The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Hitchcock, Charles Henry

HITCHCOCK, hĭch'kŏk, Charles Henry, American geologist: b. Amherst, Mass., 23 Aug. 1836. He was a son of Edward Hitchcock, geologist (q.v.) He was graduated from Amherst College in 1856, was assistant State geologist of Vermont in 1857-61, State geologist of Maine 1861-62 and of New Hampshire 1868-78. In 1868 he was appointed professor of geology in Dartmouth College, retaining this position until 1908, when he became professor emeritus. In connection with his survey of New Hampshire, he maintained, during the winter of 1870, a meteorological station on Mount Washington, the earliest high-mountain observatory in the United States. He became known as a compiler of geological maps, and for his investigations regarding the geology of the crystalline schists, ichnology and glacial geology. The location of the terminal glacier in the United States was first suggested by him. His later work has been in connection with the Geological Survey of Vermont, particularly the glacial geology, and with the New Jersey Geological Survey, studying the Trianic footmarks. He claims that the animals that made the tracks were largely ‘birds with teeth’ and not dinosaurs. He was a founder of the Geological Society of America, and in 1883 vice-president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His publications include ‘Elementary Geology’ (1861, with E. Hitchcock); ‘Mt. Washington in Winter’ (1871); and a ‘Report on the Geology of New Hampshire’ (1873-78), with folio atlas, his most valuable work; and ‘Hawaii and its Volcanoes’ (1909; 2d ed., 1911).