James Orton, an American naturalist, born at Seneca Falls, N. Y., April 21, 1830. He graduated at Williams college in 1855, and at the Andover theological seminary in 1858, and, after travelling in Europe and the East, was ordained a Congregational minister in 1860. In 1866 he became instructor in the natural sciences in Rochester university, and in 1867 led an expedition from Williams college across South America, by Quito, the Napo, and the Amazon, discovering the first fossils found in the Amazon valley. Since 1869 he has been professor of natural history in Vassar college. In 1873 he made a second journey across South America, from Para up the Amazon to Lima and Lake Titicaca. He has published "The Miner's Guide and Metallurgist's Directory " (18mo, New York, 1849); "The Proverbialist and Poet" (8vo, Philadelphia, 1852); "The Andes and the Amazon" (8vo, New York, 1870); "Underground Treasures: how and where to find them" (12mo, Hartford, 1872); "The Liberal Education of Women" (12mo, New York, 1873); and "Comparative Zoology" (8vo, 1875).