LYMAN, li'man, Benjamin Smith, Amer ican geologist and mining engineer: b. North ampton, ,Mass., 11 Dec. 1835. He was educated in the common schools, followed by one year of private tuition, then by one year at Phillips Exeter Academy and three years at Harvard College, receiving the degree of A.B in 1855. Taught school a few months, as principal of Deerfield (Mass.) Academy, and as assistant in Short's Classical School at Philadelphia, and in Sanborn's school at Concord, Mass. In 1856 he went to live at Philadelphia. In 1857 traveled extensively in the Middle and Southern States, collecting statistics of the iron manufacture for the American Iron Association. In 1858 he took up geology for life work and became assistant geologist of the State of Iowa. In 1859-61 he studied at the Paris &Ole des Mines, and then spent a year at the Freiberg Mining Academy. Returning to Philadelphia, he resumed work at geological surveys in Pennsylvania, Virginia, eastern Nova Scotia, California, Alabama and Lower Canada, often in collaboration with J. P. Lesley, his original preceptor in such work, and, like him, based his work on instrumental topo graphical surveying. About 1866 Lyman de vised the method of indicating the geological structure, the direction and steepness of the dip and the height of rock beds above sea 'level, or other given level, at every point, by means of curves equidistant in level upon the surface of the rock beds. About four years later he devised a method of most compactly marking on maps the observed direction and steepness of dips at different points, so that any number of them could be clearly marked without confusion. . In 1870 he was employed by the government of India in surveying oil fields. In 1871 he patented a solar transit sur veying instrument, and in 1872 resumed geolog ical surveys in West Virginia. From 1873 to 1879 he was employed by the Japanese•govern went as chief geologist and mining engineer, first in a geological survey of Yesso (ascertain ing an extensive coal field) ; then in a survey of the oil lands on the main island and exam ining many mines, and finally in beginning the geological survey of Japan. The surveys were
economical in character, and moreover resulted in training a young students to become capable practical geologists. The survey re quired traveling in every considerable part of Japan, but the winter headquarters were at Tokio. Returning in 1881 to America, he went to live at his native town, and resumed the practice of private geological surveys -in Penn sylvania, Ohio, New Mexico and Colorado. In 1885 and 1886 he served as common councilman of the city of Northampton. In 1887 he re turned to Philadelphia and began, for the Penn sylvania State Geological Survey, a geological survey of the New Red of Bucks and Mont gomery counties, of which the results were finally published in 1895. He determined the thickness of the New Red to be about 27,000 feet, over five times as much as it had pre viously, after 75 years' discussion, been gen erally conjectured to he; and he demonstrated the fact by a map with a couple of thousand dips marked, and the structure of the rock beds fully indicated in conformity with them by equidistant curves, and with the outcrop of im portant building stone beds marked for many miles through the country. In 1906 he went for a six months' trip to the Philippines to in vestigate coal lands on the island of Cebu. Since that other private geological work in Pennsylvania has claimed his attention. He has published over 150 reports and papers on geological surveying and other subjects. He is an honorary member of the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia and of the Japan Mining Institute and member of many other societies.