are now living. He is a member of the Geological Society of America, of the Geological Society of Washington, of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and of the Cosmos club of Washington, and a corresponding member of the American Institute of Architects. He has received the degrees of M.S., and Ph.D. His books are, "Stones for Building and Decoration"; "Rocks, Rock-
