HALL, JAMES (1811-1898), American geologist and palae ontologist, was born at Hingham, Mass., on Sept. 12, 181 i . Ex treme poverty was the lot of his family, and he acquired through his own efforts his early education, which was, however, sufficiently complete to prepare him • for admission to the Rensselaer Poly technic Institute of Troy, New York. Even as a boy he was pas sionately interested in natural history, and at the time of Silliman's Lowell lectures he walked to Boston and back from Hingham in order to attend them. As a student he collected and determined more than goo species of plants. He spent his summers and all of his limited finances doing field work. After his graduation from the Rensselaer institute in 1832 he became librarian at the in stitute, and later in the same year an assistant professor; subse quently he became professor of chemistry, natural science and geology. Stephen Van Rensselaer became interested in Hall and sent him to make geological explorations in the St. Lawrence valley.
In 1836 he was appointed one of four geologists on the geological survey of the State of New York which had been established just before that time. Although the youngest of the group, his is the only one of the four final reports which deals broadly with the problems of the science and has endured with authority as a classic of geological literature.
Eventually Hall became State geologist and director of the Museum of Natural History of Albany. Through various periods when State support was withdrawn from geological work, he car ried it on at his own expense. At one time he sold 2,000ac. of Ohio land in order to gain funds to pay obligations incurred through his work, receiving $15,000 for the land, which was valued at $200,00o ten years later. It was only through this sacri fice that the continued publication of the volume of the Palae ontology of New York (1847-94) was made possible. These volumes, the results of his chief work, contained descriptions of the invertebrate fossils of New York, in which he dealt with the graptolites, brachiopods, mollusca, trilobites, echini and crinoids of the palaeozoic formations. He was also at one time State geologist of Iowa and afterwards of Wisconsin.
His publications, dating from 1836, include more than 26o scientific papers and 35 books, dealing with numerous phases of geology and palaeontology of the different regions of the United States and Canada, including reports on the geology of Oregon and California (1845), of Utah (1852), Iowa (1859) and Wis consin (1862). He received the Wollaston medal from the Geo logical Society of London in 1858.
Hall was regarded as a great teacher as well as collector. In his 86th year he journeyed to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) to take part in the International Geological Congress, and then joined the excursion to the Ural mountains. He died at Echo Hill, Bethle hem, New Hampshire, on Aug. 7, 1898, and was buried at Albany.