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of the United States by Sea and Land," and became involved in a controversy concerning the merits of Gen. Israel Putnam. The controversy was cari'ied on by correspondence in the Hart- ford '"Post," and attracted much attention, and the legislature of Connecticut took special action on the subject. The letters were subsequently published in book-form, and copies were sold as high as $50. In 1802 Mr. Dawson made a com- plete transcript of the receipts and disbursements of moneys for the municipal purposes of New York during the occupation of that city by the British army, 177G to 1788, from the original vouchers. In 1863 he edited the " Foederalist," the distinguishing feature of his work being the restoration of the original text and the rejection of unauthorized mutilations. Its publication called forth an attack by John Jay and James A. Ham- ilton, and a long controversy ensued, which was afterward reprinted in a volume entitled '• Cur- rent Fictions tested by Uncurrent Facts" (1864). In 1865 he became editor of the " Gazette," a demo- cratic newspaper published in Yonkers. The first page of the paper was occupied by historical and bibliographical material. Judge Nelson, of the U. S. supreme court, once ordered a case to be re- argued, in order that articles bearing on it which had ap|)eared in the " Gazette " after the case had been argued, miglit be judicially admitted as au- thorities. In 1866 Mr. Dawson became editor of the " Historical Magazine," which in 1877 he en- larged to double its previous size. He was a mem- ber of many learned societies, and read before them a large number of papers. He published in book-form " Battles of the United States bv Sea and Land " (New York, 1858) ; " Tlie Foederalist " (1863; 3d ed., 1864); "Current Fictions" (1864); " Recollections of the Jersey Prison-Ship, by Capt. Thomas Dring, one of the Prisoners," edited from the original manuscript (1865) ; " Rutgers against Waddington " (1866) ; and " Westchester County in the Revolution " (1886).

DAWSON, John, statesman, b. in Virginia in 1763; d. in Washington, D. C, 30 March, 1814. He was graduated at Harvard in 1782, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He was a presiden- tial elector on the Washington ticket in 1793, a member of the Virginia legislature, and a repre- sentative of congress from Virginia for nine con- secutive terms, serving from 15 May, 1797, till 30 March, 1814. He was bearer of despatches from President Adams to France in 1801, and in the war of 1812-'5 was one of Gen. Jackson's aides.

DAWSON, John Littleton, lawyer, b. in Uniontown, Pa., 7 Feb., 1813; d. there, 18 Sept., 1870. He was educated at Washington college, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, practis- ing first in Brownsville, Pa. In 1845 he was ap- pointed U. S. district attorney for the western district^ of Pennsylvania. He was a member of congress from 1851 till 1855, and was elected again in 1867. Pie was the author of the Homestead bill of 1854. In 1855 he was appointed governor of Kansas, but declined the office. He was a dele- gate to the Democratic national conventions of 1844, 1848, 1860, and 1868.

DAWSON, Sir John William, Canadian geolo- gist, b. in Pictou, Nova Scotia. 13 Oct., 1820. His father came from the north of Scotland early in the century and settled at Pictou. The son re- ceived his early training at the college of Pictou, and, having finished his course there, entered Edin- burgh university, returning to Nova Scotia after passing a winter in study. So early as his tenth year he manifested that love of science which subsequently became his chief characteristic, and while prosecuting the regular course of study at Pictou college he made extensive collections in the natural history of his native province. In 1842 he accompanied Sir Charles Lyell on his scientific tour in Nova Scotia, made several origi- nal discoveries in paleontology, and followed up his investigations by studies of the carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia, on which he contributed two important papers to the Geological society of London. In 1846 he returned to Edinburgh uni- versity, studying practical chemistry and other subjects. In 1850 he was appointed superintendent of education for Nova Scotia, an olfice which he held for three years. He also aided materi- ally in establishing a normal school in Nova Scotia, and in regulating the affairs of the University of New Brunswick, as a

member of the

commission appointed for that for that purpose. In connection with these labors he published elaborate reports on the schools of Nova Scotia, and a hand-book entitled " Sci- entific Contributions toward the Improvement of Agriculture." In 1855 he became principal and professor of natural history in McGill college, Montreal. When Prof. Dawson was appointed, the medical department of the college alone was in a flourishing condition, but soon after he assumed the management all the other departments became prosperous. In 1857 he secured the establishment of McGill normal school for the training of Prot- estant teachers, became its principal, and lectured in it on natural science until 1870. In 1858 he established a school of civil engineering, which was discontinued in 1863 by an act of the legisla- ture, but which he revived in 1871 as the depart- ment of practical and applied science in connec- tion with the college over which he presided. Dr. Dawson was elected a fellow of the Geological society of London in 1854, and of the Royal society in 1862 ; was elected president of the American as- sociation and of the Royal society of Canada in 1882, and of the British association in 1886. He was created a companion of the order of St. Michael and St. George in 1882, and knighted in 1885. In 1852 he discovered the Dvndrerpeton acadianum, Piqxi vetusta, and other fossil reptiles, and in 1864 the Eozoon canadense, the most important of his geo- logical discoveries. This fossil had been before noticed by Sir William Logan ; but Dr. Dawson, to whom he submitted his specimens, was the first to demonstrate its foraminiferous character and to describe its structure. Hitherto the Laurentian rocks had been regarded as devoid of life, and were known as the azoic, but Dr. Dawson now substituted the name eozoic. When the theory of evolution was gaining ground among men of science. Dr. Dawson strongly opposed the extreme view, and he has always shown an aversion to those scientific hypotheses which seem to threaten the fomidations of religious faith. In a course of lec- tures delivered in New York in 1874-'5 he contended that the discoveries of modern science, so